Windows XP Pro + Office 2003 + SysPrep to clone it

[b4u]

Hi,

I would like some info regarding cloning a system to other machines.

I've bought 4 computers, exactly the same hardware parts. I've also bought 4 Windows XP Professional OEM and 4 Office 2003 Basic Edition OEM.

I want to install all software on a single PC, then clone to the other 3 computers. That way all computers would end up with Windows, Office and some other specific software people use daily.

My question: After the installation of the system, I plan to run SysPrep tool, then Norton-Ghost an image to a DVD. After writing the image to a another computer, when I powerup it will ask the windows key, user and computer info, and other stuff it needs. But what about Office? Will it also clean Office Key so I can re-enter the specific key for that machine?

Thanks

 

[jlbenedict]

I think Office has a similiar system prep tool , but don't quote me on that.

Be patient; you'll get an answer shortly. There are some pretty smart guys that post in the OS section of the forums. 🙂

 

[Robor]

I don't think you're going to get prompted for an Office key. I know for sure that Win2K and Office2K did not prompt for an Office key following Sysprep but I have not tried it with WinXP and Office 2003.

 

[bruceb]

If you have 4 licenses for XP and 4 for Office, why not install the Software with the Product ID
but do not Activate it ... now make your clone, or Ghost or Sysprep (I would just make a Ghost
Image and load that onto the other 3 computers) .. now when you start them up, you would need
to activate Windows & Office

 

[b4u]

Originally posted by: Robor
I don't think you're going to get prompted for an Office key. I know for sure that Win2K and Office2K did not prompt for an Office key following Sysprep but I have not tried it with WinXP and Office 2003.

Yes, I believe it does not ask for it. But since it's OEM, and I want to make sure I have valid licenses (in case of an inspection), I must change the key on each computer, and I would prefer to make it the way microsoft defined, without the use of extra tools to force the key change.

Originally posted by: bruceb
If you have 4 licenses for XP and 4 for Office, why not install the Software with the Product ID
but do not Activate it ... now make your clone, or Ghost or Sysprep (I would just make a Ghost
Image and load that onto the other 3 computers) .. now when you start them up, you would need
to activate Windows & Office

I prefer to use SysPrep to "clean" the installation info, including the ssid, then Ghost to create the image.

Anyway, when I install, the software will ask for the key ... windows will ask again after SysPrep, but will Office ask too?


which would be the best way of cloning a system with WinXP and Office2k3?

 

[jlbenedict]

I've done a little research and came up with a few points:

If you had the Standard version of Office 2003, you could have used "Administator Installation Points", but I believe that only works with the /a switch (network source as the installation source).


I came across another forum where a user suggested removing the User name and PID from the registry (Office 2003 info), after you have performed the sysprep.
This info may be in the setup.ini file in the Office installation directory after the install is complete as well.

I think the reasoning is, it would ask for the user info and PID again.

Hmm... this could be a little experiment on Vmware 🙂

 

[ferball24]

I use sysprep and image using altiris.

Download the office 2003 resource kit and run the custom installation wizard. In there is where you will put the cd key.

You will then install office 2003 with a mst file you get after running the custom installtion wizard.

What I did for my images was copy the office 2003 disc to the hard disc including hidden files.

Use command prompt and navigate to the hard disc folder containing the setup.exe for office 2003, and do "setup.exe TRANSFORMS="C:\<directory to your .mst file"

It will then install office 2003 as a custom installation and then you can create your image with sysprep.