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• Set desktop background to (None)
• Set screensaver to (None)
• Enable ClearType fonts
• Enable 'Show shadows under menus'
• Enable 'Show window contents while dragging'
• Turn off System Restore (this is configurable using GPOs)
• Enable 'Show Quick Launch'
• Enable 'Lock the taskbar' (this is configurable using GPOs)
• Enable the 'Classic start menu' (this is configurable using GPOs)
• Disable 'Hide extensions for known file types'

4. Install any additional software packages and tools.

It is usually a good idea to copy any CD/DVDs onto the server and install the sofware from there.  This way, if software requires any additional setup files post deployment, they should automatically look to the network/server location which avoids the need to dig out the correct CD/DVDs and visit the individual machines.

You should also perform an administrative installation of MS Office to the server and configure a custom installation, using a Windows Installer Transform (MST), tailored to your particular organisation.  This allows user settings, such as those for Outlook (e.g. POP3, SMTP and Exchange) to be predefined when a user first logs on.

You may also want to install extra software and tools such as:

• .NET v1.1, v2 and v3
• Flash & Shockwave players
• Java Runtime
• Real Player
• Quicktime
• IE7 & MP11
• Acrobat Reader
• CutePDF Writer/Printer
• UltraVNC
• PhotoStory
• SMARTBoard Software
• etc

4. Setup the Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts

If you are going to make use of redirected Start Menus through GPOs, remove (e.g. 'Cut') all program shortcuts from Start Menu folders (e.g. 'C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Start Menu', 'C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Start Menu\Programs' and 'C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu').  Place all the removed shortcuts into a separate folder (e.g. 'C:\Shortcuts') and then copy or move this folder to a suitable location on the server in order to setup redirected folders later on.

 4. Connect to Microsoft Update.

Install all updates via the 'Custom' option in 'Microsoft Update'.

5. Setup the Default User profile.

Restart the computer and log in using the 'normal' username that you created when installing Windows XP from the CD.  Setup this account the way you would like all users to see and use when they first log on e.g. Desktop theme, icon placement, Quick Launch icons.  Refer back to the list in step 3 for other possibilities.

Open any programs that may need to be run once before settings are established such as IE7 and MP11.  DO NOT run software that requires user registration such as MS Office.

When settings are applied to your specifications, restart the computer and log back on as the Administrator (Ctrl+Alt Del, Del).  In order to see the original 'Default User' profile in C:\Documents and Settings', you must have enabled 'Show hidden files and folders' in the view tab of 'Folder Options'.  Rename the original 'Default User' profile folder to 'Default User_orig' for example.  Copy and paste the new profile (which will be named the same as the username it was created with) into 'Documents and Settings' and rename it 'Default User'.  Make the top level folder hidden.

In the Computer Managament console (Control Panel > Administrative Tools), expand 'Local Users & Groups' and then select the 'Users' folder.  Find and delete the username that you used to create the new profile.

A new 'feature' of the SP2 version of SYSPREP means that the Administrator profile will be copied over the newly configured 'Default User' profile.  To avoid this issue download and install hotfix KB887816.

6. Download and setup a driver repository.

Download the vendor specific drivers for all your different machines.  Create a 'Drivers' folder in the root of your system drive (e.g. C:\Drivers).  Extract the driver files to a temporary location and then copy into an appropriate folder structure like the one shown below:

C:\Drivers\Dell\D505\Video
C:\Drivers\Dell\D505\Audio
C:\Drivers\Dell\D505\Chipset
C:\Drivers\Dell\D505\Modem
C:\Drivers\Dell\D505\NIC
C:\Drivers\Dell\D505\Wireless

C:\Drivers\Dell\GX520\Video
C:\Drivers\Dell\GX520\Audio
C:\Drivers\Dell\GX520\Chipset
C:\Drivers\Dell\GX520\Modem
C:\Drivers\Dell\GX520\NIC

...and so on.

You will only usually need the the .inf, .sys and .cat files although it may be safer to keep and merge all files for a paticular driver into the one folder.

You may also need to apply these hotfixes in order to prevent mini-setup hanging due to video driver issues:

• KB883667
• KB910678

7. Download and configure SYSPREP.

Download the latest version (KB838080) and extract 'deploy.cab' (by double clicking) to 'C:\sysprep' on your base image machine.  You actually only need a few of the files from 'deploy.cab' but I'm not entirely sure which ones so include all just in case!

You also need to have a 'sysprep.inf' file in the 'c:\sysprep' folder that configures how 'Mini-Setup' will run.  You can create your own 'sysprep.inf' by running 'c:\sysprep\setupmgr.exe'.  It will ask you a series of questions related to what you want sysprep to do.  Below is an example of the generated file with some documented modifications:
 

9. Backup the 'C:\Drivers' and 'C:\sysprep'

Copy both the 'C:\Drivers' and 'C:\sysprep' folders to a suitable location on your server for later addition to the $OEM$ file structure within WDS.

After SYSPREP has been run and Mini-Setup completes, the 'C:\sysprep' folder will be automatically deleted.

10. Capture a pre-SYSPREP image of your base machine.

It is widely believed that SYSPREP can only be used a limited number of times before 'strange' things start to happen!  Therefore, it is a good idea to take an image of the base machine before SYSPREPing it.  This allows you to make any future modifications to the clean base image such as adding or updating software packages before SYSPREPing again ready to deploy.  Unfortunately, WDS can only capture and deploy SYSPREPed images so you will have to use an alternative imaging method.

I use, through habit and a 'if it ain't broke...' mentality, a bootable USB flash drive based on a now very old version of 'Bart's Network Boot Disk'.  This allows me to turn on any of my computers, boot from the USB device into a DOS environment, automatically load the correct network drivers, map a shared drive on the server and run the DOS version of Ghost 2003, (ghost.exe).  From there, I can capture an image of the pre-SYSPREP base machine for future modifications.

This could be accomplished any number of ways although probably the best way is to use a more modern, supported and infinitely more flexible, boot CD such as BartPE.

It is good practice to keep and maintain a 'changelog' with each stored image detailing applications added and updated and any configurations and modifications made.  You should also keep a couple of older versions of the pre-SYSPREP image incase you need to 'roll back' any changes.

11.  SYSPREP the image with MySysprep instead.

Before beginning the SYSPREP process, clean out all Temp folders including files relating to Internet Explorer and Firefox.  Empty the Recycle Bin, clear records of recently accessed documents and programs and finally, clear all Event Logs.

Run 'MySysprep.exe' from the 'C:\sysprep' folder and click 'OK' past the warning.

Ensure that 'Use Mini-Setup' is the only option checked and that the 'Shutdown mode' is set to 'Shutdown' and click 'Reseal'.  This will begin the SYSPREP process of removing unique information from the base machine and uninstalling some devices.  Depending on the number of devices specified in the [SysprepMassStorage] section of your 'sysprep.inf' file, this will take a few minutes.  If you have specified the 'BuildMassStorageSection=Yes' option, SYSPREP could take 30mins to complete!

When complete, SYSPREP will shutdown the machine ready for the base image to be captured in WDS.  DO NOT allow the machine to boot normally as Mini-Setup will run automatically and you will have to start over again!

You are now ready to configure WDS and capture the base image.