DO NOT use CloneZilla or any other type of 3rd party tool, as they're not needed, will only result in lost time and inefficiency, coupled with likely causing licensing issues.
Windows natively supports everything you're trying to do via three tools
- Deployment: MDT
- Generalizing:
SysPrep
- Imaging:
DISM
- ESDs/WIMs are smart compression image formats
- Only changed files are added to an image when a new image is appended to it
(all files are hashed)
- Newly appended images utilize the same copy of unchanged files already contained within the image from the previous image(s).
- This allows for an image to remain small in relation to the data contained within.
The way in which the deployment of the WIM (Windows IMage) occurs will depend on the environment.
- If you want to install additional software so each workstation has the exact same setup, MDT (Microsoft Deployment Toolkit) may be worth your time to setup and configure, as it allows easy updating of the master image with updated software and drivers in an organized fashion, which can then be applied to individual workstations remotely.
- MDT has a minor learning curve of ~1hr if you've never used it before, but how to utilize it is well documented both on Microsoft Docs as well as by numerous IT writeups/tutorials that can be found via google.
- If you're only needing to install a handful of programs/drivers, simply setting one system up, SysPrepping and Generalizing it, then creating a WIM of it for deployment to all other workstations will work fine, provided you ensure correct individual or volume license activation across each workstation.
The SpiceWorks Forum will prove invaluable to you regardless of which way you choose to go, as many, if not most, forum members work in IT and Systems Management, along with highly-trained Microsoft Techs that are very active on the site.
Examples
Provided /CheckIntegrity
& /Verify
are always used, it's impossible for a WIM / ESD to become corrupted.
WinPE only has 32MB of scratch [temp] space by default, so /ScratchDir
is required
(can be changed in MDT)
Capture:
DISM /Capture-Image /ImageFile:"Z:\Base.wim" /CaptureDir:"C:" /Name:"Windows Backup" /Description:"Base Image 2019.08.24 @ 08:30" /Compress:Max /CheckIntegrity /Verify /NoRpFix /ScratchDir:"Z:\"
Apply:
DISM /Apply-Image /ImageFile:"Z:\Base.wim" /ApplyDir:"C:" /Index:1 /CheckIntegrity /Verify /NoRpFix /ScratchDir:"Z:\"
/Name:
or /Description:
can be utilized in lieu of /Index:
When it comes to licensing in a business environment, don't skimp
- If unsure about something license-related, contact the developer directly
- Misconfigured licensing comes with a hefty bill when audits are conducted by the software developers, and they will audit at some point.
- There's a slew of products that help with licensing (Belarc for example)