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Sysprep Simplified and More

Sysprep Simplified and More. Sponsored by: Computers for Classrooms www.ComputersForClassrooms.com. Deploying Computers - Overview. What does it mean to deploy computer systems? What are some methods in use? Fresh install of computer software and updates – time?

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Sysprep Simplified and More

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  1. Sysprep Simplified and More Sponsored by: Computers for Classrooms www.ComputersForClassrooms.com

  2. Deploying Computers - Overview • What does it mean to deploy computer systems? • What are some methods in use? • Fresh install of computer software and updates – time? • Partition and Format the hard drive • Install the Operating System • Install Drivers • Install Programs • Perform Updates • After fresh install, clone the drive or save as image(sysprep) and then clone the image. • Pros and cons of hardware solutions such as Logicube hard drive duplicator. • Pros and cons of software solutions such as Ghost, Acronis, Clonezilla Live. • Advantages of Sysprep • One image can be installed on a wide variety of brands and models. • When combined with a driver’s file, this can allow a one-step unattended loading. • By deploying Sysprep over a server, large numbers of various models can be loaded concurrently through multi-casting.

  3. Hard Drive Duplicator Logicube makes several models of hard drive duplicators. Computers for Classrooms purchased a used five station duplicator several years ago and have found it to be very useful. There is some cost for consumables – ribbon cables and electrical cables but the company offers good tech support. The newer products shown here provide for wiping or duplicating IDE, EIDE, UDMA, & SATA drives at over 4GB/min. The cost may be too pricey for smaller operations but Logicube may offer special pricing for non-profits or for used duplicators. HP and Compaq need to have a change in the bios setting to allow for LBA mode or the hard drives cannot be copied from other computer such as Dell. If they are all set to LBA mode it will allow greater compatibility.

  4. Other Useful Hardware Tools USB 2.0 hard drive duplicator. Example Bytecc BT-300 that works with IDE/SATA/2.5”/3.5” drives and sells for around $25.00. This USB 2.0 PCMCIA CARD adapter is very useful when working with laptops that only have USB 1.0. The cost for a refurbished D-Link card is under $5.00. External USB 2.0 hard drive for backing up images or cloned drives. This 500 GB drive is under $100. This drive is excellent to use with laptops

  5. Software Solutions • Ghost and Acronis – single licenses to be used on one computer by one technician. • Ghost Multicast Suite: 100 licenses for $2,380.00. • Ghost and Acronis can be used to clone any sized hard drive to any other sized hard drive. • Cloning is fast • Clonezilla Live is a free Linux cloning program. It can only be used to clone a smaller hard drive to a larger one. Make a fresh install on a smaller hard drive and then clone to larger ones. Never pay license fees! • Go to http://clonezilla.org – downloads – and get the stable .iso file. You will need to use the .iso image to create a CD, DVD or USB drive.

  6. Cloning after a fresh install • MAR Windows XP Pro must be activated. • Before performing updates, the license must be activated. • Install and update programs (not AVG) • Install Adobe Reader, Flash, Java, QuickTime, etc • Run Programs – Accessories – System – Disk Cleanup • Defrag hard drive – prefer JKDefrag or MyDefrag • Before cloning de-activate the MAR license. • If you will be running sysprep you can skip this step as sysprep will deactivate the image during the process. • On a flash drive – changevlkeysp1.vbs “product key”. Start – Run – d:\changevlkeyspi.Uvbs “product key” - restart computer to remove activation. • The COA license remains with the computer. You can install a cloned drive and activate it using the COA with the computer – not the drive.

  7. Learning about Sysprep – create an image file • Sysprep is a tool to assist in deploying large numbers of computers. It is a free tool offered by Microsoft on the Windows Installation disk. • Additional information can be found at: http://www.vernalex.com/guides/sysprep/index.shtml The Vernalex web site goes into greater detail and even has a step-by-step video to further explain the process. • Our intention is to offer a working version of sysprep for MARs with easy customization. For further details look at the Vernalex website at www.Vernalex.com – Guides - Sysprep.

  8. Important first step • In order to create an image that can be cloned to the widest range of computer models and brands, the Master computer must use the correct HAL – hardware abstraction layer. This is a kernel level driver that provides the interface between the operating system and the system architecture. • Go to Computer – Properties – Hardware – Device Manager and look at the Computer driver. • The driver must be APCI – PC (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface). If it isn’t, update the driver. This allows for the greatest compatibility with a wide range of computer architectures. Vernalex has further information.

  9. Download Sysprep • Download the sysprep folder from: www.ComputersForClassrooms.org/sysprep_info/sysprep.html This folder has been designed for Microsoft Community MARs using the tools provided by Vernalex. • IMPORTANT – Make a copy of the Master Drive with the fresh install. Do not sysprep the Master Drive. Keep it for updating in the future. It is not advisable to perform multiple syspreps on the same drive. Just sysprep the copy to make an image of the hard drive. • Copy the downloaded sysprep folder to c:\sysprep. This must be copied to the root directory. • 100,000 drivers – CFC downloaded an .iso that we used to create a drivers dvd. In order to have a completely unattended installation we copy the drivers folder to c:\drivers. The computer will automatically look to the folder during the installation process. We delete the folder after the installation. Vernalex offers other methods of handling driver installations.

  10. Edit sysprep.ini • By editing sysprep.ini using an editor such as notepad, you can customize the program to your needs. Save sysprep.ini on your flash drive and you are ready to go.

  11. Run Sysprep • To run sysprep go to Start – Run – c:\syprep\sysprep.bat • You will be asked to accept the process and then go have a cup of coffee. It may take 45 minutes with the driver’s folder or less without it. The CD drive will open and you can see on the screen the processes being halted. When the process is complete the computer will shut down. Sysprep will automatically de-activate the Microsoft Windows XP program. • IMPORTANT – Unplug the hard drive and be certain the computer will not boot to the hard drive. If it does it will reinstall on the same computer. • The goal is to copy the image to other drives so the programs will all be installed when the computer is started with the imaged drive installed. All of the updates have already been done. • Label the drive Sysprep Image. Enjoy!

  12. Contact Information Pat Furr Computers for Classrooms, Inc. 315 Huss Drive Chico, CA 95928 (530) 895-4175 Office (530) 521-9782 Cell (530) 895-4075 FAX pfurr@chicousd.org www.ComputersForClassrooms.org

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