If in another article we explained how to create a Windows live CD that works without being installing anything, in this post, also prompted by a comment, let's see, with a guide that will make it as simple as possible and within everyone's reach, how to create a disk customized to perform an automatic installation of Windows 7, in a short time, without having to click "next" or "Next" every 5 minutes and with minimal effort (once the disk has been created). It is really worth having a CD that allows this installation so pre-select all the options you want to use for the installation so as to have your own standard without the possibility of errors.
READ ALSO: Create an automatic and reduced installation CD for Windows 10 and 8 (Lite)
All those who have already installed a Windows operating system from scratch, will know very well that, when proceeding with the automatic installation, you must manually select the drives in which you want to install Windows (blue screen during the configuration part), choose the language, time, give a thousand confirmations, click "next" or "yes" 20 times, then, once installed, you must update to the latest Service Pack and save a thousand updates and you will lose a day.
With the automatic installation, however, once it has started, you can also go for a cup of coffee or eat in a restaurant, go to a disco or theater and, on your return, find the Windows 7 system on your computer ready to be used .
To create an unattended installation disc, you will of course need a Windows 7 installation disc .
You also need to download the free nLite program, which allows you to create 7 custom installation discs.
We had already talked about nLite about "how to uninstall Windows components with nLite or with XPLite".
nLite is very simple to use and you can make customizations that include the integration of the latest service pack available, the SP3, Windows updates, the addition of drivers, the preselection of installation options, the preselection of the components to be installed, and several other things.
As a first step for installing Windows, you need to download updates and, I recommend, to download at least Service Pack 3, especially if you have an old Windows disk.
1) Start nLite, select the desired language, then click Next .
Click the Browse button to navigate to the location of the Windows installation CD.
You will then be asked to specify a location on your hard drive to store the files for processing and you must then select where you want to store the file.
2) Once the files have been copied to the computer, nLite will detect the Windows 7 version of the installation CD so you can realize if the cd used was new and inclusive of Service Pack 3 or if the SP3 must be downloaded separately from the Windows Update Download SP3 page.
Updates or " Updates " subsequent to Service Pack 3 can be downloaded on the updates and patches page and can be integrated into the installation.
3) On nLite you can now go to the " Task Selection " page by clicking the " Next " button. On this Tasks selection page, select: Hotfixes, Add-ons and Update Packs, Unattended, and Bootable ISO .
If the Service Pack was not present on the CD and was downloaded manually and separately, also select " Service Pack ".
If you feel smart and safe enough, you can also include drivers, select components for removal and select other options and tweaks but these are more advanced choices that won't be discussed in this article.
Regarding the drivers, I prefer to create a separate backup driver CD that can be automatically restored at the end of the reinstallation procedure.
Click on the Next button to proceed.
4) If the Service Pack is to be integrated, the Service Pack page will appear where you must select the folder in which it was downloaded.
5) Once done, click Next to go to the hotfix section , Add-ons, and Update Packs .
Now you need to click the Insert button to choose, from the PC folders, the updates following the service pack 3 (also to be downloaded separately).
6) Click Next to proceed to the automatic or " Unattended " installation settings.
In order to avoid any interaction with the installation (apart from the selection / formatting of the hard disk of the blue screens), it will be necessary to update the following values :
- Set the automatic mode of " Hide Pages "
- Enter the product key .
- Write the password for access as an access administrator or choose an empty password.
- Add a new user and set his password or choose blank password.
- Set the "Autologon" for the newly created user.
- Write the computer name.
- Write the name of the Workgroup.
- Write your name and / or surname.
- Write the organization.
- Select the Timezone, that is, the time zone.
7) After updating these settings, and, if you want others too, click Next and let the program work.
When the process is complete, click Next to proceed with the ISO avable (bootable) section
8) Under " Mode ", select " Create an Image " or perform a " Direct Burn " or burn a copy of the files directly onto a CD . Direct Burn is probably the easiest and fastest choice for nLite to write directly to the disc.
At this point you can click on " Make ISO ".
If you had decided to burn to an image, you must then copy it to a CD using your favorite burning software.
Once the process is complete, the new CD created will be a complete, automatic and customized Windows installation.
To install a computer using this CD just start the PC with boot from CD, boot the system, select the location where you want to install, the format of the hard disk (NTFS or FAT32), and then go to the beach or in the snow.
Upon your return, your machine will have a fresh installation of Windows 7 running on it!
After the installation of Windows you can also install your favorite programs all together using a web service that creates a single installer
I hope this guide has been sufficiently clear, if you have already made automatic installation discs before, let me know your procedure and your observations so, in case, we integrate the article and the guide will be complete.
To create customized installation CDs for Windows 7, Microsoft made available Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) .
This is an installation CD from which you can remove functions and features and you can preconfigure, once and for all, a single procedure to install the Microsoft system, which can be used on multiple computers.
On another page, other ways to install Windows 7 Lite with component choice
