Image a disk with a secure partition?

We're rolling out a good 25-30 new thinkpad laptops in a few weeks and I'm looking into Arconis True Image to do it. I liked the startup recovery manager (F11) thing but I didn't want to store the image file on a secure partition, because then when we make changes to the image we can't easily replace it on the laptops. So my setup is like below.

So after I make my C partition image and copy it to Z, can I just image the whole disk to an external drive and then use that on all my laptops? Or will I run into a problem cloning that secure partition? I liked this setup since then the user can still restore a corrupted C drive if they have to. And ideally we could clone the entire HD for those 25-30 laptops pretty easily. Any opinions, comments, anything I'm missing?

80 Gigs - C drive
10 Gigs - Z drive (image of just the C partition)
50 MB - secure partition so I can use the startup recovery manager

 

Well, one image for 25 computers has a few problems:
All have the same Windows installation code. That could create validation problems. If you have a corp version of Windows this may not matter, but if each system comes with its own installed version, the codes will be different.

All software that uses validation such as MS Office will have the same problem.

Similarly, all will have the same network identification. That should cause some logon problems if you have a domain server.

Although the machines are all bought on the same day, there may be differences in the hardware. Notebook manufacturers change parts frequently to parts with similar specs but using different drivers. If this happens, some system may not boot successfully.

 

I believe that's what Sysprep is for though? My concern is more if I'd run into problems imaging a disk with a secured partition created within Acronis.

 

Hello mstefani77,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are sorry for delayed response.

Please be aware that Acronis True Image can image a hard drive containing Acronis Secure Zone like any other hard drive with multiple partitions.

Please note that according to Acronis License Policy you need to purchase one copy of the product for every machine it will be used to manage.

We may recommend you to have a look at Acronis True Image OEM for PC vendors, as it fits the requirements you listed (including support for integration with sysprep). You can find detailed description and instructions in the Acronis True Image OEM Guide.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov