WDS Deployed image question

flames1000

Hi All,

I have a image of our Dell Vostro 1520 that i will be deploying on WDS. I captured the image, and can deploy it with no issues. Pretty impressed. I have 2 questions that im working on right now.

1 - Im my unattend xml file, i have it to skip activation as these are just OEM laptops that come in from time to time so i figured that i would skip the auto activation, put in the cd key and off i go. I tried to activate 1 windows 7 install from wds and it said that the key was invalid, it could be a bum, we have see that before. Does anyone have a better way of doing this?

2 - The image that i captured and deployed seems to be stable on the test laptop except for one thing, Im unable to run chkdsk? I will have it set to run, restart and it goes back to the login screen. I tried a few things on the net to try and still no avail?

I made the image from Dells windows 7 dvd, i was thinking of using a OEM Windows 7 Pro media and trying this all again. I have seen in the past with laptops that we have bought from Dell and Toshiba do this. Im wondering if anyone has ever run into this?

I can run chkdsk from inside the repair your computer option and it runs. Thanks all. I appreciate the responses that i have received in the past!

Flames

Hyper-Me

1. If you have a laptop that you havnt formatted yet, use a program that will get the product key from the factory install of windows (like Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder). This will be the OEM Master key from the factory. You can plug this back in to your answer file and it will activate automatically without any prompt for OEM copies.

2. I dont know off the top of my head why you cant run chkdsk immediately after the image but the benefit of Vista/7 is regularly scheduled defrag. I would just set this before capturing an image and let it run on its own down the road.

I generally use the dell oem reinstall DVDs to install the OS for a base image, and they are clean installs without junk programs so its normally ok. That isnt to say that you havnt gotten a bum disc though.

flames1000

Thanks Hyper-me.

When i made the capture and boot images, i used a oem windows 7 pro install dvd, not the dell windows 7 image that i installed the laptop with. Im thinking that i should do the above with the dell supplied media and see if thats better? thoughts?

I didnt have any cd key in my autounattend file as i figured that i would input the key and activate afterwards.

thansk!
Flames

Hyper-Me

The WDS boot images seem to work no matter what you use. For instance, I can deploy Windows 7 images using a Windows Vista boot image on WDS.

Technically, Microsoft recommends that you use a boot image created from Server 2008 or Server 2008 R2, for deploying any OS.

I would use the Dell OEM disc to install the clean image, and put the Dell OEM Master key in the unattend file. That master key will not work if you simply type it in after the imaging is complete.

flames1000

Thanks bud for the info!

Flames