Attempting to automate the Dell OEM Reinstallation DVD provided with Dell hardware by placing an autounattend.xml file at the root of the DVD, results in prompts at the OOBE pass regardless of the unattended settings used. This is because Dell customise the setup process and copy an unattend.xml file to the %systemroot%/panther directory which overrides the autounattend.xml file.

The following steps are followed to create the Dell OEM Vista unattended build DVD:

1. Copy the contents of the Dell OEM build DVD to a source folder e.g. C:\BuildDVD
2. Install the Vista AIK and create an unattended installation file with the required settings (omitting the licence key section)
3. Save the file as autounattend.xml in the root of the source folder i.e. C:\BuildDVD\autounattend.xml
4. Navigate to DVD\SOURCES$OEM$$$\SETUP\SCRIPTS within the source folder i.e. C:\DellRebuildDVD\DVD\SOURCES$OEM$$$\SETUP\SCRIPTS
5. Open the file SYSTEM.CMD, delete the last line reading copy %systemroot%\setup\scripts\dell.xml %systemroot%\panther\unattend.xml and save the file
6. Create a bootable ISO image using the AIK tool ImageX e.g. "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\oscdimg" -n -m -b"%Programfiles%\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\x86\boot\etfsboot.com" c:\BuildDVD\dvd c:\ BuildDVD \VistaDellOEMUnattend.iso
   Hint: Create a CMD or BAT file with this command for repeated use
7. Create a DVD using the ISO image
   Hint: Use virtual machines to test the ISO image before creating a DVD