Unattended Windows XP Installation

One thing I really appreciate about Macs and OS X is managing hardware drivers. Well, more that you generally DON'T have to manage it. Just pop in the OS X disc, install the OS onto the computer and that's it - you don't have to spend hours finding and installing a multitude of drivers for whatever hardware options that particular PC has.

Of the 22 PCs being deployed, 12 were Dell Vostro laptops and 10 were OptiPlex desktops. Being configured identically, I could have simply imaged one of each and then deployed that system image onto the remaining machines. However, I also had an existing set of 20 desktops with varying specs so that one system image wouldn't necessarily work on all of those. I wasn't keen on the idea of trying to create one mega system image that would cover all possible hardware configurations.

With Microsoft's solution Remote Installation Services being out of the question (that $0 budget thing), I discovered and Open Source option - Unattended - "a system for fully automating the installation of Windows 2000 Professional and Server, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003." Features include:

• Automated install of operating system, hotfixes and applications.
• Full documentation and source code.
• Support for floppy, CD-ROM, and "nothing but net" installs.
• True unattended installation, not disk imaging.
• No Windows servers required; use your Unix servers instead.
• No Unix servers required; use your Windows servers after all.
• Completely free.