Compaq 6000 - ProLiant - 128 MB RAM, 8000 - Elite Convertible Minitower PC, dc7900 - Convertible Minitower PC User Manual
Developing a common software image
for the HP dc7900, 8000 Elite, and
6000 Pro desktop models
November 2009
Table of Contents:
Introduction ........................................................................................................ 2
Windows Licensing Notice ............................................................................... 3
Definition of Terms .......................................................................................... 3
Advantages of a Common Image ..................................................................... 4
Limitations of a Common Image ....................................................................... 4
Choosing a Base Image ....................................................................................... 5
Customizing the Image ........................................................................................ 5
Removing Preinstalled Software ....................................................................... 5
Adding software ............................................................................................. 5
Matrix of Common Hardware .......................................................................... 6
Additional customization ................................................................................. 8
Obtaining drivers for the product family .............................................................. 8
Pooling the drivers on the reference machine (Windows XP) ........................... 10
Extending the process (Windows XP) .................................................................. 10
Extending hardware support in the image...................................................... 10
Supporting non-bundled hardware devices .................................................... 10
Supporting setup.exe installations .................................................................. 11
Using SYSPREP.exe ....................................................................................... 11
Creating SYSPREP.inf ..................................................................................... 11
Required SYSPREP.inf settings for Windows XP ...................................... 11
cmdlines.txt .................................................................................................. 13
oobeinfo.ini (Windows XP) ............................................................................ 13
Running SYSPREP (Windows XP) .................................................................... 13
Creating a Common Image for Windows Vista / Windows 7 .............................. 14
Example SYSPREP.xml (
Frequently asked questions ................................................................................ 19
unattend.xml
) Answer file .......................................... 16
Summary .......................................................................................................... 21
Appendix A: Sample Answer Files ..................................................................... 22
Windows XP sysprep.inf ................................................................................ 22
Cmdlines.txt .................................................................................................. 23
Oobeinfo.ini ................................................................................................. 23
Introduction
The goal of this document is to guide IT professionals through the process of
creating a Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 image that can
be deployed across the various platforms within an HP product family; specifically
the dc7900, 8000 Elite, and 6000 Pro platforms. Due to the high level of testing
and qualification that goes into the image preinstalled on HP products; HP
recommends the following:
The assumption is an image for the dc7900 already exists.
Begin with the dc7900 preinstalled image as a base on which to build a
customized common image.
If the pre-install image has been modified since delivery, use the provided
―RestoreCD Plus!‖ (Windows XP) or ―RestoreDVD Plus‖ (Windows Vista /
Windows 7) solution to restore the factory image to the hard drive. In addition,
if the operating system is Windows Vista or Windows 7, the product family
may support an F11 feature that will also restore the factory image to the hard
drive.
If the first two options are not possible or preferable, a clean installation may
be performed using the method and media of choice.
This white paper will not guide you through this process of creating a new
operating system installation; instead, you should refer to Microsoft documentation
obtained through appropriate channels. This information can be obtained from the
appropriate Microsoft Windows operating system Resource Kit, Microsoft‘s website,
or other Microsoft subscriptions.
This document will not cover image capture, deployment, or management. Due to
the high number of infrastructures available for these processes, it will be left to
each customer to decide, research, and implement these portions of the imaging
process.
With Windows Vista, Microsoft delivered a set of tools to update images without
having to install them. Below is a synopsis of the changes for Windows 7.
ImageX allows multiple images to be modified simultaneously. The Windows
Imaging API (WIMGAPI) is still available and is included in every Windows 7
edition.
DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management) is the consolidation of
the offline management tools (including pkgmgr.exe and intlcfg.exe) into a
single tool, known as DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management).
DISM supports logging, inventory commands, offline INF driver package
installation, direct application of MS update packages, international settings,
and PEImg support for WinPE.
Search www.microsoft.com for the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK).
The WAIK autorun page contains links to the other Application Compatibility
and Deployment toolkits.
Windows Licensing Notice
This document does not provide a license to create and/or distribute an operating
system image. This document is intended to be a technical resource for those who
have the proper license to deploy Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista, or
Windows 7 operating systems.
The operating system license shipped with HP PC‘s does not grant re-imaging and
deployment rights. Before using the document to deploy an image, please contact
your Microsoft licensing representative to obtain the proper license agreements. HP
cannot be held liable if a customer uses this document to create or deploy an
image that violates Microsoft license agreements.
