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One of my real passions in computers is desktop deployment.  I love creating images and making everything work right with scripts or using SMS or whatever.  Windows Vista promises to deliver some interesting new tools for the guy like me.  ImageX, WinPE 2.0, and the .WIM image file format.

You can read all about these new technologies at Microsoft’s TechNet website, so I won’t rehash anything they’ve already done, but I did want to report that I have actually created my first Windows Vista computer image.  Using ImageX and WinPE 2.0 I’ve created an Image that I have now deployed to a work bench of four to five computers.  These computers will be used by Help Desk staff to work with Vista and get themselves familiar with the new operating system so that we can start supporting it the day it releases to the public.

It was fairly simple to follow Microsoft’s Step By Step Guide to Windows Vista Deployment.  I had some trouble getting the newly imaged computer to boot right after having the .WIM image applied to it, but I smoothed that wrinkle out.  It turns out that ImageX wasn’t sucking up the hidden or system files and therefore wasn’t obtaining the boot information to make the operating system load.  I smoothed that out by making sure that all hidden and system files were visible in Windows Vista before taking the image, and then it worked like a charm.

I have successfully deployed the image to four computers now.  My next step is to investigate the Microsoft BDD 2007 Beta 2 (Microsoft Business Desk Top Deployment Kit).

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