How to create your own Windows assembly using NTLite. How to use NTLite to create your own Windows assembly Creating windows 7 assemblies

Today Windows 7 is the main corporate system, de facto, taking over from Windows XP. Therefore, for the system administrator, the issue of its deployment is relevant, but since the last official image was built quite a long time ago, the systems installed with its help require a fairly large number of updates. You can avoid this if you compile your own distribution kit containing all the current system updates. We will tell you how to do this in this article.

There are two ways to get an up-to-date distribution of Windows 7: integrating updates directly into the image, and using a reference system to download and install updates.

The first method is easier and faster, but it has a serious drawback - you need to download all the necessary updates. And this, even with a list, is quite difficult to do. At the same time, there are already downloaded update kits on the network, but we do not recommend using them, since installing system components from unverified sources is a very bad idea. At the very least, you can get an unstable system due to an untested or incompatible set of updates, and in the worst case, you can easily get unwanted or malware.

Using the reference system allows you to get all the necessary updates in automatic mode, install them, check the operation of the system, and only then proceed to creating the distribution kit. Therefore, we will consider this particular method.

Creating a reference system

For these purposes, we recommend using a virtual machine in which we will create a guest system for Windows 7 and install the OS version for which we will create the distribution kit. If you need to create distributions for several versions or bit depths, you will also need several reference systems.

When the installation is complete, take your time, when the welcome screen appears, click CTRL+ SHIFT+ F3

This will reboot the system into audit mode, if you managed to create a user and log in, then run the command on behalf of the Administrator:

C: \ Windows \ System32 \ sysprep \ sysprep / audit / reboot

When loaded in audit mode, the utility starts automatically Sysprep, we close this window, we do not need it now.

It should be remembered that the system put into audit mode will continue to boot into it until we start again Sysprep and we will not change the regime. After loading, open Windows Update and search for and install updates.

Important! On May 17, 2016 Microsoft released a cumulative update package for Windows 7 SP1 KB3125574, which includes updates from the release of SP1 to April 2016, in order to reduce the amount of downloaded updates, we recommend downloading and installing this package manually. To install it, you need update KB3020369.

We reboot and again search for and install updates. Reboot and repeat this operation again until the system installs all available updates.

If your goal was only to integrate all the latest updates into the distribution kit, then you can end there. However, the audit mode allows you to install a variety of software, which will also be included in the distribution. This is widely used by OEMs, we think everyone has come across distributions (usually on laptops) containing, in addition to OC, a different amount of software of dubious utility.

Therefore, no one bothers us to include the necessary software in our distribution kit so as not to waste time on its subsequent installation. We usually limit ourselves to the "gentleman's set": archiver, Adobe Reader, Java, Silverlight. You can include in it the entire set of necessary software, including an office suite and other software. You should not include in the image programs that install their own drivers and the actual device drivers, since all third-party drivers will be removed at the stage of preparing the system for capturing the image. Also, you should not activate the software, this information will also be lost.

After completing the preparation of the reference system, we will delete all the files we downloaded and unnecessary software (if any), special attention should be paid to cleaning the system from copies of update files, for this use the tool Disk cleanup:

Important! After cleaning be sure to reboot system to complete work with updates, otherwise you risk getting a broken image.

Now let's prepare it for capturing an image using the utility Sysprep:

C: \ Windows \ system32 \ sysprep \ sysprep / oobe / generalize / shutdown

Let's analyze the utility keys in more detail:

oobe- starts the computer in the welcome screen mode. The Windows Welcome screen allows end users to customize their operating Windows system, create new accounts, rename your computer, and more.
generalize- prepares the Windows installation before imaging. If this parameter is specified, all unique system information is removed from the Windows installation. The security identifier (SID) is cleared, system restore points are reset, and event logs are deleted.
shutdown - shuts down the computer after Sysprep finishes.

After completing the necessary actions, the system will shut down. You cannot enable it before the image is captured. This completes the work with the reference system and proceeds to create our own distribution kit based on it.

Creating your own distribution

For further work, we need a workstation for Windows control 7 with installed package automatic installation Windows (WAIK)... The bit size and version of the system do not play any role.

Installing WAIK should be straightforward and is done with the default settings.

Now let's prepare the image Windows PE to capture an image of the reference system. The bitness of WinPE must match the bitness of the reference system.

Let's open Start - All Programs - Microsoft Windows AIK - Deployment Tools Command Line and execute the command for 32-bit systems:

Copype.cmd x86 e: \ win_pe

or for 64-bit ones:

Copype.cmd amd64 e: \ win_pe

where e: \ win_pe desired location of the image folder. There is no need to create the folder first, since in this case you will receive an error that the folder already exists.

Now let's go to the destination folder and copy the file winpe.wim to folder ISO \ sources and rename it to boot.wim... Then copy to the folder ISO from folder C: \ Program Files \ Windows AIK \ Tools \ amd64 or C: \ Program Files \ Windows AIK \ Tools \ x86, depending on the bit depth, the file imagex.exe.

