I have been trying in vain to create an image file that I can use on a range of Dell equipment (Latitude laptops, Precision and Optiplex Workstations), but to no avail.
When I used XP it was easy. Build the OS how you want it, create the sysprep.ini and in there provide the locale info and a path to all the drivers.
With Windows 7, I tried the same, but editing the unattend.xml. This has caused three issues for me:
1. The drivers are ignored. It always installs the Standard VGA Adpater driver, not the specific ones I provide.
2. The network type is ignored. It always asks me to select Work or Public etc.
3. The locale settings cannot be changed easily. I used to pull up the image, then use Ghost Explorer to delete the pubkey.crt to allow it work on another Ghost Server, then edit the locale settings in the sysprep.ini. Last time I tried that with the unattend.xml, I changed the local in the file in sysprep folder and C:\Windows\Panther and it said the file could not be parsed and the system would no longer boot.
I have been hacking at this for 6 months on and off and getting a bit fed up. There is no real help on this ANYWHERE, and I would appreciate some help on what I am doing wrong, or pointers to some info. Also, which unattend.xml is actually used? There is one in C:\sysprep and one in C:\Windows\Panther, but I don't get the difference.
Below are screenshots of my settings and the unattend.xml that was built
.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
<settings pass="offlineServicing">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-PnpCustomizationsNonWinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<DriverPaths>
<PathAndCredentials wcm:keyValue="1" wcm:action="add">
<Credentials>
<Password>*******</Password>
<Username>administrator</Username>
</Credentials>
<Path>C:\Drivers</Path>
</PathAndCredentials>
</DriverPaths>
</component>
</settings>
<settings pass="oobeSystem">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<OOBE>
<HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
<NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
<ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC>
<SkipMachineOOBE>true</SkipMachineOOBE>
<SkipUserOOBE>true</SkipUserOOBE>
</OOBE>
<TaskbarLinks>
<Link0>%windir%\system32\services.msc</Link0>
</TaskbarLinks>
<AutoLogon>
<Password>
<Value>genesys</Value>
<PlainText>true</PlainText>
</Password>
<Username>Administrator</Username>
<Enabled>true</Enabled>
</AutoLogon>
<UserAccounts>
<AdministratorPassword>
<Value>*****</Value>
<PlainText>true</PlainText>
</AdministratorPassword>
</UserAccounts>
<!--
<Display>
<ColorDepth>32</ColorDepth>
<DPI>120</DPI>
<HorizontalResolution>1024</HorizontalResolution>
<RefreshRate>60</RefreshRate>
<VerticalResolution>768</VerticalResolution>
</Display>
-->
<RegisteredOwner>*</RegisteredOwner>
<RegisteredOrganization>*</RegisteredOrganization>
<TimeZone>GMT Standard Time</TimeZone>
</component>
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<InputLocale>en-GB</InputLocale>
<SystemLocale>en-GB</SystemLocale>
<UILanguage>en-GB</UILanguage>
<UserLocale>en-GB</UserLocale>
</component>
</settings>
<settings pass="specialize">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<CopyProfile>true</CopyProfile>
<ComputerName>*</ComputerName>
</component>
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-UnattendedJoin" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<Identification>
<JoinWorkgroup>WORKGROUP</JoinWorkgroup>
</Identification>
</component>
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-IE-InternetExplorer" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<DisableFirstRunWizard>true</DisableFirstRunWizard>
<Home_Page>http://www.genesyslab.com/GU/evals/</Home_Page>
</component>
</settings>
<settings pass="generalize">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-PnpSysprep" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<PersistAllDeviceInstalls>false</PersistAllDeviceInstalls>
</component>
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Security-Licensing-SLC" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<SkipRearm>1</SkipRearm>
</component>
</settings>
<cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="wim:c:/vista/x64/image.wim#Windows Vista ULTIMATE" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi"/>
</unattend>