The installation process of Windows XP is long and tedious. Automating it can save you a lot of time and nerves. If you are a technician and installing OSes and software is your job, you know how hard it can be. I know for sure. If you are a technician, you should get custom dog tags to promote your company name with unique services like installing Windows faster than any of your competitors.
The Microsoft-approved method of automatic installation (for large OEMs and computer shops) is their proprietary solution – the Windows Automated Installation Kit, which you can get on their website. Another way would be to use a utility that packs all the software you need and installs it automatically after installing Windows XP. A third method is using Norton Ghost, and I’ll explain it in detail in this article.
Using Norton Ghost to automate a Windows XP install is pretty simple.
You’ll need:
A few blank CDs
Norton Ghost software
An external Hard Drive
Microsoft Windows XP
First, you’ll create the Windows XP image:
- Install a fresh copy of Windows XP and customize it to your liking (or install universal software and drivers that everyone needs). Install some anti-virus software, all of the updates, customize the settings, install productivity software, etc.
- When you think everything’s ready, install Norton Ghost on your computer.
- Plug-in your external HDD (which should be formatted and functional). Make sure it’s clean and ready for files to be written on it.
- Start Norton Ghost and create a Recovery CD. This CD will allow you to boot a machine from it directly into the Norton Recovery console.
- After it’s is ready, go to Tasks -> Run or Manage Backups -> One Time Backup. Click through the menus and choose the drive with Windows XP, then set the destination to a folder you created on your external Hard Drive.
- Use standard compression and check “Verify recovery point after creation”. Click on “Advanced” and set “Divide into smaller files to simplify archiving” if you want to make the process faster. Set the size of the file to a number less than 4200 Mbytes if your external HDD is formatted in Fat32, which has a 4 gigabyte per file limit. NTFS does not have this limit.
- Click OK -> Next -> Next and then Finish. The backup process will begin and notify you when and if its verification is successful!
That’s it for the Windows XP image creation part. You can save that image anywhere and use it for fresh installations later.
So, how do you install this image of Windows XP? Very easy:
- Insert the Recovery CD and plug in your external drive (or flash drive, where you saved the Windows XP image). Reboot your computer and select “Boot to CD” in BIOS or start screen (by pressing F12, F5 or F2, depending on your BIOS; it’s written on the screen).
- When the system boots, you’ll see Norton Ghost’s familiar interface. Click on “Recover my computer”.
- It should find your external HDD automatically, but if it doesn’t, you can select it manually on the next screen. Select the recovery folder and files of your Windows image and click Next.
- Click Next -> Next -> Finish. The computer will start the re-imaging process reboot when it’s done.
That’s it, you should have a fully working installation of Windows with all the needed software ready for work in less than 30 minutes!
The above method is a huge time saver and it’s not as complicated as Windows Automated Installation Kit. You can use it with any Operating System, not only Windows.
Now go and try it yourself!
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