About Microsoft Sysprep (System Preparation) Utility (Windows 2000)

The Microsoft system preparation utility for Windows 2000 is a very handy tool for network support shops that deploy PC images as a means of reformatting PC's with problems. Sysprep basically strips out all the hardware information and unique information from that specific PC, which allows you to deploy the image created from that PC on to many other PC's with different hardware configurations.

Not only does this program remove the unique information from each PC, but it allows you to do many configuration options automatically. For instance you can setup the workgroup or domain, organization name, computer name, default display size, and a whole lot more.

The Sysprep utility finds all it's configuration information in one relatively simple .inf file. Which for the most part follows the below example in terms of setup:

[UserData]
FullName=Your Name
OrgName=Your Organization
ComputerName=*
ProductID=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

[Display]
BitsPerPel=16
Xresolution=1024
YResolution=768

The documentation that comes with the utility can give hundreds of different options to aid you in the customization of your image.

One of the best features of this application is the ability to include all the drivers from the different types of PC's you have all on to one image. This increases the size of the image, however will save you hours of work loading drivers on each PC. An example of how to put all your drivers on one image is as follows:

[Unattended]
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPnPDriversPath=drivers;driversati;driversintel;
InstallFilesPath=C:sysprepi386;c:i386
KeepPageFile=0
;ExtendOemPartition=1

As you can see you just keep adding directories under OemPnPDriversPath for all the different types of hardware you have. Also it deletes the page file with KeepPageFile=0. Take the time to read the documentation and help files that come along with this utility because it can really reduce your workload.

By: Ken Dennis
URL: http://KenDennis-RSS.homeip.net/

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Ukraine: a Prospective Player on the World Software Outsourcing Market

The destruction of the Soviet Union about 15 years ago,... Read More

Getting Patched with Windows Service Pack

Are you one of those people that keeps track of... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains as ERP and Microsoft CRM as CRM

If you have Microsoft Great Plains and support it for... Read More

Dig Out That Worm

Internet worms. Is your PC infected?If your computer has become... Read More

Create A Flash Presentation For Free With Open Office

The intentions of this short tutorial are not to teach... Read More

Two Reasons to Use Timesheet Software

This short paper will expand on two key reasons to... Read More

10 Things You Can Do With Photoshop CS2 That You Couldnt Do Before Now

Is Photoshop CS2 worth the upgrade? You bet it is!... Read More

Manufacturing Solutions for Microsoft Great Plains ? Overview for Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has full-featured manufacturing set of... Read More

How To Make Good Use of Spreadsheets

Most computer users use spreadsheets software such as Microsoft Excel... Read More

Is Your Family Protected?

When you think... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains ? Licensing & Product Versions

Current Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has more that 10... Read More

Need of Document Management System (DMS)

Document Management or Enterprise Information Management is perhaps one of... Read More

eConnect: eCommerce Development for Microsoft Great Plains

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has several options to enable... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Customization Recovery & Upgrade for Large Corporation

At the end of XX century, in the late 1990th... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Security Setup - Overview For Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very good fit for... Read More

How To Create A Data Capture Procedure Checklist For Your Small Business CRM Software

Fortunately one of the most common reasons cited for the... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains: Annual Enhancement Program ? How To Be Re-Enrolled

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is mid and even corporate... Read More

Why do Manufacturers Invest in Business Management Software?

With many manufacturing shops heading over seas in favor of... Read More

Linux ? Keyboard Or Mouse

Just stress testing one of the latest Linux distributions. Been... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Reporting ? Overview for Developer

Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more... Read More

IT Strategy for Large Corporation: ERP/MRP/CRM, Unix/Linux/Windows, Microsoft/Java

Combining Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains ERP with non-Microsoft Business... Read More

Microsoft Small Business Manager Customization Options - Overview

Microsoft Business Solutions Small Business Manager is Great Plains Dexterity... Read More

Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise Upgrade ? Things to Consider and FAQ

If you have Great Plains Dynamics/eEnterprise (version 6.0 or earlier)... Read More

OS 101: Suggestions for Choosing an Operating System

An operating system (abbreviated OS) is essentially the path through... Read More

Microsoft Navision Customization and Reporting ? Tips For Programmer/IT Specialist

C/SIDE (Client/Server Integrated Development Environment) - The core of... Read More

Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS) SQL Customization ? Overview for Programmer

Microsoft Retail Management System serves retail single store as well... Read More

Microsoft CRM Integration & Customization: SharePoint Document Gateway

MS CRM is very close to document workflow automation, including... Read More

A Symons Mark II Function Point Counting Example

I provide, here clear explanations and a count of function... Read More

Microsoft CRM Customization

Microsoft CRM customization techniques are very diversified and based on... Read More

Unofficial Windows 98 SE Service Pack 2.0 RC2

Microsoft has never released a service pack for Windows98 SE,... Read More

Internet Security Threats: Who Can Read Your Email?

Before being able to choose a secure Internet communication system,... Read More

Software Piracy - Global Increase

Pirated software is on the increase and now accounts for... Read More

5 Easy File Management Tips in Microsoft Word

How many steps does it take you to locate and... Read More