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1. Select the language and click Next
2. Click Install Now
3. Select the version of Windows Server 2008 you want to install from the list and click Next. (Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter (Full Installation) was selected when creating these instructions.)
4. Click the checkbox next to I accept the license terms and click Next
5. Click Custom (advanced)
6. Configure the disk partitions and click Next.  Unless you have reason not to, it's best to delete all existing partitions and then select Unallocated Space. This causes the disk to be repartitioned using all of the available space.
   Windows is installed...
7. Click OK and set a password for the Administrator account, click OK
   The Administrator account logs in.
    ..
8. (Optional) You should see an Initial Configuration Tasks window. It is easiest to complete the remaining installation steps if Remote Desktop is enabled at this point:
   1. Click Enable Remote Desktop.
   2. Select Allow connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop (less secure)
   3. Click OK
   4. Determine the public IP address of the computer or set a static IP address and connect to it via RDP

The root user account is not created during the installation of Windows Server 2008. It must be created after Windows is installed. Do this using the GUI or run the following commands in a command window:

1. Click Start > Administrative Tools > Server Manager
2. Open Configuration > Local Users and Groups > Users
3. Open the Action menu > New User
   1. User name: root
   2. Enter a password twice
   3. User must change password at next logon: no
   4. Password never expires: yes
   5. Click Create
   6. Click Close
4. Double-click the root user
5. Select the Member Of tab
6. Click Add
   1. Enter the object names to select: Administrators
   2. Click OK twice
7. Log in to the computer as Administrator
8. Create the root user account:

   Tip
   net user root /ADD

9. Set the root user password:

   Tip
   net user root PASSWORD

10. Add the root user to the Administrators group: Tipnet localgroup Administrators root /ADD

The Disk Cleanup utility (cleanmgr.exe) is not available on Windows Server 2008 unless the the Desktop Experience feature is installed. VCL runs cleanmgr.exe before an image is captured to reduce the amount of space the image consumes. Image captures will not fail if cleanmgr.exe is not installed but it is recommended to install the Desktop Experience feature so that it is available:

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Click Turn Windows features on or off
3. Click Features
4. Click Add Features
5. Click the checkbox next to Desktop Experience
6. Click Add Required Features
7. Click Next
8. Click Install
   The features are installed...
9. Click Close
10. Click No to not reboot the computer
11. Restart the computer after the installation is complete

(Optional) The computer may have been assigned a random computer name. This name will be saved in the captured image. If Sysprep is disabled, this computer name will also be assigned to other computers loaded with the image. It's helpful to name the computer something descriptive of the image so that you can tell what the image is when you connect to it via SSH.

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Click System and Security > Set the name of this computer
3. Click Change settings
4. Click Change
   1. Enter a Computer name and Workgroup
   2. Click OK 3 times
5. Click Close
6. Click Restart Later

(Optional) Disable User Account Control

User Account Control (UAC) is the mechanism that causes may of the pop-up windows to appear when you attempt to run programs on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. VCL will disable it when the image is captured but you can disable it while configuring the base image to make things a little easier.

1. Open the Control Panel
2. Click System and Security > Change User Account Control settings (Under Action Center)
3. Move the slider to the bottom: Never notify
4. Click OK
5. Reboot the computer

(Optional) Set the default user account picture

4. Install Drivers

Open up the Device Manager: Control Panel > System > Hardware tab > Device Manager
If any devices are unknown or missing drivers, you will need to locate and download the appropriate driver and install it.

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