Configure Office 2010 for capturing an image

 

Applies to: Office 2010

Topic Last Modified: 2012-02-17

Banner stating end of support date for Office 2010 with link to more info

Administrators can configure Microsoft Office 2010 to capture an image of an installation, such as the one that is described in this article. The example that is described here shows how to run Office 2010 from a network installation point to install a custom configuration of Office 2010 on a reference computer that has a clean installation of Windows 7 (Volume Licensed version).

A network installation point is a network shared folder that contains the Office 2010 source files, language packs, and any Setup customization (.msp) files that you want to deploy. After your Office 2010 customizations are complete, you capture an image of the reference computer's operating system with the Office 2010 installation and the customizations that you specify. Then, you can distribute the image to users in your organization.

The information in this article is intended for small-sized businesses that may not have an enterprise deployment infrastructure.

In this article:

  • Before you begin

  • Resource requirements

  • Test environment resources

  • Preparing the administrator computer

  • Preparing the reference computer

  • Capturing an image of the reference computer

  • Deploying the image

This article contains information about the test environment that is used to test configuration of Office 2010 to capture an image of the installation. It does not provide detailed instructions for how to install the server and client computer operating systems. For more information about operating system resources, see Test environment resources.

This article also includes three videos that demonstrate the procedures for preparing the administrator computer, preparing the reference computer, and deploying the image.

Before you begin

The Office 2010 activation method uses Office Activation Technologies, based on the Software Protection Platform that was introduced in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Microsoft policy requires the activation of all editions of Office 2010 client software. When you prepare to deploy Office 2010 to your production environment, you must decide which activation method to use:

  • Key Management Service (KMS)   This method uses a KMS host key to activate a KMS host computer and establish a local activation service in your environment. Office 2010 connects to the local KMS host for activation.

  • Multiple Activation Key (MAK)   With a MAK, clients activate Office 2010 online with the Microsoft hosted activation servers or by telephone.

  • A combination of KMS and MAK   For example, in some organizations, Office 2010 runs on desktops that use a KMS client key, and on portable computers that use a MAK key.

In this scenario, we use MAK volume activation. In general, the recommendation for deploying Office 2010 with Windows 7 is to use the same volume activation for Office 2010 that you use for Windows 7. If you have more than 50 client computers, use KMS.

We recommend that you read the following articles before you customize Office 2010: Plan volume activation of Office 2010, Deploy volume activation of Office 2010, Customization overview for Office 2010, Create a network installation point for Office 2010, Office Customization Tool in Office 2010, Config.xml file in Office 2010, Plan for multilanguage and Proofing Tools deployment for Office 2010, Customize deployment of language setup and Proofing Tools in Office 2010, and Customize Office 2010.

Resource requirements

The example in this scenario uses the following resources:

  • An administrator computer. Use this computer to prepare the infrastructure and customizations for Microsoft Office 2010 deployment and to install the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK). In this example, we use Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010. You use the Windows AIK to capture and deploy a custom installation of Windows 7 with Office Professional Plus 2010. In this example, the administrator computer is running Windows Server 2008 R2.

    Or, you can use an x86-based or x64-based computer that runs one of the following operating systems: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, Windows Vista with SP1, or Windows Server 2003 R2.

  • A reference test computer. This is a computer that has a clean installation of Windows 7 on which you install a custom configuration of Office Professional Plus 2010. After you install the software, you capture an image of the installation. You can store the image on a network share. In this example, the computer is running the 32-bit edition of Windows 7 Enterprise.

  • A network adapter and a working network environment Required for both the administrator computer and the reference computer.

  • Windows 7 Enterprise 32-bit edition product DVD.

  • Office Professional Plus 2010 (Volume License) product DVD. And any language packs you want to add. In this example, we added the Microsoft Office Language Pack 2010 - French language pack.

  • Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK). Use the following Windows AIK tools to prepare and capture an image of the installation: Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) and Imagex.exe. You install the Windows AIK on the administrator computer.

  • .NET Framework 2.0, which is provided with the Windows AIK tools during Setup.

  • One blank DVD-R/RW disc. Use the DVD to install Windows AIK. The Windows AIK ISO download size is 1706.6 megabytes (MB).

