I wanted to share this information with everyone and hope it helps someone out...at least one person that might be having issues with capturing an image correctly...or a step that will help.
NOTE: This is for my current environment and some might not be of use and can be discarded. ;) And some of this might even be wrong in the end, so you can correct me if you want. It just seems to work for our environment. I will be creating a How To Deploy An Image as well next week if anyone likes this. ;)
How to Capture an Image
1. Update PC
a. Software, Windows Updates, Java, Flash, Chrome, Etc.)
2. Turn Off Windows Updates
3. Delete user profiles that aren’t needed
a. Ex: Domain user profiles
4. Open up registry and make sure no domain user SID’s are still present
a. Location: HKLM>Software>Microsoft>WindowsNT>CurrentVersion>ProfileList; or
b. Open up registry > Click on Favorites > Click on Profile List
c. SID’s are the longer ones and you can tell which user it is by looking at the ProfileImagePath
5. Open up registry and make sure the following changes are done
a. Sysprep:
i. CleanupState: 2 (Might not have changed)
ii. GeneralizationState: 7 (Usually always change)
iii. Location: HKLM\System\Setup\Status\SysprepStatus; or
iv. Open up registry > Click on Favorites > Click on SysprepStatus
b. SoftwareProtectionPlatform
i. SkipRearm: 1 (Usually always change)
ii. Location: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\SoftwareProtectionPlatform; or
c. Open up registry > Click on Favorites > Click on SoftwareProtectionPlatform
6. Delete ALL contents in Panther folder
a. Location: C:\Windows\Panther
7. Delete ALL contents in Panther folder
a. Location: C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\Panther
8. Delete unattend.xml file
a. Location: C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\
9. Run CCleaner to delete all temp files, internet history, and items in recycle bin
10. Log into SERVERNAME (Altiris server) and make sure there is enough space to capture an image.
a. Minimum: 150GB if possible
b. Image storage location: E:\Deployment\Task Handler\image
c. UNC path location: \\SERVERNAME\deployment\Task Handler\image
11. If PC is FRESH and NEVER has been captured, you MUST install the Symantec Management Agent.
a. Location: Symantect Management Console>Actions>Agents/Plug-ins>Push Symantec Management Agent
12. If PC is FRESH and NEVER has been captured, you MUST make sure ALL three plugins are installed on the PC.
a. Location: Symantect Management Console>Settings>All Settings>Agents/Plug-ins>Deployment and Migration>Windows (x86) or Windows (x64) depending on OS
b. Deployment Automation Folder for Windows (x86) – Install
c. Deployment Plug-in for Windows (x86) – Install
d. Deployment Site Server Components (x86) – Install
13. If PC is NOT fresh and HAS been captured before, you will not need to do the above mentioned. It should have already been done.
14. Install Preboot drivers if not already installed (Most likely will be)
a. Location: Settings>Deployment>Driver Management> Preboot tab>Add>Add network driver from location
15. Log into Symantec Management Console
16. Click on Manage>Jobs and Tasks> Capture-Windows 7 (Or whatever the name is of the Client Job)>Capture Windows 7 Image (Or whatever the name is of the task)
17. These are the following that HAVE to be on the Task
a. Run “Sysprep”
b. Run “Create Image”
c. Run “Reboot to Production”
18. Open: Run “Sysprep”
a. Make sure OS type is correct
b. Make sure Product key is correct
i. Can use “Current Key”
c. Make sure to click “Save Changes” if any changes were done
d. Click on upper-right “X” to close the box
19. Open: Run “Create Image”
a. Rename the Image Name...this reduces confusion when trying to deploy an image
b. Imaging tool: Ghost
c. Image Type: Disk Image
d. Click Advanced: Defaults should be okay
e. Make sure to click “Save Changes” if any changes were done
f. Click on upper-right “X” to close the box
20. Open: Run “Reboot to Production”
a. Make sure “Production” is selected
b. Make sure to click “Save Changes” if any changes were done
c. Click on upper-right “X” to close the box
21. Make sure ALL 4 services are running. If not, make sure to start them in this EXACT order.
a. _Symantec_netBoot_Interface
b. _Symantec_netBoot_Server
c. _Symantec_netBoot_NSiSignal
d. _Symantec_netBoot_Mtftp
22. Once all settings are confirmed, it is time to actually capture the PC image.
23. Make sure PC is ON and local admin signed into the PC.
24. Go back to the Symantec Management Console and go back to task to capture image.
25. Right click on name (ex: Capture Windows 7 Image) and click “Schedule”
26. Leave “Now” selected or schedule a time.
27. Under “Quick Add”...type in current PC name and click “Add”
28. Click “Schedule” after confirming PC name is correct.
29. PC will begin to sysprep, which shouldn’t take any more than 5 minutes or so.
30. PC will reboot AUTOMATICALLY. If PC does NOT reboot automatically, something is wrong and image will NOT deploy correctly. Time is usually between 5-10 minutes.
a. Sysprep Log location: C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\Panther\setuperr.txt
31. If PC rebooted automatically, task should start and PC should pull drivers and image should begin to capture.
32. PC will reboot back to normal afterwards.
33. Confirm PC image was captured successfully by checking the image folder location and check the folder to see if the .gho image is in there.