[Pc_Support] WinXP + SysPrep + Norton Ghost basics

[Bryan J. Smith <b.j.smith at ieee.org>]

From: Damien McKenna <dmckenna at thelimucompany.com>
> OK, that's what I was thinking.  I really should have taken a
> Windows2000 Administration class while at college, just for
> knowledge-sake.

Hey, I'm outta date on NT5.1 (XP/2003) as we recently found out
right on this list.  ;->

As always, if you want the "crash course," I recommend the 70-218
book from Microsoft:  
  http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/6140.asp  

It talks about Slipstreaming, Sysprep, RIS, etc..., all the basic tools
that Windows 2000 comes with.  The 70-218 exam is really a great
"admin-level" book for everything that comes with Windows 2000.

BTW, I haven't seen a good equivalent for Windows 2003 yet,
although I have the 70-292/70-296 Microsoft and Syngress upgrade
books.  The MS book is supposed to suck (haven't been through it
yet), with the Syngress being much better.

> Any recommendations on what to use?  We're using OEM OS
> licenses, i.e. not a volume license which makes things a little
> more tricky.

I've been lucky to have gotten my hands on the "Select" CDs,
at least for Windows 2000.  ;->

> I'm having fun here, though struggling with the fact that Ghost 8 Corp
> Edition doesn't let you create a boot *CD*, only boot floppies.  Major
> pain.  And you don't get the PXE server with the evaluation copy so you
> can't see how well that works.

Exactly.  I'd actually think about using Linux instead.  Install on FAT32,
Sysprep, then plop down on a new system, and have it convert to NTFS.

> And I thought I'd given up this stuff when I moved into web development?
> Pah ;)

Never!



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