Deploying Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional and ...
Operating System
Deploying Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional and Microsoft Office 2000 Using Sysprep
Scenario Guide
Abstract
This scenario guide outlines the steps to configure and install a standard desktop image consisting of the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 Professional operating system with Microsoft Office 2000. Having the capability to automate the installation of Windows 2000 can save your organization valuable deployment time. This guide explains various automated installation methods and provides detailed steps to assist you in this process. Specifically, it focuses on how to plan and deploy clients with the Microsoft System Preparation (Sysprep) tool, the automated deployment method of disk imaging.
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Contents
Introduction 1
Scenario Requirements 1
Scenario Definition 1
Scenario Tasks 2
Phases of Deployment 4
Data Gathering 5
Analyze Hardware and Software 5
Hardware Inventory 6
Scenario Example 6
Software Inventory 8
The Readiness Analyzer 9
Planning and Design 10
Clean Install (Wipe and Load) 10
Upgrades 10
Scenario Examples: Seattle and Denver 11
Windows 95 and Windows 98 Upgrade Information 12
Checking Windows 95 and Windows 98 Systems 12
Preparing for the Operating System Installation 13
Creating Distribution Folders 13
$OEM$ Directory Structure 14
Automating the Installation of Client Applicatons 15
Microsoft Office 2000 Installation and Deployment 15
Automating the Installation of Windows 2000 Professional 17
Automate Installation with Answer Files 17
Setup Manager 17
Answer File for Image Machines 18
To build an answer file 18
Why Use Unattend to Create the Master Image? 20
Domain Vs. Workgroup Settings 21
Answer File for Windows 95 or Windows 98 Machines 21
Unattended 22
Win9xUpg 22
Additional Considerations When Upgrading from Windows 9x 24
Installing the Operating System and Applications 25
Creating the Image Machines 25
Updating the User’s Profile 27
Upgrade a Windows 9x machine 27
Testing and Piloting 29
Evaluations and Pilots 29
Deploying the Desktop Using the Sysprep Utility 30
Prepare the Image Using Sysprep 30
Sysprep.inf 31
Sysprep Steps 33
Deploying the Image 34
Third-Party Tools 34
Image Distribution 34
Scenario Example 35
Summary of What the User Sees 35
Potential Issues 36
Sysprep: Frequently Asked Questions: 36
Windows 9x Upgrade Issues 37
Summary 38
For More Information 38
Introduction
If you have experience deploying Microsoft( Windows NT( and Microsoft Office packages, you know the work that must be done to get the installation packages automated. You also are probably aware that the utilities available for Windows 95 or Windows 98, such as Ghost and Drive Image Professional, do not work well for Windows NT 4.0. The Windows NT security model does not allow machines to be duplicated because each machine would then have the same Security IDs (SIDs). Systems should have unique SIDs, so that they can be recognized correctly by other systems and services on the network.
The Microsoft Windows® 2000 operating system has many more options to automate installation of Windows 2000, as well as applications such as Microsoft Office 2000. One such tool is the Microsoft System Preparation tool (Sysprep), which allows you to deploy the operating system and applications together through an image method. Sysprep includes improvements to the unattend process, application installation, and management enhancements. Using Sysprep for automated software installation makes it possible to lower your cost of deployment, as well as diminishing ongoing support and maintenance time.
This guide assists you in the automation planning process, the installation process, and the deployment phase of Windows 2000 and Microsoft Office 2000.
Scenario Requirements
This guide assumes you are familiar with Windows 9x, Windows 2000 Professional, and Windows NT Server 4.0 features, functionality, and benefits.
You need to have access to a Windows 2000 Professional CD, the Internet Explorer Administrators Kit (IEAK), Microsoft Office 2000 Professional, and the Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit. You also need access to the CDs of any other applications you wish to deploy on your desktops.
Third-party software or disk-duplicating hardware devices are required—these are detailed later in this paper. These products create binary images of a computer’s hard drive, duplicating the image to another hard drive or storing the image a file on a separate drive.
Scenario Definition
In this scenario we are using a fictional company named LitWare, Inc.
LitWare, Inc. currently has a single domain, spanning two physical locations, Denver and Seattle, with a total of 500 desktops. The two locations are connected with a high-speed, reliable, leased line. Figure 1, below, shows LitWare’s network:
Figure 1.
Litware Corporation has an office in Seattle, WA with 400 users. They also have an office in Denver, CO that has 100 users. All of the users’ desktops are running either Windows 95 or Windows 98. Each desktop is also running either Microsoft Office 95 or Microsoft Office 97. The IT managers must decide how to get Windows 2000 Professional and Microsoft Office 2000 installed on all user desktops using the most automated method possible and keeping as much of the user settings and data as possible.
Litware’s founder and president Kathryn Wilson has mandated that Litware’s Desktops be updated to maximize user productivity and stabilize the support environment and associated Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
As a member of Litware’s three-person IS Department, your overall goal is to refresh all 500 user desktops to run a combination of Microsoft Office 2000 and Windows 2000, tailored to Litware's requirements. It is intended that this deployment cause minimal disruption to end users, and therefore you want to deploy the full new desktop in one pass, with limited or no end-user involvement.
Scenario Tasks
This guide discusses some of the deployment options available to LitWare, Inc., and why they chose those options. Table 1 lists the areas that are covered in this guide:
Table 1.
|Automation planning scenario |Scenario considerations |
|Planning and upgrade considerations |Analyze hardware and software |
| |Choose the installation method |
| |Desktop application compatibility |
| |Upgrade of Internet Explorer 4 to Internet Explorer 5. |
|Phases of deployment |Data gathering |
| |Planning and design |
| |Testing |
| |Piloting |
| |Production deployment |
| |Upgrade process overview |
|Setup tasks |Installation of Microsoft Office 2000 Professional as an |
| |upgrade to Microsoft Office 95 |
| |Installation of Windows 2000 Professional as an upgrade to|
| |Windows 9x |
Phases of Deployment
To have a successful rollout of Windows 2000 and Microsoft Office 2000, you should ensure that you have a good deployment plan.
There are five phases in any deployment or upgrade of an operating system:
• Data gathering
• Planning and design
• Testing
• Piloting
• Production deployment
This guide covers each of these sections and shows a company scenario and the steps that need to be accomplished to successfully roll out Windows 2000 and Microsoft Office 2000 as automated and end-user ‘free’ as possible. If you feel that you don’t have the resources to perform all the steps required for a successful deployment, a Microsoft System Builder or Solution Provider can assist you. You can search for Solution Providers at:
The investment you make in planning will pay back many times over. Troublesome upgrades and deployments are nearly always a result of insufficient planning.
Data Gathering
Before you plan and design your Windows 2000-based desktop environment, you need to thoroughly understand your current network operating systems, infrastructure, desktop environment, and conventions. Problems can arise if a complete and accurate assessment is not performed.
During this phase, you gather and analyze information about your current desktop and network environments. At a minimum, you should assess and document the following information:
• Business organization and geographical requirements
• Technology architecture
• Interoperability
• Network and application standards—current and future
• User types (roaming, mobile, remote, task-based, knowledge-based, and so on)
• Support processes
• Naming conventions
• Hardware configurations and standards, including brand and model; processor type and speed; amount of memory; hard drive free space; and BIOS revision number
• Application configurations/standards, including installed service packs and hotfixes; all third-party applications; and any registry entry changes that have been made.
• User settings and user data
This guide focuses on the last three items of the list above: hardware configurations and standards; application configurations and standards; and user settings and user data. We discuss what to look for when analyzing your hardware and the resources available to ensure that your hardware and software are compatible and supported under Windows 2000.
Analyze Hardware and Software
Before you decide on the method of installation that works best in your environment, you should have a clear understanding of the hardware and software deployed in your environment. This is very important because the hardware you have deployed can affect which method you choose to deploy Windows 2000. For example, there are some hardware restrictions when you use an image method to deploy an operating system. Analyzing your software will also help you decide if you are going to upgrade the current installation or do a clean install, sometimes referred to as wipe and load.
