Unattended XP Pro SP3 build on my repaired DV9000

Before I "retired," I used to design Windows XP images and build processes for major & minor corporations. Now that I fix home PCs for a living, I still use some of the lessons learned to streamline the occasional rebuild, but I never have time to refine my own methodology.
I prefer to install Windows XP with an answer file, if only so I can watch TV instead of actually working. This can be accomplished with a build CD and a diskette, or by infiltrating the answer file into the i386 folder on a custom CD; in either of these scenarios, it must be named "winnt.sif" or it won't work. It can also be done by installing from a network source or an external drive, either of which allows several customization that don't work under the CD Boot method. I have been using the modified build CD method for years.

When my DV9000 made its fourth trip back for repair, I decided that I celebrate its return by designing a new set of build folders. This laptop has a second drive bay with a drive I added after purchase, so I can easily create the build folders there and repeatedly format the C drive during testing. I am separating the DV9000-specific stuff from things I would to to any computer.

It came back from HP's "service" center with its original Media Center build, and all the hardware checked out OK, so I got to work on the unattended XP Pro build.

I created Drivers and Install folders on the root of the second drive. In the latter, I put the source files for most of the major (Office, Acrobat Pro, etc.) & minor (Nero, Flash, etc.) software I will be installing. Then, I booted to a Windows PE CD, and ran Winnt32.exe from the command line pointing to the answer file.

On the first pass, I got all the drivers except the QuickLaunch buttons and the memory card reader(s) to install Plug-and-Play. This would have been easily remedied... but I want this process to be perfect in case my DV9000 goes on another warranty trip, so started over.
I corrected the error that had kept the memory card readers from installing during Setup, but the QLB drivers come in compressed form that does not support Plug-and-Play. However, once installed, they create three driver folders under Program Files, so I used the appropriate folder for the Plug-and-Play on the next build.

I expanded the Setup batch file to format drive C, copy the driver, software, and i386 folders over to it, and run Winnt32 from there (so I won't need the D drive later, just in case I remove it). I also created two more batch files: the first, referenced in the [GuiRunOnce] section of the answer file, will replace the Default User profile, write a reference to the second batch file into the RunOnce key, install IE7 and force a reboot. The second batch file writes four customizations into the Registry.

This rebuild just finished, IE7 installed, the machine rebooted, and the second batch file did its job...

Device Manager is completely clean: 100% Plug-and-Play during Windows Setup!

 

I did leave out a few things that might prove crucial to anyone who wants to try this.

First, the only reason I can get the audio & modem to Plug-and-Play is because I'm installing XP with SP3 slipstreamed in. Otherwise, I would need to install the HD Audio bus update before it would identify & install the sound and modem drivers. SP3 includes this update.

Second, everything I know about Windows Setup, I learned from Deploy.cab. Its Help files contain all of Microsoft's distilled wisdom on installing Windows XP.

Finally, if you can, get the Windows Preinstallation Environment and/or the OEM Preinstallation Kit CDs. Registered OEM System Builders, and presumably Technet subscribers, can download the ISO files.

 

Nice post. Gives me an idea on my situation. I have a Windows XP Professional SP2 disc (full version) that I'd like to have all my driver's included on it. I know I can slipstream SP3 in there, so thats not a problem. I don't have the Windows PE ISO, so I'm wondering on if it's possible to do what you did above with my disc?

 

Yes, you can, but there is a technical issue slipstreaming drivers: Windows will not copy OEM driver folders during CD boot setup. This is, apparently, because they never imagined anyone would add drivers and create a modified CD.
Two ways around this:
1. Pre-position the driver folders on an otherwise blank drive, install it in the machine, and boot to the CD with a Winnt.sif file on a floppy that points to the driver folders; choose options that do not reformat the drive ( "FileSystem = LeaveAlone" might work... see Deploy.chm and Ref.chm as a reference).
2. Park the files from the CD on an external hard drive (what I essentially did, except I used the second internal drive) and run Winnt32.exe from there... however, that does require some kind of 32-bit operating system on a boot CD.

I strongly urge that you try to get Windows PE. Go to oem.microsoft.com and register as an OEM System Builder (truthfully, of course ) so you can download it.

I see people are reading this thread, so I will put my unattended.txt file and the Setup batch file in the next two posts.

 

This may make more sense in the light of the batch file, which will be in the next post. The Product Key and a few other entries have been redacted, of course.

