[fog] Sysprep for Fog

[ozydave]

How do I sysprep an image for FOG

I’ve done the sysprep and when it shuts down I pull the image into fog and deploy it to another PC it does not pick up the answer file so I have to enter the product key etc.

Do I just click reseal on the sysperp

 

 

Cheers

[stevehp]

Most likely you used the gui portion of sysprep, which in my experience doesn't always work. The only gui tool I use is the setupmgr.exe app that creates the answer file.

 

You have to launch sysprep.exe via the command prompt and use the switches -reseal and -mini i.e. C:\sysprep\sysprep -reseal -mini . Once you do that then the answer file should be picked up.

Edited May 5, 2010 by stevehp

[plexer]

I have always used the gui of sysprep and never had a failure.

 

Ben

[denon101]

I have only had one failure myself. This was when trying to preserve OEM pre-activation. Other than that the GUI works fine.

[stevehp]

I have always used the gui of sysprep and never had a failure.

 

Ben

 

I have only had one failure myself. This was when trying to preserve OEM pre-activation. Other than that the GUI works fine.

 

That may be so, but I was merely giving my two cents on the experiences I've had with sysprep. In my case using the gui would cause it to ignore the answer file each and everytime, no matter the options I would select. It's possible I was doing something wrong in the gui, but the command prompt method has worked without issue each and everytime.

[denon101]

Well I always think "What ever works for you" is the way to do it. I mean there are usually several different ways of doing most things.

[ssx4life]

I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have regarding sysprep and FOG.

 

There are a few steps that I consider critical to having a properly set up and created XP image on FOG, but that's just me (mass storage drivers / HAL change / etc.)

[soveryapt]

I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have regarding sysprep and FOG.

 

There are a few steps that I consider critical to having a properly set up and created XP image on FOG, but that's just me (mass storage drivers / HAL change / etc.)

 

You don't fancy putting up some bullet points or something about the critical steps you mention do you? We could then see them and if we have questions on certain ones then we PM you? Just seems to make more sense to share if you have ideas you think are crucial as I keep hitting a brick wall with FOG at the moment (mainly permissions I think, but on the odd occasion it worked, the answer file hadn't been picked up - will be trying the command line version in a while though to see if that solves it)

 

Ta

[ssx4life]

Sorry for being absent from these forums for awhile, I just came back

 

I can't take all the credit for Fog + Sysprep, but Michael Vowtaw has a really REALLY nice guide on the basics - COE Exchange: Imaging Windows Machines with Sysprep

 

I use about 80% of his guide and 20% of my own configuration.

 

I prefer to use driverpacks for my sysprep - News | DriverPacks.net

 

By having a single install that does JUST mass storage drivers + LAN drivers in my sysprep I am able to push the windows xp image to any system, and have driverpacks find all needed drivers on the back end. (currently working on about 8 models or so for me)

 

I'll be happy to fill in any gaps you may have about sysprep... but it is pretty straight forward

 

Just remember... if you have XP Pro OEM (COA) you can use sysprep with roytalty keys if you preserve oem activation using M$ methods (I prefer to use a royalty key + oem scan)

 

Again.... YMMV, let me know if you need more pointers

 

Also you can reach me via Email (see signature)

Edited May 12, 2010 by ssx4life

[ozydave]

Hi

 

I’m having a problem with sysprep at the moment. I create the answer file then run sysprep –mini –reseal. This never finishes, I have left it over night.

Can’t seem to get fog to join it to the domain either

 

Cheers

[ssx4life]

It could be a number of issues you are running into (most likely driver related).

 

Just a couple of quick questions for you

 

What version of XP are you running sysprep on (XP Pro OEM / VLK / etc.)

Are you making an HII (hardware independent image)

How many model computers are you wanting to support (relates to question #2) and do you plan on having an individual image per model?

Are you trying to integrate any drivers into your sysprep.inf ?

Can you please post your .inf (don't forget to X out the key)

 

I'll take a look and see what I can do for you.