When you are considering using the image method to deploy Windows 2000, you must carefully assess and plan for the master and target workstations’ Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), mass storage controllers, drive controllers (IDE or SCSI), and the number of processors. Doing an inventory on the machines that are going to have Windows 2000 installed will help you decide the method(s) that you will use to deploy the operating system and applications.
Hardware Inventory
The first step in evaluating Windows 2000 for your environment is to verify that your machines are compatible with Windows 2000. You can check the hardware compatibility list (HCL) at the following Web location:
If your machines are not listed on the HCL then you should consider upgrading those machines to a model that has been tested, or call the manufacturer to see if they are in the process of getting your model certified. Once you know that your machine is compatible, group machines based on the following criteria so that you will know how many images you have to create if you decide to use the imaging method to deploy the desktop:
• HAL (ACPI, NON-ACPI, or Vendor Specific)
• Mass storage controller
When using the image method to deploy Windows 2000, the HAL on the master image must be the same one required for booting on the target images. For example, if the HAL on the master image is uniprocessor ACPI-enabled, you cannot transfer the image to a machine that is not ACPI-enabled. You can however go between uniprocessor and multiprocessor versions of the same HAL using keys described in the unattended installation documentation (see Chapter 25 of the Deployment Planning Guide).
If you are using the version of Sysprep that comes with Windows 2000, the mass storage controller on the master image and the target images must be identical. For example, if you have an Adaptec 2940 controller on the master image, you cannot use that image on a machine with a Symbios Logic controller. You can however overcome this limitation by using Sysprep version 1.1, which allows you to specify the different mass storage controllers in Sysprep.inf. This updated Sysprep is not on the Windows 2000 CD, but will be available on the Web. See the link below for availability:
If you are unsure of what type of BIOS’ are available for your systems, you should check with the hardware vendor. You should also do an installation of Windows 2000 on each different model of computer so that you can identify the HAL that the system uses, and to see if you are going to have any issues with Windows 2000. Again, you will need to create a separate image for each machine that uses a different HAL. You will also need to create a different image when machines do not have the same mass storage device, unless you have the latest version of Sysprep (currently, version 1.1).
Scenario Example
Here is an example of typical results from a hardware inventory. Of 350 desktop machines in LitWare Corp.’s Seattle location, the hardware includes:
• Half the client machines are three years old and due to be renewed as part of their lease agreement (Group A)
• The other half of the desktop machines meet the hardware requirements and are on the hardware compatibility list (Group B)
• 10 percent of the desktop machines in Group B do not have ACPI BIOS available from the hardware manufacturer; all use the same non-ACPI HAL.
• 90 percent of the desktop machines in Group B either have an ACPI BIOS or can be flash-upgraded from the hardware manufacturer. They all use the same ACPI HAL.
In this scenario, if you use the image deployment method, two images will have to be created: one for the machines that do not have ACPI and one for the machines that do.
Contact the company where you lease the computers to ensure that they have new machines that are capable of running Windows 2000. Have ACPI BIOS installed, and ensure that the machines use the same ACPI HAL as the existing machines so that you can use the same image.
Besides the 350 computers listed above, the Seattle location also owns 50 laptops, with the following hardware:
• 5 percent of the portable machines cannot be upgraded with an ACPI BIOS.
• 50 percent of the laptops have ACPI BIOS, but also have their own HAL from the manufacturer specific to this laptop.
• 45 percent have ACPI and use the ACPI HAL included with Windows 2000.
For the laptop image deployment, three images have to be created. The first is for the laptops that do not have ACPI support. (Note: ACPI is important for laptops and power management features. You may want to replace those laptops so that you can take advantage of ACPI.) Although the rest of the laptops have ACPI support and would use an ACPI HAL, one set has a specific HAL from the manufacturer that the other laptops cannot use, so each group of laptops need their own image.
LitWare Corp. also needs to inventory the computers in their Denver location. These are the results of an inventory of 75 desktop machines in Denver:
• All of the desktop machines meet the hardware requirements and are on the hardware compatibility list
• 75 percent of the desktops are the same as many of the desktops in Seattle. The machines either have an ACPI BIOS or can be flash-upgraded by the hardware manufacturer. They all use the same ACPI HAL.
• The other 25 percent of the desktops include hardware that is not well-suited to an image deployment.
Because the majority of the Denver computers are exactly like those from Seattle, you may be able to use the image from Seattle with a few minor changes relating to your location. The other machines may have to be installed using other automated methods.
Results of the hardware inventory for the 25 laptops at the Denver location:
• All of the laptops have ACPI BIOS and use the ACPI HAL included with Windows 2000.
In this case, only one image needs to be created.
Software Inventory
Analyzing your software inventory is very important because that shows you what your users have installed, how they use the system, where their data is stored, and how the user environment is managed. This helps you decide if you should do clean installs of the operating system or perform upgrades.
At the Seattle location, most users are running Windows 95, Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, and Microsoft Office 97. The users are able to install anything they want on their desktops and many have utilities and applications installed that are known to have problems with Windows 2000. The desktop environment is not centrally managed, though the users do store most of their critical data on Windows NT-based servers so that the IT group can back them up automatically. The IT group will use this deployment to get everyone on the same desktop, thus cutting down on support time.
The Denver office has a very different environment. The users run Windows 98 with a mix of Microsoft Office 95 and Microsoft Office 97. The IT department locks their profiles down and the IT administrators control the customization that can be done. Most of the users store their data on their hard drives (most of the machines were created with a C and D drive), and they were encouraged to save all data on the D drive. The desktop environment is well-managed by the IT group and they are looking at Windows 2000 to continue helping them keep their TCO down.
This example showed Microsoft Office as the only application installed. You probably have many other applications in your company. It is very important that you check to see if your application is compatible with Windows 2000. You can check the following Web page for application compatibility:
If your application is not listed you will need to check with the software vendor to find out if your version has been tested with Windows 2000. If the vendor is not planning on testing the application on Windows 2000, it is a good idea to do your own testing. If you find problems that would affect your environment, you should consider using another application to meet your needs so that you save yourself support issues in the future, as well as ensuring a more successful migration to Windows 2000.
Now that you have a good idea of your hardware and software environment, you are ready to decide what method to use for your installation during the planning and design phase.
The Readiness Analyzer
This tool complements the online compatibility lists, and provides a quick way to identify known application compatibility problems. It cannot and does not address all applications, and should be used as an aid in the overall compatibility testing.
The Windows 2000 Readiness Analyzer tool analyzes your system and reports potentially incompatible hardware devices and software applications. The tool compares the devices and applications on your system against a list of known issues. Although this check also occurs during Windows 2000 setup, you can download and run the tool before installing Windows 2000 to help ensure your installation will succeed. The Readiness Analyzer provides a way to check all systems without having to have a copy of the Windows 2000 CD available and can run off two floppy drives if necessary. It can be downloaded from .
Planning and Design
Planning and design is the phase when you ensure that you fully understand the new operating system. You need to understand all the features that are available, how they will work in your environment, and how best to deploy the operating system and applications in your environment.
The following planning and design steps should be performed before deploying Windows 2000:
• Understand the capabilities of the Windows 2000 operating system.
• Learn how to configure and use all the features you will need from Window 2000 Professional in your environment.
• On a test computer, install Windows 2000 and all the applications that you want your users to use to ensure that everything works as expected.
• Perform an upgrade on a Windows 95 or Windows 98 machine that has existing applications installed to see the results.
• Understand how changing the operating system on the desktop will affect the network environment. When using Windows 95 or Windows 98 there is no need to authorize a machine to join a domain. When using Windows 2000 Professional, you will need to ensure the workstation has authorization (using machine accounts) to join the domain. (For more detailed information on network planning, refer to the Deployment Planning Guide and the Windows 2000 Server Resource Kit.)
