Running Sysprep on Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2016

You can run the System Preparation Tool (Sysprep) on a reference computer running Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2016.

Procedure

  1. Build the capture task sequence and advertise the task sequence from the Configuration Manager server, as described in Capturing operating system images.
  2. Make sure the operating system and applications are installed and configured on the reference computer in the same way that they should exist in the final installation.
  3. Log on to the computer as an administrator.
  4. Open a command window and change directories to the C:\windows\system32\sysprep directory. Then run the sysprep.exe command:
    sysprep   
    The following page opens:
    Figure 1. System Preparation Tool (Sysprep)
    System Preparation Tool (Sysprep)
  5. Click OK to run the System Preparation Tool and reboot the computer.

    Now the system is ready for capturing.

  6. While the system is rebooting, press F1 to enable a system boot from the network.

    After finishing the capture task, the system restarts.