Use this procedure to capture an operating system image from a reference computer by using capture media. Follow these steps to ensure the reference computer meets the requirements for a reference computer, to create media to capture the operating system image, and then to capture and add the new operating system image.

Note
Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 supports capturing a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 operating system installed on a reference computer in which the system partition and boot partition are not on the same partition; for example, BitLocker partition support. This procedure does not capture and re-create the partition configuration itself. This scenario includes capture of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. By default, Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 install on two partitions.
Important
Do not capture an image of a Configuration Manager 2007 site system. You must have administrative credentials on the reference computer to capture an image.

How to Capture an Image from a Reference Computer Manually

  1. To build the reference computer, the reference computer must meet the following requirements:

    1. The computer must be a member of a workgroup.

    2. The local Administrator password must be blank.

    3. Logon does not require a strong password (with letters, digits, special characters, such as %$* and others, or require a minimum length) in the local system policy.

  2. In the Configuration Manager Console, navigate to System Center Configuration Manager / Site Database / Computer Management / Operating System Deployment / Task Sequences. Right-click Task Sequences, and then click Create Task Sequence Media. The Create Task Sequence Media wizard opens. Select Capture Media. For more information, see Task Sequence Media Wizard.

  3. On the Media Type page, specify the type of media that you want to use for the capture media. You can specify a USB flash drive, CD, or DVD as the media type. If you specify a USB flash drive, make sure that the device is connected to the computer so that the necessary files can be written directly to the device.

  4. To specify the Media file, first click Browse, browse to the location where you want to create the media file, and then type the name of the media file to be created. For CD and DVD media, the capture media .iso file that is created will be written to the specified location. The .iso image will be copied to the media later. USB files can be written directly to the USB device.

  5. Select the boot image that should be associated with the media. Click Browse to specify the computer architecture to be targeted with the captured image in the Select a Boot Image dialog box. Boot images must be available on one or more distribution points. For more information about distributing boot images, see Manage Distribution Points (Operating System Deployment). To specify the distribution point that contains the specified boot image, select a distribution point from the list of available distribution points, and then click OK.

    Note
    The boot image that you selected must have an architecture (x86 or x64) that will run on the reference computer hardware.

  6. For CD and DVD media, use an appropriate software application to create a bootable CD or bootable DVD that contains the .iso file.

  7. Boot the computer into the full operating system and insert the capture media, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive.

    Note
    For all supported operating systems before Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, the Sysprep folder (%SystemDrive%\Sysprep) must be present on the computer before you start the capture CD. This folder must contain correctly configured Sysprep.exe, Setupcl.exe, and Factory.exe files.

  8. Run the Image Capture Wizard and identify the location where you want to store the captured image.

  9. After the image capture is completed, add the captured image to Configuration Manager 2007 as an image package:

    1. Navigate to System Center Configuration Manager / Site Database / Computer Management / Operating System Deployment / Operating System Images. Right-click Operating System Images, and then click Add Operating System Image to start the Add Operating System Image wizard.

    2. Complete the wizard to add the operating system image. For more information, see Add Operating System Image Wizard. The image can then be deployed on target computers by using operating system deployment.

See Also