MDT 2010 Mega Tips and Tricks Collection

As user of MDT 2010 I collected a lot of interesting information. I thought it would be useful to put them all in one place for myself and any readers.

UPDATE: If I get any information from a blog I always mention the source. Since this was a collection of forum posts I didn’t think about it. The original forum posts can be found here: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/o-s-deployment/76099-mdt-resources.html#post678277. Excuses to the originating source for not mentioning him in the first place.

Blogs:
Johan Arwidmark – Deployment Gurus
Mike Nystrom – Deployment Gurus
http://blogs.technet.com/b/mniehaus/ – Lead MS Deployment Guy
Microsoft Team Blogs – MDT / SCCM / WSUS
Deployment Research (formerly DeployVista) (Johan Arwidmark)
The App Compat Guy (Chris Jackson)
The Deployment Bunny / Mike’s Tech Head Blog (Mikael Nystrom)
The Deployment Guys (Richard Smith, Ben Hunter et al.)
Windows and Office Deployment Ramblings (Michael Niehaus)
Xtreme Deployment (Keith Garner & Tim Mintner)
Aidan Finn
Chris Nackers Blog
Deploy_Windows (True)
Deploy Windows 7
Education Technology Now
Fixing the Annoying IT Stuff
Scriptimus Ex Machina
The D-Spot
The Decoder Wheel
The IT Bros.

Websites:
MDT 2010 Setup Step By Step

PDFs:
Aidan Finn – Deploying Windows 7 with MDT 2010
PDF from Microsoft France:

Forum:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/…US/mdt/threads
App Deploy – Imaging and Unattended OS Installation / Package Development
Ars Technica – Windows Technical Mojo
MSFN – Application Installs / Unattended XP/2003, Vista/2008, Windows 7/2008 R2 / Windows PE
MyITForum – Microsoft Deployment / Deployment Fundamentals
ServerFault – MDT 2010 / SysPrep
WinCert – Microsoft Operating Systems and Software / Unattended XP/Vista
Windows-Noob – MDT / SCCM / WSIM / WDS / Zero Touch & Lite Touch

Books:
Mastering Windows 7 Deployment
Deployment Fundamentals
Deployment Fundamentals: Volume 1 – Paperback / Kindle Edition (Sample Files)
Mastering Windows 7 Deployment – Paperback / Kindle Edition (Sample)
Windows 7 Resource Kit – Paperback (Sample)
Least Privilege Security for Windows 7, Vista and XP – Paperback / eBook (Sample)

Twitter:
Aidan Finn
Catapult Systems
Chris Jackson
Chris Nackers
Deployment Guys
Johan Arwidmark
Mikael Nystrom
Mitch Tulloch
Michael Niehaus
The IT Bros.
Xtreme Deployment

Videos
MDT 2010 Lite Touch Unleashed by Johan Arwidmark – A series of 27 videos covering literally everything MDT-related (also on YouTube).
IT Idiots – Lite Touch Deployment of Windows 7 (Episode 71)
Windows 7 AIK/OPK Deployment 101 (Download)
Windows 7 OEM Preinstallation Kit Training (Microsoft)
TrueSec Deployment CD v2.0

Microsoft TechNet

Microsoft TechEd 2010

64-bit Windows 7: Is Now the Time to Deploy? – Mike Niehaus
A Drivers Saga: The Control Freak meets The Dynamic Developer – Johan Arwidmark, Mike Niehaus
Choosing the Right Deployment Tool – Mikael Nystrom, Johan Arwidmark
Deploying Windows Server 2008 R2? Which Tool Should You Use… – Rhonda Layfield
Migrate XP to Windows 7 Without Loosing any User or Application Settings – Rhonda Layfield
Troubleshooting Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Lite Touch – Johan Arwidmark
Unleash the Power of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 – Mike Niehaus
Windows 7 Deployment on Mass – Mike Niehaus, Kyle Rosenthal

Microsoft Management Summit 2011

Downloads

Essentials:
Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 Update 1
Windows Automated Installation Kit v3.0
Windows AIK Supplement for Windows 7/2008 R2 SP1 (updates WinPE to v3.1. Read this first before installing)

Optional Extras
Application Compatibility Toolkit v5.6 (Download)
Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (Download)

