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Unattended remote install


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Alright, i have been trying to get this done for the last couple days without much success. Its very hard to google this type of thing, and i have only been able to get solutions that involve some type of physical access to the computer....

I have leased a w2k3 machine from a popular dedicated server company. However, it is 32 bit, and i need 64bit. The server company wont help out in any way, but they have said they have no problem with me remotely re-installing the OS if i can find a way (im sure they said that only because they know its not easy).

Can someone point me in the direction to get this done? The server has two physical hard drives installed, and is currently running win2k3. The only access i have is through remote desktop. What will it take to bootstrap the setup files?

thanks for any help!

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Officially it cannot be done but here is my suggestion:

Install x64 on a local server.

Sysprep the drive. Make sure your sysprep.inf is fully unattended.

Install Windows x86 to the second drive with a fully unattended installation.

Modify boot.ini to boot to the new installation. (I'm not sure if you need to do this)

Reboot

From your new installation reformat your first drive and copy the contents of your sysprepped drive to it.

Reboot

Delete the contents of your second drive.

Make sure your hosting company will perform a bare metal restore when you mess up.

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