[AndyJD]

Thought I would post my sucess of using WAIK and in particular Windows System Image Manager to automate my install of Vista Ultimate, with the ProgramData and Users folders on different partitions. It' pretty much all automatic except for the 1st point below. It sure is a lot quicker

I can't get 2 things to work at the moment:

• Still asks for network location (as mentioned earier in this topic by someone else
  
• SearchScopes

I am sure I will figure it out though

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
	<settings pass="windowsPE">
		<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
			<DiskConfiguration>
				<WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
				<Disk wcm:action="add">
					<ModifyPartitions>
						<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
							<Active>true</Active>
							<Extend>false</Extend>
							<Format>NTFS</Format>
							<Label>Vista</Label>
							<Letter>C</Letter>
							<Order>1</Order>
							<PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
						</ModifyPartition>
						<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
							<Active>false</Active>
							<Label>Programs</Label>
							<Letter>D</Letter>
							<Order>2</Order>
							<PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
							<Extend>false</Extend>
						</ModifyPartition>
						<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
							<Active>false</Active>
							<Extend>false</Extend>
							<Label>Games</Label>
							<Letter>E</Letter>
							<Order>3</Order>
							<PartitionID>3</PartitionID>
						</ModifyPartition>
						<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
							<Active>false</Active>
							<Extend>false</Extend>
							<Format>NTFS</Format>
							<Label>Users</Label>
							<Letter>F</Letter>
							<Order>4</Order>
							<PartitionID>4</PartitionID>
						</ModifyPartition>
					</ModifyPartitions>
					<DiskID>0</DiskID>
				</Disk>
			</DiskConfiguration>
			<Display>
				<ColorDepth>32</ColorDepth>
				<HorizontalResolution>1280</HorizontalResolution>
				<RefreshRate>60</RefreshRate>
				<VerticalResolution>1024</VerticalResolution>
			</Display>
			<DynamicUpdate>
				<Enable>true</Enable>
			</DynamicUpdate>
			<ImageInstall>
				<OSImage>
					<InstallFrom>
						<Path>H:\install.wim</Path>
					</InstallFrom>
					<InstallTo>
						<DiskID>0</DiskID>
						<PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
					</InstallTo>
				</OSImage>
			</ImageInstall>
			<UserData>
				<ProductKey>
					<Key>ABCDE-FGHIJ-KLMNO-PQRST-UVWXY</Key>
					<WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
				</ProductKey>
				<AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
				<FullName>My Name</FullName>
				<Organization>Home</Organization>
			</UserData>
		</component>
		<component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
			<SetupUILanguage>
				<UILanguage>en-GB</UILanguage>
			</SetupUILanguage>
			<InputLocale>0809:00000809</InputLocale>
			<UILanguage>en-GB</UILanguage>
			<UserLocale>en-GB</UserLocale>
			<SystemLocale>en-GB</SystemLocale>
			<UILanguageFallback>en-GB</UILanguageFallback>
		</component>
	</settings>
	<settings pass="oobeSystem">
		<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
			<FolderLocations>
				<ProfilesDirectory>F:\Users</ProfilesDirectory>
				<ProgramData>D:\ProgramData</ProgramData>
			</FolderLocations>
			<OOBE>
				<HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
				<NetworkLocation>Home</NetworkLocation>
				<ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
				<SkipUserOOBE>true</SkipUserOOBE>
			</OOBE>
			<UserAccounts>
				<LocalAccounts>
					<LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
						<Password>
							<Value>??????????</Value>
							<PlainText>false</PlainText>
						</Password>
						<Description>Name 1</Description>
						<DisplayName>Name 1</DisplayName>
						<Group>Administrators</Group>
						<Name>Name 1</Name>
					</LocalAccount>
					<LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
						<Password>
							<Value>??????????</Value>
							<PlainText>false</PlainText>
						</Password>
						<Description>Name 2</Description>
						<DisplayName>Name 2</DisplayName>
						<Name>Name 2</Name>
						<Group>Users</Group>
					</LocalAccount>
				</LocalAccounts>
			</UserAccounts>
		</component>
	</settings>
	<settings pass="specialize">
		<component name="Microsoft-Windows-UnattendedJoin" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
			<Identification>
				<JoinWorkgroup>workgroup</JoinWorkgroup>
			</Identification>
		</component>
		<component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
			<InputLocale>en-GB</InputLocale>
			<SystemLocale>en-GB</SystemLocale>
			<UILanguage>en-GB</UILanguage>
			<UILanguageFallback>en-GB</UILanguageFallback>
			<UserLocale>en-GB</UserLocale>
		</component>
		<component name="Microsoft-Windows-IE-InternetExplorer" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
			<FavoritesList>
				<FavoriteItem wcm:action="add">
					<FavTitle>MSFN - Where People Go To Know</FavTitle>
					<FavURL>http://www.msfn.org/</FavURL>
					<FavID>Favorite1</FavID>
					<FavOffLine>true</FavOffLine>
				</FavoriteItem>
			</FavoritesList>
			<FeedList>
				<FeedItem wcm:action="add">
					<FeedKey>Feed1</FeedKey>
					<FeedURL>http://feeds.feedburner.com/msfn/DisI</FeedURL>
					<FeedTitle>MSFN - Frontpage News</FeedTitle>
				</FeedItem>
			</FeedList>
			<SearchScopes>
				<Scope wcm:action="add">
					<ScopeDefault>true</ScopeDefault>
					<ScopeDisplayName>Google UK</ScopeDisplayName>
					<ScopeKey>Google UK</ScopeKey>
					<ScopeUrl>http://www.google.co.uk</ScopeUrl>
				</Scope>
				<Scope wcm:action="add">
					<ScopeDisplayName>Google UK Images</ScopeDisplayName>
					<ScopeKey>Google UK Images</ScopeKey>
					<ScopeUrl>http://images.google.co.uk</ScopeUrl>
				</Scope>
				<Scope wcm:action="add">
					<ScopeDisplayName>Windows Live</ScopeDisplayName>
					<ScopeKey>Windows Live</ScopeKey>
					<ScopeUrl>http://search.live.com</ScopeUrl>
				</Scope>
			</SearchScopes>
			<BlockPopups>yes</BlockPopups>
			<ShowInformationBar>true</ShowInformationBar>
			<Home_Page>about:blank</Home_Page>
		</component>
		<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
			<ComputerName>My Computer Name</ComputerName>
			<RegisteredOrganization>Home</RegisteredOrganization>
			<RegisteredOwner>My Name</RegisteredOwner>
			<TimeZone>GMT Standard Time</TimeZone>
		</component>
	</settings>
	<cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="wim:h:/install.wim#Windows Vista ULTIMATE" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

