I have a problem that I hope someone else may have a good answer to.
I am looking for an easy way to rollout/install multiple machine with NT4.0/W2K, plus applications. What I would really like to find out is how Dell images the hard drives in their systems, and copy that. When I get new Dell systems, the OS and some applications are already loaded. However, you can’t access the systems until you enter the Windows key.
This way, there are no problems with SIDs and computer names, because you have to set those first. About all I have figured out is that Dell uses a DOS program (?) to do this.
What I do currently is when I get a new machine, with the OS already installed, is take the next 4-5 hours loading all of the applications. Very time consuming and a big pain! I really only have 2 different configurations that I have to worry about. For each of these, I could make an image using Drive Image. The machines I use all have the same hardware configuration, so I don’tthink this will be a problem.
I’m sure that I could use a script file to do this job, but my one big weakness is scripts. I don’t know how to write them or .bat files. I have tried before, and failed miserably. Along this line, if anyone has asuggestion on learning how to write scripts and .bat files I would welcome them too.
I am really in need of this, so I am setting the points accordingly. The more time I can save setting up machines, the better off I’ll be! Thanks for any help! Roger