Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

A Beginner’s overview to Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)

MDT is a Microsoft software product that has grown over time; from a tadpole collection of useful scripts and an HTML front-end in its early days (when it was known as BDD), to a mature and fully fledged application ready for enterprise level. In Microsoft parlance, it is a Solution Accelerator – a tool designed to make IT Professionals’ jobs easier.

I have to say, they have succeeded!
MDT Home

What does MDT do

MDT has just one job in life. It’s to be a framework of scripts and processes that you can use to automate the deploying a Microsoft Windows OS, or, OSD (Operating System Deployment).

Whether you work for a small business, in a team of just one, or a whole IT department for a multinational company, MDT gives you the power to automate deploying any* Microsoft OS to a professional level.

*where any means Windows 7, 8, 10, 2008 or even Server 2012, 2016. I’m sure you get the idea.

So, if you are the person responsible for rolling out a new OS, you really have no excuse not to use this tool. Step away from your home-brew scripts. Turn your back on Symantec Ghost and forget Windows Deployment Services (on its own at least). They are all old-fashioned ways of doing things.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit is quicker, better, more flexible and easier to work with. You can create network deployments or a totally standalone bootable media deployments if you want. The choice is yours.

The price: I didn’t mention perhaps the biggest benefit. It’s free. Yes, those Evil Microsoft people are giving away a wonderful, time-saving, professional grade tool to help you look like a Hero free.

Availability

Download it here:

The sub-pages on this site give more detail of the various versions and technical walkthroughs on how to use it. It comes with a really great help-file, which is invaluable but many people seem to forget to press F1 and default to Google when they get stuck. Don’t. Read the manual first.

Enjoy,

/deployBoy