PRB: Answer File (Unattend.txt) File Has a Limitation of 256 Characters for OEMPnPDriversPath (277705)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
This article was previously published under Q277705

SYMPTOMS

The OEMPnPDriversPath entry in the Unattend.txt file is limited to 256 characters. If the line length is greater than 256 characters, not all of the information is placed in the registry and some devices may not have drivers installed automatically.

CAUSE

This error occurs because of a string length limitation that is associated with the text that is taken from the Unattend.txt answer file and added to the registry.

RESOLUTION

There is a supported workaround for the problem:
  1. In the distribution share that is used to preinstall Microsoft Windows 2000, locate the Hivesft.inf file. This file can be modified to include additional driver locations for use by the unattended installation.
  2. Search for the following line in the Hivesft.inf file:

    HKLM,"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion","DevicePath",0x00020002,"%SystemRoot%\inf"

    This line can be modified with as many additional driver locations as you need, with each location separated by a semi-colon.

    For example, to include potential driver path locations of

    C:\Drv\Other;c:\Drv\Lan;c:\Drv\Keyb;c:\Drv\Vid;c:\Drv\Aud

    modify the line to read as follows:

    HKLM,"SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion","DevicePath",0x00020002,"%SystemRoot%\Inf;%SystemDrive%\Drv\Other;%SystemDrive%\Drv\Lan;%SystemDrive%\Drv\Keyb;%SystemDrive%\Drv\Vid;%SystemDrive%\Drv\Aud"

For additional information about a hotfix for this problem, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

276278 OemPNPDriversPath Value Limited to 99 Characters in Winnt.exe

STATUS

This behavior is by design.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:12/15/2003
Keywords:kbprb KB277705 kbAudDeveloper
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.