Audit Mode
Audit mode allows you to make additional changes to the Windows installation before you send the computer to a customer or capture the image for reuse in your organization.
You can install drivers included in a driver package, install applications, or make other updates that require the Windows installation to be running.
How to enter Windows Audit Mode?
After Windows installation is finished, it will reboot to a screen shows Let's start with region..
Press Ctrl+Shift+F3 will enter the Audit mode using the built-in Administrator account.
You can install all the device drivers and other software, then generate to OOBE mode.
What’s OOBE?
OOBE is the default out-of-box experience that allows end users to enter their account information, select language, accept the Microsoft Terms of Service, and set up networking.
How to reset Windows to Out of Box Experience(OOBE)?
In Audit mode, From System Preparation Tool window
- System Cleanup Action: Enter System Out-Of-Box Experience (OOBE)
- Select Generate(See note)
- Shutdown Options: Shutdown
- Click
Ok. Windows will prepare the system into OOBE mode.
Note: You can un-select if you don’t need to capture the image used for other computers
How to keep Administrator account enabled?
See here
You go into Sysprep Audit mode from the Out of Box Experience (OOBE) screen. In Audit mode, the administrator account is enabled immediately before logoff and disabled immediately after logon. Therefore, the account is locked out when you turn off the computer and then turn it back on.
When the system is using hybrid shutdown (also known as “fast startup”) during Audit mode, the account will be disabled. To work around this behavior, disable hybrid shutdown. To do this, follow these steps:
- Right-click the
Startbutton, and then clickCommand Prompt (Admin). - At the command prompt, type the following command, and then press Enter:
shutdown /s /t 00
When you turn on the laptop next time, it’ll go directly into Audit mode.
How to update device driver?
Check the Device Manager, if there are any unknown devices, right-click it and select Properties,
update driver, search Windows Update, the driver will be installed automatically from Windows Update.
You may need to restart windows by using the above command for the update to take effect. Repeat the above steps for other unknown devices.
Note:
For my Asus UX325EA-DS51 laptop, all the drivers will be installed automatically by Windows Update.
I need to click Check for Update three times until all the driver can be installed.
How to run Sysprep by using command line?
From command line:
%WINDIR%\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe
Or
C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep\sysprep.exe /generalize /shutdown
Prevent Sysprep from removing installed devices
When you set up a Windows PC, Windows Setup configures all detected devices. Generalizing a Windows installation uninstalls these configured devices, but doesn’t remove device drivers from the PC.
If you’re deploying an image to computers that have identical hardware and devices as the original PC, you can keep devices installed on the computer during system generalization by using an unattend file with Microsoft-Windows-PnpSysprep | PersistAllDeviceInstalls set to true.