All in all, it can reduce the cost of providing technical support significantly and simplify ongoing maintenance for the IT department. They can also test the configurations for all employees whenever changes are made through a privileged audit mode. It also enables generating new SIDs and other characteristics so that the Windows image can function on other PCs.īy deploying a single generic image, administrators can save time and conveniently set up and maintain thousands of PCs with similar configurations, business-specific applications and necessary drivers. It removes SIDs and other PC-specific information and driver cache to create a generic Windows OS image that can be deployed across thousands of PCs.

Sysprep is Microsoft’s utility for generalizing a Windows image so that it can be used by multiple PCs simultaneously. And that is exactly what you use Sysprep in Windows 10 for. Generalization means removing any computer-specific information from the image before deploying it to other computers. Therefore, before deploying a Windows image on another computer, it must undergo a process called generalization. For example, Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) uses the SID to identify each computer and cannot recognize multiple computers sharing a SID, making it hard for administrators to manage updates and hotfixes. This disk image cannot be deployed across other computers operating in your organization’s internal network without causing problems. But when you create a disk image, identifiers that are unique to each installation, such as the SID and Internet Protocol (IP) address, are replicated as well. To clone the same Windows OS on multiple computers within your organization, you can create a disk image of the original installation and deploy it to other PCs. What Is Sysprep in Windows 10 Used for?įor each Windows installation, the OS assigns a unique system or security identifier (SID) to the particular computer.

Learn how to use Sysprep to deploy multiple Windows 10 desktops and virtual machines the smart way. This is done through the Windows System Preparation Tool, or Sysprep. But before cloning a Windows installation, any unique identifiers, such as the system ID (SID), must be removed. This can be done by creating a Windows image of a customized installation and deploying it across multiple PCs. Businesses need to replicate similar configurations of the Windows OS for hundreds and even thousands of employees.

Sysprep windows 10