FIX: Error Message Appears When Answer File Contains Blank Entries (175282)

SYMPTOMS

When you use unattended setup for computers running Windows NT Server and leave the AdvServerType and AutoMode / AutoUsers sections out of the Unattend.txt file, it may cause the setup process to display the following error message:

A Setup parameter specified by your system administrator or computer
manufacturer is missing or invalid. Setup must therefore ask you to
provide this information now.

Once you have furnished the required information, unattended setup will
continue.

You may wish to inform system administrator or computer manufacturer
that the 'XXXXXXX' value is missing or invalid.

The error message appears twice, once for the AdvServerType and once for AutoMode / AutoUsers. The XXXXXXX in the error message refers to the missing entry in the answer file.

CAUSE

One of the files that runs setup, Syssetup.dll, does not handle the missing values as for AdvServerType and AutoMode / AutoUsers the same way it does for ComputerName and IPAddress during unattended setup.

RESOLUTION

Copy the Syssetup.dll that comes with Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3 or later to you distribution server, this will suppress the first message that appears for AdvServerType. You must set the Licensing Type to either AutoMode or AutoUsers or you will still get the above error message once during setup.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. We are researching this problem and will post new information here in the Microsoft Knowledge Base as it becomes available.

MORE INFORMATION

Under a normal unattended installation of Windows NT 4.0, not entering in a value will simply cause the setup to prompt the user for information. It may be beneficial to have setup stop for sections like ComputerName or IPAddress and give the installer the ability to type in the machine specific information without using Uniqueness Database Files (UDFs).

For additional information on Windows NT 4.0 deployment/unattended installation consult the Windows NT 4.0 Deployment Guide. You can download the Deployment Guide from:

http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation

Note that the Deployment Guide is valid for both Windows NT workstation and Windows NT Server.