Review Known Issues, Limitations, and Recommendations That Relate to Windows 7

The following is a list of known issues, limitations, and recommendations that relate to Windows 7:

· Deployment will fail on Windows 7 computers configured for a language other than English when the Windows Media® Player Network Sharing Service is run. As a workaround, stop the Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service until after deployment is complete.

· You can use AD DS to back up BitLocker and TPM data. Recovery information includes the recovery password for each encrypted value, the TPM owner password, and the information necessary to associate recovery information with computers and volumes. Another option is to save a package containing the keys used to encrypt data in addition to the recovery password required to access those keys. For more information, see Configuring Active Directory to Back up Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption and Trusted Platform Module Recovery Information in the Microsoft Download Center.

· When enabling BitLocker, key files are generated as hidden, read-only system files. To see them, set the Windows Explorer option to show hidden and system files.

· BitLockerduring LTI deployment requires at least two partitions. The first partition is the primary partition and can be any size; it stores operating system files and user data. In BitLocker terminology, this is called the boot partition. For Windows Vista, the second partition should be at least 2 GB; for Windows 7, it should be at least 300 MB. This partition stores startup files required during the first phase of startup and is called the system partition. For Windows Vista, LTI deployment automatically configures the required system partition if you are deploying BitLocker. A BitLocker partition is created for all Windows 7 deployments, regardless of whether you are deploying BitLocker.

· In Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008 R2, if a user with a limited account maps a drive (such as drive Z) to the MDT distribution point (\\server\distribution$, where server is the name of the computer hosting the distribution point), runs LiteTouch.vbs, and then provides Administrator credentials in the User Credentials dialog box, MDT displays the error, “Cannot find script file ‘Z:\Scripts\LiteTouch.wsf’ because the account that the user provided in the User Credentials dialog box cannot access the mapped drive created by the limited user account.” To resolve this issue, use an account with Administrator credentials to map the drive to the distribution point.

· BitLockerdeployment on a computer running Windows 7and Windows Vista can fail with the error, “Unable to merge BDEPartition, return code=87,” when the user does not specify a locale. Restarting the computer does not allow the operating system to start. To avoid this error, specify a user language, or edit the CustomSettings.ini file to specify the UILanguage property. For example, you could add UILanguage = en-us to the CustomSettings.ini file.

· If activating BitLocker during installation fails in Refresh Computer scenario, verify that MDT is able to shrink the partition as required by following these steps:

h. At a command prompt, type diskpart shrink querymax, and note the value displayed.

i. If the value is less than 2,000 MB, then manually defragment the disk. MDT performs an automatic defragmentation, however, so this might not resolve the problem.

j. If defragmenting the disk does not resolve the issue, back up the computer’s hard disk, create a new partition, and repeat these steps until typing diskpart shrink querymax returns a value greater than 2,000 MB. There might be files in specific areas of the partition that cannot be relocated or removed.

· The BDERequired flag is no longer used. By default, all sample templates that enable BitLocker and encounter an error will stop. You can edit the task sequence to enable deployment to continue if an error occurs.

· When deploying a new computer or refreshing a computer running a localized edition of Windows XP with a Windows Vista or Windows 7 image that is using a different language, Setup will prompt for the keyboard layout, language, and time and currency settings during the Windows PE phase. As a workaround, import Setup files with the custom image.

· MDT supports Windows 7 and Windows Vista language pack selection during deployment for all scenarios if the language packs are configured in the Deployment Workbench. Selecting multiple language packs is possible when deploying Enterprise or Ultimate editions of the operating systems. When other editions of Windows 7 or Windows Vista are deployed, only one language pack can be selected because of Windows licensing restrictions.