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July 2010
NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome to the July edition of the Springboard Series Insider. Before we delve into what's new, I want to thank the more than 3,200 IT pros who showed up to our Get on the Bus tour events around North America. It was amazing to meet so many of you in person. If you did not get a chance to attend, check out our video blog series and get a recap of what you missed in Boston, NYC, Philly, D.C., Richmond, Raleigh, Charlotte, Atlanta and then at Tech-Ed 2010. So, what's new in July?

Reminder: Support for Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000 Ends July 13, 2010
As we announced in 2008, support for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) will end on July 13, 2010. Support for Windows 2000 will end on the same date. Customers running an unsupported version of Windows or Windows service pack will not be eligible for any Microsoft support options. Updates, including security updates released with bulletins from the Microsoft Security Response Center, will be reviewed and built for the supported versions and service packs only. The most current service packs are available to organizations, and they are easily deployed via Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services/Microsoft System Center, and the Microsoft Download Center. To better understand the Microsoft Support Lifecycle Policy and your support options visit the Microsoft Support Lifecycle page.

Updating your Windows XP and Windows 2000 PCs before the end of mainstream support dates will ensure your PCs stay supported and receive security updates. The best way to be secure and supported is by migrating to Windows 7. Click here for more information on end of support for Windows 2000 and Windows 2000 Server, and click here for details on end of support for Windows XP SP2.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Update 1 Beta
If you attended the Get on the Bus Tour, you had a chance to see the new Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010 Update 1 in Beta. Today, we are excited to announce the release to manufacturing (RTM) of MDT 2010 Update 1. If you have not played with it yet, the addition of automated 64-bit driver validation on import, User Driven Installation for System Center Configuration Manager, and Office 2010 integration make this version of the MDT a must have for every IT pro. For more information on this release, check my blog post and visit the TechNet Library.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) Beta
Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 Beta will become available this month. Make sure to watch the Springboard Series home page for the announcement as we will be the best place for you to download the beta once it becomes available. Be aware, you must be running Windows 7 to install the beta. Also, if you are looking to try Microsoft Remote FX and dynamic memory, you will need to be running either the Enterprise or Ultimate versions of Windows 7. If you don't have Windows 7 Enterprise, you can always download our 90-day trial version.

So, in between all the World Cup matches, picnics, and BBQs, take some time to check out all the cool new things we are going to bring you on Springboard in July.

Until next month,

Stephen Rose
Sr. Community Manager, Microsoft Windows Client IT Pro

P.S. I received a lot of requests to share my deck from the Bus Tour so I have made it available on the Bus Tour site. Also, some of you had questions on how I built the demo we used on the Bus Tour. My blog posts here and here should answer your questions.


NEW RESOURCES

Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.6
Download the latest set of free tools and documentation to evaluate and mitigate application compatibility issues before deploying Windows 7, Windows client operating system service packs, or a new version of Windows Internet Explorer in your environment. Version 5.6 of the toolkit includes support for 64-bit migrations such as enhanced data collection packing, improved developer and tester tools, and much more. Learn more on the Springboard Series Blog.

Application Virtualization (App-V) Dashboard
The Application Virtualization (App-V) Dashboard helps you keep track of the usage, health, and compliance of your virtualized applications-in near-real time! Using the Dashboard's built-in charts, gauges, and tables, you can track any App-V dataset. The Dashboard can be installed in minutes, and it's easy to customize to meet the unique needs of your organization.

Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 Beta 2
The second beta of the MAP Toolkit 5.0 is now available and offers new features to help you accelerate your IT infrastructure planning process including Windows 7 and Office 2010 readiness assessments. Free to download, this toolkit has many other features to help you save valuable time and expense in your infrastructure planning processes.

Updated Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) Resources
Download the latest versions of the top MED-V resources for IT pros, now updated for Service Pack 1 (SP1):



SOMETHING TO BLOG ABOUT

Improving Your Image: Sector-Based, File-Based, and Simper - What Makes the Most Sense?
By Jeremy Chapman, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Corporate

After spending a few weeks on the road speaking at Tech•Ed and other events, I was struck by the fact that many IT pros haven't used any of the Microsoft tools for imaging and deployment. All in all, it seemed as though half of the room at my sessions had never seen or heard everything about file-based imaging and tools like ImageX and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit or System Center Configuration Manager. The other half may have heard about the tools, but had never used them.