  • One 8 gigabyte (GB) USB flash drive (UFD). Use the UFD to create a bootable UFD with Windows PE.

Test environment resources

In this example, you install Office Professional Plus 2010 on the reference computer by running Setup from a network installation point that is located on the administrator computer. You use a network shared folder for the network installation point. Access to the source files is set as read-only.

The following resources provide information about Windows Server 2008 R2, shared folders, and Windows 7:

Preparing the administrator computer

The administrator computer is used to host the network installation point with the Office Professional Plus 2010 source files and the Setup customizations that you configure. In addition, you install the Windows AIK tools in the administrator computer and prepare a bootable Windows PE UFD with imagex.exe, which you use later to capture an image of the reference computer.

The administrator computer is running Windows Server 2008 R2, and a shared folder (for example, \\server\share) has been configured on this computer. For information about creating a shared folder, see Share a Folder or Drive (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=184711).

Use the administrator computer to perform the following tasks:

  • Install Windows AIK

  • Create a bootable UFD with Windows PE

  • Create a network installation point

  • Customize the Office 2010 installation

Note

Make sure that network discovery and file sharing is turned on in both the administrator and reference computer. Network discovery is a network setting that affects whether your computer can find other computers and devices on the network and whether other computers on the network can find your computer.
To turn network discovery on, in Control Panel, choose Network and Internet, select Network and Sharing Center, and select Change Advanced sharing settings. Click the chevron next to Home or Work to expand the current network profile, click Turn on network discovery, and then click Save changes. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Configure Office 2010 for capturing an image

Duration: 09:45 minutes

Play video Watch the "Configure Office 2010 for capturing an image - Part 1 of 3: Administrator computer" video

Download video For an optimal viewing experience, download the Configure Office 2010 for capturing an image - Part 1 of 3: Administrator computer video

Install Windows AIK

You can download the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7 from this Microsoft Web site: (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=196290). To install the Windows AIK, you first download the ISO image (KB3AIK_EN.iso), and then you write the ISO file to a DVD. After you burn the DVD, you install the Windows AIK to the administrator computer from the DVD. In this example, the administrator computer is running 64-bit Windows Server 2008 R2. Therefore, you install the x64 version, wAIKAMD64.msi.

To install Windows AIK

  1. On the administrator computer, open the Windows AIK DVD in Windows Explorer.

  2. Right-click wAIKAMD64.msi, click Install, and then click Next.

  3. Click I Agree on the License Agreement page, and then click Next.

  4. On the Select Installation Folder page, click Next to install to the default installation folder for anyone who uses the computer.

  5. Click Next on the Confirm Installation page to begin installation.

  6. Click Close.

For information about Windows AIK, see Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=196373).

Create a bootable UFD with Windows PE

This section provides instructions for creating a bootable UFD with Windows PE and imagex.exe. You will use the bootable UFD later to start the reference computer to capture an image of the installation after you install Windows 7 and Office Professional Plus 2010.

Note

The reference computer in this example runs the 32-bit edition of Windows 7 Enterprise. Therefore, you must use the x86 version of the Windows AIK tools to create the UFD.

To create a bootable UFD with Windows PE

  1. In the administrator computer, click Start, point to All Programs, and then click Microsoft Windows AIK.

  2. Right-click Deployment Tools Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. Click Yes to open the Deployment Tools Command Prompt window with elevated permissions.

  3. In the Deployment Tools Command Prompt window, type the following:

    copype.cmd x86 C:\winpe_x86

    Then press Enter.

    The copype.cmd script copies the files that are required to create a bootable Windows PE RAM disk. It creates a working directory that includes a base Windows PE image file called winpe.wim. The script also creates an iso directory that you use when you create the bootable UFD. The script requires two arguments: <arch> and <destination>, where <arch > can be x86, amd64, or ia64 and <destination> is a path to local directory.

    In this example, we specify x86 architecture (32-bit) and the path to a local directory on which to store the files, C:\winpe_x86.

  4. In the Deployment Tools Command Prompt window, type the following:

    copy C:\winpe_x86\winpe.wim C:\winpe_x86\ISO\sources\boot.wim

    Then press Enter.

    This copies the winpe.wim file into the \iso folder and renames the file "boot.wim."

