As a launching pad refer to the microsoft articles on how to add third
party drivers:
(for windows 2000):
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;254078
(and its XP sister):
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314479
This should be a really good start. While there are things that can go
wrong with this scenario they tend to work just fine 99% of the time.
Problems occur when device drivers will list device id's in their inf files
which are the same as other hardware ( a no-no but it does happen). Since
the list is parsed sequentially it could try to use a driver for that
hardware which is actually not meant for it but such errors are
exceptionally rare.
One of the problems that everyone hits when trying do use a single image to
deploy to all systems is coming to grips with the limitations of HAL
families.
In reality it is impossible to create good reliable systems using a single
image unless every computer you own and every computer you are going to
deploy to belong to the same hal family.
These are the rules:
Images created on computers that use the ACPI single processor or ACPI
Multi procssor hals can be deployed across either and work fine.
Images created on the Advanced Configuration and Programming Interface
(ACPI) hal can only be deployed to systems usintg this hal.
I refer to this as the "short name family" and the "long name family"
of course there is also the standard hal and it can only be used with
standard hal systems.
The differences between these two have to do with the fact that the "long
name" hal does not impliment APIC (or at least not a full compliment of
APIC). If you jump these families you will break the os. Now many people
have argued that it worked from them. IF it did it was only luck and
systems which do this are an accident waiting to happen. This cannot be
resolved by modifying the hal after the fact since the device tree under
the two circumstances will remain unchanged and it is the root of the
device tree which is the problem.
Test the systems you are going to deploy to by doing clean installs of the
OS to them first. If you find that your environment mixes these two types
of systems then PLEASE use two different images to accomidate this or you
will have nothing but headaches ...headaches which you will never be able
to solve without deleting the systems and installing clean.