;SetupMgrTag
[Data]
AutoPartition=1
MsDosInitiated="0"
UnattendedInstall="Yes"

[Unattended]
UnattendMode=FullUnattended
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPreinstall=Yes
TargetPath=\WINDOWS
DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore
UnattendSwitch=Yes
OEMPnPDriversPath = DV9000\audio;DV9000\BTOOTH;DV9000\chipset;DV9000\chipset\Ethernet;DV9000\chipset\IDE;DV9000\chipset\SMBus;DV9000\chipset\SMU;DV9000\misc2;DV9000\modem;DV9000\PCCS;DV9000\QLB;DV9000\touchpad;DV9000\video;DV9000\WLAN

[GuiUnattended]
AdminPassword="passw0rd"
EncryptedAdminPassword=NO
AutoLogon=Yes
AutoLogonCount=3
OEMSkipRegional=1
TimeZone=35
OemSkipWelcome=1

[Components]
;This section prevents installation of MSN Explorer, sample media clips,
;and those Gaming Zone games:
msnexplr=off
media_clips=Off
zonegames=off

[PCHealth]
;These entries prevent the system from prompting users
;to report program errors to Microsoft
ER_Display_UI=0
ER_Enable_Reporting=0

[UserData]
ProductKey=AAAAA-BBBBB-CCCCC-DDDDD-EEEEE
FullName="Old Gray Geek"
OrgName="My Company"
ComputerName="DV9000"

[TapiLocation]
CountryCode=1
Dialing=Tone
AreaCode=800

[FavoritesEx]
Title1="Slate.url"
URL1="http://www.slate.com"

[Branding]
BrandIEUsingUnattended=Yes

Home_Page=http://www.google.c...RunOnce] "c:\install\batch\Boot1.bat"[/FONT]

 

@echo off
rem
rem Format the hard disk (answer "Y" when prompted):
rem
format c: /fs:ntfs /q /v:July1st
rem
rem Copy the Windows source files:
rem
xcopy d:\XPProSP3\i386\*.* c:\i386\ /c /e /d /y /k /h
rem
rem Copy the drivers for Plug-and-Play:
rem
xcopy d:\dv9000\*.* c:\dv9000\ /c /e /d /y /k /h
rem
rem Copy the applications to be installed:
rem
xcopy d:\install\*.* c:\install\ /c /e /d /y /k /h
rem
rem Start the Windows install:
rem
C:\i386\winnt32.exe /unattend:c:\install\dv9000.txt
@exit

 

I have moved back from the Vostro to the DV9000. I needed to do a few cleanups that may be helpful to readers:
--On each boot, I was logging a dozen SideBySide errors. Installing the Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package (x86) eliminated the errors.

--After I installed the driver for my Magicolor 2300 printer, the computer would log an error on each boot:

The DV9000 does not have a parallel port, of course, so any service that relies on the "Parallel arbitrator group" is bound to fail. (I print directly to it via TCP-IP).
I can't turn off this service through the Services console, so I found it in the Registry and changed the data in its Start value from 0x00000002 (Automatic) to 0x00000004 (Disabled). This can be done with the following command line:

reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MLPTDR_B" /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000004 /f

(Since every machine on my network uses that printer, I wrote the command into a batch file so I wouldn't need to figure it out next time I build a PC).

--My old computer had MapPoint 2004, but I decided to order Streets and Trips 2008 with GPS for the new installation. My old user profile caused every Office program to expect a Mappoint add-in, mpoai9.dll, that is no longer present. The add-in could not be removed through the Office options dialog.
I ended up removing all the references to the add-in from the Registry -- there were nine of them -- by searching for the .DLL name and incorporating the copied key names into a batch file:

@echo off
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Excel\Addins\MapPoint.OfficeAddin.9" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Addins\MapPoint.OfficeAddin.9" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\PowerPoint\Addins\MapPoint.OfficeAddin.9" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Publisher\Addins\MapPoint.OfficeAddin.9" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word\Addins\MapPoint.OfficeAddin.9" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart Tag\Actions\{44657179-8842-495C-9E25-9E75B246D96B}" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart Tag\Actions\{C52C0F26-4CC4-4B2A-8F67-12BD29A756EC}" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Office\Common\Smart Tag\Recognizers\{B1284F83-5626-4C12-AABA-BE072D822EFC}" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Visio\Addins\MapPoint.OfficeAddin.9" /f
pause
@exit

As you can see, I like batch files.