How to Change SID on Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008R2

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Sometimes when your are working with virtualization, the easiest way to create a new virtual machine is by copying the “template” virtual machine as new virtual machine. But this method can be a problem, especially on an environment which uses Active Directory (LDAP).

The root cause for the problem is the SID, which is unique for every windows installation. The error response in Event Viewer usually says:

Security ID: NULL SID
Failure Reason: Domain sid incosistent

Important notes!
Sysprep will make your engine looks as a new fresh installed windows (change computer name back to origin installed computer name, clear all user profiles, etc; makes the operating system fresh)

You can change the active SID to a new SID using Windows’s Sysprep which is very simple:

  1. Start > Run, type sysprep and press OK

    Sysprep Apps

    Sysprep Apps

  2. Run Sysprep.exe
    Sysprep Apps

    Sysprep Apps

    To do system cleanup action, select Enter System Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE) and select Generalize if you want to change SID

  3. Click OK and wait for sysprep to finish (it will take a while)
  4. After booting, you’ll see that some settings are changed

Hope these helps, cheers 🙂

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