Then in Deployment Tools Command Line let's give the following command:

Oscdimg -n -be: \ win_pe \ etfsboot.com e: \ win_pe \ ISO e: \ win_pe \ winpe.iso

The result of the command will be an image winpe.iso from which to boot the reference system.

If you did not perform additional disk partitioning on the reference system, the capture partition will have the letter D:, a boot disk E:, just in case we check with the command dir.

Now let's start capturing the image, since the image is created on a file-by-file basis, it can be saved to the same partition. Let's enter the following command:

E: \ imagex / capture d: d: \ install.wim "Win7_ULT_x64" / compress maximum / boot / verify

Specify capture disk as parameters D: and save it to image D: \ install.wim, in quotes we indicate our own name of the image, we also set the maximum compression, the ability to download and check the created image. After that we can go for a coffee, this operation takes about half an hour on average.

We reboot the reference system into normal mode and copy the created image to a PC with WAIK installed. Let's go to e: \ win_pe and clear the ISO folder, then copy the contents of the original Windows 7 disk there, which we used to install the reference system.

Then we will replace the file install.wim in folder sources to the image we have captured. Now you can start building your own ISO image by running the command:

Oscdimg -u2 -m -o -lWIN7ULTx64 -be: \ win_pe \ etfsboot.com e: \ win_pe \ iso e: \ win_pe \ Win7_ULT_x64.iso

Let's analyze the command keys in more detail:

u2-creates an image that only has a UDF file system.
m- removes restrictions on the size of the image.
o- replaces duplicate files with one copy, allows you to reduce the size of the image.
l- volume label, entered without spaces, optional parameter.
b- location boot file, also without spaces.

The image is assembled quite quickly, the only thing is that with a high degree of probability its size will exceed 4.7 GB and it will not be possible to burn it to a regular DVD disc. In this case, you can use double-layer DVD9 discs, but they are less common on the market and may not be supported by all drive models. In this case, you can split the distribution into two parts, each of which will fit on a standard-capacity DVD. You should also remember about the limitation of 32-bit systems that cannot work with wim images larger than 4 GB.

You can split the image with the following command:

Imagex / split e: \ win_pe \ install.wim e: \ win_pe \ install.swm 3000

This will create two or more swm file maximum size of 3000 MB. Then we will delete from the folder ISO \ sources install.wim and place install.swm there, after which we will build an image of the first disk:

Oscdimg -u2 -m -lWIN7ULTx64DVD1 -be: \ win_pe \ etfsboot.com e: \ win_pe \ iso e: \ win_pe \ Win7_ULT_x64_DVD1.iso

After that, delete install.swm and copy install2.swm to its place. It makes no sense to make the second disk bootable, so let's build it with a simpler command:

Oscdimg -u2 -m -lWIN7ULTx64DVD2 e: \ win_pe \ iso e: \ win_pe \ Win7_ULT_x64_DVD2.iso

Installation from a split image is carried out in the usual way, starting from the first disk; during operation, the installer itself will ask you to change the disk:

Thus, you do not have to worry about the size of the created image, especially if, in addition to updates, it is planned to include bulky software, for example, MS Office, etc. We also recommend that before proceeding to deploy workstations from the created distribution kit, thoroughly test its operation on a test system.

Today I want to talk about how to create your own Windows 8 installation image, with all installed updates, programs and user settings.

Using such an assembly automates the installation and configuration work of the system administrator. operating system... It is especially important for those cases when it is necessary to install a similar set of programs on a large number of computers. The guide will also be useful for those who just want to create their own installation image of Windows 8 with a set of programs and drivers used by him.

This guide touches on the preparation of such an assembly, creating a bootable USB flash drive and writing the resulting assembly to a USB flash drive. Also, the resulting image in the future, using Network Deployment Services (WDS), can be installed on any number of computers in the corporate network, but this is the topic of the next tutorial.

The text is designed for novice users, so sometimes the simplest things are explained and illustrated.

Resources

We will need the following artifacts along the way.

Windows 8 ISO installation disc image

I made my choice in favor of Windows 8 Enterprise x64.

Let me explain why. The Enterprise edition was chosen due to the maximum functionality that this edition provides.

But in principle, for home use it is possible to use the Professional edition, here at will.

Hardware platform x64. The choice of the 64-bit version of the system is due to several critical factors.
1. For a 32-bit system (x86), only 3.24 GB of address space is available random access memory... Today, 4 GB is not that much. And many new laptops and desktops are sold with 6GB or more memory. Therefore, the choice is unambiguous in favor of a 64-bit system, which does not have such restrictions. You can read more about the differences between editions of Windows 8 on the Microsoft website.

