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Sysprep a Windows 7 Machine – Start to Finish V2

SPREAD THE WORD, TOGETHER WE HAVE CONQUERED SYSPREP

April 2nd: I am currently struggling with RSI injury (on my 9th month of chronic
pain) and very sorry that I haven’t been able to respond to comments. It will be a
while before I can fully use computer again, but I am determined not to give up.
Studying for CompTIA A+ cert while I rest. I actually wrote the guide below
while on oxycodone for pain, talk about determination lol. Just a little too much I
guess.

This is version 2 of a step by step guide on Sysprepping a Windows 7 machine from

start to finish. I cannot take full credit on this because my first article had so many
helpful comments and discussions that this is simply a combination of all the good
advice written into a working guide. (I would especially like to thank George for his
input on Cscript for auto activation and Nathan for input on Sysprep Audit
Mode). This will guide you through the following:

- Audit Mode
- Building the unattended XML file in WSIM
- copyprofile=true command to copy the default profile (no manual copy)
- Prompt for a computer name
- Enable Administrator account
- Administrator account logs in first time automatically
- Activate windows automatically with Cscript;
- Delete sysprep XML file automatically upon completion of re-image.

Here is a list of what you will need:

- Latest version of WAIK : KB3AIK_EN.iso Version 1.0

- Windows Vista or Windows 7 Machine to build the XML file on
- ISO or DVD of Windows 7 Installation (x32 or x64)
- WinPE Boot Environment : BrianLeeJackson WinPE 3.0 BootLoader

First we are going to walk through building the XML file (answer file) and then we will
walk through the actual Windows 7 imaging process.

PART 1 – XML FILE CREATION

Step #1
If you have a Windows 7 installation DVD, insert it now. Or if you have an ISO of 7, go
ahead and extract it to a folder on your desktop. (I recommend 7-zip).
Step #2
Launch Windows System Image Manager. Your start menu should look like the image
below:

Windows 7 WAIK Version 1

Step #3
Under the “Windows Image” header, right click and select new image.

Windows System Image Manager

Step #4
You will now want to browse to the .CLG file in your Windows 7 installation (I am
using Windows 7 Enterprise x64 in my example). It is located in the sources folder. See
Image below. You can select either the .clg file or the install.wim. Both will have the
same result.

Selecting CLG File - WSIM

Step #5
Now we need to create a new answer file. Go to the file menu and select “Create New
Answer File.” Right after creating one, go ahead and simply go to file menu and select
“Save Answer File.” This will give your XML file a name and save location. Now you
see we have two category folders, Components and Packages. Under the Components
folder you see that we have 7 options:

-1 windowsPE
-2 offlineServicing
-3 generalize
-4 specialize
-5 auditSystem
-6 auditUser
-7 oobeSystem

Step #6
These are very important as these are the steps in which the XML file is sequenced.
The next part is a little confusing. You are going to add components, from under the
“Windows Image” section on the bottom left hand side to the passes on your Answer
File. To add a component, you can right click on them and select “add to # pass”. There
are many different options you can add, but they have to be done in a certain order and
pass otherwise your sysprep might fail. I am simply going to use the one I created as the
example.

Answer File - Sysprep XML

Here is more information about adding options under the passes:

1 windowsPE

Nothing required in my example.

2 offlineServicing

Nothing required in my example.

3 generalize

amd64_Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP_6.1.7600.16385_neutral
Set 1 for SkipRearm to allow up to 8 rearms

4 specialize

amd64_Microsoft-Windows-Deployment_6.1.7600.16385_neutral

RunSynchronous
RunSynchronousCommand[Order="1"]
Order: 1
path: net user administrator /active:yes
WillReboot: Never

amd64_Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP-UX_6.1.7600.16385_neutral

SkipAutoActivation: true

amd64_Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup_6.1.7600.16385_neutral

Computer Name: Leave blank (we will deal with this at the end)
CopyProfile: true
Registered Organization: Microsoft (you must leave this in this section)
Registered Owner: AutoBVT (you must leave this in this section)
ShowWindowsLive: false
TimeZone: Pacific Standard Time

You can delete other sub-header components if you don’t need them.

