I remember that IHartMacs made a couple of posts about this, but I dont remember the name of it, and searches came back incomplete. I also checked in the Windows and the PC forums, but to no avail.
I think Petr also may have done a tutorial about this.
Any links to those posts would be awesome.
I am writing a tutorial on how to convert a clean XP install into looking like OS X encompassing skins, applications and reg tweaks. Here's a snip from it....
We will be creating a custom file system like so:The “Windows” folder will be called “System”
The “Program Files” folder will be called “Applications”
The “Documents & Settings” folder will be called “Users”
For the purpose of doing this, we will be performing an unattended install of Windows XP Professional.
Download Setup Manager.
Run the setupmgr.exe utility and follow the steps outlined below:
Click ‘Next’ on the Welcome Screen.
Choose ‘Create New Answer File’ and click ‘Next’.
Choose ‘Windows Unattended Install’ and hit ‘Next’.
Choose ‘Windows XP Professional’ and click ‘Next’.
Select ‘Fully automated’. If you’d like to see the defaults and manually click ‘Next’ during the installation select ‘Provide defaults’.
In the Distribution Folder screen choose ‘No, this answer file will be used to install from a CD’.
Check the box for ‘I accept the terms of the License Agreement’ and click ‘Next’.
Now you will be asked to provide some information for your system. Type in the ‘Name’ and ‘Organization’ and click ‘Next’.
Leave the defaults for display settings because if Windows XP does not support your video adapter out-of-the-box and you need to install drivers for your video card, an inappropriate resolution or color depth selection here might not display properly on your system once the install is complete. Click ‘Next’.
Select the appropriate time zone and click ‘Next’.
Type in your ‘Product Key’ and click ‘Next’.
Type a computer name for your system and click ‘Add’. Then hit ‘Next’.
Type an Administrator password. Please note that the password is saved in the answer file in clear text and if security is an issue for you, check ‘Encrypt Administrator password in answer file’ and click ‘Next’.
If you need to customize your network settings choose ‘Customize Settings’ and make the necessary changes. Otherwise leave it at ‘Typical Settings’ and click ‘Next’.
Leave the Workgroup as the default and hit ‘Next’.
If necessary specify your Telephony settings and hit ‘Next’.
For Regional Settings, specify a regional setting if you need to. Otherwise leave it at default and hit ‘Next’.
Choose a language and hit ‘Next’.
You can customize your Browser settings if you wish or leave them at default and click ‘Next’.
IMPORTANT STEP: Now we shall specify the folder where we need to install Windows. Choose ‘This folder’ and type \SYSTEM in the box. Click ‘Next’.
If you need to install Printers, do so or click ‘Next’.
Click through the last 2 dialog boxes. The wizard will ask you where you wish to save the answer file. Specify a location and save the file unattend.txt.
Now open the unattend.txt file in Notepad.
Add the following line under the [GuiUnattended] section after the last entry.
ProfilesDir = C:\Users
Close Notepad.
Rename the file unattend.txt to winnt.sif.
Make sure you rename the file correctly. Uncheck the ‘Hide File Extensions’ from your ‘Folder Options’ to ensure that you rename the file correctly. It should be winnt.sif, not winnt.sif.txt.
Once you’ve done this, copy the file and save it a floppy disk.
I assume that your primary partition (usually c:\) is formatted. If it’s not, format it. The installation will not complete properly if there is an OS on the partition.
Note: There are a couple of ways to format the system partition. You can use the Microsoft Recovery Console or use the Windows XP Setup itself to format the partition (Start the Windows XP Setup from the bootable CD and complete the step of formatting the file system. Once the partition is formatted, reboot so that the Windows XP files don’t get copied.)
Ok, once you have the partition formatted and ready, it’s time to install Windows XP. Insert the floppy disk we just made into your floppy drive and also insert your Windows XP bootable CD into the CD drive. Set your BIOS to boot from the CD-ROM. If all goes well the setup should read the winnt.sif answer file from the floppy disk and you should have an unattended setup running (i.e. you should get no prompts for information). Sit back and have a coffee or something while the setup installs Windows XP. It usually takes a good half an hour or more.
Once that’s done, logon to Windows and look at your file system. If everything went well, your Windows directory should be called ‘SYSTEM’ and your Documents & Settings folder should be called ‘Users’.
By now you’re probably saying “Well, my Program Files folder is not ‘Applications’ like it should be in OS X”. That’s coming up next.
Open ‘My Computer’ and navigate to your system partition.
Right-click ‘Program Files’ and choose ‘Copy’ (Ctrl+C). Then right-click in ‘My Computer’ and click ‘Paste’ (Ctrl+V). This will create a folder called ‘Copy of Program Files’. Rename the folder to ‘Applications’. Close ‘My Computer’.
Download regedt33.exe and run it.
Go to the Edit menu and choose ‘Search + Replace’.
In the search box type ‘Program Files’ and in the replace box type ‘Applications’. Click ‘Go’. Replace every instance that is found.
Do another ‘Search + Replace’ and this time type ‘Progra~1’ in the search box and ‘Applications’ in the replace box, since some legacy applications still use DOS names. Replace every instance that is found.
Close Regedt33 and restart the machine.
If all went well, you should be able to delete the ‘Program Files’ folder and now your ‘Applications’ folder has become your ‘Program Files’ folder for all applications. You’ll notice this especially when you install a new application. It will use ‘Applications’ as the default path instead of ‘Program Files’. It’s pretty neat.
That about does it for the folder structure.
That's interesting. Is the whole tutorial done or are you still working on it?
Still working on it. I don't know when it will be done, but I'm hoping that it will be next week.
do just delete the unattend.bat file then?
i have a little problem. my xp disc formats the drive and then copies xp files to the harddisk. it then uses these files to install xp. i had the floppy in when i installed xp, but it did nothing.
is there a different method for installations like mine?
so i just leave the floppy in after the xp disc copies files to my harddrive and starts to install windows?
note: the cd is taken out after the files are copied. when installation is going on.
When you see "Setup is inspecting your hardware configuration" insert the floppy at that second. Leave it in until XP is done installing.
roger that
didn't work for me
i remember trying this like a year ago. cassiel posted a tutorial on it. didn't get it to work, but i think i might try again soon
Search aquaxp thats where i learned.
here's something you should do first before making the CD... slipstream SP1 first
http://www.theeldergeek.com/slipstreamed_xpsp1_cd.htm
edit--Hilloki's link has the whole process, i walked away from my computer without hitting post first...
Aqua-Soft Forums
but i have no xp install cd, only system restore cds.