Setting-up new XP Pro PC on a Network

[Guest]

I've recently purchased 13 Dell workstations that will be deployed on a
eithernet NT network. Roughly a month ago I purchased 1 Dell Deminsion 4600
PC w/XP Pro and tried to install it on a network. With very little
experience with XP I went through the new PC's set-up Wizard which resulted
in difficulty joining the domain. I want to avoid any unecessary problems by
properly performing initial set-up of each workstation on this network.
These new PCs are the Dell "Optiplex" models, all are optimized for network
usage and all are loaded with XP Pro. I'm seeking a good resource of
information that will guide me through this process.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I've recently purchased 13 Dell workstations that will be deployed on
a eithernet NT network. Roughly a month ago I purchased 1 Dell
Deminsion 4600 PC w/XP Pro and tried to install it on a network.
With very little experience with XP I went through the new PC's
set-up Wizard which resulted in difficulty joining the domain. I
want to avoid any unecessary problems by properly performing initial
set-up of each workstation on this network. These new PCs are the
Dell "Optiplex" models, all are optimized for network usage and all
are loaded with XP Pro. I'm seeking a good resource of information
that will guide me through this process.

If you had difficulty before, which I am having trouble understanding, then
you will likely have difficulty again.

If they have XP Pro and you want as little work as possible NOW, your
easiest method is to set them up for your network first (ignore your domain
for now, get them updated wth company software and the likes) and then join
the domain using your favorite method.. Command line or through Control
Panel --> System --> Computer Name --> Change.. button.. (Command Line
would be the NETDOM command..)

Your other option, which requires more work, would be to reinstall each
machine frm scratch(attended or unattended/via CD/DVD or network) or learn
to use an imaging application (either with or without sysprep) to make your
own installation with all of your preferred software only. You could learn
how to do this through various web sites..

Like here(Imaging examples):
http://www.gc.peachnet.edu/www/wbeck/W2KXP.htm#Master

Or here(Unattended CDs/DVDs):
http://unattended.sourceforge.net/

Or here(Network Unattended - Freeware):
http://unattended.msfn.org/

Or the other hundreds of places (official and unofficial) on the web that
can be found with Google searches and the likes. Sites like
http://appdeploy.com/ to help you come up with unattended installations for
your other applications may be of service as well..


You did not state what trouble you had. I could only guess that maybe you
setup the machine and never made a default profile, so that when you joined
the domain, it seemed to you that you lost your profile the first time you
logged in (things missing on the start menu and desktop, no settings you
made being propagated, etc..) or you, for some reason, had trouble actually
joining the domain due to improper DNS setup or something similar?

What trouble did you have so we can more easily point out what you may have
missed?

 

[Guest]

Shenan, I'd first like to thank you for your time and interest, as well as
aologize for the delay in my response.

I'm not contracted by this company, I'm sort of the "in-house" IT guy that
works for them. I do not have a strong background in networking and very
little experience with XP. I've learned enough to completely rebuild Win98
machines, set-up the network settings (IPs, DNS, etc.) and attach these to
our NT server. But as you know, XP is different and therefore requires me to
educate myself.

First, at this time we have a very easy enterprise software program to
set-up and this is usually accomplished after network connections have been
established. All workstations connect to the internet via the server as we
use DSL - and I have no problems with this either. The only other software
used is Office.

My concerns are to avoid the difficulty experienced recently after
purchasing 1 XP Pro workstation for our president last month. After all
physical connections had been made, I turned-on the PC for the first time
and, being a new machine, XP began to take me through the blue set-up
screens. During this process I was prompted with network questions, and to
the best of my recollection, questions regarding usernames, and the like. I
believe this is where my problems (indicated as likely by a local IT
company). They informed me that XP is slightly different than Win98 and that
it has it's own domain as well? Again, not being familiar with XP, I had no
way to know this going into the deployment. I feel like I need to avoid the
"Blue" set-up screen questions regarding networking so that I can join the
domain at a later time - as you indicated in your response, after I'm
finished installing other software. I need the step-by-step process on this.
I was finally able to join the domain with some guidance from a local IT
company. It appeared that, unknowingly due to a lack of experience, the
information shared in the network set-up portion of the start-up "blue
screens," had set me up as a user without the proper "administrator" rights.
This is where my confusion lies; I'm not real sure of the events that led to
this, or more importantly, how to avoid it while deploying all 13. I want
and need a better understanding of this process. I'm confident that
acquiring the additional networking knowledge of XP PRO that I should be able
to complete this deployment without much difficulty. I've executed this
process time and again with Win98 and it's not one that I feel, relatively
speaking of course, is difficult.

I hope that I've given you enough information but I realize I may have to
seek local consultation, at least on the first one. I typically don't use
"newsgroups" or forums of the like, my goal was to gain exposure to this
process and acquire the solution without local help. I most probably will
have to go buy a book on XP, but do to the nature of the problem, I felt that
this forum would be appropriate.

 

[Guest]

Lynn, I run into the same problem each time I have to redo or add a new
workstation. I was hoping to find the answer here, but it doesnt appear to
have been answered.