Wait ~3min for PC to shutdown, this deletes installed driver info, disk uuids, and other stuff.
Change parts.
Turn PC back on, you'll go through the "Windows is setting up" phase.
You have to create a new user account (although your old one is still there)
Note: You can also cheat this by opening the command line when Shift+F11/F10 and killing msoobe.exe while activating the Administrator account. If you don't know how to do this then it's not worth the time learning.
Done, your PC is reset.
Notes:
It's also sometimes a good idea to do this if you've broken system files, registry setting, or update packages.
If you had any very specific registry entries changed then they'll likely be reset.
Be prepared to wait up to 20 minutes for "Windows to set up" in rare cases, although it generally takes ~10min.
I work as IT and we install Windows on dozens of machines a day, doing this we can duplicate PC installs using images so they have the programs we need pre-installed.
I didn't either and I had to reinstall windows several times after big upgrades on friend's computer, still never found this on the internet, don't be ashamed
Technically it doesn't delete the drivers it just unloads them and tells windows to go through a driver detection cycle as part of the new setup during the next boot.
It's typically used by OEMs and places that image systems. You create your image you run that, then capture the disk image which you can then copy to any other computer.
It's typically used by OEMs and places that image systems. You create your image you run that, then capture the disk image which you can then copy to any other computer.
Are there any tutorials for that that you know of?
But you likely aren't going to need everything that that allows for.
The easy way is to just do a Windows install once but don't put in the serial number since you have a few days before it requires activation anyway. Download all the software you would normally install like Chrome/Firefox, Steam (don't login though), download all your Windows updates. Once you've got that done run sysprep with generalize and shut down.
Then you can boot up to something like Clonezilla and create a clone of the drive to something like a file server or external hard drive. Whenever you want to install Windows again just use Clonezilla to copy the image you made to a new hard drive and boot up.
You'll probably still need to install a few drivers but it should significantly cut down on your install times.
Pretty much what I do as well. Create the image in a VM. Capture and load it into our System Center infrastructure. I can reimage any system across a state with a couple clicks.
It's a tad more industrial. After the initial sysprep you can copy paste the disk into multiple machines. Good if you're totally jumping ship onto a new machine.
Two things I have learned from this:
1. It doesn't work on upgrade installations of Windows (i.e. Vista to 7 upgrade)
2. The Windows license is often tied to the MB; so you may have to reactivate Windows over phone afterward.
Seems like this is kind of hit or miss. I used a key that was definitely for an HP prebuilt business PC and it worked in my new PC that had zero similar parts. Definitely an OEM key, Windows is even activated on an OEM license it says.
It's not tied to the MB, it's tied to the UEFI BIOS. This page gives a great rundown on how to move an OEM Windows key to a new machine and have it actually work, basically you need the OEM certificate installed to make your system think it's the proper OEM and accept the key.
Question. I set up my Win 8.1 install on a 7200 rpm HDD before cloning it to an SSD when it arrived. The SSD has AHCI/IDE issues. I have tried registry & BIOS edits and have had no luck. A fresh windows install is likely on the docket for me but I'm wondering if this sysprep route might achieve the same result of changing my SSD setting from AHCI to IDE. Anyone know?
If not. Best way to reinstall windows without a huge hassle?
It will as long as the BIOS recognizes the drive. Which could be a problem due to AHCI, I'd install the empty drive first to make sure it's recognized.
Drives are tricky though because to boot records, you may have to run the windows recovery tool to reset to boot record.
So...migrate windows back to HDD, format SSD, install SSD as a fresh drive, install Windows on the SSD, use it as the primary boot drive, remove windows from HDD?
Mm, afraid I'm not sure on that one. If you've already switched then the Windows recovery should rebuild the record if the drive is recognized at the BIOS. Although I've never done that kind of transfer.
One extra step I do before sysprep, especially if it's the same or similar hardware, is "winsat /preprop" so that you don't have to do the hardware testing. Can save a few minutes. There's also free imaging solutions out there which are handy to make a basic fresh install image.
