Common installation scenarios include performing clean installations, upgrades, and unattended installations.
Clean Installations
The most common scenario for Windows Setup is performing a clean installation. This scenario consists of the following stages:
- Run Setup.exe from your Windows product DVD or network share.
- Select the Custom installation type.
- Windows Setup creates a local boot directory and copies all the required Windows Setup files.
- Windows Setup reboots to Windows Vista, installs and configures Windows components, and after installation is complete, launches Windows Welcome.
Custom installations do not retain any settings or preferences from previous versions of Windows. Files from previous Windows versions are copied to a \Windows.old directory.
Upgrades
Windows Setup can also perform upgrades. To perform an upgrade, you must begin from one of the following operating systems:
- Windows Vista
- Windows XP
- Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 or higher
- Windows Server 2003
This scenario includes the following stages:
- Run Setup.exe on the previous version of Windows.
- Select the Upgrade installation type. Windows Setup upgrades the system and protects your files, settings, and preferences during the installation process.
- Windows Setup reboots to Windows Vista and restores your protected files, settings, and preferences. Windows Setup then launches Windows Welcome.
Unattended Installations
Unattended installations enable OEMs and corporations to customize and to automate an installation of Windows. By using Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) or the Component Platform Interface (CPI) APIs, OEMs and corporations can create one or more customized Windows installations that can then be deployed across many systems.
The online scenario includes the following stages:
- Use Windows SIM or the CPI APIs to create an unattended installation answer file, typically called Unattend.xml. This answer file contains all the settings that you configure in the Windows image.
- Run Setup.exe with the explicit path to the answer file. If you do not include the path to the answer file, Setup.exe searches for a valid answer file in several specific locations. For more information, see How Windows Setup Works.
- Windows Setup then installs Windows Vista and configures all settings listed in the answer file. After the operating system is installed, Setup launches Windows Welcome.
