WDS, Sysprep?

It's only 20 machines.

Build the computer how you want it. sysprep it and then just image it with something like acronis and just restore it on the other 19 computers and off you go.

Should take you a day for 20 depending on the size of the restore.
 
teaboy5 said:
It's only 20 machines.

Build the computer how you want it. sysprep it and then just image it with something like acronis and just restore it on the other 19 computers and off you go.

Should take you a day for 20 depending on the size of the restore.
Click to expand...


Well that was the original plan, however;
  1. I've already had isues with sysprep testing (it failed)
  2. Not sure how to configure the answer file so that it doesn't input or activate the codes for windows and office 2010
  3. How/at what stage would i give the computer a unique name?
  4. At what stage does it join the domain? Is this a manual thing?
SCCM does seems like the best method to use for deployment all software and updates. So I'm going to install the 2012 beta on a VM and have a play.
Would still like to learn the sysprep method though.
 
Banzai_Joe said:
Well that was the original plan, however;
  1. I've already had isues with sysprep testing (it failed)
  2. Not sure how to configure the answer file so that it doesn't input or activate the codes for windows and office 2010
  3. How/at what stage would i give the computer a unique name?
  4. At what stage does it join the domain? Is this a manual thing?
SCCM does seems like the best method to use for deployment all software and updates. So I'm going to install the 2012 beta on a VM and have a play.
Click to expand...

What sysprep are you using and what problem are you having ?

You can configure the answer file to request input for domains and activation codes during the configuration stage of the installation.

MW
 
Mr-White said:
What sysprep are you using and what problem are you having ?

You can configure the answer file to request input for domains and activation codes during the configuration stage of the installation.

MW
Click to expand...

Well i just tried it on a laptop the other day as i'd never done it before, and after installing as couple of extra apps, it failed when sysprepping. It did seem to work without the extra apps, but that defeats the object.

Wouldn't know how to configure an answer file.

PAz, i read that link the other day, but it leaves holes in how to do it.
I actually did manage it yesterday, sort of, but i'm not convinced.
So i've downloaded the SCCM 2012 beta2 and will have a play later today.
Any pointers for it?
 
IAmATeaf said:
I would just install all the apps you want, configure the laptop just as want then run sysprep on it. Then boot up of a network boot CD or even floppy disk and then image the entire hard disk off.

You should then be able to do the reverse, i.e dump the image onto a laptop, power up, enter computername etc...
Click to expand...

Through my years of 'doing' deployment systems this can work, however when you start talking about installing apps like Adobe on the image itself you get into that cycle of always having to update your image with security updates and whatnot.

My preferred way of doing it is install the bear minimum on the image itself, then run a post image task (can be done any way you like, whatever takes your fancy) to stick on the little bits like flash, reader etc.

At my last place I had a nice Ghost setup that imaged a machine in a few minutes with basic windows, office and a couple of other things that needed to be on the image itself, then ran a post image package to stick on a few bits.

That's just how I did it there as they had some of it already setup when I joined so I just rejigged things to make it work well. Might not be as slick as using SCCM but damn it was quick.

As with most things there are many ways to skin this cat, need to work out what's best for you in regarsd to time, cost, effort :)

For 20 machines you're probably not going to be doing lots of rebuilds all the time so the image might not need changing much.
 
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Thanks guys.
To a few, SCCM etc may sound like overkill, but physically visiting each pc to install the extra apps would take far too long and is a no-go tbh.
I've got one of the Dell's loaded up with the extra software (reference machine).
So what should i do now, sysprep or just image it, using something like Acronis?
I would have thought sysprep otherwise each cloned pc will have the same windows and office activation codes as windows comes pre-activated, but office is pre-loaded (not installed until code is put in).
I'd need to buy a VL for imaging win7, which isn't a problem.
FYI, the extra apps are:
- DesignReview2012/TrueView (takes over 20 mins to install)
- PDF converter
- YouSendIt Express

Sadly only the PDF converter will succesffully deploy via GPO, hence the need to properly deploy and image somehow.
 
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