I can

[+Warwagon MVC]

 

Sorry for the crappy video above, I literally just threw it together, so if you are REALLY bored you can watch it.

 

I can?t believe I only just now learned about Sysprep. So for those of you that have also never heard of it i?ll tell you what it does.

It allows you to install an operating system such as Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 (May have been in XP too). Install all the updates install all the software. Once finished you run sysprep and tell it to generalize it. What it does is removes the product key, removes all the drivers and a few other things and turns the computer off.

Now you can take that up to date version of Windows and put it into a different computer. Upon first boot it detects and installs all of the hardware, prompts you for the Windows Product key for that machine. its just like the first boot of a clean install of windows. Except for the fact that once you get into windows all of the applications are already installed and Windows is up to date. Assuming your image has all the current updates and updated software a clean install can be done in about 10 mins.

Until I heard of sysprep last week, I was always reinstalling Windows from Scratch for people, doing all the updates installing all the software. That would take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours per reinstall.

Now I have 3 SSD?s. One with Vista home Premium, Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 8 Core. All current with all the updates and all the software I normally install.

I?m going to be keeping these images up to date once a month. When i?m done updating them I tell it to generalize it and now it?s ready to be cloned onto a new hard drive.

[Max Norris]

Hokey smokes how did you do so long without it? Been using it since 2K (and was available since NT4 I think), absurdly handy timesaver, especially if you're installing it on dozens of machines at once.

[Praetor]

 

Until I heard of sysprep last week, I was always reinstalling Windows from Scratch for people, doing all the updates installing all the software. That would take about 1 1/2 to 2 hours per reinstall.

 

 

sorry what? 2 hours with all the updates, software and all (ex: windows 8 upgrade to 8.1 + install all the updates including update 1)? seems excessive low, i've seen 4 hours+ for that example.

 

ontopic: glad that you heard sysprep now, better late then never.  :laugh:  for example: you can sysprep, via powershell, a VM of Server 2012 R2 in a couple of minutes... MINUTES! one of the best tools out there.

[halomaster]

I'm new to sysprep.  Never heard of it until this thread.

 

Does /generalize also remove the included Windows drivers that came with the disc?  Or does it only remove OEM and third-party drivers?

 

If the Microsoft Windows drivers are removed, how can I save them when using sysprep?

[techbeck]

Sysprep...been using it for years.  Works great if you have the correct config file. 

[+Warwagon MVC]

Sysprep...been using it for years.  Works great if you have the correct config file. 

 

and even if you don't in my case it still works great!

[sc302 Veteran]

btw you are only able to rearm 3 times. 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929828

I'm new to sysprep.  Never heard of it until this thread.

 

Does /generalize also remove the included Windows drivers that came with the disc?  Or does it only remove OEM and third-party drivers?

 

If the Microsoft Windows drivers are removed, how can I save them when using sysprep?

No it keeps the drivers but returns the system as it was when unpacking it from the box or OOBE at first power on.  Profiles and drivers remain intact and you will be forced to create a new one. 

 

Sysprep was included in the windows vista and above oses and was part of a cab file or SDK on xp and prior. 

[Brandon H Supervisor]

btw you are only able to rearm 3 times. 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929828

yes & no

 

you can get around that but it's a bit of a pain

http://www.vmwareandme.com/2013/10/guide-fatal-error-occurred-while-trying_23.html#.VBeENhbVTJw

 

I just learned the wonders of SysPrep a few months ago myself. used it to format/set up my mom's old laptop to sell at a garage sale :)

[sc302 Veteran]

I have had issues trying the method mentioned. It ended up a complete install from scratch. This was attempted last year. Not my first time attempting this either, I will try again next time this happens to me, but I won't be screwing with it for much more than 30 minutes.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

I have had issues trying the method mentioned. It ended up a complete install from scratch. This was attempted last year. Not my first time attempting this either, I will try again next time this happens to me, but I won't be screwing with it for much more than 30 minutes.

yeah I've heard it's rather luck based hence why i said it can be a bit of a pain. came across it while i was googling the basics of using sysprep

[cork1958]

I have had issues trying the method mentioned. It ended up a complete install from scratch. This was attempted last year. Not my first time attempting this either, I will try again next time this happens to me, but I won't be screwing with it for much more than 30 minutes.

 

Yep,

Same thing here. Gave up on it. :(

 

Have tried it many, many times. It's just totally a matter of luck to get it to work correctly to many times.

[Praetor]

yeah I've heard it's rather luck based hence why i said it can be a bit of a pain. came across it while i was googling the basics of using sysprep

 

you can use the following link for best pratices of sysprep: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2011/05/11/sysprep-skiprearm-and-image-build-best-practices.aspx

 

also: Sysprep with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit is the way to go, but remember that Sysprep is only legal if you have a volume license key, even for OEM media. So if you want to use it for deploying multiple devices that have an OEM COA, you must buy at least 1 volume license key to be able to sysprep the devices, otherwise it is non legal.

