Capture and Apply Windows Images
Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2
Note
This content applies to Windows 7. For Windows 8 content, see Windows Deployment with the Windows ADK.
This section describes how to capture images from your reference computer and then deploy them to multiple destination computers. This process is sometimes called build-to-plan.
Prerequisites
Image-capturing tools, such as a Windows® PE RAM disc with ImageX. For more information on creating a Windows PE RAM disc with ImageX, see Windows PE Walkthroughs.
Reference computer with a customized Windows installation. For more information, see Phase 3: Preparing and Customizing Your Windows Image and Deploy Windows by Using Windows Setup.
One or more destination computers.
In This Section
The topics in this section describe the following processes:
Prepare to capture an image by generalizing the computer and setting the Windows activation clock.
Capture images of the Windows hard disk partition, and other partitions as needed, by using image-capturing tools.
Copy the images to a network share.
Apply images to the hard drive by using image-capturing tools.
You can modify this process to automate various steps. For example, you can write a Windows PE script to automatically connect to a network and then apply an image.
The following diagram shows how the fictitious OEM, Fabrikam, captures a customized Windows image as a file on their reference computer and then applies the image to multiple destination computers:
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Note
The default image file (Install.wim) included with the Windows product DVD functions only with Windows Setup (Setup.exe). Do not apply this default image directly to a partition.
Capture and deploy a single-partition Windows image from a network share. |
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Capture and modify images using image-capture tools. |
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Apply images using image-capture tools. |