Modify an Image to Boot to Audit Mode

Article
02/19/2013

Note

This content applies to Windows 7. For Windows 8 content, see Windows Deployment with the Windows ADK.

This topic describes how to use audit mode to service an image online when the image is configured to boot into Windows Welcome. You may want to do this to prevent triggering scripts that are configured to run during the oobeSystem configuration pass. Some scripts run automatically when an image is booted, even when the CTRL+SHIFT+F3 key combination is pressed. By modifying the image directly, you can avoid triggering these scripts.

Step 1: Mounting an Image that Has Read/Write Permissions

In this step, you mount a Windows image to a specified directory, so that it is available for servicing.

Copy the .wim file that you want to use to your local drive. For example, copy the file to the C:\test\images folder.
Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Windows OPK, right-click Deployment Tools Command Prompt, and then select Run as administrator.
Create a folder for your mounted image. For example, create a C:\test\offline folder.
Run the DISM /Get-WimInfo command to retrieve the name or index number for the image that you want to update. For example:
```
Dism /Get-WimInfo /WimFile:C:\test\images\MyImage.wim
```

Mount the Windows image. For example:

Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\test\images\MyImage.wim /index:1 /MountDir:C:\test\offline

Where /index:1 is the index value of the image..

Step 2: Create a New Answer File

In this step, you create an answer file that will instruct Windows to boot into audit mode.

Use Windows System Image Manager to create a new answer file. For more information, see Create a New Answer File.
Add the setting: Microsoft-Windows-Deployment\Reseal\Mode = audit.
Save the answer file as C:\test\Autounattend.xml.

Step 3: Add the Answer File to the Image

In this step, you copy the new answer file to the mounted Windows image.

Copy the answer file to the Windows image. Make sure that you copy the answer file into the offline location of the C:\Windows\Panther\Unattend folder. For example:
```
Copy c:\test\Autounattend.xml c:\test\offline\Panther\Unattend\Autounattend.xml
```

Step 4: Commit the Changes and Unmount the Image

In this step, you unmount the image and save the changes that you have made.

At an elevated command prompt, unmount the image and commit the changes to the .wim file. For example:
```
Dism /unmount-WIM /MountDir:C:\test\offline /commit
```

Step 5: Apply the Image

In this step, you boot to Windows® Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) and apply a Windows image so that you can service the image online.

On the destination computer, boot to Windows PE. For more information, see Walkthrough: Boot Windows PE from CD-ROM.
At a command prompt, apply the Windows image by using ImageX. For example:
```
imagex /apply C:\test\wim\install.wim 1 C:\test\AppliedImages /verify
```
Remove the Windows PE media and type exit. The computer reboots, starting Windows in audit mode.

Next steps

For information about working in audit mode, see Customize Windows in Audit Mode.