I get a lot of feedback from people that we are "selling" the Microsoft tools for imaging when we should be talking about the sector-based ones that people are using for Windows XP now. This is interesting feedback because the tools we are talking about-the Windows Automated Installation Kit, the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, etc.-are free to download and use. In any regard, I have spent a lot of time with people who are using heavily-scripted solutions and thick sector-based images for their Windows XP environments. Some organizations even get down to one or two Windows XP managed images by customizing Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL)-swapping with sysprep.inf-a practice that Microsoft hasn't supported, but one that is well known in the deployment community.

So what is the right way to do this? What are the pros and cans of each scenario? What is it that makes the sector-based solutions so attractive? These questions boil down to a couple of factors:
  1. Image size - network bandwidth consumed + multicast support
  2. Hardware coverage
  3. Speed to lay down the image
  4. Ease of use and familiarity - especially if you have to have a UI
  5. Ease of creation - automating daily/weekly/monthly builds
  6. Post-creation image management

All of these factors (and others) contribute to the decision about which tool(s) to use for imaging and deployment.

Then there is the question about when to use the System Preparation (Sysprep) Tool. In November, Mark Russinovich discussed in his blog the use of sysprep.inf or sysprep.exe. While his blog post referenced the fact that duplicate SIDs do not cause the issues they were once thought to cause, this made many question the use of the Sysprep tool overall. For those who hadn't been using Sysprep, their decision appeared to be validated. This sparked a lively philosophical debate among extremely knowledgeable individuals in our internal and MVP deployment communities that was very fun to watch and participate in. The fact is, however, that Sysprep is a necessary tool for imaging and deploying Windows client operating systems. Mark even clarified this in the April 29th Springboard Series Virtual Roundtable on Windows 7 Deployment and noted this in his blog:

"Note that Sysprep resets other machine-specific state that, if duplicated, can cause problems for certain applications like Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), so Microsoft's support policy will still require cloned systems to be made unique with Sysprep."

Based on these recent events, and a general desire in the IT pro community to know the pros and cons of file-based and sector-based imaging, I am going to help the Springboard Series with a series of blog posts on the topic of sector-based imaging versus file-based imaging. I hope to answer the question I pose in the title "Sector-Based, File-Based, and Sysprep. What Makes the Most Sense?" No combination is perfect or applies to all scenarios, but if you've had questions about which you should be using, keep checking the Springboard Series blog or sign up for automatic updates on new blog posts via RSS.


TIPS AND TRICKS

Online Application Compatibility Tool for Small and Midsize Businesses
Getting ready for Windows 7 and need to solve application compatibility issues? Microsoft and ChangeBASE have developed an online tool that tests and automatically remediates applications for Windows 7 Professional compatibility. If you are in the U.S. or U.K and would like to participate in a free pilot of the tool, visit https://www.aok4smb.com/ before July 31, 2010.

Designed specifically for smaller organizations, the AOK4SMB tool uses a subset of the full AOK tool from ChangeBASE. To use the tool, you will need to upload your .MSI-only application packages. You'll then receive a Windows 7 compatibility report indicating if your application is already compatible, can be fixed through AOK4SMB, or cannot be fixed through the tool. If it needs to be fixed and an automated fix is available, the fix will be supplied as a transform file.

Since the tool was developed in April as part of a Windows 7 application compatibility pilot, 94% of the applications needing remediation have received a fix. The average time the tool requires to assess and remediate an application is 89 seconds.


COMMUNITY UPDATE

Microsoft Deployment Tools - Choose Your Weapon Wisely!
By Rhonda Layfield, Microsoft MVP - Setup and Deployment

[Editor's Note: I had a chance to speak with some of you during the Get On The Bus tour and at Tech•Ed. One gentleman in Washington D.C. asked me if there was a good article on "what is the best tool to use and when?" I though good question. I tasked one of my favorite deployment speakers and good friend Rhonda Layfield with the action to write a piece for this month's newsletter to answer just that question.]

Microsoft has a slew of deployment tools to choose from so how do you know which one is right for you? Do you base your decision on the number of computers you need to deploy? How about your company's geographical topology? Or the current skill set of your IT pros? I've had people ask "Do I need to install ConfigMgr, Windows Deployment Services, the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, and the Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 just to get started? And what is this Modena thing?"

