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AnswerDeploying Custom Xp Image/creating Unattended.xml

  • Friday, July 03, 2009 9:17 AMSt.Sparky Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     
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    Hi there,

    I am having a problem with WDS and my custom xp image, the image and deployment work well on the pxe side of things and i eventually managed to get a discover image disc to work for the non PXE computers. The problem is the HAL issue with the Xp image. I have read alot on this and have tried many methods, most are ineffective and the rest are not as effective as i'd like. The one method that i found on a microsoft forum is to create the unattended install files and assign then to the image on the server to bypass the hal check. and this is where i have a problem, windows SIM keeps throwing me errors when i try to use it to create these files.

    If i tell it to open my custom image it tells me it cannot create the catalog files, and i must make sure i have read/write permissions, which i do.

    And if i ask it to open the boot.wim on the vista cd(after copying it to my HDD) it tells me there is not enough space to create the registry log file, but the systems drive has 30GB free as well as a second drive with over 150GB free.

    So there is my issue, any help with fixing windows SIM or another way to create the .xml, or even away to get rid of the HAL check would be greatly appreciated.
     

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  • Friday, July 03, 2009 10:12 AMTim Quan - MSFTMSFT, ModeratorUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
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    Hi,

     

    We can only use WSIM to generate Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 unattend files. And it can only open install.wim files. This is why you cannot use WSIM to generate a Windows XP unattend file or a boot.wim file.

     

    To generate a Windows XP unattend file, you can use Setup Manager (setupmgr.exe).

     

    The following article should be helpful:

     

    A geeks guide to Windows XP HAL Replacement

    http://www.myitforum.com/articles/15/view.asp?id=8997

     

    Related information:

     

    Deploying Windows XP with the WAIK

    http://207.46.16.252/en-us/magazine/2008.04.desktopfiles.aspx

     

    How to force a Hardware Abstraction Layer during an upgrade or an installation of Windows XP

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299340/en-us

     

    HAL options after Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Setup

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309283/en-us

     

    How to Determine the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) That Is Used in Windows XP

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/298898/en-us

     

    Hope it helps.

     

    Tim Quan - MSFT

     

     
  • Friday, July 03, 2009 11:49 AMSt.Sparky Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     
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    Ah well that answers that question. Thanks for the quick reply, your info pointed me to another technet post (http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserversetup/thread/d0b2a517-72a7-4bec-98b8-f695e7500323) where they explain where to put the sysprep.inf file on your server.

    so far from what i have seen the PXE computers that could not see the xp image now do, which a big step in the right direction. But the non-PXE computers that use he discover image still don't, is that maybe because they are non-PXE computers so they miss the step where they should locate the sysprep.inf on the server?

    If so that would mean i have to put the sysprep.inf file on the discovery image...this is a guess? If my guess is correct, where would i but the sysprep.inf file on the discover image?
     
  • Monday, July 06, 2009 3:51 AMTim Quan - MSFTMSFT, ModeratorUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     
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    Hi,

     

    No, you do not need to place the sysprep.inf file into the discovery boot image. Author Sysprep.inf by using Setup Manager and then save these files to the $OEM$ structure of the image (for example, D:\RemoteInstall\Images\Windows XP\winxpsp2\$OEM$\$1\sysprep\sysprep.inf). when you deploy the image, Setup will automatically locate and use the Sysprep.inf file.

     

    Now I suggest recreating the discovery boot image to test the result.

     

    Related information:

     

    Automating Setup

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc730695(WS.10).aspx

     

    Creating Discover Images

    http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637996(WS.10).aspx

     

    Hope it helps.

     

    Tim Quan - MSFT

     

     
  • Monday, July 06, 2009 9:10 AMSt.Sparky Users MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers MedalsUsers Medals
     
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    Hi Tim,

    thanks for the info. sadly i tried what you suggested but no luck, the discover image works from the point of view that i can contact the server. but i still cannot see the xp image, only the vista images. But an Acer laptop with a centrino processor that i have here which also has completely different hardware compared to the intel core 2 pc i used as the reference machine can see all the images over PXE. so im stumped, donno if you have anymore suggestions?