[wng_z3r0]

McoreD, on Nov 19 2006, 04:29 PM, said:

wng_z3r0, things that you should be careful / know about:

If you have changed drive letters using Device Manager, they won't be the actual drive letters for Vista when you install Vista by booting DVD. So make sure your F:\ is actually F:\ and P:\ is really P:\

When you install Vista via DVD to a partition, that partition will be C:\ therefore all other partition letters will increment by one character.

Ok, thanks. So I should just make a ton of dummy partitions to force the ones I want to be f and p?

[McoreD]

You can boot from an attended DVD and get up to installation stage where you can see which partitions got which letters.

[footswitch]

wng_z3r0, on Nov 21 2006, 01:55 AM, said:

Ok, thanks. So I should just make a ton of dummy partitions to force the ones I want to be f and p?

nope, you can specify the letters you want. just change D, E or F to anything you want, like:

<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
<Active>false</Active>
<Label>Programs</Label>
<Letter>P</Letter>
<Order>2</Order>
<PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
<Format>NTFS</Format>
<Extend>false</Extend>
</ModifyPartition>

careful using the format option, it will erase the selected partition.

if you don't know your partitionID, just take a look at your disk's partitions in computer management.

my program files registry edition works. feel free to try it.

footswitch

[hyde]

hey friends plz tell me where to paste the unattended.xml to my windows setup so that i can customise the installation process

[wng_z3r0]

footswitch, on Nov 23 2006, 04:16 PM, said:

wng_z3r0, on Nov 21 2006, 01:55 AM, said:

Ok, thanks. So I should just make a ton of dummy partitions to force the ones I want to be f and p?

nope, you can specify the letters you want. just change D, E or F to anything you want, like:

<ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
<Active>false</Active>
<Label>Programs</Label>
<Letter>P</Letter>
<Order>2</Order>
<PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
<Format>NTFS</Format>
<Extend>false</Extend>
</ModifyPartition>

careful using the format option, it will erase the selected partition.

if you don't know your partitionID, just take a look at your disk's partitions in computer management.

my program files registry edition works. feel free to try it.

footswitch

Ok thanks!

