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Let's say I've got around 50 PCs with identical specs but no CD or floppy drives and a blank hard disk, is there an efficient way to install (and update) an OS and software on each of them? Would I have to go to each PC one by one with the CDs or is there a way to install over a network? In the case of Windows XP would you need 50 separate copies?

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I'm sure it can be done: I've seen the techies do it (w/ Windows 7) at my school in entire classrooms worth of computers, but I don't know how. – Vervious Apr 11 '10 at 17:02
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If you had a Volume License for XP, you can use RIS or an unattended file and WinPE do deploy it over PXE (network boot) assuming your NICs support PXE.

As for update management, you can do this with GPO and WSUS.

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Regarding update management, I meant that to include application-specific updates as well as Windows Update updates. – cornjuliox Apr 11 '10 at 16:19
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If you deploy software via GPO, you can deploy updated versions as well the same way. The latest WSUS can do non-Microsoft specific updates as well, but I haven't tested this feature extensively. – MDMarra Apr 11 '10 at 16:43
Just so we're clear on this, when you say GPO you're referring to this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_Policy_Object right? – cornjuliox Apr 12 '10 at 1:46
That's right. GPO is Group Policy Object. – MDMarra Apr 12 '10 at 8:01
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