Preserving OEM Activation In Sysprep?

drfsupercenter

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Power User
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Hi guys,

I just got a job as an IT assistant and one of my first projects was to make a deployment image of both Windows XP and Windows 7.

I did a bit of reading into the "Sysprep" tool, and actually did make a successful image, the problem is that it asks for a serial number each time.

Our computers are Dell workstations that come with Windows 7 on them already, pre-activated, so this doesn't really work.

What I did for our XP workstations was this:
Preserving OEM Pre-Activation when Re-installing Windows XP
That worked like a charm. I have it set up to automatically connect to the domain, and everything, all the user has to fill in is their name and the name of the PC.

Is there something similar for Windows 7? I'm assuming Microsoft is not going to just hand out serial numbers like that until 7 is EOL like XP is, but is there some other way to do it? Provided I have the pre-activated one installed, can I have it not deactivate or prompt for a serial number upon running Sysprep?
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
MSI
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate and Ubuntu 9.04
CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad
Memory
4GB DDR3 RAM
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GTS 160M (1GB GPU)
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
500GB SATA

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP Pavilion Elite 495UK
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
CPU
Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
Motherboard
MSI 2A9C (CPU1)
Memory
8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz
Graphics Card(s)
nVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Monitor(s) Displays
HP2310i
Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1x1954GB Hitachi HDS22020ALA 330 (RAID), 1x1954GB Hitachi External for backup and storage
PSU
460W
Case
HP Elite
Cooling
Air cooled
Keyboard
Logitech K750 solar-powered keyboard
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M180 mouse
Internet Speed
2Mb
Other Info
Pure Avanti Flow Internet Radio with iPod Dock, 64Gb iPod, HP USB Speakers, Sony MDR-V500 Headphones, Sony Vaio F-Series Laptop
Saw that already. Unfortunately doesn't specify if there's a serial you need to use or what.
 

My Computer

Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
MSI
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate and Ubuntu 9.04
CPU
Intel Core 2 Quad
Memory
4GB DDR3 RAM
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GTS 160M (1GB GPU)
Sound Card
Realtek HD Audio
Screen Resolution
1680x1050
Hard Drives
500GB SATA
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