1. A method for provisioning a target computer with an operating system, the method comprising the steps of: booting the target computer in a pre-operating system environment; collecting configuration information for the target computer; transmitting the configuration information to a predetermined server; searching a database in the server for a pre-existing operating system image corresponding to the configuration information from the target computer; if a corresponding operating system image is found, transferring the pre-existing operating system image to the target computer; and installing the pre-existing operating system image on the target computer.