Unattended installation for windows 7 x86

Question

Are there any pre-created Autounattend.xml files for Windows 7 unattended installation x86? I have been experimenting and creating the XML file but I am always being prompted to choose which hard disk to format. I can't seem to add in the script to automate that process.

I tried adding the DiskConfiguration portion but the installation keeps giving me error that my diskID is incorrect.

How do I resolve this issue? Is there any pre-created Autounattend.xml file that automates everything?

I want it to work for VMware virtual machine. Currently, VMware creates its own default disk. So RT Seven Lite only works for normal computer and not VMware.

Answer 1

The following autounattended.xml file can be used to full automate the Windows 7 installation.

It will:

• Create a single partition for the boot, system, crash dump and primary partition
• Enter the product key
• Enter the organisation information
• Configure Internet Explorer 8
• Disable the information bar
• Disable the Internet accelerators
• Disable the developer tools
• Disable the first run message
• Set www.google.com.au as the homepage
• Set Google Australia as the default search provider
• Set the firewall to option 3 – Work
• Enable the ‘Administrator’ account
• Set the ‘Administrator’ password to ‘password’
• Create a local administrator account called ‘UserName’ with the password of ‘password’
• Prompt for a computer name (will not prompt for a new user account)

Before being able to successfully use this unattended file, you will need to change:

• Product Key
• Organisation information
• local administrator password
• ‘UserName’ local administrator account name and password

Autounattend.xml:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <ImageInstall>
                <OSImage>
                    <WillShowUI>Never</WillShowUI>
                    <InstallTo>
                        <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                        <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
                    </InstallTo>
                </OSImage>
            </ImageInstall>
            <UserData>
                <ProductKey>
                    <WillShowUI>Never</WillShowUI>
                    <Key>XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX</Key>
                </ProductKey>
                <FullName>Information Technology Services</FullName>
                <Organization>Organisation Name</Organization>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
            </UserData>
            <DiskConfiguration>
                <WillShowUI>Never</WillShowUI>
                <Disk>
                    <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                    <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>
                    <CreatePartitions>
                        <CreatePartition>
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                            <Extend>true</Extend>
                        </CreatePartition>
                    </CreatePartitions>
                </Disk>
            </DiskConfiguration>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Deployment" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <RunSynchronous>
                <RunSynchronousCommand wcm:action="add">
                    <Path>net user administrator /active:yes</Path>
                    <Order>1</Order>
                </RunSynchronousCommand>
            </RunSynchronous>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <ShowWindowsLive>false</ShowWindowsLive>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-IE-InternetExplorer" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <FilterLevel>High</FilterLevel>
            <ShowInformationBar>false</ShowInformationBar>
            <DisableAccelerators>true</DisableAccelerators>
            <DisableDevTools>true</DisableDevTools>
            <DisableFirstRunWizard>true</DisableFirstRunWizard>
            <DisableOOBAccelerators>true</DisableOOBAccelerators>
            <Home_Page>http://www.google.com.au</Home_Page>
            <SearchScopes>
                <Scope wcm:action="add">
                    <ScopeDefault>true</ScopeDefault>
                    <ScopeDisplayName>Google</ScopeDisplayName>
                    <ScopeKey>SearchProvider1</ScopeKey>
                    <ScopeUrl>http://www.google.com.au/search?q={searchTerms}</ScopeUrl>
                </Scope>
            </SearchScopes>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-ErrorReportingCore" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <DisableWER>1</DisableWER>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <OOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC>
                <NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
                <SkipMachineOOBE>true</SkipMachineOOBE>
                <SkipUserOOBE>false</SkipUserOOBE>
            </OOBE>
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <Password>
                            <Value>password</Value>
                            <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                        </Password>
                        <Name>UserName</Name>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
                <AdministratorPassword>
                    <Value>password</Value>
                    <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                </AdministratorPassword>
            </UserAccounts>
            <TimeZone>Eastern Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
    </settings>
</unattend>

Source: Windows 7 Autounattend Example

Answer 2

You can also use a utility like RT7Lite to create an unattended installation of Windows, similar to the older nLite for Windows XP. You can also remove unnecessary components and features from the operating system, and removing them from the installation itself.

Depending on what you want/need to remove, you can drastically reduce the size of the installed operating system. However, if you just need the Autounattend.xml file, you can run through the entire build process and extract the final file from the resulting disc image.