14 DAY TRIAL // Customers that use Windows 7 Service Pack 1 integrated installation media in order to deploy the operating system can come across an error message informing them that the computer names should contain more than just numbers. The problem only happens in the case of slipstreamed Windows 7 SP1 images, Microsoft informed, essentially installation packages that have been built from Windows 7 RTM by integrating SP1.
Slipstreamed media offers a small advantage time- and effort-wise when it comes down to deploying Windows 7 SP1 because users do not have to install the operating system and then the first upgrade, but the combination of the two at once.
In addition to using the Windows 7 SP1 integrated installation media, the deployment process also needs to involve a Time and Currency Format other than English, Finnish, German, or Swedish, with the computer name containing non-ASCII characters for the following error message to be displayed:
“Computer name cannot contain only numbers, may not be identical with the user name and cannot contain spaces. Retype the name of the computer.”
Neither the computer name nor the username can contain non-ASCII characters, the software giant informed. Since the computer name is generated automatically, users that have set the language to Russian, Croatian, Ukrainian, or Thai are most likely to encounter this issue.
A hotfix is available from the Redmond company, designed to resolve the problem described above. Affected customers should make their way to KB 2534111 and request the hotfix from Microsoft.
The software giant also detailed a number of workarounds that customers can turn to, including:
“1. Manually delete any non-ASCII characters from the computer name. This includes strings that are generated automatically. To manually delete non-ASCII characters from the computer name, you may have to switch to an English keyboard setting. The English keyboard setting is available for all language settings and locales. You can revert the computer name to a name that contains non-ASCII characters after the installation process is complete.
2. Restart the OOBE Wizard by using audit mode and Sysprep. You can enter audit mode by pressing CTRL+Shift+F3 at the computer name screen in the OOBE Wizard. After the computer restarts, start the OOBE Wizard by running the SYSPREP /OOBE command.
3. Build the Windows installation image by using the Sysprep tool. There are legal requirements for OEM system builders regarding the installation of Windows 7.
4. Force the OOBE Wizard to display the Country/Region/Keyboard settings page by changing the OOBE.xml file. To do this, set the hideRegionalSettings registry subkey to false.”
Windows 7 SP1 RTM and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 RTM are available for download here.