Overview
The first step of OSD and imaging is building an image. While not extremely complicated, preparing an image does require a lot of important decisions be made for what settings should be used in your environment.
Tips for getting started
- Use a virtual machine to build your image. Snapshots will make testing and rolling back changes a million times easier than using a physical computer.
- Take snapshots often. You can remove unnecessary snapshots later
Procedure for Windows 7
- Download the KMS version of Windows 7 from the FSP share (\\titan\software$\FSP\MCA\Windows 7\Windows 7 Enterprise with SP1 - Tufts KMS). 64 bit Windows is recommended.
- Install Windows 7 to the VM.
- Once you get to the Welcome Screen, press SHIFT+CTRL+F3 to enter audit mode. Audit mode is used to make customizations and changes to Windows before you capture the image. You can find additional information about audit mode here and here
- Make any changes your department deems necessary. This can include applying Windows Updates, changing control panel settings, changing display settings, etc. Take a snapshot once you've customized your settings.
- If you plan on using Landesk HII, Run sysprep (C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\sysprep.exe) with "Enter System Audit Mode" and Shutdown settings. If you do not plan on using HII, run sysprep with "Enter System Out-of-Box Experience and Shutdown settings.
- Capturing an image