Repost:What strategy to use to deploy Win2k

[Daniel]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

Hello,

I need some advice and links to various website of interest. Firstly, I
must state that I am really new to the IT/Networking world (so
explain/elaborate as much as possible).

I currently work in an expanding office that includes about 20 pc or
laptops. When we need to reformat a pc, I have to manually input the win2k
cd on each individual machine and then run through the various steps of the
installation, retrieve and install all the service packs and hotfixes.....
(everyone knows the longs way of doing things!). My question is a simple
but complexe one, how can I do this better?! There has to be a better
approach. I looked at various approaches but have run into numerous road
block and thus the reason for this post. I cannot use the RIS method (don't
meet the requirements), then I turned to sourceforge and came accross the
ANI but you cannot automate the installation if you want to format using
NTFS before the install.....

Although this isn't necessarily the right post, windows installation goes
hand in hand with office installation and as such, I am also looking for
input as to an effective way to install them sequentially (with all the
latest updates).

Any advice, input is welcome!

Daniel P

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

"Daniel" <IDontHaveOne@nowhere.com> writes:

> I cannot use the RIS method (don't meet the requirements), then I
> turned to sourceforge and came accross the ANI but you cannot
> automate the installation if you want to format using NTFS before
> the install.....

But you can format using FAT and convert to NTFS, which works just as
well; see <http://unattended.sourceforge.net/faq.html#ntfs>. That FAQ
is part of my project. ANI is our "friendly competition".

> Although this isn't necessarily the right post, windows installation
> goes hand in hand with office installation and as such, I am also
> looking for input as to an effective way to install them
> sequentially (with all the latest updates).

We have scripts for automating this, too.

You also might find <http://unattended.msfn.org/> interesting.

- Pat

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

We use Powerquest Deploycenter to roll out new PCs. I think Symantec bought
them out now. We get one pc ready just how we want it, then we sysprep it
with "sysprep -reseal -mini", then we boot with a deploycenter boot disk,
create an image from the pc and upload it to a server. Then we just go from
pc to pc loading the image off of the server. After an image is loaded onto
a pc, you boot windows and mini setup runs which asks you a few things like
computer name. We then have a short checklist of things to change, like ip
address, etc. and we are on our way. This is also great when you have
trouble with a pc - it is easy to just start all over again. We keep
different images on our server for our different departments or any pc that
has a specialized function. It has worked great for us. We have 4
locations and about 150 pcs.

There are other imaging software solutions out there such as Norton's ghost.
You would just have to investigate to see which one you like best.


"Daniel" <IDontHaveOne@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:eN8l3G68EHA.3908@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Hello,
>
> I need some advice and links to various website of interest. Firstly,
> I
> must state that I am really new to the IT/Networking world (so
> explain/elaborate as much as possible).
>
> I currently work in an expanding office that includes about 20 pc or
> laptops. When we need to reformat a pc, I have to manually input the
> win2k
> cd on each individual machine and then run through the various steps of
> the
> installation, retrieve and install all the service packs and hotfixes.....
> (everyone knows the longs way of doing things!). My question is a simple
> but complexe one, how can I do this better?! There has to be a better
> approach. I looked at various approaches but have run into numerous road
> block and thus the reason for this post. I cannot use the RIS method
> (don't
> meet the requirements), then I turned to sourceforge and came accross the
> ANI but you cannot automate the installation if you want to format using
> NTFS before the install.....
>
> Although this isn't necessarily the right post, windows installation goes
> hand in hand with office installation and as such, I am also looking for
> input as to an effective way to install them sequentially (with all the
> latest updates).
>
> Any advice, input is welcome!
>
> Daniel P
>
>
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

Daniel wrote:

> meet the requirements), then I turned to sourceforge and came accross the
> ANI but you cannot automate the installation if you want to format using
> NTFS before the install.....

Regardless of which tool you use (or even if you don't use any 3rd party
tools at all) you can convert to NTFS in about six seconds.

I currently use DOS 6.22 FDISK to zap existing NTFS partitions, create a
new primary DOS, then format it (2Gb FAT). This is much quicker than
using Windows 98 FDISK which (on defaults) will "check integrity" for
ages, then try to the format the whole thing into one massive FAT32
volume. There are also scriptable options.

