The Microsoft system preparation utility for Windows 2000 is a very handy tool for network support shops that deploy PC images as a means of reformatting PC's with problems. Sysprep basically strips out all the hardware information and unique information from that specific PC, which allows you to deploy the image created from that PC on to many other PC's with different hardware configurations.
Not only does this program remove the unique information from each PC, but it allows you to do many configuration options automatically. For instance you can setup the workgroup or domain, organization name, computer name, default display size, and a whole lot more.
The Sysprep utility finds all it's configuration information in one relatively simple .inf file. Which for the most part follows the below example in terms of setup:
[UserData]
FullName=Your Name
OrgName=Your Organization
ComputerName=*
ProductID=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
[Display]
BitsPerPel=16
Xresolution=1024
YResolution=768
The documentation that comes with the utility can give hundreds of different options to aid you in the customization of your image.
One of the best features of this application is the ability to include all the drivers from the different types of PC's you have all on to one image. This increases the size of the image, however will save you hours of work loading drivers on each PC. An example of how to put all your drivers on one image is as follows:
[Unattended]
OemSkipEula=Yes
OemPnPDriversPath=drivers;driversati;driversintel;
InstallFilesPath=C:sysprepi386;c:i386
KeepPageFile=0
;ExtendOemPartition=1
As you can see you just keep adding directories under OemPnPDriversPath for all the different types of hardware you have. Also it deletes the page file with KeepPageFile=0. Take the time to read the documentation and help files that come along with this utility because it can really reduce your workload.
By: Ken Dennis
URL: http://kendennis-rss.homeip.net/
Traditionally we were considering functionally rich systems, such as SAP,... Read More
Microsoft CRM ? Client Relationship Management package from Microsoft Business... Read More
Stealing company information used to be the specialty of spies... Read More
Looks like Microsoft Great Plains becomes more and more popular,... Read More
ERP is the acronym of Enterprise Resource Planning. Multi-module ERP... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains has full-featured Manufacturing suite of modules: Capacity... Read More
When you first think about multicurrency ? you probably have... Read More
Usually, the easiest way to tell you have spyware is... Read More
Looking at all the ads which promise to get rid... Read More
Great Plains Software Dynamics, Dynamics C/S+, eEnterprise were written on... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains serves majority of US based horizontal and... Read More
Whether you are a small consultancy firm, a medium sized... Read More
C/SIDE (Client/Server Integrated Development Environment) - The core of... Read More
While several preventive maintenance software manufacturers offer free trials for... Read More
Former Great Plains Software Dynamics/eEnterprise and currently Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More
If you copy something from a Web site or elsewhere...... Read More
Shareware has been fighting the stigma of being misunderstood for... Read More
Background: For many organizations like ours, the interim target of... Read More
Are you one of those people that keeps track of... Read More
The US House of Representatives has recently passed the "Spy... Read More
Creating a new markup language.Introduction.General Reuse Markup Langauge, or GRML,... Read More
Just stress testing one of the latest Linux distributions. Been... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More
Logistics automation is often considered as barcoding extension to Sales... Read More
Before September of 1995, Microsoft ignored the Internet because their... Read More
limo O'Hare Bonfield ..Executive SummaryAn effective plan for entering, cleaning and updating the... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains serves majority of US based horizontal and... Read More
Let's first look at your ERP system selection (without Retail... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has Project Accounting module where... Read More
I love new technology. I am still ready to wait... Read More
We all take the computer for granted. I mean, all... Read More
So let's begin crunching down these 300 images using Adobe... Read More
It???s easy to understand why you might be drawn to... Read More
While I was preparing some personal background information for a... Read More
Bar charts, bar graphs, and any other chart or graph... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions main middle market ERP application - Microsoft... Read More
Anti-virus software is used to find, remove or fix files... Read More
Great Plains Fixed Assets Management module is a robust tool... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains has substantial mid-market share in the USA... Read More
If there still are few unprotected computers left, I haven't... Read More
When you think... Read More
Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a software development methodology. In... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is very popular ERP platform... Read More
Introduction to C++Why Learn C++?C++ may at first seem like... Read More
1. With mapping software you can create a report that... Read More
Microsoft Great Plains is one of three Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More
Imagine something that follows you home and sets itself up... Read More
Are you one of those people that keeps track of... Read More
Microsoft SQL Server is the leader for inexpensive and middle... Read More
Microsoft Business Solutions Navision is main ERP application for European,... Read More
Software |