Some Things to Know About the Sysprep Process on Windows 7

In the following article, I will show you the basics of Sysprep creation in Windows 7. There have been a lot of tutorials on how to do this on Microsoft Windows XP, but to apply it. Use with Windows 7 is not a simple thing.

The necessary tools in this test:

• The WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit) is installed on a computer not used to create an image file.If you want to create the unattend.xml file during the entire sysprep process, we will need to need the image.wim fileon the installation disc of Windows 7.
• Mysysprep2 Tool

Basically, our implementation process will be based on the following order: after installing Windows 7 on the computer, log in using the domain account that has been assigned Administrator rights (and has been assigned to the Administrators group). This account is not allowed to use any scripts or policies, in this test, we use the domain account (named imageprep), and the software to be installed will be stored in the DFS folder split. share. When executing the system in this way, all applications that want to repair will easily find the original installation file. After that, we will install all the necessary programs, update Windows, create local accounts, set up profile mode. at will. This entire profile becomes the default profile of the computer later in the image file.

When everything is well prepared, we will have to create an unattend.xml answer file using the Windows System Image Manager tool (Windows SIM) on another computer with WAIK installed. After successfully installing, please run Windows SIM from the Start Menu and follow these steps:

• Insert the Windows 7 installation disc into the DVD drive
• Start Windows SIM, from the menu you select Tools> Create Catalog , the system will require the install.wim fileon the original installation disk, just point to the sources folder.When the catalog creation process is complete, the system will be ready to set up and configure the answer file.

One of our requirements is that sysprep will ask the user to initialize the computer name before assigning it to the generic domain in the system. However, this process raises another problem: when using an unattend.xml and Windows sysprep answer file, if the user does not specifically declare the computer name in the file, the system will automatically assign that computer to the domain by a random string of names. Specifically, if you delete the part from the answer file, the user will be asked by the system to enter this parameter when the answer file is approved during the sysprep process, but if so, it is too late, at that time., the computer has been assigned to the domain by a random name, and therefore may cause problems later on. But with Mysysprep2 , users can give the computer a name and assign it to the domain after processing the unattend.xml file. Besides, Mysysprep should be placed in the C: WindowsSystem32Sysprep folder, next to sysprep.exe (not deleted or renamed sysprep.exe ).

Below is the unattend.xml file used in this test:

first 2 3 4 5 true 6 7 8 0 9 ten 11 twelfth 13 no 14 Your Company 15 Your Domain 16 true 17 true 18 false 19 true 20 false 21 true 22 false 23 Low 24 false 25 about: blank 26 true 27 true 28 0 29 true 30 true False 31 32 false 33 Medium 34 35 36 0d81a790-d84a-407f-a5e0-92464dcf560c 37 38 39 false 40 41 42 43 32 44 96 45 1366 46 60 47 768 48 49 false 50 true 51 false 52 false 53 Organization Name 54 Registered Owner 55 false 56 Eastern Standard Time 57% Please input a computer name (0.15)% 58 59 60 1 sixty one 62 63 sixty four 65 Your Domain 66 Some Password 67 Some User 68 69 OU = Re-Imaged, OU = YourComputers, DC = YourCompany, DC = Com 70% Please select a domain to join {Your Domain}% 71 72 seventy three 74 75 76 EN-US 77 EN-US 78 EN-US 79 EN-US 80 81 82 83 true 84 Other 85 3 86 true eighty seven 88 false 89 Eastern Standard Time 90 false 91 false 92 false ninety three ninety four 95 The Password 96 false 97 98 99 100 101 The Password 102 false 103 104 Temp Local Account 105 TempUser 106 Users 107 TempUser 108 109 110 111 112 ClearType 113 114 115 116 117

First, you will explore the two statements below:

% Please input một tên người dùng (0.15)% % Please select a domain to Join {your.domain.com}%

There is another specific component when using mysysprep2, which is that the system will display different messages in the SIM section but will completely ignore this information, the part (0,15) in will automatically delete extra characters if the computer name is longer than 15 characters. Besides, we also see:

true

The above command will ask sysprep to copy the entire profile information that the user created earlier to the default profile. In addition, the user must specify the OU to assign the computer, otherwise the component will not be assigned to the system's domain:

OU = Test, DC = Your, DC = Domain, DC = Here

Another point to note with the unattend.xml file is that we have to create a local user account during sysprep processing. Specifically, when a user installs Windows 7 using a disk, it is necessary to create a local user to log in, and this process continues when using the attend.xml and sysprep files. In this test, we created a local user account named TempUser - which will be deleted when we first log in to Windows. The purpose of this account is to create just the process of creating local users when sysprep works.

