Clone using Ghost?

Question

I am constantly installing Dell computers for our clients. These computers are always the same (same settings, updates, programs, etc), except for the computer name and 1 file that can be added later.

I have Norton Ghost 2003, but have never used it. Is there a way to use this program that would help in building these machines faster?

The hardware is always the same, and because it's Dell, they never ask me for the Product Key.

...and if activation/product key is a problem, isn't there a way to do it through DOS using switches where you can add the information... or am I thinking Windows RIS?

Answer 1

This is actually workable -- and Norton has a version that does just what you want. You do need to use the Enterprise version to be legal in a production environment; keep that in mind.

Hardware is NOT an issue so long as the drivers are available in the image. XP is Plug & Play and it works quite well.

The stopper is product activation and the WGA tool. You MUST get a volume license key from Microsoft. There's no way around that either legally or technically.

From your post, it appears that you're doing it for multiple customers. If so, you need a separate VL key for each customer -- you cannot use a single VL key for multiple customers who are not part of your organization. That is a major no-no. For commercial deployments, you might be able to build an image with something like PE Builder. Then lock it to the Out Of Box (OOB) level so the customer has to apply their key when they first boot up.

Answer 2

the problem with this is hardware, all of the machines would need the exact same hardware setup as the machine you made the ghost image from. i think.

then there's also a possible issue with windows xp activation, if you are using a volume license key it might not be a problem but if you'd normally use a different windows product key for each installation i presume you'd have to use a product key changer after the install.

having never tried this i couldn't give you a 100% answer, but instead of going the cloning route it may be worth looking into making a 'slipstreamed' windows installation cd with the programs you need built into it, then installing the drivers for each machine's graphics card, sound card etc manually afterwards.

EDIT:
give it a try then, setup a machine with all the drivers and software the way you like then clone it to an image which you can put on a dvd, network drive, wherever.

it should work fine but i DID have an issue with trying to restore a norton ghost image back to a drive after i'd resized the partitions of the original hard drive - because the original cloned image was a different drive size it was a no go. there's probably a way round it though i just didn't take the time to look into it.

the reason i wonder about activation is if those machines then 'phone home' to microsoft via the 'windows geniune advantage' tool which gets installed as part of automatic updates - if microsoft sees any keys that have been used on more than one machine you could find all the machines you've built becoming automatically crippled until the offending keys are changed - you have to be very careful where product keys are concerned if the machines are going to be connected to the internet.

Answer 3

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