2. The resulting image is likely to be larger than 4GB. My installation image with a "gentleman" set of programs (including MS Office 2013) is 7.5 GB. When installing 32-bit Windows variant, if the size of the image is more than 4GB, an error will be generated. When using the 64-bit installation, there are no such problems. Those who want to create their own assembly based on a 32-bit Windows installation image, keep this fact in mind. In this case, the size of the deployed distribution with all installed programs should take approximately 12 GB, and then later, when it is compressed into the final installation image, its size will not be more than 4 GB.

VirtualBox Virtual Machine Manager

I use a virtual machine to install an initial system image and further configure programs, as this is the most convenient and fastest way that saves time.
VirutualBox can be downloaded from the official Oracle VM VirtualBox website.
The installation package of the Virtual Machine Manager itself, at the moment current version VirtualBox 4.2.12 for Windows hosts x86 / amd64
And optionally, you can download the VirtualBox 4.2.12 Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack All supported platforms

Imagex utility

Using this utility, we will create a final image of our assembly, suitable for installation on other computers.
This utility is part of the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 8 (abbreviated as WAIK for Windows eight). The kit takes up more than 2.5 GB.
In this case, we will only need the Imagex utility, you can download it from this link imagex.zip (~ 590 Kb)

RDS Boot KIT Constructor and Recovery DiskSuite

This is a very powerful constructor that allows you to create a bootable USB flash drive, on which you can simultaneously place various reanimators such as HirensBootCD, LiveCD, Kaspersky Rescue Disk, etc., as well as distributions of operating systems - WinXP, Win7 and Win8. The main thing is that there is enough space on the flash drive. It has no analogues at the moment neither in Runet, nor in the "decaying" west :).

Download required latest version the RDS Boot KIT constructor from the site http://disksuite.ru/ and, if desired, the Recovery DiskSuite set itself, which includes iso images of various reanimators and distributions. I prefer to use my own verified images, not the ones that come with Recovery DiskSuite.
Just in case, I give a link to the version of the constructor, the work with which is described in the RDS Boot KIT.zip manual.

Flash drive 8Gb and more

An 8Gb flash drive is the minimum, but here the rule applies - the more, the better. This volume, by the way, may not be enough if many programs are installed. I bought 32Gb, but now I understand that I needed 64Gb to fit more of my own assemblies of distributions of other versions of Windows.

~ 50Gb free space on HDD, at least

One of the advantages of using a virtual machine is that you can take snapshots of the state of the virtual machine and then revert to any of those snapshots. A kind of time machine. I took pictures after going through each step of creating my own assembly. And if he made a mistake somewhere, he returned to the previous picture and already did it without errors. But the price to pay for this convenience is the extra hard disk space required for snapshots.

If you download all full distributions, and do not skimp on snapshots of the virtual machine, then it is desirable to have about 100GB of free hard disk space.

Stages of work

1. Preparatory stage... Install and configure Virtual Machine Manager. Creation and configuration of the virtual machine itself;
2. Installing Windows on virtual machine and putting the Windows installation into audit mode;
3. Working in audit mode... At this stage, it is necessary to update the system, install and configure programs, the system and the user profile. After completing these steps, you should exit and from the audit mode and put Windows in the normal installation mode;
4. Preparing the target image own Windows installation assembly;
5. Recording your own installation build to a USB flash drive.

#1. Preparatory stage

1. Install VirutualBox by following the steps of the installation wizard. After installation, launch the virtual machine manager, go to the settings File-> Settings and configure in accordance with the following presentation:
(On this moment Slidershare is buggy, I give her a link to this presentation in GoogleDrive)
Configuring Virtual Machine Manager

First, we set the boot order by specifying the CD / DVD-ROM drive as the first device to look for a boot record and boot from.
Next, we connect the previously mentioned Windows 8 Enterprise x64 installation image to the CD / DVD-ROM drive of the virtual machine.
And on the third slide, we connect a flash drive to our virtual machine, which must first be connected to our main computer. In the future, we have to work with him from a virtual machine. Its name may differ from the one in the screenshot. It depends on the flash drive model.

2. Create a new virtual machine following the instructions of the wizard. The process of creating a VM and configuring its parameters can be seen in the next presentation.

Virtual machine creation settings

RAM must be allocated to a virtual machine depending on the amount of RAM available to the main system, the more we allocate, the faster the virtual machine will run. But it is advisable to leave at least 2GB of RAM to the main system. I have, for example, 12 GB, 6 GB I allocate to a virtual machine, 6 I leave to the main system.

# 2. Installing Windows

1. After creating the virtual machine, start it, Windows installation will start automatically, then during the installation process you need to select the parameters, as shown in the next presentation.

Installing Windows

After the files have been copied and the installation is complete, an automatic reboot will occur, a screen will appear initial setup systems (Personalization), where we need to choose the color of the design and the name of the computer.
Here it is advisable to create a snapshot of the virtual machine so that in the future we can return to this state at any time, or copy it to a new virtual machine so as not to waste time on installing the system. To do this, go to the virtual machine manager window and press the command buttons indicated in the screenshot below. I named the resulting snapshot "Windows Installed".

