[WDS] Using VMWare to make my image

[garethedmondson]

Does anyone have instructions on how to create a WDS image using VMWare? I don't want to take a machine out of action for any length of time so I thought VMWare might be the best way before uploading to WDS.

Does VMWare add any unneeded rubbish to the image?

Many thanks

Gareth

[pritchardavid]

if it needs drivers it will uninstall and deltet during sysprep, so you should be fine

[garethedmondson]

if it needs drivers it will uninstall and deltet during sysprep, so you should be fine

WHat about the VMWare tools - should I be removing them?

Gareth

[pritchardavid]

dont really know much about VMware, but why did you have to install that in the first place, what did it enable?

[plexer]

vmware tools gives you smoother gfx and mouse action with the drivers it installs so I would have thought it wouldn't be a good idea to have it installed.

I tried to use vmware to capture images for wds and it just didn't work.

Ben

[Duke5A]

Does anyone have instructions on how to create a WDS image using VMWare? I don't want to take a machine out of action for any length of time so I thought VMWare might be the best way before uploading to WDS.

Does VMWare add any unneeded rubbish to the image?

Many thanks

Gareth

Using a VM to create and maintain Windows base images has got to be the absolute best way to do it. Quite simply because it gives you a reference machine to do it on where the hardware spec never changes, and you can use save states. This is how I maintain my images. In a nutshell, after I'm done updating my image, I'll create a snapshot, then sysprep it, capture it with WDS, and finally revert to the snapshot taken just prior to sysprep.

Images should be kept vanilla as possible. Don't install VMWare tools itself, just install the device drivers.