So you have installed and created a Windows Server 2008 installation, and now want to standardize it and create an image of it so that you can install it to other machines or in a virtual environment. With Windows 2008 Server, it is easier now. The Sysprep.exe application is now included with the installation. You can locate the file in the ‘C:\Windows\System32\sysprep\’ folder.

To create a sysprep image of your server:

1. Go to the Sysprep folder
cd c:\windows\system32\sysprep

2. Type in ‘sysprep’ to run the GUI version

3. Choose the Out-of-box-Experience option (OOBE) and check the ‘Generalize’ checkbox

4. If you are going to have the image in a virtualize environment, you might want to change the shutdown option to ‘quit’

* You can also type in all the commands with the command prompt
e.g. sysprep /OOBE /Generalize /shutdown