We only have the oem copy of windows 7 professional that ships with each system. Answer files are used to automate the installation of microsoft operating systems. Microsoft makes the windows 7 sp1 iso available for direct download through their site. Below are basic settings that can be configured during and after installation. If youre unfamiliar with how to use an autounattend file. Creating a fully automated windows 7 answer file todd cramers. Windows 7 forums is the largest help and support community, providing friendly help and advice for microsoft windows 7 computers such as dell, hp, acer, asus or a custom build.
Windows could not parse or process the unattend answer file. For more information about how to create a custom sysprep answer file. Windows 7 to windows 10 answer file solutions experts. The only catch is that youll need a valid product key in order to download the file and oem keys like the one that came on a sticker under your laptop wont work.
Because this answer file is cached, when you run the sysprep command, the system applies settings in the cached answer file. An answer file is an xmlbased file that contains setting definitions and values to use during windows setup. Windows server 2003 and windows xp use a text file called f. Automating windows 7 installation you learned how to use windows system image manager. This is the first post illustrating the process and settings required to build an answer file to completely automate windows 7 installation. Properties displays additional properties for any option you select in your answer file. Windows 7 sysprep answer file i am working on a standalone kiosk no network connection that uses windows 7. How to create an answer file, skip oobe in windows 10. I have mine logon credentials, etc in oobe system, so this might be another reason for the failure but i would have thought wsim wouldnt let you add them if they weren. Windows 7 automated install settings mischa taylors. I created an answer file that tries to write to the disk. Solved unattended answer file and joining a ad domain.
The easiest way to create an answer file for use with a windows 7 deployment is to use the windows system image manager wsim which is a part of the windows automated installation kit windows aik or waik. Need my answer file for windows 7 automated install to. Answer file for windows 7 solutions experts exchange. First we are going to walk through building the unattend. If you install windows by using an answer file, that answer file is cached to the system. To take some of the manual labor out of the windows 10 install image creation process, you can create an answer file that automates the outofbox experience.
Last step is to create a package for the answer file and apply the answer file in the sccm task sequence. Once all the settings have been added save the answer file. Youll need to use the windows system image manager tool to edit sysprep xml answer files. Need my answer file for windows 7 automated install to delete existing partitions solved basically i need to be able to have my answer file delete all the partitions on the hard drive then install automatically to the hard drive on one partition that can take up the whole drive. When later configuration passes run, the computer applies settings in that answer file to the system. Building an unattended answer file for windows 7 me, myself and it.
When you run your windows 7 installation it will automatically look for any usb drives containing an. We will start with the wds client answer file first, so launch windows system image manager, then from the file menu, click select windows image then locate the install. Windows server 2008, windows vista, and windows 7 use an xml file called sysprep. Download windows 7 disc images iso files if you need to install or reinstall windows 7 you can use this page to download a disc image iso file to create your own installation media using either a usb flash drive or a dvd. Video 2 of a 7 part series featuring stepbystep guidance for using the opk and focuses on the windows 7 opk user interface experience. Windows answer file generator, as the name suggests, lets you create unattended.
Doug demonstrates using the window system image manager to create a windows 7 professional installation answer file. Automating windows 7 installation you learned how to use windows system image manager wsim to create answer files to automate windows pe and the installation image installation. We use dell computers here and we are wanting to create a standard desktop image for deployment. It is possible to use the unattend file to join a domain during deployment. Windows 10 answer file generator for x86 and x64 processors. To find out whether the answer file you created for vista will work with windows 7, open the answer file using windows system image manager windows sim on a computer on which windows automated installation kit windows aik 2. Answer file for win7 install using vmware unattended. To add answers to the answer file, you need to choose components from the image.
To use the answer file with the image of windows 7 deployed in windows deployment service wds we created two answer files. Since ill be using this dvd to install win7ent on different hw, i dont know the size of the disk thus i just want the unattended setup to create a single partition that fills the whole disk. You can create these files using a text editor, or you can use the microsoft setup manager utility to generate them. Download the windows 7 sp1 iso directly from microsofts website. Information about the windows notification area systray. On the client tab, you will notice you can specify an unattend file, i generated an answer file for x86 systems, so have specified it in the. I just created a standard hdd in vmware and did make sure it was using scsi 0. Learn how to create and verify an answer file using windows 7 aik automated installation.
Windows afg has one simple form to create an unattended answer file for the x86 and x64 bit architectures. Stepbystep guide for windows 7 sysprep to be used as an internal resource only 2. Answer file adds entries for your answer unattend file. This article covers the xml answer files settings needed to automate a windows 7 64bit base os install. We know change can be difficult, so we are here to help you with recommendations for what to do next and to answer questions about end of support. If i let the install complete i have to answer all questions and my customer setting for ie is not set. Keeps all windows tweaks when sysprep unattended answer file for windows 7 people help me create. For this go around, im documenting the xml answer file settings for each version of microsoft windows.
Type windows system image manager into the windows 7 menu search bar and open it. Find answers to windows 7 to windows 10 answer file from the expert community at experts exchange. Hence we have made the answer file for automating the installations. Using unattended answer files with wds windows 7 tutorial. In the file menu select to create a new answer file settings. Windows answer file generator wafg is a simple website that provides similar functions to windows system image manager sim windows system image manager is the tool used to create an unattended windows setup answer file. You saw earlier how you could customize the pxe client to minimize your interaction with it. The problem component is microsoft windows shellsetup the bottom line is that you need to fix or remove the offending portion of the unattend file. Creating answer files for wds system administration. How do you create a system partition with an answer file. Create answer file using windows 7 aik automated installation kit. Set the device to automatically boot to audit mode.
Answer file windows 7 creating answer files for windows 7 answer files are used to automate the installation of microsoft operating systems. One answer file will allow the system to join the domain and loads the image from server and other automates the further installation steps. Creating a windows 7 thin pc unattended installation interworks. The windows automated installation kit has really changed how these files are. Creating answer file for windows 7 deployment server fault. Create answer file to configure international settings for. Install windows aik on any compatible system, this doesnt need to be your base image system in fact it is better not to, however you can uninstall it after creating your unattend. There is a possibility to create a windows 7 installation dvd that runs fully. The complete guide to preparing a windows 7 deployment.
In an answer file, you specify various setup options, including how to partition disks, the location of the windows image to install, and the product key to apply. I understand about using the aik to create the answer file but my question is about what product key to use in the answer file. Well copy the logo into the windows image in a few steps. Windows 7 answer file generator for x86 and x64 processors. The browser homepage could be done inside the anwser file using windows sim. An answer file for windows vista and windows 7 is an xmlbased file that contains settings definitions and values to use during windows setup. According to this article, you must have the unsecurejoin setting under the microsoft windows unattendedjoin component set to true and you must have the microsoft windows shellsetup component even if empty in your unattend file. Windows image add wim files, which not only allows your images to be organized but also works as a context switch for answer files you will create. Ive created an unattended answer file for windows deployment services to login to the server, select the image, partition the drive, and start deployment all automatically. Then rightclick the central panel and create a new answerfile. I was asked recently to build several windows 7 32bit machines for user application testing. Most of these settings run after the user completes oobe. In this article, answer file is referred to as the unattend.
Go to file menu and create a new answer file, then press yes on the below windows message. In the sample files for this article you will find a minimal, but fully automated answer file for this scenario. In the bottom left windows image panel, rightclick and insert the install. After 10 years, support for windows 7 ended on january 14, 2020. Im trying to make an fully unattended windows 7 enterprise dvd but im already struggling in the first steps like the disk partitioning. The sample file is for the x86 version of windows 7.