[daorbed9]

I'm new to sysprep.  Never heard of it until this thread.

 

Does /generalize also remove the included Windows drivers that came with the disc?  Or does it only remove OEM and third-party drivers?

 

If the Microsoft Windows drivers are removed, how can I save them when using sysprep?

 

generalize is used for removing security descriptors for deploying multiple machines from one image. 

[sc302 Veteran]

 

also: Sysprep with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit is the way to go, but remember that Sysprep is only legal if you have a volume license key, even for OEM media. So if you want to use it for deploying multiple devices that have an OEM COA, you must buy at least 1 volume license key to be able to sysprep the devices, otherwise it is non legal.

I have never seen this.  Can you point to any Microsoft site that says this?

[MS Bob 11]

Sysprep is around since Windows NT 4.0. With Vista, it was built into Windows and more importantly became independent of the hardware abstraction layer (HAL). It is what made NT6 deployment so much better than XP/2000.

[AStaUK]

btw you are only able to rearm 3 times. 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929828

No it keeps the drivers but returns the system as it was when unpacking it from the box or OOBE at first power on.  Profiles and drivers remain intact and you will be forced to create a new one. 

 

Sysprep was included in the windows vista and above oses and was part of a cab file or SDK on xp and prior.

If you use the /audit switch you can also remove any existing profile before using /generalise /oobe.

[halomaster]

I have a computer that has a hard drive partitioned into two: the C drive and the D (backup) drive.  This is in addition to the system partition.

 

Can I bypass diskpart and use sysprep to deploy an image to the C drive only?  I already have important stuff on the D drive, and I don't want to wipe that.

[+John Teacake MVC]

How have some of you not known about SysPrep!!  :laugh:

[sc302 Veteran]

I have a computer that has a hard drive partitioned into two: the C drive and the D (backup) drive.  This is in addition to the system partition.

 

Can I bypass diskpart and use sysprep to deploy an image to the C drive only?  I already have important stuff on the D drive, and I don't want to wipe that.

yes, sysprep only effects the os partition.

[stumper66]

Also realize you can only sysprep an image a maximum of 3 times.  So don't keep building on an image and sysprep'ing it or you'll run into this limitation.

Instead when you install all the latest patches, etc you'll want to take the stock image and start with that.

[Praetor]

I have never seen this.  Can you point to any Microsoft site that says this?

 

sure!

unsupported sysprep scenarios: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/828287/en-us

reimaging rights (updated in April 2014): http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/about-licensing/briefs/reimaging.aspx

 

so basically to be able to use sysprep (a imaging tool), one MUST have a volume licensing agreement to begin with; however minimum 1 license is needed (5 VL products minimum) to be able to have VL media, keys and rights to reimaging (it doesn't make sense to reimage 1 device doesn't it? best is to backup that device bare metal; reimaging is for deploying multiple devices), so you can buy 1 license for the Windows you wish to deploy and four other licenses of whatever VL products, as long the total is 5 (it can be the most cheaper products in the list).

 

Done that you can use the VL media to deploy the image, but you can't use the OEM license with that, only the VL licence + media. This is trick part that most people fall into: OEM licenses live and die with the device they were licensed for - that's the reason their price is so damn cheap, it can't be legally used outside that device (reimaging).

There are exceptions to this, of course: downgrade rights and OEM recovery image. The first grants you the right to reimage using a VL media with a OEM or VL license as long as the device is licensed for downgrade rights; the second grants you the right to use the OEM recovery image to use on multiple devices, as long as those devices are from the same OEM and properly licensed - as in, same license and version.

 

also a note: you can't use sysprep on a upgraded system, so be careful if upgrading from 8 to 8.1 (it does work if you remove a registry key, but then since that's unsupported and may give more troubles in the long run, i would advice against).

 

hope i helped!

[sc302 Veteran]

unsupported does not equal illegal to use. 

reimaging does not equal sysprep being illegal to use. 

 

 

You state this "but remember that Sysprep is only legal if you have a volume license key"  but none of those links state that sysprep is only legal to use when you have a vlk.  sure reimaging may need to get a vlk, although oem use imaging without a vlk in place, I would think that oem manufactures would then have to sell the end users a license from the vlk that they used.

 

What you have linked to is fud.  it states clearly that the second link:

Applies to all Volume Licensing Programs

which has 0 to do with OEM, they can't even really cover anything legal or illegal relating to OEM in that link.

