Creating Hardware Independent Win 7 Image

AthlonXP

AthlonXP

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It's been a while since I created one so wanted to see if anyone had some advice or tips on the best method. I was thinking of creating the image with a VM and then using ImageX to capture the .wim file. Just wanted to gauge anyone else's experiences with this method or would suggest a better solution. The image will eventually be deployed via LANDesk to a few of our Lenovo lab machines.
 
When creating a hardware independent image, you definitely want to use a VM to capture the image. You also want to automate it as much as possible, so if you ever have to update it, you can "replay" what you did to create it the first time.

I recommend creating a VM. While it isn't 100% necessary these days, it does make the image capture easier.

I would recommend looking into deploying with WAIK, MDT, and possibly WDS. Together, they make a pretty powerful distribution method. You should also be able to find quite a few tutorials on this that will walk you through everything you need. However, if LANDesk can do OS deployment, and it can take a WIM (or a vhd/vhdx), then you should have no trouble building your image on a VM and using LANDesk to do driver injection.



Sometimes those TLAs trip people up --
MDT : Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
WDS : Windows Deployment Services
WAIK : Windows Automated Installation Kit
 
install os, service pack and security updates, sysprep and build image.

that's about it.
 
Demon10000 said:
Sometimes those TLAs trip people up --
MDT : Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
WDS : Windows Deployment Services
WAIK : Windows Automated Installation Kit
Click to expand...

And System Center, which pretty much replaces all of the above.
 
Thanks for the advice, I will say this is one of the few things that I have always run up against and just have had problems with.
 
The hard part about building a hardware independent Windows is the drivers. Contrary to popular believe, Windows 7 is not infallible when it comes to drivers. Sure, on old Intel hardware you are set, but not AMD, and especially not newer Intel or AMD.

If you want to build a hardware independent OS, you need to script some method to install drivers. All methods require manual intervention at one point to replace or upgrade drivers as they are released.

Microsoft has a driver install utility that will run and automatically install any drivers that are located in sub folders of the application. (DPINST). You have to configure it with an XML file.

You're other choice is to inject drivers into the install.wim and boot.wim file using either Microsoft's AIK or a 3rd party program like Win7 toolkit.

The other option is to modify the registry on the Windows installation disc using an unattended installer file (generated with Windows System Image Manager) that adds a folder location to the driver store registry entry (the registry entry that tells Windows what folder to look for drivers). Then you add the folder and appropriate inf's to the new directory in Windows (this requires installing first, creating the folder and putting in drivers, then sysprepping and capturing the image). This is how some OEMs do it.
 
In regards to building a driver database: I've been using Driver Magician Lite for years to extract drivers. Any time I get a new model, I put the drivers I want on the machine then pull them back off with this program. It dumps the files into a folder with just the necessary files. That way you don't end up with huge driver install files.
 
We use the Lenovo System Update where I work to get newly deployed desktops/laptops all the drivers they need. It is an Internet hog and may not be suitable for mass deployments.
 
Demon10000 said:
In regards to building a driver database: I've been using Driver Magician Lite for years to extract drivers. Any time I get a new model, I put the drivers I want on the machine then pull them back off with this program. It dumps the files into a folder with just the necessary files. That way you don't end up with huge driver install files.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I've been looking for a way to install certain drivers without the bloat. I'll see if this can pull out the drivers to do just that.
 
Last edited:
bigdogchris said:
Interesting. I've been looking for a way to install certain drivers without the bloat. I'll see if this can pull out the drivers to do just that.
Click to expand...

I have about a 90% success rate with this method. Some drivers need the inf fixed (usually just making sure the path to the driver for are correct) or a file copied from the original install. Works great, though.
 
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