How to image computers | PXE | USB Drive

[@frankhawl3997]

You read my mind. I was just thinking of pc imaging today. I need to replicate the exact setup on 3 machines. Thank you so much. I also wanted to add this skill to my resume. Your the best. I dont have words to express how much you have helped me. God bless you.

[@EastCharmer]

Oh great timing! I also think it's a great video idea. Yes creating an image makes it easier to deploy to machines. Yes you should add it to your resume! It's part of an IT Professional's responsibilities. I'm really glad to help out!! I hope it will work for you! God Bless you too!

[@elamaroon8316]

Your videos be so razor sharp. Thank you from us newbies

[@EastCharmer]

My pleasure! I'm glad you liked the content and I hope I covered most of the fundamentals too

[@TiToNonoy]

I really love your channel. I have worked for NCR for almost 3 years now, but I am still learning a lot from you....thank you for sharing your knowledge....Mabuhay ka!

[@EastCharmer]

Thank you so much po!! I'm glad that you're learning from the content! I'm happy to share!! I am also learning a lot from the community!

[@tibbydudeza]

I work for NCR Atleos as well and currently I am using WinPE and DISM to image the ATM's with.

[@Chazzuu]

Ive been trying to search some of the guides about this, you are always on point and clutch ate. Keep posting this kind of videos!! Thank you so much!

[@EastCharmer]

Thank you! Let me know if you have any video request. I'll try to make a video if I can

[@techhoppy]

Please do a video on Windows Deployment Services so we can actually set this up. Though your video was very informative, we need to know how to create the DHCP, PXE and TFTP servers and the golden image. That’s critical for doing this on our own and then being able to add it to our resume/projects. Thanks again for your great video.

[@EastCharmer]

No problem. I need to finish the Windows Server Homelab series first before I can make a video for PXE etc

[@bradyhooker9251]

Yes set up PXE server

[@awurogeorge1016]

Practical knowledge on show here… Much appreciated ❤

[@EastCharmer]

Glad it was helpful!!! Thank you!

[@moorenatasha58]

I'm studying Comptia A+ right now . I enjoy learning while watching your videos

[@EastCharmer]

Nice!!! Goodluck on your studies!! Hope you pass the 2 exams!! Thank you and glad you enjoy watching the videos!

[@pastordavidssayndeejr]

Just to motivate you, I just passed after failing Core1 twice. I passed both on my 3rd try and I did not use any other resources other than Professor Messer/Mike Myers totalsems and union test prep article. it took me 6 weeks for both using these resources. Blessings on your journey

[@garylove2836]

@@pastordavidssayndeejrI too am studying for my A+ using messer and mike Myers’s but fail the core 1 because that one I didn’t really study,but I study hard for core 2 using these resources but fail core 2. I don’t think messer and Myers’s courses are thorough I plan on purchasing comptia s training course their more accurate and more detail.they have another one call test out their courses look good too.but haven’t venture into that one.

[@troywisdom704]

Thank you for taking the time to make this content. Those of us trying to learn new skills appreciate you!!

[@EastCharmer]

My pleasure! Hopefully more videos to come!!

[@AhmadMohamad-ny8qu]

clear and detailed explanations made complex concepts easy to understand, Your content is incredibly helpful and well-structured. Keep up the great work. thank you

[@EastCharmer]

Thank you for the feedback! I really appreciate it! I always try to prepare a content structure so I can present it well.

[@alihaider000001]

Adding into it, as an IT Tech I am working on a company where we have 2 kind of images, 1 is Autopilot and other is SCCM, Autopilot is so simple to make image onto any kind of machine but SCCM is a bit different and it would requires to add machine into Domain.

[@alihaider000001]

BTW, you are doing an amazing, I watch your videos often.

[@markarca6360]

Also noteworthy is the Windows Deployment Services, which is used to deploy Windows system images for network installation.

[@kristopherleslie8343]

@@markarca6360WDS was deprecated buddy but it still works kinda, but Microsoft asked you to use MDT.

[@JJFlores197]

That's awesome. Where I work, I think our next deployment route is to get into Autopilot and InTune I believe. We currently have an SCCM environment that has been nothing short of a huge task to maintain and use for our IT specialists.

[@EastCharmer]

We're not using Autopilot yet at work and would like to see how simple it is. SCCM has been a pain now to maintain but it's what we use currently

[@RiteshDeo-ru3rc]

Great piece of information 👏. Thanks

[@EastCharmer]

You're very welcome!

[@njilembebianiscel6920]

❤❤love What you are doing thks It very helpful

[@EastCharmer]

Thank you very much!! I'm glad that it's helpful!!

[@edwinvargas2181]

very precise and informative. 🎉

[@EastCharmer]

Thanks a lot!

