Best Windows 8.1 Deployment Tools

Best Windows 8.1 Deployment ToolsBy William Van WinkleNOVEMBER 19, 2013 11:59 AM    2. Windows ADKIf you're not quite sure how to go about efficiently installing Windows 8.1 in your particular setting, Microsoft itself makes for a nice starting point. (After all, if anyone can code a mass deployment utility for Windows 8.1, it should be Microsoft -- in theory, anyway.)The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK) for Windows 8.1 is as self-explanatory as it gets. The lightweight app (it's a 1.4MB download) is intended for assessment and deployment. It's the latter use that we'll focus on, naturally, though the Windows ADK's assessment capabilities can be useful to IT professionals, as [login to view URL] starters, the Windows ADK equips you with a nice utility belt full of deployment tools. It lets you create Windows images tailored to your situation and then deploy those images across your enterprise. Further, by taking the end user element out of the equation, the Windows ADK offers the kind of set-and-forget simplicity that IT managers [login to view URL] Windows ADK consists of the following:Deployment Imaging Servicing and Management (DISM) command line tool,DISM PowerShell cmdlets,DISM API,Windows System Image Manager (SIM),OSCDIMG (a command-line tool that produces custom Windows PE ISOs).Although not strictly associated with Windows 8.1 deployment, the Windows ADK also includes Microsoft's User State Migration Tool (USMT), which is helpful if you're planning to shuffle user data between systems to coincide with the Windows 8.1 upgrade. A scriptable command-line tool, USMT gives IT professionals power over exactly what specific user data migrates and what won't make the [login to view URL] to Use Windows ADKTo get started with the Window ADK, download it from Microsoft and then run the installer, Adksetup.exe. Next, open a command prompt window with Administrator privileges and change the directory to the location of the installer. At that point, run this command:          adksetup /quiet /installpath &lt;path> /features &lt;featureID1> &lt;featureID2>First, <path> is your target destination for installing the Windows ADK features, while the&lt;featureID> values serve to let you pick and choose the features you want to install. (Running the command adksetup /list will show you the full list of features.) Or, to make things easier, you can specify "/features +" to simply install them [login to view URL] really diving into Windows ADK, you'll definitely want to familiarize yourself with Microsoft's extensive documentation onTechNet. There is a wealth of information there, from basic deployment instructions to using Windows ADK in specific scenarios.