Computer refresh - Efficiently cloning 60 identical computers

Solution 1:

I actually responded to your original question and since your in the same place I was 2 years ago I'll share my experiences again. We used clonezilla based on the fact they offer multicasting... I did it in 10 computer batches just to make sure everything was going OK. We had a handful (3 or 4 I forget) of machines that asked for licenses and just called Microsoft to activate them. The other ones just accepted the dell licensing since the original machine had the a Dell OEM image and dell stores the keys in BIOS... I just noticed you chose HP so I am not sure if they handle licensing the same way. Keep in mind I used XP Pro downgrade, don't ask me I prefer windows 7 but my IT manager was reluctant to move. However I assume windows 7 should handle this the same way, try testing it on one first just to make sure you don't need to use sysprep. If you need to enter the keys make sure you run sysprep before cloning the drive!

Solution 2:

You might not have a problem with drivers, but you will have a problem with the windows license. It will note that major hardware has changed. As far as the drivers, that's not such a hurdle in most cases (thought it can be if the computers are very different).