[@AnthonyYoung-b6b]

You make some very detailed and awesome videos, keep them coming please?😊

[@EastCharmer]

Thank you for the feedback! I really appreciate it. More to come!

[@eio1971]

Thanks for sharing this

[@EastCharmer]

My pleasure!!

[@markarca6360]

That was Windows Deployment Services (formerly called the Remote Installation Services). Also, you can create a file (answer file) to streamline the installation with predefined settings.

[@corel965]

Video about configuring PXE server. Thank you !

[@EastCharmer]

Maybe next time!

[@calvinpryor]

Reading some comments, thought I'd throw out a bit of clarity: a lot of techs refer to the process of exporting data from a storage device to an image file as "creating an image". "I'm going to make an image of this computer/I'm going to image this computer". The opposite, the process of transferring bits from an image file to a storage device (what's going on in this video), is called "burning the image" onto a computer. "I'm going to burn the standard Win10 image onto those 2 boxes we just got in"

[@EastCharmer]

Ah yeah that's technically correct. I guess it's just the tech lingo now that techs say we will image a computer or I'll make an image for Win 11. I don't really hear anyone say I'm gonna burn a Win10. When I hear "burn" what comes to mind is CDs so I think "image" is the term more commonly used now

[@marvfromthecity]

Thank you for taking the time to make these videos.

[@EastCharmer]

Glad you like them!

[@siddiqshinwari7783]

Thanks alot! I have just started seeing your videos and i have learnt alot sofar. Can you please make a vedio on "how to make a windows deployment image

[@EastCharmer]

You're welcome! Ok I'll try to make a video about that

[@Magus-db3jn]

Loved it ty- do you have a video on adding host to domain and then adding users to system? I think most will change to workgroup first make changes reboot then add to domain I think - curious if you have a walk through video on this

[@EastCharmer]

Thank you!! I have a video on how to add computers to a domain but it's for a windows server homelab. But it should be the same concept. If you want to rejoin the domain, then you're right about adding to workgroup first (make sure you know the local admin pw) then adding it back to the domain in the rename computer (advanced) setting. But I can probably make a video about this for adding windows, mac and linux computers on the domain

[@Magus-db3jn]

@@EastCharmer ty I will search for this video 😸👍

[@Andy.De.Belmont]

This whole time i didnt know i was doing computer imaging... I call it OS installation, I thought imaging a computer was something different. Are you able to do a video on snapshots or is that the same thing as a restore point?

[@EastCharmer]

Oh I see. Yes OS installation is a part of imaging and also deploying software packages and other config too. Snapshots for VMs?

[@pepeshopping]

PXE is cool and needed to image 20-100 computers at once, but an external SSD (not a slow regular USB drive) is faster than Gigabit Ethernet.

[@EastCharmer]

Yeah it is especially for mass imaging. just take note of the number of machines to image so you don't run out of IP addresses from the network range

[@pepeshopping]

@@EastCharmer "how EXACTLY" can you run out of ip addresses, IF the ip-addresses DO COME from either the PXE server or the main firewall/router!?

[@PcTechnRepair]

Great video! That song at the end tho seems not to be youtube freindly. Profanity in the thankyou ending. Anyhoot keep up the great content.

[@EastCharmer]

Thank you!! Oh really? Sorry about that. I didn't hear the entire song 😢 I'll check of I can mute the end part

[@fexpexanthony559]

Thank you Charmer for your videos they are always very informative, by the way, I currently have a mini M720q that was gifted to me and I want to use it for a project but I have no idea where to start any tips i would be grateful thank you.

[@EastCharmer]

You're very welcome! Oh nice machine! hhmmm maybe you can set it up for virtualization. Try Proxmox and run different VMs on it

[@fexpexanthony559]

@EastCharmer Thank you! I would try proxmox and play around with it.

[@abdulhaphyz]

can this setup be replicated on a vm for testing & learning purposes , I do not have any use for it right now but wld like to learn how it works for future use , also i wld like to know what kind of imaging tool u used for the usb option , i only know of rufus . Thanks for the video

[@EastCharmer]

Great question! Yes the PXE server is doable for a VM but the tricky part would be getting the DHCP side to work on a home setting. I haven't tried it at home yet and it's probably tricky to set it up on the home router

[@Kevin-nw9om]

Dell and (I believe HP) have a one time boot menu on F12 so you dont have to go into the BIOS for the average user. Keeps them from muckin with things that can cause issues

[@DineshKumar-dt5be]

Keep it up ❤

[@EastCharmer]

Thank you, I will!!!

[@spelz1751]

the word imaging appears ti have two different meanings in your video. Also the PXE boot is quite a tricky task. Perhaps a detailed video on the setting up of the PXE server may be useful. I know i struggled with it. Especially when you have conflicting services running on the same port ie port 80.

