Customizing and Automating Installations

Windows 2000 Professional provides tools and methods for customizing and automating installations to meet a range of user requirements and software and hardware configurations. Use this guide to understand the steps in the customization and automation process and to choose the best tool and method for your needs.

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 Understand the process and tools for customizing and automating an installation.

Familiarize yourself with the steps involved in customizing and automating a Windows 2000 Professional installation. Determine the best methods and tools to use for installing Windows 2000 Professional and Microsoft Windows 95, Microsoft Windows 98, or Microsoft Windows NT version 4.0.

  • See Overview of Customizing and Automating Installations in this chapter.

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 Plan for the most appropriate method to customize and automate your installation.

Plan your installation by conducting an inventory of your existing computers; assessing your network infrastructure; and determining your organization's user types, requirements, and preferences. You must know, for example, the number of computers in your organization; their existing software and hardware configurations; whether applications are required or optional; protocols and network speed; and whether or not there is a Windows 2000 Server infrastructure in place when you deploy Windows 2000 Professional. Choose the appropriate tools and methods for your existing environment.

  • See Step 1: Plan in this chapter.

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 Prepare for a successful customized and automated installation.

Prepare for your installation: find the information you need; verify that you have the required hardware and software; set up a distribution folder; and create an answer file.

  • See Step 2: Prepare in this chapter.

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 Modify the answer file and populate the distribution folder.

Add entries in the answer file to automate specific tasks during installation. Populate the distribution folder by adding files, programs, and applications of your choice. These can include mass storage device drivers, Plug and Play device drivers, and applications.

  • See Step 3: Customize in this chapter.

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 Distribute your customized installation files and start Setup on the destination computers.

Run Setup in unattended mode (Winnt.exe or Winnt32.exe with the /u switch) on individual computers, over the network, or on a master computer to create a master installation. If you are not automating the installation individually on each computer, you can choose one of the imaging tools (System Preparation tool [Sysprep] or Remote Installation Services [RIS]) or a network management tool (Microsoft Systems Management Server) to distribute your customized installation files and start Setup on the destination computer.

  • See Step 4: Deploy in this chapter.