Alternatively, if you prefer CD-ROM based builds, you can create and
format the partitions at install time. You can also build machines if
your server or network is broken (for some reason) or over-run with
viruses for some other reason, and you can carry it to other sites that
are not on the LAN and biuld there too.

If you've got laptops, and if they're not all the same make/model, you
could find it somewhat tricky getting all the correct drivers into your
build and keeping them in line with newer hardware. You'll find some
dirvers will supersede others, some drivers will support earlier
hardware so you can zap the old version, but others will not so you'll
have to keep the earlier one too - look out for PnP ID conflicts. Don't
forget - if you add new drivers you need to be sure you are not trashing
earlier drivers, otherwise your build will cease to work on the oldest
machines.

--
Gerry Hickman (London UK)

 

[Daniel]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

Jacki,

We have Deploycenter, and correct me if I am mistaken, but this would not
work in my current situation because no 2 computers (PCs) are of the same
build (hardware wise)?!

Please tell me if I'm mistaken of this.

Daniel

"Jacki Slough" <jslough@dortfcu.org> wrote in message
news:eMazVKE9EHA.2804@TK2MSFTNGP15.phx.gbl...
> We use Powerquest Deploycenter to roll out new PCs. I think Symantec
bought
> them out now. We get one pc ready just how we want it, then we sysprep it
> with "sysprep -reseal -mini", then we boot with a deploycenter boot disk,
> create an image from the pc and upload it to a server. Then we just go
from
> pc to pc loading the image off of the server. After an image is loaded
onto
> a pc, you boot windows and mini setup runs which asks you a few things
like
> computer name. We then have a short checklist of things to change, like
ip
> address, etc. and we are on our way. This is also great when you have
> trouble with a pc - it is easy to just start all over again. We keep
> different images on our server for our different departments or any pc
that
> has a specialized function. It has worked great for us. We have 4
> locations and about 150 pcs.
>
> There are other imaging software solutions out there such as Norton's
ghost.
> You would just have to investigate to see which one you like best.
>
>
> "Daniel" <IDontHaveOne@nowhere.com> wrote in message
> news:eN8l3G68EHA.3908@TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> > Hello,
> >
> > I need some advice and links to various website of interest.
Firstly,
> > I
> > must state that I am really new to the IT/Networking world (so
> > explain/elaborate as much as possible).
> >
> > I currently work in an expanding office that includes about 20 pc or
> > laptops. When we need to reformat a pc, I have to manually input the
> > win2k
> > cd on each individual machine and then run through the various steps of
> > the
> > installation, retrieve and install all the service packs and
hotfixes.....
> > (everyone knows the longs way of doing things!). My question is a
simple
> > but complexe one, how can I do this better?! There has to be a better
> > approach. I looked at various approaches but have run into numerous
road
> > block and thus the reason for this post. I cannot use the RIS method
> > (don't
> > meet the requirements), then I turned to sourceforge and came accross
the
> > ANI but you cannot automate the installation if you want to format
using
> > NTFS before the install.....
> >
> > Although this isn't necessarily the right post, windows installation
goes
> > hand in hand with office installation and as such, I am also looking for
> > input as to an effective way to install them sequentially (with all the
> > latest updates).
> >
> > Any advice, input is welcome!
> >
> > Daniel P
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

 

[Daniel]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

Thank you very much for the insight, I had missed this one completely!

Daniel


"Patrick J. LoPresti" <patl@users.sourceforge.net> wrote in message
news:s5gsm5fnpwy.fsf@patl=users.sf.net...
> "Daniel" <IDontHaveOne@nowhere.com> writes:
>
> > I cannot use the RIS method (don't meet the requirements), then I
> > turned to sourceforge and came accross the ANI but you cannot
> > automate the installation if you want to format using NTFS before
> > the install.....
>
> But you can format using FAT and convert to NTFS, which works just as
> well; see <http://unattended.sourceforge.net/faq.html#ntfs>. That FAQ
> is part of my project. ANI is our "friendly competition".
>
> > Although this isn't necessarily the right post, windows installation
> > goes hand in hand with office installation and as such, I am also
> > looking for input as to an effective way to install them
> > sequentially (with all the latest updates).
>
> We have scripts for automating this, too.
>
> You also might find <http://unattended.msfn.org/> interesting.
>
> - Pat

 

[Daniel]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

One quick question about format as FAT32 and then converting to NTFS. Will
the file structure be as secure as if it had simply been formatted as NTFS
in the first place or can there be security issue or moreover, reliability
issue by converting FAT32 into NTFS?

