Intalling Windows 7
Unattended Installation
Configuration Passes for a Basic Installation
- Windows 7 still has multiple phases of setup, but a single answer file is used for all configuration passes.
- the windows PE configuration pass is used at the start of the installation to:
- Partition and format the hard disk
- Specify a specific Windows image to install
- Specify credentials for accessing the Windows image
- Specify the local partition to install Windows 7 on
- Specify a product key, computer name, and administrator account name
- Run specific commands during Windows Setup
- The offlineServicing configuration pass is used to apply packages to a Windows 7 image after it is copied to the computer hard drive, but before it is running. The benefits of this pass include:
- Faster installation
- Enhanced security
- The specialize configuration pass applies a wide variety of settings related to the Windows interface, network configuration, and other Windows components.
- the oobeSystem configuration pass is applied during the user out-of-box experience (OOBE). The OOBE is the portion of the installation where users are asked for information after the second reboot. Information requested includes time zone, administrator name, and the administrator password.
- In the Sysprep configuration passes, the Sysprep utility is used to manage Windows 7 installations that are imaged. Configuration passes that can be triggered by Sysprep are:
- The generalize configuration pass
- The auditSystem configuration pass and auditUser configuration pass
- The oobeSystem configuration pass
