Designing Preinstallation Tasks for Image-based Installations

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

After you design the image delivery process, you need to identify and plan your preinstallation tasks. Preinstallation tasks are performed before you copy a disk image onto a destination computer. You might not need to perform any preinstallation tasks; you will need to perform some preinstallation tasks if you want to:

• Migrate user state before you copy a disk image onto a destination computer. You will likely not need to do this if you use folder redirection and roaming profiles to store user data and settings on a server.

• Change the size or format of the system partition before you copy a disk image onto a destination computer. You do not need to do this if all of your hard disks are already partitioned and formatted the way you want them.

Figure 3.5 shows the steps to follow in designing your preinstallation tasks.

Figure 3.5   Designing Preinstallation Tasks