Next, we need to put the Windows installation into audit mode. To do this, we return to the virtual machine window on the initial settings screen (Personalization), we must press the key combination Ctrl + Shift + F3.

The virtual machine is rebooted and Windows installation goes into audit mode, logged on to the system under the built-in Administrator account.

# 3. Working in audit mode

Audit mode is used to add customizations to Windows installation images. In this mode, you can install applications, add device drivers and check if the installation works.

When you log on to the desktop, the System Preparation Tool dialog box will be displayed.

This window will appear every time you log on to the desktop after rebooting the system while it is in audit mode. It should be closed.

# 2.1 Installing updates

First of all, it is recommended to install Latest updates... It is assumed that the computer running the virtual machine is connected to the Internet.
To do this, we will need to enable automatic updates and install them.
Press the key combination Win (Windows checkbox) + X and select the item -> Control Panel \ System and Security \ Window Update.
The process of finding, downloading and installing updates is shown in the following presentation. After downloading each portion available updates you need to shut down the system to install them.

Installing Windows Updates

The search and installation of updates must be performed several times, since some updates appear only after installing the previous ones.
Until we see a message stating that there are no more current updates, as in the screenshot below:

The process of searching for and installing updates is quite long and takes a lot of time, the good news is that it will need to be done only once, since now all the necessary updates will be included in our assembly.

After installing all the necessary updates, I advise you to take another snapshot of the virtual machine, I called it "Windows updated".

# 2.2 Installing applications

The next step is to install the applications we need, configure the system and user profile.

I will not dwell on this in detail, since everyone has their own preferred set of programs, and their installation is no different from installing in normal Windows operation. If any application needs to reboot the system, then you can do it any number of times.

After the installation is complete required programs, system settings and user profile, it is recommended to update the system again, and then I advise you to delete temporary files and fix registry errors using some utility like CCleaner.

# 2.3 Generalize Windows and switch to normal installation mode

Next, we will need to perform a generalization of the system, which includes cleaning the system, removing the binding to the hardware and transferring the Windows installation to normal mode.

Before proceeding, you will need to prepare an unattended Windows installation answer file, in which we will indicate that during generalization, you will need to copy the Administrator profile data to the default profile, on the basis of which the user profiles of our assembly will be created in the future.

To do this, in a notepad, create a file named CopyProfile.xml, into which you will need to paste the following text:
true 1

This file must be written to our USB flash drive. And connect this flash drive to the virtual machine, as shown in the following screenshot, which shows the lower right corner of the virtual machine window.

Right-click on the icon USB devices and in the drop-down menu, select our USB flash drive.
After connecting the USB flash drive, go to Windows Explorer and see which letter is assigned to it. We remember it.
My flash drive was connected under the letter E: \

Next, you should run command line: press the key combination Win + R, type cmd in the command line, then press the OK button, as shown in the following screenshot.

A progress window will open console commands, in which you need to run the Sysprep utility with the following parameters:

% systemroot% \ system32 \ sysprep \ sysprep.exe / generalize / oobe / shutdown /unattend:E:\CopyProfile.xml

Where instead of the letter E in the parameter /unattend:E:\CopyProfile.xml you must specify the letter assigned to the USB flash drive connected to the virtual machine.

If you believe the documentation from Microsoft, then you can now start removing the image, but you should not do this (both trust the documentation and take the image. Trust but verify), since a full copy of the administrator profile to the default profile does not occur.
Therefore, you will have to make a twist jump and copy this profile.

To do this, turn on the virtual machine again and wait for Windows to boot until the dialog for the initial setting of the user profile (Personalization) appears. In the course of the download, the equipment will be installed and rebooted. Following the steps of the wizard, we create a user, thereby completing the installation of Windows as shown in the following presentation

Configuring User Personalization Options

We are waiting for the end of the setup, while the user profile is created, after which the system boots in normal mode and is ready for work.
Now we need to enable the built-in Administrator account and log into the system under it.
Press Win + X again and select "Computer Management" in the drop-down menu. Then follow the path: Utilities -> Local Users and Groups -> Users.
In the list of users, select the Administrator. Right click -> Properties. Uncheck the Disable account checkbox. Click OK.

Then we need to log in with the Administrator account that we just enabled. Presses a key combination Right Ctrl + Del(or in the menu of the virtual machine window, select the items "Machine" -> "Send Ctrl + Alt + Del"), and select the item "Exit".
We go into the system under the Administrator, and open the user management list as in the previous step. This time, we need to delete the user we created earlier. Select it in the list, open the drop-down menu with the right mouse button and select Delete in it. You will be asked twice to confirm the deletion, and twice we agree to delete this user.

