Windows 10 and 8 use a substantially different process to create images than what I had used in Windows XP and 7. Fortunately it is not rocket science. The four big differences are:
So lets get to it.
What CAN be modified:
> Windows wallpaper, icons, theme, colors and sounds
> Screensaver
> Taskbar location (bottom, left, top, right)
> File Explorer settings like icon spacing, ribbon ON / OFF, hide / show hidden items, view as, group / sort, additional panes and so on
> Desktop icon spacing and size
> Software installed now will be available to all usersWhat can’t be modified:
> Pinned icons (Taskbarand Start) will not be copied to default profile (UPDATE: DEC 28, 2015 – I have found that non-‘Store’ apps such as Word, Excel, Acrobat, Notepad++ CAN be successfully pinned to the START menu as part of the default image)
> Start Menu and Start Screen will remain default, cannot be modifiedThank you to TENFORUMS for this note.
sysprep /oobe /generalize /shutdown /unattend:C:\unattend.xml
Thanks to Jason Jiang of Microsoft Partner Support and the following reference sites who helped me develop this process:
http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/3020-windows-10-image-customize-audit-mode-sysprep.html
http://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4689-apps-uninstall-windows-10-a.html
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2769827
https://4sysops.com/archives/remove-provisioned-built-in-apps-in-windows-10/
http://www.ghacks.net/2013/08/20/how-to-remove-all-windows-8-apps-using-powershell/
http://superuser.com/questions/942418/how-do-you-forcefully-remove-apps-in-windows-10
http://www.experts-exchange.com/articles/21679/Windows-10-Sysprep-Guide.html
If you are reading this post, you might also be interested in our simple fix for How to Solve Windows Could Not Complete The Installation Windows, error that can occur after a SysPrep.
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Hello Ian,
After running the sysprep command, when shutdown and restart the system, I am able to go to network boot but then error Windows failed to start, a recent hardware/software change might be the cause. Error : 0xc000000f.
Please help
Hi Doshi;
That sounds like you might not have completed a the GENERALIZE step in the SYSPREP.
Great article!
Is there a way to create an unattend file which install the OS without asking anything in the install process?
Thanks you!
Hi Lau;
You can definitely get to "zero touch" but my personal experience is that it is not worth the upfront effort, for the size of clients I have (and the number of machines they want imaged).
Hey Ian, I know this is over a year old, but I'm having trouble with the copy profile. I boot my machine into audit mode, change the desktop and add some items to the taskbar, then sysprep with the copyprofile.xml. Once I capture the image then re-deploy a new machine with that image, all seems well but when I log onto the machine, none of the settings are there. I am auto-joining the domain. Do you think that has anything to do with it?
Hi Ho;
I don't think JOIN DOMAIN is the issue. Does your COPYPROFILE.XML contain true ?
Getting error when trying to upload image:
could not clean image directory. Image is protected
Are you booting to your PC using a CAPTURE boot image that came from the SAME build that you are trying to capture (i.e. in WDS you have to create and use a CAPTURE boot image that was created using the same build of Win10 you have on your reference PC. If that is not the issue, confirm that when you are prompted for a location to save the image during the capture process that you selected a location on the C: drive. I hope that helps.
Do you folks or any readers out there have a feeling for which Windows 10 version is best to use in a public lab environment? It's a situation of many new users per machine, so fast logons are desired. I've been trying to use the LTSB version, with limited success. Also have tried using a free utility called DefProf from mm
Hi Ian, I try your tutorial but I received this error:
Sysprep was not able to validate Your Windows installation. Review the log file at %WINDIR%\System32\Sysprep\Panther\setupact.log for details. After resolving the issue, use Sysprep to validate your installation again.
Investigating the log file mentioned shows the following:
SYSPRP Failed to remove apps for the current user: 0x80073cf2.
---
I try to remove all Apps looking different post tutorial but don't work again.
Sysprep finish always with the same error.
Do you have a solution?
thank in advance
Hi Tizzy;
I would rerun step 6 and see what it shows:
Get-AppxPackage -AllUsers | Remove-AppxPackage
I hope that helps. I have not built an image in the last few months and will not be building another one until late fall.
sorry, the error is 0xc0000001
anyone get this process working with a 3rd party image software? I have tried using HDClone 6 but the deployed image fails to boot with error 0x00001
Hi ,
I Already use the Method mentioned into Tenfourms about coping the profile using sysprep and the customize.xml it seems that most the customized settings already migrated to the new user created but unfortunately most of the windows 10 settings is not migrated such as notifications and privacy etc.. and the default application to be associate with files for example the pdf file is always associated with edge while iam installing the adobe acrobat before the sysprep and every user need to be modified again this will be a hassle for large enterprise work even if you have multiple users will going to use the same machine ,
do u have any suggestions?
thanks for advance ..
Hi Mohamed;
Yes, if you review http://www.urtech.ca/2015/12/solved-how-to-set-the-default-browser-and-other-file-associations-in-window-10-image-or-gpo/ I think you should be able to set the defaults as you wish.
Interesting tutorial. But what if there is no wds server, how can i use sysprep for creating a reference pc in w10?
Normally one could use sysprep and dism and winpe for restoring the created image and unattend
It would be the same process, except the last steps of pushing it to a WDS server. After you have completed the SYSPREP step and the machine has shut down you could try any imaging software you wanted to capture and deploy your image. Ghost used to be great for this. SCCM will work but it is big dollars. WDS is free and very easy to install/configure. Alternately you could just capture the image to a USB stick or DVD. I have not done this myself, but I do not think it is very challenging. I hope this helps.
I was asked about answer files: It is an ANSWER FILE operation. The easiest builder I have found is http://windowsafg.no-ip.org/win10x86_x64.html