 

btw, oems get a OS or OEM Preinstallation Kit (OPK) which includes sysprep and the imaging tools required.  so again, it is not illegal to use sysprep or image OEM.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/OEM/en/installation/downloads/Pages/windows_7_opk.aspx#fbid=Q_lF6RFkUh2

 

 

 

 

OPK Features:
 

Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) Used to open Windows images, create answer files, and manage distribution shares and configuration sets.

 

ImageX Used to capture, create, modify, and apply Windows images.

 

Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) Used to apply updates, drivers, and language packs to a Windows image. It is available in all installations of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

 

Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) Minimal operating-system environment used to deploy Windows.

 

The OPK includes several tools you can use to build and configure Windows PE.

 

Windows Setup Used to install Windows. It is included in the Windows product DVD and is not part of the OPK installation.

 

System Preparation (Sysprep) Used to prepare a Windows installation for imaging or delivery to a customer. Sysprep.exe is available in all Windows installations in the %WINDIR%\system32\sysprep directory.
 

 

 

How do you get an oem copy with this OPK you may ask? 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416776&cm_re=windows_8_oem-_-32-416-776-_-Product

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416804&cm_re=windows_7_oem-_-32-416-804-_-Product

[farmeunit]

Back when we had XP there was specific wording from Microsoft that said you could use the VLK to image machines that had valid CoA on the machines.  You did NOT need a VLK license and they provided a VLK key in the VLSC site for that purpose.  I honestly don't know what it is now as we have an EES agreement and KMS/MAK keys for everything.

 

I have never heard anything about needing a VLK for SYSPREPing a machine either. 

[Praetor]

What you have linked to is fud.  it states clearly that the second link:

Applies to all Volume Licensing Programs

which has 0 to do with OEM, they can't even really cover anything legal or illegal relating to OEM in that link.

 

I think you are confusing OEM (the license they sell you when you buy a new device, either tablet, laptop, desktop, whatever) with Direct OEM or System Builders (manufacturers) like Toshiba, Dell, HP and small companies that also act as an OEM; the OEM, as the manufacturers, can provide syspreped images with a volume key because they use the OEM System Builder Licensing program, with the OPK toolset, as you can see in here: http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en-gb/licensing/sblicensing/Pages/index.aspx

That grants an OEM (system builder), not joe smith, the right to sell a fully assembled device, OEM COA, Windows pre-installed with a volume key, manuals and media, to a end user (the only exception to this case is Personal License); that doesn't give you the right to use sysprep with just the OEM license.

 

those are MS links and there's alot of talking on forums about this stuff. In doubt talk with a Microsoft licenses representative and he will explain the same stuff.

 

 

btw, oems get a OS or OEM Preinstallation Kit (OPK) which includes sysprep and the imaging tools required.  so again, it is not illegal to use sysprep or image OEM.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/OEM/en/installation/downloads/Pages/windows_7_opk.aspx#fbid=Q_lF6RFkUh2

 

How do you get an oem copy with this OPK you may ask? 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416776&cm_re=windows_8_oem-_-32-416-776-_-Product

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832416804&cm_re=windows_7_oem-_-32-416-804-_-Product

 

like i've said, OEM have a direct channel for this. They use imaging tools like sysprep but the key they sell you it's in the COA; the key installed is different. The only exception is the Personal License, where anybody can buy that version of Windows 8/8.1 (system builder oem version) and sysprep it - there's still conditions to use it though.

 

btw: did you see the disclaimer in those links you posted?

 

 

 

• Disclaimer: Use of this OEM System Builder Channel software is subject to the terms of the Microsoft OEM System Builder License. This software is intended for pre-installation on a new personal cannot be transferred to another computer once it is installed. To acquire Windows software with support provided by Microsoft please see our full package "Retail" product computer for resale. This OEM System Builder Channel software requires the assembler to provide end user support for the Windows software and offerings.

 

that's right, it's more cheaper then the "retail" version because it's non transferable, non supported by Microsoft (the support is passed into the system builder). Also this is not the same OEM version you get when you buy a device with Windows on it - this is the system builder version, where if aren't a system builder then you can only use it as the Personal License says. You can see more in here: http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en-gb/licensing/sblicensing/Pages/personal-use-license.aspx

oh crap, Neowin trucked a big chunk of my reply :/

Back when we had XP there was specific wording from Microsoft that said you could use the VLK to image machines that had valid CoA on the machines. 

 

i dunno about then, but today as long as it was the same version... the only exception is the Enterprise version of Windows.

[sc302 Veteran]

I also worked for a small oem shop who was no better than a ms gold partner. They would order oem media from techdata or ingram to install. you can get the same media and sku from New egg.

Of course it is not transferable no one is questioning that. No one said that you can't image that and use the key that is on the side of the computer that you are pushing the image to either.