Installing Windows 2000 using an answer file

When you install Windows 2000, there are a lot of questions to be answered. To save time and avoid errors, you can supply an "answer file" that will provide the answers automatically.

John and I have worked up a couple of answer files that will get you most of the way to a working system. See below for the last few steps you need to take to get fully up on the network. If everyone uses these files when they install Windows 2000, we will at least have all our machines set up in the same way, and there's a good probability they will even be set up correctly.

Fully unattended installation

winnt.sif

This file is for when you want to save time: you boot off the CD, pop in the disk, and when you come back from lunch your machine will be installed. It will be set up with Win2K on a single partition occupying the entire first hard disk. WARNING: This implies that when you use this answer file all data on your disk will be erased without any further confirmation.

It's not really quite that simple: you still need to specify the name and IP address of the machine. You do this by editing the information on the first few lines of the file before you start. If you forget to do this, your machine will not have a working network connection.

For this to be truly unattended you need to make sure the CD-ROM drive and the hard disk come before the floppy disk in the boot order in the BIOS menus (usually you get these by hitting F2 early on in the boot process); otherwise partway through the install, when it reboots, it will stop until you remove the floppy.

So the whole procedure is:

  1. Save the file pointed to by the above link to a blank floppy disk. Beware that your browser might want to call it "winnt.sif.txt".
  2. Edit the first two items in the file to specify the correct machine name and IP address.
  3. Get the Win2K install CD (the "Select" CD from the developer kit that does not need a CD key).
  4. Set the boot order to CD, hard disk, floppy.
  5. Put in the floppy and the CD.
  6. Boot. Note that on some machines (Dell 610s at least) you need to watch for the "press a key to boot from the CD" prompt.
  7. After it finishes, follow the additional instructions below.

Normal installation with defaults

winnt.sif

This file has all the same settings, but it will not just go ahead without you. You step through the setup screens as usual, and the answer-file answers will be provided as defaults. This is the one to use if you want different partitioning, if you want to change something from the default, or if you just feel more comfortable seeing what's going on rather than having it happen automatically.

So the whole procedure is:

  1. Save the file pointed to by the above link to a blank floppy disk. Beware that your browser might want to call it "winnt.sif.txt".
  2. Get the Win2K install CD (the "Select" CD from the developer kit that does not need a CD key).
  3. Put in the floppy and the CD (if the floppy is first in the boot order you have to wait until it boots from the CD, then quickly put in the floppy).
  4. Boot. Note that on some machines (Dell 610s at least) you need to watch for the "press a key to boot from the CD" prompt.
  5. Interact with Setup to partition the drive the way you want and to supply the machine name.
  6. To supply the IP address, opt for a custom network setup. Go to the properties for the TCP/IP protocol to enter the address (everything else is already there).
  7. After it finishes, follow the additional instructions below.

Post-install setup

The answer file is useful, but there are various settings that cannot or should not be controlled from Setup. Here is the procedure to finsh the installation:

  1. Log in as Administrator (no password).
  2. Set the Administrator password. Hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete and choose Change Password.
  3. One final network tweak. Go to My Network Places -> Properties, Local Area Connection -> Properties, Internet Protocol, Properties, Advanced, DNS, and un-check "Register this connection's addresses in DNS".
  4. Join the domain "graphics-domain". Go to My Computer -> Properties, Network Identification, Properties. Under "More..." enter stanford.edu as the primary DNS suffix and un-check "Change primary DNS suffix...". Under "Member of..." select "Domain" and enter "graphics-domain". Say OK and it will ask you for your domain credentials, then (eventually) come back with "Welcome to graphics-domain." Then you have to reboot.
  5. Log in using your domain user name (note that you have to expand the password dialog to specify the domain). If this works, it's a good sign.
  6. Install Service Pack 2. Go to Start -> Run, enter "\\telefrag\os", go to Win2k-sp2, and run w2ksp2.exe. Don't ask it to back up the files necessary to uninstall the SP, because that takes a ton of disk space. You will have to reboot (yes, again).

Now you officially have a basic install.

Further suggestions

Turn off some foolproofing: Go to My Computer, Tools -> Folder Options, View. Select "Show hidden files and folders" and un-check "Hide file extensions for known types" and "Hide proteceted operating system files". You might also like to turn on "Display the full path in the address bar"

Other things you will need are on telefrag as well:

along with other things you might want:
srm@graphics.stanford.edu