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Unattended Guide for Vista


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Well, i'm only just reading myself into the whole thing. Really sounds like its gonna be a lot more easy right from the beginning, at least its prepared by MS already a lot more.

Looks like the actual technology is a little more complicated (xml in the answer file, right?), but in the whole there's easier access all the way by means of specially designed assistants.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i believe its gonna be a massive big toy for all of us deployment and unattended guys...

so i'm kinda looking forward to the first comprehensive guides. allthough i probably won't be able to contribute much myself since i'm gettin tied up in work more and more recently. But i enjoy reading your guys attempts and trials and trying a bit myself every now and again.

Good luck to all you enthusiasts out there!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I complained about this new way of doing unattended in the beginning

but now i can see, it is a far better, easier and more customizable way.

I only have one problem though if I use oscdimg.exe to compile

my ISO - it ends up putting every single file and folder name in uppercase.

This normally wouldnt be a problem but I am putting things on the start

menu and desktop and it just looks horrible!

Using oscdimg.exe with these switches > -m -n -h -o -b

-m = Override 700Mb ISO limitation

-n = Allow long filenames

-h = Include hidden files and directories

-o = Encode duplicate files only once (saves about 4% of your Vista ISO)

-b = Make bootable

-nt = Make compatible with Windows NT v3.51 (not recommended, this leads to file renaming!)

There is no switch to toggle uppercase on and off when checking via oscdimg.exe /?

Here is the MS description straight from the command window >

Usage: OSCDIMG [options] sourceroot targetfile

-l volume label, no spaces (e.g. -lMYLABEL)
-t time stamp for all files and directories, no spaces, any delimiter
(e.g. -t12/31/2000,15:01:00)
-g encode GMT time for files rather than local time
-h include hidden files and directories
-n allow long filenames (longer than DOS 8.3 names)
-nt allow long filenames, restricted to NT 3.51 compatibility
-b "El Torito" boot sector file, no spaces
(e.g. -bc:\location\cdboot.bin)
-x compute and encode "AutoCRC" values in image
-o optimize storage by encoding duplicate files only once
-oi ignore diamond compression timestamps when comparing files
-os show duplicate files while creating image
(-o options can be combined like -ois)

Instead of using oscdimg.exe I have gone back to the older cdimage.exe

To use cdimage I use the following >

start cdimage.exe -lISOlabel -h -j1 -m -o -b\ROOT_FOLDER\boot\etfsboot.com \ROOT_FOLDER C:\Vista.iso

This works fine (cdimage can use etfsboot.com to make Vista bootable) but you do

not have the Segoe font on the "Loading Boot Files" part at the very beginning, not

that I really care about this to be honest - in fact without it loading that font it seems

to load the boot files in about a quarter of the time! The main thing is, using cdimage,

it does not put all your files and folder names in uppercase, it leaves the case intact.

Edited by LeveL
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@ LeveL, Look at this thread: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=88281

It surprises me how less info there is on Unattended Vista. I am searching for an way to include tweaks (Use, *UAP, etc) in to my install, with no results.

MSFN should launch an Unattended website dedicated to Vista! :)

Edited by cai_sebas
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:thumbup Hello. I am a new member and i wanted to share some information regarding the process... I am also new to forums so please bare with me.

oscdimg.exe will generally be used for creating a Discover Boot CD for a WDS Server. The process will remain the same (or similar for Vista CD).

NOTE: This comes at the deployment phase when you are using CD (BootPE) based deployment from WDS Server.

After u install the WAIK Toolkit you can import the Vista Boot Image from the Vista DVD. (Check Vista-Boot.jpg).LAST_SESSION__205212.27_21.29.26_.INI

You can then create a Capture Boot Image from the menu. Once it creates the .WIM file you can do this:

1. Start “Windows PE Command Prompt Tools” from Start -> Programs -> Microsoft Windows AIK. This option will configure PATH variable to include WAIK Tools and start a new command

Command: copype.cmd x86 C:\DiscoverISO-x86

2. Delete the existing WIM Files from C:\DiscoverISO-x86\ISO\Sources Folder.

3. Copy the previously extracted WDS Discover WIM to C:\DiscoverISO-x86\ISO\Sources Folder and rename the new file to boot.wim.

4. Run the following command to create a bootable ISO Image. This ISO can be later burned on to a CD and boot a client to install Windows Vista on PCs.

oscdimg.exe -n -bC:\DiscoverISO-x86\etfsboot.com C:\DiscoverISO-x86\ISO C:\DiscoverISO-x86\ISO_NAME.iso

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19:17 : 
19:17 : User Name: Lucas
Machine Name: LUCAS-PC
Processor Architecture: x86
Domain Name: Lucas-PC
CLR Version: 2.0.50727.312
OS Version: Microsoft Windows NT 6.0.6000.0
Current Directory: E:\Microsoft.Windows.Vista.Final.MSDN\sources
Command Line Parameters: "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\Image Manager\ImgMgr.EXE"
Physical Memory for this process: 15364096
Bitness for this process: Native 32-bit
File Version Information
C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\Image Manager
Microsoft.ComponentStudio.Command.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) msil
Microsoft.ComponentStudio.Common.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) msil
Microsoft.ComponentStudio.ComponentPlatformImplementation.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) x86
Microsoft.componentstudio.componentplatforminterface.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) msil
Microsoft.ComponentStudio.Controls.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) msil
Microsoft.ComponentStudio.Serializer.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) msil
ImageCat.EXE Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) msil
ImgMgr.EXE Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) msil
C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\Image Manager\EN
imagecat.resources.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 msil
ImgMgr.resources.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 msil
Microsoft.ComponentStudio.Command.resources.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 msil
Microsoft.ComponentStudio.Common.resources.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 msil
Microsoft.ComponentStudio.ComponentPlatformInterface.resources.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 msil
Microsoft.ComponentStudio.Controls.resources.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 msil

C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\Servicing\SmiEngine.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) x86
C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\Servicing\pkgmgr.exe Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) x86
C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\Servicing\cbscore.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) x86
C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\Servicing\wcp.dll Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) x86
C:\Windows\system32\drivers\WimFltr.sys Microsoft Corporation 6.0.6000.16386 (vista_rtm.061101-2205) x86
File does not exist: C:\Windows\system32\wimgapi.dll

Strange error, cause the file is there :\ anyone knows how to solve this?

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

A complete guide like the XP covering Simple to advance would be a great idea. The XP guide helped me out when learning OPK.

The biggest issue i see with settying up a vista site to do the same is the variants of the OS. There would have to be a generalised version that applies to all SKU's and then more indepth sections covering the specific SKU's like Home Basic / Premium / Business / Ultimate Etc...

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  • 3 weeks later...

I don't know about you guys but I am really struggling to get my head round Vista deployment.

I used RIS at work for ages and was able to pretty much do what I wanted but WDS seems a lot harder.

I think my major problem is understanding the basic way in which it works.

I have been trying to complete the following steps without any joy. I have WIM images on my WDS server (grabbed from a Vista CD using the WDS console on our Windows Server 2003 WDS box but can get no further.

1. Configure boot.wim image to be automated with language options.

2. Configure a simple unattended install.wim with a simple XML answer file.

3. Create images and answer files for all motherboard we currently sell.

It is early days so there isnt much info around at the moment and the microsoft guide seems incomplete to me.

Are there any sites anyone knows of that I should be looking at?

Are we going to have a WDS section on this forum like the old RIS one?

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