Create a Custom Windows 7 Image for Network Deployment

Here, you will learn how to customise Windows 7 for Network Deployment. Microsoft have changed their angle since Windows 2000 and XP in how you deploy Windows in mass deployment but configured to your needs. Rather then run the Windows 7 Setup Installation on each workstation individually, the new method from Microsoft is to use a "Technician PC" on which Windows 7 will be installed and then customised. From there an image is taken and any system-specific drivers are (optionally) included or removed, system-specific SSIDs etc. are all stripped out.

Learn more from Guru Guy who will teach you step-by-step customised image creation Windows 7!

---

Step-by-Step

This guide assumes you have already Installed Windows 7 in "Audit Mode" via a specialise AutoUnattend.xml file. If not, follow Guru Guy's Guide to Customised Windows 7 Setup with Automated Windows Installation Kit (WAIK).

When deploying Windows 7 to a large number of computers, it may be more efficient to capture an image of the reference installation, and then deploy that image onto other new computers.

1. A reference computer has a customised installation of Windows that you plan to duplicate onto one or more destination computers. You can create a reference installation by using the Windows product DVD and an answer file.
2. Turn on the reference computer and insert the Windows 7 product DVD and the USB Flash Drive containing the answer file you created in the previous step (Autounattend.xml), or Integrate Windows 7 Setup DVD with the Autounattend.xml file with Guru Guy's guide. After booting off the Windows 7 DVD, the Windows 7 Setup (Setup.exe) will begin automatically. By default, Windows Setup will search the root directory of all removable media for an answer file called Autounattend.xml;
3. After Setup finishes, you can validate that all customisations were applied. For example, if you included the optional Microsoft-Windows-IE-InternetExplorer component and set the Home_Page setting in your answer file, you can verify it now by opening Internet Explorer;
4. Prepare the computer for the end user. Use the sysprep command with the /generalize option to remove hardware-specific information from the Windows installation, and the /oobe option to configure the computer to boot to Windows Welcome upon the next restart. In the System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) window that is displayed on the desktop in audit mode:
   Select Enter System Out Of Box Experience (OOBE) from the System 
   a. Cleanup Action list
   b. Select Generalize
   c. Select Shutdown from the Shutdown Options list
   d. Click OK
   Note:
   You can also run the Sysprep tool from a command prompt by typing: c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /oobe /generalize /shutdown
   When you run the sysprep /generalize command, out-of-box device drivers are removed from the Windows image. If you add out-of-box device drivers during installation and you intend to capture the Windows image, to persist out-of-box device drivers, in the answer file, in Microsoft-Windows-PnpSysprep, set PersistAllDeviceInstalls to True. When you do this, Sysprep does not remove the detected device drivers.
5. Sysprep.exe prepares the image for capture by cleaning up various user- and computer-specific settings, as well as log files. The reference installation now is complete and ready to be imaged.
6. Now, we need to create a bootable Windows PE RAM disc on a CD-ROM disc by using the Copype.cmd script. Windows PE RAM enables you to start a computer for the purposes of deployment and recovery. Windows PE RAM boots directly into memory, enabling you to remove the Windows PE media after the computer boots. Once you have booted into Windows PE, you can use the ImageX tool to capture, modify, and apply file-based disk images.
7. On your technician computer, click Start->All Programs->Windows AIK;
8. Right- click Deployment Tools Command Prompt, and then select Run as
   administrator.
9. At the command prompt, run the Copype.cmd script:
   copype.cmd <architecture> <destination>
   e.g. copype.cmd x86 c:\winpe_x86
10. The script creates the following directory structure and copies all the necessary files for that architecture. For example, \winpe_x86 \winpe_x86\ISO
    \winpe_x86\mount
11. Copy ImageX into \Winpe_x86\ISO. Type:
    copy "c:\program files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86\imagex.exe" c:\winpe_x86\iso\
    
12. Create a Windows PE image (.iso) file by using the Oscdimg tool from the Deployment Tools Command Prompt. Type:
    oscdimg -n -bc:\winpe_x86\etfsboot.com c:\winpe_x86\ISO
    c:\winpe_x86\winpe_x86.iso
13. Burn the image (Winpe_x86.iso) to a CD-ROM/DVD-ROM disc using Nero or your preferred freeware/third-party software;
14. In this step, you capture an image of your Windows PE reference computer using the ImageX tool. Then, you store that image on a network share. Boot from your Windows PE Media;
15. Windows PE starts, and then launches a Command Prompt window. Type
    e:\imagex.exe /capture d: d:\myimage.wim "my Win7 Install" /compress fast /verify
16. Copy the image to a network location. You can do this because Windows PE provides network support. At the command prompt, type:
    net use y: \\SERVER\Windows7Share
    then
    copy d:\myimage.wim y:
    If necessary, provide network credentials for appropriate network access.

To Deploy Windows 7 from your Network share, follow these steps:

1. In this step, you use the DiskPart tool to format the hard drive, and then you copy an image from the network share;
2. On your destination computer, insert your Windows PE media and restart the computer by pressing the CTRL+ALT+DEL keys. Boot your Windows PE Media;
3. Windows PE starts, and then it launches a Command Prompt window. Format the hard drive to reflect the disk configuration requirements by using the DiskPart tool from the Windows PE Command Prompt window. You can create a script with this information by saving it to a text file and by storing it in the same location as your image. To run the script from a Windows PE Command Prompt window, type diskpart /s diskpart.txt 
   Otherwise, partition manually by typing:
   select disk 0
   clean
   create partition primary size=200
   select partition 1
   format fs=ntfs label="system"
   assign letter=c
   active
   create partition primary
   select partition 2
   format fs=ntfs label="Windows"
   assign letter=d
   exit
4. Copy the image from the network share to your local hard drive. Type:
   net use y: \\network_share\images
   copy y:\myimage.wim d:
5. Apply the image to the hard drive by using the ImageX tool located on your Windows PE media. Type:
   e:\imagex.exe /apply d:\myimage.wim 1 d:
6. Use BCDboot to initialize the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store and copy boot environment files to the system partition. Type:
   d:\windows\system32\bcdboot d:\windows
7. Your custom image is now deployed onto your destination computer. The computer is ready for customer delivery. Repeat this step to each additional computer that you deliver.
   

You have now completed a basic end-to-end deployment scenario by using an image-based deployment method.

---

Like what you've read? Was this of help? Contact Guru Guy to let him have your feedback!

Now why not visit Guru Guy's Vintage Computer Webshop to grab classic Vintage Computer Server Software!