flayofish

Try looking up TreeSize. I believe 2.1 is the latest version. They also have a professional version that we use on the network at my job.

What method of deployment are you going for, WDS, BDD, other?

Edit... whoops! Not sure if I'm supposed to talk about that yet... hang in there, MS working on later releases with increased support.

Are you using windows update for Vista before sysprep on your target machine? There are several updates to Vista that will Break BDD in the build creation process, specifically updates to IE 7 and windows defender. After it fails, you can try navigating to Distribution$\Control\Build\Unattend.xml (where Build is the build name) and edit using notepad. Remove Internet-Explorer and Windows-Defender entries. See if that will salvage your build. Another method with future build creations... navigate to your basic Vista build and turn off auto updating, then deploy to a fresh target machine, add apps, configs, etc.. then sysprep and use imagex to copy it over. To turn auto updating off go here: Distribution$\Control\Build\Unattend.xml and edit in notepad. ctrl+f and search for "protect". Change the number from "1" to "3". Build refers to whatever your basic/raw vista build is (the ripped dvd build). Save changes and update your deploypoint. for imagex, i use a bootable usb2 key with WinPE and imagex. after booting into WinPE: net use z: \xx.xx.xx.xxx\distribution$\captures (x's are ip numbers of your bdd server, or where you keep your distribution$ share folder) enter id and password: domain\admin_username and password when prompted. e: (i have my bootable usb set as drive e:) imagex /compress fast /flags "Enterprise" /verify /capture c: z:\image_name.wim "description" You should be able to successfully create OS, build and update deploy point. As usual, I am just some complete tool telling you what to mash on your keyboard.. so proceed at your own risk! Hope that helps.

You could create separate builds of the same machines by capturing your OS twice with different .wim names and descriptions. then, when creating your builds, assign mak to offsite machine builds and kms to onsite machine builds. You can capture the same sysprepped machine a bajillion times, just dont reboot and stay in the WinPE invironment. that's how i'm doing it. again, i am just some dork rolling my face across a keyboard, so do any and all suggestions i make at your own risk. hope this helps.

The way BDD capture system works is: You make the capture selection and choose all the applications and settings you want. BDD install launches and installs image to your menu driven specs, then syspreps machine, reboots and captures the image. If you are trying to deploy a raw vista os to a machine and configure it manually, you need to make a WinPE boot cd or usb key with imagex on it. Deploy raw vista os to target machine. Set configurations you wish, add apps, updates, etc... drill down to c:\windows\system32\sysprep folder and run sysprep.exe as administrator. select oobe, shutdown options. put Boot CD or USB key in PC and boot to it. after WinPE command prompt comes up type: net use z: \\xx.xx.xx.xxx\distribution$\captures fill in the x's with your bdd server's ip address enter: domain\admin_id and password (domain name \ your id no spaces... press enter then supply password when prompted) I use a USB key so i then go to e: but go to the drive that has imagex loaded on it type: imagex /compress fast /flags "Enterprise" /verify /capture c: z:\image_name.wim "description" It will then capture your custom image and place it in your captures folder on distribution share. *note: When making a custom image, be very careful about adding vista updates to it, as several will kill your bdd build. To avoid this, I go to BDD server raw vista os build at: distribution\control\build\Unattend.xml and open it with notepad. Change "protect your pc" to 3 to disable automatic updates. I do this because as vista is logging in to the local adim for the first time, it is already downloading and installing updates. I leave the updating up to the client desktops after deployment, but it's up to you how you want to do it. As always, i am just some nerd at a keyboard telling you what to do... so do anything i suggest at your own risk. hope this helps!

If you have a custom image that you are trying to make a build from, select: setup files are not needed.

