Unattended XP install - read winnt.sif from USB

[nitro322]

My method for performing an unattended install involves:

A ) A heavily customized Windows CD, that

B ) Boots from CD-ROM, and

C ) Reads winnt.sif and some other support files from floppy disk

I use a different winnt.sif file (and associated support files) for each different system.

This method has worked very well for the last several years, but now I have two systems without any floppy drive. While I could find a spare drive took hook up temporarily during the install, I'd much prefer to find a solution that doesn't involve a painful workaround.

What I'd like to do instead is use essentially the same method, but use a USB drive rather than a floppy disk for the answer/support files. However, Windows doesn't seem to recognize this by default. I figure at this point in time there must be some way to do it, either by official or unofficial means, but my Google searches were too generic to turn up anything useful. So, I figured I'd ask the pros on MSFN.

I searched the the forum as well, but mostly just found discussions about booting from USB rather than CD. I only have a 128 MB stick, so this isn't an option for me at this time. Instead, I'd like to continue booting off the CD-ROM as usual, but just be able to read my answer file from a USB device. Any pointers?

Thanks.

Edited April 25, 2007 by nitro322

[Techman]

Well I know Windows Vista lets you use the usb for installs but I dont know of any usb methods for Windows XP and below. What I do is use nlite make my install cd and burn it. You can add all the info like serial, drivers and patches. If you dont want to waste a CD you could burn your install on a CDR-RW but I prefer to just use reg CDs

[nitro322]

Well, I do use nLite to slipstream my drivers, etc. It works great. The problem is that my laptop, desktop, and various VMware images, for example, are configured very differently, and I use the winnt.sif and other support files on that floppy disk to configure each accordingly. I can also throw certain config updates on the floppy if needed for a new install without building and burning an entirely new CD. It allows for much more flexibility than using just the CD itself.

Of course, all of that means nil when I don't have a floppy drive. So... does anyone else know of a way to make this work? Or am I just out of luck here?

[Hoss72]

Hi

You can do exactly what you want, using an external USB floppy drive (around $35). You just have to make sure that in the BIOS, the USB emulation is turned ON (some BIOS refer to this as "Passing the USB keyboard & USB mouse control to OS".)