wds, ris, bdd??,sysprep, etc?

[achan168]

i'm becoming more and more confused with all the different deployment options out there right now.

 

I've figured out how to do unattended installations of xp using nlite via cd.

 

But the microsoft way of deploying is very confusing. and I have a small setup at home right now. a verizon router /switch.

 

 

I have my windows server 2003 on one PC acting as a domain controller/dhcp server/dns server. i've set up the dhcp scope and also the active directory.

 

I have one other pc, however that one doesn't have a pxe nic in it. I'm going to get one though.

 

I want to simulate a deployment scenario over the network with this.

 

I have a windows pe 2.0 disc i made and i took the boot wim off that disc and put it in the boot images on the wds server.

 

now i'm guessing i have to image a source computer using imagex and then deploy it?

 

i'm a bit mixed up right now, cause i've been reading multiple sources on the deployment and most of them are not meant for xp deployments.

 

So can anybody give me the full rundown on the steps i'm missing? and if my steps so far are correct?

 

what other hardware do you suggest i get to complete my home test lab?

 

i've done a lot of googling on this subject but have failed to get a clear picture on how to do the xp deployment.

 

Please advise.

[anyweb]

you can deploy XP using WDS in mixed mode or using RIS (the old fashioned way).

 

To deploy XP using WDS without a PXE enabled network card you would use what is called a discover (deploy) boot image,

 

you should only be using the boot.wim file from a Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista SP1 DVD for these jobs,

 

i'd advise you to go through the capture and deploy WDS guides here for starters, they work just fine for XP too