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Preinstall XP with software from an image?


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AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! OMG THANK YOU! No wonder I got so GOD **** CONFUSED. I thought when the Windows XP Setup was running, it was the actual installation, ahhh...thanks so much dude

So that's like, install fresh copy of XP, install all software, sysprep, then image, and then boot from that image off another comp =)

Edited by altjx
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So that's like, install fresh copy of XP, install all software, sysprep, then image, and then boot from that image off another comp =)
Exactly. :yes:

Thanks sooo much dude, honestly, you've helped me a tremendous amount. I've been troubleshooting tons of stuff for about 4 hours. Thanks again :)

ONNNE more little question and i PROMISE i wont bother you again lol. What software do you recommend as far as creating the image?

Edited by altjx
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Thanks sooo much dude, honestly, you've helped me a tremendous amount. I've been troubleshooting tons of stuff for about 4 hours. Thanks again :)

ONNNE more little question and i PROMISE i wont bother you again lol. What software do you recommend as far as creating the image?

I honestly don't have a preference because I don't do it very often, but when I do, I just use my copy of Norton Ghost; it's simple enough to use when dealing with just a few computers.
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Lol, I'm downloading Norton Ghost 14.0 now, but when using Sysprep though, a sysprep guide says press Reseal and it will shut the computer down to prepare the computer for the end user, will it reboot automatically and I'm supposed to make the image afterwards? And I'm guessing after Norton Ghost makes the bootable image, the system will automatically start the sysprep stuff? And Norton Ghost doesn't back up my HD to a bootable ISO, now i'm lost again >_<!

Edited by altjx
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So that's like, install fresh copy of XP, install all software, sysprep, then image, and then boot from that image off another comp =)
Exactly. :yes:

Thanks sooo much dude, honestly, you've helped me a tremendous amount. I've been troubleshooting tons of stuff for about 4 hours. Thanks again :)

ONNNE more little question and i PROMISE i wont bother you again lol. What software do you recommend as far as creating the image?

I use two different programs for imaging. Most of the time I use Imagex (comes with the Windows Automated Install Kit), WDS (part of Server 2003 and 2008) and Norton Ghost for incompatible NICs, recovery partitions, etc. Imagex is free to use, WDS is free if you bought Server, and Ghost has a per use royalty as well as the software price.

Lol, when using Sysprep though, a sysprep guide says press Reseal and it will shut the computer down to prepare the end user, will it reboot automatically and I'm supposed to make the image afterwards?

After it shuts down, it is at that point you capture the image. If you boot it up and then capture it, you can get errors.

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Lol, when using Sysprep though, a sysprep guide says press Reseal and it will shut the computer down to prepare the end user, will it reboot automatically and I'm supposed to make the image afterwards?

After it shuts down, it is at that point you capture the image. If you boot it up and then capture it, you can get errors.

edit: mergy this post with my above one plz.

Oh okay, so how would I capture the image after it shuts down?

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Turn the machine on, but boot from your imaging software's CD or floppy and clone/image the drive. :)

Ah, okay. Would booting from Hiren's Boot CD, and ghosting it would work? So I'm understanding that you have a bootable Norton Ghost CD. You boot off that, make the image, and bring that CD to anywhere with the hard drive you want to store it on (even if its another PC), then you boot Norton Ghost CD again and restore the image?

Edited by altjx
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Turn the machine on, but boot from your imaging software's CD or floppy and clone/image the drive. :)

Ah, okay. Would booting from Hiren's Boot CD, and ghosting it would work? Because I'm not familiar with Norton Ghost, Acronis TrueImage or anything. This will really be my first time creating an image of my entire HD. So you have a Norton Ghost 14.0 bootable CD?

Hiren's Boot CD contains copies of pirated software, and no, I do not have a copy of Norton Ghost 14, nor would I send you a copy of it if I did own it (that's pirating). As such, please take a moment to review our set of rules, specifically:
1.a This is not a warez site! Links/Requests to warez and/or illegal material (porn, cracks, serials, etc..) will not be tolerated. Discussion of circumventing WGA/activation/timebombs/license restrictions, use of keygens or any other illegal activity will also not be tolerated. You will be banned without notice.
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yeah sorry i wasnt requesting, just asked if you have it so you would be able to tell me what steps i'd have to follow.

i guess i'll get a bootable image of Norton Ghost and try it then, heh. Thanks

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ugh, this is more complicating than what I thought. I only wanted to see how they did it in class.. It was pretty much like this. We turned on our computers, and Windows XP Setup Installation came up, and after the installation, it already had stuff on it like MS Office 2007, Adobe Reader, stuff like pidgin. I was just trying to find out how they did that. and I was asking because it basically looked like it was a CD from the manufacturer, except with additional stuff on it.

What is running is called "Mini-Setup". Windows has already been completely installed and it is only showing enough of the screens from setup to personalize the PC.

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