One feature that applies to both NT Workstation and Server will please network managers and administrators. For the first time, Microsoft is providing setup tools that allow an NT system to be completely preconfigured without human intervention-from video and network settings to preloaded applications. This is accomplished with a combination of tools: Windows NT setup provides an unattended mode option that lets you associate a response file containing answers to the selections users normally make during setup. In 4.0 this functionality is expanded by providing uniqueness database files (UDFs) and allowing you to add third-party installation scripts in a %OEM% subdirectory of the setup directory tree.
For the extreme case where you can't set up an app through a script, a new SYSDIFF.EXE tool lets you take a "snapshot" of a standard setup and use it to generate a "difference file" that describes all files and Registry settings needed to fully install an application. NT Setup can then be customized to replay the difference file-copying all necessary files and making all necessary Registry settings automatically-when executed on a target system. For large organizations and OEMs, this will be a tremendous time-saver.
