Hi, I need to get me head around how the answer file is used in OSD. Any help would be great. When rolling out a WIM that was previously captured using ImageX, does the deploment task sequence sysprep the image and run the answer file specified in the TS during deployment? If the image already contained an answer file does it use this or will it use the specified one in the task sequence. If no answer file is defined in the TS will the default one win over the answer file in the image or do they merge? The image will be used to rollout to different hardware. Does the sysprep that the TS runs generalize the image?

Hi, No, the deployment tast sequnece will not automatically sysprep the image unless you have specified it as a step in the TS.Kent Agerlund | My blogs: http://blog.coretech.dk/author/kea/ and http://scug.dk/ | Twitter @Agerlund | Linkedin: /kentagerlund

Are you deploying XP or 7 (there are slight differences)? Reference images/WIMs are already syspreped and could have settings applied to them already from an unattended answer file; this answer file will have been consumed by Windows Setup though and will not be available during deployment. But, you can specify another answer that is consumed by mini-setup during deployment of the image also. In general, the end-effect is like the two files are merged (they are actually merged) with the one during deployment winning, but that really depends on the setting and with Win 7 (or Vista) it depends on which pass you put the setting in also. Jason | http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jsandys | http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/jsandys/default.aspx | Twitter @JasonSandys

Hi, Thanks for the answers. I am rolling out Windows 7. In the TS under "Apply Operating System" I have specified a sysprep answer file. Will this task sysprep the image? Can you answer the part about the generalize question please? I will be using SCCM and KMS and want to make sure that the SIDs are unique so all goes well.

No, sysprep and unattended answer files are two different things; there is no such thing as a "sysprep answer file". In Windows 7, the generalize pass is applied during a sysprep though. For a complete reference of the setup passes, see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744392(WS.10).aspx. Sysprep is the process of "generalizing" an image. Your reference image should be "generalized" using sysprep before it is captured thus having its unique identifierd removed before you capture it. And, when you deploy the image, all of its unique identifiers will be generated because they do not actually exist in the image. Note that the best practice is to use a Build and Capture Task Sequence that first builds your image and then captures it.Jason | http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jsandys | http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/jsandys/default.aspx | Twitter @JasonSandys