Sysprep functionallity?

[Linn Kubler]

Hi,

Ok, got my sysprep running but it's not 100%. I setup my reference computer
the way I wanted, with shortcuts on the desktop and everything. However,
after rebooting my computer I find that all my shortcuts are gone. The
desktop is clear and even the All User's desktop is empty, what gives with
that? Does sysprep wipe the profiles or something? I do notice that all
the Programs Menu menus are still there, how can I protect my All User's
desktop?

Thanks in advance,
Linn

 

[Linn Kubler]

Well, seems no one knows anything about sysprep, that's too bad. I've done
some more digging and I may have found something. I found a MSKB article,
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887816, that talks about a hotfix for a
similar issue to the one I describe. Problem is, I don't know how to get
the hotfix. Does anyone know how to contact Microsoft to get these hotfixes
or where I might find it?

Thanks,
Linn

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Well, seems no one knows anything about sysprep, that's too bad. I've
done some more digging and I may have found something. I found a MSKB
article, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887816, that talks about a
hotfix for a similar issue to the one I describe. Problem is, I don't
know how to get the hotfix. Does anyone know how to contact Microsoft
to get these hotfixes or where I might find it?

Thanks,
Linn

The KB article tells you how to get the hotfix:

If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download
available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this
section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support
to obtain the hotfix.

Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required,
you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support
costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not
qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft
Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate
service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support
(http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support)

 

[Stefan Kanthak]

Please STOP top posting!

Well, seems no one knows anything about sysprep, that's too bad. I've done
some more digging and I may have found something. I found a MSKB article,
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887816, that talks about a hotfix for a
similar issue to the one I describe. Problem is, I don't know how to get
the hotfix. Does anyone know how to contact Microsoft to get these hotfixes
or where I might find it?

http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?KBNum=887816&KBLN=en-US
IFF there is a hotfix available at all.
BUT: that's not the one you are probably looking for!

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/results.aspx?pocId=&freetext=deployment+tools
leads you to the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Deployment Tools
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=673a1019-8e3e-4be0-ac31-70dd21b5afa7

Stefan

AFAIK the user profiles of custom users are cleared, thus only the profile
of the "Adminstrator" as well as "All Users" and "Default User" will stay.

Stefan

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Please STOP top posting!


http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?KBNum=887816&KBLN=en-US
IFF there is a hotfix available at all.
BUT: that's not the one you are probably looking for!

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/results.aspx?pocId=&freetext=deployment+tools
leads you to the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Deployment Tools
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=673a1019-8e3e-4be0-ac31-70dd21b5afa7

Stefan


AFAIK the user profiles of custom users are cleared, thus only the
profile
of the "Adminstrator" as well as "All Users" and "Default User" will
stay.

AIUI, depending on which service pack and which hotfixes are in playce,
either the Administrator profile becomes the default user profile, or
the default user profile stays, but not both. And for the record, I
wish MS would make up their mind - XP Gold and SP1 were one way, SP2
changed it, and SP3 changed it back. Argh!

--
Zaphod

Arthur: All my life I've had this strange feeling that there's something
big and sinister going on in the world.
Slartibartfast: No, that's perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the
universe gets that.

 

[Linn Kubler]

I will never understand this concept of bottom posting, it's not intuitive
at all and creates extra work for the reader. When reading a response, it's
the response I want to read, not the original post. Why force people to
scroll the the end to read the pertenant information?. But that's a
discussion for another time.

AIUI, depending on which service pack and which hotfixes are in playce,
either the Administrator profile becomes the default user profile, or the
default user profile stays, but not both. And for the record, I wish MS
would make up their mind - XP Gold and SP1 were one way, SP2 changed it,
and SP3 changed it back. Argh!

--
Zaphod

Arthur: All my life I've had this strange feeling that there's something
big and sinister going on in the world.
Slartibartfast: No, that's perfectly normal paranoia. Everyone in the
universe gets that.

When I tried to contact Microsoft they asked for payment before I could even
talk to them. My management is not willing to pay for support on this
issue. I was hoping I could find someone who could send it to me.

First attempt I put the shortcuts on the All User's profile, because that is
where I want them. Sysprep removed them. Next I put the shortcuts on the
Administrator's desktop because someone suggested that they would get copied
to the All User's profile. That didn't work either. Most recently I tried
putting them in the Default User's desktop and that didn't work either.
From what I can tell there is no way to have shortcuts appear on the desktop
of a computer when using sysprep.