Thank you once again,

Daniel

"Gerry Hickman" <gerry666uk@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:Oav4RoC9EHA.2700@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> Daniel wrote:
>
> > meet the requirements), then I turned to sourceforge and came accross
the
> > ANI but you cannot automate the installation if you want to format
using
> > NTFS before the install.....
>
> Regardless of which tool you use (or even if you don't use any 3rd party
> tools at all) you can convert to NTFS in about six seconds.
>
> I currently use DOS 6.22 FDISK to zap existing NTFS partitions, create a
> new primary DOS, then format it (2Gb FAT). This is much quicker than
> using Windows 98 FDISK which (on defaults) will "check integrity" for
> ages, then try to the format the whole thing into one massive FAT32
> volume. There are also scriptable options.
>
> Alternatively, if you prefer CD-ROM based builds, you can create and
> format the partitions at install time. You can also build machines if
> your server or network is broken (for some reason) or over-run with
> viruses for some other reason, and you can carry it to other sites that
> are not on the LAN and biuld there too.
>
> If you've got laptops, and if they're not all the same make/model, you
> could find it somewhat tricky getting all the correct drivers into your
> build and keeping them in line with newer hardware. You'll find some
> dirvers will supersede others, some drivers will support earlier
> hardware so you can zap the old version, but others will not so you'll
> have to keep the earlier one too - look out for PnP ID conflicts. Don't
> forget - if you add new drivers you need to be sure you are not trashing
> earlier drivers, otherwise your build will cease to work on the oldest
> machines.
>
> --
> Gerry Hickman (London UK)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.win2000.setup_deployment (More info?)

Hi Daniel,

Actually, I personally use a 2GB FAT16 because FAT32 takes far too long
to format on modern drives.

Once the build begins, the answer file tells it to convert to NTFS and
also to ExtendOEMPartition up to around 14Gb.

It then begins the "proper" Win2k install, and security is just the same
as if you'd began with NTFS.

> One quick question about format as FAT32 and then converting to NTFS. Will
> the file structure be as secure as if it had simply been formatted as NTFS
> in the first place or can there be security issue or moreover, reliability
> issue by converting FAT32 into NTFS?
>
> Thank you once again,
>
> Daniel
>
> "Gerry Hickman" <gerry666uk@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:Oav4RoC9EHA.2700@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
>
>>Daniel wrote:
>>
>>
>>>meet the requirements), then I turned to sourceforge and came accross
>
> the
>
>>>ANI but you cannot automate the installation if you want to format
>
> using
>
>>>NTFS before the install.....
>>
>>Regardless of which tool you use (or even if you don't use any 3rd party
>>tools at all) you can convert to NTFS in about six seconds.
>>
>>I currently use DOS 6.22 FDISK to zap existing NTFS partitions, create a
>>new primary DOS, then format it (2Gb FAT). This is much quicker than
>>using Windows 98 FDISK which (on defaults) will "check integrity" for
>>ages, then try to the format the whole thing into one massive FAT32
>>volume. There are also scriptable options.
>>
>>Alternatively, if you prefer CD-ROM based builds, you can create and
>>format the partitions at install time. You can also build machines if
>>your server or network is broken (for some reason) or over-run with
>>viruses for some other reason, and you can carry it to other sites that
>>are not on the LAN and biuld there too.
>>
>>If you've got laptops, and if they're not all the same make/model, you
>>could find it somewhat tricky getting all the correct drivers into your
>>build and keeping them in line with newer hardware. You'll find some
>>dirvers will supersede others, some drivers will support earlier
>>hardware so you can zap the old version, but others will not so you'll
>>have to keep the earlier one too - look out for PnP ID conflicts. Don't
>>forget - if you add new drivers you need to be sure you are not trashing
>>earlier drivers, otherwise your build will cease to work on the oldest
>>machines.
>>
>>--
>>Gerry Hickman (London UK)
>
>
>


--
Gerry Hickman (London UK)