How do you Sysprep XP for multiple types of hardware?

[daltonfury]

I can do the sysprep no problem for 1 computer, but i am trying to make 1 image for 3 machines. Dell Optiplex 745, GX280 and GS620
I have been following this guide: http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/show/2036-create-a-windows-xp-image-for-multiple-hardware-configurations and it does not work. When the computer boots up, none of the USBs (keyboard and mice) will be recognized. Any ideas?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

From the above linked site:

Add drivers

Create a subfolder in the "sysprep" directory, and name it "drivers". In here, you'll put all necessary drivers for the computers you intend the image to be used on. It may be wise to organize the drivers by i.e. make and model, or hardware type (Networking, Display etc).

REMEMBER: Most drivers, when downloaded, are a bundled archive of some sort. You have to extract the actual driver files - sysprep will not do this for you. I've often used WinRAR for this.

When done, you should have a neat folder structure under "C:\sysprep\drivers" containing all the drivers you need for your PC's.

Note the emphasis. That one is the single most common problem.

The next one is not including the chipset drivers.

Finally, another common mistake is to use very long names for the nested directories to the point that they exceed the maximum path length (1024 characters).

 

[daltonfury]

I have the .exe's in the driver folder...is that not correct?

EDIT: I just extracted the.exes and there was a lot more files from them, i hope that is what that means.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

That's the problem. You must extract the drivers from the archive (*.inf, *.cat, etc.). The .exe files will not be run during install.

 

[daltonfury]

That's the problem. You must extract the drivers from the archive (*.inf, *.cat, etc.). The .exe files will not be run during install.

errr still not working. It only works on the computer the sysprep image was created on. On the other computes it keeps bootlooping asking if i want to start windows to its last known good configuration...but its a brand new hard drive with the fresh sysprep image.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

That means that you didn't in fact include all of the mass storage drivers or you're not properly closing the image before use.

 

[daltonfury]

I'm hitting reseal, checking mini dump and detect plug and play. Do i need to hit factory first, then reseal?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

yup, you've got to make the image completely generic.