Using WDS simply

[SimpleSi]

As I currently simply just clone one working machine to identical hardware in a suite by cloning from an image on a second partition or a portable USB hard drive.

 

I've tried Linux net distribution solutions but always had problems.

 

Can WDS be used in a very simple mode without all the syspreping type business going e.g take a working machine - get an image and roll it out and then do a newsid/just change computer name afterwards.?

 

I have w2k3 servers but don't use them as domain controllers.

 

Basically, can this sophisticated product be brought down to my level

 

regards

 

Simon

[plexer]

No wds can't image a drive that has been sysprepped if sysprep hasn't been run you won't see the drive to be able to collect and image.

 

Ben

Edited February 26, 2009 by plexer
typo which meant the post didn't make sense.

[SYNACK]

You could put the Windows AIK image on the WDS basiclly giving you a fully capible 32bit command prompt from PXE boot and use imagex at the command line to simply capture an image to a network drive then deploy it to other machines by booting them to PXE and applying the image off the shared network drive. You get all of the driver compatibility and speed offered by this method and can do what you want with regards to each imaged machine afterwards. You could automate the mapping/application with a batch file either on a network drive or injected into the AIK image (Win PE 2) Edited February 26, 2009 by SYNACK