Topic last updated—January 2008

The following terms are used when describing concepts and actions related to Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 operating system deployment.

Destination Computer

The destination computer is the computer that will receive the user state data and settings that are migrated from a source computer. The destination computer must have a computer association with the source computer for side-by-side migration scenarios.

Image

The image is a collection of files and folders that duplicates the original file and folder structure of an existing computer, including the file and folder structure of the operating system, or that is a file-based replica of a hard disk. An image often contains other files added by the Configuration Manager 2007 administrator. Operating System Deployment supports Windows Image format (WIM).

Reference computer

A reference computer is a fully-configured computer from which you generate the WIM file that will be used to distribute operating system images to target computers.

Source Computer

The source computer is an existing computer that is managed by Configuration Manager 2007. The source computer contains the user state data and settings that will be migrated to a new destination computer. The source computer must have a computer association with the destination computer for side-by-side migration scenarios.

Sysprep

Sysprep is a Windows system preparation tool that facilitates image creation on reference computers running Windows operating systems, and the preparation of an image for deployment to multiple target computers. Sysprep generalizes the reference computer by removing all computer-specific information such as security identifiers, network addresses, and the computer name. When the generalized image is cloned to other computers, the other computers establish their own identity and do not duplicate the identity of the reference computer.

Target computer

The target computer is the computer on which you install a Microsoft® Windows operating system image using Configuration Manager 2007 Operating System Deployment.

Task sequence

A task sequence is a series of one or more task steps that can be advertised to Configuration Manager 2007 clients to run user-specified actions. Task sequences are used with Operating System Deployment to build source computers, capture an operating system image, migrate user and computer settings, and deploy an image to a collection of target computers. Task sequences can also be used to run other Configuration Manager 2007 actions, such as deploying Configuration Manager 2007 software packages or running custom command lines.

Task sequence group

A task sequence group is a component of a task sequence and represents a collection of one or more task sequence steps.

Task sequence step

A task sequence step is a component of a task sequence and represents a user-specified action that is run on a computer that the task sequence is advertised to. Task sequence steps always run entirely on the target computer, and never on a Configuration Manager 2007 site system.

Unknown System

An unknown system is an Operating System Deployment feature in Configuration Manager 2007 R2. An unknown system is a computer or device that does not have a management agent installed and that is not “known” by an existing management infrastructure or system.

Unprovisioned System

An unprovisioned system is an Operating System Deployment feature in Configuration Manager 2007 R2. An unprovisioned system is a computer or device that has been discovered by an existing management infrastructure or system but is not yet installed with a management agent.

User State Migration Tool (USMT)

The User State Migration Tool (USMT) is a Windows utility used by administrators to collect a user's documents and settings, called the user state data, before an operating system deployment is performed, and then restores the user state data after the installation.

USMT migrates user files and settings during large deployments of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Vista operating systems. USMT captures desktop, network, and application settings as well as a user's files, and then migrates them to a new Windows installation in order to improve and simplify the migration process.

USMT 3.0 supports the capture of user settings (known as scan state) from computers running the Windows 2000 operating system or later, and the restore of user settings (known as load state) on computers running the Windows XP or Windows Vista operating systems.

USMT 2.61 supports the capture of user settings (known as scan state) from computers running the Windows 9x operating system or later, and the restore of user settings (known as load state) on computers running the Windows 2000 or later operating systems.

For more information about USMT see the Windows XP Professional Deployment Web page, see (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88299). You can download USMT from the Microsoft Download Center, see (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88300).

Windows Image Format file (WIM)

A WIM file represents the file format for an image captured using Operating System Deployment and is a compressed collection of files and folders.

Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE)

Windows PE 2.0 is a Windows operating system with limited services, built on the Windows Vista operating system platform. Windows PE is the boot image used by Operating System Deployment, and is used only in the preinstallation and deployment of Windows operating systems. Configuration Manager 2007 does not support earlier versions of Windows PE.

You can find detailed documentation about Windows PE, see (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=93917).

See Also