Using the System Preparation Tool on Dissimilar Computers (216915)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
This article was previously published under Q216915

SUMMARY

The System Preparation tool (Sysprep 1.0) for Windows 2000 that comes on the Windows 2000 CD-ROM is used to duplicate fully installed versions of Windows 2000. In most of the cases, the computers are identical. However, there may be cases in which the target computers are not identical to the computer from which the image was created.

MORE INFORMATION

With the addition of Plug and Play to Windows 2000, some minor differences on the target computers are acceptable, but some items must be identical with the computer on which the image was created. If you have computers that differ greatly in configuration, make, or model, you should probably create an image for each computer type.

The following items can differ between the source and target computers:
  • Video card
  • Network adapter
  • Sound or other multimedia devices
  • Mass-storage device driver (Sysprep 1.1 only)
The following items must be identical in the source and target computers when using the Sysprep 1.0 version:
  • System HAL
  • Windows 2000 system kernel (Ntoskrnl.exe)
The Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) must be the same, especially when it comes to ACPI and non-ACPI computers. The mass-storage device is crucial when it is the boot device since Plug and Play cannot solve this issue because it is too early in the boot phase (the latter is only true when not using Sysprep version 1.1.)

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:2/11/2004
Keywords:kbenv kbinfo kbsetup KB216915
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