Create media for automated unattended install of Windows 10

falconer · 20 Nov 2017

Okay, so I've used the MBR partitioning scheme on the computers that wouldn't take the UEFI partitioning scheme. It works, however, when I go to turn on BitLocker, I get a message saying "You will no longer be able to use Windows Recovery Environment unless it is manually enabled and moved to the system drive."

~~Also, when I install Windows on this computer without the unattend file, it creates a UEFI partioning scheme... and I don't get this message when enabling BitLocker.~~

Edit** Nevermind on this point, it appears some of our T550s use UEFI and some use BIOS... but in any case, when I leave the partitioning out of the unattend file, and manually select disk during install, BitLocker works fine. This seems to only happen with the MBR BIOS partitioning scheme.

UrbanLegend619 · 23 Jan 2018

Hi Kari. Thank you so much for the great articles over the years.

I've really enjoyed this article and another article you wrote "Customize Windows 10 Image in Audit Mode with Sysprep"

I have a few questions:

On Step 7 of this article, how much customization can we do here? Is it ok to apply windows updates? Install applications? Tweak settings? IE Favorites? Can we do all the things that were possible like in the previous "Customize Windows 10 Image in Audit Mode with Sysprep" article?

Also, How much of this could I apply to Windows Server 2016? I haven't tried yet, but I'm guessing a lot of this might translate to Server as well since they share the same Windows ADK and SIM applications (I think). My goals are for creating testing environments with Windows 10 and Server 2016, not necessarily to roll into a production environment.

Thanks in advance to Kari or anybody who could help answer these questions.

Customize Windows 10 Image in Audit Mode with SysprepCustomize Windows 10 Image in Audit Mode with SysprepCustomize Windows 10 Image in Audit Mode with Sysprep

eightbit · 26 Mar 2018

I have a question about the hard drive section of this set up. This media I've created using your guides works on any system with two HDD's but I want it to work on some of my systems with only 1 HDD. When I use the media on single drive systems it will error out in the <disk configuration> portion of the autounattend.

Any ideas on how to use the same image on both?

Kari · 26 Mar 2018

eightbit said:

I have a question about the hard drive section of this set up. This media I've created using your guides works on any system with two HDD's but I want it to work on some of my systems with only 1 HDD. When I use the media on single drive systems it will error out in the <disk configuration> portion of the autounattend.

Any ideas on how to use the same image on both?

Please post your autounattend.xml file here, use the code tags when posting as in following example:

[CODE]Your autounattend.xml file content here[/CODE]

Kari

eightbit · 26 Mar 2018

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <SetupUILanguage>
                <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            </SetupUILanguage>
            <InputLocale>0409:00000409</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <DiskConfiguration>
                <Disk wcm:action="add">
                    <CreatePartitions>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <Size>450</Size>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                        </CreatePartition>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>2</Order>
                            <Size>100</Size>
                            <Type>EFI</Type>
                        </CreatePartition>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>3</Order>
                            <Size>16</Size>
                            <Type>MSR</Type>
                        </CreatePartition>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>4</Order>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                            <Extend>false</Extend>
                            <Size>65000</Size>
                        </CreatePartition>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>5</Order>
                            <Extend>true</Extend>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                        </CreatePartition>
                    </CreatePartitions>
                    <ModifyPartitions>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Label>WinRE</Label>
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
                            <TypeID>REMOVED</TypeID>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Format>FAT32</Format>
                            <Label>System</Label>
                            <Order>2</Order>
                            <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>3</Order>
                            <PartitionID>3</PartitionID>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Label>Windows</Label>
                            <Letter>C</Letter>
                            <Order>4</Order>
                            <PartitionID>4</PartitionID>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Label>Warehouse</Label>
                            <Letter>D</Letter>
                            <Order>5</Order>
                            <PartitionID>5</PartitionID>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                    </ModifyPartitions>
                    <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                    <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>
                </Disk>
                <Disk wcm:action="add">
                    <DiskID>1</DiskID>
                    <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>
                    <CreatePartitions>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Extend>true</Extend>
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                        </CreatePartition>
                    </CreatePartitions>
                    <ModifyPartitions>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Label>Database</Label>
                            <Letter>E</Letter>
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                    </ModifyPartitions>
                </Disk>
            </DiskConfiguration>
            <ImageInstall>
                <OSImage>
                    <InstallTo>
                        <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                        <PartitionID>4</PartitionID>
                    </InstallTo>
                </OSImage>
            </ImageInstall>
            <UserData>
                <ProductKey>
                    <Key>REMOVED</Key>
                </ProductKey>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
            </UserData>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="catalog:c:/iso_files/sources/install_windows 10 pro.clg" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

You can see that I've got it pointing to a disk1 which is what I want but I also want it to ignore disk1 if there isn't one installed. I'm open to suggestions.

