How do I get an image from a system with multiple partitions that doesn't have them all assigned a letter?
We have some Acer laptops that originally shipped with Windows 8 home. There was a recovery partition as well as other partitions (5 or 6) or so that didn't always have a letter assigned. The laptops came as UEFI.
In order for us to use them, I used the K2000 to run scripted installations on them to rebuild them as Windows 10 Enterprise with a volume license. To do that, I re-partitioned and wiped the hard drive. They have a single SATA hard drive.
I have some that have the original Windows 8 configuration and partitions. These were upgraded to Windows 10 manually when it was free. How do I get an image from one of them that can be put on the rebuilt ones so that I can basically factory restore them to what they shipped with when we hand them out when we're done with them? I've been trying things and they always come out as not being able to find the OS.
Answers (1)
Hi,
First, Remember that KACE SDA does not officially support capturing OEM Images, or using OEM Source Media, unless you paid an OEM License (Like, ACER, DELL or LENOVO did), companies are not authorized to capture or distribute OEM licensed OS.
Source:
https://support.quest.com/kace-systems-deployment-appliance/kb/135252/using-oem-source-media-and-images
Capturing a multiple partitioned image should be easy,
1- Boot to a KBE
2- Go to Recovery Tools > CMD
3- Use DISKPART to assign whatever letters you want to your partitions
see: https://www.howtogeek.com/197296/how-to-use-the-diskpart-utility-to-assign-and-remove-drive-letters/
4- Go back to main Menu
5- Proceed to harvest your partitions (Now that they have a letter assigned, you will see them listed).
(this only affects the KBE, Windows will not see those hidden letters).
NOW, Let's assume you grabbed C, D, F, Where C has the main OS, D contains a boot sector, and F is the manufacturer's recovery partition.
There are no built in scripts in KACE SDA to apply this type of scheme, so you will need to access the Library > PreInstallation tasks, and build your own DISKPART Script, to partition the hard drives, in a way they're ready to receive these partitions and their sizes properly.
You might also need a MID Level Task, to define your boot manager sector and scheme (Legacy or UEFI).
Comments:
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Thank you for answering. It is as hard as I thought. Of course, it dawned on me today that if I had a working one with the Acer Recovery stuff still on it, I could use it build a full Recovery drive on one of my many USB drives. It seems to be a lot easier than doing the full thing, though that's good to know. I don't have that many to do, so using USB keys is not out of the realm of possibility. - mgreaver 4 years ago