  5. In the Deployment Tools Command Prompt window, type the following:

    copy "C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\x86\ImageX.exe" C:\winpe_x86\ISO\

    Then press Enter.

    This copies the imagex.exe tool, which you use to capture and deploy an image of the installation.

    The next steps prepare the UFD.

  6. Insert a UFD into the computer.

  7. In the Deployment Tools Command Prompt window, type diskpart and press Enter:

  8. To prepare the UFD that you will use later to start the reference computer and capture an image, follow these steps:

    1. At the DISKPART command prompt, type list disk, and press Enter:

    2. Review the list of disks to find the number of the disk that has the UFD. Make sure the size and free space match what you expect for the UFD that you are using (8 GB in this example) because you will be formatting the disk. In this example, disk 1 is the disk with the UFD.

    3. Type select disk <number>, where number is the disk number of the UFD. In this example, type select disk 1, and press Enter.

    4. Type clean, and press Enter.

    5. Type create partition primary, and press Enter.

    6. Type select partition 1, and press Enter.

    7. Type format fs=fat32 quick, and press Enter.

    8. Type active, and press Enter.

    9. Type exit, and press Enter.

  9. In the Deployment Tools Command Prompt window, type the following:

    xcopy /s C:\winpe_x86\iso\*.* F:\

    where F is the drive letter of the UFD

    This copies all the content in the \iso directory onto the UFD device.

Create a network installation point

To prepare the infrastructure for Office 2010 deployment, you create a network installation point on the network shared folder that you created on the administrator computer, such as \\server\share. To do this, copy all files and folders from the Office 2010 DVD to the shared folder on the network, and copy all language packs that you want to deploy. In this example, we use Office Professional Plus 2010 and Microsoft Office Language Pack 2010 - French language pack.

To create a network installation point

  1. Create a folder for the Office Professional Plus 2010 source files at the network share location that you created previously (\\server\share). For example, create a folder named Office14:

    \\server\share\Office14

    Note

    Do not create the network installation point at the root of the server.

  2. Insert the Office DVD into the CD drive.

  3. In Windows Explorer, select all files and folders that are on the DVD. Copy the DVD contents to the folder on the network. This location becomes the network installation point.

  4. If you deploy multiple language versions of Office Professional Plus 2010, copy each language pack that you want from the source media to the installation point. When you are prompted to overwrite duplicate Setup files, click No. In this example, we added the Microsoft Office Language Pack 2010 - French language pack.

    Note

    In Office 2010, core Setup files are shared among all Office products and language packs. Because these core Setup files are identical, there is no reason to overwrite the files if you add language packs. Additionally, by not overwriting Setup files, the network installation point remains online and available to users while you add files.
    If you deploy multiple Office 2010 products, copy those files from the DVD to the network installation point. Click No when you are prompted to overwrite duplicate Setup files. No additional products are installed in this example.

To help secure the network installation point, we recommend the following:

  • Ensure that access to the Office source files is set as read-only. You do this after you complete all the Office customizations. (The Setup.xml and Package.xml files, such as ProPlusWW.xml for Office 2010, are digitally signed and cannot be modified.)

  • Ensure that the file properties for the customization files that you create are set as read-only. These include Setup customization .msp files and custom Config.xml files.

  • If you are centralizing log files on the network, make sure that users have read/write permission to that location.

  • Make sure that all users who install Office 2010 have administrative permissions.

Customize the Office 2010 installation

You can use the Office Customization Tool (OCT) to customize Setup, and configure additional customizations and installation options. This creates a Setup customization file (.msp file). The OCT is the primary tool that administrators use to customize the installation of products in Office 2010. For a complete description of the areas that you can configure by using the OCT, see Office Customization Tool in Office 2010. For step-by-step instructions for configuring customizations, see Create custom configurations of Office 2010.

When you complete the OCT customizations, store the Setup customization .msp file in the Updates folder at the root of the installation point. If you are installing Office 2010 after product updates are released, you can also store those .msp files in the Updates folder.

Note

If you are deploying an initial installation of Office 2010 and you also want to deploy Office 2010 software updates, such as service packs and hotfixes, Setup can apply the product updates as part of the installation process. You can place the Office 2010 product updates in the Updates folder. In scenarios such as this, where the Updates folder includes both one Setup customization .msp file and product updates, Setup applies only the Setup customization .msp file upon initial installation. Product updates are applied after the installation is completed.

