!Imaging
This may be the most important page on the whole Wiki, so I'll try to keep it brief.

You have choices when it comes to imaging. However, experience has shown a few things about the finicky nature of the computers (Yes, even the new awesome Dells):
*Sysprep messes up [ARCGIS] so don't use it and deal with the consequences.
**If you don't use Sysprep, you need to have separate images for [380] computers and all other computers. Any computer with Dual processors will have a different HAL than one without.
**Because Syspep won't be there to let you install universal drivers, if you make an image from scratch on an IDE hard drive, run it through a IDE to SATA converter and boot up off a computer with a SATA motherboard before making the image.
*Make sure you start EVERY program before imaging, [Macromedia|?page=macromedia_studio] software and MS [Office|?page=office_programs] require you register before starting.  Some programs just have annoying pop-ups, others will need firewall rules set. 
*Make sure everyone knows what is on the image, what has been updated and what was left off.
*Make sure computers auto-log on to an account that can print (but not for free)
*Check [running Adobe Reader|?page=software_issues] from a web browser.
*Disable updates which you can predict will pop up within the next 3 months, as well as ones which don't pop up, but continually download files which will erase themselves on reboots. Here is a list of things which will most assuredly drive students crazy by the end of the semester:
**Crystal Reports and Java, disabled with install shield updater control panel.
**Live Update, disabled from Symantec taskbar program.
**Windows Update, disabled through Windows Security settings preferences (also disable the warning that you've disabled windows update)
**Adobe Products, disable both Adobe Updater and Adobe Reader's self checker
**Firefox and Opera both have autoupdaters. 
*If you're cleverer than us, you may get the computers to self-update with [deepfreeze|?page=security].  This is much more difficult than it seems and usually messes up [Activedesktop|?page=desktop administration].
*A compromise between automatic updating and not-reimaging for updates is to have a separate account on the computer which you can switch to on [maintenance|?page=security] days with all the settings for automatic updating intact.  Just open up all the previously mentioned programs, et voila. 

!The Next Step
Now that you've made an image and gotten the OK from whoever, it's time to choose an imaging program.  In the past we used Norton Ghost, but over the last two years have been experimenting with [G4U] and [DriveImageXML]. See their pages for more info.

!A word of advice.
I have been making software images for computers since my Sophomore year of high school and have never, ever made a perfect one.  It is probably best if you spend as much time installing software and searching for updates as you do testing the software and making sure it meets the needs of the faculty.