Use and Image to Install, then Remotely Administer Your Systems

The best way to do a mass system deployment on a set of machines that have very similar hardware is to create a disk image on one machine with all the software that each machine will need and then to simply copy that image right onto the other machines, performing the entire install in one fell swoop! If you're trying to create a Windows XP runtime image for mass it deployment, Microsoft has a detailed, step-by-step procedure on their MSDN website: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/xpehelp/html/xetbshowtocreaterun-timeimageformassdeployment.asp Once the systems are set up and running, the image has done its job, but there is unfortunately no really simple way to perform mass remote management of the set and perform updates across the board. For those purposes, you should use a remote administration software package such as SupportDesk Pro or GoToMyPC. They allow you to log into remote machines and perform software configuration, updates, and installs, and the best products even allow you to work on multiple remote machines at the same time.