Open the console window again, and run the sysprep utility with the following parameters:

% systemroot% \ system32 \ sysprep \ sysprep.exe / generalize / oobe / shutdown

When finished, the virtual machine will shutdown.
You are now ready to capture the final image of your Windows installation.
Another snapshot of the virtual machine should be taken. And call it - "Before taking the image."

#4. Preparing the target image of the Windows installation assembly

At this stage, we need to create a file install.wim which will contain our Windows installation build.
To do this, turn on the virtual machine. Here you have to be attentive and efficient. Immediately after switching on, within 5 seconds, an inscription will appear "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD ...", which tells us to press any key to boot the Windows installation from the virtual CD / DVD drive. You need to have time to press any key, if you suddenly do not have time, then you can close the virtual machine, restoring a snapshot of the previous state.

If you managed to click on time, then the Windows 8 installer will boot from the virtual DVD. We are waiting for the welcome window to appear and press the key combination Shift + F10

A window for entering console commands will open. Now we again need to connect our flash drive to the virtual machine, since it is on it that we will record the image of our Windows assembly.

It is important to note that the flash drive must be formatted in NTFS format, since, unlike FAT32, this file system format has lifted restrictions on the maximum file size in 4Gb, and most likely the image we received will take up more than 7GB.
To format a USB flash drive, you must select it in the explorer of the main system, by pressing the right mouse button, call the drop-down menu, in which select the item "Format ...", and configure the parameters in accordance with those indicated in the screenshot

Also, on a USB flash drive, you need to write the imagex.exe utility, I gave a link to the archive with this utility at the beginning of this article.

After connecting the flash drive to the virtual machine, it is necessary to determine the letters of the drives on which the Windows configured by us is located, and the letter of the USB flash drive we connected.
If you do everything as written in this manual, then the disk with the Windows configured by us will be on the D: \ drive, and the USB flash drive we connected under the letter F: \
The easiest way to check this is by going to the desired drive by entering the command d: and pressing the Enter key, and then running the command dir which will show the contents of the disk.

You should also check the F drive:

To take an image, you must enter the command in the console

F: \ imagex \ x64 \ imagex.exe / capture D: F: \ install.wim / flags "Enterprise" "Windows 8 Enterprise" "My Windows 8 Build" / compress maximum

You can read more about Imagex on the Microsoft website at this link - Imagex utility.

F: \ imagex \ x64 \ imagex.exe- path to the imageX utility
/ capture D:- parameter indicating that it is necessary to capture section D:
F: \ install.wim- specify the path to the saved WIM file, into which the image of the D: partition will be captured. / flags "Enterprise"- a flag denoting the edition of Windows 8.
Windows 8 Enterprise- the name of the image.
"My Windows 8 Build"- (optional) description of the image
/ compress maximum- the type of file compression in the image. The / compress parameter accepts maximum (maximum compression), fast (fast compression), and none (no compression). If not specified, fast compression is used. Maximum compression reduces the size of the image, but takes longer to capture than fast compression. Image decompression speed is practically independent of the type of compression.

Capturing an image is a rather lengthy process, and it takes a long time, from one hour to 4 hours. Depending on the power of the computer, the RAM allocated for the virtual machine, and the size of the assembly itself.

After the end of the removal of the image, we will have a file install.wim on a flash drive. You can turn off the virtual machine, we will no longer need it.
The install.wim file should be copied to the hard drive of the main computer, we will work with it in the next step, when we will create a bootable USB flash drive, having previously formatted it.

#5. Create a bootable USB flash drive with a native build of Windows

To create a bootable USB flash drive with our own assembly, we need the RDS Boot KIT constructor from the site http://disksuite.ru/

In detail, I will not dwell on the nuances of the work of this designer, with its help you can make a very powerful tool for diagnostics, resuscitation and restoration of the software part of any computer and all this can be accommodated on one flash drive.

We are interested in directly creating bootable media and writing to it the Windows installation assembly we created earlier.

Create a folder on your hard drive, I named it RDS, download the constructor into it, and launch it. At the first launch, the constructor directory structure is created, and the constructor finishes its work, with a message that it is necessary to place the corresponding ISO images in the designated directories.

Now you need to place the ISO image of the Windows 8 installation, from which we previously installed Windows on the virtual machine, into the designer folder along the path: RDS \ Windows8 \ x64

Run the constructor again and follow its instructions. First, it indicates the letter of the drive assigned to the flash drive with which we are going to work, and it is imperative to put a colon after the letter. We agree to formatting and select NTFS as the file system, after which we agree to copy the Windows8 distribution and wait for the constructor to finish.

We now have a ready bootable USB drive... You should replace the standard Windows standard assembly file with the one we created earlier.
To do this, on the USB flash drive along the path Windows8 \ x64, replace the install.wim file with the one that we created earlier in step # 4.
And there is one more thing. Next to the Install.wim file on the USB stick is an unattended Windows installation answer file called AutoUnattend.xml. It must be replaced with the one created by us.

