Setting up an unattended network Windows XP install

Installing just one copy of Windows XP on a desktop can be a tedious enough job. But multiply that task by ten, twenty, a hundred or more and it becomes a truly daunting prospect.

Just imagine having to sit there filling in the CD-key, regional and language settings, entering the computer name and workgroup settings for every single machine in a batch of a hundred. It hardly bears thinking about.

Fortunately, there are methods that the downtrodden systems administrator can employ to get around the tedium of a multi-machine install.

One of the simplest methods to do this is to run what's called an Unattended Installation. This allows one-click installation of Windows XP, either over a network or from a CD, and over the course of the next few pages, we'll be showing you exactly how it's done.