Self Bootable Imaging?
- Thread starter platypus
- Start date
Associate
- Joined
- 13 Oct 2009
- Posts
- 241
- Location
- Cumbria
I would have thought very possible. Have you had a look at Symantec Ghost or Acronis software?
Associate
- Joined
- 8 Sep 2009
- Posts
- 55
- Location
- Stafford
Norton ghost does it. never used it to make a restore disk but have used a disk to restore a computer
just boot from DVD choose restore
just boot from DVD choose restore
You could also make a Linux Live CD/DVD/USB.
Basically you would:
- Take an image of drive you want to clone using dd
- Put image in with your live cd/dvd of choice
- Write a startup boot script to write the image out to a disk again using dd
- Burn CD -> Boot it -> Profit
Basically you would:
- Take an image of drive you want to clone using dd
- Put image in with your live cd/dvd of choice
- Write a startup boot script to write the image out to a disk again using dd
- Burn CD -> Boot it -> Profit
You can do this with a Windows 7 install disc you know. If you use windows backup and boot the machine from the disc with the backup drive plugged in it's just a case of going into repair options and restore from last image.
Have used Ghost for this purpose on a project recently.
Used a USB drive or a DVD to do it, pop it in and it boots up into a WinPE environment and then runs ghost to image using an image held on the media. Used a little program that prompts for a machine name one it's imaged so that when it runs through the sysprep\setup stuff it already has a hostname rather than giving it a random one, or always allocating the same one each time.
Can also do it with Windows 7 and some answer files I think, but in the lmited time I had to get it working I had to use something I already knew.
Used a USB drive or a DVD to do it, pop it in and it boots up into a WinPE environment and then runs ghost to image using an image held on the media. Used a little program that prompts for a machine name one it's imaged so that when it runs through the sysprep\setup stuff it already has a hostname rather than giving it a random one, or always allocating the same one each time.
Can also do it with Windows 7 and some answer files I think, but in the lmited time I had to get it working I had to use something I already knew.
How easy is easy? I'm thinking in terms of sending a dvd out with the image on, and asking someone who might have difficulty finding the dvd drive to run it.
Actually, thinking about it - I want to be able to send a self contained bootable image, eg not the original Ghost CD out with the image to remotely image computers in another office. Is that possible, or will it require the Ghost CD too?
More info needed!
Is it a whole hard drive image or an individual partition image?
The image is of which OS?
What is the partitioning scheme on the target machine? Or does it not matter as the target has a single partition / is unpartitioned?
The DVD script may unintentionally overwrite data that it shouldn't, if someone attempts to restore blindly without considering existing data on the target drive.
Is it a whole hard drive image or an individual partition image?
The image is of which OS?
What is the partitioning scheme on the target machine? Or does it not matter as the target has a single partition / is unpartitioned?
The DVD script may unintentionally overwrite data that it shouldn't, if someone attempts to restore blindly without considering existing data on the target drive.
Sorry, it's a mixture of XP/W7 machines I'd want to reimage.
Whole hard drive image (or could be partition image if it had to be for size issues).
Single drive unpartitioned at present.
Overwriting data isn't important it's backed up elsewhere.
What I need is a solution I can send to people to reimage their PC without having to send the Ghost cd out; is that possible?
Whole hard drive image (or could be partition image if it had to be for size issues).
Single drive unpartitioned at present.
Overwriting data isn't important it's backed up elsewhere.
What I need is a solution I can send to people to reimage their PC without having to send the Ghost cd out; is that possible?
As tntcoder mentioned, a Linux Live DVD would do the job. You could roll your own, for maximum flexibility.
Alternatively, there are some ready-made solutions out there :
Clonezilla Live sounds like a good, packaged solution.
Alternatively, there are some ready-made solutions out there :
Clonezilla Live sounds like a good, packaged solution.
See my post above, it does exactly that.
It's a WinPE DVD with the ghost client and a copy of the image also on the disc.
WinPE boots up, then fires up Ghost with command line paramters to use the image held on the disc to reimage the hard drive.
Guide to creating WinPE disc here
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709665(WS.10).aspx
I just then added in the Ghost image and the Ghost client files to this image, along with amending the correct file to get it to run Ghost, before committing changes to the image.
Then it creates the ISO and off you go.
Yes, you can have it do whatever you want pretty much.
All I've done it tell it in one of the config files, forget which, to fire up the ghost.exe process with a command line that goes straight into imaging, using an image I've included on the disc.
So you do that, make your WinPE image, then make the iso of the image, and that's it.
We use it for exactly the same purpose, have a business area we support that's not part of our main business, it's a bit of an offshoot. Seperate network and sites/servers, so they aren't hooked up to any of our ghost servers and needed an easy way to rebuild the machines.
With this method they pop the disc in and boot up and it reimages the machine. The only prompt they get is during the sysprep bootup stage where I've got it prompting for a machine name so that they all get unique standardised ones rather than the random generated ones.
All I've done it tell it in one of the config files, forget which, to fire up the ghost.exe process with a command line that goes straight into imaging, using an image I've included on the disc.
So you do that, make your WinPE image, then make the iso of the image, and that's it.
We use it for exactly the same purpose, have a business area we support that's not part of our main business, it's a bit of an offshoot. Seperate network and sites/servers, so they aren't hooked up to any of our ghost servers and needed an easy way to rebuild the machines.
With this method they pop the disc in and boot up and it reimages the machine. The only prompt they get is during the sysprep bootup stage where I've got it prompting for a machine name so that they all get unique standardised ones rather than the random generated ones.
Last edited:
You need an OS to make your WinPE disk, you can do it with XP as I have done in the past but the one I did was a Win7 one.
This makes no difference to the image your putting on to the PC.
The WinPE environment is not related to whatever image you want to put on the machine.
This makes no difference to the image your putting on to the PC.
The WinPE environment is not related to whatever image you want to put on the machine.
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 8,301
- Location
- The Land of Roundabouts
Does it have to be on a CD or will they be on the network?
If so i'd highly recommend FOG.
The more i use this the more i'm astounded by just how powerfull it is, coupled with "Unattended" (not win7 compatible yet) and "Driver Packs" you can create a standard image for any PC regardless of hardware in 20 minutes, then roll that out to any or all PC's on the network.
If so i'd highly recommend FOG.
The more i use this the more i'm astounded by just how powerfull it is, coupled with "Unattended" (not win7 compatible yet) and "Driver Packs" you can create a standard image for any PC regardless of hardware in 20 minutes, then roll that out to any or all PC's on the network.