Definition of Terms
This document will detail processes that use the following terms.
Product Family—A product family is defined as a set of form-factor types within
a numerically-defined series. For example, the dc7900 product family consists of
the convertible mini-tower, small form factor, and ultra-small form factor. While the
ultra-small form factor machines are considered to be within a product family, their
size could dictate some hardware differences including possible chipset
components. These differences in hardware components do not negate the
possibility of a common image; however, they do add risk and complexity.
Common Image—For the purposes of this paper, a ―Common Image‖ is defined
as an operating system image that works across multiple hardware platforms such
as the dc7900, 8000 Elite and 6000 Pro products.
Identical Image—An ―Identical Image‖ is an operating system image that is
deployed across machines of a single product line, all using the exact same
hardware options, or configuration. If you are creating an ―Identical Image‖, you
can disregard the section entitled ―obtaining drivers for the product family‖.
Driver Support—Driver support in a common image includes the functionality
that can be obtained via an INF-based install of the driver by the operating system.
This includes device recognition and basic functionality; however, any functionality
that is normally achieved by running a setup program will not be available. For
information on adding setup application processing, please see the section entitled
―extending the process‖.
Reference Machine—The Reference Machine is the term used to describe the
system that is being used to perform work to pool drivers, customize software and
set OS options and parameters. This will be the machine from which the image is
captured.
ImageX—This is a Microsoft command-line tool for capturing, servicing, and
applying Windows Imaging Format (WIM) files, which are file-based Windows disk
images used by Windows Vista. This, in addition to other tools documentation and
samples to enable the IT professional to perform automated deployment of the
Windows Vista or Windows 7operating system, is available in the Microsoft
Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) which can be downloaded from the
Microsoft Download Center as a free download.
SYSPREP (System preparation tool)—This is a Microsoft tool that prepares the
operating system for imaging. This tool must be run before imaging a system and
then deploying that image.
SYSPREP.exe can be found on your operating system CD obtained either from HP or
Microsoft. SYSPREP, as well as other useful documentation and tools, is contained in
the named deploy.cab, located in the support\tools directory for Windows XP.
SYSPREP is located in the SYSPREP folder at %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\SYSPREP
for Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Advantages of a Common Image
Creating a common image has several advantages.
Image reduction – By creating a product family-based common image, image
management becomes easier because the number of images that require
management is reduced.
Image validation – By using the image preinstalled by HP, you will start with an
image that has already undergone extensive testing and validation with the
hardware on which it will be deployed. This will save considerable testing
resources in your environment. In addition, using the HP image as a base will
bypass the Microsoft Windows Activation process that requires each user to
activate their copy of Windows (Activation is only required in Windows XP,
Windows Vista and Windows 7).
Operating System-controlled driver installation – By implementing the .inf file-
based driver installation method outlined in this white paper, it is assured that
hardware will be installed in the most optimal manner possible.
Limitations of a Common Image
While the use of a common image can be extremely advantageous, it is not without
caveats. Creating a common image causes a shift in the support liability from the
PC OEM back to the organization creating the common image.
It is also very important to be aware of the operating system license as well as
licensed applications that are part of the common image. Royalty-based
applications typically have strict guidelines surrounding deployment and usage. For
example, devices such as DVD have strict distribution restrictions regarding how
DVD software is distributed.
Please contact your Microsoft licensing representative for the proper operating
system license.
Choosing a Base Image
As mentioned previously, it is recommended by HP to begin with the factory
preinstalled image as a ―base‖ for the common image. If the file system type or the
partition structure is not desirable, HP recommends that you still use the factory
preinstalled image to build the common image. File system and partitioning can be
customized during the image load phase of the deployment process.
If the preinstalled image is modified and the operating system is Windows Vista or
Windows 7 on a reference PC that supports the F11 restore-feature, a clean factory
preinstalled image can be restored by rebooting the PC and pressing F11 at the
start of the reboot. After pressing the ―NEXT‖ button, check the ―Recover the factory
installed operating system, drivers and applications‖ option and accept the default
prompts. The ―HP Backup and Recovery Manager‖ PC Recovery will restore the
factory preinstalled image to the system.
