[Pc_Support] WinXP + SysPrep + Norton Ghost basics

[Bryan J. Smith]

On Wed, 2005-07-06 at 13:43 -0400, Damien McKenna wrote:
> Secondly, after I have the install fine tuned the way I want, am I right
> in saying I have to use the SysPrep tool to clean down the installation
> so that it can then be copied to other computers?

Correct.  Sysprep is NT5.0+'s "Registry-SAM-SID cleaner" that prevents
multiple NT systems from the same image from having an identity crisis
when they see each other on the network.

Prior to Sysprep in NT5.0+, you pretty much had to use "hacked"
solutions that changed the SIDs post-facto, on a clone.  Now with
Sysprep, we can do it _before_ we clone.

> What happens after the cloned machines next boot, do they have to go
> through part of the Windows installation?

It depends, but by default, they typically do.  If you've ever gotten a
new tier-1 PC and been presented with the owner, key, etc..., that's
basically what happens again.

> All of our machines are identical (same model 'n everything) and I
> want to avoid as much post-imaging fiddling as possible.

You can automate some of this with your cloning tool, or various Sysprep
scripts.

> Any insights would be appreciated, I've got very little time to do a
> test, decide what method we're going to use and implement it.

Just run Sysprep, Ghost Dump and then do your Ghost Images _before_
booting the installation again (after you run Sysprep).  If you
accidentally let it boot, you'll need to re-Sysprep it.

-- 
Bryan J. Smith                                     b.j.smith at ieee.org 
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