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From: New Orleans Novice on 3 Jan 2010 20:48
Using XP Home and Acronis True Image Home

What is the best method to install XP home or Proff each day on a new HD ?
I buy used PC's with the legit 25 install key either for Home or Proff.
Most are Dell or Compaq.

Can Acronis True Image Home be used to clone the hard drive after the
initial install before any program or drivers is added to it?
Then use Acronis True Image Home to restore the XP Clone to the new HD ?

Can the Cloned HD be restored on a new HD in a Dell or Compaq PC but not
necessarily the same make and model PC ?
Should the Acronis True Image Home be used to CLONE a HD in a Generic No
Name PC for future RESTORE in a Dell or Compaq ?
What would you do ?

Thank you from New Orleans

From: Shenan Stanley on 3 Jan 2010 20:56
New Orleans Novice wrote:
> Using XP Home and Acronis True Image Home
>
> What is the best method to install XP home or Proff each day on a
> new HD ? I buy used PC's with the legit 25 install key either for
> Home or Proff. Most are Dell or Compaq.
>
> Can Acronis True Image Home be used to clone the hard drive after
> the initial install before any program or drivers is added to it?
> Then use Acronis True Image Home to restore the XP Clone to the new
> HD ?
> Can the Cloned HD be restored on a new HD in a Dell or Compaq PC
> but not necessarily the same make and model PC ?
> Should the Acronis True Image Home be used to CLONE a HD in a
> Generic No Name PC for future RESTORE in a Dell or Compaq ?
> What would you do ?

If the hardware is close enough or through some manipulation via your
imaging application or other means - you make whatever image with whatever
applications you want and you store that on the network and apply it as
needed. You may have to change product keys through some means if you are
not using Volume License keys.

With varying hardware - I would likely setup some sort of unattended
installation method, perhaps combining it with imaging for groups of
machines with identical hardware/period of time.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


From: SC Tom on 3 Jan 2010 21:01

"New Orleans Novice" <NewOrleansNovice(a)tulane.edu> wrote in message
news:A7844EBA-DA11-455E-BDF3-DB6215690FF9(a)microsoft.com...
> Using XP Home and Acronis True Image Home
>
> What is the best method to install XP home or Proff each day on a new HD ?
> I buy used PC's with the legit 25 install key either for Home or Proff.
> Most are Dell or Compaq.
>
> Can Acronis True Image Home be used to clone the hard drive after the
> initial install before any program or drivers is added to it?
> Then use Acronis True Image Home to restore the XP Clone to the new HD ?
>
> Can the Cloned HD be restored on a new HD in a Dell or Compaq PC but not
> necessarily the same make and model PC ?
> Should the Acronis True Image Home be used to CLONE a HD in a Generic No
> Name PC for future RESTORE in a Dell or Compaq ?
> What would you do ?
>
> Thank you from New Orleans

I don't see why not, but you may need separate images for Dell and Compaq.
We did pretty much the same thing with Norton Ghost. I would set up one PC
with all the drivers and software installed, make a ghost image of it, then
apply that image to however many of like blank PC's I had to do. The only
thing I had to do to them after writing the image to them was to change the
PC name before connecting to the internet. Of course, we had a business
license with X number of installs per key. The only real problem I see would
be applying the separate keys after the restore. Maybe someone has an idea
on how to handle that aspect of it.
--
SC Tom

From: SC Tom on 3 Jan 2010 21:07

"SC Tom" <sc(a)tom.net> wrote in message
news:uXFZQHOjKHA.1824(a)TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>
> "New Orleans Novice" <NewOrleansNovice(a)tulane.edu> wrote in message
> news:A7844EBA-DA11-455E-BDF3-DB6215690FF9(a)microsoft.com...
>> Using XP Home and Acronis True Image Home
>>
>> What is the best method to install XP home or Proff each day on a new HD
>> ?
>> I buy used PC's with the legit 25 install key either for Home or Proff.
>> Most are Dell or Compaq.
>>
>> Can Acronis True Image Home be used to clone the hard drive after the
>> initial install before any program or drivers is added to it?
>> Then use Acronis True Image Home to restore the XP Clone to the new HD ?
>>
>> Can the Cloned HD be restored on a new HD in a Dell or Compaq PC but not
>> necessarily the same make and model PC ?
>> Should the Acronis True Image Home be used to CLONE a HD in a Generic No
>> Name PC for future RESTORE in a Dell or Compaq ?
>> What would you do ?
>>
>> Thank you from New Orleans
>
> I don't see why not, but you may need separate images for Dell and Compaq.
> We did pretty much the same thing with Norton Ghost. I would set up one PC
> with all the drivers and software installed, make a ghost image of it,
> then apply that image to however many of like blank PC's I had to do. The
> only thing I had to do to them after writing the image to them was to
> change the PC name before connecting to the internet. Of course, we had a
> business license with X number of installs per key. The only real problem
> I see would be applying the separate keys after the restore. Maybe someone
> has an idea on how to handle that aspect of it.
> --
> SC Tom
>

I meant to say "connecting to the network." Duh!
--
SC Tom

From: Tim Meddick on 5 Jan 2010 18:09
I do *not* advise doing this at all.

"Close enough" is a term not often associated with computers.

When the Windows OS is first installed, every component of the PC's hardware is
detected and enumerated and virtually all PCs will be different enough to make the OS
freeze completely or not load at all if you try to impose an OS that was installed on
one machine to work on another.

But if you reckon it's worth trying, go ahead - knock yourself out, as they say.


Also, you *can* clone the HD on any PC at any point of the installation.

So if you clone a HD as soon as installation is complete, "...before any drivers",
etc., then, when the "clone" is restored then *that* will be the same state that will
be restored.

Think of cloning as taking a "snapshot" of a system.

I think that is why they call it "drive imaging".

==

Cheers, Tim Meddick, Peckham, London. :-)




"New Orleans Novice" <NewOrleansNovice(a)tulane.edu> wrote in message
news:A7844EBA-DA11-455E-BDF3-DB6215690FF9(a)microsoft.com...
> Using XP Home and Acronis True Image Home
>
> What is the best method to install XP home or Proff each day on a new HD ?
> I buy used PC's with the legit 25 install key either for Home or Proff. Most are
> Dell or Compaq.
>
> Can Acronis True Image Home be used to clone the hard drive after the initial
> install before any program or drivers is added to it?
> Then use Acronis True Image Home to restore the XP Clone to the new HD ?
>
> Can the Cloned HD be restored on a new HD in a Dell or Compaq PC but not
> necessarily the same make and model PC ?
> Should the Acronis True Image Home be used to CLONE a HD in a Generic No Name PC
> for future RESTORE in a Dell or Compaq ?
> What would you do ?
>
> Thank you from New Orleans

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