Sysprepping XP. Can anybody chime in with a little advice?

[Jayce]

As much imaging as I've done, I've never sysprepped since each of our labs that differ in hardware also differ in software setup, so sysprepping was never needed.

We have volume licensing for Windows XP Pro.

Anyway I'm setting up sysprep now on an image. I have it set up JUST the way I want it. When I run the command, I get to this screen:

http://i.technet.microsoft.com/Bb457073.factory(en-us,TechNet.10).gif

Now, I've already tried the factory setting, which is not what I want since it requires me to put in the key for every. single. system at that point. No thanks...

Is all I have to do is basically hit reseal? Is that all there is to it?

I already have all of the drivers for 8 different Dell systems we commonly run at work here. They're in their extracted state in Local disk / dell / drivers. My goal is to have 1 image I can dump on any of these 8 Dells and it work fine. I had someone tell me I should check to run the mini setup, due to the fact that tends to find the drivers for the different hardware.

Anyway, what say you? All Google has told me was "this is what you do" which doesn't really give me much info about optimizing sysprep that well for "me" and my setup... Anything to chime in, guys?

 

[office politics]

i dont remember seeing a screen like that. However its been years since i've made a sysprep.

Have you tried the steps in the link below?

How to Prepare Images for Disk Duplication with Sysprep

 

[Jayce]

Bumping this up for a new question. Sort of. I was told by someone who seemed to be really knowledgeable about computer systems that Windows XP, by design, cannot successfully work with computers that have radically different hardware. My goal with sysprep was to be able to have 1 single image that could be deployed to a series of desktops and laptops (all Dell) that we have, using our XP Pro SP3 copy with our volume key.

Can anybody say as an absolute yes/no as to whether or not the above is indeed possible?

 

[KSoD]

No. They are correct. Any major changes to the system hardware will cause major issues. Remember XP is a decade old now and back then it was a very small % of people that upgraded on a constant basis. Back then people bought a machine for a mass amount of money and just used it. So XP by design doesn't like many hardware changes at all. Some simple things like a sound card and even a video card is fine. But when you throw in different RAM amounts and mobo's and all of that XP throws a fit.

 

[Trotter]

I've used sysprep to transplant XP installations into radically different setups, like a old Celeron setup to a 64-bit AMD, or a socket A to a P4. Sysprep should remove all vestiges of hardware recognition and start from zero.

You want to reseal the drive. When you install and boot an imaged drive, sysprep will create a new SID for the system. It will also go through the setup just like an install, letting you choose your options for the computer. You can set up a Sysprep.inf file to automate that part if you want.

Check out this article:
SolutionBase: Using Sysprep to create a Windows XP image

 

[KSoD]

Yes sysprep should remove all traces. But we know how well that works. I have had more than my fair shares of sysprep failures when following every guide every created. It is completely hit or miss with it just like it is for using Images.

 

[Jayce]

Okay, I just wanted to make sure. I know XP is a decade old and I keep telling myself that when I look at my 12 different images that are IDENTICAL that I use for systems with different hardware. I'm hoping we can move to Win 7 next year, but I'm slightly doubtful since everybody is trying to save money now. Since XP technically works and as of now we don't see anything from Win 7 we "need" it might be a hard section of the budget to get approved. We shall see...

 

[KSoD]

Well the best piece of advice we can offer, try making a sysprep image and see if it does work. While i have had mixed results others have had better results. Maybe you can get good results and save yourself from having to have 12 separate images. dont get me wrong, while i love Win7 and think that it should be used, i know it isnt possible for all things.