In this example, we use both the OCT and the Config.xml file in Office 2010 to customize the installation.

To customize the installation by using the OCT

  1. From the root of the network installation point that you created previously, run the following command-line option to start the OCT: setup.exe /admin. For example, use the following: \\server\share\Office14\setup.exe /admin.

  2. In the Select Product dialog box, select Create a new Setup customization file for the following product to create a new customization file. In this case, select Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 (32-bit). Click OK.

    The OCT user interface is displayed, and you can then configure settings in the following areas: Setup, Features, Additional content, and Outlook.

  3. Customize Setup to specify how you want Setup to manage the installation. The Setup section of the OCT is used to configure options such as the default installation location, default organization name, additional network locations that contain the Office 2010 sources, product key, Microsoft Software License Terms, level of user interface to display, and previous versions of Office to remove.

    Note

    The product key option depends on the Office 2010 licensing method that you use. In this example, we enter a MAK key in the Enter another product key field.

    The following options are available in the Licensing and user interface:

    • Use KMS client key   Product key entry is not required for enterprise deployments that are using Key Management Service (KMS) activation because all Volume License editions of Office 2010 have a preinstalled KMS client key. KMS is one of the methods that are provided by Office Activation Technologies for activating products that are licensed under Microsoft Volume Licensing programs. When you use KMS, you install and activate only one KMS host key on the Office 2010 KMS host to activate all volume license editions of Office 2010 KMS clients. If the Office 2010 KMS host is installed and configured, KMS activation occurs transparently to the user when an Office 2010 client is first installed. Use KMS client key is the default. For information about how to configure the KMS host, see Configure the Office 2010 KMS host in Deploy volume activation of Office 2010.

    • Enter another product key   Enter a valid Multiple Activation Key (MAK) key in the OCT by using the Enter another product key text box. A MAK key is another method that Office Activation Technologies provide for activating products licensed under Microsoft Volume Licensing programs. In this example, enter a valid MAK key (25 numbers or characters), without spaces, in the Product key text box.

      For example, type: AAAAABBBBBCCCCCDDDDDEEEEE

      When you use a MAK, client computers can activate Office 2010 online by using the Microsoft hosted activation servers or by telephone. For more information about how to use a MAK key, see Deploy volume activation of Office 2010.

    • Display level   Expand the Display level menu to set the behavior of the user interface during installation. In this example, we use the Config.xml file to set display level options, as discussed in To customize the installation with the Config.xml file.

  4. To change the default way that Office features are installed, in the left navigation pane, locate Features, and then click Set feature installation states. In this example, we configure Microsoft Access 2010 as Not available:

    In the right navigation pane, expand the tree and select Microsoft Access, and then select Not Available.

    The components for Microsoft Access, and all the child features that belong to this feature, are not installed on the computer. A red [X] is added to the menu icon next to the Microsoft Access application name.

  5. When you complete the customizations that you want to make, save the Setup customization .msp file that is generated by the OCT in the Updates folder at the root of the network installation point. In this example, the .msp customization file is named NoAccessx86.msp.

    Note

    If you plan to deploy multiple Setup customization .msp files, you can put only one customization .msp file per product in the Updates folder for an initial installation. You must deploy the rest of the customization .msp files after the Office installation is completed. Only one Setup customization file for each Office 2010 product that you are installing in the Updates folder is supported.

In this example, the Config.xml file is modified to:

  • Specify display level options

  • Install both English and French languages

  • Configure the default installation language and the Shell UI to match the operating system language

To customize the installation by using the Config.xml file

  1. In the core product folder for the product that you are installing (Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010), locate the Config.xml file. For example, if you are installing Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010, the Config.xml file is in the ProPlus.WW folder.

  2. Open the Config.xml file by using a text editor, such as Notepad.

  3. To modify the display options that users see during installation, locate the line in the Config.xml file that contains the Display element:

    <!-- <Display Level="full" CompletionNotice="yes" SuppressModal="no" AcceptEula="no" /> -->

  4. Modify the Display element information as shown in the following example:

    <Display Level="basic" CompletionNotice="yes" SuppressModal="yes" AcceptEula="yes" />

    These options display a basic user interface and a notice when the installation is finished, and the Microsoft Software License Terms are accepted on behalf of the user. Setup does not display error messages and other dialog boxes that might interrupt the installation.

