Windows Server Hacks

Chapter 7. Deployment

Hacks #62-68

Administering Windows-based networks begins with deployment, and the focus of this chapter is on how to manage the installation (and uninstallation) of Windows 2000/XP/2003 and its individual components. In particular, the first several hacks deal with Remote Installation Services (RIS) and Sysprep, two powerful but complex tools for installing Windows images on large numbers of machines. Other hacks deal with removing unnecessary components manually from the command line, removing components during unattended setup, and creating a network boot disk for unattended installation of Windows. These tips and tools are designed to make the job of deploying Windows easier so that you can get on with the day-to-day job of configuring, maintaining, and troubleshooting systems on your network.

Get Started with RIS

Remote Installation Services (RIS) is a complex but powerful tool for deploying Windows images. Here’s a guide to getting started with it.

In the past, with the many flavors of Windows, there were many ways of configuring and deploying Windows to client machines. Such automated and customized methods included imaging with a tool such as GHOST or scripting with answer files and VBScript or other automation tools to deploy silently and without user intervention. Or, you could make one image on a hard drive and use a hard-drive-cloning device to copy the image to multiple hard disks at once. The technology and methodologies for deploying a customized ...