In addition, we can also use another way to implement this process, although not specifically presented but quite effective. Specifically, on the computer we perform the image file creation process, open the folder C: WindowsSteup , create a new folder named Scripts here. Inside that, we create a SetupComplete.cmd file - which starts automatically before the Windows login screen starts. And this is also the step that TempUser account is deleted.

To delete this TempUser account, please add the following command to SetupComplete.cmd:

net user TempUser / delete

And activate the Administrator account with the command:

net Administrator / active user: yes

Although you may have enabled the Administrator account on the computer used to create the image before using sysprep, the account is still disabled. To delete the unattend.xml file, add the following line of code to the SetupComplete.cmd file:

del C: WindowsSystem32Sysprepunattend.xml

On the other hand, the user's password after being declared in the xml file is encrypted, but in essence, the file does not exist in this process. On the other hand, users can adjust their answer file according to their needs. After completing the unattend.xml file, copy to the C: WindowsSystem32Sysprep folder , and we are ready to run sysprep on the computer. Inside the newly created profile section, use the Command Prompt, point to the C: WindowsSystem32Sysprep folder and type the command below:

mysysprep.exe generalize oobe shutdown unattend: unattend.xml

The computer will turn itself off after sysprep is complete. And this is also the time to create the image of the hard drive, each has its own way to complete this. At this test, we used the Norton Ghost utility, and as a result, there were 2 partitions, C of the operating system, and D, which contained the user's data. In the next process, applying the image file back to the computer, we will be prompted to initialize the computer and domain name. The Domain Name section will automatically display after completing:

% Please select a domain to Join {your.domain.com}%

In case the system has multiple domains, we will use the dropdown menu structure at this step:

% Please select một miền để Join {domain1; domain2; domain3}%

The computer will complete the installation process and can continue with the familiar boot Welcome screen. When all steps are successful, we can log in with the domain account.

Some common problems and solutions:

After completing the step of deleting the unattend.xml file, we need to ensure that the entire hardware of the system remains stable when using sysprep:

true

When we set the True value at this step, Plug and Play devices will be fully installed with drivers on the computer that applies the image file. And these hardware devices do not need to be reinstalled during the creation and configuration process, these information will be stored in: x86_Microsoft-Windows-PnpSysprep.

Create parameters using the energy level in the image file and initialize this parameter in the unattend.xml file, specifically in the Control Panel> Power Options section . When we want to perform this process, we will need the GUID parameter, and To find this parameter we must use the following command in Command Prompt:

PowerCfg -List

and find where the newly created plan is located. The last thing is to assign this GUID parameter to the unattend.xml file to become the default power usage and consumption level in the system, which will be stored in the x86_Microsoft-Windows-powercpl__neutral section.

Split the drive into DriverStore in the image file, we can use the pnputil.exe utility. Specifically, in case the system already has a driver of a certain peripheral device such as a printer or scan, we don't want other user accounts to receive notifications every time we install the driver, we will assign the This parameter enters DriverStore in the Windows image file. For instance,: pnputil.exe -a HP0001.inf . To find out more about this syntax, please refer to the tutorial directly from Microsoft here.

To turn off the notification of Action Center: Set backup , we will create a new file DisableBackupMonitoring.reg with Notepad and use the code below:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionWindowsBackup] "DisableMonitoring" = dword: 00000001

Below is a code used to remove the default shortcuts on the taskbar when the user logs in to the system for the first time. You can refer to this code here, technically this script file will be copied to the C: WindowsSystem32SysprepCustom folder via a batch file that is replaced in the startup section of the user profile. After that, the batch file will be automatically deleted and the process will only happen on the first login of the user:

