Frequently Asked Questions


Are files and folder names case-sensitive?
No. :-) (Some switches are case-sensitive though)


How do I apply my tweaks to all users?
You have to import the HKEY_CURRENT_USER tweaks from cmdlines.txt. Please, refer to the Registry Tweaks article for more details.


How do I open and edit winnt.sif and *.cmd files?
Open Notepad. Either drag the file to the Notepad window, or use File > Open, change Files of Type to All Files, then browse to the file you want to edit. You may want to associate .sif and .cmd files with Notepad to save time.


I don't have enough space to burn Windows XP with all the extras, what should I do?


I'm worried that the installation of my Pre-SP2 hotfixes may have clashed with older/newer files when I ran the hotfix batch, how can I verify that the hotfixes have been installed correctly?
Use a Microsoft command-line utility tool, known as QFECheck to verify that each hotfix is installed correctly. You can download QFECheck and read about it at the Microsoft Knowledge Base Q282784.


None of the files and folders I put in \$OEM$\$1\ copied over during install, have I missed something out?
You will need to change 
OemPreinstall=No

to 
OemPreinstall=Yes

in the winnt.sif file.

If you're installing Windows from a CD, make sure the $OEM$ folder is in the root of the CD (parallel to i386). If you are installing Windows from the HDD or a network drive, place the $OEM$ folder inside i386. In the latter case you can also specify the path to OEM files in the answer file in the [Unattended] section: OemFilesPath = path_to_$OEM$_folder.

Use CDIMAGE to create the ISO, then simply burn it in you favorite burning software (CTRL+O). If you prefer to use Nero for the compilation, check your ISO compilation settings

Unattended XPCD



When I start Windows XP Setup from CD, I get the message:
You didn't copy the CD Ident files when you copied over your Windows XP files from the CD to C:\XPCD\

For SP1, those are:
WIN51, WIN51IP, and win51ip.SP1

For SP2, those are:
WIN51, WIN51IP, and win51ip.SP2


Why do files copied from my $OEM$ folder get the read only flag?
All files on a CD are read only. That's what a CD is about. Since Windows keeps the flags intact, the files copied onto the hard drive are read only too.