I can't seem to get the Autounattend.xml file to work for the Vista with SP2 installer from MSDN (ie. Vista with SP2 slipstreamed from Microsoft, not via vLite). I've even tried it without vLite doing anything but just creating the xml file, and it's the exact same settings as my SP1 xml file, which works fine with the Vista with SP1 installer. Anybody know if I'm missing something here?

I'll move this to the Vista Unattend section; might want to post your xml here though, to see if vLite is screwing it up or not.

Here's my xml (deidentified). I'm running vLite on a Server 2003 SP2 machine with the WAIK for Vista SP1/Server 2008. I can also open the unattended file and the install.wim in Windows SIM (System Image Manager) just fine.

So apparently it doesn't work if you are booting the installer from a USB drive. I just tried it with a DVD-RW and it works just fine. Thought I'd update this in case someone else runs into the same problem.

Oh i was experiencing the same.. ffs i just got happy with using my external hdd instead of dvd

Only way I got it work from usb is to copy the install files to a seperate folder and boot into windows pe. From there I did setup /unattend:unattend.xml and then it reads the file. The thing is you have to disconnect and usb key after the reboot so it wont load the windows pe again. But you have to reconnect it once the install starts back on each reboot so it still can read the xml file. Otherwise parts get read and some parts dont.

Dear all,

Can you please post the error you had.
My error is a bit strange and i am not sure if that is the problem.

Windows Could not parse or process unattend answer file for pass [specialize]. The settings specified in the answer file cannot be applied. The error was detected while processing settings for component [Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup].

Does your answer file pass validation in WSIM?

Yes actually seems to be valid.
I am using WindowsPE on a USB. Maybe its the same error reported.
I will try to load it with a DVD and get back to you.

thank you