To do this, create a file named AutoUnattend.xml in notepad and paste the following text into it:

ru-RU en-US; ru-RU ru-RU ru-RU ru-RU true 32 1280 800 en-US; ru-RU ru-RU ru-RU ru-RU true false false false false 1 false Central Asia Standard Time

Or you can download a ready-made file from this link AutoUnattend.xml

That's all, we have a ready-made bootable USB drive with its own Windows installation image. Which will significantly save time for deploying Windows.

How to create your own reference assembly of Windows 10 - a distribution kit with system settings, implemented tweaks and installed desktop software? This process will be discussed in detail below, but first, let's talk about the features of native assemblies of the system.

1. Pros and cons of native Windows assemblies

What are the benefits of native Windows assemblies? Your own system assembly saves time and effort when installing the system. For example, you can prepare a Windows 10 distribution with a standard set of programs for a circle of loved ones: a browser, an archiver, a torrent download, a cleaner, an uninstaller, and similar software for a wide audience will be installed along with the system. The benefits over a regular Windows distribution are obvious, but what do we get as opposed to other ways of deploying the system? Your own Windows assembly, the reference image of which was created on a GPT disk, can later be deployed on an MBR disk and vice versa. Whereas transferring the system using backup programs or disk space managers will not help when changing the style of disk partitions. Unlike the latter, the native assembly on the installation media will not be linked to the backup file on a non-system disk partition or removable device, nor will it need to connect the destination hard drive for Windows cloning.

Windows native assemblies have three drawbacks. First, the distribution of its assembly will take up more space than a pure Microsoft distribution. But this problem is solved by using a flash drive with at least 8 GB capacity. The second disadvantage is that the Windows installation process will take a little longer than usual, due to the deployment of the added software. The third disadvantage is the red tape with the creation of the assembly. The effort is unlikely to be justified if the system is rarely reinstalled.

2. Algorithm of actions

The process of creating your own Windows 10 build will take place in several main stages:

Creation of a reference image of the system - prepared for deployment in the ideal state of the system (with the settings made and the embedded software, without being tied to the computer components);
Capture the reference image to the install.esd file;
Repacking the original installation ISO image of the system, replacing the install.esd file.

3. Reference image of Windows 10

A reference Windows 10 image can be prepared different ways, it could be:

A well-developed system with remote binding to components using the Sysprep utility (see paragraph 7 of the article);
New Windows 10 installed on a different partition of the disk;
New Windows 10 aboard a virtual machine.

The developed system must be thoroughly cleaned - delete files in the user profile folders, clean the Temp folders, etc. Otherwise, the distribution kit will turn out to be gigantic. It's easier with new systems: firstly, the distribution kit based on them will take up less space, and secondly, during their installation, a reference image of Windows 10 can be created from scratch in audit mode - a special operating mode of the system without the participation of a user account. The audit mode is provided by Microsoft for the implementation of corporate settings and software by OEM-suppliers and large organizations before the delivery of computers, respectively, to buyers and hired personnel. As a result, we will get a properly configured system with installed desktop software, at the installation stage of which you can create new accounts, set regional parameters, disable options for sending data to Microsoft, etc. At the same time, the old Account.

In our case, we will create a reference image of Windows 10 from scratch in audit mode using Hyper-V. This hypervisor was chosen for its ease of use and ease of moving large amounts of data from the virtual machine to the host system. VHDX and VHD disks used in Hyper-V virtual machines are mounted to the main system using Explorer. Supporters of other hypervisors - VMware Workstation and VirtualBox - can use them. To make your data easier to access virtual disk from the main system and not bother with guest OS additions, virtual machines can be created based on VHD disks. Both VMware Workstation and VirtualBox work with VHDs.

For those who have made a decision to form a reference image of Windows 10 on the second partition of a real computer's disk for the future, instructions on and complete will help.

4. Nuances with activation

The concept of a native Windows assembly must be distinguished from pirated system assemblies supplied activated or with an activator on the desktop. The purpose of this article is to simplify the process of installing Windows, but not to address the issue of its activation. The reference image of Windows 10 will be created using tools that do not contradict Microsoft's policies - in fact, its own tools. And their use does not guarantee the performance of the activated system assemblies. Recall that Microsoft's requirements are as follows: activation of each copy of Windows, from whatever distribution kit it is installed, on each individual computer. If activated Windows is used as a reference image, during the process of removing the binding to components using the Sysprep utility, you must reset the activation (see section 7 of the article).

Looking for a way to transfer activated Windows to other computers.

