Owner's manual

actually included on the original installation media (either OEM or volume license media) for the operating system. This

image file name is install.wim, and is sometimes referred to as the vanilla image.

Although the vanilla install.wim image is the ideal single image, there are a variety of reasons why an organization might

elect to create a customized image, such as:

 Customizations only available through Sysprep and image creation

For example: Customization of the local default user profile can only be performed by using Sysprep and an

answer file configured with the CopyProfile setting. This instructs Windows Setup to copy the configuration of

the Administrator profile to the default user profile before resetting the Administrator profile.

 Deployments of limited scope

For example: If tasked with deploying only to Surface Pro 3 devices with an identical set of applications as

quickly as possible, creating a fully-customized image complete with drivers and applications may be quicker

than automating application installation.

 Incompatibility with automated installation

For example: Applications that feature only an installation wizard but do not support installation via the

command line cannot be deployed outside an image.

 Policy requirements

For example: If an organization’s policy is in place that requires all systems be protected and secured by a third

party product, it may be required that this product be included in a custom image to ensure those requirements

are met.

Using a Virtual Machine as a Reference System

Though the process of creating a system image includes running Sysprep with the Generalize option (which is designed

to remove system specific information and configuration from the image to facilitate deployment to disparate

hardware), there are often components which are not compatible with the Generalize process which ultimately

interfere with deployment to different hardware. One of the most notable examples are graphics drivers and their

associated controlling software. The basic .inf drivers that are stored in the Windows folder are removed by the

Generalize step, but components like the NVIDIA Control Panel and AMD Catalyst Control Center are not always reliably

removed as they are installed not as drivers, but applications.

To avoid such issues, the best practice is to create images from a reference system which is virtual. Virtual environments

are greatly simplified when contrasted against physical systems and do not require any complex drivers which have

application style components. There are many virtualization solutions available, and any will work as a platform for

image creation. The solution included with Windows Server 2008 and newer is Hyper-V, which is also included with

Windows 8 Professional or Enterprise and newer Windows clients.

Note: Images are not compatible across architectures or firmware types. For example, an image of a 64 bit (x86-64)

environment cannot be deployed to a 32 bit (x86) environment.

Selecting Applications for the Base Image

Another consideration when planning images is which applications to include in the base image. As described with the

single image goal, the ideal configuration for an environment to be captured is as few applications and drivers as

possible. With that said, there are certainly times when an application does need to be installed in the base image. For