Must be a betterway to image

[Newby317]

After imaging the computer using Ghost. There are still a number of applications that need to be installed. My thought is to create a batch file that will call the applications or setup files and for the process to run consecutively. How can this be done?
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Newby317

[TechZ]

http://unattended.msfn.org/

There is soo much info on it, and the forums there are packed with info on how to do this.

[InTheWayBoy]

Yeah, that's what I use for default WinXP installs...Win9x is still decent with ghost.

You'll want to read that guide front-to-back, then check out the forums. They have several tools that can help automate and display software installations. WPI is the one I use. I have it setup so that it has the default items checked, then if nothing happens after two minutes it installs those items. So you run that after an install via a batch files or script and then walk away. And it looks pretty too!

[InTheWayBoy]

Forgot about the batch file part:

start /wait setup.exe /S

That's a pretty normal command...start is the command that just loads something, /wait is the switch to make it wait until the program has terminated, setup.exe is the file you want start to launch, and /S is a common switch for setup.exe to run silently...or without any screens.

As a basic script you could prepare a directory with all the programs you want to install and just duplicate that line over and over in a batch file. Then just run it manually or through another batch file and you're done.

Thing is, each setup.exe is different...some use /S, /s, /silent, and even /verysilent. And .msi installers are different as well. You can't just call those with the normal start command.

In the msfn.org forums there is a section called appliction installs that has a wealth of info on almost any program. This info includes what switch to use to install it without prompt, including setup options, and importing serial numbers and such.

As a tip, if you don't want certain icons to stay after installing all your programs, just hunt down the icon and copy the full path. Then insert this into your batch file...at the end of course.

del "C:\Documents and Settings\%USERNAME%\Desktop\QuickPar.lnk"

Edit accordingly...good luck!