how to: ghosting?

[RabbieBurns]

Not looked at ghosting since NT server and 95/98 clients. Whats the general way its done these days. I used to use some old Norton Ghost I think, does Windows have its own software now or does it still require a 3rd party software. Is there a step by step guide here somewhere I havent been able to find?

Questions Im pondering are:

1) The machines Im going to be ghosting are all OEM XP Pro, what happens with the individual serial numbers/activation

2) Im going to be putting XPSP3 on before ghosting, anything new to consider here that I might not find in older documentation?

Thanks in advance

[Netman]

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/window...beginners.html

[djones]

Whats the general way its done these days?

Many and varied!

I used to use some old Norton Ghost I think, does Windows have its own software now or does it still require a 3rd party software.

M$ provided RIS which has now been upgraded to/superceded by WDS (available as part of Server 2003 SP2) which forms the basis of several other tools such as BDD etc). Ghost etc are still valid though e.g. Ghost Solution Suite (GSS) or plain old boot discs if you have a smaller setup. Anything larger and I'd use something like WDS or GSS.

Is there a step by step guide here somewhere I havent been able to find?

Yeah, some. The thread posted above by Netman has links to a few. I compiled a series on WDS and hardware independent images pulling together the bits and bobs I found while trying to set this up 6 months or so ago.

Questions Im pondering are:

1) The machines Im going to be ghosting are all OEM XP Pro, what happens with the individual serial numbers/activation

When creating the 'sysprep.inf' file, leave the 'ProductKey=' section blank and you'll be prompted for each key during mini-setup. Not sure about activation though, I've only ever used VLK versions, sorry.

2) Im going to be putting XPSP3 on before ghosting, anything new to consider here that I might not find in older documentation?

Only came across this one so far but not really played fully yet.

Dave

[RabbieBurns]

lots of info to get me started there, cheers

[jsnetman]

Here we now use RIS and ghost, but see the sense in ditching ghost and going for all out WDS. So I have been trying to get my head around WDS, came across a very useful post for deploying XP with WDS.

"I'll try to sum it up:

First off install the wds service.

Then get a hold of a Vista dvd and in the WDS MMC right click on boot-image and choose to add a new boot image. Call it something with BOOT in the end so you recognize it.

Then browse your way to the vista dvd and the source folder. It will contain a file called boot.wim.

Choose that file and let WDS do its thing. Then right-click on that newly created file in WDS MMC and choose to convert to a capture image, call it something with CAPTURE in the name. Again let WDS do its job.

Now right-click on install images and choose to create a new image group, call it what ever you want.

Now install reference computer and sysprep it with the desired paramters.

When sysprep is done let it restart the computer, during that restart PXE boot the computer and choose the CAPTURE option in the menu, the WDS client will appear.

Hopefully all your drivers will be found and you should be presented with a windows where you can choose the desired partition and enter notes.

When you choose next you will be able to save that image, note that you have to save it locally before it is uploaded to the server, make sure you check the "Upload to server" option. If you don't have any space on the harddrive to save the image file locally you can press shift+f10 to receive a command prompt from where you can map a network drive and save the image directly to the server. Note that this isn't recommended because of network glitches damaging the image.

Now the image should appear on your server.

Reboot the desired computer that is to be installed, This time choose the BOOT image and there you can choose your windowsxp image and continue the installation.

Hopefully I havn't forgotten anything but I'm sure someone else can fill in any missing details."

Extracted from Microsoft TechNet Forums Home : Setup Deployment : WDS walk through with Windows XP?????

[MGSTech]

When creating the 'sysprep.inf' file, leave the 'ProductKey=' section blank and you'll be prompted for each key during mini-setup. Not sure about activation though, I've only ever used VLK versions, sorry.

Ifyour going to be using a VLC of XP (Highly advisable as it is pre-activated) then DO put the VLK in the sysprep.ini file, however if you delete the computer name from the file (only the name not the entry) then each machine built will ask for a computer name.

I would NOT recomend basing your master images on OEM versions of XP each OEM copy has to me manually activated and can only be installed on one hardware base (i.e. one PC) after you have deployed the same OEM image to three PC's you'll need to call MS and explain why you are installing that copy of XP onto more than one PC....

if you are quick, you may still be able to buy VLC media....and a license!
You can legally buy only one VLK & Media and be licenced via the OEM licenses to install it on multiple PC's Info HERE

I'm reliably informed that there is a new version of Sysprep for XP SP3 in the deploy.cab file.

There are some good tips here on what you can do with sysprep


Steve