How to set computername manually on Windows 7

[Loyalpalm]

Hello everyone, please can anyone help me to get my problem solved quickly as possible. I have setup my network in a college which requires computers being moved and renamed constantly. So I started to work on deploying Windows 7 enterprise through WDS running on Windows Server 2008. Although the Deployment is working fine except that I have to setup the computer name everytime during the reinstall. So can any one suggest me an appropriate solution of how can i be able to delay the computer name until install or can i beable to enter the computer name manually.

[Devasis]

To set the computer name manually, you can edit the deployment code in such a way so as to add the computer name late after the install.
You can add Microsoft Windows deployment Deployment_neutral, RunSynchronousCommand, cmd.exe to the specialize section of the unattended xml file to test c:\windows\panther\unattend.xml and set the computername before Microsoft-Windows-UnattendedJoin_neutral is executed. For this you have to press F10 and then edit the unattend.xml code.

[Solomon]

You can also use this solution to edit the deployment code so as to delay the computer name so that you can manually enter it afterwards. You can add Microsoft/Windows./Deployment_neutral, RunSynchronous, RunSynchronousCommand, cmd.exe to WindowsPE and edit x:\sources\wdsunattend\wdsimageunattend.xml.
This will first install the windows and by pressing Shift + F10, you can enter the computer name afterwards.

[jesse]

Hey if you want to enter the computername late after the install, you can leave the Computer Name node out of the Unattend file. Then later it will prompt for Computer Name during OOBE. Leaving the computer name node can certainly do the job for you. You can now be able to enter the computer name manually.

[Dr. V]

Hey you can also do it using RIS instead of WDS, as WDS is not a full setup engine. Through RIS you can customize and bring vars from RIS setup. Also with FirstLogonCommands, you run a program to pull information from either the system or the server.
For example, you could put the computer name in the BIOS into the Asset Tag or Serial Number field.