[mdt] So, I'm experimenting with MDT ..

[soveryapt]

Any pitfalls I should be aware of? Server is 2008 R2, clients are all Windows 7 SP1 x86. Clients are a mix of desktops and laptops, mainly HP kit though.

[soveryapt]

I should point out, I'm also moving from WDS which is set up and working, but I just want a bit more control over it all (which I believe MDT will give me).

[sted]

depends how complex you want to make it. It can be very simple in standard form start adding databases so that mac address 123456789012 =pc02 in ou ..... with this software theese drivers this base image etc it gets more complex.

 

Fiddling round with bootstrap.ini and custom setting.ini is where id start i usually have a user set up so that it logs in and has enough privilages to read the share and add workstations to a domain and then hide language/timezone/bitlocker screens etc so normally all i have to do is boot select image slect software and name pc and away i go but have set it up in 1 school where for a few pcs pretty much hit f12 and walk away

[soveryapt]

depends how complex you want to make it. It can be very simple in standard form start adding databases so that mac address 123456789012 =pc02 in ou ..... with this software theese drivers this base image etc it gets more complex.

 

Fiddling round with bootstrap.ini and custom setting.ini is where id start i usually have a user set up so that it logs in and has enough privilages to read the share and add workstations to a domain and then hide language/timezone/bitlocker screens etc so normally all i have to do is boot select image slect software and name pc and away i go but have set it up in 1 school where for a few pcs pretty much hit f12 and walk away

 

There are about 3 or 4 different setups needed through the school, but these are mainly differentiated through by WPKG post install procedures and various GPO software the way I do things at the moment, the physical image that goes out is pretty much the same, I'm just wanting to make sure the right drivers get to the right machines, which WDS seems a bit hit and miss with sadly (I have laptops that are running 1024x768 when they should have a graphics driver running 1280x960).

[sted]

generally i add drivers to a folder but let mdt just work out what a pc needs (though if you have any hp6715s's dont (it installs ati drivers on non ati pcs borking up video card drivers))

 

as to resolition by default mdt seems to force everything to 1024/768 regardless of what it can do but as i tend to set res via qres everylogon i havnt really looked into this i suspect its just somewhere in my sysprep file

Edited September 17, 2012 by sted

[soveryapt]

generally i add drivers to a folder but let mdt just work out what a pc needs (though if you have any hp6715s's dont (it installs ati drivers on non ati pcs borking up video card drivers))

 

Yeah, I'm just adding in the Drivers from my WDS folder at the moment and also have imported the image that I had setup in there as a starter for 10 ..

 

as to resolition by default mdt seems to force everything to 1024/768 regardless of what it can do but as i tend to set res via qres everylogon i havnt really looked into this i suspect its just somewhere in my sysprep file

 

I thought at first it might have been my SysPrep file, but that's not the case at all, unless is because it's a shared on and the V-Res is too high for the laptops (i.e. it's for the desktop machines which don't have widescreen monitors so I think it's set at 1280x1024 or whatever it is at that res) so that is defaults to something much less .. hmm .. I might check that actually and see what happens if I change it to a different V-Res and redeploy the image .. [/ThinkingWhilstIType]

[VeryPC_Tom_M]

We tend only to add LAN drivers to the OOBE Drivers box, and then use a SQL Database to determine the hardware profile. This means we can assign specific driver installations to each hardware variation, with the drivers being installed as applications within the software (This also ensures that any software assigned to the hardware is installed alongside the base drivers)

[garethEds]

Best advice I can give (as an MDT 2010/2012) user is to purchase the book which is noted in the sticky at the top of the forum. This got us through setting it up and worked out of the book. It's a great product. Remember also you can download the latest HP drivers through their driver software (we do this).

 

Here is the link to the sticky: http://www.edugeek.net/forums/o-s-deployment/76099-mdt-resources.html

 

PLenty of blogs and advice out there (see sticky) that are worth reading.

 

Regards

 

Gareth

Edited September 17, 2012 by garethedmondson