PRB: Editing the Windows NT 4.0 Unattended Setup Script To Insert (181357)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0
- Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0
This article was previously published under Q181357 SYMPTOMS
Following the instructions from "Deployment Guide: Automating Windows NT
Setup," a user who wishes to replace settings that are unique to the
computer such as computername, can interrupt the unattended installation
after character mode setup is completed. The user can start the computer in
MS-DOS mode, and edit the file, C:\$WIN_NT$.~BT\WINNT.SIF. When the user
restarts the computer in the Windows NT GUI mode setup, the unattended
installation completes. However, the modifications introduced into
Winnt.sif do not take effect. The defaults from the original Unattend.txt
take precedence.
CAUSE
The wrong file, Winnt.sif, is being edited.
MORE INFORMATION
In an unattended installation over a network, the Windows NT files are
copied from the network share point into two temporary directories on the
computer being installed. The directories are:
C:\$WIN_NT$.~LS (system files) and C:\$WIN_NT$.BT
After the files are copied, the computer restarts and uses the files from
$WIN_NT$.~BT to boot and to direct the character mode installation process.
The character mode setup phase uses data from WINNT.SIF to install some
device drivers and to copy files to the correct subdirectory of %windir%.
At the end of character mode phase, Setup copies data needed for the GUI
phase from WINNT.SIF into the file, %windir%\SYSTEM32\$WINNT$.INF. The data
copied includes computername, network adapter settings, domain/machine
account configuration settings, and other information necessary to build
the registry.
The administrator should therefore edit the following file:
%windir%\SYSTEM32\$WINNT$.INF
before restarting in GUI mode setup.
Where disk duplication is being used to replicate the character mode setup
image, inserting the unique settings in each computer's $WINNT$.INF
results in a usable installation of Windows NT, when the computers on which
the installation is taking place have identical drive subsystems. If they
do not, the restart into GUI setup will fail with a stop code of 0x0000007B
because of incorrect disk drivers. Where the drive subsystems are
different, the C:\$WIN_NT$.BT\WINNT.SIF should be edited prior to any
startup into Windows NT setup.
When an administrator performs an unattended install over a network
on each computer, it may be easier to use a Uniqueness Database File (UDF)
in conjunction with UNATTEND.TXT to give the unique data for each
computer because no manual intervention is required. See the Windows NT
Deployment Guide For further information, available at:
For additional information, please see the following articles in the
Microsoft Knowledge Base:
156876
Using UDF Files with Windows NT 4.0 Unattended Setup
Modification Type: | Major | Last Reviewed: | 8/9/2001 |
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Keywords: | kbprb kbSBK kbsetup KB181357 |
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