Systems Deployment

I created a new virtual Windows 7 Enterprise machine to be used as a reference computer using vmware.

I installed my apps and got it setup the way that I wanted it, and then ran Sysprep using Sysprep Creator Wizard.

The machine shutdown, and I rebooted it to the KACE 2000 environment, and used "Capture Image". (I had previously installed the Native Imaging Toolkit, and tested it by setting an image up on a physical machine, etc. - worked fine.)

I then tried applying the image to a physical laptop - a Dell Latitude E6420.

All the device drivers didn't get installed - still a bunch of yellow marks in Device Manager.

I then tried changing the System image to include "Drivers - Install Feed to Workstation" as a Post Installation Task, and then "Drivers - Install Feed To Workstation" as a Post Installation Task after reboot, and no luck.

Another peculiar thing that's happening - for both the test image and the actual image, I used the same Post Installation Task to rename the computer and join the domain. I included as part of that tasks a few serial numbers along with the corresponding name. The test image (created on the E6420) worked fine when applied to two different machines - it renamed it the way I wanted it to and it joined the domain. When using the production image I created, it doesn't rename the computer, however it does join the domain.

I was able to successfuly (no yellow marks in Device Manager) to two different hardware types - the E6420 and E6220 (obviosuly they are similar, but slilghtly different).

I was under the impression that when you use Sysprep that it strips out the drivers and machine specific information, and just leaves the O/S, software, and other settings. If that's true, then I don't think it should matter if the reference computer is virtual or physical.

So, I guess I'm asking - can you in fact capture a WIM from a virtual machine and then apply it to a physical one? If no, is the understanding I had mentioned in the last paragraph wrong? Is my test image only working because the two hardware types are very similar, and if I tried to apply it to a completely different Dell model that it might not work?

If you can in fact capture a WIM from a virtual machine, any suggestions as to what I might be doing wrong?

One other thing I just thought of - it seems to me that when I created the test image, I was logged on as myself and set everything up. Before I ran Sysprep, I logged off and logged back on using a different account - perhaps a local account though at this point I've tried so many different things I can't be certain. Just thought I'd throw that in there.