1 Option Explicit 2 3 Const CSIDL_STARTMENU = & HB 4 Const CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS = & H17 5 6 Dim objShell, objFSO 7 Dim objCurrentUserStartFolder 8 Dim strCurrentUserStartFolderPath 9 Dim objAllUsersProgramsFolder 10 Dim strAllUsersProgramsPath 11 Dim objFolder 12 Dim objFolderItem 13 Dim colVerbs 14 Dim objVerb 15 16 Set objShell = CreateObject ("Shell.Application") 17 Set objFSO = CreateObject ("Scripting.FileSystemObject") 18 19 Set objCurrentUserStartFolder = objShell.NameSpace (CSIDL_STARTMENU) 20 strCurrentUserStartFolderPath = objCurrentUserStartFolder.Self.Path 21 22 Set objAllUsersProgramsFolder = objShell.NameSpace (CSIDL_COMMON_PROGRAMS) 23 strAllUsersProgramsPath = objAllUsersProgramsFolder.Self.Path 24 25 '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' Unpin Shortcuts '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' 26 27 '*** All Users Shortcuts **** 28 29 'Internet Explorer 30 If objFSO.FileExists (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Network & InternetMicrosoftInternet Explorer.lnk") Then 31 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Network & InternetMicrosoft") 32 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Internet Explorer.lnk") 33 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 34 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 35 If Replace (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 36 Next 37 End If 38 39 'Mozilla Firefox 40 If objFSO.FileExists (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Network & InternetMozilla FirefoxMozilla Firefox.lnk") Then 41 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Network & InternetMozilla Firefox") 42 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Mozilla Firefox.lnk") 43 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 44 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 45 Replace If (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 46 Next 47 End If 48 49 'Windows Explorer 50 If objFSO.FileExists (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "AccessoriesWindows Explorer.lnk") Then 51 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Accessories") 52 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Windows Explorer.lnk") 53 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 54 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 55 If Replace (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 56 Next 57 End If 58 59 'Windows Media Player 60 If objFSO.FileExists (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Network & InternetMicrosoftWindows Media Player.lnk") Then 61 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Network & InternetMicrosoft") 62 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Windows Media Player.lnk") 63 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 64 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 65 If Replace (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 66 Next 67 End If 68 69 '*** Current Users Shortcuts **** 70 71 'Internet Explorer 72 If objFSO.FileExists (strCurrentUserStartFolderPath & "ProgramsInternet Explorer.lnk") Then 73 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strCurrentUserStartFolderPath & "Programs") 74 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Internet Explorer.lnk") 75 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 76 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 77 If Replace (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 78 Next 79 End If 80 81 'Mozilla Firefox 82 If objFSO.FileExists (strCurrentUserStartFolderPath & "ProgramsMozilla FirefoxMozilla Firefox.lnk") Then 83 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strCurrentUserStartFolderPath & "ProgramsMozilla Firefox") 84 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Mozilla Firefox.lnk") 85 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 86 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 87 If Replace (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 88 Next 89 End If 90 91 'Windows Explorer 92 If objFSO.FileExists (strCurrentUserStartFolderPath & "ProgramsAccessoriesWindows Explorer.lnk") Then 93 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strCurrentUserStartFolderPath & "ProgramsAccessories") 94 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Windows Explorer.lnk") 95 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 96 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 97 If Replace (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 98 Next 99 End If 100 101 'Windows Media Player 102 If objFSO.FileExists (strCurrentUserStartFolderPath & "ProgramsWindows Media Player.lnk") Then 103 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strCurrentUserStartFolderPath & "Programs") 104 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Windows Media Player.lnk") 105 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 106 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 107 Replace If (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Unpin from Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 108 Next 109 End If 110 111 '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' ' 112 113 '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' 'Pin Shortcuts' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' ' 114 115 'Internet Explorer - All Users 116 If objFSO.FileExists (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Network & InternetMicrosoftInternet Explorer.lnk") Then 117 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Network & InternetMicrosoft") 118 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Internet Explorer.lnk") 119 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 120 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 121 If Replace (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Pin to Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 122 Next 123 End If 124 125 'Mozilla Firefox - All Users 126 If objFSO.FileExists (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Network & InternetMozilla FirefoxMozilla Firefox.lnk") Then 127 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strAllUsersProgramsPath & "Network & InternetMozilla Firefox") 128 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Mozilla Firefox.lnk") 129 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 130 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 131 Replace (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Pin to Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 132 Next 133 End If 134 135 'Windows Explorer - Current User 136 If objFSO.FileExists (strCurrentUserStartFolderPath & "ProgramsAccessoriesWindows Explorer.lnk") Then 137 Set objFolder = objShell.Namespace (strCurrentUserStartFolderPath & "ProgramsAccessories") 138 Set objFolderItem = objFolder.ParseName ("Windows Explorer.lnk") 139 Set colVerbs = objFolderItem.Verbs 140 For Each objVerb In colVerbs 141 If Replace (objVerb.name, "&", "") = "Pin to Taskbar" Then objVerb.DoIt 142 Next 143 End If 144 145 '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '' '

After setting up the Network Location section in the unattend.xml file, but the user still receives the warning information on the first login, install the following hotfix on the computer used to make the image: http:/// support.microsoft.com/kb/2028749

IE's homepage address is reset after using sysprep: fix by assigning IE's own settings to the unattend.xml file in x86_Microsoft-Windows-IE-InternetExplorer__neutral_31bf3856ad364e35_nonSxS.

The user loses the Aero theme after using sysprep: use the following command in the Command Prompt:

WinSAT prepop

The above process will create the WinSAT prepop.xml file and store it in the % WINDIR% performancewinsatdatastore directory and allow the user to keep the theme settings after using sysprep.

Good luck!