CD Key issue

[joejoefla]

Programs:

Windows XP SP2 CD

nLite 1.3 RC2

When I ran the unattended install option, I put in what my CD Key was in the tweak options I believe.

Running the install, the install still asked me to put in the CD Key.

I first encountered the non-bootable disc issue but using a DVD+RW disc and a blank CD-R and still getting the same issue, I went ahead and used the winnt32.exe /makelocalsource option managed to get the install going.

I'll try the new Santa 2 patch when i get home from work.

Thanks everyone.

Edited February 5, 2007 by joejoefla

[phkninja]

Did you make sure to set the install as unattended rather than prompted

[joejoefla]

Yea I ran through the options and saw that "unattended" was green.

I'll try again and post what I got.

[phkninja]

in the options make unattended green. then in the unattended option may sure the box does not say prompted. you want it to be hide pages or fully unattended

[joejoefla]

OK here's what I got so far,

I'm using Windows XP Home OEM SP2 cd

Custom PC is running Windows XP Home OEM SP2

nLite version 1.3RC2

The issue is it doesn't matter whether or not I pick hide pages or fully unattended, at anytime if I run the winnt32.exe /makelocalsource option or execute the setup.exe file from within windows, it never seems to recognize the CD Key. Yes I've triple checked the Key squence. :S Also, the unattended light is green.

What's really strange is the newly created disc won't boot. When I pop in the disc and reboot I get to the "Press Any Key" prompt, but then after pressing a key the pc stops.

I've tried burning the newly created windows files using "Direct Burn" and "Create ISO" option. Both options tried several times on a DVDRW and a CD-R disc using different burn speeds.

So it looks like to be two different issues that might or might not be interconnected.

When I get home I'll try different release versions to be if I and duplicate the issue. I believe I've tried 1.3 RC and 1.3 RC2.

P.S.

Actually

When you've finished, it creates a file called unattend.txt. Since we are going to run Setup from a CD we need to rename this to WINNT.SIF. Be sure that the file DOES NOT end up as WINNT.SIF.TXT. It MUST NOT end in .TXT

Would that be the cause of the whole fiasco? I read that from unattended.msfn.org website.

Edited February 7, 2007 by joejoefla

[joejoefla]

Please disregard topic.

Appearently trying to initiate an install of Windows XP from within another version of Windows, wasn't a good idea.

Finally after creating a disc I got it to boot and installed it to another partition I had created.

Please close topic.

[dougiefresh]

Proper way to install Windows from within another copy of Windows is to run the WINNT32.EXE command this way:

WINNT32 /unattend:<path to WINNT.SIF>

That way your unattended settings will take. While booting from CD, the WINNT.SIF should be processed correctly and the Product Key should be picked up (assuming the WINNT.SIF is written correctly).

[Wesmosis]

Proper way to install Windows from within another copy of Windows is to run the WINNT32.EXE command this way:

WINNT32 /unattend:<path to WINNT.SIF>

That way your unattended settings will take. While booting from CD, the WINNT.SIF should be processed correctly and the Product Key should be picked up (assuming the WINNT.SIF is written correctly).

can I use other name for winnt.sif

e.g winnt2.sif

and plz , can you tell me the complete command if the winnt.sif is going to be on CDROM

?

[ponghy]

@Wesmosis: Yes. In fact, the standard name for unattended upgrades is "Unattend.txt", but you can name it as you want.

WINNT32.EXE /unattend:winnt2.sif for example. If your drive letter is D and the SIF file is located on the I386 folder of this drive, then it would be:

WINNT32.EXE /unattend:D:\I386\winnt2.sif

Under odd circumstances (depending of the content of the SIF file and the Windows version which you are upgrading) it may be necessary to copy the SIF file from CD-ROM to a temporary folder and then invoke the WINNT32 command referencing the copied file, because Setup will not found the CD-ROM drive after rebooting. Inspect the \Windows\setuperr.log file when the upgrade is complete. If you see errors indicating missing sections and the like, you need to copy the SIF file to the temporary directory first. For example:

WINNT32.exe /unattend:C:\Windows\Temp\winnt2.sif

Hope this helps.

Edited June 18, 2007 by ponghy