Suggestions for new deployment software

[ravenadsl]

Hello everyone,

 

We are planning a move to windows 7 over the summer holiday 2010, our current solution for imaging computers is ghost 5.0, most of our computers are a pain to find dos drivers for and we have been having a load of problems with ghost lately so i want to get it replaced!

 

can any one suggest some software so we can deploy windows 7 images over our network

 

Requirements,

would be nice if its free

must be able to deploy windows 7

not run on Linux (not that i don't like Linux i just don't know it well)

 

 

Sorry i forgot to say in my original post,

 

I have a look at getting the latest Ghost suit but licencing is way to expensive!!!

 

I will update original post

Edited March 30, 2010 by ravenadsl
forgot to say.....

[itguy22]

Have you tried Ghost Soloution Suite 12 that is a lot better.

 

You can also you windows PE to boot as well. So all you have to do is find the Vista(possible 7) driver for the network card, add that into the PE image and it will work.

 

Much better than the dos drivers.

 

Its not free though.

[sparkeh]

Fog will deploy Win7 and it free.

[featured_spectre]

I installed EVERYTHING I needed on 1 PC whilst I had some other people install W7 (nothing else). I created an image of said machine, put it on 6 external HDDs and told the machines to restore from the image. After I renamed the PC's, I added them to the domain and went from there. So far that has been the most painless way for me to do it without having to faff about with sysprep etc.

[ravenadsl]

Have you tried Ghost Soloution Suite 12 that is a lot better.

 

You can also you windows PE to boot as well. So all you have to do is find the Vista(possible 7) driver for the network card, add that into the PE image and it will work.

 

Much better than the dos drivers.

 

Its not free though.

 

Sorry i forgot to say in my original post,

 

i have a look at getting the latest Ghost suit but licencing is way to expensive!!!

 

i will update original post

[tmcd35]

WDS? Free, non linux, built into Windows Server as standard, will deploy Windows 7, what more could you ask?

[itguy22]

WDS? Free, non linux, built into Windows Server as standard, will deploy Windows 7, what more could you ask?

 

Im guessing that Windows Sever 2008 right?

 

Yes ghost is exspensive, most things are... It has been very reliable for us though.

[tmcd35]

Im guessing that Windows Sever 2008 right?

 

 

2003 SP2 and up AFIAK

[ravenadsl]

Fog will deploy Win7 and it free.

 

Fog looks great but i can only find installers for Linux, i don't know Linux

 

WDS? Free, non linux, built into Windows Server as standard, will deploy Windows 7, what more could you ask?

 

I'm currently playing with WDS but i want to see if there is anything else out there

 

Im guessing that Windows Sever 2008 right?

 

I have server 2003, 2008 and 2008R2 to use

[sparkeh]

Fog looks great but i can only find installers for Linux, i don't know Linux

 

Sorry didn't read the non-linux bit

 

WDS would be your best bet then I think

[sted]

im not actually so keen on the latest versions of ghost some things are way more work than they used to be. Adding packages to a task has gone from tick boxes against what you want to having to do one at a time and options which is a pain so i have started just running packages manually fro a batch file (dir /b >packages.txt then editing that and turning it into a batch file)

 

wds for images works fine but i have found it slower than ghost in some cases much and when naming pcs it did them in a weird order so pc i started first diddnt end up being one etc. Its also worth looking into mdt2010 which i will hopefully get time to do next week

[teejay]

The tools for deployment in 2008 are pretty good, look at WDS and also look at MDT 2010, both free.

[JessicaD]

There are several new features that are available with Windows Server 2008 / Windows 7 that will assist you with the deployment and management of a large number of workstations. Enterprise IT infrastructures are increasingly complex to manage. The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) is a dynamic desktop solution that is available as a subscription for Software Assurance customers. The solution suite enhances application deployment and compatibility, increases IT responsiveness and end user uptime, and helps reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) of your desktop software and IT management.

To learn more about this package, please go here: Microsoft Windows Enterprise: Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack

 

Also now available is MDT 2010 (Microsoft Deployment Tool) which will help you create images and automate the OS and application installations, data migration, and desktop configuration process. To learn more, please go here: Windows 7 Deployment Frequently Asked Questions

 

Should you require additional assistance and guidance, Microsoft does have an official Windows 7 Support Forum specifically for IT Pros located here Windows 7 IT Pro Category . It is supported by product specialists as well as engineers and support teams. You may want to also check the threads available there for additional assistance and feedback.

 

Jessica

Microsoft Windows Client Team

[DannyG555]

We're in exactly the same boat looking to migrate from server 2003 to 2008 and from Win XP to Win 7. A solution for deployment we're very keen on is Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010 out this year. Will also provide for zero touch installation which is also extremely useful with so many workstations on site!

