Computer Cloning

Hi guys i'm going to throw this one out there, Is it possible to say create a image of a system ( Windows XP, All Updates, Service Packs) using Clonezilla and then roll out that image onto different hardware, or am I right in saying you would run into conflicts with driver issues, if you are using different hardware how do you overcome this problem? I don't want to create images for each individual machine.

Many Thanks

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Comments

Asif Dasl

You really need to use something like Acronis Backup & Recovery using Universal Restore. It allows you to restore an image to different hardware without XP throwing up a BSOD HAL error.

qcomer

There are ways to make a universal image. You should just use something like Windows Deployment Service and Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.

MDT allows driver injection and application selection during the imaging process. I have started to deploy Windows 7 throughout our network with MDT and I love it. Much better than Acronis, GHOST, FOG, etc. I have tried just about all of them.

I am actually pushing for us to get SCCM right now and I think my chances are good.

ally_uk

Bearing in mind I am working with Windows XP here. Does MDT support XP?

Are there any open source programs I can use to create a universal image?

hiddenknight821

I asked similar question like yours, but I didn't get what I wanted. I wasn't clear to begin with, so be concise with what you wanted. It was either I buy the actual cloning kit, or spend several weeks trying to create a cloning kit the way I wanted, but that would be a problem, because I'm a noob with cloning and deployment.

Let me know if you got what you were looking for. I would be interested.

You can check out this thread I created not too long time ago.

Webmaster

ally_uk wrote: »

Bearing in mind I am working with Windows XP here. Does MDT support XP?

Are there any open source programs I can use to create a universal image?

I just ran into a page that linked to the following which may be of help:
deployvista.com > Home - Sample Storage Drivers and Sysprep.inf for Windows XP builds (MDT 200

Need to create an hardware independent Windows XP image? Here are the instructions, base drivers and sysprep.inf to get you going.. The instructions are for MDT 2008 Lite Touch

Asif Dasl

ally_uk wrote: »

Bearing in mind I am working with Windows XP here. Does MDT support XP?

What licensing are you using with XP? Volume licensing, OEM or retail licensing? It totally changes on what deployment method you use and the problems which arise using the selected method. Give me more details and I can fill in the gaps.

ally_uk wrote: »

Are there any open source programs I can use to create a universal image?

There are no open source methods which can do universal restore. That's why you either use MDT to do a fresh install on each machine using light touch or zero touch installation. (There is more information on that if you have a CBT Nuggets subscription by going to the 70-686 material.) Or you do a single installation which is deployed on similar hardware or dissimilar hardware using something like Universal Deploy. Each method changes depending on what licensing and OS's you are deploying, as well as how you want it to be deployed. That's why there isn't a one fits all solution. If you give more details on what licensing, number of machines, make and model of machines, OSs... it will be easier to give advice...

unnamedplayer

ally_uk wrote: »

Bearing in mind I am working with Windows XP here. Does MDT support XP?

Are there any open source programs I can use to create a universal image?

Why not just use the free Windows AIK? ImageX will let you capture and apply images and you can use DISM to inject drivers and updates.

ally_uk

The reason I am not using the DISM and AIK and MDT is designed for Windows 7 right I am trying to deploy Windows XP here.

Basically I work for a charity we're companies and the public donate there old redundant I.T Kit to us and we refurbish the machines, The majority of Licensing is Not volume or Retail so I would assume these are OEM? They have XP professional and Home COA's on the side of the case. The hardware I am dealing with isn't the same it varies i.e Dell, HP, Unbranded machines. What I want to achieve is a universal image of XP I can roll out to the computers i.e boot this image from a server so I don't have to go to each machine and use a CD-ROM.

Things to bear in mind here

I am working with Windows XP

Hardware is different

Needs to be cheap preferably Open Source if such a product is out there

What I understand so far is, correct me if I am wrong If I have two different machines hardware based, and I cloned one of the machines it would not work on the second due different drivers, and hardware am I right in saying this?

If I am going about this wrong way has anybody rolled out Windows XP on different hardware on a mass scale there must be a more effective, less time consuming way then using a cd-rom.

Asif Dasl

XP uses different CDs for OEM, retail & volume licensing which is why XP is a pain to deploy universally, Windows 7 is sooo much easier. It has to be said though OEM cloning is the worst! OEM cloning means you need to use the manufacturer's CD to do the install and ensure it passes Windows Activation. You'll have to create an image for Dell XP, HP XP, etc. Then you'll have to use a single copy of Acronis Backup & Restore to use Universal Restore of the image to clone every model of Dell or whatever that you get in. Your main problem will be the unbranded machines, you might still have to do those manually.

As for drivers, what you'll need to do is go to DriverPacks.net and download all of the driver packs for Windows XP. Then download a program called DriverForge. What DriverForge does is extract all of the Driver Packs and goes through the contents and only installs the driver it needs for the machine - multiply this by the number of drivers for video, sound, ethernet etc it's a huge time saver. All you need to do is create a directory on the desktop in each image with DriverForge and the DriverPacks. Run DriverForge after you have universally deployed your image, let it install the drivers, 5 minutes later when that as finished delete the directory from the desktop. Cloning and driver installation done!

ally_uk

Thanks on the heads up on this I will give it a go, I sucessfully setup Server 2k3 running RIS and have tested it on various different hardware works like a charm,

When the XP install starts though and it gets to the formatting hard disk stage it automatically formats the hard disk using the quick option is there a way to specify a full format.

The operating system images are stored on a seperate partition on the Server, is there a way of injecting applications into the image? so when the operating system is installed the client will have access to there software from the get go i.e office, firefox

Many Thanks

Asif Dasl

It's so long since I've used RIS, I don't think there is a way to inject applications to the image. I think that is where group policy comes in to do that for you.