Windows XP Network installation

Ok, I'm a systems engineer at a mortgage company. I have to upgrade 80+ boxes to windows XP proffesional. Is there any way to load the the install files on my network and walk around to all the PCs with a boot disk that allows the nic to view the server where I have my files stored on the network? I've spent all weekend researching and trying multiple boot disks but to no avail.

 

What are the current system in your 80+ boxes ?

 

Windows 2000 with service pack 4

 

From some notes I have from the Web:

Well, if you want to install XP through the network you will need to
research a little bit. Below are some links that should help and give you
insight into the hardware and software and configurations needed to make a
network install work successfully.

First of all, to do this you will need five things:
Either a 2000 or a 2003 server

a DNS server
a DHCP server
a RIS server

And a XP CD (for creating CD based images)

All three of the roles mention above can reside on the same server however,
I recommend to separate the DHCP and DNS from the RIS if possible. Below is
a link that describes a problem you might run into if you host the DHCP and
RIS on the same server and a fix if you have too:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;842608

Here is where you get information on how to set-up a RIS server:

Technical overview:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/deploy/depopt/remoteos.mspx

Installation:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows200...00/en/server/help/sag_RIS_pro_Install_RIS.htm

By default Windows 2000 RIS doesn't support XP images you will have to read
the following link on how to fix this:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;304314

Once you get it installed there are a few ways to roll out images:

RIPREP:
Good for installing third party software into your image and then
syspreping it so that it can be installed on multiple machines

Server stored flat image:
This has its pros and cons. Pros is that you can slipstream (update the
flat image) with Service Packs and hotfixes and still just have one image
and it is a clean base image. Also this image is more likely to have less
issues installing on various HALs. Cons are that it doesn't contain any
third party software. It is just the base image. A work around for this
would be to prestage RIS clients in AD then apply GP to these machines that
would install the necessary software. Sounds a bit complicated BUT makes
life a lot easier, when it is up and running, to remove, add or change
software.

By the way:
If you have Windows server 2003 you can use ADS. It is a bit more
complicated to set-up but gives a bit more freedom in how you deploy:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/techinfo/overview/ads.mspx

Microsoft PSS

-------------------------------------

Consider if the hardware of the 80 Workstations is not uniform using Acronis Snap Deploy and Universal Deploy:
http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/snapdeploy/

--------------------------------------

See also: http://unattended.msfn.org/unattended.xp/

 

Are all the PC's more or less the same (cpu, PCI cards, that sort of thing)?
If so, the easiest method is to perform the install on one PC and then ghost it onto a network drive. Then you can do just what you say, walk around with a network boot disc and set bring the image down on each PC. All you will need to do then will be updating the product key, activating the OS and renaming the PC.

 

All of the machines are the exact same brand model, and all have the same hardware. i tried the ghost thing but my company budget won't allow me to purchase the software needed to perform that task. (Seeing as I have just upgraded all the servers to HP Prolients from HP NetServer LH3s) And Bill, thanks for the information. I'll research that today and see if that would work out for me. The only server I don't have thou is the RIS. I'll see about getting one set up as I have older servers still laying around from the upgrade that I need to blow data and configurations off of.