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Slipstreaming Windows XP
Robert Hallock
May 22, 2008 1:00 AM ET in Tech
Automating Windows Setup
In the unattended section, elaborated upon in 4A through 4J, you can supply answers to boxes and prompts that Windows generates during the graphical portion of the XP installation process. This means that any page you have fully filled out in advance with nLite will no longer require your intervention; the answers will be automatically entered. No more selecting your time zone!
Step 4A: General tab
Here in figure 5-1, we have configured the page as we would use for my own PC. Here is an explanation of each option:
- Unattended Mode: Determines how Windows should react if an answer is not supplied for a box during the graphical setup portion. The question mark explains each option in detail, but “Hide pages” is generally best.
- OEM Preinstall: Determines whether or not XP should look for your floppy drive or the XP CD when loading SATA drivers. Leave the function set to enable, as we have slipstreamed drivers.
- Program Files path: The location of your Program Files folder. Unless you’re particularly compelled to alter it, the default is suitable.
- Data Execution Prevention: Enables or disables the use of a CPU’s buffer overflow protection
- Product Key: Enter your Windows XP license code here.
- Computer Type: Determines what HAL Windows should use. In this case, Windows really does know best, and this option should be left at its default.
- Turn off Firewall: Disables the firewall introduced to Windows XP in Service Pack 2. If you are behind a router, it is recommended that you turn this feature off to save yourself considerable trouble.
- Skip OOBE: Bypass the last stage of Windows XP setup where you create user accounts. Disable this, because this will be taken care of with nLite.
- Turn off Hibernate: Not a fan of hibernation? Disable it from day one right here.
- System Restore Service: The system restore service takes snapshots of critical Windows components and stores them on the hard drive. The idea is that these snapshots can be used to restore XP’s functionality in the advent of a catastrophe. Unfortunately, it rarely works as advertised and often ends up hogging disk space. We turn this off.
Fig. 5-1: Our settings for the general tab.
4B: RunOnce Tab
This tab allows you to launch applications or run commands the first time you get to your desktop. To the average user, it’s not terribly useful, but if there’s any command you can’t live without on the very first desktop access, this place is for you.
Fig. 5-2: The RunOnce screen in its simple glory.
4C: Users Tab
nLite permits you to pre-configure user accounts that are immediately available after Windows has been installed. Different users will have varying requirements, however I have configured figure 5-3 as appropriate for my own system.
Fig. 5-3: My account configured as desired.
4D: Owner and Network ID Tab
On this tab you can define the parameters of your computer’s identity on a local network you may have. This screen also dictates some of what will be displayed when check the properties of the “my computer” icon on any Windows desktop; figure 5-4 shows the correspondence.
Fig. 5-4: The ID of the network and PC has been configured.
4E: Regional Tab
With this tab, you can completely skip the screens that prompt you to select your language, keyboard and timezone. If you’re using a US English copy of Windows, configuring the window (Adjusting for your timezone) as seen in figure 5-5 will set you right. Users of other languages or keyboard layouts will want to select the options appropriate for them.
Fig. 5-5: No more timezone screen.
4F: Network Settings Tab
If you elected to add PNP network drivers during step 3G, you can customize all the settings for that card now. Sadly, this tab isn’t terribly useful for WLAN devices, so we have configured ours as though it were wired.
Fig. 5-6: No more timezone screen.
4G: Themes Tab
If you have ever installed a custom theme for Windows XP, or are currently running one, hitting insert all local will automatically add your custom themes to the Windows CD. You can then determine which one is the system-wide default for your first boot to desktop.
Fig. 5-7: Slipstreaming the Royale Vista Compact theme.
4H: Automatic Updates Tab
As a matter of preference, I prefer to manually obtain my updates rather than Windows phoning home to do it for me. Under this tab, you can decide how to best manage Windows updates. These features set the options for the automatic updates tab as seen in figure 5-4.
Fig. 5-8: Windows XP will no longer manage update retrieval.
4I: Display Tab
If in step 2B you also chose to slipstream your video card drivers, you can set the properties your display will use at boot under this tab. If you have not slipstreamed a video card driver, this tab will have no effect.
Fig. 5-9: Display settings of the video card have been configured.
4J: Components Tab
Unless you intend to run your machine as a web server, which we strongly advise against if you’re running XP, it’s best to leave IIS disabled on this screen.
Options and Patches
These settings are the mundane sort that generally affect responsiveness and “Behind the scenes” elements of Windows. More advanced users can feel free to change the settings, but what we have provided in figures 6-1 and 6-2 are a solid solution for virtually anybody.
Fig. 6-1: The bolded options are changed from their defaults and accelerate installation.
Fig. 6-2: These settings enhance mouse responsiveness, accelerate internet connections, and let you use custom themes as in step 4G.
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