Replacing an Existing Computer with a New Computer Using Lite Touch Installation

You can use MDT to deploy an image to a new computer that will substitute an existing computer in the enterprise architecture. This situation could arise when upgrading from one operating system to another (a new operating system could require new hardware) or if the organization needs newer, faster computers for existing applications.

When replacing an existing computer with a new computer, Microsoft recommends taking into account all settings that will be migrated from one computer to another, such as user accounts and user state data. In addition, it is important to create a recovery solution in case the migration fails.

In this sample deployment, replace the existing computer (WDG-EXIST-01) with a new computer (WDG-NEW-02) in the CORP domain by capturing user state data from WDG-EXIST-01 and saving it to a network share. Then, deploy an existing image to WDG-NEW-02, and finally restore the captured user state data to WDG-NEW-02. The deployment will be performed from a deployment server (WDG-MDT-01).

In MDT, use the Standard Client Replace Task Sequence template to create a task sequence that will perform all the necessary deployment tasks.

This demonstration assumes that:

· MDT has been installed on the deployment server (WDG MDT 01)

· The deployment share has already been created and populated, including operating system images, applications, and device drivers

· An image of a reference computer has already been captured and will be deployed to the new computer (WDG NEW 02)

· A network shared folder (UserStateCapture$) has been created and shared on the deployment server (WDG MDT 01) with the appropriate share permissions

A deployment share should exist prior to beginning this sample. For more information about creating a deployment share, see the section, Managing Deployment Shares in the Deployment Workbench, in the MDT document Using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.