For a test environment its handy to have pre-build OS’s (especially on Windows) to run a new one up quickly.  For those who dont need support or havnt got the time to spend getting Sysprep to work properly try this script below in conjuction with the SysInternals NEWSID application.

  1. Copy NewSID.exe to c:
  2. Copy the script source below to c:NewSid.cmdstart /wait c:newsid.exe
    del “c:documents and settingsall usersstart menuprogramsstartupnewsid.lnk” /q
    del c:newsid.exe /q
    shutdown /r /t 10 /f /c “SID Change” /d 2:4 /m \HOSTSERVERNAME
    Note: Change the \HOSTSERVERNAME to reflect the servers current hostname
  3. Add a shortcut to c:documents and settingsall usersstart menuprogramsstartup called NewSID that links to c:newsid.cmd
  4. Clear the eventlogs etc and shutdown
  5. Clone the disks

When the machine first boots and you logon, NewSID will run and ask you if you want a new machine name etc.  Dont reboot at the end otherwise the util will keep running
I know its nasty but its quick. dorty and works 🙂