I'm curious about the best practices for imaging PCs in a small office setting. Typically, I ask users to come into my office and log in once so I can activate and install software and adjust a few startup apps. This approach has been working fine, but I'm looking to see how others manage this process, especially since we're a small company and people are generally eager to receive their new machines. Any tips or alternative methods would be appreciated!
5 Answers
Honestly, you don't need user logins to image or set up a device. The user can log in when they pick it up, and ideally, everything should be configured through policies—no manual adjustments needed once it's handed over.
In small settings like yours, using WDS/MDT for deployments can really help simplify clean Windows installs. It might take some time to set it up, but it's worth it for future imaging.
Make sure you’re not relying too much on users to be there for imaging. If you can, consider using tools like PDQ Deploy for installations without needing user interaction, especially if you're concerned about maintaining security.
Have you looked into Microsoft 365 Intune? It really streamlines the process for imaging and deployment. I created a procedure in our cloud environment and modified it for our on-prem environment, and it's made the experience much smoother!
I've been using OSDCloud for imaging. It provides a USB key that allows you to select the OS and download it directly from Microsoft, which is super efficient. If that fits your setup, it's definitely worth checking out!
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