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SYSPREP and Deployment Help for Windows 10

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Wednesday, February 17, 2016 10:13 PM | 1 vote

I need help maybe with Sysprep and deploying a Windows 10 image in a business environment. Here is what I have done:

Installed Windows 10 Enterprise. Installed and configured applications such as virus scan, Microsoft Office, Adobe Reader, Rightfax client, SCCM client and Java JRE. Configured the Administrator profile with the desired Start Menu, Taskbar icons, Desktop icons, Internet Explorer Favorites and start programs. Finalized the profile for Administrator.

Then ran: sysprep /oobe /generalize /shutdown /unattend:C:\windows\system32\sysprep\unattend.xml .  The unattend.xml file has the "copy profile" setting in it. Nothing much else in unattend.xml. After shutdown boot to WinPE and captured an image with Dism. So far so good.

Now rebooted the machine. I get all the questions: Hi. home country/region, preferred app language, keyboard layout, time zone. All of those defaults are what I want but I still have to click next (how to avoid that?) Next page is Customize Settings: Personalization, speech, typing, inking, advertising id, location, etc.

Once getting past all the questions, which is what I am trying to avoid, the default profile looks good. It would be nice if I didn't have to create a user and just could boot right to Administrator but at least the profiles look how I customized the default (copy profile) to be.

So, how do I avoid all of those startup questions? I'm sure unattend.xml is the key to it. Do you have a sample unattend.xml I could get some samples of? I'm sure you want to say, "install MDT" or "install WAIK" or some other utility suite. I'd really like to just be able to have a way to avoid all the startup questions (with preconfigured answers) without getting all that at start up and without too much overhead in installing a suite of deployment applications.

Any help would be much appreciated.

All replies (13)

Thursday, February 18, 2016 10:07 PM ✅Answered | 1 vote

In you sysprep unattend.xml, you need to set in items like InputLocal, SystemLocal, OOBE, etc. By setting these items you will be able to get rid of the OOBE questions that appear. Using System Image Manager (SIM) from the ADK is an easy way to generate the unattended file with all the settings.

Sean Liming - Book Author: Starter Guide SIM (WEI), Pro Guide to WE8S & WES 7, Pro Guide to POS for .NET - www.annabooks.com / www.seanliming.com

Monday, February 22, 2016 3:01 AM ✅Answered | 1 vote

Hi Paratus,

THe blog I shared above already have unattend.xml posted at the end of the article:

Which is named with deploy.xml.

I will quoted it here:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
<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>en-us</InputLocale>
<SystemLocale>en-us</SystemLocale>
<UILanguage>en-us</UILanguage>
<UILanguageFallback>en-us</UILanguageFallback>
<UserLocale>en-us</UserLocale>
</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">
<UserAccounts>
<LocalAccounts>
<LocalAccount wcm:action="add">
<Password>
<Value>UABhAHMAcwB3ADAAcgBkADAANgBQAGEAcwBzAHcAbwByAGQA</Value>
<PlainText>false</PlainText>
</Password>
<Description>machine admin</Description>
<DisplayName>admin</DisplayName>
<Group>administrators</Group>
<Name>admin</Name>
</LocalAccount>
</LocalAccounts>
</UserAccounts>
<OOBE>
<HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
<HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
<HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
<HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
<ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
<HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
<NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
</OOBE>
<TimeZone>Central Europe Standard Time</TimeZone>
</component>
</settings>
<cpi:offlineImage cpi:source="wim:c:/users/administrator/desktop/win10.wim#Windows 10 Enterprise" xmlns:cpi="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:cpi" />
</unattend>

Follow the blog steps and see if any settings that are different between yours, then compare the unattend.xml to make changes.

Regards

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.

Thursday, February 18, 2016 9:01 AM | 1 vote

Hi Paratus,

So you are confusing with the unattended.eml file?

See if the following blog would help you out:

https://geekdudes.wordpress.com/2015/10/30/unattended-install-windows-10-using-windows-deployement-service-on-win-server-2012-r2/

Please note:

Since this website is not hosted by Microsoft, the information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Some additional reference:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn915073(v=vs.85).aspx

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn923277(v=vs.85).aspx

Regards

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.

Thursday, February 18, 2016 11:15 AM | 1 vote

So you are confusing with the unattended.eml file?

See if the following blog would help you out:

https://geekdudes.wordpress.com/2015/10/30/unattended-install-windows-10-using-windows-deployement-service-on-win-server-2012-r2/

Some additional reference:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/dn915073(v=vs.85).aspx

That doesn't help me with getting rid of the startup questions and running Sysprep.  I already have a WIM file. Any lines I could add to my unattended.xml to get rid of the questions? It does the "copy profile" function well.