The answer is...well, it depends on your deployment needs. Do you need to push an operating system deployment (OSD) with no human intervention to your client machines thus performing a zero touch installation (ZTI)? Or, do you want someone to have to initiate the installation/migration of Windows 7 to your clients performing a lite touch installation (LTI)? Don't just consider how to get Windows 7 deployed to your clients (or Windows Server 2008 R2 to your servers for that matter); you should also consider how to handle re-imaging as this is a commonly-used troubleshooting step in IT today. In this short article, I'd like to give you an overview of each of the tools and reasons why you would choose one tool over another, and how to integrate multiple tools together to get the right deployment solution for your environment.

System Center Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr)
Microsoft's flagship deployment product is ConfigMgr and it comes with all the bells and whistles of a dream deployment: scheduled/mandatory OSD ZTI, the ability to target specific machines with an OSD based on criterion determined by you (e.g., 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor, 2GB RAM and 40GB of available hard disk space). ConfigMgr allows you to push an OSD to the machines of your choice at the time of your choosing due to its built in Wake on LAN (WOL) feature.

Along with OSD, ConfigMgr offers so much more: hardware and software inventory, patch management using Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), and detailed reporting capabilities allowing you to follow every step of an OSD. ConfigMgr also scales great to any size organization regardless of the number of offices or geographical disbursement. On the down side, ConfigMgr can be difficult to install and set up correctly-the Active Directory schema must be extended, SQL Server is required, and there are multiple site server roles to be configured. If you're new to ConfigMgr, find a class taught by a reputable source and learn the ins and outs of installation and configuration to avoid making costly mistakes that can waste valuable time. Performing OSD deployments requires Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010 and MDT 2010 requires Windows AIK for Windows 7 so integration is a must. You can also choose to integrate Windows Deployment Service for its multicasting functionality. Windows Deployment Services (WDS) offers the ability to send an OS image to multiple machines at the same time instead of unicast traffic which puts a much larger burden on your server.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010
If ConfigMgr is not an option for you, the next best tool is the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit. MDT 2010 Update 1 (U1) requires Windows AIK for Windows 7; both are free downloads from Microsoft. MDT 2010 U1 performs LTIs and provides built in templates for refresh, replace, upgrade and bare-metal installations. One of my favorite features of MDT is the way it compartmentalizes your entire deployment solution. This makes it a snap to manage your images, from adding/removing drivers to easily swapping out the operating system you'd like to deploy.

There is, of course, the old debate on thick vs. thin images that we should take into consideration. With MDT 2010 U1 thin images is the way to go-okay, possibly a thin image with your corporate software included (called a hybrid image) and then optional software you can install during the deployment process. MDT 2010 U1 can do something close to a ZTI with a little extra tweaking, but you may have to integrate third-party (sometimes paid-for) solutions for functions like WOL where ConfigMgr provides WOL by default. MDT also offers two great features for companies that have small branch offices that possibly don't even have a server:

  • Media allows you to put an entire deployment solution onto a DVD (or set of DVDs depending on size), UFD, or external hard drive, or
  • You can create a linked deployment share and copy the entire deployment solution (or just bits and pieces) to a local office so those clients can perform their deployments locally.

You can also integrate WDS with MDT 2010 U1 for two features: the ability to PXE boot (F12) to begin a deployment and multicasting functionality for MDT images. Integrating MDT and WDS for PXE boot requires you to store the MDT generated Windows PreInstallation Environment (WinPE) to WDS's boot images.

Windows Automated Installation Kit For Windows 7
The Windows AIK contains tools that both ConfigMgr and MDT 2010 U1 use "under the hood." The Windows AIK includes ImageX to create and apply images, plus Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) to mount, un-mount and manage images (add/remove drivers and packages to an OS image). Other tools include:

  • OSCDIMG, which converts .wimp images to .ISOs
  • Windows System Image Manager (WSIM), which creates unattended answer files in .xml format
  • User State Migration Tool 4.0 to assist you in migrating user profile information, IE favorites, documents, and application settings
  • Coypu to create a WinPE working environment so you can create custom WinPE
  • Volume Activation Management Tool 1.2 to help you centrally manage volume activation

Most of the tools in the Windows AIK are command-line only and the few that provide a user interface have a steep learning curve. Although you could perform a complete deployment using the Windows AIK, the tools can be difficult to learn because each has its own unique syntax.

