Aaron has put together a great list of resources for building a Vista image.  If you have not used Vista, or read about it, the install process as well as how the OS is built is different than XP and prior OS’s.  In addition with the new OSD FP/USMT we move to .xml files, but probably the most interesting technology so far is WAIK.  WAIK will allow you to edit an image without having to lay it down on a system and then recreate the image.  You for got a driver, want to add that new company standard screen saver, you can do this with WAIK.  Keep in mind that SMS requires a FP update to get to the next version of OSD and support USMT 3 and WAIK.  This will also update all your WIM images from version .9 to 1.0.  So be prepared and as always test this update in your lab first!  I am happy to report that most of the emails I get are from people having issues in their lab while testing and not in production!  On that note if you have any questions please feel free to contact me by email, and if I can’t help you I can likely put you in touch with an expert that can.

Regards.

Anthony Clendenen

Source.

Windows Vista OS image creation and deployment guide

I was looking at some of the Windows Vista information on the main Microsoft site this weekend, and I found an interesting document describing the process for creating and deploying OS images that I wanted to post here.  Windows Vista OS setup is built on an entirely new set of technologies than previous versions of Windows, and as a result the process of creating OS images and creating and using unattend files is different than you might be used to from the past.

If you are planning to create and deploy OS images for Windows Vista, I encourage you to take a look at the Windows Vista deployment step-by-step guide at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/88f80cb7-d44f-47f7-a10d-e23dd53bc3fa.mspx for some helpful information.  The following sections are included in the deployment guide:

• Tools and technologies - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/88f80cb7-d44f-47f7-a10d-e23dd53bc3fa.mspx#BKMK_TOOLS 
• Requirements and prerequisites - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/88f80cb7-d44f-47f7-a10d-e23dd53bc3fa.mspx#BKMK_REQS_AND_PREREQS 
• Step 1: building a lab environment - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/88f80cb7-d44f-47f7-a10d-e23dd53bc3fa.mspx#BKMK_BUILD_LAB 
• Step 2: building an answer file - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/88f80cb7-d44f-47f7-a10d-e23dd53bc3fa.mspx#BKMK_BUILD_ANSWER 
• Step 3: building a master installation - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/88f80cb7-d44f-47f7-a10d-e23dd53bc3fa.mspx#BKMK_BUILD_MASTER 
• Step 4: creating an image - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/88f80cb7-d44f-47f7-a10d-e23dd53bc3fa.mspx#BKMK_CREATE_IMAGE 
• Step 5: deploying an image - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/88f80cb7-d44f-47f7-a10d-e23dd53bc3fa.mspx#BKMK_DEPLOY_IMAGE

In addition, it is worth reviewing the content of the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK), which is located at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=53552.