Generic ImageBuild for Deployment

[dapaulio]

I guess this applies for all OS.

 

I am looking to clean up my imagebuild from years and years of software install/uninstalls and updates and i am looking for any place where any unnecessary files are stored eg Disk cleanup, Temp folders, log files which i may have overlooked which would make the image larger than it needs to be.

 

Currently my image is 82GB and i imagine that half the software is no longer used.

 

i have been brutal when informing staff that all software is under consideration and they need to let me know which software they still use otherwise they will not see it next year.

 

Thanks in advance

[synaesthesia]

This day and age, your OS image should contain very little more than the OS and the most up to date updates. Maybe a few little apps to save time if they don't change often, but leave the rest of it to deployment systems. Do you have anything like MDT in place, or any classroom management software? Have you looked at PDQ Deploy?

[Oaktech]

Literally, my image contains the OS, Office, updates, and one legacy application that historically didn't play nice with deployment tech (TBF i've not tried it with SCCM, but it won't GPO)

[Cazale]

my bet is you'll find most of the junk in c:\windows\installer (hidden folder, type it in run don't navigate).

 

One school i work in must have had an image going back many, many revisions, and seemingly used for different schools, and they were constantly having issues with 80gb drives filling up. I did a windirstat and found nearly 30gb of cached .msi files in this directory (on an 80gb drive!!!). Bonkers.

 

You may want to store them somewhere rather than just deleting them btw (and official Microsoft advice is, as you might expect, that you shouldn't delete anything from inside windir!). In a pinch I copied across the directory to a network share, figuring I'll probably make a new image over summer, and wasn't planning on installing/uninstalling anything on that machine again until then (and if I did need to, I could copy the contents of the folder back again!). But yeah, you probably shouldn't do that

[dapaulio]

This day and age, your OS image should contain very little more than the OS and the most up to date updates. Maybe a few little apps to save time if they don't change often, but leave the rest of it to deployment systems. Do you have anything like MDT in place, or any classroom management software? Have you looked at PDQ Deploy?

@synaesthesia Years and Years ago we used to stuff the image full with as much as we could then deploy it via WDS. Dont know why... at the time that was the prefered method of the bossman at the time. Now he's gone we look to deploy as you say the bare minimum but that is a working progress. I havent played much with MDT and my question is a stepping stone to eventually achieving that. We have what we got at the moment which is an 80GB image by working out which of these software are no longer used so that i can deploy them. However given the very little time i have over summer i am just looking to reduce the image as much as possible to get me thru this summer

 

long story: basically cut my junior techy at the end of this term and last year got rid of the network manager all in a bid to save money. i'm now running the show single handedly. dont know whether to be complimented by the fact i am still here or pissed off that i have to now do the already extremely demanding work of 2 people.

 

my bet is you'll find most of the junk in c:\windows\installer (hidden folder, type it in run don't navigate).

 

One school i work in must have had an image going back many, many revisions, and seemingly used for different schools, and they were constantly having issues with 80gb drives filling up. I did a windirstat and found nearly 30gb of cached .msi files in this directory (on an 80gb drive!!!). Bonkers.

 

You may want to store them somewhere rather than just deleting them btw (and official Microsoft advice is, as you might expect, that you shouldn't delete anything from inside windir!). In a pinch I copied across the directory to a network share, figuring I'll probably make a new image over summer, and wasn't planning on installing/uninstalling anything on that machine again until then (and if I did need to, I could copy the contents of the folder back again!). But yeah, you probably shouldn't do that

@Cazale Top Man 15GB in mine. May just copy across just in case as uninstalling wont be an issue as i look to create a new image when i get a min but you know sods law.

 

The scenario you describe is pretty much just that. slowly i am getting control of it all

 

Have you any more hidden gems like this

 

Literally, my image contains the OS, Office, updates, and one legacy application that historically didn't play nice with deployment tech (TBF i've not tried it with SCCM, but it won't GPO)

@Oaktech This is essentially what i look to achieve after i know what software in my image is still being used. I have been half tempted to say F... it here is my base image tell me what you are missing and i will build and deploy but with the staffing restructure im not sure how much work i want to give myself when they return in the new term.

Edited July 18, 2016 by dapaulio