If the factory preinstalled image has already been removed from the hard drive,
you may restore that image using the RestoreCD Plus! (Windows XP) or RestoreDVD
Plus! (Windows Vista / Windows 7) recovery media using the associated
RestorePlus documentation included with the computer.
Finally, you may choose to forgo both of these options in favor of a ―clean‖
installation directly from operating system media. You should reference Microsoft
Corporate Deployment documentation in order to build the base image, and then
continue with the next section of this document to build a common image.
Customizing the Image
There are several steps you may take to customize an operating system image
before capturing and deploying that image.
Removing Preinstalled Software
HP pre-installs several applications and software packages that provide additional
value to customers. If you do not want to include some of these applications in the
common image, they can be removed by using the Add or Remove Programs utility,
located in the Control Panel.
Note:
You may notice that software marked as a ―Hotfix‖ cannot
be removed. This is by design and is intended to ensure
that you have the latest fixes and security updates from
Microsoft at the time the system was shipped. HP
recommends that you do not uninstall these updates. In
addition, any operating system Service Packs preinstalled
by HP cannot be removed.
Adding software
Please refer to the documentation provided by software vendors on a case-by-case
basis for installing additional, non-HP provided software on the image.
Integrated
Add-On Options
dc7900
8000 Elite
6000 Pro
Audio
ADI AD1884A HD
Audio
X
Realtek ALC261 HD
Audio
X
X
TV Tuner
HP TV Tuner (North
America) Mini PCIe or
PCIe based on form factor
X X
LAN, Wireless, Modem
Intel GbE Network
Connection
X X
Intel 82567LM GbE
NIC
X
Broadcom NetXtreme GbE
Ethernet NIC Card
X
Broadcom NetXtreme GbE
Plus DASH 1.1 NIC
X
Broadcom NetXtreme GbE
Ethernet Plus PCIe
X
Intel Pro 1000 CT GbE NIC
X X X
LSI Hi-Speed 56K Int'l
SoftModem PCIe Card
X X
X
HP Wireless NIC
802.11b/g/n PCIe
X X X
Intel WiFi Link 5100
a/b/g/n Mini PCI NIC
Card
X X
Matrix of Common Hardware
Integrated
Add-On Options
dc7900
8000 Elite
6000 Pro
Graphics
Intel Graphics Media
Accelerator 4500
X
Intel Graphics Media
Accelerator 4500HD
X
X
ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT
(256MB DH) PCIe x16
Card
X
ATI Radeon HD 3470
(256MB SH) PCIe x16
Graphics Card
X X
ATI Radeon HD 3650
(512MB DH) PCIe x16
Card
X
ATI Radeon HD 4550
X X X
ATI Radeon HD 4650 DP
X X
ATI Radeon HD 4650 DP
(1GB) DH PCIe
X
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 290
256MB PCIe x16 VGA
Card
X X X
NVIDIA Quadro NVS 295
Graphics Card 256MB DH
PCIe
X X X
NVidia GeForce 310 DP
(512MB)
X X
Integrated
Add-On Options
dc7900
8000 Elite
6000 Pro
Security /
Manageability
Trusted Platform
Module
X X
Infineon 1.2 TPM
X
Intel(R) AMT LMS_SOL
for AMT 5.xx
X X
X
Intel Active Client
Manager HECI Device
X X
X
Intel Mgmt agent for
vPro CPUs only
dc7900
X
Additional customization
At this time, any additional customizations should be applied. Typical examples are
applying a custom wallpaper or desktop theme, changing power profile settings,
setting device options, etc.
Obtaining drivers for the product family
There are three ways to obtain drivers for an entire product family.
From the RestoreCD Plus! (Windows XP) or Restore DVD Plus! (Windows Vista /
Windows 7) provided with the reference system. The Restore CD/DVD has the
advantage of containing all drivers in one place. In addition, all of the drivers
are packaged in a manner that is very cohesive with the image deployment
process. However, the Restore CD/DVD usually does not contain the very latest
versions of all drivers. Rather, it contains the versions of the drivers that shipped
from the factory release of the product. To get the latest versions of the driver,
please see one of the other options below. Please note that the contents of the
Restore CD/DVD are typically compressed in cabinet, or ‗cab‘ format. There
are several tools available to uncompress this format including ‗expand.exe‘,
which is included in the ―%windir%\system32‖ directory. After gathering
drivers from the Restore CD/DVD, all extracted files must be expanded prior to
use within the common image scenario.
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