Once you have done a test installation and used Windows 2000 and Microsoft Office 2000, you will be more familiar with the setup process and what to expect. You are now ready to use the hardware and software inventory information to assist you in deciding which installation method to use to deploy.
Clean Install (Wipe and Load)
Deploying Windows 2000 using Sysprep and a third-party cloning software package is the easiest and fastest method if your environment supports this type of deployment. This method will only do a clean install and not an upgrade. If existing applications are not supported under Windows 2000, or if the hardware and software that is currently installed may cause problems if upgraded, it is better to wipe the systems and do a clean install of the operating system and applications. Another advantage of a clean install is to get everyone on a standard desktop, thus making it easier to support and manage.
Upgrades
If any of the computers in your network are currently running Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT Workstation 3.51, or Windows NT Workstation 4.0, you need to determine whether it is more cost-effective to upgrade the existing operating system or perform a clean installation.
There are two considerations that will help you determine whether to upgrade or perform a clean installation. The first consideration is whether your organization has already implemented a Windows-based operating system. In this case (if your information technology department is centrally managed) you will probably want to perform an upgrade. If you are planning to create a managed environment but one does not currently exist in your organization, then you will want to perform a clean installation so that you can implement standard configurations as you perform your installation.
Second, if you plan to use currently existing hardware and software applications, you need to perform an upgrade. Alternatively, if you plan to purchase new hardware and install new software applications, you need to perform a clean installation.
For more information to help determine whether your hardware and software supports an upgrade or whether you should do a clean install, see these Microsoft Web pages:
Scenario Examples: Seattle and Denver
The Seattle office does not have a centrally-managed desktop environment. Since users have been able to install anything they want, there are too many unknowns on the user desktop. IT administrators would not be able to research all of the applications that are installed. They are also going to replace half of their machines with new machines, including the non-ACPI laptops. Those new machines will require a new install. So the IT group in Seattle has decided that a clean install will be the best option for their environment and they are going to use the image method to deploy the operating system and applications.
The Denver office has central control over their desktops and has a good idea of the applications that users have installed. IT administrators are going to upgrade most of their desktops, with a small percentage being installed via an image created from the Seattle office—with a few updates for the Denver office. They are going to clean install all the laptops via imaging to take advantage of ACPI.
Here is a summary of what we are going to do for each site:
Seattle:
• A clean install, using one image, for all the desktops (the new machines will match the existing ones)
• A clean install, using two images, for the laptops: one for the regular ACPI BIOS and one for the HAL specific from the vendor.
Denver:
Desktops
• Upgrade from Windows 9X to Windows 2000
• Installation of Microsoft Office 2000 via an automated method once Windows 2000 is installed
Laptops
• A clean install to best take advantage of ACPI. The IT department will use the image to install Windows 2000.
Windows 95 and Windows 98 Upgrade Information
It is important to note that there is a higher risk of issues when upgrading from Windows 95 or Windows 98. This is because the upgrade involves substantial changes to the underlying operating system, including a new registry structure and updated or replaced core operating system components and interfaces. Be sure to check all available information about upgrading from Windows 9x. For more details about upgrading, see “Windows 2000 Professional Upgrade Guide” at
Checking Windows 95 and Windows 98 Systems
To assist in determining compatibility, look up the components on the Microsoft Hardware Compatibility List (HCL), which you can find at . The HCL includes all the hardware that Microsoft currently supports. If your hardware is not on the list, contact the vendor to find out if there is a driver. If your components use 16-bit drivers, you need to obtain a 32-bit driver.
You can also use Windows 2000 Professional Setup to check for hardware compatibility. Run Setup in check-upgrade-only mode to obtain log files that indicate hardware and software incompatibilities and device drivers that need to be updated. The command line format for check-upgrade-only mode is:
winnt32 /checkupgradeonly
Preparing for the Operating System Installation
Now that you know the methods that you will use to deploy to Windows 2000, you are ready to get the operating system ready for deployment.
Your goal is to deploy Windows 2000 to all of the workstations using an automated method. The Windows 9x upgrades in Denver will not be as automated as the rest of the installations, but there are things that can be done to automate it as much as possible. The first step is to create a distribution folder that will hold the Windows 2000 Professional installation files.
Creating Distribution Folders
The distribution folders should reside on a Windows NT Server- or Windows 2000 Server-based server and you should have one in each location (Seattle and Denver). You can use the distribution folders to install the master image(s) as well as to run the install for the upgrades.
In our example, we create several iterations of workstation images, which may be slightly different than the others. In addition, you may be creating images for several machines that include different types of hardware requiring drivers not included on the Windows 2000 product CD. For example, in our scenario we have machines that use different HALs, as well as two locations that will have different settings for such applications as Internet Explorer.
When working with several workstation images, or when your image process gets complex, it is helpful to build a distribution folder for your workstation builds. By having a central point for image creation and storage, your testing is easier and provides a centralized location for files and drivers that should be applied to the system. A distribution folder also helps when the image needs to be enhanced for things such as adding support for multiple languages and all possible HALs. By building a distribution folder and creating any master images from this location, you can be assured that the files you require are being copied and are consistent across multiple builds.
A central build location is required if you need to add drivers to the build. This guide will show you the steps of creating the folders. For information on adding drivers, and on building a distribution folder, refer to the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide, available at .
To create a distribution point
1. Create a folder named Installs on a server.
2. Create a subfolder named i386 to hold the actual files.
3. Share the Installs folder across the network. Remove create and write permissions for default users.
4. Create a user group for those people who will customize the distribution point, and add permissions to allow this group to customize the distribution point.
5. Copy the contents of the i386 directory to the shared i386 file you created.
6. In the Installs folder that you created, create a subfolder named $OEM$. The $OEM$ subfolder provides the necessary folder structure for supplemental files to be copied to the target computer during setup. These files include drivers, utilities, applications, and any other files required for deployment of Windows 2000 Professional within your organization. This will be where we place the Microsoft Office 2000 installation files.
We are going to use the distribution folder to install Windows 2000 to all of the master machines so that we can create the images for deployment. We also use the distribution server to upgrade the Windows 95 and Windows 98 machines to Windows 2000. We are using the unattended method to install all of the machines, as we want to do some customization of such features as Internet Explorer E 5. Since Internet Explorer 5 is installed with the operating system, we pass a customized Internet Explorer 5 INS file created by the IEAK to the setup program. This is discussed in the next section.
In our example, we created the i386 subfolder under the main share where we will store the installation files. We did this because you may experience problems executing Winnt32 from a Windows 9x system when the distribution folder share point is mapped to the root of a drive letter. Setup may stop with an error message indicating that it could not access the Windows 2000 source files. To ensure that this does not occur, we created the distribution point in a subfolder of the shared folder, and we need to specify this path in the commands. The following sample script is based on the shared folder named INSTALLS and the subfolder named i386.
net use x: \\WIN2000\INSTALLS
x:\i386\winnt32 /s:x:\i386 /unattend:x:\i386\unattend.txt.
$OEM$ Directory Structure
If the [Unattended] section of the answer file has the key OemPreinstall = Yes, the $OEM$ directory structure and the Cmdlines.txt file are processed. If the /unattend switch of Winnt32 is specified with no answer file, this structure will not be processed.
The $OEM$ structure can be used to install additional software or to replace Windows 2000 components. To create a $OEM$ structure you can use the Windows 2000 Setup Manager or create the folders and subfolders manually. The root of the $OEM$ structure is at a subfolder named $OEM$ of the i386 directory.
Automating the Installation of Client Applications
Now that we have the distribution folders created for the Windows 2000 installation, we need to analyze the requirements for automating the Microsoft Office 2000 installation. We need to set up the files on the distribution server created above. We use the $OEM$ directory created earlier.
