Alright, so I've done the following:

1. Installed Vista (VL Business if it makes a difference)
   
2. Installed all of the extra software and goodies that I want
   
3. Syspreped the image iwth /generalize and /oobe
   
4. Captured a WIM and placed it on the network
   
5. Created an Unattend.xml file with SIM against this WIM that I just pulled
   

Here is what I want to do:

1. Apply this WIM to a target computer
   
2. Boot the computer and have OOBE answered by the Unattend.xml file I created earlier
   

Heres the problem:

When the machine boots it begins to process the Unattend.xml file. When it gets to the oobeSystem pass it hoses. The machine is renamed in the specialize path without a hitch. This is the message that I get:

Windows could not parse or process unattend answer file [C:\Windows\Panther\Unattend.xml]for pass [oobeSystem]. A component or setting specified in the answer file does not exist.

Here is the Unattend.xml File that I'm using:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
	<settings pass="oobeSystem">
		<component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
			<InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale>
			<SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
			<UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
			<UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
		</component>
		<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
			<OOBE>
				<HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
				<NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
				<ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC>
			</OOBE>
			<TimeZone>Central Standard Time</TimeZone>
			<RegisteredOrganization>Company X</RegisteredOrganization>
			<UserAccounts>
				<AdministratorPassword>
					<Value>password</Value>
					<PlainText>true</PlainText>
				</AdministratorPassword>
				<LocalAccounts>
					<LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
						<Password>
							<Value>password</Value>
							<PlainText>true</PlainText>
						</Password>
						<Description>Added user account for testing.</Description>
						<DisplayName>User</DisplayName>
						<Group>Users</Group>
						<Name>User</Name>
					</LocalAccount>
				</LocalAccounts>
			</UserAccounts>
			<AutoLogon>
				<Username>Administrator</Username>
				<Enabled>true</Enabled>
				<LogonCount>1</LogonCount>
			</AutoLogon>
			<RegisteredOwner>Owner X</RegisteredOwner>
		</component>
	</settings>
	<settings pass="specialize">
		<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
			<ComputerName>MStudioTest</ComputerName>
		</component>
	</settings>
	<cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="wim://agates/x86/base/vista_business_x86.wim#Windows Vista VL Business Base" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

I really hope that this isn't something thats blatently obvious. If someone could help me wipe the look off of my face I would certainly appreciate it.

Edited January 9, 200719 yr by AGates

If this is an exaqct copy and paste from your XML, there is an issue here:

<AdministratorPassword>

<Value>passwordValue>

<PlainText>true</PlainText>

</AdministratorPassword>

should be:

<AdministratorPassword>

<Value>password</Value>

<PlainText>true</PlainText>

</AdministratorPassword>

Notice the missing </ in the password value field.

This may be causing the problem.

Oops. No, its not like that in the original answer file. I edited the passwords out.

Hello AGates!

You need to set the Administrator Password for AutoLogon, too, if you've setted it before with AdministratorPassword. Cause for the moment you try to use AutoLogon the Administrator without the password. But so far I've not used this setting to setup the AdministratorPassword. So I can't tell 100% for sure...

If I do activate the built in Administrator than I use the Password setting with AutoLogon:

<AutoLogon>
				<LogonCount>1</LogonCount>
				<Username>Administrator</Username>
				<Enabled>true</Enabled>
				<Password>
					<Value>cABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAFAAYQBzAHMAdwBvAHIAZAA=</Value>
					<PlainText>false</PlainText>
				</Password>
 </AutoLogon>

I think the AdministratorPassword setting you've been using is more for setting the Administrator password without logging him in...

Hope that's it!

Martin

Edited January 9, 200719 yr by FireGeier

Thank you everyone who responded.

FireGeier:

Sysprep seems to nuke/default all of the passwords on the system including saved network info. I knew that the setting I had would only set the Administer's password, but what I didn't know is that the Password setting was required for AutoLogon.

Thank you very much for your help!

Edited January 10, 200719 yr by AGates