sysprep question

[bkw]

in a previous post i stated that i tried to create an image for installation on a new system. i used sysprep as per instructions on acronis site and microsoft article. when i rebooted the source system a setup menu appeared which i wasnt expecting. i feared i would loose my setup so i did a repair install of xp pro.
big hassle but im back to normal.
my question is has anybody done this before and can you tell me what steps the windows setup took you through when you booted your source system ?
i use a pc with xp pro.