This guide does not address all the details of the planning that may need to be done in your environment. It is highly recommended that you look at the white paper “Microsoft Office 2000 and the Windows 2000 Platform” at
You should also review the Microsoft Press Book, Deploying Microsoft Office 2000 Notes from the Field, as well as other deployment information at the Microsoft Office deployment Web site:
Microsoft Office 2000 Installation and Deployment
The Windows Installer
Microsoft Office 2000 is the first application from Microsoft to use the Windows Installer as its installation service.
The Windows Installer service helps meet the following customer needs:
• Manages shared resources
• Consistently enforces the same set of installation rules
• Provides easy customization
• Helps users install only the components they need, and helps them install additional components at a later time
• Provides rollback support so users have a working desktop, even if setup fails
• Diagnoses and repairs configuration problems at application run time
Although the Windows Installer is part of Windows 2000, Microsoft Office 2000 uses it to install on Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT Workstation 4.0 as well.
Configuring Microsoft Office 2000
Most large organizations have standards and internal policies to which they want their desktop software to adhere. The Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit Toolbox provides the tools an administrator needs to configure Microsoft Office 2000 for distribution in any environment, including the Windows 2000 Platform. Using these tools, you can take advantage of Windows 2000 Server software installation and maintenance capabilities, as well as customize Microsoft Office 2000 for your environment. In general, you will use the same tools and processes to configure Microsoft Office 2000 regardless of which distribution methods or client operating systems are in use.
To configure Microsoft Office 2000 for your environment
1. Create an administrative installation of Microsoft Office 2000 on a server. We use the same server we set up for the Windows 2000 distribution folder and point the Microsoft Office files to be installed in the $OEM$ directory.
2. Install Microsoft Office 2000 on a clean client computer that has never had any version of Microsoft Office on it, and has your standard operating system image on it.
3. Install the Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit Toolbox on your administrative workstation and the client computer.
4. Use the individual Microsoft Office 2000 application user interfaces (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Excel) to create custom settings.
5. Use the Microsoft Office Profile Wizard on the client computer to capture these custom settings.
6. Use the Custom Installation Wizard (CIW) to create all other customizations, including changing how the applications and features install, adding files, changing shortcuts, and changing the default installation location. The CIW creates a transform file; you can create as many different transforms as you need. In our scenario we create only one .mst file because the company uses the same Microsoft Office configuration information. (Litware.mst)
7. Save the .mst file in the Microsoft Office directory in the $OEM$ directory we created earlier on the distribution server.
8. To install on the client computer, use setup switches to apply the appropriate transform as well as prevent user interaction. We will perform this step as an addition to our unattended installation of Windows 2000 of the Master image machines and on the Windows 9x upgrade machines.
For additional basic information on the Windows Installer and Microsoft Office 2000 deployment, see the “Office 2000 Deployment and Maintenance” white paper at
For detailed information, see the Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit and the book Deploying Microsoft Office 2000 Notes from the Field (from Microsoft Press) at .
There are other methods you can use in a Windows 2000 environment to deploy Microsoft Office 2000. Those methods are out of the scope of this document, but are covered in detail on the Microsoft Office Deployment Web site at . One feature that many companies may consider using to deploy Microsoft Office 2000 is IntelliMirror( management technologies. IntelliMirror retains a user's data, applications, and personal settings to regenerate on any desktop where a user logs in. These features let administrators predefine desktop requirements by Group Policy and have these policies apply whenever users log on, all without further intervention. This feature requires that you already have a Windows 2000 Active Directory( service in place, as well as group policies.
Automating the Installation of Windows 2000 Professional
Now that we have the Windows 2000 distribution folder ready and the Microsoft Office 2000 distribution location created, we are ready to create the unattend answer files. Once we create these files, we install the master image computers, upgrade a Windows 95 machine, and then test the new installation.
The process for building master workstations as well as upgrading the Windows 95 machine starts with an unattended install using an answer file and the installation files from the distribution folder.
Automate Installation with Answer Files
When installing Windows 2000 from the product CD, you normally provide information through the Setup wizard (the wizard is the GUI component of Setup Manager, which controls the overall installation process). An answer file, or unattend.txt file, provides answers to the required information in Windows 2000 Setup wizard usually provided by a user, thus automating the installation. The answer file also tells setup how to interact with the distribution folder, if used.
Using an answer file, you can automate the installation of your master computer when creating your build. This also makes testing easier because the configurations are already scripted and should reduce the chances for human error. In addition, this approach makes maintaining the source much easier because if something does change that requires a new master, the process can be repeated easily.
You can create the answer file manually or by using the Setup Manager. In this scenario, we use the Setup Manager to create the answer file for the image machines, and manually create the answer file for the Windows 95 machines.
Setup Manager
As we said earlier, the unattended answer file provides all the information needed to automate the Windows 2000 setup. All existing user settings and preferences, for example mapped drives, desktop preferences, and printers, are preserved. We use Setup Manager because it is very easy to create the answer file, and because it assists us in customizing Internet Explorer. Using Setup Manager, we can configure the settings of the proxy address for your environment. You can perform advanced configuration by using the Internet Explorer Administration Kit (IEAK) to create an INS file to provide to the Setup Manager.
It is beyond the scope of this guide to include a complete reference to the unattended answer file (the default file is Unattend.txt) or the IEAK. Details on unattend can be found in the Windows 2000 Resource Kit and in the Unattend.doc on the Windows 2000 CD. The Setup Manager is found in the deploy.cab on the Windows 2000 Professional CD under the directory \Support\tools. You can also find information about Setup Manager in the online help file for Setup Manager included in deploy.cab.
If you want to get more information on the IEAK, see:
Answer File for Image Machines
This section describes the process of building answer files for the master computer installations.
To build an answer file
1. The first task is to create an Internet Explorer auto-configuration script file using the IEAK. You must create separate script files for the Seattle location and the Denver location as the proxy and Internet settings are different. (For example: Seattle.ins and Denver.ins.) For all the options that you can select using the IEAK, see the Web page referenced above.
2. Run the Setup Manager and choose the Create a new answer file option.
3. On the next screen choose the option Windows 2000 Unattended Installation.
Note: Do not choose the Sysprep option. We use that when we are ready to deploy the master image. That option is covered in the section “Prepare the Image Using Sysprep.”
4. Follow the prompts, answering the questions with appropriate information.
• Set the machine up for a workgroup rather than a domain. (An explanation for this is at the end of this section.)
• You must also keep the administrative password blank.
• Choose the option When computer starts automatically log on as Administrator.
5. In order to select the Internet Explorer settings, you must choose the option Specify additional settings when prompted by the Setup Manager.
6. The Browser and Shell Settings dialog box pops up (see Figure 2 below). Here, point to the auto-configuration script file you created (Seattle.ins or Denver.ins).
Figure 2.
When it asks you for any additional run once commands after you have configured your network printers, add the information for the Microsoft Office 2000 setup file.
The entire command we entered was (see Figure 3 below):
\\win2000\installs\$oem$\office\Setup.exe TRANSFORMS="\\win2000\installs\$oem$\office\litware.mst" /qb-
Where \\win2000\installs\$oem$\office is the path to the MST file, /qb runs in quiet basic mode (which shows progress bars but runs non-interactively), and the minus sign suppresses all modal dialog boxes, including a completion message.
Figure 3.
The complete list of commands you can add to this line is in the Setupref.xls file, in the Microsoft Office 2000 Resource Kit.
You can also just edit the setup.ini file in the \win2000\installs\$oem$\office directory to include the MST file. For more information on how to do that, see Chapter 4 of the Microsoft Press book, Deploying Microsoft Office 2000 Notes from the Field at .
You can have the Setup Manager automatically update your distribution share folders as well. When prompted to create or modify your distribution share enter your server information.
Why Use Unattend to Create the Master Image?
