So you have installed and created a Windows Server 2008 installation, and now want to standardize it and create an image of it so that you can install it to other machines or in a virtual environment. With Windows 2008 Server, it is easier now. The Sysprep.exe application is now included with the installation. You can locate the file in the ‘C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\’ folder.
To create a sysprep image of your server:
1. Go to the Sysprep folder
cd c:\windows\system32\sysprep
2. Type in ‘sysprep’ to run the GUI version
3. Choose the Out-of-box-Experience option (OOBE) and check the ‘Generalize’ checkbox
4. If you are going to have the image in a virtualize environment, you might want to change the shutdown option to ‘quit’
* You can also type in all the commands with the command prompt
e.g. sysprep /OOBE /Generalize /shutdown
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