Ben Hunter

The Last Post

BenHunter — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 11:41:00 GMT

Well I am sad to say that this is my last post. But don't worry I have something better. I have been thinking for quite a while that there are so many different blogs out there with useful deployment information. This is great but it can be difficult...(read more)

Microsoft Deployment - Released

BenHunter — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:21:00 GMT

Well it looks like I no longer have to answer the question "when will Microsoft Deployment be released?" with the response "sometime soon :)". Microsoft Deployment is now released!! I wont go into all the details of what MDT does, you will find that information...(read more)

BDD 2007 - TechNet Magazine article worth reading

BenHunter — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 12:22:00 GMT

One of my fellow Microsoft Services consultants from the UK Adam Shepherd, has just had an article published in TechNet Magazine. The article provides advice on how to scale BDD. This includes how to to support multiple databases, use DFS-R and how to...(read more)

BDD is now Microsoft Deployment

BenHunter — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 10:55:00 GMT

The big secret is now out! BDD has officially had a name change, the next version will be called Microsoft Deployment. I was hoping the new name would be "the solution accelerator formerly known as BDD" but I don't think that even made it to first cut...(read more)

BDD 2007 - How to create a Custom task sequence with reboots

BenHunter — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 21:44:00 GMT

I am often asked how to setup a custom task sequence that will continue after a reboot. If you have created a custom task sequence to install a number of applications that includes a reboot then you will know the problem I am taking about. When you do...(read more)

BDD 2007 -How to ensure the computer is in the correct OU

BenHunter — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 12:25:00 GMT

As promised in a previous blog post here is a script to move a computer to the correct OU from within the host operating system. There are two situations where I find this script useful: When a computer object already exists in Active Directory for the...(read more)

Deployment 4 - UPDATE - How to create a custom task sequence

BenHunter — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:16:00 GMT

I have previously mentioned how to create a custom task sequence to save time when testing application installation in BDD 2007. You will find the article here . There are two problems you could run into when using this process with Deployment 4. If you...(read more)

BDD 2007 - How do you do it?

BenHunter — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 23:21:00 GMT

I am often asked how I install and configure BDD 2007. So I thought now was a good time to detail at a high level the process I go through to create and deploy operating system images using BDD 2007. This is not a step by step guide but more of a rant...(read more)

BDD 2007 - Special characters special problems

BenHunter — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 02:07:00 GMT

Here is a simple tip when using BDD. DO NOT use special characters anywhere. They cause problems. Let's illustrate this with an example. I create an application with the name "AT&T Dialer". Then when I add this application to the task sequence I see...(read more)

Deployment 4 – Who stole my build?

BenHunter — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 02:42:00 GMT

Well for those of you that have already installed Deployment 4 may have notice that Deployment 4 does not use builds anymore. Task sequences are used instead. Task sequences are very similar to builds with a few subtle changes. All of the task sequence...(read more)

Deployment 4 (the next version of BDD) - Beta 3 Released

BenHunter — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:11:00 GMT

It looks like the BDD team has been very busy! They have just released Deployment 4 Beta 3 the worthy successor to BDD 2007. Having spent a reasonable amount of time testing Deployment 4 I must say I am very impressed, particularly when it is combined...(read more)

BDD 2007 - How to move a computer object in Windows PE

BenHunter — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 12:47:00 GMT

Many of my customers have Group Policy settings that are very restrictive and cause problems during operating system deployments. For example the legal notice messages can interrupt an automated logon process. This can be a real hassle to get around when...(read more)

BDD 2007 - Time saving tips - How to manually restart the build process

BenHunter — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:15:00 GMT

When troubleshooting the BDD deployment I often make a change then test. Then find that I need to make another adjustment and test again. Well this this process can be time consuming especially if you have to wait for Windows PE to reboot each time. Well...(read more)

BDD 2007 - A pretty good ZTI front end

BenHunter — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 10:44:00 GMT

In the past I have written a number of blogs about how you can use the LTI wizard to create a customized front end for your ZTI deployments. They detail both how to use the wizards to gather information, how to automatically enter this information into...(read more)

BDD 2007 - How to Prompt for information then update the database

BenHunter — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:41:00 GMT

I have previously published posts detailing how you can perform bulk updates to the database and how you can use the LTI wizard to prompt for information in ZTI deployments. Now I think it's about time I show you how to combine these two features and...(read more)