Using the unattended method to set up the master machine can get fairly complicated, especially if installing additional applications. Because we are using the image method to deploy most of the computers, it is easier to install Windows 2000 from the CD and manually configure the operating system, set Internet Explorer settings, and install applications. However , one reason to use the unattend method rather than manual installation is if you are creating multiple images and already have experience using the unattend process. Then it is easier to just use the unattend method for all the installs.
Since we have the distribution point set up, you can simply create a basic unattend without the addition of the Microsoft Office 2000 installation. You install Windows 2000 using the unattend method, and when the install is complete, you manually initiate the Microsoft Office 2000 installation using the customized MST file. Verify that everything was installed correctly, configure the machine with any additional information, and then deploy the image via Sysprep.
Note: Remember that while building the computer, you must not join it to a domain, and you must keep the local administrative password blank.
Domain Vs. Workgroup Settings
The System Preparation tool is used to prepare the image so that new systems onto which images will be copied receive their own unique security ID (SID). This tool affects only local workstation SIDs. For this reason, it is important not to assign any local permissions on the workstation before running Sysprep.
If local permissions are set prior to running Sysprep, they will not be valid when the local SID is changed after Sysprep is run. This is only true for local permissions. Domain permissions can be set for users prior to Sysprep running because these SIDs are stored on the domain controllers and will not be affected by the local SID that is being changed.
It is also recommended to clone workstations while they are members of a workgroup rather than a domain. The reason for this has to do with machine account names. If a Sysprep source computer is created with a computer name, that same computer name will be duplicated when the computer is cloned. Windows NT domains use the machine account name to establish trust relationships between the domain controllers and the workstations. If computers are added to the domain prior to being cloned, the computer name will need to be changed after the clone procedure is complete for this workstation to be able to participate in the domain. For this reason, it is best to prepare the computer as a workgroup member and then perform the clone procedure. After the installation is verified as successful and Sysprep has been run, the workstation can be added to the domain with a unique machine name.
Answer File for Windows 95 or Windows 98 Machines
Now that we have created the answer file for the image machines, we must create the answer file for the Windows 95 and Windows 98 upgrades. Upgrades need a separate answer file because Windows 2000 setup goes through different steps on an upgrade versus a clean install. The setup has to be initiated when Windows 9x is running. The setup program will perform specific functions, one of them being creating an answer file for the setup in text mode and GUI mode. For information on the complete upgrade process, see the deployment guide, “Automating the Windows 2000 Upgrade.” The answer file we create will have the information that the setup program needs in order to answer the questions that setup requires during the portion before the text mode and GUI mode.
The unattended answer file can be used to control how the Windows 9x upgrade is performed. If you are upgrading a Windows 9x system and you know that all of the hardware and software is supported under Windows 2000, you may perform an unattended upgrade by using the following command line:
winnt32.exe /unattend /s:source files
where source_files is the location of the distribution share point we created earlier. Note that an answer file is not required in this case.
The most important answer file sections and keys used during upgrades are described below. (Refer to the Windows 2000 Resource Kit for details of all available options.) Note that there are significant changes from previous versions of Windows NT. Use of the $OEM$ structure is now supported during upgrades (along with the processing of Cmdlines.txt), as is the ability to make additional Plug and Play device drivers available to setup. The following sections and keys of the unattended setup answer file can be used to take advantage of these features.
Unattended
• OemPreinstall. Use this key to install additional software or customize the upgrade process. The $OEM$ structure and Cmdlines.txt file are both processed during an upgrade. You use this key to install Microsoft Office 2000 after Windows 2000 has installed
• Win9xUpgrade. This key is used in conjunction with the Win9xUpg section of the answer file.
• OemFilesPath. This key specifies the path to the $OEM$ folder (containing OEM files) if it does not exist under the i386 folder of the distribution share point. The path can be a UNC name.
• OemPnpDriversPath. Specifies the path to folders containing Plug and Play drivers that do not ship on the Windows 2000 CD. The folders must contain all files necessary to install the devices—drivers, catalog, and INF files.
Win9xUpg
• MigrationDLLs. This key specifies the location of upgrade packs that setup needs to copy and process during an upgrade to Windows 2000. An upgrade pack consists of a migration DLL (Migrate.dll) and any additional files that may be required to properly upgrade a particular software component from Windows 9x to Windows 2000.
Examples of upgrade packs can be found on the Windows 2000 CD in the i386\Win9xUpg folder.
• UserPassword. This key informs setup of the passwords to create for specific local accounts. Because setup cannot migrate the Windows passwords of users when upgrading a system, it must create passwords for non-domain accounts during the migration process. With this key, an administrator can predetermine what those passwords are for specific users.
There are security concerns associated with using this key because the password is stored as plain text within the answer file. However, after the upgrade is completed, all the password keys are deleted from the copy of the answer file left on the computer. The original copy of the answer file you started setup with is not modified.
If a local account needs to be created for a user who does not have a UserPassword entry, and no DefaultPassword is specified, setup will create a random password. After the first reboot, setup displays a dialog that asks you to pick a single password for both the administrator account and any local user accounts it created with random passwords. The same password applies to everyone until the administrator logs on and changes them.
• DefaultPassword. This key provides a default password for all local accounts created during a migration process. When setup needs to assign one of these passwords, it will first check to see if there is a UserPassword (see above) entry for that user. If not, it will use the value of this key if specified.
If a local account needs to be created for a user who does not have a UserPassword entry, and no DefaultPassword is specified, setup will create a random password.
• ForcePasswordChange. This key informs setup to automatically require a password change on all local accounts it creates during the migration process. When a user first logs on using one of these accounts, the user will be informed that the current password has expired and the user will be forced to select a new password before logging on.
• MigrateUsersAsAdmin. This key informs setup to add all accounts that it creates during migration to the Local Administrators’ group.
• MigrateUsersAsPowerUsers. This key informs setup to add all accounts that it creates during migration to the Power Users’ group.
• MigrateDefaultUser. This key informs setup to migrate the default Windows 9x user account settings to the default Windows 2000 user account.
• UseLocalAccountOnError. This key directs setup to create a local account if a network account cannot be automatically determined or resolved.
Specifying UseLocalAccountOnError=Yes in the answer file will ensure a complete unattended installation. This will cause setup to create a local account whenever a network account cannot be automatically resolved.
Having a local account implies that the user may not have his or her original network privileges. In addition, if a computer cannot be added to the domain during installation of the network on Windows 2000, all user accounts will become local accounts.
• UserDomain. This key specifies the user domain for a user. Multiple UserDomain lines can be used to specify different domains for different users. When specified, this key prevents setup from searching all trusted domains on the network for a matching user account.
If the account is not found in the specified domain—because the account does not exist or the domain is not accessible—a dialog box is presented, and the user must resolve the account unless the UseLocalAccountOnError key is set to Yes.
Additional Considerations When Upgrading from Windows 9x
It is not possible to specify the installation directory during the upgrade. Windows 2000 will be installed in the same directory where Windows 9x was installed. For example, if Windows 95 is installed in c:\windows and this installation is upgraded to Windows 2000, Windows 2000 will also be installed in c:\windows. The TargetPath key in the [Unattended] section of the answer file is ignored.
Unlike Windows 9x, Windows 2000 computers require a machine account on the Microsoft network domain in which they are to participate. This is so that the domain controller servers can identify the computer and grant access to domain resources. Without this machine account, users have to log on to the local workstation domain or workgroup and then explicitly authenticate themselves when connecting to domain resources. Machine accounts are not required for Windows 2000 computers to access non-Microsoft network servers.
Installing the Operating System and Applications
Creating the Image Machines
Once you have created the unattend answer file with the help of Setup Manager, you are ready to start the installation of Windows 2000. On each of the master image machines, you will need to access the file server from a network boot disk in order to start the installation. If you need details on how to create a boot disk, see the Windows 2000 Deployment Planning Guide.
