Preparing an image

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

1. 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.
2. Install Windows 7 to the VM.
3. 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
4. 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.
5. If you plan on using Landesk HII, Run sysprep (C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\sysprep.exe) with "Enter System Out-of-Box Experience" and Shutdown settings.
   1. This must be done before your image is captured otherwise HII will not work properly.
   2. It is also recommended you make a snapshot or clone of your imaqe before running sysprep so that you can easily make changes when you want to update your image.
6. Capture the image

Procedure for Windows XP