5. Creating a Hyper-V virtual machine

So, to prepare a reference image of Windows 10, we create a virtual machine. The conditions for working with Hyper-V, activation of the hypervisor, as well as the process of creating a virtual machine are described in detail in the article on the site. Only, unlike the example considered in clause 5 of this article, the choice of a generation of virtual machines is not fundamental, you can also create a 1st generation machine. If the implementation of resource-intensive software such as games is not planned, we can limit ourselves to the volume of the created hard disk VHDX in 50-60 GB. Well, the hackneyed advice for SSD owners - the path for storing the files of the virtual machine and VHDX disk must be specified on the HDD partition. At the last stage of creating a virtual machine, we specify the ISO image, turn on the machine and start the process of installing the system. The latter will be different from how it usually happens.

6. Installing and configuring Windows 10 in audit mode

We go through the installation process of Windows 10 to the stage of choosing the type of installation and select the second option.

We need two sections - one for Windows, the other non-system, where the install.esd file will be saved later. We form a C partition from 30-40 GB.

We give the rest of the space to another section.

Install Windows.

At the end of the stage of copying files, the installation ISO image is not extracted from the virtual machine, we still need it. At the installation stage, where you need to set the first settings, do not touch anything, just press the Ctrl + Shift + F3 keys.

Let's enter audit mode with a hidden administrator account connected.

At the entrance to the system in audit mode, we are greeted by the Sysprep utility window. The utility will wait for its fate in order to remove the binding of the configured system from the components. You can start configuring the system. One caveat: Microsoft Edge does not work in audit mode, you need to launch Internet Explorer to access the Internet.

As for the limits of intervention in the system, in audit mode we can work with everything that does not apply to user accounts. We can install desktop software, change system settings, apply tweaks, leave folders or files on the desktop. But you won't be able to install universal apps from the Windows Store. Like Microsoft Edge, the store doesn't run in audit mode. It will not work, even if the system is activated, to change the theme or other personalization parameters. You need a user account to install universal apps and apply personalization settings, not a hidden administrator.

If you need to reboot the system, for example, it is required to install some programs, this process must be carried out using the Sysprep window: you must set the values "Switch to audit mode" and "Restart". Then click "Ok".

In parallel with setting up the system, an important thing must be done - to format the non-system partition of the disk.

7. Removing the binding to components (Sysprep)

So, the reference system image is ready. Now we can start the process of removing the binding to the components. We turn to the window of the open Sysprep utility or run it by pressing the Win + R keys and entering:

The folder that opens will contain an EXE file for launching the utility.

In the Sysprep window, set the action "Go to the welcome window (OOBE)". We put a tick "Preparing for use" to reset the activation. In the shutdown parameters, we indicate “Shutdown”. And click "Ok".

We are waiting for Sysprep to finish and shutdown the virtual machine.

8. Creating the install.esd file

We check if it is worth starting the virtual machine from the Windows 10 installation ISO image and boot from it. We use the installation disk to access the command line. If the Windows 10 reference image was created on the second disk partition of a real computer, just go to the main operating system and open a command line there.

At the first stage of the system installation, press the Shift + F10 keys.

By using DISM utilities we will capture the reference system image and save it to the install.esd file. But first, let's see what letters the two necessary partitions are under - the system partitions and the destination partitions, where install.esd will be saved. Introduce:

In our case, the system disk is listed as D, and the non-system disk as E. Therefore, the command to capture the system image will be as follows:

Dism / capture-image /imagefile:E:\install.esd / capturedir: D: \ / name: windows

In this command, respectively, in each individual case, it is necessary to replace the letters E and D with your own.

At the end of the operation, turn off the virtual machine. We won't need it anymore.

9. Mount the virtual machine disk in the main system

To display the virtual machine disk in the main system, where further actions will take place, open the disk file of this VHDX (or VHD) machine in the explorer. In the context menu, click "Connect".

All partitions of the virtual disk will appear as separate disks in Explorer. In our case, we select the last drive M, this is where the install.esd file is stored. After repackaging the ISO image, the virtual disk will need to be unmounted, this is done using the "Eject" option in the context menu of any of the added partitions of the virtual disk.

We will replace the original with the newly minted install.esd file as part of the official Windows 10 distribution.

10. Repackaging the ISO-image of the Windows 10 distribution kit

Many programs can replace some files with others as part of the bootable ISO image, in our case the UltraISO program was selected for repackaging. We launch it. Click the "File" menu, then - "Open" and in the explorer indicate the path to the ISO image from which Windows 10 was installed on the virtual machine.

The contents of the ISO image will be displayed at the top of the UltraISO window. Here open the “sources” folder and delete the original install.esd file in it. In our case, it weighed 3.7 GB. The lower part of the UltraISO window is the system explorer, here we open the mounted disk partition (or the desired partition of the real disk), which contains the newly created install.esd file. In our case, it weighs 4.09 GB. Either drag the newly made file to the upper part of the window - where the original file was, or add it using context menu.

We check: in the "sources" folder of the disk image, there should be not the original install.esd with a weight of 3.7 GB, but the newly made install.esd with a weight of 4.09 GB.

We are waiting for the completion of the progress of the operation.

***

Now all that remains is to test your build of Windows 10 on a new virtual machine.

