Cloning lab computers across the network via a shared folder using FREE program

Note: Sept 2 2010 - Since this tutorial was created, the original software used here “selfimage” has disappeared. New, easier to use software is available. No need to create a special CD. Simply download the file, burn to CD and go. My new tutorial is on my K-5 Computer Lab Activities site.

This page describes how to clone lab computers across the local area network using a shared network folder. This is a common method used by IT departments and desktop support professionals. The way this works is we use a bootable CD to start up the original lab computer and get it connected to the network. Then we map a drive to a shared folder on another machine and start the cloning program. The cloning program clones the partition or drive of the original computer and sends the resulting image file to the shared folder. To clone machines across the network, we use the same method, but this time we put the CD in each of the machines to be cloned and the cloning program pulls the image file across the network and overwrites the drive or partition of our choice to create clones of the original lab computer.

Diagram: cloning lab computers across the network

Requirements - A BARTPE bootable live Windows CD with SelfImage cloning plugin

To get started we need BARTPE (Bart Preinstalled Environment), a free bootable CD built from a Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 CD. These CDs are known as “LIVE CDs”. You boot up a computer with this CD and it gives you a mini Windows environment and lets you connect the computer to your network. Most common network cards are supported and it is possible to add support for other network cards. You can add many programs to this CD (cloning, antivirus, CD burners, etc) to add extra functionality. These add-on programs are called ‘plugins’ and are simple to add. For a quickstart on howto build this CD, go here.

We will use a free imaging / cloning program (plugin) added to the BARTPE CD called Selfimage. A good reason to use this program is to avoid the per computer licensing costs of Norton Ghost or other commercial imaging program. In a K-5 computer lab setting cloning is usually done only occasionally, typically to prepare the lab for a new year or when replacing computers. The expense of a commercial solution may not be warranted in these cases.

  1. Boot up the computer with the BartPE CD and start network support.

    2. BartPE automatically prompts you to start network support. “Choose Yes”.

    Choose Yes when prompted to start the network

  2. The PE network configurator allows for quick automatic network setup.

    3. Most networks have a DHCP server that assigns computer IP addresses automatically. If yours does, you will
    choose the Dynamic IP Address (DHCP) option to automatically setup the network configuration and click “OK”.

    Use the PE Network Configurator DHCP option. Click OK

  3. Click the “Network Drives” button.

    4. We’ll click this button and start the menu to map a drive to a shared folder on the network. If you haven’t shared a folder on a network machine yet, do that now. This folder should be on a drive with plenty of space for storing many, many gigabytes of image files. Compressed, a single image file could be 10-12 gigabytes or more depending upon the size and contents of the drive being cloned. Make sure to set the shared folder share permissions to allow “administrators” full control.

    The computer is now configured to get IP address automatically, click the Network Drives Button to continue

  4. Map a drive to the shared folder

    5. I have chose E: as the drive letter to be mapped. The network path will be in the form of \\computername\foldername. The name of the computer that has the shared folder in this example is “optiplex”. The shared folder on this computer that we will send the image file to is “images”. Together the network path in this example is \\optiplex\images. Enter your network path. Next enter the name of the user that has administrator logon rights to the computer with the shared folder. In this example I am using the form of computername\username like this: optiplex\administrator. Enter a valid password for the administrator user.
    Click “Map Drive”. When the drive maps successfully, you will see it displayed under the “Mapped Network Drives” tab. Exit and close the PE Network Configurator when done.

    Map a drive to the shared folder on the remote network computer

  5. Start the Selfimage Disk Imager program

  6. Choose the input drive to image.

    7. Choose “Drive” as the input. In the “Input Location” box, select a complete drive or a partition to be imaged. In this example only the system partition “partition 1 (C:\)” has been selected. It is 40.546 Gigabytes. The complete drive size is 160GB, and has other partitions with data on them. I am only interested in imaging the system partition so I can use it to clone other computers. In the “processing” box, choose to compress image and choose a compression method.

    Choose Drive as the input. In the lnput Location box, choose the whole drive or a partition to be imaged

  7. Choose to output to a file and choose a location.

    8. Select the radio button to output to a file and then choose to save the image file to the mapped drive we setup previously. Enter a File Name for the image.

    Send the output file to the mapped drive

  8. Review input / output and other settings.

    9. Double check your input and output settings, then click “Start” to begin imaging.

    Review settings then begin imaging

    When the process is done, you can use the image file to clone other lab computers. Simply change the input to be the image file and the output to Drive.

    Happy Cloning !!