[Duster340]

Rog I erred when I gave you the info about the SYSPREP file. There is no sysprep file in the regeditor that I can find. Evidently the file I gave you was the one opened at an earlier time, which is odd as I have never used the registery editor before. Your info on collapsing the tree has been implemented and a search ran again with no results for sysprep it opens a folder named factory with a subfolder labeled state. There is an entry in there about sysprep and pnp. Is there an easy way for me to post these lines in the registery without manualy typing each line in here. Also looked at what you said Mosaic and it looks very similar to what I am seeing in the regeditor also the number value for pnp is set to one. I can enter any lines you need to see just give me the word. Thanx you guys. Just got thru reading all of the article Mosaic refered me to; I think you found it. My system appears to be running in factory mode. That also explains there not being a sysprep folder in regedit. Any feedback? State registery below.

[Mosaic1]

You can export a registry file. Right click on the key in the left pane and choose export. Save the file with a txt extension and then attach it to a post here. Or if it is not too big you can open it and copy and paste the contents here.

[Duster340]

This is what came up under the sysprep search.

[Rollin' Rog]

That's interesting, here's what I have at the same location. It's quite different.

I'm also curious, do you have the sysprep folder referenced here with winbom.ini ? (I don't)

C:\sysprep\WINBOM.INI

And do you ever remember seeing that dialog box displayed that was in the MS link Mosaic1 posted?

[Duster340]

I think Mosaics lead on the factory mode may be it. If you read the article and the links to enable it to an end user mode it adds the sysrep folder after you are thru loading all the drivers and such, it sure sounds like a good tack to follow. Think I should contact Alienware about this before I pursue it further? As far as the system preparation tool in the article, no I have never seen that before.

[Mosaic1]

Here's a quote from the MS article:

Related Links


How to Use Sysprep: An Introduction

How to Prepare Images for Disk Duplication with Sysprep

How to Use Sysprep for Auditing Installations

How to Use Sysprep to Automate Mini-Setup

How to Use Sysprep to Restore the Computer to an End-User-Ready State





Sysprep is a tool designed for corporate system administrators, OEMs, and others who need to deploy the Windows® XP operating system on multiple computers. After performing the initial setup steps on a single system, you can run Sysprep to prepare the sample computer for cloning.

The Factory mode of Sysprep is a method of preconfiguring installation options that can reduce the number of images an OEM needs to maintain.

Use Factory mode to install additional drivers and applications at the stage after the reboot that follows Sysprep. Normally, running Sysprep as the last step in the preinstallation process prepares the computer for delivery. When rebooted, the computer displays Windows Welcome or Mini–Setup.

By running Sysprep with the –factory option, the computer reboots in a network–enabled state without starting Windows Welcome or Mini–Setup. In this state, Factory.exe processes its answer file, Winbom.ini, and performs the following actions:

Copies drivers from a network source to the computer.
Starts Plug and Play enumeration.
Stages, installs, and uninstalls applications on the computer from source files located on either the computer or a network source.
Adds customer data.
In this state, you can audit the computer. When finished, run Sysprep with the –reseal option to prepare the computer for delivery to the customer.

For example, you can create a master installation that contains a minimal set of drivers, run sysprep–factory, create an image of the installation, and copy the image to multiple destination computers. If any destination computers require additional drivers, run sysprep –factory on the destination computer and load those drivers at that time.

Note You can restart the computer after sealing it with Sysprep, without restarting in Windows Welcome, by adding the OEMAuditBoot = 1 entry to the [Options] section in Oobeinfo.ini.

Build–to–order modifications to images
OEMs that use the build–to–order scenario can integrate their sales–order systems by using Factory mode to prepopulate customer information in the answer file Winbom.ini, such as name, time zone, and so on. You can also update other .ini or answer files, such as Sysprep.inf, Oobeinfo.ini, or .isp and .ins files, during Factory mode.

Managing the appearance of the Sysprep dialog box
You can change registry settings to hide the appearance of the Sysprep dialog box. For more information, see Using the Registry to Control Sysprep in Factory Mode.

The Sysprep dialog box is shown in Figure 1 below:


Figure 1. Using Sysprep

Locating a Winbom.ini file
Sysprep searches the following locations in order for a Winbom.ini file:

The path and file name specified by the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Factory\Winbom.
The root of all removable media drives that are not CD–ROM drives, such as a floppy disk drive.
The root of all CD–ROM drives.
The location of Factory.exe, usually the %systemdrive%\Sysprep folder.
The root of %systemdrive.
After locating a Winbom.ini file, Sysprep reads the value of the WinbomType entry in the [Factory] section.

