Help me understand the Sysprep three (3) times limit

[furtherside]

I'm trying to understand the three-time limit when using Sysprep. I'm
trying to build a 'golden' image of a machine to be cloned out to a
small computer lab at a school (20 machines). I'm working with a
retail licensed copy of Windows XP Pro. Needless to say, I'd like to
practice this a few times, so the requirement to "Get it right" within
three tries seems a bit harsh.

I found all of these statements on the Microsoft website. Which of the
following statements are true?:

1. You can only run Sysprep three times on a given computer, it will
not run the fourth time.

2. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want using -audit, but
once you use the -factory or -reseal options three times, Sysprep will
no longer run.

3. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want, but once you use the
-factory or -reseal options three times, the product key activation
grace period can't be reset, and you have to activate the product
immediately [over the internet].

4. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want, but once you use the
-factory or -reseal options three times, the product activation grace
period can't be reset, and it will not allow you to activate over the
internet. You will have to activate using the telephone.

I can live with choice #3. The others will make my life very
difficult, as I'd have to start from scratch building my master image.
Also, I'd quickly hit the limit down the road, if the master image
needs to be updated as new software is added.

Anyone have any firsthand experience with this?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

If you are planning a large deployment of Windows XP,
obtain Volume License (VL) media and use Volume Licensing.
Activation is not required when you use Volume License media
(VL versions of Windows XP) in conjunction with the VL product keys.

How to use Sysprep with Windows Product Activation or Volume
License Media to deploy Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;299840

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I'm trying to understand the three-time limit when using Sysprep. I'm
| trying to build a 'golden' image of a machine to be cloned out to a
| small computer lab at a school (20 machines). I'm working with a
| retail licensed copy of Windows XP Pro. Needless to say, I'd like to
| practice this a few times, so the requirement to "Get it right" within
| three tries seems a bit harsh.
|
| I found all of these statements on the Microsoft website. Which of the
| following statements are true?:
|
| 1. You can only run Sysprep three times on a given computer, it will
| not run the fourth time.
|
| 2. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want using -audit, but
| once you use the -factory or -reseal options three times, Sysprep will
| no longer run.
|
| 3. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want, but once you use the
| -factory or -reseal options three times, the product key activation
| grace period can't be reset, and you have to activate the product
| immediately [over the internet].
|
| 4. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want, but once you use the
| -factory or -reseal options three times, the product activation grace
| period can't be reset, and it will not allow you to activate over the
| internet. You will have to activate using the telephone.
|
| I can live with choice #3. The others will make my life very
| difficult, as I'd have to start from scratch building my master image.
| Also, I'd quickly hit the limit down the road, if the master image
| needs to be updated as new software is added.
|
| Anyone have any firsthand experience with this?
|
| Thanks,
| Chris

 

[Al Dykes]

If you are planning a large deployment of Windows XP,
obtain Volume License (VL) media and use Volume Licensing.
Activation is not required when you use Volume License media
(VL versions of Windows XP) in conjunction with the VL product keys.

How to use Sysprep with Windows Product Activation or Volume
License Media to deploy Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;299840

If you're converting to VL on a site that has OEM licenses for it's
machine you have to repurchase a license for all the machine right?

Are there any deals?

I assume if you buy a 5 seat VL license and use it to roll out a
consistant image over all your OEM licenses, more than 5, the License
Gods will send a lightning bolt in your direction.

 

[Darrell Gorter[MSFT]]

Hello,
Option by option
<1. You can only run Sysprep three times on a given computer, it will
<not run the fourth time.
Not true, you can there is no block to the number of times sysprep will run.

<2. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want using -audit, but
<once you use the -factory or -reseal options three times, Sysprep will
<no longer run.
Not true, sysprep is blocked after running three times or more than three
times

<3. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want, but once you use the
<-factory or -reseal options three times, the product key activation
<grace period can't be reset, and you have to activate the product
<immediately [over the internet].
Correct. You can only reset the activation grace period three times.
You can activate over the Internet and yes you will be required to activate
at first logon.
With Volume License media, this is not an issue.

