Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit

Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit
Developer(s) Microsoft
Initial release 13 February 2007 (2007-02-13)
Last release
3.0 / 18 February 2011 (2011-02-18)
Development status Discontinued; replaced with Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (WADK)[1]
Platform IBM PC Compatible
Size 1.66 GB
Available in English, Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish
License Freeware

Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK), formerly Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK or WAIK), is a collection of tools and technologies produced by Microsoft designed to help deploy Microsoft Windows operating system images to target computers or to a VHD (Virtual Hard Disk). It was first introduced with Windows Vista. WAIK is a required component of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.[2][3]

History

Windows AIK Version 1.0 was released with Windows Vista. New or redesigned tools and technologies included Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM), SysPrep, ImageX, and Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE) v2.0.[4]

Windows AIK Version 1.1 was released with Windows Vista SP1 (and Windows Server 2008). A number of new tools were introduced, including PostReflect and VSP1Cln. WinPE 2.1 could be more customized.[5] Supported operating systems include Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Vista SP1, Windows Server 2003 SP1, Windows Server 2003 SP2 and Windows XP SP2.

Windows AIK Version 2.0 was released with Windows 7 beta. Significantly, a single new tool, DISM, replaced several earlier tools including PEImg and IntlCfg, which were deprecated. WinPE 3.0 has AeroSnaps—a Windows 7 feature. User State Migration Tool (USMT) was added to this version of WAIK.[6] Supported operating systems include Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2, Windows Vista SP1, Windows Server 2008 family, Windows 7 family and Windows Server 2008 R2 family of operating systems.

Windows AIK version 3.0 is exactly the same as 2.0. The version number has only been updated to correspond with the release of Service Pack 1 for Windows 7.[7] Microsoft has also released a WAIK supplement for Windows 7 SP1. WAIK readme[8] references the WAIK supplement,[9] which optionally adds WinPE v3.1 to a previously installed, compatible WAIK.

AIK has been renamed The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 8 and includes Windows OEM Preinstallation Kit. [10]

Sysprep is not included with WAIK, but is instead included with the operating system.

Features

ImageX

ImageX is the command-line tool used to create, edit and deploy Windows disk images in the Windows Imaging Format. It is distributed as part of the free Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK). Starting with Windows Vista, Windows Setup uses the WAIK API to install Windows.

The first distributed prototype of ImageX was build 6.0.4007.0 (main.030212-2037). It allowed Microsoft OEM partners to experiment with the imaging technology and was developed in parallel with Longhorn alpha prototypes. It was first introduced in Milestone 4 into the Longhorn project, and used in later builds of Longhorn. Build 6.0.5384.4 added significant advantages over previous versions, like read-only and read/write folder mounting capabilities, splitting to multiple image files (SWM), a WIM filter driver and the latest LZX compression algorithms. It has been used since pre-RC (release candidates) of Windows Vista.

DISM

Deployment Image Service and Management Tool (DISM) is a tool introduced in Windows 7[11] and Windows Server 2008 R2[11] that can perform servicing tasks on a Windows installation image, be it an online image (i.e. the one the user is running) or an offline image within a folder or WIM file. Its features include mounting and unmounting images, querying installed device drivers in an offline image, and adding a device driver to an offline image.[11][12][13]

Before Window Server 2012 and Windows 8, DISM had incorporated the majority of ImageX functions but not all; ImageX was still needed for image capture.[11] However, DISM deprecated ImageX in Windows 8.[14]

Preinstallation environment

WinPE 3.0 (based on Windows 7) running Windows Command Prompt, Notepad, Registry Editor, and Task Manager

WAIK includes Windows Preinstallation Environment, a lightweight version of Windows that can be booted via PXE, CD-ROM, USB flash drive or external hard disk drive and is used to deploy, troubleshoot or recover Windows environments. It replaces MS-DOS boot disks, Emergency Repair Disk, Recovery Console and Automated System Recovery boot disks. Traditionally used by large corporations and OEMs (to preinstall 1 Windows client operating systems to PCs during manufacturing), WinPE is now available free of charge via WAIK.

User state migration

WAIK for Windows 7 includes User State Migration Tool v4.0, a command-line interface tool for transferring Windows user settings from one installation to another as part of an operating system upgrade or wipe-and-reload recovery, for example, to clean out a rootkit. USMT v4.0 can transfer the settings from Microsoft Windows XP or later to Microsoft Windows Vista and later.[15]

There are many commercially available solutions for migration, including Laplink, Tranxition, and Zinstall.

References

  1. ↑ "Windows Deployment with the Windows ADK". TechNet. Microsoft. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Czechowski, Aaron (17 August 2015). "MDT 2013 Update 1 Now Available". Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Team Blog. Microsoft.
  3. ↑ "Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 Update 1 Release Notes" (Office Open XML). microsoft.com. Microsoft. September 2012.
  4. ↑ "Download Details: Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK)". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft Corporation. 13 February 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  5. ↑ "Download Details: Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft Corporation. 9 April 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  6. ↑ "Download Details: The Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows 7". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft Corporation. 6 August 2008. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  7. ↑ "bink.nu". bink.nu.
  8. ↑ "Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 Readme". TechNet Library. Microsoft. 22 February 2011.
  9. ↑ "Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK) Supplement for Windows 7 SP1". Download Center. Microsoft. 21 February 2011.
  10. ↑ "Windows ADK Overview". microsoft.com. Microsoft.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Savill, John (29 January 2010). "Q. What's Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM)?". Windows IT Pro. Penton.
  12. ↑ "Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) Technical Reference". Microsoft. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 6 Oct 2012.
  13. ↑ "What Is Deployment Image Servicing and Management?". Microsoft TechNet. Microsoft. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 14 Dec 2012.
  14. ↑ "What is DISM?". TechNet. Microsoft. 18 April 2014.
  15. ↑ "Download Details: Windows 7 Walkthrough: User State Migration Tool". Microsoft Corporation. 9 January 2009. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
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