Choosing ClonePrep or Sysprep for Customizing Your Windows Virtual Desktops

There are two options for customizing instant-clone Windows virtual machines: VMware ClonePrep or Microsoft Sysprep.

ClonePrep is a VMware customization process run during instant clone deployment to personalize each desktop clone created from the parent image. During the initial startup of each desktop, ClonePrep:

• Creates a new computer account in Active Directory for each desktop.
• Gives the instant clone desktop a new name.
• Joins the desktop to the appropriate domain.

Sysprep is a Microsoft tool to deploy the configured operation system installation from a base image. The desktop can then be customized based on an answer script. Sysprep can modify a larger number of configurable parameters than ClonePrep, but ClonePrep is significantly faster. Majority of instant clone customers choose ClonePrep

It is recommended that you use ClonePrep unless there are specific Sysprep capabilities required for your environment. For information on the differneces between these methods, see Knowledge Base article 2003797.