The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) is a collection of tools and technologies designed to help you customize, assess, and deploy Windows operating systems to new computers. This article will guide you through the process of installing the Windows ADK, creating a custom Windows image, and deploying it to a new machine.

What is Windows ADK?

The Windows ADK includes tools such as:

• Deployment Tools: Used for customizing and deploying Windows images.
• Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE): A lightweight version of Windows used for the deployment of PCs, workstations, and servers.
• Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD): Helps create provisioning packages to quickly configure a device without imaging.
• User State Migration Tool (USMT): Migrates user data from one Windows installation to another.

Installing the Windows ADK

1. Download the ADK:

   • Visit the Microsoft ADK download page and download the installer.

2. Run the ADK Installer:

   • Execute the downloaded file adksetup.exe.
   • Choose the components you need. For this guide, select "Deployment Tools" and "Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE)".

Creating a Custom Windows Image

1. Prepare the Environment:

   • Open the Deployment and Imaging Tools Environment as an Administrator.

2. Mount a Windows Image:

   • Use the DISM (Deployment Imaging Service and Management Tool) to mount a Windows image:

     dism /Mount-WIM /WimFile:C:\path\to\install.wim /Index:1 /MountDir:C:\mount

3. Add Drivers or Packages:

   • Add drivers:

     dism /Image:C:\mount /Add-Driver /Driver:C:\path\to\driver /Recurse

   • Add packages:

     dism /Image:C:\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:C:\path\to\package.cab

4. Capture the Image:

   • After making changes, unmount and commit the image:

     dism /Unmount-WIM /MountDir:C:\mount /Commit

Deploying the Custom Image

1. Create a Bootable WinPE USB:

   • Copy the WinPE files to a USB drive:

     copype amd64 C:\WinPE_amd64
     MakeWinPEMedia /UFD C:\WinPE_amd64 E:

2. Boot from WinPE:

   • Insert the USB into the target machine and boot from it.

3. Apply the Custom Image:

   • Use DISM to apply the custom image to the target machine:

     dism /Apply-Image /ImageFile:E:\path\to\custom.wim /Index:1 /ApplyDir:C:\

4. Configure Boot Settings:

   • Set the target partition as active and configure the boot settings:

     bcdboot C:\Windows

Conclusion

Using the Windows ADK, you can create and deploy customized Windows images efficiently. This toolkit is essential for IT professionals who need to manage large-scale deployments and ensure that systems are configured to specific requirements.