Thomas,

I will give this a try this morning and see if I can get it to work.

Do you think it is possible to just add an autounattend.xml file to my current installation usb?

Thanks,

Devin Becker

Thomas,

Going through the answer file setup in the guide you linked(https://www.windowscentral.com/how-create-unattended-media-do-automated-installation-windows-10) I have a question regarding product keys.

More specifically how can I "resuse" or "reassign" the product key that the computer already originally had? I basically want to do a clean install on a computer already running windows 10 so that settings and data are reset(after backing up old user data of course). During this process it would be ideal to just "resuse" the product key already on the old windows 10 install

Thanks again,

Devin Becker

Hi Devin

Puhh,  I don't think that works, at least I don't know how. You need to know what key is/was installed. But on newer Computers (branded ones) the key should be stored in the TPM chip anyway. So if you have HP  or Dell ot whatever workstations, you should be fine just installing it without key and then activate it.

Why not using the Windows 10 built-in RESET Settings and then go on from there? Maybe there are solutions for that, If you want to use USB key's to install.
In a bigger enviroment, company wide, then I would think about a deploy solution like "smart deploy" or something like that. Or even an opensource deploysolution, which is able to install and join the domain automatically, the computers are booted from network and voila...can happen in the night...or anytime you want.
If lowcost - maybe the FOG project https://fogproject.org/ is a solution. (I tested that in the past. Worked...but not completely for my needs)
There are many other solutions that will make your life easier, if you have to install multiple Windows machines often.

regards
Thomas

Are you using any deployment tool?

@Thomas,

Seems to me that you might be looking more for an application that can backup and do Bare metal restores. Might make more since to create a base OS image with your applications preloaded and then use that standard image to deploy to your workstations. An Application that comes to mind is Acronis Backup and Recovery: https://www.acronis.com/en-us/business/overview/

Once You have done this then restore your files to that base image. Short of that, you are going to have a very hard time transferring all your settings and configurations from the existing installation to the new installation.

You could also attempt to use the USMT User State Migration Tool

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/usmt/usmt-overview

I think Thomas' original solution would be the best option, but for my specific scenario, I think either doing a clean install through my USB drive, or as Thomas also suggested, using the windows 10 built in reset option, then running my powershell script, either of which I think will be the best way to "automate" domain joining after creating a local admin account for my use.

Thank you all for the help,

Devin Becker