j79zlr said:All of the PC's are Dell's, but none are the same model. We buy as we need, so they are all different. We don't have a corporate edition of XP/Office so dropping an image in and changing licenses for about 10 different software packages as well as Windows wouldn't really be that much faster.
There are CD Keychangers for Windows and Office so they can be imaged and then re-keyed and reactivated. I suspect there are keychangers out there for ACAD and other "common" specialized applications also.
RANT
When all you look at is the entry price cost you have screwed yourself. At work we look at life cycle cost. That means upgrade paths and expenses, maintenance expenses, opportunity cost.
If I send a computer (or any other hardware) out for RMA for 2 weeks I loose the man working on it which costs $20k in dollars billed to customers. That's 10 times more than the cost of a new computer.
I can buy on site repair contract$$ but based on the stories I've heard (at work and here) that only reduces the 2 week down time to 3-5 days depending on how many tries it takes the site rep to get it right and if he has the correct replacement parts. And the repair guy will not reload all your special software! Another day to install and get it working.
My personal solution - I keep a cold spare system imaged to my working computer. If the main goes down I'm back up and running in 3 minutes with unlimited time to do a repair. The reapir can be done in spare time and in parallel with your regular work. Note this technique works with build your own or off the shelf.
PS I got ****ed by Compaq "proprietary" in 1984 and I'd never buy another off the rack computer. Which is why I'm avoiding buying a laptop even though I'd like one to use in bed or on the patio. Upgrade or repair is $$$ and a pain in the butt.
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