<4. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want, but once you use the
<-factory or -reseal options three times, the product activation grace
<period can't be reset, and it will not allow you to activate over the
<internet. You will have to activate using the telephone.
Sysprep does not force you to activate over the Telephone. There may be
reasons why Internet Access is not working, but that is not a limitation
that is exposed by running sysprep any specific number of times.


Thanks,
Darrell Gorter[MSFT]

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
--------------------
<From: (e-mail address removed)
<Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment
<Subject: Help me understand the Sysprep three (3) times limit
<Date: 3 Feb 2006 09:13:39 -0800
<Organization: http://groups.google.com
<Lines: 37
<Message-ID: <[email protected]>
<NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.42.208.182
<Mime-Version: 1.0
<Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
<X-Trace: posting.google.com 1138986824 9648 127.0.0.1 (3 Feb 2006 17:13:44
GMT)
<X-Complaints-To: (e-mail address removed)
<NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 3 Feb 2006 17:13:44 +0000 (UTC)
<User-Agent: G2/0.2
<X-HTTP-UserAgent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US;
rv:1.8.0.1) Gecko/20060111 Firefox/1.5.0.1,gzip(gfe),gzip(gfe)
<Complaints-To: (e-mail address removed)
<Injection-Info: g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com; posting-host=129.42.208.182;
< posting-account=0Za2Nw0AAABOIwjB0V-oRBm8n1CrfgMy
<Path:
TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTNGXA01.phx.gbl!TK2MSFTFEED02.phx.gbl!tornado.fa
stwebnet.it!tiscali!newsfeed1.ip.tiscali.net!news.glorb.com!postnews.google.
com!g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail
<Xref: TK2MSFTNGXA02.phx.gbl
microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment:147063
<X-Tomcat-NG: microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment
<
<I'm trying to understand the three-time limit when using Sysprep. I'm
<trying to build a 'golden' image of a machine to be cloned out to a
<small computer lab at a school (20 machines). I'm working with a
<retail licensed copy of Windows XP Pro. Needless to say, I'd like to
<practice this a few times, so the requirement to "Get it right" within
<three tries seems a bit harsh.
<
<I found all of these statements on the Microsoft website. Which of the
<following statements are true?:
<
<1. You can only run Sysprep three times on a given computer, it will
<not run the fourth time.
<
<2. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want using -audit, but
<once you use the -factory or -reseal options three times, Sysprep will
<no longer run.
<
<3. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want, but once you use the
<-factory or -reseal options three times, the product key activation
<grace period can't be reset, and you have to activate the product
<immediately [over the internet].
<
<4. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want, but once you use the
<-factory or -reseal options three times, the product activation grace
<period can't be reset, and it will not allow you to activate over the
<internet. You will have to activate using the telephone.
<
<I can live with choice #3. The others will make my life very
<difficult, as I'd have to start from scratch building my master image.
<Also, I'd quickly hit the limit down the road, if the master image
<needs to be updated as new software is added.
<
<Anyone have any firsthand experience with this?
<
<Thanks,
<Chris
<
<

 

[furtherside]

<3. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want, but once you use the
<-factory or -reseal options three times, the product key activation
<grace period can't be reset, and you have to activate the product
<immediately [over the internet].
Correct. You can only reset the activation grace period three times.
You can activate over the Internet and yes you will be required to activate
at first logon.
With Volume License media, this is not an issue.

<4. You can run Sysprep as many times as you want, but once you use the
<-factory or -reseal options three times, the product activation grace
<period can't be reset, and it will not allow you to activate over the
<internet. You will have to activate using the telephone.
Sysprep does not force you to activate over the Telephone. There may be
reasons why Internet Access is not working, but that is not a limitation
that is exposed by running sysprep any specific number of times.

Thanks! By the way, I got the info about needing telephone activation
after the three try limit from here, third question from the bottom of
the page:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/trans/sysbuild/05_0411_tn_pa.mspx

Maybe the SLP part is what is causing the requirement for telephone
activation; hopefully this isn't an issue in my case.

-Chris