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Required Operating System Components
This article assumes that the following programs are installed on your destination computer: • Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 Service Pack 1 (SP1):
X:\IE4\Ie4setup.exe
• Post Internet Explorer 4.0 SP1 Microsoft virtual machine (Microsoft VM) (if X:\IE4\Ie4setup.exe is not run to install Internet Explorer 4.0 SP1):
X:\IE4\Msjavx86.exe
• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 SP3 (for destination computers running Windows NT only):
X:\NTSP3\Nt4sp3_i.exe
For more information about how to silently install these components, see the "References" section of this article. If you do not first install these components, you might receive installation error messages, or Visual Studio 6.0 components might not operate correctly after installation. In the following instructions, X represents the drive letter of Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 Disk 1.
Configure Visual Studio for Unattended Install
Because a silent installation occurs without any user involvement, you must make the setup option selections before you install the program. To do this, modify the .stf file. Use the ACOST tool that is located in the Setup folder on CD-ROM 1 to modify the .stf file. 1. Copy the Visual Studio 6.0 Disk 1 to a server hard disk (assume C:\VS6CD1).
2. Remove the read-only attribute from C:\VS6CD1\Setup\Vs98ent.stf.
3. Run C:\VS6CD1\Setup\ACost.exe.
4. On the File menu, click Open STF, and then click C:\VS6CD1\Setup\Vs98ent.stf.
5. Click to select the check boxes for the Visual Studio 6.0 components that you want to install. Click to clear the check boxes for the components that you do not want to install. If you clear the check box for a root, you prevent the installation of every component that is nested under it (that is, you do not have to clear the check box for each component in the nested list individually).
6. On the File menu, click Save As, and then click C:\VS6CD1\Setup\Vs98ent.stf.
Note If you try to use the Save As command on a file that is read-only, the ACOST tool fails silently. You do not receive an error message.
Use the following modified network CD-ROM image of the Visual Studio 6.0 disks as the installation source: 1. Share out the folder that contains the disk images.
2. On the client computer, connect to that share, and then run the following command:
path of the share\VS6CD1\SMSINST.EXE /k your CD Key
Unattended Install on the Destination Computer
The following procedure installs Visual Studio 6.0 by using the default product options.
1. Smsinst.exe takes the CD Key as an argument. (See your Visual Studio 6.0 CD-ROM packaging for your CD Key.) For example, if your CD Key is 460-1234567, run the following command line to start Smsinst.exe:
Smsinst.exe /k 4601234567
Note Smsinst.exe might report an access error. This error might be a timing issue. If you experience this error, try the same command again to start Smsinst.exe.
2. You must restart the destination computer after the Visual Studio client install has completed and before you install any other client programs, MSDN, or server components that are included with Visual Studio. Run-once operations that are in Pending status do not sequence. Therefore, you cannot delay and then restart one time when you have completed all component installations.
Note On a computer running Microsoft Windows 98, you might receive an error message that Acmsetup.exe is already in use. If you receive this error message, run the unattended install again. The install should be completed successfully the second time.
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