Windows 7 - Windows 7 Sysprep time zone

jjason01 · 01-27-2011

So I have about 800 pc's that we are deploying and going to image with Windows 7 Pro 32bit. I have only used Windows 7 sysprep a few times and have been working on getting a new answer file working on it.

I have also everything working the way I want to. The only screen I want the user to be prompted for is the computer name screen. Right now it asks for the computer name like it should but also comes up with the time and timezone screen with the correct info so I have to click next.

Has anyone seen this? I have made sure to put in the correct time zone info and everything but it keeps coming up with the time zone page.

Any help would be great!

pparks1 · 01-27-2011

This is how the block looks in my Autounattend.xml file, this is right from the top of the file.

Quote:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<unattend xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:unattend">
<settings pass="oobeSystem">
<component name="Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup" processorArchitecture="amd64" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:wcm="http://schemas.microsoft.com/WMIConfig/2002/State" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<OOBE>
<HideEULAPage>true</HideEULAPage>
<ProtectYourPC>1</ProtectYourPC>
<NetworkLocation>Work</NetworkLocation>
</OOBE>
<TimeZone>Eastern Standard Time</TimeZone>
</component>
</settings>

jjason01 · 01-27-2011

Perfect thanks. I changed mine to eastern standard time and it worked. I will set it to mountain standard time like I need it and try it. I think I just put in the wrong name for the time zone. Thanks for your help!!

pparks1 · 01-27-2011

Yeah, i've chased down typos in Autoattend.xml before for work deployments. Sometimes you think you actually spend more time automating these tasks then they save you. But like you said, you are doing 800 installs...you don't want to click through all of the screens over and over and over again.

Glad I could help.

jjason01 · 01-27-2011

So pparks1 so you know if you can use sysprep in Win 7 to join a domain but without having a username and password in the xml file. To have it prompt the user for log in info?

pparks1 · 01-27-2011

I'm not aware of any way to join the domain during the autounattend.xml without providing clear text passwords. My only suggestion here is to create a user with just enough rights to join a user to the domain and use this during the rollout. Disable it when not in use. Or change it often and just modify the autounattend.xml to reflect the new credentials. I've read a few times online that you can use WISM and encrypt the password...but I've not had it work for me.

I almost always leave adding the computer to the domain as a manual task. This way I can create the objects in the appropriate OU's first and then just join them later.

Windows 7 - Windows 7 Sysprep time zone

Windows 7 Sysprep time zone problems?