1. At the DOS command line type the following:
net use x: \\WIN2000\INSTALLS
x:\i386\winnt /s:x:\i386 /u x:\i386\Seattle.txt.
Seattle.txt is the answer file you created using Setup Manager. You should also have one for Denver. This command will perform an installation of Windows 2000 Professional in unattended setup mode. The answer file provides your custom specifications to the setup program.
Because we are doing a clean install, it is recommended that you format the hard drive of the master machine if there was an operating system on the hard drive before you started the installation. This will ensure that there are not any programs that can cause problems after the installation.
The automated installation of Windows 2000 will also reboot and install Microsoft Office 2000 since we added that information in the unattend answer file.
2. Once you have installed the operating system, be sure that all of the hardware devices are working properly. Install any drivers for hardware that either exists or will exist on the computers, but are not available on the Windows 2000 product CD.
3. In our answer file we also configured the system to start the installation of Microsoft Office 2000 from the administrative share we created using the appropriate setup keys with the customized MST file. If you did not do that step, then once the operating system is installed, manually start the Microsoft Office 2000 installation using the customized MST file.
4. When Microsoft Office 2000 has been installed, you need to verify that it has been configured correctly by checking the following:
• The system should have logged on via the local administrator account. You chose that option during Setup Manager. We do this step so that you have Administrator privileges when configuring your workstation and installing applications. By performing application installations as an administrator, you can customize the environment the end user will experience while preventing non-profile aware applications from losing settings.
• Check the specific operating system configuration to ensure that the operating system was installed with your specifications. Particularly, ensure that the machine is configured in a workgroup and not a domain. Remember as we pointed out earlier that when a machine is cloned it should not be part of the domain. Also, ensure that the administrator password is blank so that when we run Sysprep to prepare the master image for duplication, we do not have any problems.
• Start Microsoft Office 2000 to be sure that all of your settings are configured properly. If they are not, you need to check the custom installation file to find out what could have gone wrong.
• In your answer file, you configured the centrally shared printers and customized Internet Explorer. Ensure that the correct driver is installed, and that Internet Explorer is configured using the customized INS file.
5. Once you are sure that everything installed correctly, copy the profile of the administrator to the Default Users directory, so that when you image the machine all of the settings are properly configured.
6. Next, validate the image. Testing the image is one of the most important steps because every error will be duplicated to all machines in your environment if it is not corrected before you deploy the image.
Application and User Settings
Once you have the operating system configured, the standard desktop image should include every aspect of a user's desktop—service packs, retail and line-of-business applications, persistent network connections, printer paths, desktop customizations (such as menu items, shortcuts, templates, and other files), and shortcuts to any post-deployment scripts. Pre-configuring the master image makes it extremely easy for users because they are not required to do any installation themselves. We have done most of this by using the automated install of Windows 2000 professional and Microsoft Office 2000. If there is something that you need installed on the machine that you could not configure or deploy with the automated setup, then first perform step 4 (above).
As with any deployment method, you need a strategy for configuring or migrating user state (for instance, documents, e-mail configuration, specific applications, and preferences) to the new desktop. User- and machine-specific settings should not be deployed in the master image. For example, pre-configuring an e-mail profile as part of the master image means that all recipients of that image will have the same e-mail account. Other machine- and user-specific settings that cannot be configured in the image include joining the new system to the network domain and redirecting or rejoining user data on a server-based folder.
Keep in mind that any applications and services that require a user account to operate correctly will fail when you boot the cloned system for the first time. You may want to consider installing these types of software packages after you first boot the cloned system.
Updating the User’s Profile
Once you have verified that the operating system and applications are all working correctly you will want to enable the newly customized profile as the default user profile on the workstation. To do so perform the following:
1. Run the System icon in Control Panel.
2. Click the User Profiles tab.
3. Select the user profile you created earlier (in our case, this is the administrator).
4. Click Copy to.
5. Click Browse, then navigate thru the directory tree to:
%systemroot%\documents and settings\default user
6. Click OK.
7. In the Permitted to use box, click the Change button.
8. Select Everyone.
Once the machine configuration is tested, you are ready to prepare the master computer for duplication. If you have other images to create (as the section “Hardware Inventory” demonstrated), you will need to perform the steps above on those computers as well.
Upgrade a Windows 9x machine
Now that you have the answer file for the Windows 9x upgrade, you are ready to perform that installation. Choose one of the machines that are currently running Windows 9x. It is crucial that you have read all of the Windows 9x upgrade material available so that you know what to expect from the upgrade.
Pre-Upgrade Check List
Before you begin upgrading to Windows 2000 Professional, these preliminary steps are required and should precede your production deployment.
• Scan your current system for viruses. To be certain that there are no infected files on the computers before running upgrades, it is recommended to run your virus checker. Be sure it has the latest updates and set it to check all files on the computer.
• Back up all files. As a safety precaution, before you install a new operating system, you should back up all files on your hard disk.
• Close all applications and disable any virus-scanning software. It is always safest to ensure that all applications are closed down before the upgrade process begins.
To perform the installation
1. At a DOS prompt from within Windows 9x type the following:
net use x: \\WIN2000\INSTALLS
x:\i386\winnt32 /s:x:\i386 /unattend:x:\i386\win9xupg.txt.
For Windows 95 or 98 you will use the winnt32 executable. Notice that we used winnt to create the master image of the clean install. The reason was we were in a pure DOS environment and were limited to the 16-bit executable, whereas Windows 95 or 98 requires the 32-bit version (winnt32).
The file win9xupg.txt is the answer file you manually created. You only need one of these, because your site-specific setting will get migrated during the upgrade process.
The automated installation of Windows 2000 will also reboot and install Microsoft Office 2000 because we added that information in the unattend answer file.
2. Once you have installed the operating system, be sure that all of the hardware devices are still working properly.
3. In our answer file, we configured the system to start the installation of Microsoft Office 2000 from the administrative share we created using the appropriate setup keys with the customized MST file. If you did not do that step, then install the operating system manually and start the Microsoft Office 2000 installation using the customized MST file.
4. Once Microsoft Office 2000 has been installed, you need to verify that it has been configured correctly. Start Microsoft Office 2000 to be sure that all of your settings are configured properly. If they are not, you need to check the custom installation file to find out what went wrong.
5. Ensure that all of your network settings and Internet Explorer settings were migrated correctly.
Before upgrading all of the Windows 9x machines, you should perform some tests on the initial machines that represent at least one of each of the machine types to ensure that you do not have problems with drivers, hardware, BIOS versions, and so on. When you verify that the upgrade was successful, you are ready to perform those steps on the machines that are going to be upgraded from Windows 95 or 98 to Windows 2000 Professional.
Testing and Piloting
The testing phase is one of the most important steps because one error condition will be duplicated to all machines in your environment if it is not corrected before you deploy the image. Piloting the installation is also recommended because you may not be able to see certain issues until someone actually tries to use the installation to perform their everyday job duties.
Evaluations and Pilots
You should perform a thorough lab-based evaluation of Windows 2000. Assemble a representative sample of the PC hardware in use at your site. In Litware’s example, at a minimum they should have machines configured that represent the master image as well as a Windows 95 and a Windows 98 upgrade machine.
Comprehensive testing on each hardware platform, combined with testing of application installation and operation, can greatly increase both the confidence of the project teams and that of the business decision makers, and ultimately leads to a higher quality deployment. Remember though that Microsoft has invested a great deal of time and money testing industry-wide hardware and software. Supplement this testing with your own.
Execute limited scale pilots. The primary purpose of pilot projects should not be to test Windows 2000. Rather, you should carry out early pilots, of perhaps 50 users, to provide feedback to the project team. This feedback is used to determine the features that you need to enable or disable within Windows 2000. This is particularly relevant if you upgrade from Windows 95 or 98, where features such as domain-based machine accounts, local security, and file system security have not previously been addressed. The user population chosen for pilots should represent a cross-section of your business, in terms of job function and of IT proficiency.
