Do whatever you want to make a universal clone version of Windows XP system (3)

Although some hardware drivers have been removed in the past, there are still many hardware drivers that cannot be directly deleted in the system. If you make a mirror directly at this time, when the cloned file is restored to another computer, system instability may occur. To solve this problem, you need to re-encapsulate the system using Sysprep in the Microsoft Enterprise Deployment Toolkit before making a clone image. In this way, the first time after the GHO file is restored, the system will re-install all the new hardware drivers, effectively avoiding the instability of the universal clone system.

Small Tips

Sysprep is Microsoft's need to customize the installation system for enterprise customers (such as brand machine manufacturers, OEMs, etc.) who pre-install Windows XP in large quantities. The tool, which is called "system preparation tool", opens the "DEPLOY.CAB" package in the SUPPORT\\TOOLS\\ directory on the Windows XP Professional CD, and extracts the files from WinRAR to the C:\\Sysprep directory. be usable. However, if your Windows XP has already patched the SP1 patch, you can click here to download the zip file and use it to make Sysprep 2.0. This article is also produced in this version.

Repacking the system first requires customizing the system auto-answer file. This is because the system prompts the user to enter the user name, installation serial number and other information after repackaging. At this time, since the system does not have a keyboard and mouse driver installed, the content cannot be input, and it must be automatically input using an automatic answer file. To create an auto answer file, you can run the "setupmgr.exe" program in the C:\\Sysprep directory. Select "Create new file→Sysprep installation→Windows XP Professional→Yes, fully automatic installation" according to the wizard prompt, and then open the "" The following items are mainly set in the "Installation Manager" window, and other contents can be set as needed:

(1) Set "Name and Unit" and "Product Key" in "General Settings" (ie, installation sequence) No.) (see Figure 3).

(2) Select "Use the following computer name" in "Computer Name" in "Network Settings" and enter the name of the setting.

(3) Select "Chinese (Simplified)" in "Language" in "Advanced Settings".

Click the "Finish" button to set the auto answer file "sysprep.inf" and save it under C:\\Sysprep. Be careful not to modify this path and file name.

Next, run "sysprep.exe" in the C:\\Sysprep directory to start system encapsulation. Click the "OK" button in the pop-up prompt dialog box to set the encapsulation options. The "Do not reset the active grace period" and "Do not regenerate the security identifier" are used for the system that needs to be activated. It has no effect on the version that does not need to be activated. It is recommended to check it. It should be noted here that the "Use minimal installation" option must be selected, "Detect non-Plug and Play hardware" does not have to be chosen, because now there is almost no hardware that is not plug and play. Finally, click the “Repackage” button, and after about half a minute, the package will be completed, and the computer will automatically shut down.

7. Making a universal clone image file

Windows XP in the C drive is now a completely repackaged clean system. Then use the system boot CD or floppy disk to enter the pure DOS system (be careful not to start this packaged Windows XP), then run the latest version of Ghost 8.0, and then select "local→Partition→To Image" in the menu (see figure 4) In the pop-up dialog box, select the first partition of the hard disk (C drive), and set the image file save path and file name, for example, "D:\\ghost\\xpghost.gho", pay attention to when prompted for compression mode. Select "High", that is, use the maximum compression method, the resulting xpghost.gho file is a universal clone of Windows XP.

Small tips

It is not recommended to use Ghost before 8.0. On the one hand, the cloning speed is much slower. On the other hand, the new Ghost can be deleted automatically when making image files. The virtual memory file "pagefile.sys" reduces the size of the image file.