Hi guys and girls,
So I’m diving a little bit in to the world of Sysprep, Universal Imaging, and Driver Packs now. Last one and a half year i have used Altiris Deployment Solution for imaging computer classes at our high school. Also use Clonezilla livecd for some time now to backup my home desktop now. Also been looking into trying out FOGproject and possibly replace Altiris DS 6.9 with it. Have also installed FOGproject on a Fuduntu workstation here on my work PC. Dual booting to it to have some kind of a Linux test machine. Installed it but haven’t configured it yet. Left it as is for the time being. Wanted figure out some possibilities to make an Universal Image. Because we have now 3 (22-34-41) classrooms with same hardware. And one more classroom (22) with another older hardware. Then something like 25 administrative PC's with yet another hardware. And 15 laptops with another hardware + 5 with another hardware + another 5 with another hardware. So I often update the students WinXP image for the most part of the PC's, like 100. But the other day when I wanted to update image for another 22 classroom PC's. I was thinking I don’t even know anymore how much settings I have already changed in the updated image. How would I do that on the other image now. This way the idea to make an Universal Image was born.
I have used already made before me pretty slim/cut down Sysprep.inf answer file. And it works. As long as I don’t start jangling with different hardware. I mean, I am not that experienced yet in slipstreaming yet. But the thing is I always (view years ago already) found the idea of slipstreaming very interesting and wonderful. So I’m very interested and willing to learn and learning. 
Well I can be lazy sometimes. Or have not enough time. But in the end I’m willing. And a kind of able I guess. (Like one M$ guy (with a penguin t-shirt under his suit ^^ !) at a Win7 course said, to do something you have to be able and willing.)
So first thing I was thinking is, let’s just distribute the existing image I have, with all the programs and settings from the main machines, to the older machines. And then see if it works. Ok, it works. With a view drivers missing. So I assumed, if I install those missing drivers manually sysprep and pull a new image from this. This image should theoretically work now on both hardware’s, where it comes originally from and where I last updated it. But no. It doesn’t. Well I can update the missing drivers and pull an image and this will be working image for this exactly model I last pulled it from. But it doesn’t work (automatically) on another hardware. Even if its originally coming from there. Because I was thinking the image contains the original drivers anyway, why not?
But the other day, when I distributed the latest image, that has already been used on 3 different hardware’s. With some issues off course. Like the hdaudbus.sys missing. And while I point it to the i386 directory that I added to the drivers folder on the C drive it is still missing. I created this drivers folder manually. Later added complete copy of drivers CD for every machine I have here to this Drivers folder on the C drive.
So the other day when I discovered the OemPnPDriversPath option for sysprep.inf and I was manually searching for drivers. Driver by driver and adding them to the drivers folder on the C drive. I came across some unknown device that I couldn’t find a driver for. Even after I installed manually all the drivers from the manufacturers website. I went searching for some drivers packs. Because I had already some DVD full of different drivers directories thrown together on this DVD. Some driver packs from some years ago. And if you use Device manager and let it search for the drivers automatically. You will get like 4-5 same drivers in different folders that it finds. So maybe even the same folders repeating on this old DVD. So when I went to search for some nice driver packs on the net. One wonderfully great tool I found was DRP.su. It solved my missing unknown driver issue on a laptop. But even more interesting part is, it brought me here. Because at their forums I discovered that their solution is actually is based on wonderful driver packs from around here. I actually wanted to find something like this site for a view years already.
So now that I discovered this wonderful site and forums. I discovered another tool. DriverPacks Base. I mean I already knew about slipstreaming and nLite for a view years already. But that’s not really what I’m on to right now. Haven’t used/learned nLite/slipstreaming yet. Because a little bit earlier I had maybe not enough knowledge/desire/need for it. And have been using Linux anyway, for the last view years. I’m also not thinking right now that I would have a lot of time/need to dive quite deep into slipstreaming. But actually had always some desire to make my own multi boot/install CD. Just the thing is if I’m getting into something, I’m getting into it for good. And I don’t think to dive very seriously deep into slip streaming right now. Although I might be already quite there a little bit.
So the next logical question for me is how do I use DriverPacks BASE with Sysprep?
That's the main question actually right now for me. Related to creating universal image. So i have googled around for a view days now. And read some basic guides here and there. And landed in this forum part finding a view sticky threads. Related to the question. I have already seen that it's a good idea to use some script to determine and change HAL's. But tried to get away without it. Although I see its necessary. So what do I do about that? Except getting some minor drivers not installed if I deploy image that I have now I get the hdaudbus.sys missing popup. What do I do about that? And also I’ve heard here, in this thread and somewhere else about KTD. What’s that?
For now I’ll be testing out this method, that seems to me to be quite simpler than the rest of the sticky ones here:
https://apps.education.ucsb.edu/wiki/SysPrep
certainly after following it ill figure some more things. But still you can provide me some answers or hints anytime.
I’m basically searching for a sysprep simple method where i can use Driver Packs/DriverPacks BASE to Universalize my XP image.
Thanks in advance,
Sincerely yours,
Nikolai