ssx4life

School just got out for me, so I finally have some more free time on my hands (at least for a bit). I'll try to start working on this soon.

Sorry for being absent from these forums for awhile, I just came back I can't take all the credit for Fog + Sysprep, but Michael Vowtaw has a really REALLY nice guide on the basics - COE Exchange: Imaging Windows Machines with Sysprep I use about 80% of his guide and 20% of my own configuration. I prefer to use driverpacks for my sysprep - News | DriverPacks.net By having a single install that does JUST mass storage drivers + LAN drivers in my sysprep I am able to push the windows xp image to any system, and have driverpacks find all needed drivers on the back end. (currently working on about 8 models or so for me) I'll be happy to fill in any gaps you may have about sysprep... but it is pretty straight forward Just remember... if you have XP Pro OEM (COA) you can use sysprep with roytalty keys if you preserve oem activation using M$ methods (I prefer to use a royalty key + oem scan) Again.... YMMV, let me know if you need more pointers Also you can reach me via Email (see signature)

There are a few ways of doing this, but I'm curious why it isn't working for you. Are you using the fog client service to rename the computer or are you doing it though sysprep? If you have the client service running AND you are changing it in sysprep it could cause issues

if you need more help with setting passwords on the PXE boot menu let me know.

I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you have regarding sysprep and FOG. There are a few steps that I consider critical to having a properly set up and created XP image on FOG, but that's just me (mass storage drivers / HAL change / etc.)

I haven't had much time to work on this due to work and school deadlines, but I'll try and have some updates on it shortly.

I've been running some ideas though my head on how we can make FOG more useful, and I thought about doing two projects for the community and wanted to get some feedback before I go much further. 1. Have a full writeup on how to use FOG to image and deploy Windows XP across multiple hardware platforms (hardware independent image) using Driverpacks. 2. Having a "default software load" option that does not rely on snapins (plural). This one may take a bit more explanation, but the "jist of it is this" Setup and configure WPIW (windows post installation wizard) to auto script and deploy what you want to a base set of computers. This base system install can be pushed out as a single snapin using SFX Creator... I just haven't taken the time to test and document it far enough. Anyone care to help me write up some documentation and perhaps get some cool new tools and guides out there to the public? **edit** over 70 views and no bites? =(

I apologize for being MIA to this site for awhile (the entire FOG project to be precise). But I'm back, and I have created a new video showing how to create a snapin for Office 2003 and deploy it out to the masses =) [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSMJLnRjn94]YouTube- Fog Project: Creating a snapin of Office 2003 using SFX Maker[/ame] Process is fairly straight forward. 1. Copy / extract the setup files to a folder on your desktop 2. Download and install the 2003 ORK (office resource kit) from M$'s website 3. Run the ORK and create an .mst file (run the Custom Maintenance Installation Wizard) 4. Save the .mst as "unattended.mst" (without quotes) and save it in the root of your 2003 setup folder 5. Copy and paste this text below and save it as a Batch Script in notepad ECHO. ECHO Installing Office 2003 Professional ECHO Please wait... start /wait %systemdrive%\Windows\Temp\7ZipSfx.000\setup.exe TRANSFORMS=Unattended.MST /qb- 6. Download and install SFX Maker - Link 7. Run SFX Maker (note it can not be run from a Virtual environment) as a Folder install and point the setup / installer to the batch script we created earlier 8. Select your compression and .exe tags / information 9. Compress the file down (it can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 30 min's depending on the compression you select and the speed of your pc) 10. Finished! Make a new snapin with your FOG server and register it with one of your client pc's. 11. Test the install out! =) I've also included a really short example video of the file being run from a snapin envyroment (the above video shows it being run as a standalone in XP, so my apologies) link As always if you have any questions / comments let me know. Thanks! --ssx--

Sorry to ask this... but Windows XP / Vista / 7 ? Bitlocker partition or no bitlocker?

It really, truely is that painless =) Directions are straight forward. If you have your networking permissions and folder shares set up already it's pretty much plug and play. Either map to the network folder via the menu, or edit login.bat in the sub folder (I think that's the one). Check the netbootdisk site for more verification and documentation. I just wanted an actual video out there for people to see it in action. PXE is also straight foward, but have your ducks in a row first. Make sure the disk is working the way you want it to, and then make an .img of it using winimage or other 3rd party application. Modify your pxe boot menu to include the floppy image. Boot to it... and voila! You will need to force a ramdisk change if you boot via PXE. See the main site for more info.....again google is your friend

Thought I'd leave you with 1 more tidbit of info. #1. You can have a bootable USB version of netbootdisk Have a good weekend

