Win2000 Sysprep question 1

[Hankejp]

Hey everyone,

I have a quick sysprep question for you all. Is there a way, after sysprep runs on a new installation to have the Win2000 login screen come up with the right username and domain name instead of having it come up with Administrator and the Machine name?

Thanks for the help

 

[arbytech]

I don't think there is. The point of sysprep is to get rid of the various security identifiers so the PC is setup but has no ties to a domain.

Whenever I run sysprep I always take the PC off the domain first and put it back into a workgroup prior to running sysprep and then imaging.

 

[Hankejp]

But when you run sysprep, you can add computers to the domain, so your really not cutting ties from the domain. I understand what you're saying though. I was just wondering if there was a way through regedit or something.

 

[wolluf]

Hank - what would the right username be? As you say, you can set it up (with answer file) to automatically join a domain when you first boot. So, when it gets to logon prompt, you can type in whichever username you want and select either machine or domain (if you've set it up to join a domain). What more are you after?

 

[deaconwc]

Through Group Policy (using TweakUI or Start/Run/gpedit.msc) you can tell the machine to not display any username in the logon dialog box if that would help. Both user name and password boxes are blank.
From the Group Policy editor go to Computer Configuration/Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policy/Security Options. About 25 items down there is one that states "Interactive logon: Do not display last user name." Enable that one and no user name will appear in the dialog box.

 

[TechyMcSe2k]

Are you looking to try and make it auto-logon/?

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"DefaultUserName" = "Put username here"
"DefaultDomainName" = "Put Domain here"
"DefaultPassword" = "Put user password here"
"AutoAdminLogon" = "1"

Try editing the registry with this. If you want to, leave out the password and see if the username and domain show up on the ctrl-alt-del screen so you still get prompted for password. Never tried this hack to work with a syspreped image, but worth a try.

 

[Hankejp]

Hey Wulluf,

We have a username called Lib_user. After I run Sysprep, the first logon name I would like to appear would be the Lib_user. What actually shows up is administrator with the local computer showing up instead of the domain. I can type in Lib_user and select the domain, but I am trying to make this as simple as possible for our librarians.

Deacon,

I don't think that'll help my cause, but it is great information, I always wondered what the policy meant. Thanks

Techy,

I think this is what I was looking for. I don't want the computer to automatically log in, but I might be able to make them changes in the registry without have auologon set.

Thanks to all for your input.

 

[Hankejp]

Well folks,

The registry hack didn't work. I changed the registry settings, the Default name to Lib_user and the Default Domain to my domain. I tested it out by rebooting the computer and it worked fine. However, when I sysprepped the computer, it went back to the Login name: administrator and the Domain went back to the Local Computer. Back to the drawing board.....

 

[MitchCumstein]

Perhaps using the Cmdlines.txt file will do this. Create a .REG file with the logon info, and silently install it. I believe this installs it before logon, while GuiRunOnce would do it after.

More info on Cmdlines.txt:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=238955

Example of it installing a .REG file for a different scenario:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;248257

 

[Hankejp]

Hey Mitch,

You were thinking pretty much the same thing I was. What I actually did though was I exported the key that has this information to a folder on the harddrive. Then I setup a group policy for the computer to run the regedit /s and the name of the reg key. That way, when the computer starts up, it run the group policy before the logon screen appears. I tested it out and it appears to be working great. I will let you all know if it breaks down.

Thanks everyone