Next thing I'll try is creating a directory off of the root and put them
there. At least that way, if it works, I can simply copy them over to the
All User's desktop once the computer is up and running. Hardly an optimum
solution. Wondering now why I would want to use sysprep, seems like it
would be easier to make a reference system, Ghost it and use that image on
all the machines I have. Then all I'd have to do is change the computer
name and I'd be all set.

Thanks anyways,
Linn

 

[Stefan Kanthak]

I will never understand this concept of bottom posting, it's not intuitive
at all

Please stop fullquotes! Both bottom and top posting are a PITA,
especially when combined with a fullquote of the original text.

<http://www.netmeister.org/news/learn2quote.html> as well as
<http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt> tell you how to quote inline, i.e.
write your replies directly after the text passage you reference in your
reply. That's in the quite old tradition of annotations you made in your
books.

and creates extra work for the reader. When reading a response, it's
the response I want to read, not the original post. Why force people to
scroll the the end to read the pertenant information?. But that's a
discussion for another time.

See above.

[...]

When I tried to contact Microsoft they asked for payment before I could even
talk to them. My management is not willing to pay for support on this
issue. I was hoping I could find someone who could send it to me.

First attempt I put the shortcuts on the All User's profile, because that is
where I want them. Sysprep removed them.

They should but be preserved.

Next I put the shortcuts on the Administrator's desktop because someone
suggested that they would get copied to the All User's profile. That didn't
work either.

No wonder, because that's complete nonsense.
The Administrator profile (as well as any other profile) is created at the
first login from the "Default User" profile.
Only the "All Users" and the "Default User" profile are created during
the GUI phase of the setup, which even uses the "Default User" profile as
%USERPROFILE%.

Most recently I tried
putting them in the Default User's desktop and that didn't work either.

See above.

From what I can tell there is no way to have shortcuts appear on the desktop
of a computer when using sysprep.

Next thing I'll try is creating a directory off of the root and put them
there. At least that way, if it works, I can simply copy them over to the
All User's desktop once the computer is up and running. Hardly an optimum
solution.

Use SYSPREP.INF and it's [GUIRunOnce] section to create the shortcuts.
I don't use SYSPREP.INF, but an unattended installation with WINNT.SIF,
which in turn runs some *.INFs to create shortcuts in both the "All Users"
and the "Administrator" profiles.

Wondering now why I would want to use sysprep, seems like it
would be easier to make a reference system, Ghost it and use that image on
all the machines I have. Then all I'd have to do is change the computer
name and I'd be all set.

No, you won't be set. The computer SID as well as all other "account
information" are the same and will lead to errors when you join a domain
or connect the computers to a WSUS ...

Stefan

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

When I tried to contact Microsoft they asked for payment before I
could even talk to them. My management is not willing to pay for
support on this issue. I was hoping I could find someone who could
send it to me.

What is the problem with using the link provided to download the hotfix?

http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=887816&kbln=en-us

It asks for an email address and you get an email with the location of
the hofix download. Never once asked for money.

Of course, the hotfix is rolled into SP3, so you may not need it at all
anyway.

First attempt I put the shortcuts on the All User's profile, because
that is where I want them. Sysprep removed them.

Sysprep has never touched items I've put in \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Desktop regardless of SP so I don't know what is happening with
your setup.

Next I put the shortcuts on the Administrator's desktop because
someone suggested that they would get copied to the All User's
profile. That didn't work either.

Depending on what SP and hotfixes are installed, either the
Administrator profile will be copied to the default user during sysprep
(SP2) or it will be cleared (Gold, SP1, SP3). It never gets copied to
the All User profile as far as I know.

Most recently I tried putting them in the Default User's desktop and
that didn't work either.

I've not tried placing items in the Default User's desktop so I can't
say what happens to them during sysprep.

From what I can tell there is no way to have shortcuts appear on the
desktop of a computer when using sysprep.

Not my experience, see note about All Users desktop above.

Next thing I'll try is creating a directory off of the root and put
them there. At least that way, if it works, I can simply copy them
over to the All User's desktop once the computer is up and running.
Hardly an optimum solution.

