Windows 10 Global Image

[ITGURU]

What does everyone use/do for computer repairs/imaging these days?

 

I typically clean install windows 10 and common software i.e office etc and then make an image using Acronis for each motherboard type as includes all the drivers for each model otherwise restoring the image can result in BSOD if restored to different hardware.

 

This way is quick an easy - i can reimage a machine and get on the network again in 15 minutes.

 

However with the now windows 10 build updates, i'm looking for an alternative way to update base images for when machines crash or need reimaging:

 

Looking to:

 

- Build a base windows 10 image on a VM

- Install base software i.e office, adobe suite, etc.

- Make a copy of the image that can be restored to any hardware and incorporate any necessary drivers required for each board.

 

Thanks is advance.

[localzuk]

We use SCCM with task sequences. One standard task sequence for each role. Eg. Base (Office, Chrome, utilities etc), Teacher (Base + Smart notebook etc...), ICT suite (Base + Curriculum software)

 

Drivers are injected according to device automatically by SCCM and Windows, so we don't really worry about that.

[DaveTheTech]

As above but MDT

Captured wim has office installed

Browses and fonts + AV and DNA as a base option

Then split into roles for other stuff.

[ITGURU]

As above but MDT

Captured wim has office installed

Browses and fonts + AV and DNA as a base option

Then split into roles for other stuff.

 

Do you use WDS along with MDT? I've had a brief look at this online.

[altecsole]

We use SCCM with task sequences. One standard task sequence for each role.

 

Drivers are injected according to device automatically by SCCM and Windows, so we don't really worry about that.

 

This. No captured image. Some software (Office 365) installed in task sequence, and quite a lot more via Group Policy and SCCM device collections.

[supportman]

What does everyone use/do for computer repairs/imaging these days?

 

I typically clean install windows 10 and common software i.e office etc and then make an image using Acronis for each motherboard type as includes all the drivers for each model otherwise restoring the image can result in BSOD if restored to different hardware.

 

This way is quick an easy - i can reimage a machine and get on the network again in 15 minutes.

 

However with the now windows 10 build updates, i'm looking for an alternative way to update base images for when machines crash or need reimaging:

 

Looking to:

 

- Build a base windows 10 image on a VM

- Install base software i.e office, adobe suite, etc.

- Make a copy of the image that can be restored to any hardware and incorporate any necessary drivers required for each board.

 

Thanks is advance.

 

We do pretty much this but roll it out on phsical media which is time consuming to setup. Do you use the network, if so how does it work?

[mavhc]

WDS, DISM++ to lightly customise, script to remove other apps, gpo and http://www.edugeek.net/forums/o-s-deployment/186005-chocolatey-deploy-java-flash.html#post1802114

[CHiLL]

I just get the image from VLSC and import it into SCCM without any modifications. I then have one Task Sequence that makes all the necessary modifications, using WQL queries for drivers and installing necessary software such as Office, etc. SCCM will push out all less-essential software when the client communicates with the server.

[KevinB]

SCCM all the way. No need to fuss about over gold images, everything is done in task sequences after the OS is dropped on the box, post-install cleanup an app installation happens automatically and on top of all of that you've got automated update management for Windows, Office 365 and 3rd party apps. Oh, and when a new build of Windows arrives you just swap out the WIM and you're done.

 

In the immortal words of Gordon Ramsay, "Imaging, DONE."

[jthompson]

WDS here (we're lagging behind a bit), with one image for use everywhere. Most of our apps are deployed separately via Group Policy.

[Oaktech]

Stock image deployed via the weapon of choice at the individual school (thats 1 MDT and 2 SCCM) then GPO for most deployed software. I have tasks to install Office and remove apps, but they also have mop-up tasks via startup script in case the deployment tasks don't complete or an update changes something... Edited December 13, 2019 by Oaktech

[Duke5A]

Still doing it the old way with WDS. I build the image in a VM with all the software loaded and use sysprep with an answer file. I'm using LTSC so I don't have to go back into it very often, but when I do it's just Chrome and security updates mostly. After the image is captured I revert to a snapshot taken right before sysprep. There are some post image tasks that are defined in the sysprep answer file that run on a first login that is also automatically done via the answer file. Everything is over the network. Time to image a box with an SSD on a gig link is about 20 minutes.

 

It's old school, but it still works for us and I haven't seen enough of a reason to change over to MDT yet. Probably will next time I rebuild the utility server.

[PyROm]

We use a master image like you, the trick is to run sysprep with /generalize just before you take the image, this clears the known hardware from the image and it will re-detect all hardware on next boot (so avoiding blue screens etc.) allowing you to put it on multiple computers with different hardware. You can also add (not install) drivers to windows driver database, so the drivers are in the image and available to be installed should they be needed when the image re-detects hardware.

[ITGURU]

We use a master image like you, the trick is to run sysprep with /generalize just before you take the image, this clears the known hardware from the image and it will re-detect all hardware on next boot (so avoiding blue screens etc.) allowing you to put it on multiple computers with different hardware. You can also add (not install) drivers to windows driver database, so the drivers are in the image and available to be installed should they be needed when the image re-detects hardware.

 

if adding drivers is there a way to force whether windows uses built in drivers or ones added to image?

Also, i've got one motherboard i have to install a specific driver on and change a setting in device manager properties. I'm assuming i would have to change the driver and set device manager properties on each machine after if using sysprep?

[Duke5A]

if adding drivers is there a way to force whether windows uses built in drivers or ones added to image?

Also, i've got one motherboard i have to install a specific driver on and change a setting in device manager properties. I'm assuming i would have to change the driver and set device manager properties on each machine after if using sysprep?

 

Not that I'm aware of. Best you can do is add your driver and then Windows figures out what is best to use if there are multiple options. If Windows does see multiple drivers matching a device's hardware ID then it checks the driver date first prioritizing the newest, then moves to the version if the dates are equal.

 

I actually ran into an issue a few years ago where the wireless driver that ships with Windows 10 for Dell DW1510 wireless cards had a severe bug that made wifi almost unusable. The driver from Dell worked fine, but had an older date in the signature. Windows wouldn't prioritize the Dell driver on imaging. What I had to do was remove the driver that Windows ships with from it's driver store. That fixed the issue.

 

Outside of that the driver management in WDS has been enough for me. Just import your driver into the WDS console and it'll hand it out to the appropriate hardware during the imaging process. Really no need to build the driver into the image so as long as you're using an MS imaging solution.