Sysprep and Network Adapters

[Anwar Mahmood]

Hi all,

I'd like to create a Windows XP image to be SYSPREP'd then brought up
with the mini-setup wizard. All of the mini-setup wizard questions
would be answered by SYSPREP.INF, with the exception of the computer
name. The computer should join a domain during the mini-setup wizard
phase.

I've got this working fine on a standard desktop computer, but it is
much tricker on a portable PC, predominantly because the portable has
a wired network interface, wireless network interface and an Ieee1394
interface. These are all enabled by the plug and play process of the
mini-setup wizard, but, according to documentation in DEPLOY.CAB, the
mini-setup wizard will only use the first NIC it finds to interact
with the network. The problem is, it seems to order the NICs into
alphabetical order. Hence a portable with

1394 adapter
Intel wireless
Realtek 8139

interfaces cannot join the domain if the domain is only available on
the wired (ie not the first) interface.

I've encountered a similar problem on desktop PCs, where an image
developed on one PC deployed onto another with an Ieee1394 interface
wouldn't join the domain, but by simply renaming
c:\windows\inf\1394.inf to 1394.in1 just before running the sysprep
process, then automatically renaming it back again at the end of the
mini-setup wizard, I got it working. This doesn't work where the
Ieee1394 interface is already installed in the base image.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,

Anwar

 

[Anwar Mahmood]

Hi all,

I got it working by
- installing XP afresh
- not installing the wireless network card drivers (fortunately they
aren't built in!)
- uninstalling the Ieee1394 interface in Device Manager, then
renaming 1394.inf to 1394.in1
- sysprepping as normal.

Now, when the mini-setup wizard, only one network interface is
available, so it works. At the end of the mini-setup wizard, I will
fix up the 1394.in1 file, and install the wireless network card
drivers.

Kind regards,

Anwar