Kari · 26 Mar 2018

eightbit said:

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">    <settings pass="windowsPE">        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">            <SetupUILanguage>                <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>            </SetupUILanguage>            <InputLocale>0409:00000409</InputLocale>            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>            <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>        </component>        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">            <DiskConfiguration>                <Disk wcm:action="add">                    <CreatePartitions>                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">                            <Order>1</Order>                            <Size>450</Size>                            <Type>Primary</Type>                        </CreatePartition>                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">                            <Order>2</Order>                            <Size>100</Size>                            <Type>EFI</Type>                        </CreatePartition>                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">                            <Order>3</Order>                            <Size>16</Size>                            <Type>MSR</Type>                        </CreatePartition>                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">                            <Order>4</Order>                            <Type>Primary</Type>                            <Extend>false</Extend>                            <Size>65000</Size>                        </CreatePartition>                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">                            <Order>5</Order>                            <Extend>true</Extend>                            <Type>Primary</Type>                        </CreatePartition>                    </CreatePartitions>                    <ModifyPartitions>                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">                            <Format>NTFS</Format>                            <Label>WinRE</Label>                            <Order>1</Order>                            <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>                            <TypeID>DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC</TypeID>                        </ModifyPartition>                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">                            <Format>FAT32</Format>                            <Label>System</Label>                            <Order>2</Order>                            <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>                        </ModifyPartition>                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">                            <Order>3</Order>                            <PartitionID>3</PartitionID>                        </ModifyPartition>                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">                            <Format>NTFS</Format>                            <Label>Windows</Label>                            <Letter>C</Letter>                            <Order>4</Order>                            <PartitionID>4</PartitionID>                        </ModifyPartition>                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">                            <Format>NTFS</Format>                            <Label>Warehouse</Label>                            <Letter>D</Letter>                            <Order>5</Order>                            <PartitionID>5</PartitionID>                        </ModifyPartition>                    </ModifyPartitions>                    <DiskID>0</DiskID>                    <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>                </Disk>                <Disk wcm:action="add">                    <DiskID>1</DiskID>                    <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>                    <CreatePartitions>                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">                            <Extend>true</Extend>                            <Order>1</Order>                            <Type>Primary</Type>                        </CreatePartition>                    </CreatePartitions>                    <ModifyPartitions>                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">                            <Format>NTFS</Format>                            <Label>Database</Label>                            <Letter>E</Letter>                            <Order>1</Order>                            <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>                        </ModifyPartition>                    </ModifyPartitions>                </Disk>            </DiskConfiguration>            <ImageInstall>                <OSImage>                    <InstallTo>                        <DiskID>0</DiskID>                        <PartitionID>4</PartitionID>                    </InstallTo>                </OSImage>            </ImageInstall>            <UserData>                <ProductKey>                    <Key>Q4QCKGMX63R3J7V8PP3X98MBH</Key>                </ProductKey>                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>            </UserData>        </component>    </settings>    <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="catalog:c:/iso_files/sources/install_windows 10 pro.clg" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" /></unattend>

You can see that I've got it pointing to a disk1 which is what I want but I also want it to ignore disk1 if there isn't one installed. I'm open to suggestions.

I am sorry but I cannot read your answer file. Please simply open it in Notepad, select everything, copy, and finally paste it here in CODE tags.

That keeps the formatting and makes it easier to read.

Kari

eightbit · 26 Mar 2018

I used notepad++ thinking it'd come over in a sane way. Sorry about that!

I edited the post.

Kari · 26 Mar 2018

eightbit said:

I used notepad++ thinking it'd come over in a sane way. Sorry about that!

I edited the post.

Thanks. Give me some time to read it, I will reply when gone it through.

Kari · 26 Mar 2018

eightbit said:

I used notepad++ thinking it'd come over in a sane way. Sorry about that!

I edited the post.

Kari said:

Thanks. Give me some time to read it, I will reply when gone it through.

I cannot find any obvious syntax errors in your file. I will do a test install using your answer file, will reply when done. Notice it will take half an hour or more.

Kari · 26 Mar 2018

eightbit said:

I have a question about the hard drive section of this set up. This media I've created using your guides works on any system with two HDD's but I want it to work on some of my systems with only 1 HDD. When I use the media on single drive systems it will error out in the <disk configuration> portion of the autounattend.

Any ideas on how to use the same image on both?

Call me an idiot if you'd want to, I cannot understand how I could not see this obvious reason in the first place.

Your answer file is told to create UEFI system partitions, Windows partition and an additional data partition called Warehouse on Disk 0, primary hard disk.

In addition, the answer file is told to create a partition called Database on Disk 1, secondary HDD, using its full capacity.

Naturally, if the machine where you use this answer file only has one HDD, installation will fail. Answer file is trying to create partitions on two separate disks when only one disk exists. Impossible.

Kari