 

Provides a lot more than just deployment though and is a good all rounder for a lot of management tasks which helps to justify the licensing cost

[DannyG555]

Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010

[SimpleSi]

I created an image of said machine, put it on 6 external HDDs ... So far that has been the most painless way for me to do it without having to faff about with sysprep etc.

 

My man!

 

Welcome to my world.

 

But I only have 1 portable drive so I used to partition all machines initially into C and D - image the master computer C partition to D and then copy the image to all D Drives (by using binary logic 1 copied to 2 and 3, then copy 2 to 4 and 5, 3 to 6 and 7 etc... and then boot each machine off CD and restore image to C drive.

 

But recently had problems with netbooks and hidden partitions so I now just use Clonezilla to image whole machine and back to using my USB drive on each machine.

 

And I've also used FOG but I that hasn't been reliable enough for me switch to it entirely.

 

And I use WPKG to deploy pre-built msi/autoit/bat file installs so the need to have all software on one computer before imaging is less important nowadays.

 

regards

 

Simon

[ravenadsl]

We're in exactly the same boat looking to migrate from server 2003 to 2008 and from Win XP to Win 7. A solution for deployment we're very keen on is Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010 out this year. Will also provide for zero touch installation which is also extremely useful with so many workstations on site!

 

Provides a lot more than just deployment though and is a good all rounder for a lot of management tasks which helps to justify the licensing cost

 

MSCE 2010 looks realy good. im downloading the RTM now. but from the info on there website I cant see any information about deploying O/S

 

Thanks

[DannyG555]

Yeh it can be a bit unclear exactly what the product is and can do. If you go here and look at the 2nd table down comparing with the Configuration Manager 2007, it explains capabilities a lot better

[DannyG555]

Oh... and don't ask why there's a blank entry in that table with ticks against it. Maybe a hidden functionality? lol

[ngatenetman]

MSCE 2010 looks realy good. im downloading the RTM now. but from the info on there website I cant see any information about deploying O/S

 

Thanks

 

Hi,

 

I found that the Microsoft website for the SCE 2010 wasn't very clear. I looked at the compare versions and SCE shows that it has less features then the other System Centre products but enough for use within a school environment. I too have also downloaded the RTM version and have got pricing on the product which is just getting into educational pricing channels now.

[mavhc]

how much?

[ngatenetman]

how much?

 

Quotation was obtained from Ramesys, actually based in Nottingham. The costings aren't too bad for the software but again like most Microsoft Server type of products it is the CAL User/Device licence that costs. Our costings were about £105 SCE 2010 with SQL, SCE 2010 Management Licence £12.50 per device managing SCE, Client Management Licence slightly over £2 (works like CALs). The price may be different as these are specific to our school.

 

We are also looking at Configuration Manager 2007 this is more for distribution of software, OS deployment and packaging and is more than SCE2010 pricing not 100% sure of. The CAL licence I think was about £6 per device with the Configuration Manager being under £300.

 

Hope this helps with the how much?

[teckedd]

You should have a look at Specops Deploy It consists of two parts. Firstly, Application Deployment. This allows you to deploy both MSIs and legacy(exe/bat) files that can run silently. You can target your installation at 100s of different criteria, e.g. OUs/OS version/registry values/files/msi GUIDs... the list goes on! you can even target uses/groups/etc. The install of software can be scheduled into the future or done asap. The installation can occur during start-up or after the user has logged on! The system provides full feedback so you can see successful and failed installs(will details of the error the client experienced). The system uses a Client Side Extension to extend Microsoft's Group Policies so your software deployments are done within Group Policy's.

 

Secondly, OS deployment. They have written a 'wapper' for WDS and MDT 2010 to make deployment much easier and quicker! You can right click on a computer or OU in AD and click reinstall and you then select the WDS image to install, it will then restart the computer and install the selected image. All very cool and make life so much easier.

 

If you want to see it in action PM me. If you want the details of our account manager PM me and he should be able to sort out some discount.

 

Edd

Edited May 22, 2010 by teckedd

[teckedd]

We are now using Specops OS Deploy to install Windows 7 and its going very well.

 

I have been talking to a couple of people who would like a demo of Specops OS and Application deployment. I work at a school located in Swindon and wanted to see if anyone else would be interested in attending a session about using Specops Deploy to install Windows and Deploy applications.

 

Edd

Edited June 10, 2010 by teckedd

[carvjo]

We are now using Specops OS Deploy to install Windows 7 and its going very well.

 

I have been talking to a couple of people who would like a demo of Specops OS and Application deployment. I work at a school located in Swindon and wanted to see if anyone else would be interested in attending a session about using Specops Deploy to install Windows and Deploy applications.

 

Edd

 

I took a look at the website - it looks great - asked for prices (out of curiosity, though if the price was right?) - even with educational discount at around £13 per desktop it isn't cheap and around four times the price I was offered on Altiris..

I think it will have to be MDT2010 and WpkgExpress this year..