Building a Common Image - Developing a common software image for the HP dc7900, Elite 8000 and 6000 Pro desktop models
Developing  a  common  software  image 
for  the  HP  dc7900,  8000  Elite,  and 
6000 Pro desktop models 
November 2009 
Table of Contents: 
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 2 
Windows Licensing Notice ............................................................................... 3 
Definition of Terms .......................................................................................... 3 
Advantages of a Common Image ..................................................................... 4 
Limitations of a Common Image ....................................................................... 4 
Choosing a Base Image ....................................................................................... 5 
Customizing the Image ........................................................................................ 5 
Removing Preinstalled Software ....................................................................... 5 
Adding software ............................................................................................. 5 
Matrix of Common Hardware .......................................................................... 6 
Additional customization ................................................................................. 8 
Obtaining drivers for the product family .............................................................. 8 
Pooling the drivers on the reference machine (Windows XP) ........................... 10 
Extending the process (Windows XP) .................................................................. 10 
Extending hardware support in the image...................................................... 10 
Supporting non-bundled hardware devices .................................................... 10 
Supporting setup.exe installations .................................................................. 11 
Using SYSPREP.exe ....................................................................................... 11 
Creating SYSPREP.inf ..................................................................................... 11 
Required SYSPREP.inf settings for Windows XP ...................................... 11 
cmdlines.txt .................................................................................................. 13 
oobeinfo.ini (Windows XP) ............................................................................ 13 
Running SYSPREP (Windows XP) .................................................................... 13 
Creating a Common Image for Windows Vista / Windows 7 .............................. 14 
Example SYSPREP.xml (
unattend.xml
) Answer file .......................................... 16 
Frequently asked questions ................................................................................ 19 










