Can you use answer files created for Windows Vista to perform unattended installs of Windows 7? Maybe. The platforms are very similar and their answer files use the same XML format, but some subtle differences may apply. To find out whether the answer file you created for Vista will work with Windows 7, open the answer file using Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) on a computer on which Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) 2.0 has been installed and validate the answer file against the Windows 7 catalog. Any errors or warnings will be displayed in the messages pane of Windows 7. See my article Deploying Vista – Part 6: Using Windows SIM to learn more about how to use this tool.
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