I will be around this weekend, so feel free to PM me. (saturday I'm busy but sunday yes)

If you need help let me know

A big no on that =) PXE boot to an .img file

Netbootdisk is a msdos boot disk that includes network drivers. You can then launch Ghost via PXE =) Check my setup guide here - [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb3YcLDpa8U]YouTube- TCP IP Network Bootdisk[/ame] Build the netbootdisk and test it out, make sure it's working correctly on the corrisponding machine. Create an .img of it and stick it on your PXE server and boot to it. Below is an example [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjDtJtuwIps]YouTube- Fog Project: Modified PXE Boot Menu[/ame]

Ever thought about using netbootdisk to accomplish this?

Fog is removing support for netdom.exe on Windows 7 machines. They are beta testing a new solution currently. check out their forums.

Either need to log in as Root or do a su command via terminal.

The last thing you need is the uninformed breeding more bad information! Windows 7 and fog works just fine for deployment. However because 7 just came out the FOG team has not updated the release to include any active directory joining. you can image the pc's with FOG and use WDS for other scripted tasks such as adding the pc to domain, etc.

Looks like you are on your way.

As promised, here is my weekly FOG documentation / submission. I've been sick all week, so I haven't really had time to get into anything too lengthy or in depth. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghfJqbFOex4]YouTube - Fog Project: Deleting a group of computers in the database[/ame] I got a request for a quick video walk though from someone over the weekend so here it is. Deleting a group of computers from the FOG database is very easy to do. All you need to do is simply add the computers into a new group that you create, and then delete the group + all computers inside of it. If the computers are also part of a secondary group this is fine, it will also auto-delete the computers from all other associated groups at the same time.

In XP that issue is tied to the MBR not being written properly. Try what I mentioned above. I feel it is important to note as well that with Windows 7 I had the same issue(s) with a multi partition image vs. a single partition image. Not sure why 7 includes a 100mb 2ndary partition but it does. Easy fix was to just do the multi image.

There are some work around(s) that you can try to get FOG working for you. 1. Select a multi-partition image (single disk) instead of a single partition single disk. This will tell fog to back up any and all partitions on the drive (this is common place with recovery partitions and or dianstoics) Dell / HP / etc. come to mind here The only limitation is that the HDD size is locked. If you image an 80GB hdd and deploy it to a 320gb hdd it will only show 80gb unless you adjust it manually. With all the models being the same hardware this typically isn't a problem. Another possible work around for you is to also set up the base image on a LARGER hard drive than the rest of the models (say a 500gb hdd) and image it back to the lower units. It will allocate all of the available space for you. 2. Rebuild the base image pc (or delete the 2nd partition and expand the space). This will allow you to do a single partition and have it be re-sizable. Don't forget to re-allocate the lost space of the deleted partition with Gparted or some other similar tool before you upload the image. This again only counts if you don't want that partition on the base image. Let me know if you need help. --ssx--

I should have mentioned in the video including the SP2 update in the initial installation. I just ran out of room on the video and didn't want to split it up. You can download SP2 for office 07 and do an /extract and put the main .msp file in the updates folder as well. =)

Well I've decided to try and hold myself to a weekly video on documentation for FOG. So this is hopefully the first of many to come. This week I decided to a video walk though on how to create an Office 2007 snapin using SFX Maker. Check it out [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzc1Q9NW_cE]YouTube - Fog Project: Creating a snapin of Office 2007 using SFX Maker[/ame] I have yet to add audio and or comments to the video (the video is still being processed by youtube, but it will be high quality when finished). Look for a fully updated video with comments by this evening. There are a TON of benefits to using SFX Maker to create a snapin over say InstallRITE. Most noted is that you use the actual installer to install the program, not a "before and after" comparison and push. This means the software push is compatible on any platform (XP / vista / 7 / etc.) It also removes some of the headaches seen in the past with InstallRITE and other applications documented. The big headache with FOG is that it allows only a single file to be uploaded to the server and then deployed out to the client. This is fine for smaller installations (I would say 95% of all installs) but those larger installs such as M$ Office and Adobe are a pain in the @ss. This fixes the issue by compressing and then decompressing the file... plus it auto extracts and launches the file in question with command line switches (very helpful). I've been wanting to write this how-to guide for awhile, and I'm glad I finally got around to it. If you have any questions let me know, I'll be happy to assist you further.... and yes I do plan on adding this to the FOG user guide eventually. Stay frosty! --ssx-- p.s. please feel free to submit things you wish to have documented and I'll try to add it to my "to do" list. So far I've got about 10 things I want to have video documentation on.