Wallpaper Deployment using WAIK

What is WAIK ?

WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit) is a set of tools and documentation provided by Microsoft that assists in automating the installation and deployment of Windows operating systems. WAIK is designed for IT professionals and system administrators who need to deploy Windows on multiple computers in a consistent and efficient manner.

Here are some key features and components of WAIK:

1. Deployment Tools: WAIK includes tools like ImageX, which is used for capturing, modifying, and deploying disk images, and DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management), which provides advanced image management capabilities.

2. Windows PE: WAIK provides Windows PE (Preinstallation Environment), a lightweight version of Windows that runs from a RAM disk. Windows PE is used for system deployment, recovery, and troubleshooting tasks. WAIK includes tools for customizing and creating Windows PE images.

3. Sysprep: WAIK includes Sysprep (System Preparation) tool, which is used to generalize Windows installations by removing unique system-specific information. Sysprep prepares an image for deployment on multiple computers, ensuring each deployed instance has unique settings and identifiers.

4. Answer Files: WAIK provides tools for creating and customizing answer files, such as Windows System Image Manager (SIM). Answer files contain configuration settings and automate the installation process by providing answers to installation prompts.

5. Application Compatibility: WAIK includes tools and resources to help assess and address application compatibility issues during the deployment process. These tools assist in identifying and resolving compatibility problems with existing applications before deploying a new Windows version.

6. Documentation and Resources: WAIK provides comprehensive documentation, whitepapers, and technical resources to guide administrators in understanding and utilizing the tools effectively.

It's important to note that WAIK was primarily targeted at Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and earlier versions of Windows. For newer Windows versions, such as Windows 7 and onwards, Microsoft introduced the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK), which expanded upon the capabilities provided by WAIK.

WAIK (or its successor ADK) is an essential resource for IT professionals involved in large-scale Windows deployment projects, offering tools, utilities, and documentation to simplify and automate the installation, configuration, and customization of Windows operating systems.

Now, we have seen what WAIK is lets see how wallpaper can be deployed using WAIK -

Import the windows 7 image into WAIK

There are several components present in windows 7 image, we have to choose:-

Amd64_microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup

Right click on Themes under this component and select “add setting to pass 7 oobeSystem”

The selected settings will be passed to our answer file:-

And will look something like this; Provide the path of the answer file in “Desktop Background” & “Theme Name”.

Save the answer file. This answer file can be used by MDT or SCCM.