Microsoft KB Archive/191605

= INFO: Incorporating ScriptIt with Unattended Installation =

Article ID: 191605

Article Last Modified on 11/1/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
 * Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition

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This article was previously published under Q191605



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:

155197 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:

158447 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:

 Create a $OEM$ directory in the i386 share. Within this directory create a Scriptit directory that resides in a C directory (that is, $OEM$\C\Scriptit). 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.  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). 

Additional query words: sysdiff runonce unattended scriptit deployment Setup

Keywords: kbinfo kbsbk KB191605

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