Norton Ghost & Domain Login

[Guest]

Hi,

I work for a software developer in the UK and we are having a recurring
issue on our Quality Assurance test platform that causes a long time delay on
the test bed.

- We use Norton System Ghost to create images of the hard drive so that we
can return them to an identicle state every time we want to run a new test.
- All of the test machines are in a domain on the test bed.

When we reghost the machine we have to remove it and re-add it to the
domain, because the image was created (in most cases) 30 days prior to the
current date, and as such, the domain controller will not allow it to login.

I have been told that this can be resolved by changing some registry keys on
the ghosted machine however I am unable to find any reference to these keys
within the newsgroups or on the support knowledgebase.

Does anyone know of a way that we can keep ghost images logged in to the
domain without having to remove and re-add them every time? The process of
removing and re-adding them causes a significant delay in our testing process.

Thanks
Keith Birch

 

[Richard G. Harper]

Personally, I run SYSPREP on any image before putting it to bed - that will
generate a new set of SIDs when the machine image is restored. SYSPREP can
also automatically join the machine back to the domain after it's imaged.
Start here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/duplication.mspx

But in short, no, you can't just restore a GHOST image onto a PC and have it
log onto the domain as if nothing has happened.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* My website, such as it is ... http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

 

[Guest]

Hi richard,

Thanks for the speedy response. We have looked into this but are worried
that it would create multiple users each time it adds the user back in to the
domain. Would this be correct, or would it use a user that we specify each
and every time?

Thanks
Keith Birch

Personally, I run SYSPREP on any image before putting it to bed - that will
generate a new set of SIDs when the machine image is restored. SYSPREP can
also automatically join the machine back to the domain after it's imaged.
Start here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/duplication.mspx

But in short, no, you can't just restore a GHOST image onto a PC and have it
log onto the domain as if nothing has happened.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* My website, such as it is ... http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

Hi,

I work for a software developer in the UK and we are having a recurring
issue on our Quality Assurance test platform that causes a long time delay
on
the test bed.

- We use Norton System Ghost to create images of the hard drive so that we
can return them to an identicle state every time we want to run a new
test.
- All of the test machines are in a domain on the test bed.

When we reghost the machine we have to remove it and re-add it to the
domain, because the image was created (in most cases) 30 days prior to the
current date, and as such, the domain controller will not allow it to
login.

I have been told that this can be resolved by changing some registry keys
on
the ghosted machine however I am unable to find any reference to these
keys
within the newsgroups or on the support knowledgebase.

Does anyone know of a way that we can keep ghost images logged in to the
domain without having to remove and re-add them every time? The process of
removing and re-adding them causes a significant delay in our testing
process.

Thanks
Keith Birch

 

[Richard G. Harper]

Users should not be an issue, I suspect you are actually asking "Will the
computer create a new account for itself in the domain each time the GHOST
image is restored?" The answer to that question is no - each time the
computer re-joins the domain it will re-join under the same name unless you
change it.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* My website, such as it is ... http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

Hi richard,

Thanks for the speedy response. We have looked into this but are worried
that it would create multiple users each time it adds the user back in to
the
domain. Would this be correct, or would it use a user that we specify each
and every time?

Thanks
Keith Birch

Personally, I run SYSPREP on any image before putting it to bed - that
will
generate a new set of SIDs when the machine image is restored. SYSPREP
can
also automatically join the machine back to the domain after it's imaged.
Start here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/deploy/duplication.mspx

But in short, no, you can't just restore a GHOST image onto a PC and have
it
log onto the domain as if nothing has happened.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* for the benefit of all. Private mail is usually not replied to.
* My website, such as it is ... http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

Hi,

I work for a software developer in the UK and we are having a recurring
issue on our Quality Assurance test platform that causes a long time
delay
on
the test bed.

- We use Norton System Ghost to create images of the hard drive so that
we
can return them to an identicle state every time we want to run a new
test.
- All of the test machines are in a domain on the test bed.

When we reghost the machine we have to remove it and re-add it to the
domain, because the image was created (in most cases) 30 days prior to
the
current date, and as such, the domain controller will not allow it to
login.

I have been told that this can be resolved by changing some registry
keys
on
the ghosted machine however I am unable to find any reference to these
keys
within the newsgroups or on the support knowledgebase.

Does anyone know of a way that we can keep ghost images logged in to
the
domain without having to remove and re-add them every time? The process
of
removing and re-adding them causes a significant delay in our testing
process.

Thanks
Keith Birch