How to Prepare a bootable USB disk for Windows XP OEM (SLP) Setup

[uruiamme]

This uses the Unattended Installation technique, however there are some other options in Part 4.

(author note: I would like to add more relevant inline links, so please help out by posting a brief reply with link and its place.)

The main idea here is to obtain a pre-activated version of Windows XP by:

• Taking a Windows XP disk image or iso
• Modifying it to add or remove options
• Adding a slew of hardware drivers compatible with old and new hardware
• Customizing it for a particular OEM, like Dell, HP, Sony, Asus, or Lenovo
• Creating a bootable USB disk, memory stick, thumb drive, jump drive, etc.
• Booting to the USB disk and running Windows setup from bare metal
• Linking to the webpages that are relevant to each and every part.

Part 1: Make sure your Target hardware will work:

1. Test the USB boot capability of your Target hardware!!
2. Check whether a SLIC 1, 2, or 2.1 BIOS string exists for your Target hardware!
3. Obtain drivers, especially network, chipset, video, and SATA drivers for Target hardware!
4. Note on some hardware: some USB ports may be old/slow 1.1 or fast 3.0. Try a 2.0 port.
5. Note on some hardware: you may need to edit CMOS settings, like AHCI, USB legacy mode, etc.
6. Note on some hardware: you may need to flash the BIOS to boot from USB.
7. Note on some hardware: you may need to modify the BIOS to add correct SLIC tables.
8. Note on some hardware: you may need to remove extra devices to boot or for Setup to complete.
9. Note on some hardware: you may need to hit a key during POST to get a boot menu.
10. Note on some hardware: you may need to manually power down system when Setup calls for a reboot.

Part 2: On your running computer:

1. Uncompress the Windows XP (with SP3) iso to C:\XPOEM using WinRAR or 7-Zip.
2. Need the 4 OEMBIOS files for your hardware. Put them in C:\XPOEM\i386 and overwrite them.
3. Get the oeminfo and oemlogo (OEM branding files) files to be neat. See These 2 files go in C:\XPOEM\$OEM$\$\SYSTEM32.
4. Obtain (easy way) or create/edit (advanced way) the 2 files needed for OEM SLP install.
5. Edit C:\XPOEM\i386\WINNT.SIF for unattended OEM SLP install, include the key you need (See below for working keys)
6. Edit C:\XPOEM\i386\SETUPP.INI for OEM install by adding the OEM string.
7. There is one great place to learn about unattended installs. http://technet.micro...28WS.10%29.aspx and if that is not enough, try the decent http://unattended.ms...xp/view/web/19/ (which has its limits)
8. Run nLite http://www.nliteos.com/ to configure any special parameters or add updates to slipstream.
9. Run DPs_BASE to add DriverPacks http://driverpacks.net/ to Windows Setup. See http://users.telenet...e/Eng_tut6b.htm for DriverPack How to!
10. Wipe and prepare a USB memory stick that you know will boot to the Target hardware. (Use Windows Explorer in most cases.)
11. Run WinSetupFromUSB GUI http://www.msfn.org/...omusb-with-gui/ to partition, add MBR, format NTFS, and dump your C:\XPOEM onto USB drive.
12. Sometimes may have to use an edited NTDETECT.COM file and place it into i386 directory at this step (see below for why).

a few comments for your WINNT.SIF file.........
;Windows XP Professional (32-bit)	MVF4D-W774K-MC4VM-QY6XY-R38TB 
;Windows XP Professional (64-bit)	FM634-HJ3QK-6QVTY-RJY4R-XCR9J
;Windows XP Tablet PC Edition		XT67V-GY7FW-GR6FR-WDK2C-8T97J
;Other keys may exist for XP Home OEM SLP

Part 3: Install Windows XP on your Target hardware:

1. Put USB disk into best port, and power on the machine. You may need to press a key for boot menu.
2. When booting to the USB disk the first time, select the Windows XP/2000/2003 Setup, FIRST PART.
3. Hit F6 when prompted if your C: drive will need an unusual or special driver (some SATA).
4. Otherwise, do normal XP Setup. If BSOD crash when switching to 43-line mode, try hacked NTDETECT.COM.
5. The blue screen of death will be 0x7B or 0x0000007B See http://www.msfn.org/...009#entry738009
6. If hacked NTDETECT.COM doesn't work, try removing more hardware or move to different USB ports.
7. After Text Mode setup reboots, Select SECOND PART or merely let the Hard drive boot.
8. GUI mode Setup may ask for CD-ROM (D:\XPPSP3\I386\something.dl_), try reinserting USB disk.

