Windows 8 Deployment - Step 0 to Next

Deploying Windows 8

With Windows 8, you can deploy custom builds to computers through manual and automated processes. To deploy Windows using manual processes, you need to create the required boot and installation images and optionally create recovery images. To automate the deployment process, you need to install Windows Deployment Services. Whether you use a completely manual process, a completely automated process, or some combination of the two, you’ll perform similar administrative tasks. These tasks require you to understand and use the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) for Windows 8 and Windows Deployment Services. The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit for Windows 8 is available from the Microsoft Download Center (download.microsoft.com) and contains the tools for deploying Windows images, including

■ Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT)

■ The standard deployment and imaging tools

■ User State Migration Tool (USMT)

■ Volume Activation Management Tool (VAMT)

■ Windows Assessment Services

■ Windows Assessment Toolkit

■ Windows Performance Toolkit (WPT)

■ Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)

You can use Windows Deployment Services to deploy Windows 8 over a network. You can add the Windows Deployment Services role to any server running Windows Server 2012.Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 use Windows PE 4.0. Windows PE 4.0 is a bootable startup environment that provides operating system features for the following:

■ Installation  When you install Windows 8, the graphical tools that collect system information during the setup phase are running within Windows PE.

■ Deployment  When a new computer performs a network boot, the built-in Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) client can connect to a Windows  Deployment Services server, download a Windows PE image across the network, and then run deployment scripts within this environment.

■ Recovery  Windows PE enables you to access and run the Startup Repair tool if Windows 8 fails to start because of a corrupted system file.

■ Troubleshooting  You can manually start Windows PE to perform troubleshooting or diagnostics testing if Windows 8 is experiencing problems that can’t otherwise be diagnosed.

Introduction to Windows 8 Administration  

Windows PE is modular and extensible, and it provides full access to partitions formatted using the FAT or NTFS file system. Because Windows PE is built from a subset of Windows components, you can run many Windows applications, work with hardware devices, and communicate across IP networks. Several command-line tools are available in Windows PE, including:

■ BCDBoot  A tool that initializes the boot configuration data (BCD) store and allows you to copy boot environment files to the system partition.

■ Bootsect  A tool for creating and working with boot sectors on hard disks and flash drives.

■ Copype  A tool for creating a directory structure for Windows PE files and then copying the Windows PE media files. Running this tool is a prerequisite for creating bootable Windows PE media.

■ DiskPart  A tool for creating and working with disks, partitions, and  volumes.

■ DISM  An advanced tool for servicing and maintaining images.

■ Drvload  A support tool for adding device drivers and dynamically loading a driver after Windows PE has started.

■ ImageX  A tool for capturing and applying Windows images.

■ Lpksetup  A tool for adding and removing a language pack.

■ Makewinpemedia  A tool for creating bootable Windows PE media.

■ Net  A set of support commands that enables you to manage local users, start and stop services, and connect to shared folders.

■ Netcfg  A tool that configures network access.

■ Oscdimg  A tool for creating CD and DVD ISO image files.

■ Wpeinit  A tool that initializes Windows PE every time it boots.

Copype and Makewinpemedia are new tools that allow you to more  easily create bootable Windows PE media. You use Copype to set up the Windows PE build  environment. After you optimize the build as necessary, you can use Makewinpemedia to create the bootable media, which can be a CD, DVD.