Unattended Install prompts for install partition

ID: Q196288

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0

SUMMARY

MORE INFORMATION

Steps to Reproduce the Behavior:

Allocate two FAT partitions on a drive.

Copy I386 directory to a folder on drive C.

Copy files according to Q185773 along with Setupdd.sys from the SP4 CD. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q185773 NTFS Corruption on Drives > 4 GB Using ExtendOEMPartition

Begin the unattended installation:

WINNT /s:c:\i386 /b /u:c:\unattend.txt

Observe the partition selection dialog box following the first restart.

When using the Setupdd.sys file from Service Pack 4 with an Unattended Installation, text mode setup will prompt for the install partition if multiple partitions exist on the drive. This will prevent the unattended installation from continuing until a response is entered.

To avoid the Partition Selection prompt during unattended installation, add the following option to the [Unattended] section of the Unattend.txt file prior to starting the Winnt.exe installation:


   AutoPartition=1

This is a new option added in Service Pack 4. This option will cause the unattended installation to automatically select the installation partition.

SYMPTOMS

A new feature added to Setupdd.sys gives the user an opportunity to select the partition to install to during an unattended installation. By default or if AutoPartition=0 is selected in the [Unattended] section of the Unattend.txt file and when multiple partitions exist, the user will be prompted to select one to install to.

Otherwise, if only one partition exists or if multiple partitions exist with AutoPartition=1 selected, the dialog will not be displayed to select a partition and the partition will automatically be selected.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.


Keywords          : ntstart ntsp 
Version           : WinNT:4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: February 25, 1999