Part 4: When Unattended installation by USB disk does not work or is too slow, etc.

1. Your target hardware may be incapable of USB booting, if so try burning a CD-R or buy CD-RW.
2. With a CD-R or CD-RW, the installation is a bit simpler if your Target hardware has a CD-ROM drive.
3. You may have technical difficulties with unattended installs, or you like sysprep.
4. You can switch to other types of OEM installs, traditionally using your COA sticker's license key.
5. Other techniques for pre-activated OEM SLP installs of Windows XP: choose sysprep, OOBEinfo, and manual options.
6. Many more issues are covered in the FAQ! http://www.msfn.org/...ic/116766-faqs/ Some common issues are getting HAL errors, wrong drive letters, and unbootable device errors.
7. In all cases, if you do not understand your error or problem, type in the exact text or description of the error into Google and look for links to MSFN or MyDigitalLife first, then try other sites known to troubleshoot errors (tomshardware, expertsexchange) or Microsoft-related sites.
8. Try adding terms like "winSetupfromusb" and what you are doing to your search, like "Windows XP SLP winsetupfromusb BSOD text mode"

Edited April 25, 2011 by Tripredacus
removed links

[uruiamme]

Here is a sampling of my WINNT.SIF file for unattended install. I went relatively conservative, but I added comments in case I want to go more customized. These settings are for a U.S.A. person in Central Time Zone. Note that System Restore is disabled in this one, or at least it should be, but I don't think this method works.

;SetupMgrTag
[Data]
	AutoPartition="0"
	UnattendedInstall=Yes
  AutomaticUpdates=no
	MsDosInitiated="0"
;See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc757642%28WS.10%29.aspx
;See also http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457100.aspx
;From http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/151114-how-to-prepare-a-bootable-usb-disk-for-windows-xp-oem-slp-setup/
;Custom WINNT.SIF by uruiamme

[Unattended]
	KeyboardLayout=US
	OemSkipEula=Yes
	TargetPath=\WINDOWS
	WaitForReboot=Yes
	Repartition=No
  UnattendSwitch = Yes
 FactoryMode=No
;Switch to FactoryMode=Yes for a boot for sysprep. This is pretty powerful but mostly unnecessary.
 DUDisable=Yes
	OemPreinstall=Yes
	DriverSigningPolicy=Ignore
	NonDriverSigningPolicy=Ignore
;Yes is default. Set to DUDisable = No for Dynamic Updates

[GuiUnattended]
	AdminPassword=*
	EncryptedAdminPassword=No
	OEMSkipRegional=1
	OemSkipWelcome=1
  TimeZone=020

[UserData]
	ProductKey=MVF4D-W774K-MC4VM-QY6XY-R38TB

;From wikipedia:
;
;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_Locked_Preinstallation
;
;Info on SLP OEM keys for System Locked Preinstallation
;Product Name				Product Key

[RegionalSettings]
Language=0409
LanguageGroup=1

[Shell]
DefaultStartPanelOff=Yes
;Yes Makes Windows XP use old Start Menu
DefaultThemesOff=No
;Yes Makes Windows XP look like Windows 2000


[Display]
   BitsPerPel=32
   Xresolution=1024
   YResolution=768
   Vrefresh=60

[SystemRestore]
DisableSR=1
CreateFirstRunRp=0

[Identification]
   JoinWorkgroup=WORKGROUP

[Networking]
   InstallDefaultComponents=Yes

[IEPopupBlocker]
  BlockPopups=Yes
  FilterLevel=Low

[Components]
   msmsgs=off
Chat=off
MSNExplr=off
ZoneGames=Off

[Branding]
BrandIEUsingUnattended=Yes


[FavoritesEx]
Title1 = Google.url
URL1 = http://www.google.com/
Title2 = Mozilla.url
URL2 = http://www.mozilla.com/


[URL]
Home_Page=http://www.google.com/
;I don't like these Quick Links, but here are examples.
;Quick_Link_1_Name = "Google"
;Quick_Link_1 = http://www.google.com/   
;Quick_Link_2_Name = "Mozilla"
;Quick_Link_2 = http://www.mozilla.com/   

For another interesting WINNT.SIF file, see http://www.multiboot.ru/winntsif.txt

Edited April 25, 2011 by Tripredacus
removed product keys

[Tripredacus]

Part 1: Make sure your Target hardware will work:

Note on some hardware: you may need to modify the BIOS to add correct SLIC tables.

Discussions regarding the circumvention of legal Windows activation is againt the first MSFN rule.