  5. Add the AddLanguage element. For information about AddLanguage, see AddLanguage element in Config.xml file in Office 2010.

  6. Set the value of the Id attribute to the language tag that corresponds to the language that you want to install. You can specify more than one language by including additional AddLanguage elements and attributes. If you use more than one language, you must also specify the language to use for the Shell user interface (Shell UI) by setting the ShellTransform attribute of the AddLanguage element. For a list of the language ID attributes in Office 2010, see Language identifiers and OptionState Id values in Office 2010.

    In this example, we set the default installation language and the Shell UI to match the operating system language, and specify that Setup install both English (en-us) and French (fr-fr). The syntax is as follows:

    <AddLanguage Id="match" ShellTransform="yes"/> <AddLanguage Id="en-us" /> <AddLanguage Id="fr-fr" />

    For more information, see Customize deployment of language setup and Proofing Tools in Office 2010.

  7. Save the Config.xml file.

Preparing the reference computer

To prepare the reference computer for imaging, follow these steps:

  • Install Windows 7 Enterprise Volume Licensed version from DVD media.

  • Enable the local Administrator account.

  • Delete the temporary user account and profile.

  • Install Office Professional Plus 2010 from the network installation point.

  • Rearm the Office Professional Plus 2010 installation.

  • Generalize the installation.

Configure Office 2010 for imae capture part 2

Duration: 11:04 minutes

Play video Watch the "Configure Office 2010 for capturing an image - Part 2 of 3: Reference computer" video

Download video For an optimal viewing experience, download the Configure Office 2010 for capturing an image - Part 2 of 3: Administrator computer video

Install Windows 7 Enterprise from DVD media

To install Windows 7

  1. Turn on your computer, insert the Windows 7 Enterprise installation DVD, and then restart your computer.

  2. Press any key when you are prompted to do so and follow the instructions that appear.

  3. On the Install Windows page, select the following options in this example:

    1. Language to install: English

    2. Time and currency format: English (United States)

    3. Keyboard or input method: US

    Then click Next.

  4. On the Install Windows page, click Install now.

  5. On the Please read the license terms page, select I accept the license terms, and then click Next.

  6. Click Custom on the Which type of installation do you want? page.

  7. On the Where do you want to install Windows? page, to delete or format a partition, click Drive options (advanced), select the option that you want to use, and then follow the instructions. In this scenario, we formatted the disk.

  8. Click Next to begin the installation.

  9. On the Set Up Windows page, which you see only after Windows 7 completes the installation on the reference computer, follow these steps:

    • In the Type a user text box, type a temporary user name. Use any user name. You remove this user account before you capture the image.

    • In the Type a computer text box, type a temporary computer name. Use any computer name. You change the computer name during deployment.

    Then click Next

  10. On the Set a password for your user account page, enter a password in the Type a password text box, reenter the password in the Retype your password text box, and then enter a reminder in the Type a password hint text box.

  11. Type your Windows 7 Enterprise Volume Licensing product key on the Type your product key for activation page, and then click Next.

  12. Select Use recommended settings to install important and recommended updates on the Help protect your computer and improve Windows automatically page. You can select a different setting after you install the image on each computer.

  13. Set the time and date on the Review your time and date settings page, and then click Next.

  14. Select Work network on the Select your computer’s current location page.

Enable the Administrator account

By default, the built-in local Administrator account in Windows 7 is disabled. You must enable this account on the reference computer so that you can remove the temporary user account that is created during Windows 7 installation. You do this to prepare for generalizing the reference computer installation.

To enable the administrator account

  1. Click Start, right-click Computer, and then click Manage to start the Computer Management MMC snap-in.

  2. In the Computer Management MMC, expand Local Users and Groups

  3. Click Users, right-click the Administrator user account, and select Properties.

  4. In the Administrator Properties dialog box, clear the Account is disabled check box, and then click OK.

  5. Right-click the Administrator user account, and then click Set Password. A warning message is displayed.

  6. Click Proceed to continue.

  7. Type a strong password in New password and in Confirm password, and then click OK.

    The local Administrator account is now enabled.

