Windows XP Multiple Deployment

[Paul Kent-Smith]

Morning all, have a question that i hope you can all help
me with...

What i need to do is develope an XP build that i can Ghost
an image of and then deploy it onto any hardware system. I
was thinking of using SysPrep, but i was told this will
only allow you to deploy the build onto similar hardware
systems. Is this true??

Also, does a corporate version of XP and registration code
bypass XP worrying about what hardware the build is put
onto??

Hopefully hear from you all soon

PKS

 

[WinGuy]

Morning all, have a question that i hope you can all help
me with...

What i need to do is develope an XP build that i can Ghost
an image of and then deploy it onto any hardware system. I
was thinking of using SysPrep, but i was told this will
only allow you to deploy the build onto similar hardware
systems. Is this true??

Also, does a corporate version of XP and registration code
bypass XP worrying about what hardware the build is put
onto??

Hopefully hear from you all soon

PKS

From a hardware standpoint, the ghost image will only work with a different
computer that is in all ways identical to the original computer. This is
almost never the case, because some hardware might contain its own unique
identifying serial numbers (put there indelibly by the hardware manufacture)
that Windows might note during boot, and even if XP didn't lock you out
during the boot then your 1st visit to the Microsoft Update site might
detect this and give up a nicely worded message strongly hinting at a piracy
problem. You might not know how angry this makes repair techs whose
customers didn't bother to inform about such things, since they'll probably
have already and unavoidably put in a lot of labor by the time the problem
is discovered - and it's not the tech's fault or responsibility.

Most likely, it is best to just go buy a new and individual retail copy of
Windows for each computer you wish to run it on.

 

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----


From a hardware standpoint, the ghost image will only work with a different
computer that is in all ways identical to the original computer. This is
almost never the case, because some hardware might contain its own unique
identifying serial numbers (put there indelibly by the hardware manufacture)
that Windows might note during boot, and even if XP didn't lock you out
during the boot then your 1st visit to the Microsoft Update site might
detect this and give up a nicely worded message strongly hinting at a piracy
problem. You might not know how angry this makes repair techs whose
customers didn't bother to inform about such things, since they'll probably
have already and unavoidably put in a lot of labor by the time the problem
is discovered - and it's not the tech's fault or responsibility.

Most likely, it is best to just go buy a new and individual retail copy of
Windows for each computer you wish to run it on.

*********************************************************

Cheers for the advice, but from a repair point of view i
need to be able to provide the support engineers with one
build that can be used over the whole estate, or even
better leave a bootable ghost image with the customer and
get them to reload it.

I have had some other replies about using volume license's
which i'm going to look into, which i'm hoping doesn't
take into account the HAL, coz as you've said above the
current build ask's you go re-activate windows as the
hardware has changed slighty.

Regards,

PKS

 

[WinGuy]

Cheers for the advice, but from a repair point of view i
need to be able to provide the support engineers with one
build that can be used over the whole estate, or even
better leave a bootable ghost image with the customer and
get them to reload it.

I have had some other replies about using volume license's
which i'm going to look into, which i'm hoping doesn't
take into account the HAL, coz as you've said above the
current build ask's you go re-activate windows as the
hardware has changed slighty.

Regards,

PKS

If the hardware has "changed" in certain ways (this is fully specified by
MS).

Volume licensing is hardly economically worth it unless you truly have -
volume. Besides, it's still a "new" install for each PC it's put on. Ever
watch the very 1st bootup routine of a brand new out of the box computer
with volume licensed XP on it? That should give you an idea of what I'm
talking about. You're not dealing with an image of a particular computer,
you're dealing with an image of a drive where XP still knows nothing (or
very little) about the hardware and the software that's about to be
installed on it. It's not just plug-n-play. There are scripts that run after
the hardware is catagorized, those scripts then install the bundled software
products and so on, on that 1st boot. And then the ULA must be agreed to or
the box will quit working after 30 days.

You see, if what the support engineers want were possible then current
anti-piracy measures would not work. Their expectation is not based in
practicality, and as "engineers" they should very well know that.

But, making an image of a fully activated computer, at manufacturing time,
is a feasible option although a labor and time intensive one. Sales could
get info from the customer before the build as to the data that is to be
used when Windows is activated, and an image made of THAT computer for later
resoration purposes of THAT computer.

Why not just include in manufacturing the requirement that another HDD be
installed that is caused to automatically be a C: drive image at specified
backup time points? Have that as a customer ordering option, and let the
support dept charge accordingly based upon the customer preference. Put the
onus on the customer and make a legal profit in the process.