Identifying reference computers by MAC address in MDT 2010

Let's say you have a computer on your network that you use only as a reference computer. In other words, you perform a customized deployment of Windows 7 onto this computer and then sysprep and capture the image using MDT so you can later deploy this image onto the other (target) computers on your network. When you use MDT to deploy Windows onto this reference computer, you want the Windows Deployment Wizard to display the Specify Whether To Capture An Image wizard page. But when you use MDT to deploy the captured image onto target computers, you do NOT want the Windows Deployment Wizard to display the Specify Whether To Capture An Image wizard page. Can this be done?

Yes. You can do this by adding another section to your CustomSettings.ini file that specifies the MAC address of your reference computer and configure the SkipCapture property appropriately. In other words, change the initial portion of your CustomSettings.ini file from this:

[Settings]
Priority = Default
Properties=MyCustomProperty
[Default]
SkipCapture = YES

to this:

[Settings]
Priority = MACAddress, Default
Properties=MyCustomProperty
[00:0F:20:35:DE:AC]
SkipCapture = NO
[Default]
SkipCapture = YES

Here 00:0F:20:35:DE:AC is the MAC address of your reference computer.

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