Delete the temporary user account and profile

Before you generalize the reference computer, remove the temporary user account profile. You must perform this task by using the local Administrator account that you enabled in the previous step.

To remove the temporary account

  1. Log off the computer, and then use the Administrator account to log on again.

  2. Click Start, type user profile in the search box and select Configure advanced user profiles.

  3. In the User Profiles dialog box, select the temporary user account that you created previously during Windows 7 installation, and then click Delete.

  4. In User Accounts in Control Panel, delete the temporary user account. To do this:

    1. In Control Panel, select User Accounts.

    2. Click Manage User Accounts.

    3. On the Users tab, under Users for this computer, click the temporary user account name.

    4. Click Remove.

    5. In the User Accounts dialog box, click Yes, and then click OK

Install Office 2010 Professional Plus from the network installation point

The following procedure provides instructions for running Setup from the network installation point (located in the administrator computer). Setup installs the Office Professional Plus 2010 product that resides in the network installation point and applies the customizations that you entered in the Setup customization .msp file (NoAccessx86.msp) and in the Config.xml file.

Note

Make sure that you add the Run command to the Start menu. Open Taskbar and Start Menu Properties, click the Start Menu tab, and then click Customize. In the Customize Start Menu dialog box, scroll through the list of options to find the Run command check box, select it, and then click OK. Then, click OK again.

To run Setup from the network installation point

  1. To run Setup.exe from the root of the network installation point, click Start, click Run, and type the following at the command prompt:

    \\server\share\Office14\setup.exe

  2. If there are multiple Office products on the network installation point, Setup prompts you to select the product that you want to install. You can also find the product to install by using the /config command-line option to specify the Config.xml file that resides in the core product folder for that product. For example, to install Office Professional Plus 2010, run the following command:

    \\server\share\Office14\setup.exe /config \\server\share\Office14\ProPlus.WW\Config.xml

    Setup installs the product that is associated with the Config.xml file that you specify without prompting you to select the product. For information about the /config setup command-line option, see /config [path] in Setup command-line options for Office 2010.

Rearm the Office 2010 installation

To deploy an image, you must rearm your Office 2010 installation before you capture the image. This applies to both MAK- and KMS-based deployments. If you are deploying Office 2010 and you configured it for MAK activation, but you did not remotely activate it for end-users through Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT) 2.0 or Office Software Protection Platform script (ospp.vbs), users see an activation dialog box the first time that an Office 2010 application starts. The activation dialog box is slightly different 25 days after installation. Also, users might immediately see a red title bar if Office 2010 was not rearmed before the image capture.

To rearm the Office 2010 installation

  1. Make sure all Office 2010 applications are closed.

  2. Open an elevated command prompt: click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator, and then click Yes.

  3. Go to \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform.

    Note

    The path might be \Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\OfficeSoftwareProtectionPlatform if you install a 32-bit edition of Office 2010 on a 64-bit edition of Windows.

  4. At the command prompt, type ospprearm.exe.

    A message similar to the following displays if the operation succeeds: "Microsoft Office rearm successful."

    Do not open an Office application or run ospp.vbs until you have captured the image. You can rearm 5 times, unless you activate Office 2010 by using a KMS host. If you run out of rearms, activating by using a KMS host lets you rearm one time.

Generalize the installation

To remove hardware-specific information from the Windows installation and prepare the computer for users, use the System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) with the /generalize option. Use the /oobe option to configure the computer to boot to Windows Welcome when it restarts. Generalizing the installation performs the following tasks:

  • Removes hardware-dependent information from the computer.

  • Resets the activation timer.

  • Cleans up Windows 7 so that you can duplicate the image on other computers.

To generalize the installation

  1. Click Start, type C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\sysprep.exe in the search box, and then press Enter to start Sysprep.

  2. In the System Preparation Tool dialog box, select the following options:

    • In System Cleanup Action list, select Enter System Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE).

    • Select the Generalize check box.

    • In the Shutdown Options list, select Shutdown.

  3. Click OK to run Sysprep and shut down the computer.

    This completes preparation of the reference computer. You can now capture an image of the installation as described in the next section.

