The new and improved tools and technologies for deployment are:

• The Application Compatibility Toolkit helps organizations quickly identify which applications are compatible with Windows 7. Updated features include:
• A new agent that tests for compatibility when developing service packs and hotfixes
• Centralized agent configuration
• Centralized data collection
• Data analysis to generate reports
• Automated updates of compatibility data
• Automated issue resolution to centrally fix known application compatibility problems
• The Online Application Community to share and resolve application compatibility problems


• The User State Migration Tool (USMT) moves desktop settings and applications from one computer to another. Some features are:
• XML files
• Migrate encrypting file system (EFS) certificates with the /copyraw option
• Create a configuration file by using the /genconfig option
• The use of hard links to simplify data migration on the same computer

The USMT is downloadable software from Microsoft's Website. In its simplest form, you use the USMT in the following manner:
• Run Scanstate.exe on the source computer. Scanstate.exe will copy the user state data to an internediate store. The internediate store (for example, a CD-RW) must be large enough to acommodate the data that will be transferred. Scanstate.exe would commonly be executed as a shortcut sent to users that they would deploy in the evening or through a scheduled script.
• Install a fresh copy of Windows 7 on the target computer.
• Run loadstate.exe on the target computer. loadstate.exe will access the intermediate store to restore the user settings.



Option	Description
/config	Specifies the Config.xml file that should be used
/encrypt	Encrypts the store (Scanstate.exe only)
/decrypt	Decrypts the store (Loadstate.exe only)
/nocompress	Disables data compression
/genconfig	Generates a Config.xml file but does not create a store
/targetxp	Optimizes ScanState for use with Windows XP
/all	Migrates all users
/ue	User exclude: excludes the specified user
/ui	User include: includes the specified user
/uel	Excludes user based on last login time
/v verboselevel	Used to identify what verbosity level will be associated with the log file on a scale of 0-13, with 0 being the least verbose



• ImageX is a new command-line tool for managing WIM images that is included in the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK), a collection of utilities and documentation for automatic deployment of Windows 7. You can use ImageX to:
  • Creare images that include applications
  • Split images into multiple files
  • Compress images
  • Mount images to a folder for adding or removing files
  
  For more information about the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK), visit:
  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc748933(WS.10).aspx.


• Windows System Image Manager (WSIM) is a graphical tool for configuring unattended installs and updating WIM images. WSIM is included in WAIK. You can use WSIM to:
• Create answer files for unattended installations
• Add device drivers and applications to an answer file
• Create and add files to a distribution share


• Windows PE is a limited and non-GUI version of Windows based on Windows 7 technologies that can be used for installing, troubleshooting, and repairing Windows 7. Windows PE includes networking components that allows you to use current Windows drivers for network connectivity.


• Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) is used to perform offline servicing of WIM images.
  
  Offline servicing is typically used by large organizations that want to apply windows updates or drivers to an image. However, it can also be used to update Windows PE images. DSIM can use answer files created by WSIM to define which updates should be applied. Only the offline servicing section of the answer file is used.


• Windows Deployment Services (WDS) is the updated version of Remote Installation Services (RIS). WDS is the server side component that can be used to manage the deployment of images over the network. Desktop computers can be booted to the network using a Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) network card to perform an installation.

Activity 2-1