Running Sysprep on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

You can run Sysprep on a reference computer running Windows® XP or Windows Server 2003.

1. Make sure the operating system and applications are installed and configured on the reference computer, in the way that they should exist in the final installation.
2. Log on to the computer as an administrator.
3. Extract Deploy.cab file (located in the Support\Tools folder on the Windows product CD) to the %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Sysprep folder, such as C:\Sysprep.
4. Create a Sysprep.inf file by issuing the setupmgr.exe command to start the Setup Manager dialog.

   The Sysprep.inf file is used to customize each computer and to specify the information for the prompts during setup. You can also create a Sysprep.inf file manually.

   The following page is displayed:

   Figure 1. Setup Manager program dialog

   
5. Click Next.
   The following page is displayed:

   Figure 2. Setup Manager: Creating a new answer file

   
6. Click Create new; then click Next.
   The following page is displayed:

   Figure 3. Setup Manager: Type of Setup

   
7. Click Sysprep setup; then click Next.
   The following page is displayed:

   Figure 4. Setup Manager: Windows product

   
8. Click the Windows product version, such as Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition.
   The following page is displayed:

   Figure 5. Setup Manager: License Agreement

   
9. Click Yes, fully automate the installation; then click Next.
   The following page is displayed:

   Figure 6. Setup Manager: Name and Organization

   
10. Enter information into the Name field and the Organization field; then click Next.
    The following page is displayed:

    Figure 7. Setup Manager: Display Settings

    
11. Select display settings; then click Next.
12. Select a time zone; then click Next.
    The following page is displayed:

    Figure 8. Setup Manager: Product Key

    
13. Enter the product key that matches the operating system that you installed; then click Next.
14. Click Next to accept the defaults for Licensing Mode.
15. Click Next to accept the defaults for Computer Name.
    The following page is displayed:

    Figure 9. Setup Manager: Administrator Password

    
16. Enter the administrator password in the Password field and again in the Confirm password field. Select the checkbox to Encrypt the Administrator password in the answer file; then click Next.
17. Click Next to accept the defaults for Networking Components.
18. Click Next to accept the defaults for Workgroup or Domain.
19. Click Next to accept the defaults for Telephony.
20. Click Next to accept the defaults for Regional Settings.
21. Click Next to accept the defaults for Languages.
22. Click Next to accept the defaults for Install Printers.
23. Click Next to accept the defaults for Run Once.
24. Click Next to accept the defaults for Additional Commands.
25. Click Next to accept the defaults for Identification String.
26. Click Next to accept the defaults for Run Once.
    The following page is displayed:

    Figure 10. Setup Manager: Path and file name

    
27. Accept the default path; then click OK to save the sysprep.inf file.

    The Setup Manager program creates the sysprep.inf file in the folder.

28. Open a command window and change directories to the C:\sysprep directory; then run the sysprep.exe command.

    sysprep -reseal -nosidgen  

    Make sure that both the Sysprep.exe file and the Setupcl.exe file exist in the %SYSTEMDRIVE%\Sysprep folder on the local hard disk. To use the answer file that you created, the Sysprep.inf file must also be in the folder.

29. If the computer is ACPI-compliant, the computer shuts down by itself. If not, shut down the computer when a dialog box is displayed that states that it is safe to shut down the computer.

    Now the system is ready for capturing.

30. Build the capture task sequence and advertise the task sequence from the Configuration Manager server, as described in Capturing an operating system image for deployment.
31. Start the system. During the system boot, press F1 to enable a system boot from the network.

    After finishing the capture task, the system restarts. The local Sysprep folder containing Sysprep.exe and Sysprep.inf in %SYSTEMDRIVE% is deleted.