While there are many ways to deploy Windows 7 on your lab machines, there are many advantages to incorporating an unattend.xml file into your sysprepped base image. This article is not a full review of all of the options you can use in the unattended install; instead it will look at several key sections that I have found to be invaluable in a lab environment. These sections will allow you to: set the display settings (including resolution and refresh rate), skip the rearm of Windows (which is limited to three per install), include your volume license product key for easy Windows activation, and copy you profile template to the Default user.

First, let’s look at a sample unattend.xml file: sampleunattend

In the <settings pass=”oobeSystem”> section look for the <Display> section. In the example this section is commented out, which gives you a lot of flexibility. If you intend to use this image on systems with different types of monitors, leaving this section commented out will let each system set the correct resolution based on what monitor is plugged into the system. But what if you are dealing with a custom video setup that demands a specific resolution and refresh rate? This is the perfect place to input settings so things will work on first boot.

In the <settings pass=”generalize”> section there is an entry for <SkipRearm>. A Windows machine can be sysprepped three times and then sysprep will no longer run and a fresh install of Windows will be required. This can be quite problematic when testing and creating images. To work around this, include the <SkipRearm>1</SkipRearm> section and you will be able to continue to sysprep your image master machine.

In the <settings pass=”specialize”> section you can specify your product key for Windows. Assuming you have a volume license for Windows, this will cut out a lot of post-image footwork. Rather than having to input your product key and activate every machine in your labs individually, you can specify your key once and the machines will activate themselves without your intervention.

Perhaps the most useful, and potentially confusing, setting in the unattend.xml file is also found in the
<settings pass=”specialize”> section. <CopyProfile>True</CopyProfile> is the only supported method of copying a template profile to the Default user profile. Before running sysprep you will need to have configured your local administrator account as your template to be applied to all users who log into the machine. This setting will then copy that profile to the Default user profile so everyone who logs into the machine will start with the same profile settings you specified. For more on how to setup a Default User Profile in Windows 7 see http://www.labmonkeys.net/blog/creating-a-default-user-template-in-windows-7/

Utilizing some or all of these features of the unattend.xml file can increase the efficiency of administering a lab environment.

by Christopher Taverna

Related posts:

1. Creating a Default User Template in Windows 7 If you are preparing a Windows 7 image for your...
2. Active Desktop Functionality in Windows 7 Active Desktop is no longer offered with Windows 7. However,...
3. Using the Windows Guests Group in Labs While there are various ways a lab administrator can keep...
4. Best of LabMonkeys Comments On Benefits of Mobile Computer Labs, Mike said: Unfortunately, you...
5. Creating a MacOS X Base Image Deploying an image can save a lot of time in...