How to set up Windows 7?

You need to run Sysprep from C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe. Set it to OOBE (Out of box exprerience) and tick the Generalise box next to it. Then choose to restart or shutdown.

First, when it comes to deploying, attempting to deploy, or simply refreshing any Windows media, you first might want to check out the re-imaging rights document available from Microsoft here. The document reviews the rights of creating images and using those images for deployment scenarios.

It also would be a good idea to check out the What is Sysprep? TechNet library article to become more familiar with what Sysprep is used for.

Next, if you want to remove your user account and have the system boot straight to the Windows Welcome screen, you will want to first boot into Audit Mode which will also allow you to prepare and customize the system as needed.

Audit mode enables you to add additional device drivers or applications to a Windows installation. After you install the additional drivers and applications, you can test the integrity of the Windows installation. In order to boot out of audit mode and back in to OOBE (Out-of-box-experience), you will want to run the following command from an administrator command prompt:

sysprep /oobe /generalize

Please note that the command and switches are also stated and explained in the library article provided above as well.

Also, it is important to note that each time you run the sysprep command with the /generalize switch, the licensing state of the Windows is reset, otherwise known as rearmed. If your intention is to transfer a Windows image to different hardware, you will want to use the /generalize switch only once and then capture the image.

In the event that you do have to run sysprep multiple times prior to capture, you would run sysprep with an answer file that has the SkipRearm setting enabled. You can review the number of times you can use the SkipRearm setting by running the Slmgr.vbs /dlv command in an elevated command prompt. Bear in mind, that by using the SkipRearm setting, you are not resetting the licensing state of the Windows installation. The command you would use in this case is as follows:

sysprep /generalize /unattend:answerfile (the answerfile part would be the name / file path of where your unattend.xml file is located) More information on this can be found in the How Sysprep Works TechNet library article.

Finally, there is also a great deal of resources for various deployment, virtualization and management scenarios available from the Springboard Series on TechNet.

I hope this helps and keep us posted on your progress!

Jessica
Windows Outreach Team – IT Pro