[SOLVED] Setup on physical PC wont accept serial that works in VM..

Hi all.
I havent installed on my physical PC in a while and I am getting this issue during the setup.
It is before arriving at the option to select the hard drive on which to install the OS.

I get a screen that asks me to enter my serial, even though I have it already in my autounattend.xml file.

I have tried a few different serials, but none of them work.

I have installed this on VMWare and had no issues, but trying to install this on my physical computer and I get this problem and cannot progress any further..

Hi
Are you installing this from a USB drive?  plugged into a USB 3.0 slot??
If that is true, it is possible that setup cannot see your autounattend.xml file.  Try inserting into a USB 2.0 slot, or try inserting the autounattend.xml file inside the boot.wim, in the same folder as setup.exe.
If that doesn't work it may be a (usb) driver problem.

Does it show the EULA?

Hi brittech.
The problem though, is that even if I try to enter the key manually into that screen, it wont accept it. I have tried a few different generic Microsoft serials, including my own, and it doesnt accept them.
But I do not get this screen when installing in a VM. It goes straight to the screen to select the disk I want to install to, and then it goes all the way to the desktop.

Yes, I am trying to install via a USB 3.0 slot. I will try in the USB 2.0 slot instead. Never know, that could be something to do with it. I will check and report back.

It doesnt show the EULA. I just get this screen which asks me to enter the serial and no option to skip...

maybe its the same problem as here for qbert79

https://forum.winreducer.net/t1071-error-with-autounattend-xml

It does not seem to be the same issue, but I can try installing it without the autounattend.xml if what brittech suggested doesnt work.
Thx for the suggestion

just a though, what files do exist at your source folder?

is there a ei.cfg file ? if yes try to delete it

So, I tested this again last night.
Tried USB 2.0 slot, same issue
Deleted autounattend.xml. Same issue. Screen popped up after the screen where you click "Install Now" (which comes after the screen where one selects the language and keyboard to install).
No ei.cfg file

Hey theKramer,

Have you created your autounatted file with WinReducer ?

I've answer qbert79, something similar here :
https://forum.winreducer.net/t1071-error-with-autounattend-xml#10253

And take care if you transfered your autounattend from a windows 7 iso, it works slightly different in windows 8.1 ... let me know my friend !

@theKramer

Discovered that you can also apply the unattend file to the image, for example...

winterstorm2050 wrote:

Hey theKramer,

Have you created your autounatted file with WinReducer ?

I've answer qbert79, something similar here :
https://forum.winreducer.net/t1071-error-with-autounattend-xml#10253

And take care if you transfered your autounattend from a windows 7 iso, it works slightly different in windows 8.1 ... let me know my friend !

Hi winter.
The problem is is that I have the same issue without an autounattend.xml

Hi all.
I have this fixed now.
I think the VM I was using was too "old" or something.
I created a fresh VM last week and installed all my apps and updated it to the latest state in Windows Update and reduced it using WinReducer and I was able to install the reduced ISO to my PC last night, and activate via Windows Activation