Sysprep Clarification - Creating a Build-to-Order (BTO) Windows Im

First let me say I have read the sysprep documentation but there is still
vagueness that I hope to clarify.

We purchased 40 identical machines from Dell preinstalled with OEM Vista
Business. My goal is to configure one of these machines with minimal
information that ALL users in every department will use (i.e. Office 2007,
Faxing Software, Imaging Retrieval, etc.).

I would like to create an image of this so that I have an image for an admin
person. Then I would like to install software that is necessary for our
Accounting department and them image the machine as an Accounting master
image. Then go back to the base image and configure the machine for our
Safety department and image and so on and so on. So basically I will have an
image ready-to-go for every one of our departments.

WHAT I HAVE DONE SO FAR
1. Configured one of the machines with all the standard software that
everyone will use.
2. Ran sysprep GUI and left the default option for "System Cleanup Action"
which was "Enter System Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE). I checked the
Generalize checkbox and then changed the Shutdown Option to Shut Down.
3. Used WinPE/ImageX to boot the machine and make a WIM. So now I have a
standard WIM.

Here is where I'm not sure of the BEST way to continue. After doing some
reading/research I see that basically what I am trying to do is to create a
Build-to-Order Windows Image. So I'm guessing I should have chosen "Enter
System Audit Mode" instead of the OOBE option before making the image. Then
install the image on a new machine, install the other applications in Audit
mode and then do a sysprep choosing OOBE and NOT generalize.

If that is correct, since I didn't do this what are my options. I see from
the documentation that once I boot up I can select CTRL+SHIFT+F3 at the
Windows Welcome screen to enter Audit mode but it's not clear if this is what
I should do.

In other places in the sysprep documentation it says NOT to run sysprep on
an already deployed machine so I'm confused on my options at this point.

So to summarize, since I already did the OOBE/Generalize using sysprep but
now would like to add more programs to the image and then re-image what are
the proper steps??

Thank you.

"Brian Drab" <kaplan@community.nospam> wrote in message
news:9B7DBCD6-8834-4E17-80C7-74AA00CEF6CA@microsoft.com...
> First let me say I have read the sysprep documentation but there is
> still
> vagueness that I hope to clarify.
>
> We purchased 40 identical machines from Dell preinstalled with OEM
> Vista
> Business. My goal is to configure one of these machines with minimal
> information that ALL users in every department will use (i.e. Office
> 2007,
> Faxing Software, Imaging Retrieval, etc.).
>
> I would like to create an image of this so that I have an image for an
> admin
> person. Then I would like to install software that is necessary for
> our
> Accounting department and them image the machine as an Accounting
> master
> image. Then go back to the base image and configure the machine for
> our
> Safety department and image and so on and so on. So basically I will
> have an
> image ready-to-go for every one of our departments.
>
> WHAT I HAVE DONE SO FAR
> 1. Configured one of the machines with all the standard software that
> everyone will use.
> 2. Ran sysprep GUI and left the default option for "System Cleanup
> Action"
> which was "Enter System Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE). I checked the
> Generalize checkbox and then changed the Shutdown Option to Shut Down.
> 3. Used WinPE/ImageX to boot the machine and make a WIM. So now I have
> a
> standard WIM.
>
> Here is where I'm not sure of the BEST way to continue. After doing
> some
> reading/research I see that basically what I am trying to do is to
> create a
> Build-to-Order Windows Image. So I'm guessing I should have chosen
> "Enter
> System Audit Mode" instead of the OOBE option before making the image.
> Then
> install the image on a new machine, install the other applications in
> Audit
> mode and then do a sysprep choosing OOBE and NOT generalize.
>
> If that is correct, since I didn't do this what are my options. I see
> from
> the documentation that once I boot up I can select CTRL+SHIFT+F3 at
> the
> Windows Welcome screen to enter Audit mode but it's not clear if this
> is what
> I should do.
>
> In other places in the sysprep documentation it says NOT to run
> sysprep on
> an already deployed machine so I'm confused on my options at this
> point.
>
> So to summarize, since I already did the OOBE/Generalize using sysprep
> but
> now would like to add more programs to the image and then re-image
> what are
> the proper steps??
>

I'm not sure about "proper" or "best", but you will be fine if you boot
a machine with the image, install your apps, re-run sysprep and pull a
new image.

BTW, I always pull an image before running sysprep so I can fall back to
it if needed. As I understand it, there is a limit to the number of
times an image can be sysprepped, but I don't know what the limit is -
I've heard 3, but I'm not sure.

--
Zaphod

Voted "Worst Dressed Sentient Being in the Known Universe" for seven
years in a row.