[emaynard]

Sorry for being absent from these forums for awhile, I just came back

 

Just remember... if you have XP Pro OEM (COA) you can use sysprep with roytalty keys if you preserve oem activation using M$ methods (I prefer to use a royalty key + oem scan)

 

 

ssx, I assume that Royalty keys are something different than the SLP keys referenced at the Wikipedia article titled System Locked Preinstallation - Wikipedia. (can't post links yet per vBulletin)

 

Secondly, is there a way to use FOG and sysprep and feed a unique COA to each host?

 

thanks,

Eric

[ssx4life]

ssx, I assume that Royalty keys are something different than the SLP keys referenced at the Wikipedia article titled System Locked Preinstallation - Wikipedia. (can't post links yet per vBulletin)

 

Secondly, is there a way to use FOG and sysprep and feed a unique COA to each host?

 

thanks,

Eric

 

Royalty keys are the term used by Microsoft when referring to public OEM keys that are specifically designed to correlate with OEM Hardware and OEM Bios files from large manufacturers. They are also known as SLP keys FYI (System Lock Preinstallation... and they they are also used in downgrade rights - http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/f/4/5f4c83d3-833e-4f11-8cbd-699b0c164182/royaltyoemreferencesheet.pdf

 

 

I can't link to any royalty keys other than those provided by Microsoft - Preserving OEM Pre-Activation when Re-installing Windows XP

 

Personally I use Fog to re-image client computers. It only works on systems that are OEM and came with the proper COA licensing. If it's home / MCE2K5 / etc. I use my custom DVD installs of Windows XP (XP + SP3 + Driverpacks + oemscan).

 

 

You can also use FOG (or any imaging software for that matter) to specify a unique windows key on each installation. The easiest way to do this would be to leave the key out of the sysprep answer file so you must type it in manually (which can be a pain in the @ss).

 

You could also write a bart PE script to push a unique .INF based off the service tag / serial # of the unit. But depending on the number of systems you have it can be daunting and also a bit redundant (unless you are not using OEM keys / VLK keys ).

 

Depending on what you want to accomplish there are several ways to get you there. Hope that clears somethings up for you =)

[ssx4life]

I have more information on this going back as well - [Other] OEM Disks? - dslreports.com

 

Again as always... if you need more help let me know.

[emaynard]

SSX, since you offered, i am going to pick your brain. I read your post on DSL Reports and I think that I may have broken the triad. Here is my situation:

 

I have 30 Acer Desktops that I want to use FOG to maintain. Initially, I sysprep'd and used CloneZilla to replicate the Acer provided XP image to all the desktops. In my sysprep.inf file, I used the SLP key that is at this in the TechNet article you linked to in hopes of preserving the OEM activation on all the PCs. It appeared to work as I did not receive any kind of activation messages.

 

Now, I have run into a problem after setting up FOG and attempting to re-image (with updates applied) where sysprep is stating "grace period has been reached" and it appears to force me into re-running the full Windows setup including inputing the product key. The COA on these units was for Vista Business OEM, but I purchased with OEM XP downgrade discs.

 

So, my question is if I am going to have to somehow capture (convert?) the OEM image on the DVDs into a (sysprep'd?) FOG image so that I can keep the triad you mention in the DSL Report forum post.

 

Do you know of any shortcuts to this process as I would rather not have to start over if not necessary?

 

Your willingness to share advice/experience is greatly appreciated.

 

-Eric

[emaynard]

I should have probably mentioned that these computers are at 5 different locations and it would be very desirable for me travel-wise if I could manage Windows security and general application updates on these boxes using images - perhaps once a month.

 

I think FOG can handle adding the hostname and AD membership for me, but I have to be able to have them basically up and running after each re-imaging with as little Windows setup as req'd. Or if there is any, hopefully it can be scripted.