You should upgrade pilot systems using the method that you will use to install all of the machines in your environment, from imaging and the distribution share point using answer files. When you have made all of the necessary design decisions, use a final pilot to test the upgrade mechanism.
The pilot results should be carefully compiled. You can use the results data to estimate upgrade times, the number of concurrent upgrades you can sustain, and peak loads on the user support functions.
Deploying the Desktop Using the Sysprep Utility
Now that you have configured your master computer and verified that everything is working properly, you are ready to get the images ready for deployment. In our example, you should have three images for Seattle (one for the desktops and two for the laptops), and one laptop image for Denver.
An overview of the typical image installation process is below. We have completed steps 1 and 2 and are now ready to perform steps 3 through 5: preparing our master images to be duplicated to the target machines.
1. Install Windows 2000 Professional on the master computer and configure the desktop settings for printers, Internet Explorer, and so on.
2. Install any additional software components including applications that you want every target computer to have.
3. Run Sysprep to prepare the master computer for imaging.
4. Distribute the image to the target computers.
5. Reboot the target computers, with little or no user input.
Note: The machines that use the image method for deployment must have identical Hardware Abstraction Layers (HALs) and mass storage controllers. The master and target computers must have identical drive controllers, whether IDE or SCSI. Similarly, master and target computers must have the same number of processors.
Prepare the Image Using Sysprep
Now that you have installed Windows 2000 Professional, and configured the applications that you want installed on the master machine you must prepare that image to be deployed to multiple machines. Sysprep prepares the hard disk on the master computer for duplication to other computers and then runs a third-party disk-imaging process. This method decreases deployment time dramatically compared to standard or scripted installations.
As we stated before, to use Sysprep, your master and target computers must have identical HALs, Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) support, and mass storage controller devices. Windows 2000 automatically detects Plug and Play devices, and Sysprep redetects and re-enumerates the devices on the system when the computer is turned on after Sysprep has run. This means that Plug and Play devices, such as network adapters, modems, video adapters, and sound cards do not have to be the same on the master and target computers.
Before you start using Sysprep to prepare your images for deployment, we need to briefly cover all of the files that are associated with Sysprep and the configuration that needs to be done to ensure a successful rollout.
Sysprep Overview
The files that make up the Windows 2000 Sysprep components are:
• Sysprep.exe
• Setupcl.exe
• Sysprep.inf
To use Sysprep, run Sysprep.exe manually. The Sysprep and Setupcl files can either exist on a floppy, or in the systemdrive\Sysprep folder on the hard drive. If Sysprep exists in the systemdrive\Sysprep folder on the hard drive, Sysprep will remove the entire folder and its contents from the machine once it has completed running.
Sysprep is run on the master computer once it is configured with applications and settings and ready to be duplicated. Sysprep is a very simple program that performs the following functions:
• Modifies several registry keys to trigger WinLogon and Plug and Play detection to run at the next boot
• Copies Setupcl.exe to systemroot\System32 and arranges for Setupcl to run at next boot
• Does some light processing of Sysprep.inf to set source file paths in registry
• Issues a shutdown command
When Sysprep completes and the computer shuts down, the disk drive is ready to be duplicated. At this point, you use a third-party hardware or software imaging solution to duplicate the drive.
The next time the master computer or any drive duplicated from the master computer starts, Setupcl runs, Plug and Play detection starts, and a Mini-Setup wizard starts and looks for a Sysprep.inf file to supply information. The Mini-Setup will parse the Sysprep.inf file and use that input to determine if additional information needs to be collected. Once complete, the computer is restarted.
After the computer restarts, the process is complete and the computer is ready for use by the employee. The settings of the target computer will be based on the duplicated image, plus any changes made during the Mini-Setup wizard.
Sysprep.inf
When building a standard image, there might be some minor differences between computers. For example, every Windows 2000 computer needs to have a unique machine name. Remaining information is commonly prompted from users through the Mini-Setup wizard. . However, in many cases you may want to automate this input into Mini-Setup to prevent users from answering these prompts. This limits the requirement for user input, thereby reducing potential user errors. Sysprep.inf can be used to automate the Mini-Setup wizard. You can also use the Setup Manager to create the Sysprep.inf file just as we did when creating the unattend file.
You may recall that when a machine that has had Sysprep run on it runs for the first time, it runs Setupcl and invokes the Mini-Setup wizard. Normally when Mini-Setup wizard runs, it prompts the user for some standard information to configure the workstation, and then restarts the workstation. However, if Sysprep.inf is present, Mini-Setup uses information in Sysprep.inf instead of prompting the user. Basically, Sysprep.inf is an answer file for the Mini-Setup wizard.
Sysprep.inf must exist in either the same folder as Sysprep and Setupcl, or on the primary floppy drive, usually A. The Sysprep.inf file cannot be named anything other than Sysprep.inf. You can use Setup Manager to help create the Sysprep.inf. You can find information about Setup Manager in the online help file for Setup Manager included in deploy.cab file.
Sysprep.inf allows for a very high level of automation, and is extremely granular in terms of allowing almost any part of Windows 2000 to be customized. It uses the same .ini syntax and key names as the setup answer file, Unattend.txt. A complete reference document on format and all parameters is available in the Unattended Setup Mode Parameters Guide located in the file deploy.cab on the Windows 2000 product CD.
The Sysprep.inf file format follows the Windows 2000 unattended answer file format, and supports most of the same values as well. Note the two parameters that apply only to the Sysprep.inf: KeepPageFile and InstallFilesPath.
To use Sysprep.inf, the file must exist along with Sysprep and SetupCL in the systemdrive\Sysprep folder on the local hard disk, or on the primary floppy drive.
Note: If you provided a Sysprep.inf file on the master computer and you want to change Sysprep.inf on a per-computer basis, you can use the floppy disk method previously discussed. The floppy disk would be used after the Windows startup screen appears in order to allow further customization at the target computer’s location. The floppy disk drive is read when the Please Wait Mini-Setup wizard screen appears. When the Mini-Setup wizard has successfully completed its tasks, the system restarts one last time, the Sysprep folder and all of its contents are deleted, and the system is ready for the user to log on.
For an example of a Sysprep.inf file, refer to:
• The Windows 2000 Deployment Guide.
• The document titled “Microsoft Windows 2000 Guide to Unattended Setup” (Unattend.doc) on the Microsoft Windows 2000 operating system CD. The Unattend.doc file is part of the Deploy.cab file in the \Support\Tools folder. In Windows 98 or Windows 2000, use Windows Explorer to extract this document. In Windows 95 and earlier, or in MS-DOS, use the Extract command to access the file.
Sysprep Steps
Now that you have completed the master image, you are ready to prepare that image for duplication by using Sysprep.
1. On the master image machine, start Setup Manager to create a Sysprep.inf so that you can completely automate the install except for the machine name. Run the Setup Manager and choose the first option, Create a new answer File.
2. When prompted, choose that the answer file is for a Sysprep Install.
3. You can choose not to fully automate the installation so that the user will be prompted for the machine name when Windows 2000 is booted for the first time. If you want to fully automate the installation, you need to supply the Sysprep.inf for every machine when you start the setup. You would do this using a floppy as discussed earlier in this paper.
4. The Setup Manager will also create the Sysprep directory for you. If you choose not to use the default directory, you must remember to create c:\Sysprep on the master image and copy the newly created Sysprep.inf, Sysprep.exe, and Setupcl.exe to the directory.
Figure 4.
Once Setup Manager has completed, you are ready to run setup.
5. At a command prompt, change to the Sysprep folder by typing
cd Sysprep
6. Type the following:
Sysprep –reboot
If the –reboot command-line switch was not specified, a message requesting that you shut down the computer appears. On the Start menu, click Shut Down.
