LinusCaldwell

You could make the first synchronous command: NET USE \\servername\sharename password /u:DOMAIN\Username That way you can log on with the Administrator account but still have access to domain file shares.

One other issue I had was that Sysprep would fail on the Specialize pass in Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup. The only way to get a machine to build successfully was to remove the <CopyProfile>true</CopyProfile> from the unattend. I did some research and found that when you remove a local account from Windows 7 it leaves behind a profile entry in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList After removing these orphaned registry keys I was able to add <CopyProfile>true</CopyProfile> back to the unattend and successfully build the pc.

Good idea, thanks IcemanND!

Read the sticky's at the top of the forum page, especially this one.

I found this article explaining the SkipRearm setting for the Unattend file. If the Rearm program can run no more than 3 times in a single Windows image then I'm going to need to re-think my image update process...

Thanks, yes this was helpful. I know that Windows will automatically try to activate the MAK product key as long as the computer is connected to the internet. Our guest wireless network at the office is behind NAC so users need to enter a passcode before internet access is granted. The final outcome is that the computers are built on the LAN (unattend.xml contains MAK key in the Specialize pass), then disconnected from LAN by a desktop tech once build is complete and manually connected to guest wireless network (so that NAC passcode can be entered via the browser).

I have a Windows 7 image to update and would like to know the correct procedure for re-sysprepping a reference pc that's been sysprep'd before. I'm aware that this is not the preferred method but would still like to know if it's possible and the right way to do it (I'm not using ImageX to capture a WIM file so offline updating is out of the picture). Currently I: - Delete the Unattend.xml file from C:\WINDOWS\Panther (this is due to the fact that I go into audit mode and it does an unwanted /generalize if I leave it behind) - Enable the Administrator account after entering audit mode (not sure if this is neccessary) When I re-sysprep I get an Unattend error at the specialize pass and the only way I can overcome this is to remove <CopyProfile>true</CopyProfile> and sysprep again (this isn't ideal as I want to capture the profile settings into default user. Upon re-searching this topic I found someone mention that a slmgr /skiprearm is needed? Can anyone confirm whether this is the case? What I would like to be able to do is image a machine, enter audit mode, install new apps & windows updates, make changes to the user profile and then re-sysprep and re-capture the image. For the sake of additional information my image is captured using LANDesk's ImageW tool. This is a sector base imaging tool i.e. like Symantec Ghost and stores the image in 2Gb spanned files. I apologise if there is a topic on the forum that already explains how to do this.

When I've done these types of deployments, I've used the install key to install Windows, and not worrying that Sysprep will remove that key. Then use another XML for the sysprep /unattend which has the activation key in it. Of course you are using a deployment solution I have no experience in, so hard to translate that. Sorry, I confused installing the product key with activation. You are right the product key remains installed but the client still needs to activate with a KMS host once the machine is built. Our product key requires MAK activation so rather than configuring a KMS host, I've included the product key in the Unattend.xml file and under the <FirstLogonCommands> I'm running a slmgr /ato to activate windows.

I've just realised that the sysprep /generalize command is going to wipe out any key activation that may reside in the image. I'm now setting up a KMS host based on the instructions here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff793407.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=fda49c1f-475e-42d0-92ae-6f7edb802f3e Sucks that 25 unique windows 7 KMS clients need to request activation before the host starts dishing out validation success

Johan, You were spot on with the MachineObjectOU. I updated the XML to point to an OU and now the machine successfully joins to the domain. Upon checking the NetSetup.log it did state that CN=Computers is not a valid OU. Lesson learnt: Always check the logs! Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

Hi, We don't have a KMS server set up. The image capture tool is ImageW.exe (included in LANDesk OS Deployment Suite) and it takes a sector based image of the pc. I'm thinking if I enter the key manually and activate windows and then take a capture it might work. I'll remove the product key from the XML file and try this. Regarding joindomain, will point to an OU and check the NetSetup.log and write back. Thanks for the advice.

I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that LANDesk removes the name space. This is specific to the product as I also have exactly the same problems when opening the XML file with WSIM. Adding the name space causes LANDesk not to recognise the XML file. The OS deployment wizard in LANDesk has a GUI that pre-populates some of the passes in XML file and I've used Notepad to make additional changes such as the LocalAccounts.

Hi, I'm using LANDesk Management Suite 9.0 to capture and deploy an image of Windows 7 Enterprise Edition. The best practise is to install the OS, make changes to the system in Audit mode and then shutdown without generalizing the machine. LANDesk takes care of the generalize as part of the sysprep process once it's thrown the image back down. All is working fine with the exception of the domain join and the license key. I've attached the XML file and would be greatful if anyone can point me towards what I'm doing wrong. Thanks. Unattend.txt

djpatch, Try these: http://blogs.technet.com/b/deploymentguys/archive/2009/04/08/pin-items-to-the-start-menu-or-windows-7-taskbar-via-script.aspx http://blogs.technet.com/b/askcore/archive/2010/03/16/how-to-customize-the-windows-7-start-menu-and-taskbar-using-unattend-xml.aspx