Introducing Windows 7 to the Network

[CommodoreS]

I will shortly be introducing Windows 7 clients to a new Win2008 R2 64 Bit network which AD has only been configured to be used by windows XP clients. Is there any changes I will need to make for the Win 7 Clients to work in the same way as the Windows XP clients?

I am also wondering if it would be best to get Win 7 64 bit or 32 bit version, as I heard there can be problems connecting printer drivers and I am guessing I may also get software compatibility issues.

Thinking of Printers I am also wondering what the best way to automatically deploy the shared printers and drivers to the machines is. Whether there is a fantastic (and cheap or free) software tool out there which would help with this or an easy way to do it via AD which will work reliably. It will be a mixed Win XP/Win 7 network so it would be good to know how other people have configured their printers.

I am also wondering if Windows 7 will work in the same way as Windows XP with sysprep and WDS or if I will run into any problems, as the sysprep ini seems to have Win XP specific settings in it.

[psydii]

Buy and read the Windows 7 Resource Kit.

Trying to make windows 7 work the same way as XP is to my mind like trying to make XP work like 98. Accept and embrace the changes and read up on the gotcha's.

64bit here without any problems, well, that relate to the 64bitness of the system - there are plenty of general W7 'quirks' that I could do without.

[themightymrp]

There can be quite a few differences when running Win 7 on your network, particularly when using roaming profiles!!! Read around on here for help but theres a fair bit different.

Personally I would go with 32bit on the machines unless you have more than 4gb RAM planned, the printer driver thing is a nightmare otherwise (personal experience, not necessarily the same for everyone). I deploy printers using the Group Policy Preferences which is built in. No real problems for me so far. As for sysprep and WDS its completely different. The ini file is now an XML file that you build with a config manager tool (cant remember the name off the top of my head).

All the necessary help can be found on eduGeek though Or pm me for some specific help

[3s-gtech]

I built new GPOs for Windows 7, transferring policies across with care. New mandatory profiles were next, along with updating WSUS settings, and logon scripts (I have removed most of these, as GPP handles printers etc much better).

[themightymrp]

Very similar to what I did

[sparkeh]

All 64 bit Win 7 here and can't say I have had any printer issues at all. Just put the 64 bit drivers on the server and deployed printers through GPP and we were golden.

[themightymrp]

It all depends on the printers you have, some of ours don't have 64 bit drivers available (they are old!)

[sparkeh]

It all depends on the printers you have, some of ours don't have 64 bit drivers available (they are old!)

Oh well of course if the printer doesn't have x64 drivers you are stuck, I thought the point being made was that there is something inherent within Win7 64bit that made deploying printers difficult.

[zag]

I'm doing the same thing here at the moment rolling out windows 7 site wide.

Check my thread here http://www.edugeek.net/forums/window...-students.html

Basically I've removed mandatory profiles, created a few group policies on my windows 7 machine and its working great so far.

[themightymrp]

@sparkeh - sorry didn't mean for it to sound that way. There is no problem in the deployment of printers to 64bit, I just dont because of the lack of drivers. My bad

[Michael]

As a recommendation (talking from experience), I would create new GPOs from scratch. And if you manage more than one site, you can then export/import those same GPOs for other sites.

As for printer drivers, it is fairly simple. 2008 R2 is 64Bit, so you're required to install the 64Bit driver first (on your print server). You can then optionally install the 32Bit driver afterwards. The driver must be exactly the same, so for example:

PCL5 version 1.2.0.0 X86
PCL5 version 1.2.0.0 x64

Windows will pick the correct driver it needs (on the workstation) automatically.

[CommodoreS]

Thanks for all the replies. Regarding the "Windows 7 Resource Kit." to be honest I struggle to learn reading books (I struggle with theory but excel in practical), and learn stuff much quicker watching videos, or even better seeing a real life working configuration/example and making notes of what has been set/changed and configured to fully understand how things are working. I also prefer to use guides with pictures.

I wondered if anyone has the time if they would be able to send me a copy of their AD configuration for Win 7 Clients. If so I would be very grateful as I would be able to try this on my Test Network and have time to understand things better.

With printers I found a guide at: http://www.petenetlive.com/KB/Article/0000492.htm which I followed through, but no printers appear on my Win XP SP3 Test Client, so I am wondering if this works for Vista and 7 Only. I really need a solution that would work on both Win XP and Win 7 clients, and will pull the printer driver down so no manual intervention is required to install printers onto the clients.

So with Roaming and Mandatory Profiles does anyone know a guide which would help explain the options better, or again would be able to post a link to another Edugeek post or provide a working example.

One other thing I am unsure of is Win 7 Licence Keys and Activation. For Win XP I have been using a volume licence key, and wonder if I need to get something similar for Win 7, as all new machines have been supplied with their own unique Win 7 Product Key. I am also wondering how activation will work with Sysprep and Network Win 7 Machines. It would be a pain having to activate each one manually.

[garethedmondson]

I will shortly be introducing Windows 7 clients to a new Win2008 R2 64 Bit network which AD has only been configured to be used by windows XP clients. Is there any changes I will need to make for the Win 7 Clients to work in the same way as the Windows XP clients?

I am also wondering if it would be best to get Win 7 64 bit or 32 bit version, as I heard there can be problems connecting printer drivers and I am guessing I may also get software compatibility issues.

Thinking of Printers I am also wondering what the best way to automatically deploy the shared printers and drivers to the machines is. Whether there is a fantastic (and cheap or free) software tool out there which would help with this or an easy way to do it via AD which will work reliably. It will be a mixed Win XP/Win 7 network so it would be good to know how other people have configured their printers.

I am also wondering if Windows 7 will work in the same way as Windows XP with sysprep and WDS or if I will run into any problems, as the sysprep ini seems to have Win XP specific settings in it.

First thing we did when we started planning everything was spend the day reading everything we could find on Edugeek. The depth of knowledge on here was astounding as a lot had gone through the procedure. As for WDS there is a sticky thread on that although I'd go MDT2010 with WDS.

Then once you have read everything ask away. It sounds like I'm being awkward but trust me reading everything will get you quite far.

Gareth

[TheScarfedOne]

My recommendation from experience is to create a new sub OU structure for your Win7 machines. Set up new GPOs for the workstation/machines, and also set up new Win7 User Config GPOs too, using loopback mode. That way, you can start to test and then build/deploy your new network segment, without any policies from the XP side getting under foot - or any changes you need to make affecting your legacy setup.

Ive done this a few times now as well - so any questions ask away. I think there are plans to release a set of basic GPOs that most of use - to help people get started.

Test, test, test and test again. Good tip is to involve a pilot group of users as the testing. They will like being involved, and you get the feedback before letting it loose on everyone.

[CommodoreS]

Update: I just solved the problem with printers working using: PeteNetLive - KB0000492 - Deploying Printers with Group Policy Preferences as the XP Client needed KB943729 installed.

I am familiar with using WDS for Win XP. I have just not yet used it with Windows 7. That should change during half term when I get a chance to play and find all the problems.

Its a shame there are no step by step how to guides here, or a post which links to other important posts of things to know about and things to consider.