installing software to multiple workstations

[cygnusonline]

Hi I have just bought 12 workstations for a local charity with Windows 7 Pro 32bit systems installed.

I need to install various applications which will take ages if I do it individually on each machine, so I would like to set up one system then 'ghost' all the applications to the others. Can anyone recommend which software is best to do this, and is it possible to just clone the applications and network settings etc as I obviously don't want to copy the operating system as they all have individual licences.

The office only has a peer to peer setup so installing from a server is not an option.

Thanks everyone
Kevin

 

[Bill2]

Commercial apps too have limited licenses, unless you have a sufficient number or you plan to use only oss/freeware.

 

[cygnusonline]

Hi we have all the necessary licences for the applications, I'm not trying to illegally install anything onto the workstations, I just want to speed up the process of installing 12 workstations into a very busy office

 

[Bill2]

AFAIK theres no way to ghost just the apps. You'll need to ghost the entire install. If this is OEM windows (well known brands like Dell, HP etc. that come with windows preinstalled and preactivated), ghosting wont require reactivation, assuming all the machines are of the same brand. This can be done using imaging software like free macrium reflect (theres a nice tutorial in the tutorials section) or commercial software like Acronis true image. OTOH, if retail win7 has been installed and activated separately on each of those computers, you'll need to manually input the product key and activate online for each.

Also, depending upon the apps, you'll need to re-enter the licenses.

 

[cygnusonline]

Thanks for the advice, they are all coming from Dell so will have pre-activated systems so hopefully your recommendation may do the trick

Many thanks
Kevin