I'm curious about how others approach imaging PCs in their organizations. Typically, I ask our users to come to my office to log in on their new machines so I can activate a few programs and disable certain startup applications. Given that we're a small company, this hasn't been much of an issue—everyone seems eager to get their new devices as quickly as possible. I'm looking for insights on how others manage this process, especially if there are strategies that eliminate the need for user logins during imaging. Any tips or best practices would be greatly appreciated!
5 Answers
As a small operation myself, I would look into using tools like WDS or MDT for clean Windows installs. It’s so much easier than doing it manually!
Start thinking like you're in a bigger company! Move away from making users log in in person. If you're small and avoiding SCCM, consider trying out PDQ Deploy. Intune could also be a fit for you. Imaging and software installs work best over the network instead of using USB drives.
Great tips! I'll check out PDQ Deploy and Intune.
Honestly, we don’t really need user logins just to image or set up the device. Users should log in themselves once they pick up their machines, and ideally, all settings should be managed by policies rather than manual tweaks. It makes everything smoother and reduces hands-on work for you.
That's exactly what I was asking about! I just want to ensure everything works smoothly, especially since we have a couple of old programs that need manual installation. That initial login is a good opportunity to check everything out.
You should definitely look into using M365 Intune. I’ve set up a procedure through Intune in our cloud setup, and it has streamlined the whole experience even if the time saved isn't substantial. It just feels more organized.
If user credentials are required, the users need to be present. Sharing passwords is a no-go in our setup. Whenever imaging is involved, I would generally recommend having the users there to ensure everything's right.
Definitely! Glad to hear we're all on the same page about security.
I’m currently setting up an MDT server; it definitely seems more efficient.