When you load a previously cached WIM, how do you get the Autounattend.xml to load?

B

Bouldip

New Member
Messages
6
Reaction score
3
Hi guys,
I created an Win 10 Home bootable USB with an AutoUnattend.xml it worked perfectly :)
However, I had actually told it to Autologin the user.
In retrospect, I'd prefer it to NOT do this.
When I reload Win 10 Home (from the cache) I have to start again and rebuild another Autounattend.xml file

Is there a way to just "amend" the xml file inside NTLite (So that you know the changes are appended correctly) ?

Thank you in advance
 
For various reasons, NTLite will not import or reload an existing autounattend.xml. But you can open the file in Notepad and update it.

Scroll down until you find this XML block:
Code: 
        <settings pass="oobeSystem">
                <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
                        <InputLocale>0409:00000409</InputLocale>
                        <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
                        <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
                        <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
                        <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
                </component>
                <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
                        <TimeZone>Pacific Standard Time</TimeZone>

Remove this entire middle block, starting from <Autologon>...
Code: 
                        <AutoLogon>
                                <Enabled>true</Enabled>
                                <LogonCount>9999999</LogonCount>
                                <Username>GARLIN</Username>
                                <Password>
                                        <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                                        <Value></Value>
                                </Password>
                        </AutoLogon>
...ending with </Autologon>

Leave the next block of lines alone.
Code: 
                        <OOBE>
                                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                                <HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
                                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                                <NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
                                <ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC>
                        </OOBE>
                        <UserAccounts>
                                <LocalAccounts>
                                        <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                                                <Group>Administrators</Group>
                                                <Name>GARLIN</Name>
                                                <Password>
                                                        <PlainText>true</PlainText>
                                                        <Value></Value>
                                                </Password>
                                        </LocalAccount>
                                </LocalAccounts>
                        </UserAccounts>
                </component>
        </settings>

For the most part, autounattend.xml files are portable across different Windows releases & editions. You can copy the same file to another random ISO. The only thing to watch out for is when NTLite picks a specific image number to be installed.

That's this block:
Code: 
                                        <InstallFrom>
                                                <MetaData wcm:action="add">
                                                        <Key>/IMAGE/INDEX</Key>
                                                        <Value>1</Value>
                                                </MetaData>
                                        </InstallFrom>
 
Hi Garlin,
I hoped you might see my question :-) Thank you.
Ok understood. And you gave me just what I needed in terms of what to do to remove the autologin bit. I didn't know whether to try and delete a portion or just change "true" to "false". Thanks again.
 
garlin said:
For various reasons, NTLite will not import or reload an existing autounattend.xml.
Click to expand...
As a relatively new NTLite user, I'm trying to wrap my head around how everything works. Following advice I've seen on this forum, I'm making small changes to the image, creating a bootable ISO and testing. As for the autounattend file, I'm hoping you can save me a lot of time in trial and error sessions.

I made my first ISO that had some options set in Unattended (add a user, hide EULA, etc.). The first test seemed to work. As mentioned above, the autounattend file is not loaded in subsequent editing sessions when the working image is. I read above how to remove an option, but what if I want to add an additional one or more? Do I have to manually reconfigure everything I had done before? Are the new additions added to the existing autounattend file, or is the file overwritten with just the new options I select?

Russ
 
If your saved preset had Unattended settings, they will re-appear when the preset is loaded against a mounted image. At this point, you can update any of the Unattended settings, and save the preset again.

What you can't do is take an existing ISO, load an image, and have it import back the Unattended settings from the ISO. For NTLite to keep track of Unattended settings, the only way is having them inside your preset.

Therefore you should make a habit of saving your preset, before Applying any changes. If you didn't keep Unattended in the last preset, then you must start over and add your settings back to another preset. NTLite can only create a new autounattend.xml, it will never read or edit an existing copy.

That's the workflow as it's designed. It's a little annoying, but you'll get used to it. There are a number of advanced Unattended features in the XML that NTLite doesn't support, mostly because those same needs are addressed by editing the image. Reloading an old answer file means you have to end up supporting functionality NTLite doesn't want to get into.
 
Sigh - the confusion only deepens, but thank you so much for your patience.

I'm working with an auto-expanded ISO (Win 10 Pro 22H2) in the NTLite\Cache folder. When I'm done for the day, I save the preset to a named file and also keep the autosave. The next day, that image is still mounted, but I have to load it (the image) to work with it.

The components I removed are still gone, the registry files I added are still there, and the documentation on presets states
To use these files, first load an image. After loading an image, if there is a previously associated preset, it will be automatically loaded...
Click to expand...
I therefore assumed that the preset was being loaded. The autounattended settings I made are in the autosaved preset, so why weren't they loaded upon loading the mounted image? When I manually load the autosaved preset (using overwrite, I presume), the autounattended settings appear, but I get warnings - Is that normal?

Russ
 
I dunno if it's true that loading an image, will auto-load the last preset that was applied to it. I've never seen that behavior.
Anyway, whenever I load an image, my next action is to double-click on a preset from the Presets tab. Don't leave anything to chance.
 
garlin said:
I dunno if it's true that loading an image, will auto-load the last preset that was applied to it.
Click to expand...
Fair enough - I was just going by what I read in the docs.

After loading the preset, the number of changes I made in unattended seem to be correct, however, the number of changes I made in other categories are way off. I removed components and made numerous settings changes, but it shows no component changes and only 3 settings changes. Are these components physically removed from the mounted image during processing? If so, and there are no more changes to components during this editing session, will the autosave preset maintain the entirety of the changes made to this image over several days, or do I need separate preset files for each working session?

Russ
 
When a component is removed, it's permanently gone from the image. If you make an error, start over with a clean ISO.

The preset only saves changes for the current session, it's not a cumulative history of all edits. It's normal to break out edits over a series of runs.

For example:
1. Load a clean ISO.​
2. Make a set of changes. Save as Preset 1, apply changes.​
3. Load edited ISO.​
4. Make a different set of changes. Save as Preset 2, apply changes.​
5. Reload edited ISO.​
6. Make a different set of changes. Save as Preset 3, apply changes.​

Each preset only records the intended changes being made in the current session. After the changes are applied, the session gets reset. You can always save a preset as a template, without applying changes.

A series of presets may be combined into a single preset. Load the image, and the first preset. Now select another preset from the list, and right-menu Load. NTLite will ask if you want to use this preset to Overwrite or Append to the current session. Overwrite replaces any duplicated settings in the current session, and Append only adds settings which aren't already present.
 
Thank you - things are beginning to come into focus now. I have not been keeping the individual session presets. Looks like I will be starting from scratch so that I can ultimately end up with one preset that I can use as a "master". Perhaps preset autoloading occurs as long as the changes have not been applied. I will test this and let you know. Thanks again for all your help!

Russ
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top