In the recently concluded 12th Edition of Virtual TechDays Event, I presented DaRT 7 to the audience. In this post I will show how to create DaRT Recovery Image. For this recovery you will need Windows 7 DVD & DaRT Tools to be installed on your machine with specific platform (x86/x64)

First question would be where do I download DaRT 7. Well, DaRT is part of Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) available as a subscription for Software Assurance customers. Find more information over here http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/products/mdop/default.aspx

Additionally, for evaluation purpose you can obtain it from MSDN/TechNet Subscription. Lates version is Microsoft Desktop Optimization pack 2011 R2.

Once you download MDOP 2011 R2, you will find DaRT Installers. In this example I am demoing this on my Windows 7 x64 bit version of the OS hence I have installed x64 bit version of DaRT. I have installed MSDaRT70.msi

Once installed I can see the DaRT 7 available in Start Menu.

How to create a new DaRT Recovery Image

Step 1: Go to Start Menu –> All Programs –> Microsoft DaRT. Click on DaRT Recovery Image.

Step 2: Read the instruction on Wizart & click Next & point to Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 Installation files.

Step 3: Click Next and on the next screen it will show Preparing Files for DaRT Recovery Image.

Step 4: Click Next to proceed and wait for few minutes. It will take approximately 2-3 minutes to prepare the files.

Step 5: Once done you will the following screen. On this screen you can enable or disable any tools available for Local User.

In this example I DO NOT want my local user to use the tool called Locksmith, which can be used to reset the password for the Local Computer Accounts.

Note: However, during the remote management support when the Helpdesk Engineer will connect to the machine remotely during DaRT 7 Recovery Image is booted, the Locksmith will be enabled for the Helpdesk Engineer to perform specific account password reset task.

Step 6: Click Next & I have ticked on Allow remote connections (All DaRT tools will be available to the remote help desk)

I will leave the port number field blank so that random can be generated.

Also, I will provide the Remote Connection welcome message

Step 7: Click Next and on this screen you can point to the Debugging Utilities for Windows to be used to Crash Analyzer.

In this case I am not adding these tools but you can choose to install them and include.

Note: You can download the Debugging Tools for Windows as a part of Microsoft Windows SDK for Windows 7 and .NET Framework 4 (ISO)

Step 8: Click Next and here you can select the latest definitions for Standalone System Sweeper Tool useful for scanning malicious and unwanted software.

At this time I will say No and continue.

Step 9: Click Next and you can Add Device Drivers for specific hardware, which will be loaded during the DaRT Recovery Image Boot Process.

You can point to .INF files (if any) In this example I am not adding any driver.

Step 10: Click Shoe Files and HERE YOU CAN ADD ANY OF YOUR ADDITIONAL FILES OR UTILITIES

In this example, I am going to add IMAGEX.EXE utility that I often use to work with .WIM Files.

This is the content before adding Files.

I have created a new folder called as Tools and included a file IMAGEX.EXE and this is the content looks like.You can close the Explorer Window once adding all the necessary files.

Step 11: Click Next and it will give you an option to save the ISO file. I will leave the default location.

Step 12: Click Next to prepare the ISO. It will take approximately 3-5 minutes to prepare the DaRT 7 Recovery Image depending upon the components & the files you have added.

Step 13: Click Next & now you have option to burn the same ISO to the optical media or create a bootable USB stick using The Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool available at http://wudt.codeplex.com/

In this case I am not burning so removing the tick mark

Step 14: Click on Explore folder to get you ISO File.

Step 15: Click Finish and you have your DaRT 7 Recovery Image ISO ready to use.

In the next part we will see how can we test the new Remote Connection feature.

Happy DaRTing

Last week I blogged about the firmware update I received for my HTC Mozart running Mango RTM. Here is the quick summary.

I received 2 updates. First it updated Firmware from 2250.21.40600.707 to 2250.21.50001.707 on 8th Oct. http://blogs.technet.com/b/aviraj/archive/2011/10/08/htc-firmware-update-for-windows-phone.aspx?ocid=aff-n-in-loc--aa
And Second updated Firmware from 2250.21.50001.707 to 2250.21.51001.707 on 21st Oct http://blogs.technet.com/b/aviraj/archive/2011/10/21/htc-update-for-windows-phone.aspx?ocid=aff-n-in-loc—aa

UPDATE

After installing this firmware update, as seen in the screenshot, it upgraded Firmware. Firmware revision from 2250.21.50001.707 to 2250.21.51001.707.

