Image cloning across multiple pc's

[Banzai_Joe]

Hi all,

i have to furnish our design studio with 6 shiney new cad/rendering stations. They are to be custom builds either by me or the shop i'm buying from. Either way they will only have the os installed with one generic user profile on at the most.
They are all to be identical in terms of hardware AND software.
Now, do you think its possible to format and install one pc complete, image the system, them put that image onto the other pcs?
Obviously i'd have to change the Windows and Office product keys and re-activate, and any other software that requires product activation also.

Once done, Only then will new user profiles be created,

Aside from that, can anyone foresee any issues with trying it this way? It would save me an awful lot of time as there's 6 to do.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[derkaderka]

Install OS (do not insert key or activate it), install windows updates , install necessary drivers
Install any software needed
Create / adjust user accounts as necessary

Use sysprep to remove any specific info tied to that PC
run sysprep from c:\windows\system32\sysprep.
Sysprep allows you to generalize the operating system so it can be properly installed on another computer the "right way".

Take image of this PC and then clone onto other PC's
Enter the product key after installing image and then activate each PC
Job done

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Excellent advice derkaderka thanks.
will give it a trial run.

 

[J.T]

You don’t have to change the keys if you have MS Volume licensing (VLK) , but I assume you don't, does make things easier.

If you don’t have any imaging software I recommend Clonzilla which is free or if you don’t mind paying then Acronis.

 

[m4cc45]

VLK's don't exist after XP for operating systems. Multiple Activation Keys (MAK's) have taken over and now there Key Management Servers (KMS) so it's slightly different but something to be aware off.



M.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

You don’t have to change the keys if you have MS Volume licensing (VLK) , but I assume you don't, does make things easier.

If you don’t have any imaging software I recommend Clonzilla which is free or if you don’t mind paying then Acronis.

Win 7 has its own backup feature which allows imaging, so i'm assuming i can use that.

 

[theheyes]

I can't speak for Windows 7 specifically (because I simply haven't done that many) but with XP I always image the install before I sysprep it and then again after. I spent a whole day working on a custom install (100+ packages) once only for sysprep to kill it.

I don't know how much the tool has improved since then and this is just my horror story but in my opinion it's always worth taking the extra step as not to risk losing your efforts.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Thanks theheyes, i'll certainly bear that in mind.

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Hi again,
right i'd like to give sysprep a trial run on xp pro sp3. I've got the new deploy tool from M$.
Question; am i to understand that it doesn't matter what hardware you pc is using, ie. i want to sysprep a pc that has different mobo, cpu, hdd etc than the one i'm cloning from. This make sense?
Also, when do i create the image? And when i run sysprep and it reboots is that when the image dvd should be in the drive?
Can't seem to find any in depth tuts on the web, only partial ones.

Thanks

 

[Daveangle]

I'm not sure on the hardware side, in theory I don't think it will make much difference as windows will recognise there is different hardware, but I have only imaged either specific hardware models (Dell's) or I do a standard image where before hand I don't install any of the computer drivers except the network card (Which I uninstall before taking the image).

If you use the setupmgr which comes with sysprep you can use that to enter basic information about the computer/company and it will save time, although I use it because I was using a VLK but you don't have this. I then run the Reseal using the mini setup being checked, this will removes all the individual ID's and shuts down the computer, it is at this point before windows boots backs up that you take the image, I use the Windows PE and ImageX to image our machines as its free by Microsoft but it is quite complicated, so I reckon a trail version of Acronis might be your best bet.

Also don't know about anyone else but I have found that you need to make the HDD controllers as generic as possible otherwise you get BSOD or at least I used too.

One more thing about the hardware side, it does make a difference if you are taking the image from a single core machine and planning to put it on a multi-core machine, that won't work.

I don't know if you are allowed to link to PDF's if your not sorry but this one really helped me get my head around it all; http://www.answersthatwork.com/Download_Area/ATW_Library/WinXP_Professional/WinXP__3-Setup-How_to_SYSPREP_a_Windows_XP_PC_setup.pdf

 

[Banzai_Joe]

Thanks Dave, saved, printed....ready to read.

Cheers

 

[theheyes]

For XP Sysprep images to work on other hardware, the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) has to be the same. Sysprep doesn't make the image hardware agnostic, it just generalises the instance of Windows and works best when the hardware is identical or at least very similar.

You're doing the right thing by testing, it's the only way to know if it's going to work.

 

[.one.]

I only skimmed the thread but Windows deployment toolkit will do all you need surley. image deploy e.t.c.

Edit: perhaps i should read the whole thread first