Recently, we have begun rolling out systems in earnest using Windows Deployment Services. While we’re not yet using Vista, WDS has proved extremely useful for loading XP machines in timespans and situations where Ghost is not suitable. One of the more recent problems that cropped up has brought to light the differences between Uni-processor (UP) and Multi-Processor (MP) HAL’s. Specifically, I have a boat-load of Gateway E4500 systems that need to be imaged. Since they were all bought in one big batch I made the (completely incorrect) assumption that they were all identical machines. I had never before noticed any difference, so imagine my surprise when all of these systems would successfully boot WinPE, but 1/3 of them could not see any images.
I thought it might be a BIOS issue, a problem with the RAM or perhaps a bad HDD. After banging my head against the desk for a few hours I glanced up to notice that the Intel stickers on the 2 test machines were different. Could it really be that easy? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Matt 