Sysprep from desktop?

Operating Systems & Open Source Linux
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Hi all

So i have an old PC that has been giving me RAM issues for a while now. PC would be working fine, then freeze and throw RAM beeps when I reboot, I know all the modules are working and one of my DIMM slots is dodgy sometimes, after some fiddling eventually the MB gives in to my persistence and it works for several months more. Which brings me to tonight when the same happened but I couldn't persuade it to work again (unless I only use 1 module).

I have a spare motherboard but I haven't swapped it yet due to laziness. I'm thinking now might be the time for the change. This will mean a chipset change which windows usually isn't very happy about, but sometimes its understanding and sympathetic. I don't know if windows will accept it or bomb and I'd like to avoid another install if possible. I've used the Sysprep tool in the past and I am thinking generalizing my system might help with the transition. So is there a way to get the Sysprep tool from a completely setup windows install?

TL;DR Need to replace MB, Chipset change might break windows, want to generalise system to help transition, Is possible to get sysprep from desktop? if so, how?

Specs:
Old MB: Gigabyte G31M-ES2C
New MB: ECS G41T-M13
CPU: Intel Q8300
OS: Windows 7 Pro : SP1

I doubt there is a way but i really hope you can prove me wrong

Thanks
A-Duck

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Yes. "Completely setup Windows install" doesn't mean a whole lot from a technical perspective. In my environment, I use CloneDeploy to hang on to and distribute images to the systems on my network. The process is to install Windows (for example) to a virtual machine, run all the fixes, run the updates, install all of the applications I want on a base install of Windows, and then run sysprep /generalize /oobe /shutdown. Image up to CloneDeploy and call it a day. Replace CloneDeploy with whatever it is you want to use, and call it a day.

You may have a problem with the key, though. But if you're not planning on creating a whole deployment scheme, what I would do is just swap the motherboard and see if it works. Windows has been significantly better about hardware swaps ever since they moved to a hardware abstraction layer setup (one of the nice things that came with Vista).

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generalize only removes machine specific settings like machine name, ip, NetBIOS name, other machine specific registry settings, etc

it does NOT uninstall drivers.

You're better off with a clean install. Back up your Windows key.

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He's doing one computer so he might as well wipe and load it up like he wants instead of setting up a VM. But for a wide deployment, vm creation is the best.

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