Hello, I am having some problems getting WDS to deploy correctly using some unattended XML files. I ahve imported a basic eindows 7 x64 enterprise install and boot image and have created what I think are some pretty basic unattends. The computer PXE boot fine and I select the image I want to deploy and then I am prompted to choose which disk to install to, if I select any partition on the local disk I get a "Windows Could not prepare the partition selected for installation" error. If I boot with an install disk I can see that sometime between me selecting the image and hitting next on the unformatted disk that the partitions I want to be created are actually put there but based on the order of things I would think that I should never be prompted to choose a disk. I ahve tried putting the install to in bot the wdsclientunattend.xml and the xml attacked directly to the image Here is my WDSClientunattend.xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend"> <settings pass="windowsPE"> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" 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"> <SetupUILanguage> <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage> </SetupUILanguage> <InputLocale>en-US</InputLocale> <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale> <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage> <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale> </component> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-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"> <DiskConfiguration> <Disk wcm:action="add"> <CreatePartitions> <CreatePartition wcm:action="add"> <Order>1</Order> <Size>300</Size> <Type>Primary</Type> </CreatePartition> <CreatePartition wcm:action="add"> <Order>2</Order> <Extend>true</Extend> <Type>Primary</Type> </CreatePartition> </CreatePartitions> <ModifyPartitions> <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add"> <Active>true</Active> <Format>NTFS</Format> <Label>System</Label> <Order>1</Order> <PartitionID>1</PartitionID> <TypeID>0x27</TypeID> </ModifyPartition> <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add"> <Format>NTFS</Format> <Label>Windows</Label> <Letter>C</Letter> <Order>2</Order> <PartitionID>2</PartitionID> </ModifyPartition> </ModifyPartitions> <DiskID>0</DiskID> <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk> </Disk> <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI> </DiskConfiguration> <ImageInstall> <OSImage> <InstallTo> <DiskID>0</DiskID> <PartitionID>2</PartitionID> </InstallTo> <InstallToAvailablePartition>false</InstallToAvailablePartition> </OSImage> </ImageInstall> <WindowsDeploymentServices> <Login> <Credentials> <Domain>szdnet.com</Domain> <Password>******</Password> <Username>******</Username> </Credentials> </Login> </WindowsDeploymentServices> <UserData> <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula> </UserData> </component> </settings> <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="catalog:c:/users/ellisa/desktop/sw_dvd5_sa_win_ent_7_64bit_english_full_mlf_x15-70749/sources/install_windows 7 enterprise.clg" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" /> </unattend> Here is the xml attached to the image: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend"> <settings pass="specialize"> <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>Eastern Standard Time</TimeZone> </component> </settings> <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>en-us</InputLocale> <SystemLocale>en-us</SystemLocale> <UILanguage>en-us</UILanguage> <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"> <OOBE> <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage> <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE> <NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation> <ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC> </OOBE> <UserAccounts> <LocalAccounts> <LocalAccount wcm:action="add"> <Password> <Value>NABnAGUAdABhAGIAbwB1AHQAaQB0ACEAUABhAHMAcwB3AG8AcgBkAA==</Value> <PlainText>false</PlainText> </Password> <Description>SZD Admin</Description> <DisplayName>burnsc</DisplayName> <Group>Administrators</Group> <Name>burnsc</Name> </LocalAccount> </LocalAccounts> </UserAccounts> </component> </settings> <settings pass="windowsPE"> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-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"> <ImageInstall> <OSImage> <InstallTo> <DiskID>0</DiskID> <PartitionID>2</PartitionID> </InstallTo> <InstallToAvailablePartition>false</InstallToAvailablePartition> <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI> </OSImage> </ImageInstall> </component> </settings> <cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="catalog:c:/users/ellisa/desktop/sw_dvd5_sa_win_ent_7_64bit_english_full_mlf_x15-70749/sources/install_windows 7 enterprise.clg" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" /> </unattend> Any thought s wouldbe greatly appriciated! Thanks Aaron

Hi Aaron, First I would like to know whether you can deploy the system successfully without using any unattend file. If so, I suggest removing the following lines in your image unattend file (not client unattend file): <settings pass="windowsPE"> <component name="Microsoft-Windows-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"> <ImageInstall> <OSImage> <InstallTo> <DiskID>0</DiskID> <PartitionID>2</PartitionID> </InstallTo> <InstallToAvailablePartition>false</InstallToAvailablePartition> <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI> </OSImage> </ImageInstall> </component> </settings> If the issue persists, please remove <TypeID>0x27</TypeID> in the client unattend file to test the result. In addition, I am afraid the following sections should be included in <WindowsDeploymentServices> <ImageInstall> <OSImage> <InstallTo> <DiskID>0</DiskID> <PartitionID>2</PartitionID> </InstallTo> <InstallToAvailablePartition>false</InstallToAvailablePartition> </OSImage> </ImageInstall> Sample: <WindowsDeploymentServices> <Login> <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI> <Credentials> <Username>username</Username> <Domain>Fabrikam.com</Domain> <Password>my_password</Password> </Credentials> </Login> <ImageSelection> <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI> <InstallImage> <ImageName>Windows Vista with Office</ImageName> <ImageGroup>ImageGroup1</ImageGroup> <Filename>Install.wim</Filename> </InstallImage> <InstallTo> <DiskID>0</DiskID> <PartitionID>1</PartitionID> </InstallTo> </ImageSelection> </WindowsDeploymentServices> For detailed information, please refer to the following articles: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732280(WS.10).aspx Related threads: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserversetup/thread/84a6d96f-4c1a-442f-96c3-c9b95c660f83 http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproinstall/thread/725c6f9d-5ac0-4f0c-8501-fdeaedb1159b Tim Quan TechNet Subscriber Support in forum If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please remember to click “Mark as Answer” on the post that helps you, and to click “Unmark as Answer” if a marked post does not actually answer your question. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.

Any update