White Papers

3 Dell EMC | Using Dell EMC-Installed OS as a Golden Image for CFI
Note: The process mentioned in this document can be performed using the hardware that you received from Dell EMC
with your preferred operating system already installed. If you do not have a system with the OS installed, order the
operating system from your account team before proceeding.
Use standard Windows imaging tools to prepare a reference image, capture it, and send it Dell EMC for installation (CFI)
on future orders.
See Microsoft’s documentation on steps to prepare and capture a reference Windows image. Microsoft Windows
Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) is one of the recommended methods.
For information on ADK, see https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/get-started/adk-install
Follow these steps to create a CFI image:
Installing the ADK on a management station:
1. Install the ADK on a management station, such as a laptop.
Even though the toolkit is for Windows 10, you can use it to create and deploy Windows Server operating system
images.
Note: Do not install the ADK on the reference system that you are using to create the reference Windows image
from.
2. Select the default options during the install process. Ensure that Deployment Toolkit and Windows Pre-
installation Environment install options are selected.
3. Complete the installation and ensure the Welcome screen is displayed. This confirms that the ADK is
successfully installed.
Creating the CFI image:
1. On the reference system, install any custom software and modify it as needed to be like your final Windows
installation that should be deployed on your future orders. This method enables you to have 3
rd
-party software
preinstalled along with the operating system through CFI.
2. Prepare the image that is installed on the reference system using sysprep. Sysprep is a command-line utility
located at C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep. For more information about sysprep, see
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/sysprep--generalize--a-windows-
installation
Note: This process removes all user accounts. If you want to create user accounts along with image deployment,
create an unattend file with the user accounts on the management station. Deliver this file to Dell EMC along with
the image files.
 The basic operations needed are /generalize, /shutdown, and /oobe.
 At the end of the process, the reference system shuts down. Do not power on the system unless you do
not plan to boot to the hard drive that has the OS.
3. On the management station, use the ADK to create a WinPE bootable USB drive. Ensure that the bootable drive
has the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) utility.
4. Connect the WinPE bootable drive into the reference system and boot to it.
5. Use diskpart to assign drive letters to all the hard disk partitions you want to capture.
6. Use DISM command-line tool to save the installed image as a .wim file.
Note: Each partition is a separate .wim file. Capture only the partitions that you want installed on your future
orders.
7. Copy the .wim files to an external storage drive.
Provide all the required files—.wim and the unattend file, if applicable—to Dell EMC for the deployment process.