Batch installing Windoze XP ? One for SuperZingle ?

The Jackal · 12-01-2007, 00:43

I remember years back one of the Windows nuts in the office devised or maybe revised a way of installing windows NT onto multiple machines.

Scenario...

New machine arrives in the office.

He throws in a floppy which PXE boots and installs a windows drive image.

Post installation he throws on the reg key, machine name and possibly a mac address rename ? If I recall the only snag with this technique is that it required the hardware to be exactly the same.

Is something simple like this possible on Windows XP ?

Graham M · 12-01-2007, 00:44

If the hardware is exactly the same (or at least very similar) then yes it's possible by using Norton Ghost and you can download a boot-floppy for changing the PC's NetBIOS Name.

The Jackal · 12-01-2007, 00:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeph

If the hardware is exactly the same (or at least very similar) then yes it's possible by using Norton Ghost and you can download a boot-floppy for changing the PC's NetBIOS Name.

So this will work with windows XP also then ? Is there a HOWTO or should this n00b g00gle for it ?

Graham M · 12-01-2007, 00:59

Well Norton Ghost is a very simple program, all you need to do is Install the PC and get it set up how you want it and Norton Ghost will take a snapshot of the Hard Drive to a file (not on the same hard drive) a Partition to a file (not on that partition) or directly to a set of CD-Rs, DVD-Rs and it can be done over a network. It's a case of experimenting with Ghost and finding the easiest way for you to do it.

---------- Post added at 00:59 ---------- Previous post was at 00:48 ----------

BTW it's only really worth it if you've got a large number of similar or identical PCs to installed, I've done about 40 by this method before (Identical Small Form Factor PCs for a school) and it works well. If you have a few different PCs, best bet is to make a separate Ghost Image for each one.

The Jackal · 12-01-2007, 02:00

Hmmm why is windows such a pain in the butt to work with.

Can do better with linux. I have a linux install that I've been carrying around from machine to machine, upgrade to upgrade different hardware. disks and processors. This install is more than 10 years old !

Is it not possible to get an install made whereby I can carry it around like that ? ie the only thing that changes possibly is the kernel unless of course you create a kernel that is generic enough to run on most common hardware.

bopdude · 12-01-2007, 05:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrC-3rr0r

Is it not possible to get an install made whereby I can carry it around like that ? ie the only thing that changes possibly is the kernel unless of course you create a kernel that is generic enough to run on most common hardware.

I don't know if it's what your after, but what about one of the Tiny XP flavors, there's a few about, small in size and usage, about 340 mb in size, uses about 40 mb ram, 12 processes running from install and only takes 8 mins from scratch.

Of course, I might be barking up the wrong tree here

handyman · 12-01-2007, 09:28

You could easily slipstream a copy of widows with all your drivers and software then install could be a 1 disc job.

Aragorn · 12-01-2007, 10:11

CRC - if you're installing XP in an existing Active Directory (may also work without AD iirc), MS has a built-in tool for this, Remote Installation Service (RIS). A quick google pulled up this how to on RIS installs for XP. Probably more info on the MS site.
The other 'commercial' product I know of is Altiris for push or pull XP installs.
HTH

Paul K · 12-01-2007, 10:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by CrC-3rr0r

I remember years back one of the Windows nuts in the office devised or maybe revised a way of installing windows NT onto multiple machines.

Scenario...

New machine arrives in the office.

He throws in a floppy which PXE boots and installs a windows drive image.

Post installation he throws on the reg key, machine name and possibly a mac address rename ? If I recall the only snag with this technique is that it required the hardware to be exactly the same.

Is something simple like this possible on Windows XP ?

You can do a sysprep for identical PCs but you may find this site a useful read
http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/

12-01-2007, 10:25

Superzingle went to bed early and had a lie in too

Has anyone been able to get ghost to boot from cd on some of the newer machines? My machine just wont have a bar of it. Is there a boot cd or floppy for ghost 10 im using ghost 8 still for dos backup/recovery and this just does not work with newer boards.I need something new so recommendations for a dos drive image utility which will work with modern machines (I think its sata controllers stop it whether ata or raid set)

Nliteos I use for creating my own custom unattended installs

Tightscot · 12-01-2007, 10:38

RE Ghost:

I use Ghost with a USB caddy and the caddy holds loads of disk images for different PC's..

the version i use (2003) works fine with all new machines except for the Dell Optiplex GX520/620, i have to run a modified version as the normal version won't detect the USB keyboard/mouse - the Dell's have no PS2 ports...

My Modified version uses an older USB 1 driver and works fine - although it is obviously slower when transferring images to/from the USB caddy.... - these Dell's are SATA drives and work fine with it Zing...

Also i've found that 99% of the time, as long as the main board Chipset is the same, the image can be stuck onto different models of board, i just need to boot up, sometimes in safe mode, then reboot and update drivers like VGA/NIC etc...

For example i have an image for a VIA chipset board and can use this on loads of other boards which use VIA chipsets - even different versions of the VIA chip...

HTH

Paul K · 12-01-2007, 10:39

I think an older version of Ghost works with sata, one of the guys here uses it. According to symantec the new versions should work but we found out here there are still problems.

12-01-2007, 11:09

Well I have a ghost 8 boot cd that I use to generally backup all my systems. Newer machines with more advanced chipsets and the like just wont boot from the cd. The programs runs but there isnt much use having a ghost image that you cant recover to cuz you cant write it over an os your working on.Its just newer systems ive found this problem with not older machines with sata(well my newest and a couple of others with intel chipsets)

---------- Post added at 11:09 ---------- Previous post was at 10:42 ----------

Ok I "acquired" a cd of symantec ghost 10 and yes it works a treat

Im gonna grumble about the boot cd though as its a Live cd and takes ages so I imagine a recovery will also take ages where the older pcdos recovery was limited only by read write speeds of the disks

Paul K · 12-01-2007, 11:26

LOL that's how we tested it here before buying 10 copies.

The Jackal · 12-01-2007, 11:31

wow Thankyou all for the replies....

Excellent replies. Reps all around ladies.

I've had a quick read and this slipstreaming mollarcky looks like the easiest and probably most effective solution.

Well done you windows nuts you !

---------- Post added at 11:31 ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by bopdude

I don't know if it's what your after, but what about one of the Tiny XP flavors, there's a few about, small in size and usage, about 340 mb in size, uses about 40 mb ram, 12 processes running from install and only takes 8 mins from scratch.

Of course, I might be barking up the wrong tree here

Which XP are you talking about mate /.?