Windows 7 Enterprise Edition and F.O.G: How to avoid manually activating each machine after deployment.

January 4, 2012 10:44 AM

My company is upgrading a few student labs from XP to 7. We do not want to manually activate each machine after deploying our image, nor do we want to run a licensing server, as our network for the labs is very small. We are using HP machines that came with professional edition pre-installed, so we can legally deploy a new Windows image on the machines. Anybody know how to manage licenses in a more elegant manner when deploying Windows 7?
posted by UrbanEye to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

You can make an image with an volume license copy that automatically activates the machine. Look into using a config file with sysprep on windows 7
posted by majortom1981 at 11:34 AM on January 4, 2012 [1 favorite]

Sysprep is what you'll want to use. It'll be a bit of work on the front end, but once the work is done, deploying additional images later on is a breeze. Without going for a KMS server, you'll have to keep separate activation scripts for each PC. The activation script usually looks like:

--- activate.cmd ---
@echo off
echo Activating Windows 7...
cscript /nologo c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
cscript /nologo c:\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -ato
-------------------------
posted by samsara at 12:15 PM on January 4, 2012

"You can make an image with an volume license copy that automatically activates the machine. Look into using a config file with sysprep on windows 7" - This won't work as the OP doesn't want to run a KMS server.

You need to download the WAIK and use Sysprep and a script as samsara has indicated. Have fun with WAIK, though there are plenty of good walkthroughs on the web.
posted by nicktf at 4:45 PM on January 4, 2012