Mar 11
Building the Perfect Image
Having been involved with desktop deployment for nearly 10 years, I can recall numerous projects based around crafting the “perfect” image to work on any hardware. With Windows XP and above, this is entirely possible… but no longer has to be the large chore that it was even a few years ago. With new tools from Microsoft desktop deployment, image creation, and building that perfect image can now be done quickly and easily.
The process starts with either Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008 or its big brother System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2. Both use the same framework for creation and deployment of images and applications. These new tools take away the effort associated with bundling drivers, applications, and OS settings into a master SYSPREP image.
By starting with a “Task Sequence”, you can script the image process using pre-created or custom sequences. There is also a driver and update repository located on the server, eliminating the need to pre-install drivers into an image. During the task sequence, drivers are detected and compared to what is on the server. For Windows XP, you can also use a script to detect the Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) and make XP install on almost any piece of hardware.
These task sequences allow you to create a modular framework for deployment, and a repeatable process for image creation and servicing of XP, Vista, and beyond!
