Create a Macro to automate configuration?

[oldskooladdict]

I have 8 identical PCs which I need to 'customise' to our environment.

In the past when I've had a maximum of a couple at once I have just done this manually - as the time taken to research how to do it probably would have been longer than just getting on with it!

However... with 8 PCs this is no longer the case!

These are Dell preinstalled machines - basically I will be installing our printers, removing some programs, installing office 2007, installing firefox, kaspersky etc.

As the PCs are preinstalled by Dell I didn't think I could use an image based approach - also the time it takes to install the OS again from scratch would probably be a factor now too.

So... is there a tool (preferably free or full trial for a few days at least!) which I could 'record' my configuration steps on one PC - i.e. installing all the printers and obtaining their drivers from our network drives etc?!

Otherwise... its a factory production line for me!

[acrobat]

There are free macro makers that could do this, but they are a pain and complex to set up, and it's not ideal for something like this. You would probably end up spending more time setting up the tool than just doing it all on 8 PC's. Especially if you quickly go from PC to PC or you can do them all at the same time or something.

The macro (if you used one) would also have two issues. One is that it would have to account for differences in time. So where as it might take 2 minutes to install office on one PC, it might take 4 minutes on another PC. Even PC's with the same spec can have differences like this. And if you were out by just a few seconds in just one step... it could balls everything up. For example it could click the OK button just a few seconds before it appears, and then because that OK button wasn't clicked, all the next steps would not be done because the macro would be clicking the wrong places. And it could actually even be quite harmful in that if you weren't monitoring it, if it went slightly wrong, all the remaining clicks could end up doing something quite bad that screws up the entire OS.
The macro also would screw up if just one thing went slightly wrong. For example if you searched for networks or something and it didn't find it first time and you have to press F5 to have it search again or something, the macro wouldn't be able to account for that.

All this can be taken in to account though when you are making a macro, and it could be made to give plenty of time for each step etc.. I think if all you were doing was installing a single little application like setting up a printer or something, then a macro could work well. But for installing more than one complex application, I personally wouldn't do it. It depends on exactly how complex the set up is. If it's just a few dozen easy clicks and nothing changes at all, then it could technically be done.

p.s. Also, there aren't any that I know of that would help you install an OS because they all have to run from within an OS itself.

p.p.s. There is a free and simple and none bloated one called MacroMaker which you could find on google. I have used it in the past for various things. It does work well, so you could have a play around with it and then make your own mind up. If you do decide to use it, I can always help any way I can.

[oldskooladdict]

Thanks Acrobat,

There appears to be too many potential pitfalls, add to this the time taken to sort it out and I think you're right - configuring them manually will be easier - I currently have a setup that looks something like a micro trading floor

[acrobat]

Hehe. Thanks for letting us know because I was interested to see what you would do.

It was a good thought about the macro. Because there must be a point at which you have so many, that the time spent making a macro would actually pay off... And I bet 8 is getting close to that point! Maybe if you had about 15 or more or something then it would be well worth doing. But for 8... it's a close call! But I think doing it manually would probably be just about the easiest/quickest way.

Anyway good luck.

[arthurleung]

Just use one of the computer and remote desktop into all the others, then you don't need to go around, just alt-tab to get to another desktop.