Packages (Patches and Languages Packs):
Updates/Hotfixes
SoLoR’s Hotfix Repository – MSU Update Packs for Windows 7 (Post-SP1) and Office 2010
Microsoft Update Catalog – Updates and drivers. Must use Internet Explorer to download files.
Microsoft Security Bulletin Search – Find Microsoft updates using various criteria

Microsoft KB Articles
KB976932 – SP1 for Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 (x86 & x64)
KB2534111 – “Computer name cannot contain only numbers” error message when you install Windows 7 by using Windows 7 SP1 integrated installation media. This is the hotfix which is integrated into the SP1-U ISOs.
KB2529073 – Binary files in some USB drivers are not updated after you install Windows 7 SP1 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
KB982018 – Advanced Format Disks Compatibility Update for Windows 7/2008 R2 inc. SP1 (includes new fsutil.exe)

MSUs:

Internet Explorer v9.0 (MSUs)
Windows 7
x86: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=210145
x64: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=210143
Windows Vista
x86: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=210146
x64: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=210144

Language Packs (MUIs)

Windows 7 SP1 (All Languages)
x86
English:  http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...795bde46c8.exe
French:   http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...1f48983d22.exe
German:   http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...054d23bf81.exe
Spanish:  http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...7005628286.exe
Japanese: http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...517e4c0a3d.exe
Polish:   http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...7d3552d245.exe
Arabic:   http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...c44ef9b53f.exe

x64
English:  http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...58572b9b87.exe
French:   http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...2bd2177798.exe
German:   http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...a0cba13773.exe
Spanish:  http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...543ed8ce33.exe
Japanese: http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...655f1f8715.exe
Polish:   http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...3d3e2d01e7.exe
Arabic:   http://download.windowsupdate.com/ms...26b08b8f63.exe

Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
All 35 Languages: http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...MSXLP1_DVD.iso

French:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...-x64-fr-FR.exe
German:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...-x64-de-DE.exe
Spanish:  http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...-x64-es-ES.exe
Japanese: http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...-x64-ja-JP.exe
Polish:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...-x64-pl-PL.exe
Arabic:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...-x64-ar-SA.exe

Internet Explorer v9.0 (All Languages)
x86
French:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x86-fra.msu
German:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x86-deu.msu
Spanish:  http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x86-esn.msu
Japanese: http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x86-jpn.msu
Polish:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x86-plk.msu
Arabic:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x86-ara.msu
x64
French:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x64-fra.msu
German:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x64-deu.msu
Spanish:  http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x64-esn.msu
Japanese: http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x64-jpn.msu
Polish:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x64-plk.msu
Arabic:   http://download.microsoft.com/downlo...ck-x64-ara.msu

Language Interface Packs (LIPs)
LIPs provide a translated version of the most widely used areas of the user interface. The parts that are not translated into the LIP language are displayed in the parent language.

Drivers

Dell – Driver packs for almost every business-class desktop/laptop that Dell sell.
» Desktops – XP, Windows 7
» Notebooks – XP, Windows 7
» Windows PE v3.0 (NIC and Mass Storage drivers only)

HP – SoftPaq Download Manager / SmartStart Scripting Toolkit (WinPE drivers for Proliant servers)
IBM – ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit (WinPE drivers for IBM servers)
Lenovo – ThinkVantage Update Retriever

Driver Backup Tools
CLI: Drvbckp
GUI: DriverGrabber, Double Driver, Driver Magician Lite

Scripts
Bulk import drivers into MDT using PowerShell
Check to see if the TPM is enabled (for BitLocker)
Identify driver problems in MDT 2010 Litetouch
Install driver EXE package
Use MAC address to name computer
ZeroTouch for MDT without SCCM

Useful Apps
Windows 7 Toolkit – Like nLite, but for Windows 7 (and with more features)
AppInst – A small program to easily install applications from an MDT deployment share.
Duplicate Driver Tool
Exe2Cab – Converts language pack installers from EXEs to CABs so they can be integrated into Windows using MDT or DISM
GImageX – ImageX GUI
Hotfix Extractor
KeepAlive – Prevent machines from falling asleep during LTI
MDT App Export – Export & share MDT applications
MDT Application Ordering Tool
MDT Debugger
MDT MSI App – Quickly add MSIs to MDT either via GUI or command-line
MDT Web Front-end
MDT Wizard Editor
Pretty Good Frontend Clone
USB Boot Tool – Wizard to add/remove WinPE Boot.wim(s) to a USB flash drive.