[@EastCharmer]

The video is very straightforward for the request. Deploying an image is what it means at work and yeah the term is not that accurate to what it literally means. The 2 ways are simply how to image through pxe and through a flash drive. Setting up a PXE server is tricky especially doing it at home so I might not make a video on that

[@Numb2Fear]

Great video was just looking this up earlier today

[@EastCharmer]

Hope you enjoyed it!

[@oscaresposito1433]

can you install multiple operating systems with the ip method at the same time? if so, how long would it take?

[@Stoicwx]

hey lovely, thank you for your time making this video.

[@EastCharmer]

You're very welcome!

[@AlongC0mp]

thanks so much sister🙌🏻

[@EastCharmer]

My pleasure 😊

[@namronYT]

What backup software are your company using?

[@EastCharmer]

We use Commvault

[@dorin-trusca]

Hello, what app did you use to create the bootable USB drive? KUTGW👍

[@EastCharmer]

Hello!! I used SCCM for that

[@kristopherleslie8343]

One thing not mentioned is the security of your pc, sometimes it’s very time consuming to make some systems to boot with windows 10/11 via pxe. Make sure your firmware of your hardware is updated that might be the one biggest headache of pxe.

[@EastCharmer]

That's a great point! It took us a lot of testing for our MSI laptops to tweak the BIOS settings and firmware. Once it was all set, imaging was smooth

[@kristopherleslie8343]

@@EastCharmer oh yea. Some pxe servers will boot some wont. It's almost like performing magic when it works lol.

[@omeramjad4466]

Great 👌

[@EastCharmer]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@mapletech_22]

Thank you for the informative video. What is the name of the software you used to create bootable flash drive?

[@EastCharmer]

You're very welcome! It was SCCM

[@mapletech_22]

@@EastCharmer thank you

[@ronalerquinigoagurto555]

when do you recommend using pxe boot over cloning or cloning over pxe boot?

[@JJFlores197]

PXE boot makes sense when you have a lot of computers that you need to re-image at once. Say in a school computer lab (if there are still any with Windows devices) that has 40 computers.. You just power them on and have them go through the PXE boot and re-imaging process.

[@MundoTechconJc]

can you explain how can you configure the pxe server to be able to deliver the images to pcs?

[@Cyberdern]

so in summary a PXE is use to share windows os and other media software over the ethernet?

[@rohitradhakrishnan8317]

excellent video. Thank you. Wishful thinking: Hoping you would create foundation content on Configuration Manager someday : )

[@EastCharmer]

No problem! I'll try that next time!

[@rohitradhakrishnan8317]

Thank you so much. A big fan of your video style - edutainment (education + engaging style). :)

[@EastCharmer]

​@@rohitradhakrishnan8317thank you so much!! I'm trying to be as informative and also add more visuals to make it entertaining

[@joejoe2452]

how do you prepare the custom image with photoshop applications and all that ? also any licensing issues ?

[@JJFlores197]

That's where it gets fun and frustrating. Where I work in K-12 IT, we haven't been able to automate Photoshop and Creative Cloud installs in our image. I'm sure there's a way, but the previous guy in charge really tried to get this setup for our high schools, but he just couldn't get it to work. And Adobe's tech support has been less than stellar in our experience.

[@joejoe2452]

@@JJFlores197 windows can be installed to multiple machines over the network but the applications you have to install separately imagine installing 1000 pc ? There must be a way to do it ? Someone out there knows how? Atleast Microsoft office and antivirus

[@JJFlores197]

@@joejoe2452 Yes there's a way to deploy CC in a Windows image. Like I said, we weren't able to get it to work in our SCCM environment for some reason. Once you have everything configured correctly, yes you can just re-image a PC and all the necessary software and configuration gets deployed automatically.

[@adnannazir7056]

what software did you use for manual boot image?

[@EastCharmer]

That's SCCM

[@OrlandoQuiros]

At work we use some type of hybrid imaging. With USB and network.

[@EastCharmer]

Ah same here. We still use USB sometimes but PXE 90%

[@tech08ful]

What application you used for pxe?

[@you_tube754]

What software was that when creating the boot usb?

[@EastCharmer]

We use SCCM at work

[@elmol5610]

that software looked like microsoft system center or SCCM. but I am not 100% sure

[@you_tube754]

@@EastCharmer awwww ok. Thank you

[@TrevorLV702]

Maraming salamat po!

[@EastCharmer]

Walang anuman!

[@BrightAwuah-Mensah]

Hello very thoughtful would also appreciate a video on how to use WDS to image computers

[@kristopherleslie8343]

WDS was deprecated, your suppose to be using MDT

[@hatimmontana]

WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE TOOL TO CREAT A BOOTABLE USB IN THE VIDEO ? AND THANKS

[@EastCharmer]

I used SCCM

[@abdukantibye1777]

I was confused whether this is a deployment of existing image or creating an image of a pc?

