The Deployment Guys
Helping to deploy your world automagically...
Clustering the MDT Database
Sometimes for availability purposes, it is necessary to ensure the MDT database is clustered to...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 08/10/2009
Windows XP to Windows 7 Migration Guide
Although this post is not strictly a deployment post, I felt it worthy because it offers some...
Author: doxley Date: 08/04/2009
Persisting ConfigMgr Packages during a Task Sequence
The MDT Task Sequences for System Center Configuration Manager 2007 use a clever technique to...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 07/17/2009
Single WIM Deployment of Windows XP Professional and Tablet PC Edition (and Other Operating Systems)
Update 2009-07-17: Corrected some errors in the application settings in the Extracting the Sysprep...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 07/13/2009
Updated Hardware Detection Script
Or… How Not to Create Boolean Properties in an MDT Script 15 Feb 2010 Update – For information on...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 06/25/2009
Installing Applications Using Active Directory Group Membership
Mike recently posted on how to take an MDT action based on group membership in Active Directory. At...
Author: doxley Date: 06/22/2009
Setting AD Computer Object MDT Properties
Monday, June 22, 2009 Update – Fellow Deployment Guy Daniel Oxley pointed out to me that this is...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 06/18/2009
Windows 7 and BitLocker command Line
So as Windows 7 accelerates to being released to manufacture and we start to get involved in...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 06/17/2009
Windows 7 and BitLocker to Go
Here is the second of my posts on BitLocker under Windows 7. While not strictly deployment focused I...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 06/17/2009
Encoding Command Shell Scripts
On an internal discussion group, the question can up as to whether you could compile or encode a CMD...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 06/12/2009
Setting the Time Zone using Windows PowerShell
23 Nov 2009 Update - TimeZoneLib.ps1 in the download has been updated to allow proper redirection of...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 06/07/2009
Mark Russinovich - Virtual Round Table on WIndows 7Application Compatibility
While this is not 100% MDT/Deployment focused I thought it of enough relevance to post here. I have...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 06/05/2009
Excluding USB, FireWire and other drives from USMT Capture
A common requirement during user state migration is to not capture data from certain drives. The...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 04/29/2009
Pin Items to the Start Menu or Windows 7 Taskbar via Script
Update 28 April 2009 – This post originally had the sample scripts pinning the executable...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 04/08/2009
ACT 5.5 Releases April 3rd
An email managed to squeeze its way into my inbox over night announcing that the Application...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 04/03/2009
MDT 2010 Webcast
Michael Niehaus’ walkthrough/webcast of MDT 2010 Beta 2 is now available online as Michael indicates...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 04/02/2009
Deploying Windows 7 VL with MAK (Multiple Access Keys) using MDT 2010
My esteemed colleague - Doug Klokow who is a Senior Consultant in the worldwide deployment practice,...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 03/30/2009
Sharing some simple HTAs
I was recently asked to share these files with a colleague, so I thought I would also share them...
Author: doxley Date: 03/26/2009
Adding tools to Windows PE in an mixed x86 x64 environment
When creating both x86 and x64 Windows PE images, provide both x86 and x64 version of any tools that...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 03/18/2009
Boot from VHD and WDS
Following on from Aly’s excellent article about configuring MDT to support Boot from VHD I thought I...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 03/06/2009
Deploying Win 7 to Boot From VHD with MDT 2010
One of the more difficult scenarios that customers have found in the past is multi-booting a new OS....
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 03/03/2009
Documenting your Task Sequences Automagically (Update - v2)
A big thank you to those of you that tested the original XSL for the TaskSequence documentor and...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 02/20/2009
GImageX Beta for Windows 7 Beta
The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is a set of tools and documentation that...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 02/04/2009
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 Deployment White Papers Updated for Service Pack 3
As I mentioned in the Windows XP Service Pack 3 Considerations section of my Full Update post on the...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 01/21/2009
The Elevation PowerToys and Windows 7
Important Update - 28 Jan 2009 A comment was posted to my December 22 post stating that the Elevate...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 01/20/2009
USMT Error Codes
I was recently configuring the User State Migration Tool for a customer’s MDT server when, during...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 01/14/2009
Silently Installing the Elevation PowerToys in MDT
In a previous post I shamelessly promoted my Elevation PowerToys for Windows Vista. I recently was...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 12/22/2008
Configuring Default Settings for Windows image deployment - KB Article Published
Just a small update on this topic. Microsoft has now published a Knowledge Base article, KB959753,...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 12/22/2008
"Easy" List Items for the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
In MDT rules processing with CustomSettings.ini, some of the items that can be configured are List...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 12/12/2008
Vista SP2
Well Vista Service Pack 2 CTP is available. Information is scattered across the web, including the...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 12/05/2008
User Experience for Configuration Manager Task Sequences - Part I
Ever wanted to add your own user communication and interaction to a Configuration Manager task...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 12/04/2008
Back to basics #3 – Branding the deployment and fixing the 0xc000000e problem
Two more tips for the blog. Actually, one is a tip and the other is the solution to a common problem...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 11/20/2008
Back to basics #2 – 7 Things you shouldn’t do in a LiteTouch Deployment
The below list is a list of the most common mistakes made when creating a LiteTouch task sequence....
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 10/17/2008
Porting Configuration Manager Task Sequences to a Different Environment
Many scenarios arise in which you may want to port your task sequence from one environment to...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 10/15/2008
SCCM 2007 SP1 and the Run Command Line Bug
In SCCM 2007 SP1 the console will experience an error when you try to edit a Run Command Line step...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 10/15/2008
Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) utilising Citrix Xendesktop as the Broker
In this second blog entry on VDI I will explain the benefits that using Citrix Xendesktop as the...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 10/15/2008
Placing your window on top during the WindowsPE stage
Back in March, Richard Smith wrote a post about how to move the Task Sequence window to one side so...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 10/09/2008
TechNet Webcast on Desktop Deployment
Two colleagues of mine in the UK, Adam Shepherd and Mark Aslett, are running a series of WebCasts...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 10/08/2008
SCCM 2007 SP1 and Windows XP/Server 2003 Mass Storage Drivers
hdc Class Drivers One of the features in SCCM to facilitate deployment of Windows XP and Windows...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 10/03/2008
Back to basics #1 – Locking the computer during deployment
This is the first post in a series that will cover some of the more simple/basic tricks that you can...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 10/01/2008
Mark Russinovich talks Vista performance
Last week Mark Russinovich and a group of industry experts got together to talk about Windows Vista...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 09/29/2008
Logging All the Configuration Manager Task Sequence Variables (PART II)
Thanks to Michael Murgolo another consultant in the East Region, the new version of this script logs...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 09/02/2008
Firewalls, MDT and SQL
In this post I am going to cover off configuring the Windows Server 2008 firewall to support...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 09/02/2008
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure(VDI)
In this first post of a series I am going to talk about VDI. The first post, will describe what VDI...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 09/01/2008
Logging All the Configuration Manager Task Sequence Variables
When debugging a MDT based Configuration Manager Task Sequence, it is often helpful to know what...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 08/29/2008
Non-shrinking WIM files
If you make regular changes to your WIM files with the use of the /MOUNTRW or /DELETE switches of...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 08/26/2008
Documenting Your Task Sequences Automagically
Often times, after creating an MDT or SCCM task sequence, you need to document it for yourself or...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 08/17/2008
Controlling Package Sequence with Multiple Roles in MDT 2008
The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit allows you to assign a “sequence” to package/programs...
Author: DeploymentGuys Date: 08/14/2008