I'll be trying autoimage out this week as well as some of the other tools you've kindly recommended. If I do have any probs with any of this I know where to come!

I've wrote docs for other projects in the past so I may end up contributing something more up-to-date to the FAQs on these boards when I know what I'm doing

ther most popular lineup here is

Ryan VM - windows updates hotfixes and service packs
nLite - automate install, remove un-needed stuff, tweak windows settings (IE add "my computer" shortcut to destop)
DriverPacks -   You are Here ---> X   
WPI - Windows Post Installer - for application installation after windows setup (IE acrobat reader, flash player, Office, ECT...)

coming from a Linux background you are already able to think "outside the box" so you should have very few problems getting your head around this task.

Please just ask if you need anything

PS autoImage will not only give you a single interface for teh above apps but will also add RIS support to/for them

No, it wasn't Autoimage I was referring to but UXP, I just discovered

http://winbuilder.net/e107_plugins/auto … ojects/uxp

Autoimage is exactly the sort of app I was asking for though. Has anyone tried both? How do they compare? Are there any others apps like this I should consider?

I've read some pretty bad stuff about sysprep- people saying its more hassle than its worth.

Anyone got any comments on unattended vs RIS vs an-app-that-lets-me-multicast-install-windows-unattended? As I say, unattended being open source is a big plus in my books.

I would be willing to help write a state-of-the-art FAQ but I'm very green with the whole 'optimised NT' install concept. I'm primarily a Linux guy who has become a win sysadmin so I'm really just finding my feet in this now.

Welcome to DriverPacks.net! 
Well the current FAQ was a collaborative effort between myself, Jaak & Helmi.  It was written a while ago, so it is a bit out of date and can use some spiffying up!
If you're offering your services to help write a FAQ, by all means do so.  We really could do with a FAQ on SysPrep (I know I could!)

You might be thinking of AutoImage.

Phew!

I'm very glad to have discovered DriverPacks via unattended.sf.net's wiki links, but browsing through this forum then looking through the FAQs and guides I am now officially overwhelmed! Driverpacks are just what every frustrated win sysadmin needs and so now I need to learn the best wayto utilise driverpacks, on single machine DVD installs and network multicasts for the networks I help maintain.

Problem is that I feel that a number of the FAQs and guides on these forums are out of date now and there are much superior, newer tools for the job that only the win admin hardcore and long time dp.net forum members will be aware of- I know just how fast the software landscape shifts. For example, you have  'What VMWare & VirtualPC can and cannot do' which says "They cannot:- emulate your hardware, or any specific device (in particular: SATA controllers can NOT be emulated!)" which may still apply to those two VMs, I don't care because VirtualBox (which is open source too) does feature SATA support as well as good USB 2.0 support (hence any USB device will work if your host hachine has USB 2.0 and you have a driver for the guest OS) and VirtualBox even lets you boot OS's on real, native partitions if your user has access to that partition. Yes, I know that USB doesn't cover all devices as you won't be able to emulate PCI/AGP/PCIX etc devices, would you?!?

Keeping in mind that I prefer to use open source software whereever possible, what guides, FAQs or specific apps would you guys recommend for

1- Creating a DVD containing XP-SP2, driverpacks, updates and a number of progs like Office, AVG or whatever that can be installed in as few steps as we choose. For example I'd like to just have to enter the network name of the machine and its IP address (we use static IPs here), if anything, when I install as that would be about the only thing unique per machine. I did find a free tool that integrated a number of tools (stuff like ryanvm, nlite etc.) into one, simplifying this whole process yet still giving you the power to tweak and configure your setup. Duno what it was called or if it was any good/ the best.

2- Best tool for multicast, network deployments. I've got clonezilla sussed for multicasting images when all the hardware is the same and I'm now looking into using unattended to achieve the same but with varying hardware targets. But, I've only just discovered driverpacks so maybe now I coulld put together a universal image that will run on pretty much anything? Is this possible or not? Do I have to set up unattended for this? If so, where is the best, most up-to-date guide on setting up unattended with a driverpacks modded XPSP2 install?

Thanks very much everyone for your help and tips, I look forward to reading your responses!

Dan