Sysprep is a tool designed for corporate system administrators, OEMs, and others who need to deploy the Windows® XP operating system on multiple computers. After performing the initial setup steps on a single system, you can run Sysprep to prepare the sample computer for cloning.
Sysprep assigns a unique security ID (SID) to each destination computer the first time the computer is restarted. Sysprep configures the operating system to use Windows Welcome or Mini–Setup to run the first time the end user restarts the computer. This shortened form of GUI–mode Setup takes 5 or 6 minutes instead of the usual 45 to 60 minutes, and it prompts the end user only for required and user–specific information, such as accepting the End–User License Agreement (EULA) and entering the Product Key, user name, and company name.
Sysprep is a valuable utility even if you do not use disk duplication. You can run Sysprep with the –nosidgen switch to configure Windows Welcome or Mini–Setup on a single computer. In this case, Sysprep allows for auditing that may have been done; automates the Mini–Setup portion of the process so that users can still enter user–specific information, such as regional options and TAPI information; and bypasses setting up unique SIDs, because the SIDs will already be unique when Setup is actually run on the computer.
