POSReady 7 Deployment for IT Professionals (POSReady 7)
4/29/2013
The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is designed to help IT professionals deploy the Windows 7 operating system. This same toolkit is used to deploy Windows Embedded POSReady 7.
This walkthrough provides a basic example of how to configure and deploy a Windows Embedded POSReady 7 image. At the end of this process, you will have a valid answer file, a bootable Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) CD, and you will have deployed your first custom POSReady 7 image. After creating this basic answer file, you can modify it to include additional customizations. You can also automate parts of the process by scripting some of the manual steps in this scenario. For a comprehensive description of all the tools and deployment methods, see the Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) User's Guide (Waik.chm) or Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) on Microsoft TechNet.
In this example, you will build a basic answer file, and then install POSReady 7 using that answer file.
| Step | Topic |
|---|---|
1. Install the Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) on your technician computer. |
|
2. Build an answer file. |
|
3. Build a reference installation. |
|
4. Create bootable Windows PE media. |
|
5. Capture the installation on a network share. |
|
6. Deploy from a network share. |
Prerequisites
To complete this scenario, you need the following:
Windows Embedded POSReady 7 product DVD disc
Windows AIK DVD disc
You can download the Windows AIK .iso file from the Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7 website.A technician computer
A technician computer can be any computer on which you will install the Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK). The technician computer must be running Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, or Windows 7 (32-bit recommended). This computer also requires a network adapter, a working network environment, a DVD-ROM drive, and a CD-R/RW-capable drive (or a combination drive that supports both).A reference computer
A reference computer is a fully assembled computer on which you install a customized installation by using the Windows Embedded POSReady 7 product DVD and an answer file. Once installed, you capture and store an image of the installation on a network share. There are no software requirements for this computer. Both the technician and reference computers require a network adapter and a working network environment.Note
The disk-partition requirements are different between BIOS-based and UEFI-based computers. This guide describes how to create an answer file for BIOS-based computers. Most 32-bit and many 64-bit computers are BIOS-based.
Network connectivity
A USB flash drive (UFD)
CD-ROM burning software
One blank CD-R/RW disc
Optional: a destination computer
The destination computer is the computer that you intend to deploy to an end user. After you build a reference installation, you will capture and store an image of that installation on a network share. You will then deploy the image from the network share onto the destination computer.Note
For this example, you can reuse the reference computer as your destination computer. After you capture and store an image of the reference installation, you can then reformat the hard drive of the reference computer, returning it to a blank state. The computer will then become your destination computer.