In this article I am going to provide you with a basic example of how to perform an unattended installation of Windows XP. This will get you started in customizing the way Windows XP is setup. If you choose to further customize the way Windows XP is setup, there is plenty of documentation on the internet to help you with some of the more advanced tools available. I will provide you with some informational links throughout this article to possibly answer any other questions you might have.
An Unattended Installation is a hands-free method of installing Windows XP. This is convenient for system administrators, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), value-added resellers (VARs), users who install Windows XP on many computers or who frequently install Windows XP on the same computer.
I will show you step by step how to supply Windows XP Setup with all of the information that you the “End User” is prompted to provide during a typical Windows setup in a scripted file called the answer file. The answer file basically fills in the text portion of the setup and can even setup options that you would normally spend most of your day doing after a “typical” or normal Windows install. Even if you do not know the first thing about scripting, Microsoft has generously included the tools you need on your Windows XP CD. If you’re using Windows 2000, you can follow this guide also. The tools are pretty much the same.
First of all we need to make sure you are able to perform an unattended installation from a “Bootable CD”. To perform an unattended installation from a bootable CD, your System’s BIOS must adhere to the El-Torito non-emulation specification. If your system’s BIOS is less than a few years old, it more than likely supports this specification.
For information about this specification, go to MicrosoftÂ’s Knowledge Base Article - Q167685
Here is what you are going to need:
1. At least one computer - One that has a Windows XP Operating System already in place.
2. YouÂ’re Windows XP CD - To retrieve the tools you are going to need.
3. One formatted floppy disk - This is where we will put the finished answer file
LetÂ’s get started
Put in your Windows XP CD. If you have autorun enabled it should pop up the “Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP”. In this window you should see a set of options. Here you want to select “Perform additional tasks”.
If you have autorun disabled, you can simply open “My Computer”. Then you will need to right click on the drive you have your Windows XP CD in and in the drop down menu click on “Explore”. This will allow you to view the contents of the CD.
In the next set of options you want select “Browse this CD”.
You should now see the contents of the CD. Now open the “Support” folder and then the “Tools” folder. The file we are looking for is a compressed file called “DEPLOY.CAB”. Before you go any further make a new folder on your desktop and extract the contents of this CAB file to that folder. You can name this folder whatever you like. Now open the folder that you just created. You should see a few different files here. The one we want is “setupmgr.exe”. For now just disregard all the other files except for the Windows XP Preinstallation Reference.(ref.chm) This is a help file that goes more into creating an answer file and explains more about the other files that are included in the folder that we just made. If you run into problems it might come in handy.
Welcome to the Windows Setup Manager - This Wizard is going to take us through the options of creating the answer file. Just click next here.
Create or Modify the Answer File - Since this is going to be your first answer file, select “Create a new answer file” and click next. Once you have created an answer file successfully, you can edit it with the Setup Manager by selecting “Modify an existing answer file” and providing a path to it.
An Unattended Installation is a hands-free method of installing Windows XP. This is convenient for system administrators, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), value-added resellers (VARs), users who install Windows XP on many computers or who frequently install Windows XP on the same computer.
I will show you step by step how to supply Windows XP Setup with all of the information that you the “End User” is prompted to provide during a typical Windows setup in a scripted file called the answer file. The answer file basically fills in the text portion of the setup and can even setup options that you would normally spend most of your day doing after a “typical” or normal Windows install. Even if you do not know the first thing about scripting, Microsoft has generously included the tools you need on your Windows XP CD. If you’re using Windows 2000, you can follow this guide also. The tools are pretty much the same.
First of all we need to make sure you are able to perform an unattended installation from a “Bootable CD”. To perform an unattended installation from a bootable CD, your System’s BIOS must adhere to the El-Torito non-emulation specification. If your system’s BIOS is less than a few years old, it more than likely supports this specification.
For information about this specification, go to MicrosoftÂ’s Knowledge Base Article - Q167685
Here is what you are going to need:
1. At least one computer - One that has a Windows XP Operating System already in place.
2. YouÂ’re Windows XP CD - To retrieve the tools you are going to need.
3. One formatted floppy disk - This is where we will put the finished answer file
LetÂ’s get started
Put in your Windows XP CD. If you have autorun enabled it should pop up the “Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP”. In this window you should see a set of options. Here you want to select “Perform additional tasks”.
If you have autorun disabled, you can simply open “My Computer”. Then you will need to right click on the drive you have your Windows XP CD in and in the drop down menu click on “Explore”. This will allow you to view the contents of the CD.
In the next set of options you want select “Browse this CD”.
You should now see the contents of the CD. Now open the “Support” folder and then the “Tools” folder. The file we are looking for is a compressed file called “DEPLOY.CAB”. Before you go any further make a new folder on your desktop and extract the contents of this CAB file to that folder. You can name this folder whatever you like. Now open the folder that you just created. You should see a few different files here. The one we want is “setupmgr.exe”. For now just disregard all the other files except for the Windows XP Preinstallation Reference.(ref.chm) This is a help file that goes more into creating an answer file and explains more about the other files that are included in the folder that we just made. If you run into problems it might come in handy.
Welcome to the Windows Setup Manager - This Wizard is going to take us through the options of creating the answer file. Just click next here.
Create or Modify the Answer File - Since this is going to be your first answer file, select “Create a new answer file” and click next. Once you have created an answer file successfully, you can edit it with the Setup Manager by selecting “Modify an existing answer file” and providing a path to it.