Is there a better way to deploy XP & Vista?

[FreddyG]

Hey!

I'm currently looking for an easy way to install Xp and Vista over a network, unattended, with all applications,

drivers and updates/patches included.

The OS's will be installed on 4/5 different types of computers, and the users must be able to choose their preferred language (English/Norwegian)

There may be several hundred computers installing at the same time, from the same server.

Hard drive capacity at the server is "unlimited".

It is crucial that it's easy to maintain the latest version of drivers, applications and patches for each OS. It should be

easy for new admins to understand how this is done.

Time to install is also a factor.

We are currently considering the following solution, but I believe there are better ways at doing it:

WinPE on a CD, which connects to a network share (with username/password) - This for security reasons demanded by our company.

and then installing directly from the network share.

the install will be made unattended and will install all drivers and programs. Updating this will not be difficult; all you have to do is replace

i.g. firefox.exe with a newer version of firefox.exe (of course, all filenames, although different version, must be equal.)

I believe this is doable. However, there are several drawbacks to this approach:

#1 Driver updates might be difficult, as they might not be capable of installing silently from an exe file.

#2 Copying many files over a network is significantly slower than copying a single file.

And most important:

#3 Installing a new driver/patch will cause significant management from an administrators side.

The optimal solution i my mind (with limited knowledge) would be an editable image with drag&drop capabilities for adding new drivers, applications and patches.

Is this possible?

Does e.g. Symantec Ghost Solution Suite 2.5 support this?

Thank you in advance