HP Machine Imaging

Clarifications

At my previous job (also a school) we used Symmantec Ghost.
At the job i have now we use Windows Deployment Services (WDS)
Both work fine, but i think WDS has less drag on the network, because all our applications etc. are deployed Via Group policy and not on an 'image'.
So, of the two, i'd say WDS, but Ghost is good too!

please try Altiris a symantec pc deployment software.

I recommend the opensource clonezilla. Its fast and can recover partitions or the whole drive.

Work quite well. It is personal preference between the 2 though I personally Prefer Acronis.

There is a trial version available here

http://www.acronis.com.au/backup-recovery/index.html

I think that the Trial is good for 30 days use but that could have changed since I first used it several years ago. ;)

Col

Get an external dock for the type of hard drive that is in the machine.

this is for SATA drives. (look at connectors) paste link into browser:

http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Sata-HDD-Docking-Station/dp/B0012Z3MKW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1252933465&sr=8-2

Get acronis imaging software and put it on a designated imaging machine. paste link into browser:

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/?source=us_google&ad=norton&c=2909440637&k=true%20image&gclid=CPGZ0reV8ZwCFQTyDAodiUH3kg

You will need to buy an imaging drive for the enclosure.

Using the acronis, create an Acronis boot disk. Boot to the cd and image the master machine buy cloning the drive to the external drive.

When ever a machine needs to be re-imaged, use the Acronis boot disk to clone the drive back from the exteranl enclosure to the PC being imaged.