Just another Microsoft MVPs site
This highly popular lab is developed and presented by Johan Arwidmark, Microsoft MVP in Setup & Deployment, and one of the foremost experts on Windows Deployment worldwide.
Read the full release:
http://www.myitforum.com/absolutenm/templates/?a=11735&z=71
The Dell Windows 7 driver cabs for currently shipping systems have been released!
The cabs allow for easy import into ConfigMgr or MDT – simplifying driver management of those Dell systems.
DellTechCenter link for the cabs:
http://www.delltechcenter.com/page/Dell+Business+Client+Operating+System+Deployment+-+The+.CAB+Files
http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/dtaylor/archive/2009/11/03/dell-win7-driver-cabs-released.aspx
You can also download the cabs from the ftp://ftp.dell.com/sysman/ site or from http://support.dell.com (for specific systems)
BitLocker protection on removable drives is known as BitLocker To Go. When a BitLocker-protected removable drive is unlocked on a computer running Windows 7, the drive is automatically recognized and the user is either prompted for credentials to unlock the drive or the drive is unlocked automatically if configured to do so. Computers running Windows XP or Windows Vista do not automatically recognize that the removable drive is BitLocker-protected. With the BitLocker To Go Reader users can unlock the BitLocker-protected drives by using a password or a recovery password (also known as a recovery key) and gain read-only access to their data.
Download details: BitLocker To Go Reader
WPI is a simple to use automation program for the choice and installation of multiple programs, tweaks and scripts. No longer will you need a dozen CD's or more when doing a fresh Installation. No longer will you need multiple files when you are servicing another PC. With Windows Post-Install Wizard all that you will need is 1 or 2 CD\DVD's to fully install your PC with all of your apps, scripts, registry files or tweaks. Instead of having to re-download those apps like adobe reader, flash or updates to programs you can have them all on one disk. With WPI you can have all of them all on one disk and then have a nice interface for selecting which apps to install and after configured properly WPI will install all of them without any needed input from you. WPI also and is commonly used added to your windows installation disks. This way you can automate the complete process of Windows and program installations.
Welcome to the Windows Post-Install Wizard Website
This deployment guide provides instructions on deploying BranchCache in both distributed cache mode and hosted cache mode, and allows you to deploy Hypertext Transfer protocol (HHTP), Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), and Server Message Block (SMB)-based content servers that are Web servers, application servers, and file servers, respectively.
Download details: BranchCache Deployment Guide
Disk2vhd is a utility that creates VHD (Virtual Hard Disk – Microsoft’s Virtual Machine disk format) versions of physical disks for use in Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines (VMs). The difference between Disk2vhd and other physical-to-virtual tools is that you can run Disk2vhd on a system that’s online. Disk2vhd uses Windows’ Volume Snapshot capability, introduced in Windows XP, to create consistent point-in-time snapshots of the volumes you want to include in a conversion. You can even have Disk2vhd create the VHDs on local volumes, even ones being converted (though performance is better when the VHD is on a disk different than ones being converted).
Windows Deployment Services
System Center Operations Manager
The Infrastructure Planning and Design team has released two updated guides for deployment and operations: Windows Deployment Services and System Center Operations Manager.
These guides, updated to reflect the features and functionalities of Windows Server® 2008 R2 and System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2, outline the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of these deployment and operations products.
The Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Windows® Deployment Services guides the reader through the process of designing a Windows Deployment Services infrastructure in a logical, sequential order. Following the six steps in this guide will result in a design that is sized, configured, and appropriately placed to enable rapid deployment of Windows operating systems, while also considering the performance, capacity, and fault tolerance of the system.
The Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Microsoft® System Center Operations Manager outlines the critical infrastructure design elements that are crucial to a successful implementation of Microsoft System Center Operations Manager. The guide takes the reader step-by-step through the process of designing components, layout, and connectivity in a logical, sequential order. Identification and design of the required management groups is presented in simple, easy-to-follow steps, helping the reader to design and optimize management infrastructure.
Download the IPD Guides for Windows Deployment Services and System Center Operations Manager at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/ee382254.aspx.
Infrastructure Planning and Design streamlines the planning process by:
Join the Beta
Additional Infrastructure Planning and Design guides are available as beta releases on the Connect Web site. They are open beta downloads. If you are not already a member of the IPD beta program, and would like to join, follow these steps:
Already a member of the IPD beta program? Go here to get the latest IPD beta downloads: https://connect.microsoft.com/content/content.aspx?ContentID=6556&SiteID=14
Related Resources
Check out all the Infrastructure Planning and Design team has to offer! Visit the IPD page on TechNet, http://www.microsoft.com/IPD, for additional information, including our most recent guides.
TweetMyPC v2.0 lets you shutdown/restart/LogOff and lots more in your windows PC.remotely.
Last week I needed to boot to ConfigMgr Task Sequence bootable media on a machine that I didn’t have a CD/DVD drive for. PXE isn’t enabled in this environment, and I was under a tight timeframe to get it done…I needed to create a bootable USB key fast. I remember trying to use the ConfigMgr wizard to create a bootable usb key last year, but for some reason I couldn’t get it to work.
Microsoft has released Windows XP Mode to manufacturing on October 1, company officials said, and it will be generally available on Microsoft.com on October 22, the launch day for Windows 7.
Microsoft releases XP Mode virtualization to manufacturing | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com