Incorporating ScriptIt with Unattended Installation

ID: Q191605

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

The unattended installation process includes several techniques for added customization, such as sysdiff and runonce. However, there are limitations with these options; for example, installing and configuring a sound card or installing a service.

ScriptIt is a freely available, unsupported utility from Microsoft, and is approximately 489 KB in size. ScriptIt extends functionally to the Unattend process. ScriptIt is a tool for automating interactive software installations and system configuration tasks. ScriptIt can be used to start a process, monitor the window titles of active processes, and, when appropriate, send a set of keystrokes to the correct window. The keystrokes can be predetermined or they can be determined at run time. ScriptIt can be configured to differentiate (and respond appropriately) between multiple windows that have the same title bar but different instructional text.

Note that ScriptIt is not a traditional scripting language and does not offer many of the traditional programming language constructs. The ScriptIt command must be started by a user with sufficient security privileges to perform the designated installation or configuration task.

IMPORTANT: Microsoft does not provide technical support for scripts prepared with the ScriptIt tool, but provides this article as information only. Consequently, it is important that you test your scripts thoroughly before using them in a production environment. Use this utility and information at your own risk.

ScriptIt is a executable that runs in conjunction with a script file. For example, the following ScriptIt .ini file launches the Have Disk window under Display Properties (further keystrokes can be added to install a specific driver, set the resolution, and test the resolution). 


   [SCRIPT]
   run="control.exe desk.cpl"
   Display Properties=+{TAB}
   Display Properties={RIGHT 4}
   Display Properties=!T
   Display Type=c
   Change Display=h

For additional information about parameters for the Unattend.txt file, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q155197
TITLE : Unattended Setup Parameters for Unattend.txt File
For additional information about runonce and other techniques to install applications using unattend installs, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: Q158447
TITLE : How to Run a Program Only Once After Unattended Setup of WinNT
Runonce can be modified to call ScriptIt and ScriptIt .ini files by performing the following steps:

  1. Create a $OEM$ directory in the i386 share.


  2. Within this directory create a Scriptit directory that resides in a C directory (that is, $OEM$\C\Scriptit).


  3. Copy Scriptit.exe and any ScriptIt scripts to the $OEM$\C\Scriptit directory. The contents of the $OEM$\C directory will be copied to the C directory of the target workstation.


  4. Create a Batch.cmd file that contains the location of the ScriptIt executable and the .ini file or files: 
    
      c:\scriptit\scriptit.exe c:\scriptit\script.ini
      %SystemRoot%\System32\rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection
      DefaultInstall 132 %SystemRoot%\System32\cleanup.inf

    NOTE: The last two lines in the above command should be all on one line; the line is wrapped for readability (ensure that word wrap in Notepad has been disabled).



MORE INFORMATION

ScriptIt is freely available from Microsoft at:

http://www.microsoft.com/NTServer/nts/deployment/custguide/scriptit3.asp
There is no licensing restriction; however, ScriptIt and ScriptIt scripts are unsupported.

The ScriptIt Readme file is included in the download.

Additional query words: sysdiff runonce unattended scriptit deployment 


Keywords          : 
Version           : winnt:4.0
Platform          : winnt 
Issue type        : kbinfo

Last Reviewed: August 2, 1999