"All in one" is the way to go...building a XP professional hardware independent image

ABSTRACT

Tired of maintaining multiple Windows 2000 images, the Central Connecticut State University, User Support Services team resolved to build an XP image for all supported computer hardware platforms. The focus of this "All in One" image project was development of one image for deployment to any 3 year old or newer computer, including notebooks, regardless of hardware and drivers. This "All in One" software image is used exclusively for the Faculty and Administrative staff, and was not designed for student labs. Maintaining software images for the faculty/staff computing environment was always a challenge because of the large variety computer hardware.Technical requirements for building the Faculty image were defined as: 1) Software modifications and driver additions completed with relative ease. 2) Ease and speed of deployment for student technicians. 3) Protection of client data through out the image process.This paper outlines advantages and lessons learned thru the CCSU specific methods of imaging faculty computers since the initial XP image project two years prior. Some of the questions and issues discussed are: "How has the process evolved up to the present?", "How is the image maintained?", "Should student workers be entrusted with image modification?", and "How were technical snafu's resolved?". The building and use of an "All in One" hardware independent image has saved time and resources for the CCSU User Support Team and this paper provides the "how to" details.

REFERENCES

• 1: Bart Disk homepage. http://www.nu2.nu
• 2: Tom Bohlke homepage. Instructions and VB scripts. www.ccsu.edu/its/bohlket

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.9 Management
          Subjects: Productivity

Additional Classification:
  D. Software
  D.2 SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
      D.2.9 Management
          Subjects: Software configuration management

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.3 Software Management
          Subjects: Software maintenance; Software process

General Terms:
Management, Performance, Reliability, Standardization

Keywords:
ghost, imaging, sysprep