Summary
This article describes some of the factors that affect whether the Microsoft Windows System Preparation (Sysprep) image of a Windows installation together with installed programs is successful in creating a correctly functioning image.
More Information
When you install certain programs in Windows, and then create an image of the Windows installation by using the Sysprep utility, those program installations may not run when you later "clone" that image to another computer. To create a correctly functioning image of the Windows and programs installation, make sure that the installed programs do not contain the following:
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Computer-specific state information that is stored in a private database file or store.
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Active Directory information that is stored on the local computer, or local computer information that is stored in Active Directory.
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The Windows Security Identifier (SID).
This is unique to each Windows installation. -
The Windows computer name.
This is unique to each Windows installation. -
Windows Active Directory or Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 domain membership status.
This may result in the computer being a member of a workgroup, or even that the domain membership is damaged. -
Computer GUID.
This is unique to the computer hardware. -
Certificates or Digital Rights Management (DRM) information that is unique to each Windows installation.
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Networking hardware information. For example, the Media Access Control (MAC), GUID, or serial number information.
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Other information about peripheral hardware that is installed on a computer such as the serial number, asset tag, or vendor tag.
This information may be removed when you run the Sysprep utility. -
A hard-coded local user name or group name.
The SID changes when Setup is run on the new computer. -
Short file names for a path.
When you capture short path names such as Micros~1 on one installation, and then redeploy them to another, you cannot make sure that the names are reset with the same values. -
Hard-coded values that are stored for %Systemdrive%, %UserProfile%, or other variables.
These will not be successfully interpreted if you install the image to a different hard disk. -
Hard-coded values that are stored for drive letters.
These will not be successfully interpreted if you install the image on a different drive letter. -
Other per-system or per-installation Windows-specific variables that change when Windows moves between hardware, or must change on every Windows installation in a private data store.
For additional information about how to use Sysprep, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/EA2BD8A6-6B68-425D-8CF4-FF517A3DAE171033.mspxFor additional information about how to use Sysprep, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
216915 Using the System Preparation tool on dissimilar computers
216937 System Preparation tool and answer file usage
238955 How to use Cmdlines.txt file during Sysprep.exe Setup Wizard
240126 Best practices for using Sysprep with NTFS volumes
251241 How to use the System Preparation tool to prepare computers for shipping
