Richard Smith

Consultant - Microsoft Services - United Kingdom

The Last Post...!

I am sad to say that this is my last post to my personal blog site - but don't worry I've become...

Author: ricsmith Date: 03/13/2008

Useful Script Number 1 - Start and Stop Services

So over the next few weeks, I will be presenting a mini series of scripts that may useful in your...

Author: ricsmith Date: 03/10/2008

The Deployment Guys blog has landed

What is The Deployment Guys blog? "The Deployment Guys" is a blog focused on deployment....

Author: ricsmith Date: 01/28/2008

GUI Interface for USMT

Dan Cunningham has written a GUI wrapper for the User State Migration Tool (USMT) In Dan's...

Author: ricsmith Date: 01/11/2008

powercfg - Useful if you know the GUIDS!

So I have been doing some work with powercfg - and found it a very useful tool for scripting power...

Author: ricsmith Date: 11/29/2007

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Toolkit released

For those that haven't seen it , we have just released the SCCM 2007 Toolkit for download. This...

Author: ricsmith Date: 11/23/2007

Windows Vista Deployment Planning - Part 3

In Windows Vista Client Build and Deployment Process, I presented the diagram that I use when...

Author: ricsmith Date: 11/23/2007

Moving from RIS to Windows Deployment Services (WDS)

I wanted to point you in the direction of a document that helps with moving from Remote Installation...

Author: ricsmith Date: 11/23/2007

Microsoft Product Evals on Virtual Hard Disk

I am often asked why deployment is such a great place to work as a consultant and I usually answer...

Author: ricsmith Date: 11/12/2007

Microsoft Deployment Released

The first release of Microsoft Deployment is now available. This release marks the first in a series...

Author: ricsmith Date: 11/12/2007

Microsoft Deployment RC1 Released

Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) is now Microsoft Deployment! The RC1 release and new name for the...

Author: ricsmith Date: 10/25/2007

Deployment 4 - Using Your BDD 2007 Task Sequences as Templates

So - Deployment 4 Beta 3 - very cool indeed...but I bet your thinking "how can I use the task...

Author: ricsmith Date: 10/02/2007

Disabling the Network Location Prompt

Over the past few months, many of the clients I have been working with have started deploying...

Author: ricsmith Date: 09/25/2007

New Deployment Forum Site...

Deployment Forum is a new community Web site devoted to IT professionals deploying Windows. Myself...

Author: ricsmith Date: 09/18/2007

Deployment 4 Beta 3 Released

The BDD team have announced that Deployment 4 (the code name for the next version of Business...

Author: ricsmith Date: 09/17/2007

Windows Vista Deployment Planning - Part 2

Back in July, I started a series of articles on Windows Vista Deployment Planning, and in Windows...

Author: ricsmith Date: 09/12/2007

How drivers are added to Windows PE and Windows Vista during an unattended installation

My MCS colleague and top deployment gent - Mark Aslett has put together a handy process list for how...

Author: ricsmith Date: 08/15/2007

Adding Dynamic OEM Information to a BDD 2007 Build

My colleague in MCS UK, Adam Shepherd has come up with a solution to dynamically set the machine and...

Author: ricsmith Date: 08/15/2007

General Purpose CustomSettings.ini

One thing that seems to stump a number of people with BDD 2007 is using the CustomSettings.ini file...

Author: ricsmith Date: 08/02/2007

WMI Tags for Task Sequencer Logic

One of the things that I am often required to obtain for customers are certain WMI tags so that we...

Author: ricsmith Date: 08/01/2007

Windows Vista Deployment Planning - Part 1

As promises - I will start to deep dive into the areas that I consider when working with clients on...

Author: ricsmith Date: 07/22/2007

Multiple Partitions in BDD 2007

Have had a couple of requests to cover creating multiple partitions using BDD 2007. By default BDD...

Author: ricsmith Date: 07/22/2007

Useful Registry Changes During Build Creation/Image Deployment

As I have worked with different customers, a number of common requests often pop up for changes...

Author: ricsmith Date: 07/17/2007

Windows Vista Client Build and Deployment Process

I often get asked about the process I go through when working with clients on deployment projects -...

Author: ricsmith Date: 07/05/2007

BDD Lite Touch and Zero Touch Lab Recommendations

So - I get asked a lot about how to set up a test lab or Proof of Concept environment for Lite Touch...

Author: ricsmith Date: 06/26/2007

User Account Control - What you need to know from a deployment perspective

I've had a couple of emails from people attempting to use their own admin accounts to carry out the...

Author: ricsmith Date: 06/26/2007

Computer Name Selection in ZTI Deployments

I've been asked by a few people about the RequestComputerName.vbs script that i use in the ZTI...

Author: ricsmith Date: 06/21/2007