Hi. I am trying to create a basic unattended install CD for Windows 2003 Standard R2 x64. I already have a working winnt.sif which is successfully being used on a Windows 2003 Standard R2 x86 CD. I have copied the working winnt.sif onto a Windows 2003 Std R2 x64 CD but during the install the winnt.sif file is completely ignored. The unattended file (below) is very basic and only populates a small handful of settings such as CD Key, Name, Organisation, Regional settings etc. The settings are not enforced, only set as default to allow changes if required during install. The unattended install file works without problem on the x86 version of 2k3, but with the x64 version I can't seem to get anywhere. Can anyone suggest what may be causing this ? Thanks, Alex. ;SetupMgrTag [Data] AutoPartition=0 MsDosInitiated="0" UnattendedInstall="Yes" [Unattended] UnattendedMode=ProvideDefault OemSkipEula=Yes OemPreinstall=No TargetPath=\WINDOWS [GuiUnattended] OEMSkipRegional=1 OEMSkipWelcome=1 TimeZone=85 [UserData] ProductKey=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx FullName="NAME" OrgName"ORG" [LicenseFilePrintData] AutoMode=PerSeat [RegionalSettings] LanguageGroup=1 SystemLocale=00000809 UserLocale=00000809 InputLocale=0809:00000809
The WINNT.sif for CDROM installs has been required to be on the A:\ floppy drive. Unless you have found a work-around for that or there is an update* that makes the A:\ floppy location unnecessary that is likely the problem. If so, I would love to hear the method -- although I seldom use the Winnt.sif I teach my students about it and would like to offer a solution to the "no floppy" at boot time problem.
Hi Herb. I've never actually heard of placing the winnt.sif on a floppy which may be why the x64 install is casuing me problems . But on all previous winnt.sif placements I have always located it in the x:\I386\ directory (with X: being the CD drive) and it has always worked. I have just read a few MS articles which specify a floppy disk, I might give the official method a go this time Thanks for your help. Alex.
I am not totally surprised that putting it in the I386 directory works -- delighted to hear about that in fact -- but as you say this has always been documented (and supported) only on the A:\ Floppy. Microsoft doesn't have a recommendation for custom building your own CDRoms, and this makes sense as they probably don't want to "officially support" such practices -- both due to the difficulty of the support and to piracy concerns.
Unattended (Winnt.sif) being ignored on 2k3 x64 CD install but works on 2k3 x86 CD Herb Martin posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 8:26 AM
