Hey everyone! I'm clearing out some old PCs from my garage and I need to reinstall Windows 11 to sell them. I've been using an autounattend file to automate the wiping and initial setup from a USB stick without needing an internet connection. When I installed Server 2025 on the same hardware, it only took about 10 minutes with a USB, which got me thinking – is there a faster way to do this with Windows 11? A few years back, I used Macrium Reflect with boot CDs to restore a syspreped image on multiple laptops, and that took around 15 minutes. What methods are the fastest for offline installations in 2025?
4 Answers
Setting up a FOG server could be the way to go. You can build an image and deploy it across your devices, especially if you have enough that it's worthwhile!
Consider using netboot.xyz; it may seem a bit much, but it’s a handy tool for testing and working with various distros, so it might be worth it.
You might want to look into using PXE imaging software like SmartDeploy. It’s designed for efficient deployments and could speed things up for you!
Check out this video that dives into the installation process: https://youtu.be/rqXRbgeeKSQ?si=IwJEoxA7YmPMhWYm. The first part is especially useful for your needs!
Thanks for sharing! The FFU method seems like it could work well for my situation.