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About a year ago we implemented WDS and MDT. Using this we have been successfully deploying Windows 7 x86 and x64 on every PC and laptop we have. We put the OS on, then add on Office, Adobe, Antivirus, etc. Also, I have it set to do Windows Updates from our WSUS server. The question I have is, is there anyway to speed the process up or slipstream in some of the updates? It seems that it takes about as long to do the Post Installation Windows Updates as it does the OS and all of the application installs combined. The only thing I can think of is to make a new OS capture with Windows 7 w/SP1 so it doesn't have to install SP1 via the update task. Is there any other way that I might speed this process up? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Don
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  • If you're deploying to systems with the same hardware I'd set up one just as you want it and take a Clonezilla / Norton Ghost image, I used to be able to do upwards of 30 systems a day like this in a workbench environment. EDIT: This was in the days of WinXP, I'm not sure of the support for Windows 7. – Samuel Jones Dec 19 '11 at 22:33
  • Yeah, we used to use Ghost before MDT, and it worked fine but this seemed to be a bit faster in our tests. The thing is, as we all know the image gets bigger and bigger. Currently a fresh build with Win 7 and all of the applications/updates is sitting at about 24GB. – Don Dec 19 '11 at 22:42
  • Unicast / Multicast / Direct Broadcast? I eventually got the other guys to use Multi/Broadcast after some convincing (and it suprisingly too quite abit!) – Samuel Jones Dec 19 '11 at 22:50

2 Answers2

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You should do a Sysprep & Capture task on your golden master computer (i.e.: a clean computer that has all your software and updates installed, but is not part of the domain, etc.). That will avoid the installation process for all programs and updates.

tegbains
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  • So basically I could run my current setup to build the machine, but disjoin it from the domain. Then run a sysprep and capture of it, and that becomes my primary OS install. Then basically take out the install application task sequences and basically only leave the Windows Update application installation for updates. Sound about right? – Don Dec 20 '11 at 14:40
  • @Don: Basically, yes. But you could also install all of your common apps (i.e.: Adobe Reader, 7zip, etc) that need to be on every machine. You also can save time by install all of your service packs before the sysprep step. – tegbains Dec 21 '11 at 19:09
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This link goes over the process for injecting updates into WIM files.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff794819.aspx

Works really well.

user220911
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