Customize Windows 10 Image in Audit Mode with Sysprep  

Greets,

Thanks for extensively detailing each & every aspect And making the things super easy!

Please consider mentioning in ''Part Four : Customize Windows'' that "Some programs, drivers, updates, etc customizations may need restart to install completely & properly. Go ahead with restart as every time it will automatically boot into Audit mode till it is finalized by sysprep. ''

Thanks & Regards. ...

Hello there, i have a problem with a windows installation created with the audit mode which i then want to install unattended.

I have made a windows installation 10 (20H2) in audit mode, with all my programs and settings. This was done in Hyper-V and i created a snapshot _before_ i ran sysprep the first time.

I ran sysprep with these parameters:
C:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /shutdown /oobe /unattend:D:\install\copyprofile.xml
because i wanted to set the copyprofile setting to true. I want that every user i created on the system has the same settings on desktop and (for example) all the same path variables.

After that i have captured a .wim file from the installation with dism and made a bootable iso with oscdimg. When i use that image in another virtual machine as a bootable media, i can make a "normal" windows installation where i need to go manually through the settings (the winPE and the OOBE part, like typing in the Windows key and so on).

When i do that i get the result i wanted with the copied profile settings and my desktop with the new users look exactly like i left them on the audit machine before the sysprep.

The i thought "Why dont just customize the winPE and OOBE part in the autoanattend.xml so that the customized ISO (with "my" install.wim) can install completely unattended...what could go wrong?"

Well, there i my problem: The installation works unattended but i dont get my customized desktop and/or path variables. It is just a clean windows profile but my installed apps are all there (from my audit machine).

What did i miss? I thought that i only created a custom . wim file and there are all my programs _and_ my settings to the default profile, which are copied to every new user i might create (unattended or manually).

My autounattend.xml in the root of my customized windows iso file looks like this (Note: I deleted the Produkt key and the name of the user in this one fyi. :) The windows iso should be used to be installed for MBR and GPD machines, that is why there are only 2 partitions).

Code:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
    <settings pass="windowsPE">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core-WinPE" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <SetupUILanguage>
                <UILanguage>de-DE</UILanguage>
            </SetupUILanguage>
            <InputLocale>0407:00000407</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>de-DE</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>de-DE</UILanguage>
            <UserLocale>de-DE</UserLocale>
            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <DiskConfiguration>
                <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
                <Disk wcm:action="add">
                    <CreatePartitions>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <Size>450</Size>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                        </CreatePartition>
                        <CreatePartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Extend>true</Extend>
                            <Order>2</Order>
                            <Type>Primary</Type>
                        </CreatePartition>
                    </CreatePartitions>
                    <ModifyPartitions>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Active>true</Active>
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Label>System</Label>
                            <Order>1</Order>
                            <PartitionID>1</PartitionID>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                        <ModifyPartition wcm:action="add">
                            <Format>NTFS</Format>
                            <Label>Windows</Label>
                            <Letter>C</Letter>
                            <Order>2</Order>
                            <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
                        </ModifyPartition>
                    </ModifyPartitions>
                    <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                    <WillWipeDisk>true</WillWipeDisk>
                </Disk>
            </DiskConfiguration>
            <ImageInstall>
                <OSImage>
                    <InstallTo>
                        <DiskID>0</DiskID>
                        <PartitionID>2</PartitionID>
                    </InstallTo>
                </OSImage>
            </ImageInstall>
            <UserData>
                <ProductKey>
                    <Key>[it is a secret :)]</Key>
                    <WillShowUI>OnError</WillShowUI>
                </ProductKey>
                <AcceptEula>true</AcceptEula>
                <Organization></Organization>
            </UserData>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-International-Core" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <InputLocale>0407:00000407</InputLocale>
            <UILanguage>de-DE</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>de-DE</UserLocale>
            <SystemLocale>de-DE</SystemLocale>
        </component>
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
            <OOBE>
                <HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
            </OOBE>
            <UserAccounts>
                <LocalAccounts>
                    <LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
                        <Password>
                            <Value>[it is a secret :)]</Value>
                            <PlainText>false</PlainText>
                        </Password>
                        <DisplayName></DisplayName>
                        <Group>Administrators</Group>
                        <Name>[anyUser]</Name>
                    </LocalAccount>
                </LocalAccounts>
            </UserAccounts>
        </component>
    </settings>
</unattend>

Maybe someone can help me out there. I dont understand why it should be different when i put the information needed manually in the windows installations to the way i put everything in the autounattend.xml where i use the winpe and oobe party. Do i need to put the specialize in _this_ autounattend.xml too (like in the copyprofile.xml which used with sysprep). Or do i need to run sysprep with an xml file where i put the winpe and oobe part in there to to automate it?

Help is greatly appreciated. :)

Hello and welcome to the Forums.

An install.esd should work. However if you need an install.wim file instead try this tutorial, Convert ESD file to WIM using DISM in Windows 10. I hope that will help you.