While this tip will only scratch the surface if you are planning to deploy a common Windows ‘image’ to multiple machines, a tool which is absolutely essential is Microsoft Sysprep. In a nutshell, this program converts the current Windows installation (in this case XP) to a generic/template state. After running Sysprep, when the machine reboots you will get a brief wizard which walks you through the process of assigning your computer a name and setting up the Windows Administrator account password.

I recently had to rebuild 15 training machines and instead of manually setting up each one, I simply built one install how I needed it and then imaged it to the other machines. My entire process was:

1. From scratch, set up one machine exactly how I needed it. Install all programs, apply all the settings, create user accounts, etc.
2. Use the Sysprep tool.
3. Create an image of the ‘template’ machine’s hard drive (after Sysprep was run).
4. Copy the image to the other machines.
5. Start up each of the machines after the image was copied and walk through the Windows setup wizard.
6. Done.

Using this method I was able to complete 15 machines in just about 1 day. Doing everything manually would have taken significantly longer.

Situation: You’re going to upgrade your primary hard drive to something bigger, better and faster – however the primary hard drive is obviously what holds your operating system.

So now you’re faced with a choice.

1. Reinstall the operating system on the new drive and reinstall all your apps.
2. Use drive imaging software to copy everything from the old drive to the new one.

Continued