For information about Sysprep, see Sysprep Technical Reference (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=196374).

Capturing an image of the reference computer

This section explains how to use the UFD with Windows PE to start the reference computer and then capture an image of the computer by using imagex.exe.

To capture an image

  1. Insert the bootable UFD with Windows PE and imagex.exe into a USB port on the reference computer.

  2. Turn on the reference computer.

  3. Open the boot device list. In most cases, you do this by pressing F12 during the basic input/output system [BIOS] splash screen.

  4. Select the bootable UFD that you inserted in step 1 from the list of devices to start the computer by using the bootable UFD.

    Note

    If a prompt to display a boot device list is not displayed, you must enable booting from UFD devices in the computer’s BIOS. For more information, see the documentation for your computer.

    Windows PE starts, and then starts a Command Prompt window.

  5. At the command prompt, find the drive that contains Windows 7. To do this, at the command prompt, type dir d:, and press Enter. In this example, drive D contains Windows 7 (with Windows, Users, and Program Files folders).

  6. At the command prompt, determine which drive is the bootable UFD. This is the drive that contains imagex.exe at the root of the drive. To find this drive, at the command prompt, type dir f:, dir g:, and so on until you find the UFD drive. In this example, drive F contains imagex.exe.

  7. To run imagex.exe to capture the image, type the following at the command prompt:

    F:\imagex.exe /capture D: D:\myimage.wim "Custom Windows 7 Install" /compress fast /verify

    where:

    D is the drive with the Windows 7 and the custom Office 2010 installations and F is the drive with imagex.exe

  8. Windows PE provides network support so you can copy the Windows Imaging File Format (WIM) myimage.wim file to a network share on the administrator computer. At the command prompt, type the following commands:

    net use n: \\server\share

    md Images

    copy D:\myimage.wim N:\Images

    where:

    net use n: maps drive N to the specified network share

    md Images creates a folder named Images in the specified network share

    copy copies the image.wim file to the \\network\share\Images folder

    If prompted, provide the administrator credentials for the administrator computer.

    For information about imagex.exe, see the Imagex.exe Technical Reference (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=196371).

Deploying the image

This section provides an example of how to deploy the image to another computer. First, you format the hard disk drive and then you copy the myimage.wim file from the Images shared folder on the administrator computer.

Configure Office 2010 for image capture

Duration: 06:19 minutes

Play video Watch the "Configure Office 2010 for capturing an image - Part 3 of 3: Deploy the image" video

Download video For an optimal viewing experience, download the Configure Office 2010 for capturing an image - Part 3 of 3: Deploy the image video

To deploy the image

  1. On the destination computer, insert the bootable Windows PE UFD, and then restart the computer.

  2. When prompted, open the boot device list. As noted previously, in most cases, pressing F12 during the BIOS splash screen opens the computer’s boot device list.

  3. Select the bootable UFD that you inserted in step 1 from the list of boot devices. This starts the computer by using the bootable UFD.

  4. Windows PE starts, and starts a Command Prompt window.

  5. Next, use the DiskPart tool from the Windows PE Command Prompt window to format the hard disk drive as described next. You create two partitions. At the command prompt, type:

    diskpart

    select disk 0

    clean

    create partition primary size=300

    select partition 1

    format fs=ntfs label="System"

    assign letter=S

    active

    create partition primary

    select partition 2

    format fs=ntfs label="Windows"

    assign letter=C

    exit

  6. Copy the image from the Images folder on the network share (on the administrator computer) to your local hard disk drive, C. For example, at a command prompt, type:

    net use n: \\server\share\

    copy N:\Images\myimage.wim C:

    Provide administrator credentials for the administrator computer.

  7. To apply the image to the hard disk drive, use the imagex.exe tool from the Windows PE bootable UFD. Type the following at the command prompt:

    F:\imagex.exe /apply C:\myimage.wim 1 C:

  8. Next, use BCDboot to initialize the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store and to copy boot environment files to the system partition. At a command prompt, type the following:

    C:\windows\system32\bcdboot C:\windows

  9. To exit Windows PE, type exit. The reference computer reboots.

    This finishes deployment of the customized image on the destination computer.