Small Questions.

[gareththegod]

Im not sure what part of the winnt.sif is used to change the default account. I want to add registry hacks to it but im not sure if they need to be added to the commandlines.txt or where to store the files eg in i386 folder.

I know that the winnt.sif and .bat have to go there but im not sure what else can.

I plan not to use the $OEM$ system if I can help it.

I have a few command files that install all of the current files.

Is there a way to print what is being displayed on the screen to a text file so that it will make it eaiser for me to see if there is something wrong with the install as the last line of the script is to restart in under 20 seconds. If im not in the room where its installing I don't know if they all worked.

Yes I do install the qfecheck.exe to check the hotfixes but that doesn't help if they install but there is something wrong with the echo commands or the hotfixes names have changed.

Edited October 18, 2003 by gareththegod

[gosh]

XP setup runs under the system account. Any changes made during setup are written to the default user. To prove this, at any point in gui setup press Shift + F10, and at the command prompt type 'set'. You should see something like userprofile=defaultuser. After setup completes you log into an account like administrator. Thus, Cmdlines and svcpack save registry changes to default profile.

-gosh

[gareththegod]

thank you.

what would I have to include in the winnt.sif to use the cmdlines and where does the cmdlines file need to be placed on the cd. eg i386.

[gosh]

To use cmdlines.txt you put it in the $OEM$ folder. Microsoft's documentation says you also have to have OEMPreinstall=Yes in winnt.sif file, but from experience ive found cmdlines is processed if it's there - xp setup doesn't care if you're using an unattend file or not. I asked microsoft about this behavior once, and they ignored me ;/

example:

$OEM$\cmdlines.txt

[commands]

commandhere.exe

-gosh

[GreenMachine]

Did you edit that first post? Looks like more questions than the first view.

You can log all that is written to the screen by creating a second CMD file that calls your first, piping it out to a log file, as in: (commandhere.exe from previous post, could be commandhere.cmd)

FIRSTCMD.CMD > %SYSTEMDRIVE%\LOGFILE.TXT

While you are testing you could simply put in a PAUSE, and scroll up the screen, and investigate anything else.

HFNETCHK is similar to QFECHECK, but more in depth with more detailed reports. The name of the hotfix files themselves is irrelevent.

CMDLINES.TXT is parsed if it is present, OEMPreinstall=Yes will initaite the copy of <CD>\$OEM$\$* directories to their corrosponding entries on the HDD.

[gosh]

Here's a good article on cmdlines.txt for server 2003 (applies to any nt os)

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/...icb_ui_yext.asp

At the bottom it says you have to have oempreinstall=yes, but i don't think that's right =x I've used cmdlines to install hotfixes in the $OEM$ folder before without using an unattend file.

-gosh

[GreenMachine]

From the previous chapter of link above:

Important

You cannot use Cmdlines.txt if you are using an operating system CD and a Winnt.sif file to perform an unattended installation. You can use Cmdlines.txt only if you are installing from a distribution share.

Choosing a Method for Automating Post-Installation Tasks

Microsoft is like numbers: you can quote them to back you up on anything (and it's opposite...)

[gareththegod]

Yes I did edit my post.

has any one tried to run dfrg.msc (defragmenter) in the cmdlines.txt as ive seen someone do it in the Microsoft Online Seminars on xp deployment and wondered how it worked.