New Feature: INTERNET SHARING feature is now enabled on my HTC Mozart. You can connect up to 5 Guests i.e. 5 users can connect.

To enable INTENRET SHARING. Just to go Settings –> INTENRNE SHARING is now available. This will make your HTC Phone as a Wireless Broadcast Device.

For security you can setup a Password with Min. 8 characters.

Enjoy

Today’s blog post is around Windows 7/2008 R2 SP1 Installation along with Internet Explorer 9. As you all aware when you install Windows 7/Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1, the default browser is Internet Explorer 8. Now, when you want to install Internet Explorer 9, there are several steps involved depending upon how do you choose to install IE 9. If you are downloading IE 9 package from the Internet and run the installation on a single machine it will download all the necessary pre-requisite packages and then performs the installation. Well, for a single machine that’s fine but what about large scale deployments in Enterprises, it will be difficult. In these cases, we prefer to integrate the Internet Explorer 9 packages with the Windows 7/2008 R2 installation media. Hence, when you deploy Windows OS, IE 9 packages is installed as a part of OS installation. You do not need to manually install it later on.

Following are the different deployment options available for IE 9 in your Organization or individual machines. I am covering the Image based deployment today, i.e. using Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM)

In this post I am going to talk about Slipstreaming Internet Explorer 9 packages using Windows 7/2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Installation Media/DVD. So what is Slipstreaming, well you can read this Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipstream_(computing) Basically, Slipstreaming is a process of integrating patches, service packs into the main installation media, in this example Windows Operating System Files. To begin with first understand what are pre-requisite packages for installing IE 9. You can find the list of packages required for specific OS over here http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh147968.aspx (Internet Explorer 9 Preinstallation Techniques)

Internet Explorer 9 Prerequisites for specific OS

• For Windows 7, the following prerequisites must be installed: KB2454826, KB2484033, KB2488113, KB2467023, and KB2505438. These prerequisites are available in the Internet Explorer 9 .iso file.
• For Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1), the following prerequisites must be installed: KB2484033, KB2488113, and KB2505438. These prerequisites are available in the Internet Explorer 9 .iso file.
• For Windows Server® 2008 R2, the following prerequisites must be installed: KB2454826, KB2484033, KB2488113, KB2467023, and KB2505438. Another update, KB2483177, is not required, but without this update installed media codecs will not be available. This update requires that Desktop Experience is enabled. These prerequisites are available in the Internet Explorer 9 .iso file.
• For Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, the following prerequisites must be installed: KB2484033, KB2488113, and KB2505438. Another update, KB2483177, is not required, but without this update installed media codecs will not be available. This update requires that Desktop Experience is enabled. These prerequisites are available in the Internet Explorer 9 .iso file.

Before you begin collect the necessary files. There are several steps involved for slipstreaming IE 9 packages into Windows Installation Media. In this example I will slipstream Internet Explorer 9 x64 package into Windows 7 x64 Ultimate Edition Media available via Retail channels. However, the same is applicable for Enterprise Edition as well as for all the full editions of Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 media.

• Download the pre-requisite packages to a specific directory. In my example I have copied them to D:\IE9\IE9PRE directory
• Download Internet Explorer 9 Installer & Language Packs (Optional) from this link http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/internet-explorer/downloads/ie-9/worldwide-languages
• In this example I have downloaded IE 9 x64 package for Windows 7 (IE9-Windows7-x64-enu.exe) and extracted the .CAB file from this installer to D:\IE9\IE9EXT directory. To extract the .CAB file from the package use this command D:\>IE9-Windows7-x64-enu.exe /X:D:\IE9EXT (This command will extract the IE9-Win7.CAB & few other files file in the D:\IE9EXT folder, we need only IE9-Win7.CAB file) For details explaining the same visit http://blogs.technet.com/b/aviraj/archive/2011/10/14/windows-internet-explorer-9-installer-command-line-options.aspx
• Copy all the content from Windows 7 x64 Ultimate Edition DVD to D:\Windows7SP1x64 directory & also create a empty directory called D:\MOUNT. You can use any of the available drives but accordingly choose the path in the command. In my example I have created D:\MOUNT for mounting install.wim image contents.
• To perform the slipstream process, we need to run DISM.EXE command. This is available as a part of Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK). If you are an OEM build you can get Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit (Windows OPK) For other Enterprises/Individuals you can install Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) You can download WAIK for Windows 7 here and Windows® Automated Installation Kit (AIK) Supplement for Windows® 7 SP1 from here. WAIK contains all the necessary files. In this example I will be using WAIK to perform the same.

