How to SysPrep a Windows 7 PC: In Plain English (Part 1)

Over a year ago I was charged with deploying Windows 7 to our organization in stages. I quickly found that sysprepping had changed dramatically from Windows XP and there wasn't a clear and concise place to find step by step instructions on how to go about creating and sysprepping Windows 7. This step by step guide is intended for Technicians and Veterans alike that just need a clear no-nonsense set of instructions on how to get their task accomplished.

• Get your Tools
• The Windows Automated Installation Kit
• Which contains the following tools you will need:
• Windows System Image Manager
• ImageX (if you have no 3rd party Imaging solution such as Norton Ghost)
• MySysPrep2
• I use MySysPrep instead of Microsoft's Built-in SysPrep because it contains more features as well as lets you use all of Microsoft's features.
• Windows 7 ISO or DVD
• If you are part of a large organization chances are you can login to your account at licensing.microsoft.com and download your .iso. Be sure to choose the correct version of Windows (Enterprise most likely) as well as the correct system architecture (64bit or 32bit).
• A USB Flash Drive
• Preferably 8GB in size to accommodate your actual image if you choose to put it on the drive itself instead of a network location.
• A Test machine that you will wipe, install Windows on and use as your template.
• Preferably this machine should be the same model as the machines you plan to deploy your image to.

In the next part we will look at installing and configuring your applications on your test computer.