Reimage several of the same model PC by copying the hard disk

clonedeploymentinstallationlicensingwindows 7

I have several of the same machine (Dell Precision T3500) that originally came with Windows 7 Pro (there is a Windows 7 Pro OA product key sticker on top of each one). These were initially downgraded to XP by a former IT colleague, but are now back in the pool of unused machines. I am looking to format and install Windows 7 Pro on one of them using the latest official Win7 installer ISO with SP1 and then clone the hard drive to the other machines.

The questions then, are:

  1. Does this even make sense, or is there a better way to do this considering I'm only doing it to 6 machines?

  2. Does this jive with MS licensing (we are the original purchaser of the machines, and thus, presumably, the license holder…but I'm no expert)?

  3. Is it possible to apply the individual 25-char product keys to the cloned machines after cloning?

  4. How far can I go in the config process (installing corporate standard apps and such) before I have to clone to the other machines considering the licensing/key questions?

UPDATE

My final process was to build one box, sysprep /oobe ... and capture/deploy with imagex. The license keys activate fine online after imaging. I'm not sure how to script domain, printer, etc. after imaging, but that's for another question someday. The time saved with Win updates and IDE installs alone was well worth it. Thanks, all.

Best Answer

Yes, imaging is a good idea, even for a small number of machines. You are getting some amount of time savings by not repeating tasks, but you're also getting consistency and the ability to re-image a machine if it needs an OS reinstall. E.g. virus/malware, drive dies, some major file corruption, etc. Our policy is if it's going to take more than 30 minutes to troubleshoot and tweak to fix an issue, it gets reimaged instead.

Regarding the licensing of imaging with OEM licenses, see this Msft article for some more details regarding this scenario: OEMSoftwareLicensingRulesandRestrictions.pdf

Re-imaging rights are a benefit granted to Microsoft Volume Licensing customers. Microsoft Volume Licensing customers may use Volume Licensing media to re-image software (including OEM Software licenses) under the following conditions: The copies re-imaged from the Volume Licensing media are identical to the originally licensed product (the same product and version, contain the same components, and are in the same language). The customer must purchase at least one unit of the product required to be re-imaged through their Volume Licensing agreement in order to obtain access to the product media and receive a key. Volume Licensing media must be used for re-imaging (OEM media may not be used).

In short, if you own at least 1 volume licensed copy of Windows 7 Professional, you get access to the VL installation media and VL product key for Win 7 Pro. You would then use that to do the OS install and imaging. The single volume license is essentially just used to get access to the VL media and product key. This applies when your OEM-licensed product is available as an identical volume-licensed product. E.g. Windows 7 Professional.

You can't use the above scenario for OEM/FPP Msft Office licenses because volume-licensed Office doesn't have the same versions as OEM/FPP. For example, there is no Professional or Home & Business version available through VL, only Pro Plus and Standard.

Regarding your question #2, your company purchased the machines, the legit COA is on the box, you're good. OEM licenses live and die with the machine itself; person who owns the machine owns the OEM license.

Regarding your question #4, install every possible thing you can before imaging! The exact software that can be installed depends on your specifics apps, but for all of our LOB apps and such we install all of it before creating the image, as none of them require unique serial numbers or anything like that.

For unique/specific licensing questions, I always call Msft licensing people directly: (800) 426-9400

Once they provide you with an answer, you can ask them to direct you to some sort of written reference that confirms what they tell you.

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