The Definitive Guide to Windows Desktop Administration

The Definitive GuidetmTo

Windows Desktop Administration

Bob Kelly

Introduction

Introduction to Realtimepublishers

by Don Jones, Series Editor

For several years, now, Realtime has produced dozens and dozens of high-quality books that just happen to be delivered in electronic format--at no cost to you, the reader. We've made this unique publishing model work through the generous support and cooperation of our sponsors, who agree to bear each book's production expenses for the benefit of our readers. Although we've always offered our publications to you for free, don't think for a moment that quality is anything less than our top priority. My job is to make sure that our books are as good as--and in most cases better than--any printed book that would cost you $40 or more. Our electronic publishing model offers several advantages over printed books: You receive chapters literally as fast as our authors produce them (hence the "realtime" aspect of our model), and we can update chapters to reflect the latest changes in technology. I want to point out that our books are by no means paid advertisements or white papers. We're an independent publishing company, and an important aspect of my job is to make sure that our authors are free to voice their expertise and opinions without reservation or restriction. We maintain complete editorial control of our publications, and I'm proud that we've produced so many quality books over the past years. I want to extend an invitation to visit us at , especially if you've received this publication from a friend or colleague. We have a wide variety of additional books on a range of topics, and you're sure to find something that's of interest to you--and it won't cost you a thing. We hope you'll continue to come to Realtime for your educational needs far into the future. Until then, enjoy. Don Jones

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Table of Contents

Introduction to Realtimepublishers.................................................................................................. i Chapter 1: Desktop Administration Overview ................................................................................1 The Benefits of Desktop Administration .........................................................................................1

Lower Cost of Ownership....................................................................................................1 Increased User Productivity.................................................................................................3 Rapid and Accurate System Recovery.................................................................................4 When to Automate ...........................................................................................................................5 Deployment Automation......................................................................................................5 Backup Automation .............................................................................................................6 Inventory Automation..........................................................................................................6

Windows Management Instrumentation ..................................................................6 The Scope of Desktop Administration.............................................................................................7

System Deployment .............................................................................................................7 User Profile and Data Management.....................................................................................8 Application Management.....................................................................................................9 Desktop Security................................................................................................................10 Desktop Support.................................................................................................................11 Scripting Custom Solutions ...............................................................................................11 Asset Management.............................................................................................................12 The Politics of Desktop Administration ........................................................................................13 Making Decisions that Affect Users ..................................................................................13 Delegation of Control ........................................................................................................14

NT Domains...........................................................................................................14 AD..........................................................................................................................15 Third-Party Solutions.............................................................................................15 Working with Users ...........................................................................................................16 Factors in Effective Desktop Administration ................................................................................17 Standardization ..................................................................................................................17 Geographic Dispersion.......................................................................................................18 Dedicated Staffing .............................................................................................................19 Budget ................................................................................................................................19 Connectivity .......................................................................................................................20 Process ...............................................................................................................................20

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Security ..............................................................................................................................20 Desktop Administration in Action .....................................................................................21

Help Desk Calls .....................................................................................................21 Handling New Systems..........................................................................................21 Outsourcing Desktop Administration ............................................................................................22 The Benefits of Outsourcing..............................................................................................22 The Drawbacks of Outsourcing .........................................................................................23 Summary ........................................................................................................................................23 Chapter 2: OS Deployment............................................................................................................24 The Workstation Baseline..............................................................................................................24 Benefits ..............................................................................................................................24 Increased Reliability ..............................................................................................24 Increased Deployment Speed.................................................................................24 Ease of Troubleshooting ........................................................................................25 Drawbacks..........................................................................................................................25 Baseline Components.........................................................................................................25 What to Leave In....................................................................................................26 What to Leave Out .................................................................................................26 Common Pitfalls to Avoid .................................................................................................26 MSI Source Resiliency ..........................................................................................26 Non-Essential Data ................................................................................................27 Classified or Company Proprietary Information....................................................27 Globally Unique Identifiers ...................................................................................28 Profiles ...................................................................................................................28 Security Identification Numbers ............................................................................29 Initial Build Size ................................................................................................................31 Staging a Deployment....................................................................................................................33 Benefits ..............................................................................................................................33 Less Time Spent at the Users' Desks.....................................................................33 Controlled Network Environment..........................................................................34 Early Identification of Failed Systems...................................................................34 Drawbacks..........................................................................................................................35 Location-Specific Actions .....................................................................................35

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Slow Delivery in a Changing Environment ...........................................................35 Deployment Methods.....................................................................................................................35

Manual Installation ............................................................................................................35 Unattended Installations.....................................................................................................37 Microsoft Solutions............................................................................................................38

Sysprep...................................................................................................................38 Unattend.txt............................................................................................................40 $OEM$...................................................................................................................41 Cmdlines.txt ...........................................................................................................41 Third-Party Solutions.........................................................................................................41 Drive Imaging ....................................................................................................................42 Available Solutions................................................................................................44 Which Is Right For You?.......................................................................................47 Drive Duplication...............................................................................................................47 Available Solutions................................................................................................48 OS Deployment Best Practices ......................................................................................................48 Workstation Naming Conventions.....................................................................................48 System Build Information..................................................................................................50 Image Identification ...........................................................................................................50 Summary ........................................................................................................................................50 Chapter 3: User Profile and Data Management .............................................................................51 User Profiles...................................................................................................................................52 Local Profiles .....................................................................................................................53 Roaming Profiles ...............................................................................................................54 Mandatory User Profiles ....................................................................................................60 Temporary User Profiles....................................................................................................60 Profile Security ..................................................................................................................60 Contents of a User Profile..................................................................................................60 User Profile Storage...........................................................................................................62 Profiles Templates .............................................................................................................62 Default Profiles ..................................................................................................................63 Manual Profile Modifications ............................................................................................64 Dictating Data Storage...................................................................................................................65

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