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How to Use Sysprep to Restore the Computer to an End-User-Ready State
Sysprep is a tool designed for corporate system administrators, OEMs, and others who need to deploy the Windows® XP operating system on multiple computers. After performing the initial setup steps on a single system, you can run Sysprep to prepare the sample computer for cloning.
To manually restore the computer to an end–user–ready state with Sysprep:
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Click Start, click Run, and then type: cmd
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At the command prompt, change to the root of the system drive (%systemdrive%), and then type: md sysprep
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From the \Support\Tools\Deploy.cab file of the Windows XP product CD, copy Sysprep.exe and Setupcl.exe to the Sysprep folder you created.
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Remove the operating–system CD.
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At the command prompt, change to the Sysprep folder, and then type: sysprep –nosidgen with the parameters you select.
The computer will shut down automatically if it is ACPI–compatible. If it is not ACPI–compatible, a message appears telling you to shut down the computer when the process completes.
To automate the process of restoring the computer to an end–user–ready state:
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In the \$OEM$\$1 folder of your distribution folders, create a subfolder named \Sysprep.
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Add Sysprep.exe and Setupcl.exe to the \$OEM$\$1\Sysprep folder from the \Support\Tools\Deploy.cab file located on the Windows XP product CD. A Sysprep.inf answer file can also be created and placed in this folder, if needed.
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In your answer file, add the following line to the bottom of the[GuiRunOnce] section: %systemdrive%\sysprep\sysprep.exe –quiet additional parameters as required
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After Windows Setup completes, the computer automatically shuts down if it is ACPI–compatible. If it is not ACPI–compatible, a message appears telling you to shut down the computer when the process completes.
