[SoCoSA/discuss] Replicating a Win XP install to other computers

[Andrew]

Actually, we're not sure about AD, yet. We're trying to decide
between a NAS and a real server. At one point, we were leaning in
the direction of a NAS, but that may have changed. As I hear it,
it's best not to create any accounts (other than Administrator)
when setting up the original machine.

Another guy in the group who has a couple of test machines at his
house has apparently had some success with Partimage, though he
said you still have to answer a bunch of questions on first
startup after a disk is cloned.

If anyone has a better idea, please let me know!

A.


Trevor Benson wrote on Mon, 22 May 2006 10:59:34 -0700:

> It depends on the environment. Is there a domain (Like MS Active
> Directory), or not?  If there is that brings complications like
> SID and such into the mix, also whether you clone joined
> machines or prejoined.  If you don_t have a domain that takes a
> whole lot out of the worries area, and opens up just duplicating
> disks and manually changing hosts.
> 
> Trevor
> 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: discuss-bounces at socosa.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at socosa.org]
> > Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 5:14 PM
> > To: SoCoSA
> > Subject: [SoCoSA/discuss] Replicating a Win XP install to other computers
> > 
> > I'm part of a volunteer group helping to upgrade a Novato
> > elementary school's computer lab to new Win XP Pro machines. (I
> > tried to get them to consider Linux, but no dice.) We have 31
> > brand new Dell machines sitting in boxes and we're now trying to
> > decide on the best way to install the software. Each machine will
> > need to have a number of programs (KidPix, Oregon Trail, Math
> > Arena, anti-virus, etc.) installed. As none of us in the
> > volunteer group relish the idea of doing a dozen or more installs
> > on 31 machines, some kind of imaging solution looks to be the
> > best way to go. We'd do a full install on one of the Dells, then
> > clone that machine's hard drive to all the other machines (they
> > all have identical hardware).
> > 
> > What does the SoCoSA crowd suggest? Norton's Ghost used to be the
> > only game in town, but I hear it sucks now. Acronis' True Image
> > seems to be far better these days. Partimage
> > ( http://www.partimage.org/ ) is another possibility, but it's
> > unclear how well it will work with NTFS. Some time ago I had
> > heard about SystemImager ( http://www.systemimager.org/ ) and it
> > came to mind for this project, but that appears to be Linux-only.
> > And last, but not least, there's always good old "dd", possibly
> > in conjunction with gzip.
> > 
> > The computers will be networked. Would it be better/faster to put
> > the "golden" image on a server and clone it to the other machines
> > over the network, or should we get our hands on some USB drives,
> > put the"golden" image on them and take them from machine to
> > machine?
> > 
> > What other factors need to be considered? As for licensing, I
> > think we'll be OK. Each machine does come with its own license.
> > 
> > Another installation option might be an automated install (for
> > example http://unattended.sourceforge.net/ ), and I can see where
> > that might be the way to go for a very large number of machines,
> > but it might be overkill for our 31 machines.
> > 
> > I also understand Microsoft has some tools to help with cloning
> > drives, but I know nothing about them. Do any of you?
> > 
> > Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
> > 
> > A.