This article describes how to preinstall the Microsoft
Windows XP operating system.
IMPORTANT: If you plan to preinstall the Windows XP operating system for
the first time, and you do not have any other computers that are running
Windows XP, please read and follow the instructions in Part A and Part B of
this Quick Guide. If you already have Windows XP installed, please proceed to
Part B.
To prepare for the unattended installation of Windows, follow
these steps:
Choose a computer to use as the master computer, and then
configure the boot order in the BIOS with the CD-ROM drive as the first device,
the hard disk as the second device, and the floppy drive as the third
device.
NOTE: It may be necessary to contact the computer manufacturer to
adjust the settings in the computer BIOS.
NOTE: Your computer must have El-Torito No Emulation CD boot support
if it is an x86-based platform. If your system does not support El-Torito No
Emulation CD boot, see your Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (OPK) User Guide
for information about installing Windows.
Insert the Windows CD into the CD-ROM drive of the master
computer, and then boot the computer from the CD-ROM drive.
Windows
Setup starts automatically. Windows is installed in three stages: file copy,
text-mode Setup, and GUI-mode Setup. At the end of the three phases of Setup,
the operating system is completely installed.
Part B: Create a Winnt.sif Answer File
After Windows is installed on the master computer, build an
answer file for unattended installation of Windows by using the Setup Manager
Wizard (Setupmgr.exe).
The Preinstallation Tools are located in the
Support\Tools\Deploy.cab file on the OEM Windows product media that comes in
every OEM three-pack from your local Microsoft OEM Authorized Distributor. To
install the Setup Manager utility, follow these steps:
Open My Computer, and then open the Support\Tools
folder on the Windows XP CD-ROM.
Double-click the DEPLOY.CAB file to open it.
On the Edit menu, click Select All.
On the Edit menu, click Copy To Folder.
Click Make New Folder. Type the name that you want for the Setup Manager folder, and
then press ENTER. For example, type setup manager, and
then press ENTER.
Click Copy.
Open the folder that contains the Setup Manager files,
double-click Setupmgr.exe to start the Setup Manager Wizard, and then create a new answer
file.
For additional information about how to create an answer
file, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft
Knowledge Base:
Follow the onscreen instructions from the wizard to create
the answer file:
On the Product to Install page, click Windows Unattended Installation.
On the Distribution Folder page, click No, this
answer file will be used to install from a CD.
When you reach the Windows Setup Manager dialog box that prompts you for a location in which to store the
newly created file, insert a floppy disk into drive A:, type
a:\winnt.sif, and then click OK. You receive the following message:
The Setup Manager Wizard completed successfully. The following file(s) were created:
A:\WINNT.SIF
A:\WINNT.BAT
Click Exit on the File menu to quit the Setup Manager Wizard, and then label the floppy
disk that you created as "Windows Unattended Disk." If you want Windows Setup
to delete all partitions on the hard disk, and to create a new partition, you
must include the Repartition command in the Winnt.sif file. To do this, follow
these steps:
Start Windows Notepad, and then open the Winnt.sif file
that you created.
Under [Unattended], insert a new line, and then type the following code:
Repartition=Yes
Save the changes to the file, and then quit
Notepad.
Part C: Preinstall Windows from CD-ROM
On the target computer on which you want to preinstall
Windows, configure the boot order in the BIOS with the CD-ROM drive as the
first device, the hard drive as the second device, and the floppy drive as the
third device. NOTE: It may be necessary to contact the computer manufacturer to
adjust the settings in the computer BIOS.
Insert the Windows XP CD in the CD-ROM drive, and then
start the computer.
When the Windows Setup blue screen menu is displayed, insert the Windows Unattended Disk
that contains the Winnt.sif answer file that you just created.
NOTE: Your computer must have El-Torito No Emulation CD boot support
if it is an x86-based platform.
Windows Setup starts automatically.
Windows is installed in three stages: file copy, text-mode Setup, and GUI-mode
Setup. At the end of the three phases of Setup, the operating system is
completely installed.
Remove the floppy disk.
Restart the computer, and then start Windows to audit the
system and manually brand it before you run Sysprep and ship it to your
customer.
Part D: Brand Your System Manually
To add support information to the Windows Start menu, create an Oeminfo.ini file by using Windows Notepad, and
then copy it to the Windows\System32 folder.
When you use
Oeminfo.ini, the values in the [General] section and a Support Information button are displayed on the General tab of the System Properties dialog box.
The following is an example of the
Oeminfo.ini file:
[General]
Manufacturer = MyCompany, Inc.
Model = Brand X Processor
SupportURL = http://www.mycompany.com
LocalFile = C:\Winnt\Web\LocalFilename.htm
[Support Information]
Line1= For Technical Support:
Line2= to obtain updated drivers or for information on frequently
Line3= asked questions, visit the MyCompany technical
Line4= support web site at:
Line5=
Line6= http://www.mycompany.com/techsupport.
NOTE: The [General] and [Support Information] sections of the Oeminfo.ini file are required. Replace the
manufacturer, model, support URL, and local file information with your company
information. Be careful not to leave any trailing spaces after your company
name.
To add your logo to the System Properties window in the Control Panel, replace the sample Oemlogo.bmp file
included in this OPK with your company logo (bitmap image) in the
Windows\System32 subfolder.
NOTE: Your Oemlogo.bmp logo must be square and must measure 172 by 172
pixels. If your bitmap image is smaller than this specification, it appears
centered in the rectangle. If it is larger than this specification, part of it
might appear to be cropped under certain font and screen resolutions, or it
might not appear at all. Refer to "Chapter 6: Advanced Customization Topics" in
the OPK User Guide for more information about how to brand.
Part E: Use the System Preparation Tool (Sysprep.exe) to Prepare for Shipment
You can use Sysprep to do a thorough audit of preinstalled
computers. To do so, log on to the Windows environment, run your auditing or
testing tools, and then remove them. When you are finished, run Sysprep to
restore the computer to a ship-ready state for delivery to end-users. Sysprep
is the last program that you run before you ship a computer.
To
restore the computer to a ship-ready state:
On the Start menu, click Run, and then type cmd .
At the command prompt, change to the root of the system
drive, and then type md sysprep.
Copy Sysprep.exe, Setupcl.exe, and the optional Sysprep.inf
file from Tools on the Windows OPK Tools CD or from Support\Tools\Deploy.cab on
the Windows XP product CD to the Sysprep folder.
NOTE: Because Sysprep is not a duplicating utility and does not reset
the Event Viewer logs, the logs on the destination computers display the events
that occurred on the master computer. Make sure you clean up the event
logs.
At the command prompt, change to the Sysprep folder, and
then type Sysprep.
On the Windows System Preparation Tool
message that appears, click OK.
When you are ready to prepare the system, click Reseal, and then click OK.
When you are prompted to shut down the computer, remove the
Windows product CD or OPK Tools CD.
NOTE: After you run Sysprep on the computer, the timeout is set to two
seconds.
After the computer is restored to a ship-ready state, it is
ready to be shipped to the user along with any of the required Windows
materials as specified in your license agreement with Microsoft. Usually, these
items include:
Windows product CD
Certificate of Authenticity label affixed to the system
chassis
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