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I have been researching this for a few days now, but I can't find a detailed answer to my question. I know that in order to install Windows 10 to multiple computers (all the same), you have to have a single ISO image that has all of the drivers and whatever applications you want to be on the computers by default. Then the image has to be deployed to all of these said computers at the same time and installed. After all of that, users have to be created like an administrator account and as many users as the business/school wants. Finally a Windows product key must be obtained for all units.
Let's say I am trying to install Windows 10 to a whole college library of outdated computers (They all have Windows 7). Each computer, while NOT needing to be monitored by a master computer, needs both an administrator account and a single user to be used by students. All computers in question have the same hardware (Dell), and all are connected on an LAN. How do I deploy Windows 10 to all of the computers, and how do I obtain a license for every one of the computers? Do they all need their own licenses, or does Microsoft have a program where multiple computers (about 75) can be under one license because these units are in a school library?
KALI99
Posted 2019-05-18T19:26:35.950
Reputation: 31
1if you use a Dell Windows disc for the initial install it will read a valid license key from the BIOS... Actually is UEFI, not BIOS and the key is read from EEPROM, I think, an exclusively UEFI feature, and any Windows 8 or newer installation media can do that. – None – 2019-05-18T21:32:25.523
1@GabrielaGarcia - Dell has been doing this all the way back to the Win2k days. – ivanivan – 2019-05-18T22:09:54.030
1@GabrielaGarcia: For Win7-style activation, the key is read from an ACPI table ('SLIC') provided by the system's firmware. PCs with BIOS have had ACPI for the last ~two decades. – user1686 – 2019-05-18T22:43:25.690
1If you mean OEM Windows installation disks with all the drivers and stuff then yes, you're right. But you should update your "knowledge base"anyway because that info isn't applicable to modern UEFI systems and because of that the sentence I mentioned is confusing. – None – 2019-05-18T22:44:07.400
1@GabrielaGarcia - I updated my knowledge base around Win2k time and went to Linux/BSD for everything I have to manage/take care of.... – ivanivan – 2019-05-18T23:37:48.777
Thank you for the answer on how to deploy it ivanivan. I only have two questions: How does sysprep work? is it run on the computer that Windows 10 is being installed on or is it run from the computer that is creating the multicast image for the rest of the computers? The other question is: I read from a forum that Microsoft has a program where you can call them and they will give you a quote on the price of the license or licenses based on your needs, and maybe a means for installing Windows 10. Is this true and if so, how will you get the initial Windows 10 image to use for the cloning? – KALI99 – 2019-05-19T02:56:22.573
1@KALI99
sysprepis run after the image is deployed to a machine, it lets you do that "first install stuff" that needs to be unique per machine, like setting hostname, etc. As to what MS does for licensing, no idea. I'm a Free Software user ... – ivanivan – 2019-05-19T05:21:36.607