New to Win7 Unattended

[biatche]

I haven't touched vista to say the truth, been on XP all the while. I think it's time to move to Win7 for me. All this while in XP, I've been using RyanVM to update my windows, I have some .reg tweaks which is added during installation, driverpacks.net for drivers (usually network drivers only), runonceex (with some modifications and network drivers preinstalled, I get to install applications via network) and finally I will use ryanvm to create the ISO and then burn it to a CD-RW. walla, done, without touching a thing other than setting up disk partition manually.

Apart from setting up partitions manually, I wish to setup Win7 in a manner that accomplishes:

1) Microsoft updated patches - So there's no ryanvm or nlite, what are my best options now?

2) Registry tweaks - I used to have cmdlines.txt for that which would execute regedit /s "bla.reg"

3) Network drivers - I suppose Win7 has a lot of default drivers for many modern nics, yes? Can anybody confirm?

4) Installing applications - For XP, I've been doing it through a gigabit network in runonceex and that install programs fast. How does this work in Win7? I'm open to new ideas

5) FAST FAST FAST - Perhaps there are newer and faster ways of setting up Win7? Network - PXE? USB-HDD? I could store all files on a usb-hdd and setup directly from there instead of burning a new cd/dvd each time. I would save a lot of time by not making new isos/burn cd/dvd. What are my options in Win7?

And now, from all that I've been reading, it's gotten me a bit confused - WAIK? DISM? sysprep? autoattend.xml? Is there anything else? Do they all accomplish the same thing, but in different ways? What are the pros/cons?

Hope someone can enlighten me for I've been a little out of date. Thanks!

Edited November 6, 2009 by biatche

[cluberti]

I'd suggest using MDT 2010 to create your install, and probably WUD to get the latest patches downloaded. I've got a brief walkthrough on how to use MDT2010 to install Windows, an app or two (you can do as many as you want, of course) and run some commands. MDT takes care of putting down the OS image onto a disk (and gives you control over partitioning), adds drivers and updates/hotfixes during setup, and runs your commands and installs applications via a runonce-style post-setup routine.

I've got a few blog posts about it, and there's good MDT information here on MSFN if you search a bit as well.

[biatche]

How do i setup partitions manually? By default it's all auto. Btw, i followed your guide, it works, but there are many things i still wish to customize :/

[MrJinje]

How do i setup partitions manually? By default it's all auto. Btw, i followed your guide, it works, but there are many things i still wish to customize :/

Haven't used MDT yet, but I assume is just like everything else, you will need to edit your AutoUnattend.xml file to remove the automated disk wipe, and instead have it prompt for manual partitioning.

The key part you are look for is the <ImageInstall> block. Here is mine, it prompts me to choose a partition to install to. (i.e. it will shows the GUI on error). The error being that I deleted the automated disk wipe from my XML.

			<ImageInstall>
				<OSImage>
					<InstallFrom>
						<MetaData wcm:action="add">
							<Key>/IMAGE/NAME</Key>
							<Value>Windows 7 ULTIMATE</Value>
						</MetaData>
					</InstallFrom>
				<WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
				</OSImage>
			</ImageInstall>

Post back everything you find in you <ImageInstall> block, and we will take a look at what needs changing.

Edited November 7, 2009 by MrJinje

[biatche]

Mind sharing a fully working autounattend.xml and ill make my modifications from there. Also are there any references for customizing it manually? So some here don't use WAIK/MDT it seems, or maybe at most just WAIK. Is autounattend.xml all I need? I notice MDT mentions a lot about unattend.xml but made no mention of autounattend.xml. Interesting, or rather confusing.

I just did a bit of reading, so now when I boot off DVD/USB. That gave me an idea, you fellas tell me if it is possible.. is it possible to boot off a usb disk, and the setup copy the files copy from a network share (gbit). Should be pretty fast.

[MrJinje]

Mind sharing a fully working autounattend.xml and ill make my modifications from there. Also are there any references for customizing it manually? So some here don't use WAIK/MDT it seems, or maybe at most just WAIK. Is autounattend.xml all I need? I notice MDT mentions a lot about unattend.xml but made no mention of autounattend.xml. Interesting, or rather confusing.

I just did a bit of reading, so now when I boot off DVD/USB. That gave me an idea, you fellas tell me if it is possible.. is it possible to boot off a usb disk, and the setup copy the files copy from a network share (gbit). Should be pretty fast.

Fully working Autounattend.xml link Post #11

Reference files (unattend.chm) should be available inside the WAIK

Copy all the Help Docs (about 10MB) from it and then you can uninstall if you want, WAIK is 1.7GB in size.

Edit t/y Urie: Autounattend.xml is the name used when it is at the root of any available drive. Windows automagically looks for that filename on every drive and copy/renames that file into your C:\Windows\Panther\Unattend.xml.

Edited November 7, 2009 by MrJinje

[urie]

@ MrJinje, just one point to note Autounttend.xml can be placed on floppy drive or usb thumbdrive and setup will grab it from there also. Very handy for testing purposes saves you burning dvd all the time.

[biatche]

So let me get this right, do you fellas actually use MDT or WAIK or any of those stuff? or just this single xml file?

[MrJinje]

So let me get this right, do you fellas actually use MDT or WAIK or any of those stuff? or just this single xml file?

Just the XML file. All the other stuff is useful in creating the XML file, but it is unneeded by 99% of readers Edited November 7, 2009 by MrJinje

[cluberti]

How do i setup partitions manually? By default it's all auto. Btw, i followed your guide, it works, but there are many things i still wish to customize :/

Look at the task sequence in MDT for your install - there's a section in the task sequence called "Preinstall", and under the "New Computer only" you'll have the "Format and partition hard disk" step. You can edit it here in the GUI if you'd like.