XP drive imaging information needed

[s.funari]

Due to a variety of reasons, we need to provide the technical staff with replacement drives that have our custom software installed and which also includes a copy of SQL Express. We are going through the process to create a golden drive image that can be duplicated legitimately and is of high quality. Can anyone point me to a good set of resources that can help us get through some of the problems we are experiencing that seem to be related to the SQL installation as well as others that may come up?

Thanks

[JoeP517]

Welcome to the Lounge!!!

It is difficult to recommend something without more specifics on the problems you are experiencing.

Joe

[Just Plain Fred]

We are going through the process to create a golden drive image that can be duplicated legitimately and is of high quality. Can anyone point me to a good set of resources that can help us get through some of the problems we are experiencing that seem to be related to the SQL installation as well as others that may come up?

Hello... One problem with creating a "Golden Drive" is that each PC "hardware combo" motherboard, HD's have a different ID number ...If you attempt to place a "image " or a Cloned HD on another PC you might have trouble with "Windows" ( if that's what your using..) authentication (WGA or such) If you want to place an Image of the Golden Drive you could use Acronis (with Plus Pack ) or Macrium Reflect, to get past the HAL layer.. I can only recommend Acronis 2010 v 7046 with plus pack... cant say about their new offerings 2011 or 2012... have a read on their forums Acronis Forum they have business software as well as the home user type....At least you would be aware of the problems with Acronis and Macrium suggest that you call them and ask a few questions . Regards Fred

[JoeP517]

You can setup a standard image using Microsoft tools. See some of the results at standard image for xp pro.


Joe

[Derek Jr]

Indeed the restore to dissimilar hardware will bite you but as already said Acronis has the plus pack to do that but that entails a paid program and licensing issues for large company use. We used Acronis Enterprise edition when I built a new network for the company I worked for back in 2007. I would today use EaseUS Todo free unless I had a need for the tools in their paid for versions (EaseUS has them all as far as I know or has it in paid versions. It has restore to dissimilar hardware features. I can personally attest to the fact that it does work well with Vista as I did a test. I had six licenses for my home units of Acronis 10 which is not Win 7 compatible and needs the 2011 free trial boot disk to to use my version 10 with newer hardware in XP and Vista. However I was not buying it again for my Win 7 computers as Win 7 has its own great imaging program and emergency boot disk, but it does not do clones or bare metal restores that I know of and of course it is not included in Vista and XP. I did an Acronis image of the Vista laptop and then did an image using EaseUS Todo free 3.0, so if EaseUS Todo did not work I could restore the Acronis image easily and toss EaseUS. I also got to compare the size of the images etc. The EaseUS image was about 20% larger than the Acronis image but they have adjustable settings for compression. It took slightly longer by about 2 min for EaseUS to make the image. The imaging and restore was pretty straight forward using their quick buttons. It did do an automatic reboot at the end of the restore that threw me for a loop at first as I thought it had failed and was looping but it rebooted and ran fine. I have used the computer for about two months and no issues so it is time to delete the Acronis back up image. I will be loading it on my one XP netbook in place of Acronis, on the Vista laptop for all imaging and cloning issues, and on my two Win7 desktop machines for cloning and maybe even back ups as the Win7 data back up (not the imaging it is great!)bloats and fills drives quickly over a month or two, but their imaging manually and repair/boot disk is perfect and I used it to image and restore my last Win7 build at least 4 times while I experimented with set up tweaks and it saved me having to reload and start over. I just imaged whenever I was doing something new to me in Win 7 and it was stable. I would not hesitate to do the same with EaseUS now. Go here and check out their free for business too Todo with dissimilar hardware restore and I think your problems are solved, legally, and for free.
http://www.todo-backup.com/business/

If that doesn't do what you need look at their other editions and save money.

As well experimenting with a fresh install is the best way to learn it before you deploy and find newbie user issues. Let us know what you do and what you encountered.

[Doc Brown]

Can you describe the SQL Express issue in more detail? What process are you using to make the image? Is it a live imaging process? Or is the computer shutdown when the image is being created? When creating an image of an OS with a live database on it, stop the DB first. If not, the DB will almost always go corrupt when the image is dropped back down.

[mercyh]

Can anyone point me to a good set of resources that can help us get through some of the problems we are experiencing that seem to be related to the SQL installation as well as others that may come up?

Not sure how familiar you are with deploying images.....

Have you used Sysprep?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302577

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l.../bb457073.aspx

I would agree that using an imaging tool that images a system that is not booted is the direction you want to look.

Here is the whole deployment tools tree from microsoft Technet

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...76(WS.10).aspx