Windows Deployment Service (WDS)
WDS is a role that is out-of-the-box with Windows Server 2008 (and Windows Server 2008 R2) and the latest evolution of Remote Installation Service (RIS). WDS requires Active Directory, DHCP, and DNS (unless you implement the Transport Service only) and provides LTI only. Microsoft supports deploying both .wimp and .had image formats. Installation and configuration is pretty easy although the driver management is a bit cumbersome. WDS provides PXE boot capabilities and multicasting of images to your target machines. Two of the draw backs of WDS are image management and the fact that WDS can only provide bare-metal installations. Thick images are your only option and if you want to make a change to an OS image you have to export the image from the WDS snap-in, use the Windows AIK tools to make your changes and add it back to the WDS snap-in. If you need to perform a refresh or replace scenario you would need to fully script them yourselves. I say why bother - MDT 2010 U1 does all this for you and more!

The bottom line is if you already have ConfigMgr, integrating it with MDT 2010 U1, Windows AIK, and WDS provides the most robust feature set. Next would be MDT 2010 U1 (which requires Windows AIK) for its ease of use, manageability of images and friendly wizards. Lastly WDS is a great tool if your only doing bare metal installations and your OS image doesn't change often. The greatest strength of WDS is how easy it is to integrate with ConfigMgr and MDT 2010 U1. As for the Windows AIK tools, you really need to learn them. I know it takes time, but ConfigMgr and MDT 2010 U1 both use the Windows AIK tools and, to be able to troubleshoot your deployments quickly and efficiently, knowing these tools is imperative. So, whether you have 200 or 200,000 computers to deploy, each tool can provide a complete deployment solution along with its own set of pros and cons. As for the skill set required, anyone can learn these tools; it just takes a little time and testing. I hope this article has helped you to decide which tool will do the job for you and give you a starting point to get more information.

Rhonda Layfield has been in the IT industry since 1982. She is a Microsoft Setup and Deployment MVP and Desktop Deployment Product Specialist who also offers lecture-based (demo-driven) and hands-on deployment courses. For more information, visit www.DeploymentDr.com.


TWEET ALERT

In addition to staying up to date on all the latest developments on the Get on the Bus Tour, this month we're following the latest developments in IT management and available trial software downloads with these individuals:

If you would like to be considered for this column, send a message to Stephen Rose via Twitter @stephenlrose and tell him, in 140 characters or less, why we should feature you next month. Also, for the latest information on what's going on here at Microsoft follow the Springboard Series @MSSpringboard.


EVENTS AND TRAINING

Windows 7 E-Learning Series for IT Managers
Learn how to prepare for Windows 7 deployment in your organization with in-depth e-learning sessions on everything from "bare metal" installation and dual-boot systems to offline image servicing and software restriction policies.

Looking for shorter video tutorials? Check out the Springboard Series Windows 7 Walkthrough series and our Windows Client Demos and Tutorials.


UPCOMING WEBCASTS

Windows 7 End User Adoption Resources
Wednesday, July 07, 2010 9:30 AM Pacific Time
Find the tools and resources you need to support your organization's deployment and adoption of Windows 7 at the end user level. Ranging from promotional merchandise to customizable posters and email templates, Microsoft has created a variety of materials you can order or download today from the online Windows 7 Customer Shop. Join this informational webcast to learn what's available and how you can use these resources to your best advantage.

Business Insights Webcast: Simplifying Desktop Management with the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (Level 100)
Thursday, July 29, 2010 11:00 AM Pacific Time
Let the decision makers in your organization know about this one! Attend this webcast and learn how to simplify application deployment and compatibility, increase IT staff responsiveness and end user uptime, and reduce the total cost of ownership of desktop software and IT management.


SNEAK PEEK: FOR INSIDERS ONLY

The following resources will be released in July on the Springboard Series on TechNet. Bookmark or subscribe to the Windows Client Headlines feed and receive automatic notification when these and other resources, announcements, and downloads are released.
  • Windows 7 Deployment Learning Portal - Originally piloted in the U.K., this streamlined learning experience will help you assess your current knowledge of Windows 7 deployment processes and tools-and provide specific recommendations to help you reach the top of your deployment game. The portal will go live on the Windows Client TechCenter in July in 10 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Russian, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Italian, and Brazilian Portuguese.
  • New video on version 2.0 of Asset Inventory Service, part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack.
  • New video tutorial on setting up Windows Deployment Services for MDT 2010




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