[footswitch]

hyde, on Nov 26 2006, 08:33 AM, said:

hey friends plz tell me where to paste the unattended.xml to my windows setup so that i can customise the installation process

hi there,
you have 3 options that i know of:

a ) place the file in the root of a USB pen drive and insert it BEFORE booting with the WinVista DVD;
b ) do the same thing but with a diskette;
c ) place the file in the root of your boot DVD.

good luck

This post has been edited by footswitch: 27 November 2006 - 10:42 AM

[wng_z3r0]

Ok, I tried this:
It installed, and now I have my two drives, BUT they just have folders in them (no files)

Also, on the partition where I installed vista, there is a users folder and a program files folder (filled)

any ideas?
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
<settings pass="oobeSystem">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<FolderLocations>
<ProfilesDirectory>f:\</ProfilesDirectory>
<ProgramData>p:\</ProgramData>
</FolderLocations>
</component>
</settings>
<settings pass="windowsPE">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<DiskConfiguration>
<Disk wcm:action="add">
<ModifyPartitions>
<ModifyPartition wcm:action="modify">
<Active>false</Active>
<Extend>false</Extend>
<Format>NTFS</Format>
<Label>vista F drive</Label>
<Letter>F</Letter>
<Order>1</Order>
<PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
</ModifyPartition>
<ModifyPartition wcm:action="modify">
<Order>2</Order>
<Active>false</Active>
<Extend>false</Extend>
<Format>NTFS</Format>
<Label>vista P drive</Label>
<Letter>P</Letter>
<PartitionID>3</PartitionID>
</ModifyPartition>
</ModifyPartitions>
<DiskID>0</DiskID>
<WillWipeDisk>false</WillWipeDisk>
</Disk>
<WillShowUI>Always</WillShowUI>
</DiskConfiguration>
</component>
</settings>
<cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="wim:p:/vista/vista_x64/sources/install.wim#Windows Vista ULTIMATE" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

This post has been edited by wng_z3r0: 27 November 2006 - 01:55 PM

[wng_z3r0]

bah forget it.

I just installed the regular way and then used symbolic links.

Works now

[footswitch]

wng_z3r0: Strange... wonder if the xml file must have the exact installation order... (you could try putting oobesystem AFTER windowspe)
I took a look at your file and mine is similar to it, and it worked.

wng_z3r0, on Nov 27 2006, 08:51 PM, said:

bah forget it.

I just installed the regular way and then used symbolic links.

Works now

Are you sure of that? I mean, that doesn't change at all where your files are located. Best case changes where files WILL be located from now on, right?

Anyways, I never used symlinks... but can you tell me what's your point on that method?

Thanks

[McoreD]

footswitch,

Why did you cross out "you can delete the old Program Files folder!" in
5. After rebooting successfully, you can delete the old Program Files folder! you're ready to go!

afterwards?

[footswitch]

McoreD, on Nov 28 2006, 11:58 AM, said:

footswitch,

Why did you cross out "you can delete the old Program Files folder!" in
5. After rebooting successfully, you can delete the old Program Files folder! you're ready to go!

afterwards?

--> The old post is now re-edited.

Well with RTM I found out that AT LEAST Win Internet Explorer and Win Media Player are installed with absolute paths, that is, when you click their links, you're trying to reach "%SystemDrive%\Program Files" and not %ProgramFiles% itself. I suppose that other Windows pre-installed products will have the same behaviour, and I preferred to leave those ~500MB there rather than deleting them, to avoid future issues.

BUT anyways one has to copy at least the "Common Files" folder to the new location, but I copied the whole Program Files folder for the same reason. This is all due to lack of knowledge about what exactly it needs in one side and in the other.

