JSI Tip 4322. How do I bypass OOBE (Out of Box Experience) for a Windows XP unattended install?

When you install Windows XP in a workgroup, the first time you restart the computer after setup completes, the OOBE program runs, to perform:

product activationregistrationmouse tutorialuser creation.

If you run Winnt32.exe to start the installation, OOBE is disabled by default.

If you start the install with Winnt.exe or from the CD-ROM, running Winnt.sif from disk, OOBE runs the first time you start your computer after setup is complete.

To prevent OOBE from running during an unattended install, edit the unattend.txt file:

[unattended]UnattendSwitch=yes