Reg hacks are not really needed for some of your issues. Regarding keyboard locale... using the numbers only works for XP. In Vista the actual setting is the locale (ex: KeyboardLocale=en-us ). There are two .ini files on the BDD server locaded in: Distribution$\Control folder. Bootstrap.ini and CustomSettings.ini (open and edit using notepad... make sure you backup copies before editing and do all this at your own risk... i'm just an id*** telling you what to do). You have to configure both (and yes I discovered all this the hard way). I have my deployment system reduced to 3 screens (everything else is set and hidden) Those 3 visible screens being: Configure the Computer name (option left open for techs to enter machine names) Select an operating system image to install (techs can select image that corresponds to machine type and dept) Ready to Begin (So techs have a starting point to begin actual deployment). I set up a network shortcut unique to their id's so they can launch the process pointing to ( \\server_name\distribution$\Scripts\LiteTouch.vbs ) Here are what my ini files look like (ips, names, server names and passwords removed for obvious reasons): Boot.ini *note i changed server name to it's ip address as we do not have WINS enabled on our network. [settings] Priority=Default [Default] DeployRoot=\\xx.xx.xx.xxx\Distribution$ UserID=user_name UserPassword=user_password UserDomain=domain DomainAdmin=admin_name DomainAdminDomain=domain DomainAdminPassword=admin_password CustomSettings.ini [settings] Priority=Default Properties=MyCustomProperty [Default] OSInstall=Y UserDataLocation=NONE SkipAppsOnUpgrade=YES SkipCapture=YES SkipAdminPassword=YES SkipProductKey=YES SkipApplications=YES DeploymentType=REFRESH DoCapture=NO ComputerBackupLocation=NONE SkipDeploymentType=YES SkipBitLocker=YES SkipBitLockerDetails=YES SkipComputerBackup=YES SkipDomainMembership=YES SkipTimeZone=YES SkipUserData=YES SkipLocaleSelection=YES Keyboard=en-us TimeZoneName=Central Standard Time AdminPassword=admin_password BDERequired=NO DomainAdmin=admin_name DomainAdminDomain=domain DomainAdminPassword=admin_password JoinDomain=domain KeyboardLocale=en-us UserID=user_name UserPassword=user_password UserDomain=domain UserLocale=en-us DeployRoot=\\xx.xx.xx.xxx\Distribution$ Try changing these settings one at a time so you get a feel for what is happening. Note that user and admin credentials and deploy root required in both .ini files. You can find a list of selections in your BDD server C:\Program Files\BDD 2007\Documentation\Configuration Reference.doc *note this document has dots showing if you can use it for ZTI, LTI or both. Also will tell you what command works for XP and what works for Vista. A full list of all settings you can customize can be found in Distribution$\Scripts\ZitGather.xml (open it in notepad). I can also tell you, use Autounattend.xml configurations as a last resort (ie: the settings you want that are not found in customsettings.ini). BDD heavily favors this ini file. Another tip: inside your raw vista build go to: Distribution$\Control\Build\Unattend.xml, open it with notepad and change Protect your PC to 3. Default is one and has autoupdates running. There are several updates for vista that can severely hamper BDD build creation and deployment processes. Regarding question 3. here are the commands i use with imagex to move my image to the server: Boot to WinPE environment. net use z: \\xx.xx.xx.xxx\distribution$\captures e: (i created a WinPE usb stick) imagex /compress fast /flags "Enterprise" /verify /capture c: z:\image_name.wim "description" And for deployment setup/deployment: Go to BDD server. Add OS. Add and configure Build (custom drivers, etc...) Update Deploy Point Deploy through the network or burn a copy of LiteTouch.iso and boot to target machine. My setup currently will give you 4 screens if booting from CD. first one in this case is BDD deploy welcome screen (not sure why cd is different, but still works). Sit back in pure BDD Deployment Satisfaction! Get promotion with big fat raise and become the most popular guy in your chatroom/message boards/at home with your 200 pet cats/etc... Hope this helps you guys, as it took me several gruelling months grinding this out to get to this point. Again, do all or any at your own risk, what works for me may not work for you.