This post has been edited by footswitch: 28 November 2006 - 08:02 AM

[Daedlus]

Hi there,

What Im trying to do is do an unattended install with D:\Users. Problem is that after the first install it will not point to the old folders if I reinstall, it only appends the computer name to user folder. Example:
first install:
D:\Users\Daedlus

Second install, it takes my computer name and appends it to my user name, if the first installs user files have not moved:
D:\Users\Daedlus.mshome

What I want it to do is point to D:\Users\Daedlus after every install. Anybody have any ideas. I have tryed coping the files to a temp dir and deleting the D:\Daedlus, but I cant get it to work. Any help is appreciated.

This post has been edited by Daedlus: 28 November 2006 - 09:54 AM

[footswitch]

Daedlus, on Nov 28 2006, 03:53 PM, said:

Hi there,

What Im trying to do is do an unattended install with D:\Users. Problem is that after the first install it will not point to the old folders if I reinstall, it only appends the computer name to user folder. Example:
first install:
D:\Users\Daedlus

Second install, it takes my computer name and appends it to my user name, if the first installs user files have not moved:
D:\Users\Daedlus.mshome

What I want it to do is point to D:\Users\Daedlus after every install. Anybody have any ideas. I have tryed coping the files to a temp dir and deleting the D:\Daedlus, but I cant get it to work. Any help is appreciated.

Hi there,
AFAIK, you should respect this behaviour because each user has a sort of unique I.D. within its O.S., so many of the settings contained in the first folder wouldn't be compatible with the new installation. To avoid that problem, I suggest the following solutions:

a ) boot into some Live O.S. or a different O.S. that you have installed in your system;
b ) plug your hard disk as secundary in another system

After doing ( a ) or ( b ), rename the old folders (users and programdata).

Then:
Reinstall windows
Move the old documents, downloads, pictures, etc. to the new location
Remove the rest...

This post has been edited by footswitch: 28 November 2006 - 11:02 AM

[wng_z3r0]

This is what I did:

1. I installed vista.
2. On the desktop, right click and make a shortcut
3. In the path type in CMD
4. Hit next until the shortcut is made
5. Right click and hit run as admin
6. type in cd..
7. keep doing that until you are at c:\
8. type in

mklink /d /j "Program Files1" "D:\This is the new location for my program files"

Repeat for the other directories you want to move.
ex:

mklink /d /j "Users" "F:\coolest people ever"

Then boot into another operating system. I used Bart PE.
Move the c:\program files folder to D:\This is the new location for my program files"
Then rename ProgramFiles1 to ProgramFiles

Boot into Vista

If you want, you can now make symbolic links to your files instead of junctions.
Since c:\program files is actually a junction, you can delete it without trouble.
the code for a symbolic link is the same thing without the /j switch:

mklink /d "Program Files" "D:\This is the new location for my program files"

Now you can change these registry settings if you want:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

and
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\shell folders
wng

This post has been edited by wng_z3r0: 29 November 2006 - 07:16 AM

[footswitch]

wng_z3r0,

that's nice... really

but you can do that same symlink right into another Windows NT O.S., in order to do all the steps without restarting, right?

Well if it works with absolutely no flaws, then it's a great workaround to those who don't want to care about XML autoconfig files!

Anyways it's a good parallel solution to the one I provided for changing %programfiles%. The difference is this changes it without changing it

Nice idea, I had never thought of it!

[wng_z3r0]

No, other NT operating systems only understand hard links and junctions (not true symlinks)

And hard links don't let you jump across drive letters, thus I had to use junctions. (trust me I tried everything to make it work )
and other OS's don't have the tools to make junctions by default. They are in the SDK, and I didn't feel like downloading anything. Since I already had Vista installed.... I just used it.

This post has been edited by wng_z3r0: 29 November 2006 - 05:03 PM

[alantangcs]

Hi all,
I'm probably not adding any new knowledge to this post, but I've been tracking this discussion as I too am very eager to install Vista on my new laptop (coming soon) with Program Files and User Profiles on separate partitions.

After reading all your responses, I *think* this might be the closest I could get to have ProgramFiles, ProgramData and Users on their own separate partitions. Let me stress that I haven't tested this yet so I wouldn't recommend anyone try this until someone's confirmed it works.

