Configure Limited User PC > Create & Distribute Image

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DigitalMP

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Jun 27, 2004
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I know this crosses over between the OS topic and Networking, so I'll start here. It's a little messy, so please bear with me.

The Situation:

My buddy leased some office space and is starting a small < 25 user call center. The PCs are desktops with XP Pro on them. WE have some predictive dialing software and Microsoft Office.​

The Issue:

He's fairly-technically sensible, but doesn't want a full time Network Admin, nor does he want to pay someone to come in and set up things. I've told him a few times that we should do that or he could very well have to pay to put out some fires later on, but he's pretty stubborn. Fine, that's it, so I'm moving forward.​

My Task:

I need to configure and update each of these machines, and there are anywhere from 16-24. I could go from box to box and run updates and install software, but that's a bit unnecessary. What I would like to do are two things:

  1. Use the admin account to install all of the software, and then create a limited user account that is, well...limited.
  2. After I have one box configured how I would like it, I want to create an image and push it out to each of the other boxes.

Disclaimer:

I know very well that he should have someone do this the right way, or hire a Network Admin, but that's not happening, so this is what I'm dealing with.​

Questions:

  1. I've never created a Limited User in XP -- will I have the flexibility like policies where I can prevent users from right-clicking on their Desktop, elimating items from the Start menu, etc.?
  2. What image software would you recommend? Is there a free one?
  3. As these machines have DVD-ROM drives, would I be able to push the image from the source PC across a patch cable, to a destination PC?
 
They will be tied to a domain controller like right? Haven't really looked into it by some of what you want might be in the group policy that gets pushed out to the accounts.
 
He said he ordered a server, but since he's not having someone come in to do any administration or initial setup, it's not going to act as a domain controller, and there will not be any LAN user accounts. In lieu of that, each desktop will be configured individually, so I want to securely configure one with a limited account, create an image, then distribute it.
 
well you can always play with the global policy on each computer to lock features down, then switch to limited users to keep them out of the policy snap-in and other features.

But honestly, it would save you a lot of headaches to just set aside one computer and throw in Windows 2003 Standard and create a domain controller, join all the computers to that domain, and create a global domain policy. One station to control all of the computers.

You could do so much more with that domain controller. You can install content monitoring software, anti-virus/spam/malware central administration, a free company document management intranet web site such as Windows Sharepoint Service and so much more.

You don't need anything fancy for a server as long as you're not loading it up with heavy duty apps like SQL or Exchange.
 
Thanks Azhar, but with my limited server experience, I think I might be better suited to configure one XP Pro machine, than create an image. Besides, I'd have to get him to buck up for 2003 Server, and I'm not sure if that's going to happen.

If I configured a global policy on an XP Pro box, that would only apply to accounts other than the administrator, right?
 
DigitalMP said:
If I configured a global policy on an XP Pro box, that would only apply to accounts other than the administrator, right?
Click to expand...

Any group policy configured on a workgroup XP machine applies to ALL user accounts including the administrator.

If he's not willing to spend the money to do the job right the first time, then walk away.


Sidenote - Have you tested the software to find out if it will run properly on a locked down account?
 
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