If the value of WinbomType is not appropriate in this context, the Winbom.ini file is ignored and Sysprep continues searching for a Winbom.ini file. If the value of WinbomType is appropriate in this context, Sysprep reads the value of the NewWinbom entry in the [Factory] section. If a value is specified for NewWinbom, and a Winbom.ini file is located at that location, Sysprep examines that Winbom.ini file for a NewWinbom entry.

This cycle continues until Sysprep locates a Winbom.ini file of the correct type that does not contain a NewWinbom entry or for a maximum of ten times, whichever occurs first. Sysprep then continues to run in Factory mode, using the settings in the last identified Winbom.ini file.

When you run Sysprep in Factory mode, NewWinbom is only processed once at each boot.

------------------------------

What does your winbom.ini file look like please?

I wonder what would happen if you used Rog's entries and tried then to start the Add New Hardware Wizard. But please do not reboot. I don't want to get you locked out of Windows.

[Rollin' Rog]

I would recommend that as we (I) would be really going out on a limb if I suggested you replace your registry values with mine. Also if you have that sysprep folder on the hard drive with winbom.ini in it, it may contain entries which still need to be executed. I really don't know.

I hope your Alienware tech knows enough about the issue to suggest a resolution without a complete restore, but I have my doubts.

On the other hand if it comes to that, before taking the plunge to do a complete wipe and restore, we could take a shot at making that "state" folder in the registry look like mine.

Actually Mo's suggestion about doing it without rebooting sounds less risky -- but it's got to be your call. It's a heck of a machine you have and you deserve to get the best support for it.

[Duster340]

How should I search for it, just use the search line or in regedit? Found the winbom ini and it was last modified on 9/17/2002 before my system was even ordered. The file is in C:\sysprep

[Mosaic1]

More on the winBOM.ini file From
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase...sxp_deploy.asp


Automating Windows XP Roll-outs in the Enterprise
Needless to say, this all changes with Windows XP. Sysprep has been improved with the ability to add updated or "out of box" drivers to an install image. Per-machine customizations can be applied. And a number of features have been added to decrease the amount of time PC makers will need to get the OS preloaded on corporate machines. A new Windows Bill Of Materials file (WinBOM.ini) drives Sysprep, providing a scriptable OS customization environment. The WinBOM.ini file is used to apply per-machine settings like identity information, machine name, and ISP information.

-------
I'd like to see your winbom.ini file.

[Duster340]

Have tried to send it as txt but it says I have tried to upload an invalid file type?

[Mosaic1]

As I am reading more, if the file runs at each start and the dialogs have been suppressed so you don't have to deal with them, then the event viewer entries may be perfectly normal. But something is telling XP that an install hasn't finished. A look at the file might at least rule it out.

[Rollin' Rog]

You need to rename it as Winbom.txt

[Mosaic1]

Try this. Make a copy of the file. Then rename it copy.txt

Attach copy.txt and see if it will go now. I hope Rog is stil around.

[Duster340]

Try again. All suggestions for this have said it is an invalid file format even after I renamed it. May have got it. Lets try this. .[Version]
signature=$CHICAGO$

[Factory]
Username=administrator
Password=

[ComputerSettings]
AuditAdminAutoLogon=Yes
SourcePath=%windir%

[NetCards]

[WinPE]
Restart=Reboot
Lang=ENG
Sku=pro
ConfigSet=xp-professonal
SourceRoot=\\ALIENSRV\opktools
Username=owner
Password=

[WinPE.net]
StartNet=Yes

[DiskConfig]
Disk1=Disk1.config

[Disk1.config]
wipedisk=yes
Size1=*
PartitionType1=primary
SetActive1=yes
FileSystem1=ntfs
QuickFormat1=yes

[StartMenuMFUlist]
Link0=
Link1=
Link2=
Link3=
[DesktopShortcutsFolder]
DesktopShortcutsFolderName=
[OemRunOnce]
"SP1 for windows XP","""c:\sp1\xpsp1.exe ""/q "
"Settings","""c:\sysprep\alien.bat"" "
"Alienware Info","""\\aliensrv\master\oeminfo\xp-pro\oeminfo.bat"" "

;\\\\\Continue

"ALIEN Factory","""\\aliensrv\alienfactory\alienfactory.exe"" "
;"ALIEN SETUP LAUNCHER","""\\ALIENSRV\OPKTOOLS\CFGSETS\XP-professonal\ALIENSETUPLAUNCHER.EXE"" "
;"Installing Step by Step Interactive","""\\ALIENSRV\opktools\lang\ENG\sbsi\pro\setup\setup.exe"" -SMS -S -f1""\\ALIENSRV\opktools\lang\ENG\sbsi\pro\setup\silent.iss"""

Used Rogs cut and paste method.

[Rollin' Rog]

As near a I can tell if that were to run it would initiate a complete system install process. I would say it's out of the picture.