fragile5150 Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 We have just been asked to build a new Win10 image, ready for this summer school holiday. We are currently running Server 2012 R2 with Window 7 Pro workstations, and we have 4 weeks to get a Windows 10 image ready. What are the first things we should be looking at ?
synaesthesia Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 Do you need to build an image? Why not deploy the bare image from the installation media and deploy the relevant apps later on? Makes for a more efficient & easier deployment method all round! From a basic level for primary schools, MDT and PDQ Deploy will achieve this very quickly and easily, for larger deployments SCCM makes it all a doddle. 1
ShellfishClive Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 I'd also look at the software the school use, make sure it's compatible with Windows 10. It more than likely will be but worth double checking.
Jawloms Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 If you currently redirect the Start Menu, this works very differently.
CHiLL Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 (edited) Like @synaesthesia said, if you don't have SCCM, MDT and PDQ deploy are your best friends. No need to faff around making a 'fat' image. Simply deploy the vanilla WIM to your clients via PXE boot. Then you can use PDQ to deploy the specific apps that you need and configure the GPOs accordingly. One thing to wrap your head around is the Start Menu. The actual list of applications redirects as it always has, however the tiles in the Start Menu are configured via an XML file, which can be very flaky. Edited June 24, 2019 by CHiLL
Jcx500 Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 My Suggestion would be bake office into your image has saved me so much time
ChrisMiles Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 Do you need to build an image? Why not deploy the bare image from the installation media and deploy the relevant apps later on? Makes for a more efficient & easier deployment method all round! From a basic level for primary schools, MDT and PDQ Deploy will achieve this very quickly and easily, for larger deployments SCCM makes it all a doddle. I've always been confused by this point of view. Struggling with apps that don't have MSIs, deployment speed, problems with people logging in when software hasn't finished installing, running out of disk space for app installers etc. Personally I've always found using VM snapshots to build images so much easier and only deploy apps with SCCM when building a new image isn't worthwhile, like for Chrome updates and software that only hits a couple of PCs etc.
synaesthesia Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 I really wouldn't. Things change so often it's just not worth it, and it's not difficult to deploy Office anyway, either msi or click to run versions. 1
synaesthesia Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 I've always been confused by this point of view. Struggling with apps that don't have MSIs, deployment speed, problems with people logging in when software hasn't finished installing, running out of disk space for app installers etc. Personally I've always found using VM snapshots to build images so much easier and only deploy apps with SCCM when building a new image isn't worthwhile, like for Chrome updates and software that only hits a couple of PCs etc. Have so little software these days that's a problem in that manner, deployment speed isn't a problem whatsoever (20 minute deployment from build to completion for a basic with office, art apps etc installed) and if someone turns a PC off then it's their problem! (NEVER had that!)
ChrisMiles Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 I really wouldn't. Things change so often it's just not worth it, and it's not difficult to deploy Office anyway, either msi or click to run versions. Things barely change at all at my schools. I only made a new image this year because I need to update Windows 10 to one with ongoing support. I guess not everywhere is the same.
synaesthesia Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 Things barely change at all at my schools. I only made a new image this year because I need to update Windows 10 to one with ongoing support. I guess not everywhere is the same. True - the only real thing that changes for us is the likes of Solidworks (annual new version), Office 365 (click to run so it always installs the newest version on build) otherwise everything is ye-olde software still hanging on by a thread (adobe CS5).
CHiLL Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 I've always been confused by this point of view. Struggling with apps that don't have MSIs, deployment speed, problems with people logging in when software hasn't finished installing, running out of disk space for app installers etc. Personally I've always found using VM snapshots to build images so much easier and only deploy apps with SCCM when building a new image isn't worthwhile, like for Chrome updates and software that only hits a couple of PCs etc. I've been deploying 'thin' images for almost five years now and I'll likely never go back to 'thick' images. My TS simply deploys the OS, installs essential applications that most people use (Office, 7-Zip, Adobe Reader, Chrome, etc) as well as further customisations and installs all necessary Windows Updates. Sure, the TS takes a fair amount of time to install per machine, especially on older/slower machines, but it's all zero touch. Just set it going and I don't need to re-visit the machine, especially good in IT suites. SCCM will automatically add the machine into a collection based on name or other specified criteria and the machines will install the rest of the software that has been deployed to that collection. As for the applications without MSIs, yes this can be a pain but it's not that frequent and not that difficult if you can find out the silent install switch and determine some detection method, such as a registry entry or file created/version number.
ollyyllo Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 (edited) Here a few changes you might want to check out, irrelevant of your deployment method, I didn't have to do any of these for windows 7 De-provision unwanted apps such as candy crush so they don't install for new users (improved initial logon times) Disable the first logon animation (improved initial logon times) Disable Windows Store or set up a private store (so people can't reinstall candy crush) Disable the file explorer ads Turn off lock screen ads or disable the lock screen Enable BitLocker files on demand (reduces local store requirements) Install BitLocker as per machine install (improved logon times / performance after logon) Edited June 24, 2019 by ollyyllo 1
jthompson Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 What are the first things we should be looking at ? Whether or not all of the software you're planning to use will work. It probably will, but test it before you deploy across the school. Whether or not the Group Policy settings you rely on for securing Win7 still do what they're meant to do in Win10. Updating your means of configuring proxy settings to include settings for Edge. Make notes of everything you do as you go along, because the chances are you'll want to have another crack at it at a later time.
free780 Posted June 24, 2019 Posted June 24, 2019 There's still a place for build and capture. But automate the whole process. So you can re create the image when you want.
kingoranks Posted June 27, 2019 Posted June 27, 2019 Hey guys, how do you guys sort the startmenu redirection issue, my startmenu breaks after 7/8 logins of different users during testing.
ticktock Posted June 27, 2019 Posted June 27, 2019 There is a heck of a lot of confusing information as everyone has their own way of doing things. Go with whatever you feel most comfortable with as you have a small time slot to get things sorted. I found this link useful: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/o-s-deployment/201697-windows-10-1803-building-reference-image.html#post1721216 1
kingoranks Posted July 5, 2019 Posted July 5, 2019 Happy to report everything is now working after countless hrs and days of testing.my lab had two PCs and two laptops. For anyone adding Windows 10 to Win 7 environment you will need Wim filters to apply GPO to either 7 or 10.my startmenu was being broken by C drive Permission GPO.
mavhc Posted July 6, 2019 Posted July 6, 2019 Given that Win 10 base image updates every 6 months spending a few days making software deploy is probably worth it in the long run. I just dl the new iso, extract the wim, import it to wds, begin testing with new version. Do people who use PDQ pay for it? The free version seems kinda useless as it didn't seem to work if any computers were off.
AJWhite1970 Posted July 7, 2019 Posted July 7, 2019 I pay for PDQ Enterprise, £360 p/a which is great value
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