I'd like to use your dd procedure to make an image of a working PC with all the partitions intact, however, this is going to be a huge file, right? If I don't compress the file, as described above, how big will the image file be for a 40GB hdd? Will it image all 40GB even if many GBs are not as yet used? If I compress, what compression rate would I get, about 50%? I just don't know where I'd store such a huge image file! If the image file only copies stored files and not physical space, and I compress at 50%, then the image could be as small as 4GB, but I still don't know where I'd store it....

Is there some way to install the image directly as its being made - a straight transfer of data without having to save an intermediary image file at all?

BTW, here's some stats if it helps:
These are Dell GX270s with 40GB hdd, 750MB RAM and Pentium IVs running at 2.8GHz.
Also, the partitions on the working machines are set-up roughly as follows.
hda1: Windows 95 rescue (<1GB)
hda2: Windows XP primary boot partition (19GB)
hda3: KNOPPIX-installered Linnux ext3 partition (19GB)
hda4: linux-swap (whatever's left < 1GB)

TIA,
AJG