Planning Installations

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Planning Installations

After you decide how to use Windows Vista in your organization and how best to manage your users and computers, you need to prepare your installations. The following questions can help you make important decisions affecting the installation process:

  • Are you going to upgrade computers or perform clean installations?
  • Which installation method is appropriate for you to use?
  • Do you plan to install multiple operating systems on individual computers?

Your answers to the preceding questions are largely determined by your business goals and your current configuration. For example, if you plan to install Windows Vista to gain enhancements unavailable in current Windows XP Professional installations, upgrading might be the preferred strategy. However, if your desktop computers run Windows 95, you must do a clean installation of Windows Vista. If you have an Active Directory environment in place, you can use RIS to standardize the installations across your desktops, customize and control the installation process, and determine the media on which to distribute the installation.