5 auditSystem

Nothing required in my example.

6 auditUser

Nothing required in my example.

7 oobeSystem

amd64_Microsoft-Windows-International-Core_6.1.7600.16385_neutral

InputLocale: en-us
SystemLocale: en-us
UILanguage: en-us
UserLocale: en-us

amd64_Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup_6.1.7600.16385_neutral

RegisteredOrganization: Your Company Name

RegisteredOwner: Your Name
 AutoLogon
Enabled: true
LogonCount: 5
Username: administrator
Password: Administrator Password
 FirstLogonCommands
SynchronousCommand[Order="1"]

CommandLine: cscript //b

c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-
XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX (windows 7 license key)
Order 1
RequiresUserInput: false

SynchronousCommand[Order="2"]

CommandLine: cscript //b

c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs /ato
Order 2
RequiresUserInput: false
 OOBE
HideEULAPage: true
NetworkLocation: Home
ProtectYourPC: 1
 UserAccounts
AdministratorPassword: Administrator Password
LocalAccounts
LocalAccount[Name="Administrator"]
Action: AddListItem
Description: Local Administrator
DisplayName: Administrator
Group: Administrators
Name: Administrator
Password: Administrator Password

If you have questions, look at my image above to see full layout of components, it
should help.

Step #7
K, now go ahead and save your answer file as sysprep.xml.

Step #8
If you want the sysprep to prompt for a computer name you need to remove a line from
your XML file. Open up your XML file you saved with notepad and remove the
following line:
Sysprep XML Computer Name

PART 2 – IMAGING PROCESS / RUNNING

SYSPREP
Step #9
Install Windows 7 (Enterprise) from CD or USB flash drive, when you arrive at the
welcome screen and it asks you to create a username, hit ctrl+shift+f3.
This will reboot your machine and put your windows build in ‘audit’ mode.

Step #10
On reboot, you’ll automatically be logged in under the built-in Administrator account.
A sysprep GUI box will appear, but you can close it and NOW begin to customize your
profile.

Step #11
Install any software/drivers, make any profile customizations, etc.
If you need to reboot, the computer will boot you back into the Administrator
account. You will be stuck in this audit mode until you run sysprep with the /oobe
parameter. After doing so, sysprep will delete/clean up the Administrator account,
but if you have copyprofile=true in your unattended answer file, it will copy the
customized Admin account to the default profile before deleting it.

Step #12
On the PC you are going to be running sysprep on, you need to create a folder called
scripts in this directory: %WINDIR%\Setup\. Now you are going to create a CMD file
within the %WINDIR%\Setup\Scripts directory. Right click and make a new text file
called SetupComplete.txt. Remove the .txt extension and replace that with .cmd. You
now have a SetupComplete.cmd file which windows will read the first time it boots up
from the sysprep. We need to place a script inside the CMD file. Edit the cmd file with
notepad and insert this line: del /Q /F c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.xml.
This script will delete your sysprep.xml file after it has been used. If you have
passwords or cd keys stored in that xml file you don’t have to worry about it being left
on the computer.
Step #13
Once you have everything configured correctly, Copy or move your sysprep.xml file
to : C:\windows\system32\sysprep. Now to run sysprep, navigate to that sysprep folder,
hold SHIFT and right click and select “Open New Command Windows Here”. Next,
input the following commands:

sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:sysprep.xml

Step #14
Turn the computer back on and boot to WinPE 3.0 environment (USB stick or
CD/DVD). You can use my BrianLeeJackson WinPE3.0 BootLoader to boot up from
USB or CD and capture your image. Capture image and save image to network location.
A Dell 960 or GX755 is a good standard for capturing when you want a generic
image for use with multiple systems. Might require injecting additional drivers for
3rd party brands, HP, etc. Most should work though right out of the box.

Step #15
On reboot, Windows will run out of the box, as the /oobe is intended. As long as you
put your cd key into the sysprep xml file, windows will be activated automatically in the
background, you will be automatically logged into the administrator account, and the
sysprep.xml file is deleted. You are now ready to use the computer or join it to the
domain. Enjoy!

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