Windows 10: Simple imaging from a USB stick?

Discus and support Simple imaging from a USB stick? in Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade to solve the problem; Target: Clone simple laptop (Windows 10 & office only) to USB stick, reapply image from stick no technical understanding Background: I am doing some... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade' started by Baldgyt, Sep 17, 2020.

  1. Baldgyt Win User

    Simple imaging from a USB stick?


    Target: Clone simple laptop (Windows 10 & office only) to USB stick, reapply image from stick no technical understanding

    Background: I am doing some work for a charity who have been given the number of laptops that they want people to use for learning and to access resources for jobs etc in an Internet cafe. They have limited infrastructure - there is some kind of low capacity server running some ancient version of Windows server.
    The issue that the computers ( running home) accruing personal information etc. from various users.
    What I want to do is to image each computer and simply blast it back to a known configuration before it used again. I used to be quite familiar with using ghost and the various Microsoft imaging tools but the charity has no money and nobody on site with anything but limited PC skills etc.

    So, I am looking for a free (or very cheap on a charity deal) tool that could image to a data stick i.e. not one of the many tools clone to another disk.
    The key is to be simple no quick commands in Linux, choosing drive numbers via diskpart etc.
    Id rather not have one big disk with all the images on form which they select unless there is a tool which will deal with things like individual office licences, windows keys so I can have a single image for all the machines (they were donated office 2016 student I will move them to office 365 at some point free for charities). My thinking was a stick for each computer which either overwrites (default) or clones that will be a bit more work for me (or anyone else with any IT clue who helps) as they will need to be re-done for each machine after updates but very easy for the other helpers to understand get the stick for the right machine put it in, boot and wait until its done. They can also do several machines at once if each has its own stick (I might be persuaded by a boot stick that grabs from a server I could buy a drive but I wonder how long the server has to live it was already in the building [left behind but previous occupants] when the building was donated. And Obviously if there is a tool which would support one image the machines are currently identical - I would be interested. But they may be given other machines later and I couldnt rely on people choosing the right image.).
    The main thing is (in my mind0. Get the stick with the same name as the laptop (No server PXE boot etc.) Plug it in, wait, refresh machine.
    And ideally, tell the centre manager once a month image machines, run windows update, put in stick choose the simple option to clone (i.e. refresh image) put stick back in cupboard.
    Any solutions?

    :)
     
    Baldgyt, Sep 17, 2020
    #1
  2. thraxed Win User

    Installing windows off of a USB stick

    Step By Step from vista:
    From admin cmd prompt

    1. diskpart
    1a. list disk
    2. select disk 1 (replace 1 with your usb drive)
    3. clean
    4. create partition primary
    5. select partition 1 (replace 1 with your usb drive)
    6. active
    7. format fs=fat32
    8. assign
    9. exit

    Copy Windows Vista's DVD ROM content to the Flash Drive

    xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\ (d being your vista cd and e being your usb stick)

    And that's it, boot off your usb disk
     
    thraxed, Sep 17, 2020
    #2
  3. Kari Win User
    Build USB Stick with Custom Windows 10


    If your intention is to use the USB stick to deploy your captured Windows 10 image to another machine, simply boot your VirtualBox vm with Macrium Rescue ISO and create a system image storing it to your USB stick.

    To deploy it, boot any real physical or virtual machine with Macrium Rescue boot disk or ISO and restore the image. The second video in tutorial you mentioned shows exactly what to do, step by step, from capturing the image to deploying it.

    If your intention is to create WindowsToGo USB, a bootable Windows USB stick, please read this Microsoft TechNet article: Windows To Go: Feature Overview
     
  4. D-rock Win User

    Simple imaging from a USB stick?

    Help with USB Boot Image

    I am trying to boot from my USB flash drive. I followed the instructions step for step that are in the article on this website. I downloaded the HP program and the USB Image zip file. I ran the HP flash program and pointed it to the folder where I unzipped the USB Image files to. I then copied all the files over to the USB memory stick as instructed. When I restart my computer and press F12 to go to the boot menu I have 3 options: SATA hard drive, CD-ROM drive, or USB Device. So I choose USB device and when it reads the USB memory stick all I get is the error "Non-system disk, replace and hit any key" Its like the USB memory is missing some system files or it doesnt have the master boot record or something. Somebody please HELP!!! I want to flash the bios in a new video card and I have to boot to DOS and I dont have a floppy drive and I have Win XP so a USB boot is probably the best option I have.
     
    D-rock, Sep 17, 2020
    #4
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Simple imaging from a USB stick?

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