Unattended Setup from CD-ROM Prompts for Installation Partition (220853)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
This article was previously published under Q220853

SYMPTOMS

When you are performing an unattended Setup after booting from a CD-ROM, text-mode Setup may stop and prompt you for the partition to install to. After the partition is selected, Setup continues in unattended mode.

CAUSE

This is expected behavior when any of the following conditions exists:
  • A partition does not exist on the hard disk, and the Repartition setting in the [Unattended] section of the answer file is set to No or is not present.
  • The hard disk has only one partition, but also has some allocated space on the same physical disk.
  • The hard disk has one partition and it contains an existing installation of Microsoft Windows NT, Windows 2000, Microsoft Windows 95, or Microsoft Windows 98.
The Repartition value in the answer file removes all existing partitions, creates one large partition, and formats it using the NTFS file system.

RESOLUTION

For this type of Setup to be completely unattended, the following conditions must be met:

  • The hard disk should be completely unpartitioned and "Repartition = Yes" should be placed in the [Unattend] section of the answer file.
  • If you want multiple partitions, the first partition should be large enough to hold the installation. No other operating system can reside on that particular volume.

MORE INFORMATION

For more information about initiating unattended Setup from a CD-ROM boot, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

216258 How to Perform Unattended Windows 2000 Installation from CD-ROM

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/13/2003
Keywords:kbenv kbprb kbsetup KB220853
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