 

thanks again,

Eric

[ssx4life]

SSX, since you offered, i am going to pick your brain. I read your post on DSL Reports and I think that I may have broken the triad. Here is my situation:

 

I have 30 Acer Desktops that I want to use FOG to maintain. Initially, I sysprep'd and used CloneZilla to replicate the Acer provided XP image to all the desktops. In my sysprep.inf file, I used the SLP key that is at this in the TechNet article you linked to in hopes of preserving the OEM activation on all the PCs. It appeared to work as I did not receive any kind of activation messages.

 

Now, I have run into a problem after setting up FOG and attempting to re-image (with updates applied) where sysprep is stating "grace period has been reached" and it appears to force me into re-running the full Windows setup including inputing the product key. The COA on these units was for Vista Business OEM, but I purchased with OEM XP downgrade discs.

 

So, my question is if I am going to have to somehow capture (convert?) the OEM image on the DVDs into a (sysprep'd?) FOG image so that I can keep the triad you mention in the DSL Report forum post.

 

Do you know of any shortcuts to this process as I would rather not have to start over if not necessary?

 

Your willingness to share advice/experience is greatly appreciated.

 

-Eric

 

There could be a few things here, let me bullet point them first and talk about them as I go along here.

 

#1. Your new image may have a different set of oembios files included in the unit

#2. Did you apply any bios updates on the pc since it has been imaged

#3. Did you just apply windows updates, or did you change any other hardware out?

#4. When you "recaptured" the image did you reset the initial grace period? Did you do a -mini -reseal option? What options did you choose?

 

The first thing to check when it comes systems not passing WGA after sysprep is to look at the base unit and determine which of the 3 parts of SLP 1.0 is busted.

 

We know that your hardware hasn't changed (other than perhaps a bios update, but I doubt you did that). That means either the key is invalid, you forgot to reseal the image properly, or you have the wrong oembios files in the System32 directory.

 

Do me a favor and please run Microsoft's MGADIAG and paste the results here. By default it blots out the key, so you should be fine. Link here - http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CBUQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgo.microsoft.com%2Ffwlink%2F%3Flinkid%3D52012&ei=PxL8S6DcA5DCMana2KgB&usg=AFQjCNH5Zcs6VID448dqfDkoyf9nzmkx7w&sig2=9NlVVAMU0E8HdZU85ltbAA

 

The second thing to check is your computer's bios CRC check, to validate / make sure that you are using the correct oembios files on your install image. You can check this by running this tool - The Windows XP OEMBIOS Archive

 

It will output a CRC= field and it should be 700A8481 or 717B6EF3 if you are running an acer system.

 

What I would do in your situation is download oemscan and run it on one of the affected boxes. This is the easiest fix going forward..... it will verify your bios and apply the proper files to the system. You can download oemscan here - OEMSCAN_ADDON_MULTIOEM v1.8 - Siginet Software Forums

You can download the oembios files here - OEMBIOS Repository

 

There are really good directions on oemscan (I helped write em at one point). If you need help let me know.

 

Once you run oemscan and it finds the correct files and inserts them into your system, restart the box and re-run mgadiag.exe

 

I know that SLP 2.0 and SLP 2.1 hardware is backwards compatible with SLP 1.0 (the bios contain strings that activate XP and Vista depending on the hardware and COA compliance you have.

 

Going forward.... I would check your image, it sounds like something did not get re-sealed properly, or you have the wrong oembios files in your image. Both can be easily fixed, and you can even write a snapin for Fog to push the changes to the computers if you need (write a snapin for oemscan).

 

Hope this helps

[emaynard]

Wow! I am going to need some time to digest all this info and try out some of your suggestions. many many thanks.

 

Just to provide answers to your questions:

 

NO hardware changes.

NO BIOS upgrades.

I did remove all the pre-installed junk (can InstallRite do this maybe?) applications

I can't recall the exact steps I took in re-sealing the image, but I am pretty certain that it was using the -mini and -reseal options.

Pretty certain that I did *not* use Factory in the process.

 

I will get back to you on the info you requested to be posted.

-Eric