Tag Archives: vista

WDS Image Creation

As a continuation of my previous WDS post located here, these are the steps I follow for creating my WDS images.

  • Install OS, drivers, service packs, software, updates, and everything else to master system.
  • Copy Windows installation media to local drive: xcopy /H /E D:\* C:\windows\options\cabs\
  • Copy deploy.cab from recent installation media, extract to sysprep folder located on the administrator’s desktop.
  • From a Windows command prompt, browse to sysprep folder and run:  sysprep.exe -mini -reseal (with optional flags) 
  • Wait for system to shutdown..  start system back up, ensure PXE or network boot is enabled.
  • Boot from PXE/WDS, select Windows PE from options menu. 
  • At Windows PE command prompt, run: wdscapture
  • Follow Windows Image Capture wizard.