Now we are ready to perform our slipstreaming process. It’s a 3 step process. Let’s get going.

Step 1: Mount the install.wim file to a specific local folder along with specific Edition or all editions. The install.wim is located in the \Sources Directory on the Windows Installation Media. In this example we will mount ULTIMATE Edition to D:\MOUNT directory.

Get the Windows7/Windows Server 2008 R2 DVD Media & copy all files locally to D:\Windows7SP1x64. Now, go to Start –> All Programs –> Microsoft Windows AIK and launch Deployment Tools Command Prompt

Then, run the following command to see available editions on the Windows Installation DVD Media

This will show you following editions available. Note: In case of Enterprise edition there will be just 1.

Now, that we know how many editions available on the DVD media, let’s mount Ultimate Edition that has Index Number 4. Run this command to mount the Ultimate Edition files to D:\MOUNT

Step 2: Import the Pre-Requisite Packages located in the D:\IE9\IE9PRE directory and Internet Explorer 9 Package (IE9-Win7.CAB) located in the D:\IE9\IE9EXT to the mounted WIM File in the specific local folder.

Use the following command to import the Pre-requisites to the image mounted on D:\MOUNT

Use the following command to import the Internet Explorer 9 Package to the image mounted on D:\MOUNT

Step 3: Un-mount the install.wim using the /commit switch so the changes would be saved in the installation media

Once completed, you can use the WIM file to deploy Windows OS using bootable USB Drive or using WDS (Windows Deployment Server)

Here is the list of all the commands I used on 1 picture.

You can use the following sample script for slipstreaming the IE 9 package for all editions of Windows 7 x64 Retail DVD Media.

Save the file as IE9_SS_X64.BAT

@echo off
cls
mkdir C:\WIM
C:\IE9.exe /x:C:\IE9
erase /F /Q "C:\IE9\IE9_SUPPORT.CAB"
dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\DVD\sources\install.wim /index:4 /MountDir:C:\WIM
dism /Image:C:\WIM /Add-Package /PackagePath:C:\IE9
dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\WIM /commit
dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\DVD\sources\install.wim /index:3 /MountDir:C:\WIM
dism /Image:C:\WIM /Add-Package /PackagePath:C:\IE9
dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\WIM /commit
dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\DVD\sources\install.wim /index:2 /MountDir:C:\WIM
dism /Image:C:\WIM /Add-Package /PackagePath:C:\IE9
dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\WIM /commit
dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:C:\DVD\sources\install.wim /index:1 /MountDir:C:\WIM
dism /Image:C:\WIM /Add-Package /PackagePath:C:\IE9
dism /Unmount-Wim /MountDir:C:\WIM /commit
erase /F /Q "C:\IE9.exe"
RD /S /Q "C:\WIM"
RD /S /Q "C:\IE9"
pause
exit

For detailed demonstration you can watch my Zeollar Session covering the same http://www.zeollar.com/Session/275

Enjoy

Today, I received this new HTC Firmware revision for my HTC Mozart running Mango RTM.

Firmware revision from 2250.21.40600.707 to 2250.21.50001.707.

Today, I will talk about installing Internet Explorer 9 using Command-Line Options. Internet Explorer 9 Installer supports installing by using Command-Line Switches.

Note: This post is not about using Command-Line Switches for IEXPLORE.EXE In case you are expecting are there any Command-Line options available for Internet Explorer then visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee330728(v=VS.85).aspx 

Anyways, back to our the main topic. To start with Internet Explorer 9 Installation, you need to download the specific installer depending upon your Operating System & the Platform i.e. x86 or x64

You can download Internet Explorer 9 Installers & Language Packs from this link http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/internet-explorer/downloads/ie-9/worldwide-languages

In this example I will be showing the example of installing Internet Explorer 9 using Command-Line switches on Windows 7. I have downloaded the following 2 files for Windows 7.

To see the available Command-Line options for Internet Explorer 9, run the installer with /? option. It will be like this IE9-Windows7-x64-enu.exe /? and hit Enter

Once you hit Enter, it will give you an option with the supported Command-Line Switches.

For example…

IE9-Windows7-x64-enu.exe /X:D:\IE9 (This command will extract the IE9-Win7.CAB file in the D:\IE9 folder)
IE9-Windows7-x64-enu.exe /update-no (Do not check for Internet Explorer updates.)
IE9-Windows7-x64-enu.exe /closeprograms (To start installation without rebooting)

Any comments and/on questions/feedback welcome, feel free to share it over here.

Thank You.