Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008

  1. Install the operating system from the original product media. The reference machine must be capable of running the operating system you are installing. Make sure the reference machine is using DHCP.

    Caution: Store the OS on the C: drive. It is the only drive that will be captured.

    Customize the OS as necessary. This may include installing a set of basic or required applications. Be sure to include the latest service packs for the OS and applications and all required drivers for the devices to which you will deploy the image.

    Note: Installing the HPCA agent on the reference machine is not recommended. When the OS is deployed, the HPCA agent will be installed (or upgraded, if it is already installed).

  2. Configure the BIOS power management so that the device does not power down after a few minutes of keyboard or mouse inactivity before the upload process to the HPCA Server is finished.
  3. Turn off User Access Control.
  4. Keep the file system as small as possible which will minimize the size of the .WIM file.

    Caution: To successfully capture an image using the Windows Setup deployment method, you must have sufficient free disk space in the OS partition on the reference machine. For example, to capture a 7 GByte image, you will need 50-60 GByte of free disk space.

    Note: For Windows operating system before Windows 7, HP supports deploying the image to the primary boot partition of the primary boot drive.

    1. Delete unnecessary files and directories from the files system.
    2. Turn off System Restore.
  5. As part of the capturing process for Vista and Windows Server 2008, the system will be set up to boot into Capture mode if it reboots from the local disk. There is no need to have ImageCapture media present on CD/DVD or the network.


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