Deploying 20 machines with OEM

[Ron Horner]

Hello,
Recently I bought 20 Dell machines(GX 260), I have got
all the cds, xp cd pro cd keys and drivers. Now i need to
do the following. I want to install XP pro on one machine
with standard business applications, drivers etc, clone it
to the other machines for speedier deployment / recovrey
in case of a disaster. Can I do it with OEM licenses?.

I need to activate each machine
chnage machine name for each machine accordign to the
serial number
Join the domain
activation

etc...what is the scope for this?..

could you please help

 

[Rob Elder, MVP-Networking]

Take a look at SYSPREP.

 

[Jeremy]

You can do it with OEM licenses a few different ways. If
you have NOT yet activated the machines, all you have to
do is build your standard machine and then run sysprep on
it. Once syspreped you can create your "image" (using
Ghost or something similiar) and push it out to your
machines. On the first bootup of each machine you will be
asked for your machine name, CD Key, and to activate
Windows.
If you have already activated Windows XP you have to back
up the wpa.dbl located in the \windows\systems32 folder
of each machine before you wipe out any of the hard
drives. Once imaged, copy the wpa.dbl files back to the
system32 folder and you shouldn't have to reactivate
WindowsXP
Hope this helps!

 

[Ron Horner]

How about the machine ID, SID etc. Will that be different
for each machines after syspreping?

 

[Jeremy Decareau]

By default your SID will be removed when running sysprep.
You can turn that feature on and off using the NoSIDGen
check box. Also, you will want to run the MiniSetup
option which will allow you to change the CD Key, machine
name etc...