ArqFaim Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Hello to all. I'm trying to do a clean install of Oem XP Pro via an answer file. No drivers or apps install so it should be a straigthforward task ... not so. What I have: Unattend.bat (vars substituted below) and unattend.txt on floppy disk, XP Pro Oem on CD drive:F:\i386\winnt32 /s:F:\i386 /unattend:.\unattend.txt /copysource:lang;SetupMgrTag[Data] AutoPartition=0 MsDosInitiated="0" UnattendedInstall="No"[Unattended] UnattendMode=ProvideDefault Repartition=No FileSystem = * OemSkipEula=Yes OemPreinstall=No TargetPath=WinXP What happens: Start setup batch from cmd under existing XP (which I want to discard), press F6 and install Promise SATA driver, finishes copying files and reboots 2nd time. Then it shows me the partition table and when instructed to delete C: it answers it can't do it because it "contains temporary setup files" that it needs to complete installation. P.S. I have two additional partitions. Conclusion: I've been trying to install for two days now, reduced automation of the processes, quit the intention of automating drivers install, added Repartition=No, FileSystem = * after reading another post to this forum. Tried variations of Autopartition and Msdosinitiated. The problem subsists. I would be happy with a pre-setup format of C: but, given the SATA drive and the need for some kind of DOS to start setup from I'm guessing it would be more complicated. Help me please Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanVM Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Why do you need to start setup from DOS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buletov Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 If you start setup from dos you can't delete partition, this is normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanVM Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 If you start setup from dos you can't delete partition, this is normal.That answers that then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxXPsoft Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 (edited) Nope have to do the Fdisk thing first with a 98 or ME floppy. and on XP why?I have a floppy drive method here if you wanthttp://www.maxxpsoft.com/xpinstall.php? Edited September 13, 2004 by maxXPsoft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArqFaim Posted September 13, 2004 Author Share Posted September 13, 2004 How should I start Unattend.bat then ? Click-click in Explorer?Edit: I have since tried double clicking to start the batch file. It's the same as running from the run box or a cmd window (actually all methods open a cmd window). Also it seems this is not equivalent to to start setup from DOS, RyanVm. If so WINNT32.EXE wouldn't work and WINNT.EXE would. This is not the case.Thanks for trying anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanVM Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 How should I start Unattend.bat then ? Click-click in Explorer?Why not just boot from the CD and use winnt.sif? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArqFaim Posted September 13, 2004 Author Share Posted September 13, 2004 Hi RyanVm,Why not just boot from the CD and use winnt.sif?Doesn't that imply that winnt.sif be also burned on CD?Should I copy the cd to the HD along with the winnt.sif?Won't that cause the same type of problem?Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buletov Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 you can have winnt.sif on a floppy and boot from cdsetup check for it at the begining Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanVM Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Hi RyanVm,Why not just boot from the CD and use winnt.sif?Doesn't that imply that winnt.sif be also burned on CD?Should I copy the cd to the HD along with the winnt.sif?Won't that cause the same type of problem?Thanks for the help! Yes, winnt.sif resides in the i386 directory of the XP install CD. No, it doesn't get copied over to the hard drive (not directory, anyway). XP setup looks for the presence of the file and if it sees it, it uses it to get the setup parameters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArqFaim Posted September 13, 2004 Author Share Posted September 13, 2004 Yes, winnt.sif resides in the i386 directory of the XP install CDWell, that's a dead end for me. I have no software or hardware to burn CDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazin Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Your switches won't work under DOS, however. This works under DOS:winnt.exe /s:%SetupFiles% /u:%AnswerFile% /t:C:\ /rx:.\LANGYou'd better read this: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=24252 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArqFaim Posted September 13, 2004 Author Share Posted September 13, 2004 Mazin, thank you for your reply. I tried the new command but it didn't work because I Start setup batch from cmd under existing XP... I also tried to boot from a CD to FreeDOS. But it didn't find my floppy drive and the modified unattend.bat on it. It also didn't find my HD partitions but that was expected because they need the fasttrack.sys driver because its a SATA drive so it probably needs an entry ina config.sys... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
argon007 Posted September 13, 2004 Share Posted September 13, 2004 Do you have CD Burner and CD Burner software? If yes, then your problem will be solved.(Out of topic: I use the VMware to go to the Internet, and it is still not habit for me.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArqFaim Posted September 13, 2004 Author Share Posted September 13, 2004 Ok. I solved my problem. Thanks to all that contributed.The one that led me in the right direction though, was Buletov on his second entry. A simple solution to a basic problem, so here it is again: The way to force a format of C: while installing with an answer file is to boot from the installation CD and have winnt.sif on a floppy where it will be searched for. Of course the parameters on the answer file (must be winnt.sif not *.txt) have to be correct.Thank you all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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