Help Wanted: Install from a partition instead of a DVD

[Haynes]

I have an unattended DVD just the way that I want it, I want to put the contents of the DVD on a separate partition and install from that rather than the DVD so that when I make changes to the install it will be VERY easy without the need for a new DVD.

How do I change my winnt.sif file (assuming thats what needs to be changed) to look for a distribution on another partition on the computer.

Thank you for your time.

[os2fan2]

You could use an answer file here, ie the thing that goes in winnt32.exe command line.

The thing here is that the partition that you specifify in the /tempdir (where the OS is to be placed!), is to be given as per the environment win32.exe lives in, not the partition that the OS installs in.

For example, if you install the OS into drive F:, because you have added partitions to harddisk1 later, the operationg system will use the same partition to install in, but this will become K:. My windows xp hacks are doing this: the installation is initialised from Win2k, which has seen partitions added to hda, so it sees the drive under its original name (F). WinXP, the later install, allocates earlier letters to the added partitions, and sees the drive as K:

Sticking a usb drive in during the install would mean that the same OS would install on drive L:

W

[Takeshi]

The thing here is that the partition that you specifify in the /tempdir (where the OS is to be placed!), is to be given as per the environment win32.exe lives in, not the partition that the OS installs in.

It's winnt32.exe with /tempdrive:drive_letter and /syspart:drive_letter switches.