Thursday, February 18, 2016 10:52 PM | 1 vote

In you sysprep unattend.xml, you need to set in items like InputLocal, SystemLocal, OOBE, etc. By setting these items you will be able to get rid of the OOBE questions that appear. Using System Image Manager (SIM) from the ADK is an easy way to generate the unattended file with all the settings.

Sean Liming - Book Author: Starter Guide SIM (WEI), Pro Guide to WE8S & WES 7, Pro Guide to POS for .NET - www.annabooks.com / www.seanliming.com

Ok, this sounds promising. I will check it out tomorrow and let you know how it works. Thanks a lot.

Thursday, February 18, 2016 11:24 PM | 1 vote

I don't have an unattended file example at the ready to post, but I cover this in my book: http://annabooks.com/Book_SGSIM.html. Let me know if you get it to work. 

Sean Liming - Book Author: Starter Guide SIM (WEI), Pro Guide to WE8S & WES 7, Pro Guide to POS for .NET - www.annabooks.com / www.seanliming.com

Friday, February 19, 2016 12:25 AM | 1 vote

Here is a generic unattended settings. It is not a complete unattended file, but it gives you the details for what needs to be filled out.

    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <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>
                <HideLocalAccountScreen>true</HideLocalAccountScreen>
                <HideOEMRegistrationScreen>true</HideOEMRegistrationScreen>
                <HideOnlineAccountScreens>true</HideOnlineAccountScreens>
                <HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>true</HideWirelessSetupInOOBE>
                <ProtectYourPC>3</ProtectYourPC>
                <UnattendEnableRetailDemo>false</UnattendEnableRetailDemo>
                <SkipUserOOBE>true</SkipUserOOBE>
                <SkipMachineOOBE>true</SkipMachineOOBE>
            </OOBE>
            <TimeZone>Pacific Standard Time</TimeZone>
        </component>
        <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>en-US</InputLocale>
            <SystemLocale>en-US</SystemLocale>
            <UILanguage>en-US</UILanguage>
            <UILanguageFallback>en-US</UILanguageFallback>
            <UserLocale>en-US</UserLocale>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="generalize">
        <component name="Microsoft-Windows-PnpSysprep" 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">
            <PersistAllDeviceInstalls>true</PersistAllDeviceInstalls>
        </component>
    </settings>
    <settings pass="specialize">
        <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">
            <ProductKey>product key goes here</ProductKey>
            <RegisteredOwner />
        </component>
    </settings>

Sean Liming - Book Author: Starter Guide SIM (WEI), Pro Guide to WE8S & WES 7, Pro Guide to POS for .NET - www.annabooks.com / www.seanliming.com

Friday, February 19, 2016 6:16 PM | 1 vote

Here is a generic unattended settings. It is not a complete unattended file, but it gives you the details for what needs to be filled out.

    <settings pass="oobeSystem">
        <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>

Thanks for posting, Sean. I guess I will try installing the ADK and use SIM, although I was trying to avoid that. I tried pasting the lines from your sample into an unattend.xml file but I got, "The answer file is invalid. The error was detected at line 24 column 5 of the answer file." This seems like a lot of work just to get rid of a few startup questions but maybe I have some reading and testing to do. thanks again

Sunday, February 21, 2016 9:15 AM | 1 vote

Can an oobe.xml file be used to answer and skip the oobe questions? I just need something simple to skip the questions that come after syspreping the wim image. Thanks.

Sunday, February 21, 2016 3:57 PM | 1 vote

The following page discusses OOBE and unattended file: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc749195%28v=ws.10%29.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396

It is a bit confusing since they can have some of the same information, but OOBE.xml file is really used for OEM information. The unattended file is used with sysprep to control the clone on first boot.

Here is a site that walks through making an unattended file with an example xml in the end:

http://www.bohack.com/2011/01/how-to-make-an-unattend-xml-sysprep-file/

Sean Liming - Book Author: Starter Guide SIM (WEI), Pro Guide to WE8S & WES 7, Pro Guide to POS for .NET - www.annabooks.com / www.seanliming.com

Wednesday, February 24, 2016 1:39 AM

Hi Paratus,

Any further assistance needed?

Regards

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016 2:10 AM

Hi Paratus,

Any further assistance needed?

Regards

Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help, and unmark the answers if they provide no help. If you have feedback for TechNet Support, contact tnmff@microsoft.com.

I'm good. Thanks for all your help.

Sunday, July 23, 2017 11:02 AM

It is frustratingly hilarious trying to do this the "proper" route via the Windows System Image Manager. Hundreds of options and no simple template to auto-select the above default components.

And when you do select the components such as the input locale, you don't get a pop-up list of the locales, but just a plain text box that accepts anything at all, but of course there are only certain correct values that actually work.

If you enter the wrong thing in WSIM, the results of whatever you type are unpredictable, and unknown until you actually try using it to deploy an image. By which point, you have wasted considerable time trying to apply the image and answer file to a target device.