1. Use WSIM to create an answer file to install ProgramData and ProgramFiles on their own partitions.

2. Install Vista.

3. Boot into Vista and XCOPY C:\Program Files to another partition. XCOPY has options to preserve permissions and file ownerships which I'm not 100% a copy in Windows Explorer does.

4. Change the keys in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\* to point to the new locations (including Common Files.

5. At this point it's probably worth a reboot to see if the programs are working properly.

6. As someone mentioned before, some default Windows programs are installed with a reference to "%systemdrive%\Program Files" so I'll probably have to manually change some links. On a fresh install of Vista, there shouldn't be too many. Also this step is optional because of step 10 (see later).

7. Again, reboot and try some default apps like WMP.

8. Boot into a BartPE CD and *rename* "C:\Program Files" to something else (I wouldn't delete it yet). This step is probably necessary because if you are in Vista, some files will be in use and you will not be able to touch the folder.

9. Boot back into Vista and make sure some programs work. It's probably not possible to test every single program in Windows so I recommend step 10.

10. Create a symbollic link on C: to your new Program Files, Program Data and Users folders on other partitions. The reasoning for this is, if I missed anything in step 6, at least C:\Program Files exists and links to a location that contains the actual files. Also, you never know what naughty developers might hardcode paths in their setup files.

11. Use Vista for a few weeks and when I'm happy with the system, delete the renamed Program Files folder on C:.

If I've missed anything, please do let me know. After I've tried this on my laptop, I'll let everyone know my results.

[wng_z3r0]

Yep, that's pretty much it.

Quote

some files will be in use and you will not be able to touch the folder.

No, the reason is because Vista will NOT give you the necessary permissions, regardless whether the folder is in use. Only 'trusted installers' have access to the folder, and I don't know if those trustee rights are enough. It's vista DRM at it's finest Same reason why you can't replace c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe


Also change these keys:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\shell folders

The names are self explanatory.

One last comment. If you are using vista x64, you have to edit the WoW6432Node registry mirrors too.

wng

This post has been edited by wng_z3r0: 07 December 2006 - 07:20 AM

[footswitch]

-- WARNING -- Currently unsolved issue

Alright, I got a good one

If we follow these steps (changing the Autounattend.xml to place documents and settings in another partition), the "preinstalled" symlinks will be ruined.

Try to open your Documents folder and then, inside it, open My Pictures, My Music or My Videos. These links are actually (or were supposed to be) symbolic links.

My Pictures should link to ../Pictures
My Music should link to ../Music
... and so on.

The system will display an error dialog like "access denied bla bla bla", but the fact is that the symbolic link isn't working properly. Just right-click the link and choose properties. The properties window should provide the absolute path, but it does not.

Try to create a simple symbolic link in vista, and see the difference in the properties window of your symlink.

UPDATE: Open "cmd" and "cd" into your documents folder. "dir /AL" its contents.
my pictures, my music and my video are listed as <JUNCTION>, but they don't act likewise.
Also, when you access "This User\My Documents", you should be redirected to "This User\Documents", and so on.
There's a LOT of symlinks going inside the Users folder.

Quote

E:\VistaUsers\footswitch>cd documents

E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\Documents>dir /al
Volume in drive E is DATA
Volume Serial Number is 4444-CDF0

Directory of E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\Documents

15-11-2006 16:50 <JUNCTION> My Music [E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\Music]
15-11-2006 16:50 <JUNCTION> My Pictures [E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\Pictur
es]
15-11-2006 16:50 <JUNCTION> My Videos [E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\Videos]
0 File(s) 0 bytes
3 Dir(s) 1.086.521.344 bytes free

E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\Documents>cd my music

E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\Documents\My Music>dir
Volume in drive E is DATA
Volume Serial Number is 4444-CDF0

Directory of E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\Documents\My Music

File Not Found

E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\Documents\My Music>cd..\..

E:\VistaUsers\footswitch>cd my documents

E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\My Documents>dir
Volume in drive E is DATA
Volume Serial Number is 4444-CDF0

Directory of E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\My Documents

File Not Found

E:\VistaUsers\footswitch\My Documents>exit

Any ideas to overcome the issue? I have none. This could be a bug in Vista Unattended Install.

EDIT: typos and incoherent info

This post has been edited by footswitch: 12 December 2006 - 07:11 AM