Question : Ghost Image for Multiple Chipsets

Hi folks!

I manage approximately 150 Windows XP Professional machines on a Windows Server 2003 network. We use Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 to deploy images to the machines. I'm trying to figure out how to have a single image that will work for machines using different motherboard chipsets.

When I make an image, I run the Microsoft Sysprep utility to prepare the machine for imaging. I have all of the drivers for the various hardware stored and referenced on the hard drive. When the machine is imaged, it successfully recognizes and installs drivers for all the hardware. I can image machines with different processors, video cards, network cards, etc. and in all cases it will pick the right drivers and work fine. But not if the chipsets are different.

About half of our machines use an Intel chipset and the other half use an nVidia chipset. Despite running sysprep, and despite trying options such as the -pnp switch or the UpdateInstalledDrivers setting in sysprep.inf, whenever I image on one chipset type and attempt to deploy to the other chipset type, the image chokes and Windows will not boot.

Surely there is some way around this. Any help would be most appreciated.

- Tom

Answer : Ghost Image for Multiple Chipsets

You should look into using  driverpacks in combination with offlinesysprep, The information on this is kind of spread everywhere, but if you look hard enough you will find what you need.

Here is a link that can help give you some info

http://www.911cd.net/forums//index.php?showtopic=23620

Using offlinesysprep and driverpacks have saved me lots of time and frustration. I can now create universal images that work great 99% of the time.

i customize my image with programs, updates, etc

then use Runonceex to build a script to call DP_Install_Tool.cmd (which will be in the driverpacks directory)during next boot(but don't reboot yet)

shutdown

start livexp to run offlinesysprep in a bartpe environment to setup image for universal mass storage deployment by injecting all the mass storage drivers into the image. you only inject the mass storage drivers, everything else is loaded after windows is installed using driverpacks.(method is cleaner and faster)

create your image using ghost or whatever other imaging tool you use.

load the image on machine

then once the image is loaded start your machine, sysprep will run fast and windows will be up  in no time
driverpacks will load after windows startup via runonceex which we setup earlier, all drivers will be installed.

thats it