technical solutions and commentary

The best method to prepare Windows XP and Windows Vista Images is to use Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (or the Business Desktop Deployment 2007 Toolkit). I have had customers ask a lot of question in regard to installing Windows Keys in the images and then activating them after the desktop image is deployed. These toolkits cover the best method to do this. If a Desktop Specialist is building images for Windows and not using these tools, I am almost certain that time is being wasted and best practices are not being used.

In one of the deployment scenarios I ran into a company has several lab PC’s spread throughout the organization at different sites. The workstations are kept in a workgroup for the training and are regularly re-imaged with Windows Vista to prep for the next set of classes, etc. The machines are all identical.

The desired solution is to add the MAK key to the Windows Sysprep Image. This can be done, however the machines will still require Activation. If the machines do not have direct Internet connectivity, as may lab machines do not, the VMAT too is ideal to handle the machine activation. A benefit of using VAMT is the ability to save the Activation information, so when the machines are re-imaged the same activation ID can be pushed back to the machine – given there are no hardware changes.

Download the Volume Activation 2.0 Technical Guidance.

Download the VAMT Tool.

Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1 was made available for download today (February 25, 2008). The RTM build of SP1 can upgrade Operations Manager from the release code and from the SP1 RC code. A list on what’s included with Service Pack 1 can be found on these pages:

• What’s new in OpsMgr SP 1
• What’s fixed in OpsMgr SP 1

 Download Ops Mgr 2007 Service Pack 1 RTM from Microsoft Downloads.

Software management has become a big topic. Companies and government agencies have seen the need to keep control of software assests and determine if they have too little or too many licenses. There many tools that can be licensed and installed locally or hosted in an attempt to get a handle on the organizations software.

One of the Online Services I am framiliar with is the System Center Online – Asset Inventory Service provided by Microsoft. This service has a software catalog of over 420,000 software applications and is being expanded continually. This software catalog was origionally obtained through an acquisition of a company called AssetMetrix. If you are running Microsoft SMS SP2 or Configuration Manager, you have access to this catalog within these on-premise management tools.

If you do not have a great on-premise solution, you should take a look at the hosted offering from Microsoft. The January 2008 edition of TechNet Magazine had an article about this service. You can learn more about it here.

Diagnose audio issues within your Office Communications Server 2007 environment using the Office Communications Server 2007 Deployment Validation Tool.

A common issue in VoIP deployments is that administrators find out about problems with audio quality only after a user reports a problem. The Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Deployment Validation Tool simulates audio traffic so that you can proactively identify and resolve audio issues.

 Download the Tool from Microsoft Downloads.