Along with the release of Windows 8 & Server 2012, Microsoft introduced a new command line switch for generalizing Virtual Hard Disks (VHD) . This new command switch is the ” /mode:vm “.
Before we create/or properly configure a cloned guest vm we need to run the following commands from an elevated command prompt.
- Navigate to c:\windows\system32\syprep directory.
- Run the commnad “sysprep /generalize /oobe /mode:vm /shutdown” ( using this command your system will reset its SID, shutdown the system and it will be flagged to start in OOBE mode during the next powercycle ).
- Optionally the command above can be used with the /unattend switch along with an answer file in order to automate the sysprep process according to our needs ( for example set regional settings, account, Time Zone, set license key ).
Additional information can be found in the links below:
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825033.aspx
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh824849.aspx.
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