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TIP Scripting OS and application installations is a full-time job in many organizations. Many scripting tools and methods are available from both Microsoft and third-party sources.

Another type of installation that is very popular for re-creating standard configurations is an image installation. An image is a complete copy of a hard disk volume on which an operating system and, usually, all required application software programs have been preinstalled. Images can be stored on optical discs, in which case the tech runs special software on the computer that copies the image onto the local hard drive. Images can also be stored on special network servers, in which case the tech connects to the image server by using special software and copies the image from the server to the local hard drive. A leader in this technology has been Norton Ghost, which is available from Symantec. Other similar programs are Clonezilla and Acronis’s True Image.

Beginning with Windows 2000 Server, Microsoft added Remote Installation Services (RIS), which can be used to initiate either a scripted installation or an installation of an image.

Determine How to Back Up and Restore Existing Data, If Necessary

Whether you are installing or upgrading, you may need to back up existing user data first, because things can go very wrong either way, and the data on the hard drive might be damaged. You’ll need to find out where the user is currently saving data files. If they are saving onto the local hard drive, it must be backed up before the installation or replacement takes place, to preserve the data. However, if all data has been saved to a network location, you are in luck, because the data is safe from damage during installation.

If the user saves data locally, and the computer is connected to a network, save the data, at least temporarily, to a network location until after the upgrade or installation has taken place. If the computer is not connected to a network but the computer has a burnable optical drive, copy the data to DVDs. You can also use an external hard drive, which is a handy thing for any tech to have. Wherever you save the data, you will need to copy or restore any lost or damaged data back to the local hard disk after the installation.

If you plan to migrate a user from one system to another, here’s where you might start the process by running the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (Windows XP) or Windows Easy Transfer (Windows Vista). You’ll complete that process during the post-installation tasks. Rather than discuss the process twice, I leave the full discussion on migration for the “Post-Installation Tasks” section later in this chapter.

Select an Installation Method

Once you’ve backed up everything important, you need to select an installation method. You have two basic choices: insert the installation disc into the drive and go, or install over a network. The latter method falls into the realm of CompTIA Network+ technicians or even network administrators, so this book assumes you’ll install from disc.

Determine How to Partition the Hard Drive and What File System to Use

If you are performing a clean installation, you need to decide ahead of time how to partition the disk space on your hard disk drive, including the number and size of partitions and the file system (or systems) you will use. Actually, in the decision process, the file system comes first, and then the space issue follows, as you will see.

This was a much bigger issue back in the days when older operating systems couldn’t use newer file systems, but now that every Windows OS that you could reasonably want to install supports NTFS, there’s really no reason to use anything else. You still might have a reason to partition your drive, but as for choosing a file system, your work is done for you.

Determine Your Computer’s Network Role

The question of your computer’s network role comes up in one form or another during a Windows installation. A Windows computer can have one of several roles relative to a network (in Microsoft