[@The113End]

Can you please make a video on Config mgr?

[@EastCharmer]

I'll try!

[@DENNISJRBERGADO]

after create image po ba saka mag gagawa ng account yung admin sa active directory?

[@bandar2970]

Thank you so much

[@EastCharmer]

You're most welcome

[@tato2493528]

i didnt know this when i first started my job, and dont see it mentioned at all. But u can't be on wifi...u have to be hooked up lol a lot of people may not know that...i know i didnt

[@EastCharmer]

Yeah you need to be on ethernet with the correct vlan

[@glenntembo2693]

Thank you

[@EastCharmer]

You're welcome!!!

[@joejoe2452]

so basically imaging is just an iso with all the apps and windows already installed that you just installed onto another machine ? my question is how do you image the machine where you already install the apps like photoshop and such and will there be licensing issues?

[@EastCharmer]

Yeah like I already mentioned in the video, imaging is installing OS, Programs and whatever custom settings is needed for the computer. You just image it normally like any other image and Adobe license is tied to the user account now and not the computer so they can be installed on any machine but would need the license tied to the user's email for it to be accessed

[@joejoe2452]

@@EastCharmer is there a way to have a custom image with everything already installed like microsoft office, photoshop and all what you want in one image that you can than install onto 100 other machines instead of installing one by one which is time consuming?

[@valkaielod]

You typically don't. "Imaging" currently is a 2 step process. You PXE boot the deployment environment, that takes care of the OS. After that is done, you're in the next phase, with the proper OS booted on the device and the software deployment part kicking in. This is still used later on to update the software, install new ones, etc. This whole process is almost entirely automated. Cloning a working machine is mostly what backup software does. It can still be done, but not as desirable.

[@joejoe2452]

@@valkaielod I don’t understand.. so we can install windows OS to multiple machines over the network like pxe.. that is certain. The next question is? Is it possible to install softwares to 100 machines also via the network or any way automated? If yes how? Like Microsoft office and antiviruses etc

[@valkaielod]

@@joejoe2452 It's not desirable to do that. With a proper software deployment solution you also cover updates and uninstall, and you can also have an inventory of software installed. Microsoft has some older (SCCM) and some newer (Intune) solutions for this. Obviously paid for. I'm using puppet combined with choco in a deployment. Free, but it needs more work.

[@Kim-jj3nr]

How to setup PXE server?

[@salahmohamed2185]

What is the name of the software to boot from usb

[@EastCharmer]

SCCM

[@alexcricles]

what song is that in the end?

[@OrlandoQuiros]

We still don't have Autopilot at my job.

[@EastCharmer]

Same here! Hopefully in the near future we can use it

[@pinguimgutembergcarvalho7775]

1 vez fazendo e apreendo.😅

[@EastCharmer]

Yaaay that's good!!

[@domzdizon9148]

How to setup PXE Server

[@BACKSPIN9ball]

I don't see why anyone would want to use PXE in 2024, the amount of time it takes for the image to be downloaded and loaded on the computer you can provision 10computers. I would learn newer ways of how machines are provisioned like Microsoft Intune.

[@EastCharmer]

You'd be surprised at what companies are still using even this 2024 so let's not make assumptions on what we think people should be doing. As tech professionals, we should base on facts and just because there's a new tech doesn't mean it's always applicable and feasible to the current company infrastructure. Also, I don't think Intune is an imaging tool(I might be wrong) you must be thinking about Autopilot. Yeah PXE takes time so it can also depend on your network bandwidth but if you're provisioning new computers for an upgrade, we really don't rush in the field for a project like that. If it's really an emergency that we have to re-image, then as I've said in the video, USB drive is also an option

[@oscard7256]

Perfect timing for this video, I was thinking on study projects solutions where new employees on an enterprise need to have access to OS images to deploy onto their machines without having to use usb sticks, my other option was to implement an SFTP server and giving group membership to those users inside and OpenLDAP environment. And I can use it to install lots of applications to newly provisioned machines inside an Active Directory environment, where it is usually done manually. These companies have a tight budget.

[@krypton8784]

You didn't say anything, what software you use and how to use it. The video should be aimed at those who don't work in IT, because you only explained the two ways to install an operating system on a computer. I didn't learn anything.

[@sushillaishram6679]

Not so useful

[@EastCharmer]

@sushillaishram6679 the one who requested the video said it was so that's what matters most

[@EastCharmer]

@sushillaishram6679 also if I see a video not useful to me, I'm not gonna comment that coz it's not necessary, maybe it's useful for someone and I'm not gonna gain anything from such comment