Capture Images

Published: October 22, 2009

Updated: July 8, 2010

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2

In this section, you capture and modify images for deployment.

Prerequisites

A Windows® PE RAM disk. You can create this by using the process described in: Windows PE Walkthroughs.
Image-capturing tools. You can add some image-capturing tools, such as ImageX, to the Windows PE disk.
A reference computer. You can create this by using the process described in: Deploy Windows by Using Windows Setup.

In This Section

These processes are described in the How-To topics in this section:

Remove the computer-specific information from the reference computer, and shut the computer down. This is also known as generalizing the computer.
Boot the computer by using Windows PE.
Capture the hard disk partitions as images (example: fab.wim) by using image-capturing tools.
Modify the image, split the image, or create spanned media from the image.
Copy the images to a network share.

The following diagram shows how the fictitious OEM, Fabrikam, captures a customized Windows image as a file, fab.wim, of their reference computer, Fabrikam Model FNB1:

Prepare to Capture an Image for Deployment (Generalize)	Prepare your Windows installation to be captured as an image. This includes: Removing the computer-specific information from the system. This is known as generalizing the computer. Resetting the Windows activation clock. This is known as rearming the activation clock.
Manage the Activation Clock	If you do not use a Key Management Service, you can rearm the clock only a limited number of times. This topic includes information on the following: Detecting how many times you can rearm the activation clock. Delaying rearming the activation clock.
Capture Images of Hard Disk Partitions by Using ImageX	Capture the images from your reference computer for deployment.
Mount and Modify an Image	Make changes to an image after it has been captured.
Split an Image	Split Windows image (.wim) files into smaller files for spanning across multiple media.
Create Spanned Media	Prepare .iso files using the spanned media.

Next steps

After the image is captured and stored, you can:

Apply the images to a destination computer. For information, see Apply Images by Using ImageX.
Set up network-based installation of Windows. For information, see Deploy Windows Using Windows Deployment Services.
Set up Windows on a Virtual Hard Disk. For information, see Deploy Windows on a Virtual Hard Disk with Native Boot.
Set up Windows using other deployment options. For information, see Other Deployment Options.
Service the image. For information, see Service an Offline Image.

Prerequisites

In This Section

Next steps

See Also

Concepts