With any imaging process, the reference PCs must be properly prepared. The overall steps involved in creating a reference PC for imaging are the following:
You can install the OS using the installation DVD. Imaging tools can capture images from these OSs: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2.
You can install any applications desired at this point. Installed applications will be available to users after the image is deployed. These include full-blown applications such as the Microsoft Office suite, simple applications such as Adobe Reader, Internet Explorer add-ons, and security applications such as antivirus software and hostbased intrusion-detection systems.
Although Windows 7 starts in a much more secure state than older Microsoft OSs, you may want to tweak it for your own use. As a few examples, you can rename the administrator account, configure the firewall, and disable specific services.
You can configure additional settings such as enabling or disabling features and components, modifying the desktop wallpaper, adding links to network shares and network printers, configuring logon or logoff scripts, and much more.
Once the system has been configured, it should be well tested to ensure it meets the needs of the organization. While some modification of the image can be done after it's created, it's much easier to ensure that it has everything needed before capturing the image.
Sysprep will prepare the system for duplication. You can use it to remove PC-specific information such as the PC name and the PC security identifier (SID).
The System Preparation (Sysprep) tool is a very important element of the imaging process. If an image is deployed to multiple PCs with the same image without running Sysprep, these PCs will have problems. A lot of information on a PC should be unique.
The SID will be the same on these PCs if Sysprep isn't run. When more than one PC has the same SID in an environment, you end up troubleshooting a wide assortment of errors, none of which simply states "Duplicate SIDs identified." It's best to avoid these problems completely by running Sysprep. The Sysprep.exe program is located in the Windows\System32\Sysprep folder. You can launch it from the command line or by double-clicking it to launch the graphical user interface (GUI).
Sysprep cannot be run on an upgraded version of Windows In other words, if you were running Windows Vista and then upgraded to Windows 7, Sysprep would not run on this system Instead, an information dialog box would appear saying, "You can only run Sysprep on a custom (clean) install version of Windows".
Our website is not responsible for the information contained by this article. Webworldarticles.com is a free articles resource thus practically any visitor can submit an article. However if you notice any copyrighted material, please contact us and we will remove the article(s) in discussion right away.
This article was sent to us by:
Jeremy E. Doulgen at
09272010
1. Signed drivers under Windows 7
All articles in this directory are property of their respective authors. Additionally, read our Privacy Policy
© 2010 WebWorldarticles.com - All Rights Reserved. Partners: Gunblade Saga