Question : WDS deployment of Windows 7

Greetings!

I have WDS deployed on a Windows Server 2008 member server. It is functioning as it should because I have deployed images of Windows XP without a hitch. However I ran into an interesting issue after capturing and then deploying a sysprep'd image of Windows 7. I know the sysprep.xml file that was created is working because when I reboot the original machine that was imaged, it enters everything that was in the answer file, including the product key. However, when I deploy the image to other machines, it is as if the answer file is not being used.

Here's a little more background:

sysprep.xml is saved to c:\windows\system32\sysprep

then running the command "sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown /unattend:sysprep.xml" applies the settings in the xml file and shuts the machine down

I then PXE boot said machine and capture an image of it. After I capture an image, i can go ahead and boot the machine and it does not prompt me for anything.

I then deploy the captured image to a different machine (actually a virtual machine) and after successful deployment I am prompted for things such as New Username, network name, etc

Any insight as to why this happens?

Answer : WDS deployment of Windows 7

The /oobe switch is why the Welcome screen is starting.  Does the computer ask for all the information that is answered in the sysprep.xml file?  For example, if you create a user account before sysprep, does it still exist after deployment to your VPC?

Also, do you activate windows before you sysprep?  You can run into problems with the rearm count for windows activation.