Perform Windows 7 Bare-Metal Installations with MDT 2010

Your testing for Windows 7 is probably complete by now. You know which applications and drivers will run properly and which won’t. But more importantly, you've found out that some of your existing hardware won't run Windows 7. In this article, I'll walk you through deploying Windows 7, complete with applications, drivers, and packages, to a new; bare-metal machine. Not only will I show you how, but I'll also explain all your options so you can deploy everything in a way that best suits your environment. And don’t forget that imaging solutions aren't built for one-time use just on new machines—always keep re-imaging in mind as well.

This article assumes you've installed MDT 2010 and its prerequisites and created a deployment share as described in "XP to Windows 7 Migration with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010." All steps in this article are performed in MDT's Deployment Workbench (DW) snap-in. After MDT is installed, you launch the DW by selecting Start, All Programs, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, Deployment Workbench.

Step 1: Import an OS into MDT 2010

You need to import an OS into MDT's DW before deploying it to your target machines. The supported OSs to deploy are Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008 (all service packs), Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows XP SP3. The steps for importing an OS are the same regardless of the OS. In the DW, expand the Deployment Shares node, then expand the node for your deployment share; if you're using the deployment share you created by following the steps from the previously mentioned "XP to Windows 7" article, your deployment share should be called MDT Deployment Share (F:\DeploymentShare). If for some reason you've closed the deployment share and need to re-open it, right-click the Deployment Shares node, select Open Deployment Share, then navigate to your deployment share.

To import an OS, right-click the Operating Systems node and select Import Operating System, which launches the Import Operating System Wizard. Follow these steps in the wizard:

1. The OS Type page offers three choices, as Figure 1 shows. The Full set of source files option requires an OS CD, DVD, or equivalent (e.g., a copy of a CD of DVD in a local folder). The Custom image file option lets you import a .wim image you've created. If you're importing a custom image, you need to specify where the OS's setup files reside. The Windows Deployment Services images option lets you import all OS images from a Windows Deployment Services (WDS) server. To specify a WDS server, both NetBIOS and Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDNs) are acceptable. You can't select specific images; it's all or nothing. For this example, select Full set of source files, then click Next.
   
   Figure 1: Choosing the type of OS in the Import Operating System Wizard
2. On the Source page, click the Browse button and navigate to a Windows 7 DVD or equivalent.
3. The Destination page prompts you to enter the name for the folder in which you'd like to store this OS. The folder will be created in your deployment share's Operating Systems folder. For example, mine is at F:\DeploymentShare\Operating Systems. Then click Next.
4. The Summary page displays your settings. Review your choices; to make any changes, click the Previous button until you're back on the page you need to change. If all your settings are correct, click Next.
5. The Progress page appears and displays each step required to import an OS. When the import is complete, the Progress page disappears and the Confirmation page appears. Click Finish.

Importing OSs can take a while, depending on the size of the OS and speed of your server. The OS is displayed in the DW under the Operating Systems node when the import is complete.

Step 2: Create Folders to Organize the DW

MDT 2010 is the first version of MDT that lets you organize components in the DW. Why is this so cool, you might ask? When you added components to past versions of MDT, they were all dumped into one container—well, one container for all applications, another for packages, and a third for out-of-box drivers. It was difficult to tell which drivers belonged to Dell, which belonged to HP, and so forth. Now, it's a snap. To create a folder, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the node in which you'd like to create the new folder and select New Folder.
2. On the General Settings page, give the new folder a name and description, then click Next.
3. On the Summary page, review your settings, make any changes if necessary, then click Next.
4. When the Confirmation page appears, click Finish.

You can cut and paste from one folder to another by right-clicking the components you want to move and selecting Cut. Then navigate to the folder you want to move the components into, right-click in the target folder, and select Paste. You might have to press F5 to refresh your screen to see that the components were deleted from their original location. If you want the component in more than one folder, you can use Copy and Paste.