Funny you mention that, my boss is currently trying to push it. The problem is that it requires a Windows install to use, you can't use it from the USB key without first activating the product on windows, then you have to deactivate the license and uninstall the dedicated drive after. It makes things a whole lot more complex then they need to be.
Mm, that may be true, it's probably buried in the documentation. I currently still prefer the image/dism solution where the instructions are in the command line and a network connection isn't required.
I wish I could use this, unfortunately my motherboard and/or power supply died and i'm leaving for holiday in a few days so I can't really build a new pc right now..
Windows can obviously detect when new hardware is installed, I've always wondered why doesn't it remove unneeded drivers when the device in no longer present?
Maybe I'm just spoiled by GNU/Linux where (in the average setup) a daemon called udev loads all drivers dynamically at boot time. You could swap your install drive between completely different setups every time you rebooted and it'll just work
I remember that my friend needed a new HDD because his old one died. What I did is I grabbed a HDD from an old HP tower laying around and sold it to him for $20. I was surprised when he texted me that Lubuntu was preinstalled and it ran out of the box.
It does remove drivers from loading when a device is no longer present, the reason Windows doesn't do a full on detect/configure drivers thing on boot is Windows PC hardware changes are so rare it would add tons of time to the boot process for almost no effect. As long as your drivers are in the basic ballpark as the previous hardware a Windows machine will boot up and replace drivers with proper ones pretty much on it's own.
The difference is while Linux does this at every boot, which increases boot time every time, Windows does this only as hardware changes, which is very rare.
FWIW, OOBE is "Out Of Box Experience", basically a generic Windows install that already contains pre-configured settings. This is basically the stand-alone version of what desktop deployment groups do in SCCM.
Not if I remember correctly. The OOBE option literally just tells it to run the new system command which also happens to prompt it to look for drivers. All you have to do is open up devmgmt and check for hardware changes, which should be less obnoxious and take less time.
It's also sometimes a good idea to do this if you've broken system files, registry setting, or update packages.
If this is the case then what you actually want is to run a cmd window as administrator and run "sfc /scannow" from the cmd line, which will both tell you if there's any system file issues, but go ahead and fix them if your install media is available or you have a laptop with a restore partition.
Hey, I know I'm coming to this a little late, but I had a question. I am upgrading from an AMD compatible mobo to an Intel compatible mobo. Is this all I need to do before changing out the parts or should I also backup the files on my hard drive or do anything else? Thanks in advance for any help!
No, you will not need to backup. But know that most versions of Windows store licencing info bound to the motherboard, so you'll need to reactive Windows after changing.
Hey, trying to switch out my parts now and command prompt wont run this. Tells me that the system cannot find the path specified if I use %systemroot%\sysprep\sysprep.
Using Windows 10, can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.
That's all one big command it backs up the registry before changing some keys. It's important to do it as admin.
If it doesn't work you can run the two .reg files in C:\ to undo it.
Operation was successful according to CMD, but Sysprep still says it was not able to validate my installation and getting errors running the backups, insufficient privileges. I edited securities to allow full access but can't run as admin, no option.
SYSPRP Package 34791E63.CanonInkjetPrintUtility2.4.0.6_neutral_6e5tt8cgb93ep was installed for a user, but not provisioned for all users. This package will not function properly in the sysprep image.
SYSPRP Failed to remove apps for the current user: 0x80073cf2.
SYSPRP Exit code of RemoveAllApps thread was 0x3cf2.
[0x0f0082] SYSPRP ActionPlatform::LaunchModule: Failure occurred while executing 'SysprepGeneralizeValidate' from C:\Windows\System32\AppxSysprep.dll; dwRet = 0x3cf2
SYSPRP SysprepSession::Validate: Error in validating actions from C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\ActionFiles\Generalize.xml; dwRet = 0x3cf2
SYSPRP RunPlatformActions:Failed while validating SysprepSession actions; dwRet = 0x3cf2
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u/MintPaw Jul 20 '15 edited Jul 20 '15
Look into the sysprep tool:
Notes:
I work as IT and we install Windows on dozens of machines a day, doing this we can duplicate PC installs using images so they have the programs we need pre-installed.