How to create Automated installation Answer file for XP

Windows Setup Manager provides a straightforward wizard interface. To create an answer file for a fully automated installation by using Windows Setup Manager, use these steps:
1. In Windows Explorer, locate the folder where you extracted Windows Setup Manager (setupmgr.exe). Double-click setupmgr.exe. Windows XP Professional starts the Windows Setup Manager Wizard.
2. Click Next. The New Or Existing Answer File page appears.
3. Ensure that the Create A New Answer File is selected, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Product To Install page, which provides the following three options:
❑ Windows Unattended Installation
❑ Sysprep Install
❑ Remote Installation Services
4. Ensure that Windows Unattended Installation is selected, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Platform page.
5. Ensure that Windows XP Professional is selected, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the User Interaction Level page, shown in Figure 3-2, which has the following five options:
❑ Provide Defaults. The answers you provide in the answer file are the default answers that the user sees. The user can accept the default answers or change any of the answers supplied by the script.
❑ Fully Automated. The installation is fully automated. The user does not have the chance to review or change the answers supplied by the script.
❑ Hide Pages. The answers provided by the script are supplied during the installation. Any page for which the script supplies all answers is hidden from the user, so the user cannot review or change the answers supplied by the script.
❑ Read Only. The script provides the answers, and the user can view the answers on any page that is not hidden, but the user cannot change the answers.
❑ GUI Attended. The text-mode portion of the installation is automated, but the user must supply the answers for the graphical user interface (GUI) mode portion of the installation.

6. Select Fully Automated, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Distribution Folder page. The Setup Manager Wizard can create a distribution folder on your computer or network containing the required source files. You can add files to this distribution
folder to further customize your installation.
7. Select No, This Answer File Will Be Used To Install From A CD, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the License Agreement page.
8. Select I Accept The Terms Of The License Agreement, and then click Next.

9. Type your name in the Name box and your organization in the Organization box, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Display Settings page.
10. Leave the default settings on the Display Settings page, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager displays the Time Zone page.
11. Select the appropriate time zone, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Providing The Product Key page.
12. Type in the appropriate product key.
13. Click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Computer Names page, shown
in Figure 3-4. Notice that you have three choices:
❑ Enter a series of names to be used during the various iterations of the script.
❑ Click Import and provide the name of a text file that has one computer name per line listed. Setup imports and uses these names as the computer names in the various iterations of the script.
❑ Select Automatically Generate Computer Names Based On Organization Name to allow the system to automatically generate the computer names to be used.

14. In the Computer Name text box, type a name for the computer, and then click Add. Repeat this step to add additional computers to the installation.
15. Click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Administrator Password page,
which appears with the following two options:

❑ Prompt The User For An Administrative Password
❑ Use The Following Administrative Password (127 Characters Maximum)
Notice that you have the option to encrypt the Administrator’s password in the answer file. You also have the option to have the Administrator log on automatically, and you can set the number of times you want the Administrator to log on automatically when the computer is restarted.
16. Ensure that Use The Following Administrative Password (127 Characters Maximum)
is selected, and then type a password in the Password text box and the Confirm Password box.
17. Select Encrypt Administrator Password In Answer File, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Networking Components page, shown in Figure 3-5, with the following two options:
❑ Typical Settings. Installs Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), enables Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), installs the Client For Microsoft Networks protocol, and installs File And Printer Sharing For Microsoft Networks for each destination computer
❑ Customize Settings. Allows you to select and configure the networking components to be installed

18. Configure network settings as appropriate for your network, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Workgroup Or Domain page.
19. If the computer will join a workgroup, type the workgroup name. If the computer will join a domain, click Windows Server Domain, and then type the name of the domain. If a computer that will join a domain does not already have a computer account in that domain, you can have Windows Setup create such an account during installation. Click Create A Computer Account In The Domain, and then enter the credentials for an account that has permission to create new computer accounts in the domain. Click Next to continue. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Telephony page.
20. Select the appropriate setting for What Country/Region Are You In.
21. Type the appropriate setting for What Area (Or City) Code Are You In.
22. If necessary, type the appropriate setting for If You Dial A Number To Access An Outside Line, What Is It.
23. Select the appropriate setting for The Phone System At This Location Uses, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Regional Settings page. The default selection is Use The Default Regional Settings For The Windows Version You Are Installing, but you can also specify different regional settings.
24. Configure the regional settings, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Languages page, which allows you to add support for additional languages.
25. Select additional languages if they are required for the computers on which you will install Windows XP Professional, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Browser And Shell Settings page with the following three options:
❑ Use Default Internet Explorer Settings
❑ Use An Autoconfiguration Script Created By The Internet Explorer Administration
Kit To Configure Your Browser
❑ Individually Specify Proxy And Default Home Page Settings
26. Make your selection, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Installation Folder page with the following three options:
❑ A Folder Named Windows. This is the default selection.
❑ A Uniquely Named Folder Generated By Setup. Setup generates a unique folder name so that the installation folder will be less obvious. This folder name is recorded in the Registry, so programs and program installations can easily access the Windows XP Professional system files and folders.
❑ This Folder. If you select this option, you must specify a path and folder name.
27. Make your selection, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Install Printers page, shown in Figure 3-6, which allows you to specify a network printer to be installed the first time a user logs on after Setup.

