ghosting machines with win xp

[me]

hi

i need to build 8 pc's and install xp pro and a few other apps on all.

would i be able to build one PC and use ghost to image the hard disks of all
the others.

i will have COA stickers on all the PC's but if i use ghost the software
will refelect same products keys or whever they call them these days on all
machines.. will that be a problem?

thanks,

charles

 

[Randy Harris]

hi

i need to build 8 pc's and install xp pro and a few other apps on all.

would i be able to build one PC and use ghost to image the hard disks of all
the others.

i will have COA stickers on all the PC's but if i use ghost the software
will refelect same products keys or whever they call them these days on all
machines.. will that be a problem?

thanks,

charles

It is not difficult to change the license key after Ghosting.
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=328874

 

[David H. Lipman]

From: "me" <[email protected]>

| hi
|
| i need to build 8 pc's and install xp pro and a few other apps on all.
|
| would i be able to build one PC and use ghost to image the hard disks of all
| the others.
|
| i will have COA stickers on all the PC's but if i use ghost the software
| will refelect same products keys or whever they call them these days on all
| machines.. will that be a problem?
|
| thanks,
|
| charles
|

Not as long as all the machince are the SAME model.

You should perform a SYSPREP before imaging the source PC. This way when upon a restoration
of the image to a destination PC it will run the Mini Setup Wizard and you can joind the
Domain (create new SID), provide a new platform name and provide the proper IP address.

I also suggest that after you install all the applications and you configure them for all
the default settings, I suggest copying the profile you used onto the "Default User" profile
prior to running SYSPREP.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

i need to build 8 pc's and install xp pro and a few other apps
on all.

would i be able to build one PC and use ghost to image the hard
disks
of all the others.

i will have COA stickers on all the PC's but if i use ghost the
software will refelect same products keys or whever they call
them
these days on all machines.. will that be a problem?

Assuming that the eight PCs will have the identical hardware and
the identical version of Windows XP, no, it's not a problem. The
Product Key is not on the CD. Just build them, install Windows XP
on one, don't activate it, then Ghost it to the others.

After you have Windows installed on all eight machines, then
activate each one, using the unique product key on each.

 

[Amanda Wang [MSFT]]

Hi Charles,

Thanks for your post and appreciate all the others helpful information.

Just as Ken said, you can use ghost to image one hard disk to the others
hard disks before activating it.

And then change the specific settings on the them such as Computer Name, IP
address and so on and activate it using the unique product key.

For more references:

810892 How to change the product key at the time of activation
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=810892

886825 Product Activation - WinXP OEM Change Product Activation Key

886825 Product Activation - WinXP OEM Change Product Activation Key

886825 Product Activation - WinXP OEM Change Product Activation Key

Hope that helps. If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel
free to post back.

Thanks & Regards

Amanda Wang [MSFT]

Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

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