general steps to prepare a machine for imaging yes/no?

[djc]

This was brought up as a result of a different issue in a different post but
I thought it deserved its own thread. That way it will be more visible to
the appropriate people. Here is the snippet:

"I am assuming that the once recommended method of preparing a
machine for imaging has changed... please correct me if I'm wrong on that.
The main part that is not recommended any longer is copying the user profile
used to configure the machine over the Default User profile.

this was the recommended process that I was taught:
1) install OS and create a regular user account and add it to the local
administrators group.
2) install all applications while logged in as that user.
3) COPY THAT USER PROFILE OVER THE DEFAULT USER PROFILE
4) create your sysprep.inf file using setupmgr.exe (setup manager) if you
want an unattended mini-setup.
5) run sysprep and shut down
6) image the machine.

please confirm for me that I should NOT do step 3 any more."

please enlighten me!
Thank you!

 

[Darrell Gorter[MSFT]]

Hello DJC,
Step three will cause you issues with your profiles. This issues are
mitigated if all the users on the machine are administrators but there
still remain potential issues that would diffcult to trouble-shoot.
Some of the issues are:
1) Menu Short-Cuts are pointing back the "Created Regular" user profile.
2) Registry Entries are pointed back the "Created Regular" user Profile
Your new users unless they are administrators will not have the rights to
access that profile so some of the links and registry entries may not work.
( on a used profile that had a numbre of apps installed, that I tested this
I found easily over a hundred entries that could cause issues)
3)Depending on apps installed they may acl some of the registry entries, if
so the new user may not be able to read those entries.
4)Desktop.ini files need to modified to reflect the correct account
5) There could be Client Side Caching issues
6) Certain folders could be shared or exposed to the all users logging onto
the machine.
This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list
With XPSP2 installed, the Local Administrator account is copied over
default user account during the minisetup that runs after running sysprep.
This is the only supported way of doing this currently. So you would need
to install your apps and make your changes while logged in with the local
"Administrator" account.
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------

 

[djc]

Thank you Darell. Thats a big deal to people that deploy desktops using
imaging!
djc

Hello DJC,
Step three will cause you issues with your profiles. This issues are
mitigated if all the users on the machine are administrators but there
still remain potential issues that would diffcult to trouble-shoot.
Some of the issues are:
1) Menu Short-Cuts are pointing back the "Created Regular" user profile.
2) Registry Entries are pointed back the "Created Regular" user Profile
Your new users unless they are administrators will not have the rights to
access that profile so some of the links and registry entries may not work.
( on a used profile that had a numbre of apps installed, that I tested this
I found easily over a hundred entries that could cause issues)
3)Depending on apps installed they may acl some of the registry entries, if
so the new user may not be able to read those entries.
4)Desktop.ini files need to modified to reflect the correct account
5) There could be Client Side Caching issues
6) Certain folders could be shared or exposed to the all users logging onto
the machine.
This is not intended to be an all-inclusive list
With XPSP2 installed, the Local Administrator account is copied over
default user account during the minisetup that runs after running sysprep.
This is the only supported way of doing this currently. So you would need
to install your apps and make your changes while logged in with the local
"Administrator" account.
Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------

From: "djc" <[email protected]>
Subject: general steps to prepare a machine for imaging yes/no?
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 2004 15:56:23 -0400
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This was brought up as a result of a different issue in a different post but
I thought it deserved its own thread. That way it will be more visible to
the appropriate people. Here is the snippet:

"I am assuming that the once recommended method of preparing a
machine for imaging has changed... please correct me if I'm wrong on that.
The main part that is not recommended any longer is copying the user profile
used to configure the machine over the Default User profile.

this was the recommended process that I was taught:
1) install OS and create a regular user account and add it to the local
administrators group.
2) install all applications while logged in as that user.
3) COPY THAT USER PROFILE OVER THE DEFAULT USER PROFILE
4) create your sysprep.inf file using setupmgr.exe (setup manager) if you
want an unattended mini-setup.
5) run sysprep and shut down
6) image the machine.

please confirm for me that I should NOT do step 3 any more."

please enlighten me!
Thank you!