And unnecessary.

Wondering now why I would want to use sysprep, seems like it would be
easier to make a reference system, Ghost it and use that image on all
the machines I have. Then all I'd have to do is change the computer
name and I'd be all set.

You will still need to deal with the SID issue and that you would be
using an unsupported (by MS) method of system deployment.

 

[Linn Kubler]

What is the problem with using the link provided to download the hotfix?

http://support.microsoft.com/hotfix/KBHotfix.aspx?kbnum=887816&kbln=en-us

Where did you find this? I don't recall seeing it on the KB article I read.
I'll give it a try.

It asks for an email address and you get an email with the location of the
hofix download. Never once asked for money.

Of course, the hotfix is rolled into SP3, so you may not need it at all
anyway.

There is a hotfix for sp3 too, it's the default listed on the download
screen. I'd upgrade to SP3 if it weren't for IE7 being bundled with it.
There are web sites that we are required to use that do not support EI7. I
hope they upgrade pretty soon though.

Sysprep has never touched items I've put in \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Desktop regardless of SP so I don't know what is happening with your
setup.

That's been my experience in the past, not this time. Wonder how I can tell
which version of sysprep I should be using. I'm pulling the one off the
original OS CD that came with the computer and it says it's sp2. However, I
have installed all of the critical system updates from Windows Update,
wonder if one of them is interferring.

Depending on what SP and hotfixes are installed, either the Administrator
profile will be copied to the default user during sysprep (SP2) or it will
be cleared (Gold, SP1, SP3). It never gets copied to the All User profile
as far as I know.

It certainly looks as though sysprep is wiping all the profile desktops. It
is interesting though how it doesn't seem to be affecting the Start | All
Programs sections. All the installed shotcuts and folders there are
remaining.

I've not tried placing items in the Default User's desktop so I can't say
what happens to them during sysprep.


Not my experience, see note about All Users desktop above.

Must be nice.

And unnecessary.

Ah, but it worked.

You will still need to deal with the SID issue and that you would be using
an unsupported (by MS) method of system deployment.

But if their supported method doesn't work, what are you supposed to do?
Thanks,
Linn

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

Where did you find this? I don't recall seeing it on the KB article I
read. I'll give it a try.

It was near the top of the KB article at
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/887816, where (for me at least) it said:

Hotfix Download Available
View and request hotfix downloads

There is a hotfix for sp3 too, it's the default listed on the download
screen.

I thought that "Release: SP3" meant it had been released IN SP3, not
that the release was FOR SP3. But I could be wrong/have been wrong
before.

I'd upgrade to SP3 if it weren't for IE7 being bundled with it. There
are web sites that we are required to use that do not support EI7. I
hope they upgrade pretty soon though.

Hopefully - IE7 has been out for a very long time now (2 years I
think?).

That's been my experience in the past, not this time. Wonder how I
can tell which version of sysprep I should be using. I'm pulling the
one off the original OS CD that came with the computer and it says
it's sp2.

That should be the right one since you are still deploying SP2.

However, I have installed all of the critical system updates from
Windows Update, wonder if one of them is interferring.

I haven't updated my SP2 deployment image since late February, so I
suppose it is possible something new in Windows Update could be
affecting things. However, during the time I've been deploying system
images with sysprep MS has never included sysprep related changes in
Windows Update, only as a part of SP releases.

It certainly looks as though sysprep is wiping all the profile
desktops. It is interesting though how it doesn't seem to be
affecting the Start | All Programs sections. All the installed
shotcuts and folders there are remaining.

Must be nice.

You know what they say - sometimes you get the alligator, somethines the
alligator gets you.

Ah, but it worked.

Good that it worked, but still wondering why it would be necessary.

But if their supported method doesn't work, what are you supposed to
do?

Find a workaround of course, as you've aparently done. Wait till you
find out (if you haven't already) that you need to persist some per-user
settings that aren't preserved by sysprep, and then others that don't
survive new user creation even thought they are in the default user
profile...

 

[Stefan Kanthak]

Where did you find this?

For example in my first reply to you?!

There is a hotfix for sp3 too, it's the default listed on the download
screen. I'd upgrade to SP3 if it weren't for IE7 being bundled with it.

ARGH! IE7 is NEITHER part of NOR bundled with SP3.

Stefan
[