Sysprep Computer Name Serial Number
IntroductionWhen doing sysprep on a Windows XP disk image, the answer file Sysprep.inf is very limited. It cannot let you check computer model and use specific settings. Now new dual-core computers are getting popular. However, Sysprep cannot intelligently select the right hardware abstraction layer (HAL) nor allow users to configure a HAL by the computer model.To solve this problem, we have to look at how a Sysprep'ed image set up. During setup, Preinstallation Environment (PE) is loaded first, and then PE runs the command line at the Registry HKLMSYSTEMSetupCmdLine to start the setup process. The command line for Mini-Setup is 'setup.exe -newsetup -mini'. What we can do is to change the command line to execute our own setup and then our own setup executes the original Setup.exe.Most of settings in Sysprep.inf are read and used in Mini-Setup. During execution of our own setup, we can modify Sysprep.inf before Mini-Setup touches it. Updating HAL is one of things Mini-Setup does. With the information form computer's SMBIOS and CPU, we can put a proper HAL setting to Sysprep.inf.
UsageMySysprep consists of only one executable MySysprep.exe. It should be placed in Sysprep directory along with Sysprep.exe. MySysprep.exe can be used as a replacement for Sysprep.exe. MySysprep.exe eventually will invoke Sysprep.exe and pass on all command arguments. Basically, if you run MySysprep.exe to reseal an image with Mini-Setup. MySysprep.exe installs an executable MySetup.exe into the system directory, executes Sysprep.exe, and when Sysprep.exe exits, it changes the Registry key HKLMSYSTEMSetupCmdLine to use MySetup.exe. Sysprep.Inf MergingMySysprep can merge manufacturer, model, serial number specific settings into Sysprep.inf. To enable this feature, you need to have a file named MySysprep.inf, which may contain three sections ManufacturerModel, and SerialNo.
Sysprep Computer Name Serial Number Lookup
If MySysprep find an entry under those sections, which matches the manufacturer, model, or serial number in SMBIOS, the anser file specified in that entry will be merged into Sysprep.inf.