28. Add any printers that you want to configure during installation, and then click Next. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Run Once page. This page allows you to configure Windows to run one or more commands the first time a user logs on.
29. To add a command, type the command in the Command To Run text box, and then click Add. Click Next when you are finished adding commands. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Additional Commands page. This page allows you to specify additional commands to be run at the end of the unattended setup before any user logs on to the computer.
30. To add a command, type the command in the Command To Run text box, and then click Add. Click Finish when you are finished adding commands. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays a dialog box indicating that the Windows Setup Manager has successfully created an answer file. It also prompts you for a location and a name for the script. The default is a file named unattend.txt in the folder from which you launched Windows Setup Manager.
31. Accept the default name and location, or type an alternate name and location. Click OK to continue. The Windows Setup Manager Wizard displays the Setup Manager Complete page,
indicating that new files were created:
❑ unattend.txt is the answer file.
❑ unattend.udb is the uniqueness database file created if you supply multiple computer names.
❑ unattend.bat is a batch script that will launch the Windows installation using the answer file and uniqueness database file.
32. On the File menu, click Exit.

SUS Client Setting

Client Side installation of SUS service

The SUS component is available for download from (http://www.microsoft.com/
windows2000/windowsupdate/sus/default.asp). After the download is complete, double-
click the setup file to begin the installation process and simply follow the menu
prompts for a Typical installation (a Custom installation lets you choose the folder
where the service is installed and the location where updates are stored).

To Use Group Policy to Configure Clients to Access SUS

After SUS is installed in your environment, you need to configure the client systems to
use it—otherwise, they will just keep using the Windows Update public server instead.
You must use Group Policy to configure clients to use the SUS server.

To set the Group Policy, follow these steps:
1. Log on as a domain administrator or open the Active Directory Users And Computers
tool using the Run As command to enter the appropriate credentials.
2. Right-click the domain or organizational unit and choose Properties from the
shortcut menu.
3. Switch to the Group Policy tab.
4. You could edit the default domain policy, but it is normally recommended that
you create another one for these types of secondary settings. To do this, choose
the New button and name the new policy that appears in the window.
5. After you have named the policy, click the Edit button to open the Group Policy
Object Editor window.
6. Expand the Computer Configuration node, then the Administrative Templates
node, then the Windows Components node, and then the Windows Update node.
7. Double-click the Configure Automatic Updates setting to specify any of the following:
❑ Notify The User Before Download And Before Installation
❑ Automatically Download And Notify The User Before Installation
❑ Automatically Download And Schedule An Automatic Installation
8. Double-click the Specify Intranet Microsoft Update Service Location setting.
Change the setting to Enabled and enter the name of the internal SUS server that
the clients in the domain should use into both fields. This information can be
entered by name or by IP address.
9. Double-click the Reschedule Automatic Updates scheduled installations setting to
change the schedule for automatic installation on clients.
10. Double-click the No Auto-Restart For Scheduled Automatic Updates installations
to prevent clients from restarting after an automatic installation.

Windows XP Editions

Available Windows XP Editions

1. Windows XP Professional Edition
2. Windows XP Home Edition
3. Windows XP Media Center Edition
4. Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
5. Windows XP 64-Bit Edition

Windows XP Professional Edition

Windows XP Professional Edition is intended for computers that are part of a corporate
network, for the majority of computers on small networks, and for home users who
need certain advanced capabilities. Windows XP Professional sets the standard for
desktop performance, security, and reliability.

Windows XP Home Edition

Windows XP Home Edition, which is intended for home users, simplifies many aspects
of networking and file management so that home users have a cleaner experience. In
particular, Windows XP Home Edition has the following limitations compared with
Windows XP Professional

■ Windows XP Home Edition does not support the use of NTFS or print permissions.
Instead, Windows XP Home Edition supports only Simple File Sharing.
■ Windows XP Home Edition does not support the use of dynamic disks.
■ Windows XP Home Edition does not support the Encrypting File System (EFS).
■ Windows XP Home Edition supports only one processor, whereas Windows XP
Professional supports two processors.
■ Windows XP Home Edition does not include Internet Information Services.
■ Windows XP Home Edition does not include Remote Desktop.
■ Windows XP Home Edition does not provide Remote Installation Services (RIS).

Windows XP Media Center Edition

The Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 operating system is available only on new
Media Center PCs—computers with special hardware features that enable users to connect
the computer as an integral part of a home entertainment system. Because of its
special requirements, Media Center PCs running Windows XP Media Center Edition are
available only from Microsoft PC manufacturer partners.

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition

The Windows XP Tablet PC Edition operating system expands on Windows XP Professional,
providing all the features and performance of Windows XP Professional, while also providing additional capabilities designed to take advantage of a touch-screen interface pen input, handwriting recognition, and speech recognition. Windows XP Tablet PC Edition offers users the efficiency and dependability of Windows XP Professional. For developers, it offers a rich platform for creating new applications or extending their current applications to take advantage of Tablet PC handwriting and speech capabilities.

Windows XP 64-Bit Edition

Microsoft Windows XP 64-Bit Edition, which provides support for the 64-bit computing platforms, is designed to meet the demands of advanced technical workstation users who require large amounts of memory and floating point performance in areas such as mechanical design and analysis, 3D animation, video editing and composition, and scientific and high-performance computing applications. One of the key differences between the 64-bit and 32-bit platforms is that the 64-bit platform supports considerably more system memory—up to 16 GB of physical RAM.