You are now ready to use a third-party disk-imaging tool to create an image of the installation. Image the machine to one desktop as a test and ensure that when the machine restarts all of the settings that you added to the Sysprep.ini were applied.
Deploying the Image
Now that you have created the master image and prepared the image for duplication by running the Sysprep utility, you are ready to deploy the image to your workstations. There are various methods that you can use to deploy images. This guide gives you information about the third-party tools that are most used as well as a new utility that Microsoft supplies with Windows 2000.
Note: It is a good practice to evaluate BIOS flashes and repartitioning of hard drives on workstations as part of your comprehensive deployment plan before moving forward with a production deployment.
Third-Party Tools
The third-party products discussed in this guide are manufactured by vendors independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.
A few examples of third-party tools that you can use to deploy the image are Symantec's Norton Ghost, RapiDeploy from Altiri,. Powerquest's DriveImage Professional, and Micro House's Imagecaster.
You should contact these vendors or review their Web pages to decide which one will be best in your environment. Each may offer specific features that will work best depending on how you want to image and deploy the desktop.
• PowerQuest:
• Symantec:
• Micro House International:
• Altiris (formerly KeyLabs):
Image Distribution
One of the most important steps that many people fail to do is adequately test their image. Most of the time, minimal testing will be done and a problem is cloned to hundreds of machines. It is strongly recommended to clone a few test machines before you roll out an entire group. You might find subtle system configuration errors that you need to correct. Be aware that Sysprep might change system security settings during its execution, so you need to examine the system security settings carefully after the system boots for the first time and before you use the clones in a secured production environment.
Once the image is created, you will need to consider how to distribute it. You can deploy the image to the desktops using these methods:
• Bootable CD
• Download from network
• Hard disk replication
A CD is the easiest method for users and does not use any network bandwidth. However, if CD distribution is not possible in your environment, using a network share can also be effective, but that requires you or your users to use a boot floppy to gain access to the network. Network capacity is another consideration. Other methods include hard disk replication or using transportable media such as large-capacity tape drives (such as Zip). You can check with the vendor of the imaging tool that you use to create the best deployment plan.
After using a third-party utility to copy the image files to the target computer, Windows 2000 will boot and then go through the Mini-Setup wizard, which can be fully automated using a script file (as we discussed above). Because the master image was prepared with the System Preparation tool, each target computer receives its own unique security ID.
Scenario Example
Litware Corp. must now deploy the image they created. In their Seattle office, they have decided to use disk replication on all of the new desktops that they are leasing. For all of the existing machines they are going to place the image on several network servers to facilitate the network installation. The IT group is going to create a network boot disk to enable the machine to connect to the network server and start the installation. In addition, they are going to create some bootable CD images so that if they are having issues getting to the network they can perform the installation from a CD.
Denver has decided to use the bootable CD images to deploy the image to their laptops as that will be the easiest for them.
Summary of What the User Sees
Once the image is duplicated and deployed to a computer, the next time that Windows 2000 is started from the hard disk, the system will detect and re-enumerate the Plug and Play devices to complete the installation and configuration on the target computer.
Hardware in the machines is automatically detected as the departmental image is installed. As the machines are booted from the image for the first time, Mini-Setup wizard prompts the user for the machine name or anything else that you specified in the Sysprep.inf. When the user starts their machine for the first time, they enter their machine name, which they have been instructed to do earlier. The deployment process is now completed for the user. Their new machine or their existing machines are now installed with the Windows 2000, Microsoft Office 2000, network printers, intranet favorites, and all other settings pre-configured and ready to run.
Potential Issues
When you deploy an operating system or applications using an automated method, there are issues that may come up. These issues affect everyone because usually if the error is in the automated script or the image, it will affect whichever machine used the script or image. The biggest factor that can ease this situation is to thoroughly test your image and automated script files. Here are some frequently asked questions, and answers, regarding automation.
Sysprep: Frequently Asked Questions:
If I have a variety of Plug and Play devices that are available, do I have to create separate distribution folders or images for this?
No, you can place all the drivers for the Plug and Play devices for all computers that are being installed with the same operating system in the same location.
Why doesn’t Sysprep find my Sysprep.inf on my floppy drive?
For x86 computers where the floppy drive is a bootable device before the hard drive, the disk must be inserted when Windows menu appears.
Why would I want to use the -nosidgen switch?
Use this switch for situations where you would want the Mini-Setup wizard to run, yet you do not want the SID to be regenerated. For example, an OEM deploying many machines may pull out every 100th machine and conduct an audit to verify that it’s been built correctly. Rather than redeploy, they can use the –nosidgen switch to reset the machine, and place it back in the deployment pool.
I created an image with apps installed, but when users log on they don’t see them. What happened?
When you are building your master computer and are installing applications, verify that user-specific data writes to the default user registry. Make sure that the applications you install are available for all users, either by using smart profile-aware applications, or by installing to a user ID and then make that profile available to all users.
When the Mini-Setup wizard prompts the user to enter the machine name, I don’t want them to change the password. Is there someway to prevent this?
If the administrator password is specified in Sysprep.inf and user is prompted for the computer name and administrator password, the administrator password specified in Sysprep.inf will be used. This prevents users from changing administrator passwords when administrators need to prompt users for computer name.
After I ran the Sysprep tool on a machine, the option to Show icon in taksbar when connected doesn’t appear. Yet, I see it enabled on my master computer.
Since network settings need to be reset on the target computer, this option is reset to its default. There is a known limitation of Sysprep for computers in a LAN. This option is not reset for RAS connections.
Windows 9x Upgrade Issues
Many of the issues that you may see during a Windows 95 or 98 upgrade are because applications and utilities were not upgraded properly. Here is a list of some known issues regarding applications and utilities:
• System utilities and features not supported in Windows 2000. For example, compressed drives that use DriveSpace or third-party applications and disk utilities, such as ScanDisk, disk defragmenters, and anti-virus programs. Compressed drives must be decompressed before upgrading.
• Applications and utilities that use virtual device drivers (VxDs) and .386 drivers. Check the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file to see if your system is loading any of these virtual drivers. Note that some device drivers make use of VxDs to provide property pages in property dialogs.
• Third-party Control Panel applications. These are often installed by device driver installation programs to provide additional functionality not provided out of the box with Windows 95 or 98,—for example, device-specific capabilities for display adapter drivers. You should test Control Panel application functionality as part of your Windows 2000 evaluation.
• Network components that do not ship on the Windows 2000 compact disc. Some of these components may have updates in the WIN9XUPG folder of the i386 directory.
• Custom power management solutions and tools. Windows 2000 ACPI and APM support replaces these. You should remove the custom tools and solutions before upgrading.
• Custom Plug and Play solutions. These are no longer necessary as Windows 2000 provides full Plug and Play support. You should remove the custom solutions before upgrading.
Summary
Windows 2000 Professional delivers many of the TCO objectives to which Microsoft has committed. By supporting deployment using imaging and Sysprep, Windows 2000 give companies the ability to use the method that the computer industry has recognized as one of the most efficient and cost-effective methods of deploying an operating system and applications.
The following is a summary of the process used in this scenario guide:
1. Inventory your hardware to determine the number of master images that are needed. Create a master image on the computers that are similar, and meet requirements for duplication.
2. Install Windows 2000 Professional on the master image machines using conventional methods, or, by using an unattend file with configuration options already configured using the Setup Manager.
3. Install and configure the applications and user desktop settings.
4. Test the image to ensure that everything is working.
5. Prepare the image for duplication using Sysprep (with a Sysprep.inf created using Setup Manager).
6. Duplicate the image using a third-party imaging tool.
7. The Mini-Setup wizard is used for final machine configuration (Sysprep.inf).
For More Information
For the latest information on the Windows 2000, visit the World Wide Web site at:
Windows 2000 Technology Center:
Specific sites with deployment information:
Windows 2000 Deployment guide:
Windows 2000 Deployment Resources:
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