Generating Windows SID and Computer Name

When you deploy a virtual machine that runs Windows as a guest operating system, the deployed copies of Windows will have the same Windows Security ID (SID) and computer name as the source. You can set up Windows in the source virtual machine in such a way that the SID and computer name will be reset in each deployed copy of Windows on its initial startup.

Using Sysprep to Reset SID and Computer Name

Microsoft System Preparation (Sysprep) is a Microsoft tool that can be used to prepare Windows to be deployed on other computers. If your virtual machine is running Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, or Windows Server 2012 R2, use the Sysprep.exe command-line utility.

To reset the security ID (SID), include the /generalize option as shown in the following example:

Sysprep /generalize

To change the computer name, use the /oobe option that enables the user to customize their Windows operating system, including naming the computer:

Sysprep /generalize /shutdown /oobe

For the complete description of the command-line version of Sysprep, please refer to Microsoft documentation.

If your virtual machine is running another version of Windows, download the latest version of Sysprep for that version from the Microsoft website and use it according to Microsoft instructions.