Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7
These days I’m dealing with Windows Deployment Services for Windows server 2008. We need to migrate near 300 desktops and laptops to Windows 7. We are migrating from Windows XP and this doesn’t allow us to directly upgrade. We need to re-deploy Windows on every single computer in our environment.
On TechNet’s Windows 7 Upgrade and Migration Guide you can read:_
“The Upgrade option is available in Windows 7 Setup for some computers running Windows Vista®, but it is not available for Windows XP”_
Fortunately, Microsoft has released a set of tools to successfully overcome this procedure. One of that set of tools is the Windows Automated Installation Kit, also known a WAIK for Windows 7. It includes several tools for unattended installation answer files creation, tools to add drivers and packages to your images, settings migration tools and so on.
Usually, WAIK is combined with Windows Deployment Services (WDS) and Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) when facing large complex corporate deployments; and every one brings a particular functionality to the deployment process.
Five major tools are included on Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK):
Tool
Description
Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM)
The tool used to open Windows images, create answer files, and manage distribution shares and configuration sets.
ImageX
The tool used to capture, create, modify, and apply Windows images.
Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM)
The tool used to apply updates, drivers, and language packs to a Windows image. DISM is available in all installations of Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)
A minimal operating system environment used to deploy Windows. The AIK includes several tools used to build and configure Windows PE environments.
User State Migration Tool (USMT)
A tool used to migrate user data from a previous Windows operating system to Windows 7.
Now that you know the possibilities of WAIK go ahead an download it. I’ll be posting some examples on how to inject drivers on images using DISM soon.