Have a great day!

Instructions

Download the desired operating system image from the official Windows website or third-party resources that provide a licensed copy of the OS. Also place in a separate folder the drivers and programs required for inclusion in the assembly in the form of installation executable files.exe. Then unpack the downloaded XP image using any archiving program (for example, WinRAR). To do this, click right key mouse on the image file and select "Extract to", then specify the folder to place installation files systems.

Download and install the nLite utility, which will add the saved software packages to the system image. Installation is performed in accordance with the instructions that appear on the screen after starting the installation file.

Run the installed nLite on your computer using the shortcut that appeared during the installation process. At startup, you will see the program window, in which you will be asked to select the interface language. After selecting the "Russian" option in the drop-down list, click "Next".

Select the directory where you have the unpacked operating system image and click "Next". In the list of tasks proposed for modifying the system, select those that you want to perform in the process of working with the image. You can enable or disable the required options. For example, if you do not have the Service Pack installation file on the system or it is already included in your image, click on the appropriate item to deactivate it.

Follow the instructions on the screen to add the directories where the application and driver files are stored on your computer. After completing the procedure, click "Next" and import the rest of the files, the addition of which you indicated in the section for selecting tasks for the program.

In the Components window, select the system options that you would like to remove from the XP installation. Each of the editable parameters can be in accordance with the comments that will be provided opposite each item on the right side of the program window. After selecting the desired data, click "Next" again.

In the Automation section, select settings to make the installation more convenient. Here you can enter your activation key, select the name of the future user and specify the network settings. You can also import theme packages and other components not included in the previous sections. Click "Next" and, if necessary, make the necessary registry settings and deactivate services that you do not need. After completing the settings, click "Yes" to confirm the creation of the modified distribution.

After the end of the operation, click on the "Create ISO" button to generate an image for writing to the storage medium. The creation of the assembly in Windows XP is complete and you can start installing and configuring the new system.

There are two main ways to create your own customized Windows assembly. You can either start from scratch and modify the Windows 10 ISO image directly, or make changes to the already installed system Windows 10. The MSMG ToolKit falls into the first category because it allows you to modify the original image, not the current system.

Note: It is recommended to create a backup of your system partition before starting the program. To create your own image, you will need to use a Windows 10 ISO image or DVD Windows disk 10 as a source.

Unpack the 7z archive with the program (you may need 7-Zip) and run the script. The program will display the user agreement, which must be accepted in order to continue working. The document states that the author of the program is not responsible for possible damage or other problems. The application is a command line script.

After accepting the agreement, the MSGM Toolkit will run several checks, for example, to determine the version of the operating system and to analyze all available tools.

Then the main screen will open. First of all, you need to select a source or folder. You can copy the Windows 10 installation image or DVD folder to a subfolder DVD the main MSGM Toolkit folder.

Select Select Source, Select Source from Source DVD Folder Index 1 + Enter.

Note: in some cases (depending on the Windows distribution and the way it was loaded), you will need to convert the Install.esd file to Install.wim so that you can start making changes to the assembly.

After selecting the source, you can begin the assembly modification process. This will require three main operations: (3, integrate) integration, (4, remove) removal, and (5, customize) setting

Integration

The Integration action allows you to add language packs, drivers, features, updates and individual features in the Windows 10 image:

Language Packs - this option allows you to add language packs to installation disc Windows 10
Drivers - this option allows you to add separate drivers to the Windows 10 installation disc, for example, for devices that are not supported by Windows 10 by default.
Windows Features - this option allows you to add individual Windows components (Microsoft Games, Microsoft. NET Framework 3.5, Windows Sidebar, etc.). The option allows you to restore functions that were previously deleted.
Updates - integration Windows updates so that they are installed during Windows installation, not after.
Windows Custom Features - add additional system files, UxTheme patch or alternative Windows recovery environment.

Deleting

You can use the Remove operation to get rid of unnecessary Windows 10 components:

Remove default Metro apps - this option displays a list of all applications and allows you to remove individual Windows applications 10 excluding Windows App Store and online apps.
Remove Default Metro Apps Associations - Lets you remove Universal Metro Apps file associations. They will not run when the corresponding files are opened.
Remove Windows Components - this option allows you to remove individual Windows components (Cortana, telemetry services, "Homegroup", parental controls, Xbox, etc.). An advanced uninstall feature is available to get rid of Microsoft Edge, Adobe Flash, Windows Defender, and Windows Recovery.
Remove Windows Components using Package List

Customization

The Customize operation allows you to import and export Metro apps to XML files.

After finishing

When you're done making your changes, you need to use the separate Apply menu to apply the changes to the selected source.

Note: To reduce the size of the image, after all the changes do: Apply - Apply Changes to Source Images - Re-Build Source Images

After that, you can use the Target menu to create a new installation media, for example to create your own Windows 10 ISO, burn the ISO to a USB stick or DVD.