Windows Vista Setup Eases Deployment

The Windows Vista installation program, Setup, uses imaging to speed OS deployment and make it more reliable. Imaging technology creates full-disk copies of a master or model computer that can be quickly and easily duplicated on other machines. Although large customers, systems integrators, and computer manufacturers already make substantial use of third-party imaging tools, Vista uses a new file-based image format that will reduce the number of images organizations need to maintain. But deploying large numbers of computers with image-based setup is still complex and requires an investment in creating and testing images before it can be used efficiently.

Why Change Setup?

While previous versions of Windows have required a complex installation process that simultaneously copies files and configures the system, with Vista Microsoft will employ imaging.

In current Windows versions, the setup program must prepare the computer’s disk for the new OS, copy all of the necessary files onto the disk, and then build the Registry to configure features and customize Windows for the user. In general, image-based setup programs are faster because less processing is required to build new computers from a master image: new files, including Registry files, are simply copied directly from the image to the new disk. Vista’s Setup program can also be used to upgrade an existing version of Windows to a new version (such as Vista) or to upgrade from one edition of Vista (such as Home Basic) to another (Ultimate). (For an overview of the setup process, see the sidebar “How Vista Setup Works“.)