People think I'm a whiner when I flame on about how frustrating their docs are, long on fluff, short on detail, often in error. So, as I go through my hell it's time to jot down the hassles I find... Now, I placed links to the offending articles when possible, but don't expect them to work. From experience I've learned that microsoft URL formats seem to change every other week so it probably won't work. Just do searches for the quoted text or type "kb nnnnn" into IE location bar where appropriate...
Oh boy, this one made me excited at first. Imagine, being able to update the distribution share before deploying so your fresh installs are at least up-to-date. Wrong...
In the deployment planning doc it states: "You can point to the network share containing the Dynamic Update files by running Winnt.exe with the /DUShare switch, or by specifying the location of the share in your answer file."
I tried it, it didn't work. First of all, winnt.exe doesn't know about the dushare switch. But elsewhere in this doc it says unattened installs default to dynamic update from microsoft or you can redirect them to your dushare using the dushare param in your answer file. Still didn't work. Then we find kb 312110 which states: " The Windows XP Dynamic Update package only works if you are running an upgrade that is initiated by Winnt32.exe. It does not work with Winnt.exe, booting off of the CD-ROM, booting off of the floppy disks, RIS installations, and Winnt32.exe installations that are started from within WINPE.". Grr, loads of time wasted on THAT one...
In the Office XP Resource Kit, page 134, it states that you can chain the install of the Media Content CD into your installation. Step 1 is "Copy the Media Content CD to the Office XP administrative installation point." Now, does this mean to the root of that tree or a subdir within it. If the former, it will cause numerous files to be replaced in the original installation since they share common paths and file names in may cases.
Main XP Unattended Install Doc Page