It seems if you dig deep enough you can tweak just about any part of Windows. (Useful if you're working to create a custom image for deployment). The problem is that most of those tweaks occur in the registry. That is a good thing, but who has the time to scour thousands of keys to find the solution to a problem?
One important step in creating an image for deployment is getting rid of all of the extra programs that are installed. Sometimes this can be a difficult thing to do, because they don't show up in the Add/Remove programs list. If you want to get rid of something, but it is not on the list, what are you supposed to do?
One thing that we periodically have to do is update or install Symantec Anti-virus. It can be a pain, unless you know how to script the install. Here's a script I wrote up to help relieve my pain. Hopefully it'll give you some relief too.
If you use Active Directory this tool is a must for any system admin. This tool, made by Microsoft, allows you to manage the Group Policies for all of the computers you have. It uses an intuitive user interface that gives you the power of Group Policies and the flexibility of Active Directory.
We just got a new server, and I need to install a number of applications on it. One of them is WSUS 3.0 (Windows Server Update Services). This free download from Microsoft allows you to control what Windows Updates your computers or servers download and install. It is really handy tool and can really help you maintain the computers you manage.
You arrive at work and have a voicemail. You listen to it, and your boss explains that they have lost all of their personal settings from their computer. You have to fix the problem fast or someone's head is going to roll.
Q: I would like to create layers for licensed programs. I would also like to give the end user access to the Admin Console, so they can create their own layers if they would like. But, I don't want them to be able to export some of the layers that I created (because of licensing issues). Is there some way to prevent layers from being exported?
As I have learned more about computers I have come to rely on the command prompt. The command prompt allows a system admin to do almost anything in one place.
I have written a few articles (to find them do a quick search for WinPE) about tweaking and customizing WinPE to help system admins deploy images faster. For some people, setting aside a hard drive for imaging may not be practical. What is one to do?
It is interesting to me that Windows XP has been on the market for over 6 years and I still learn tons about it every day. For example, I just found a great Web resource that lists tons of common Windows commands.
