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For more information about using multicasting with LTI deployments, see Multicasting LTI Deployments, later in this chapter.

To deploy Windows 7 to a target computer using MDT 2010, you must create a task sequence using the New Task Sequence Wizard, just as you did for the reference computer installation. However, the target computer deployment is often more complicated than that for the reference computer. Depending on which of the deployment scenarios you are using, you might have to create a task sequence that saves the user state data from the target workstation before installing Windows 7 and restores the user state data to the target workstation afterward. You might even have to create multiple task sequences that save the user state data from existing workstations and then restore the data to new workstations after installing Windows 7. For a target deployment using the New Computer, Upgrade Computer, or Refresh Computer scenarios, you create a task sequence using the Standard Client Task Sequence template. The wizard then prompts you for the operating system you want to install and some other optional information, such as the product key and Administrator password you want to use on the workstation.

After you have created the task sequence, you can view and modify its various settings by opening its Properties sheet and selecting the Task Sequence tab, as shown in Figure 7-1.

A task sequence consists of a succession of commands that perform various actions on the target computer, on which it runs. Some of the commands execute scripts, while others interact directly with the target computer. The template you select when you create the task sequence inserts a default group of commands into the task sequence; on the Task Sequence tab, you can modify the defaults and add or remove commands as you need to. Most of the task sequences for LTI deployments are based on the Standard Client Task Sequence template because this template enables the installer to implement a variety of features on the target computer. Because a Lite-Touch deployment requires some interaction at the client site, as opposed to the Zero-Touch deployment, which requires none, the task sequence can contain actions that the target workstation does not always need. For example, the Standard Client Task Sequence template includes the Capture User State action, which can save the user state data on a target computer to a remote location for later retrieval. In a deployment using the New Computer or Upgrade Computer scenario, this action is not needed and the installer can disable it at the target computer before the installation begins. When using the Refresh Computer scenario, however, the installer must configure the Windows Deployment Wizard to save the user state data before installing Windows 7. In a ZTI deployment, the task sequence must be precisely configured to perform all of the required actions on the target computer because there is no installer interaction. Task sequences for LTI deployments are therefore easier to create.

The one LTI scenario that requires a different task sequence template is the Replace Computer scenario. In this type of deployment, you are saving the user state data from an existing workstation and then restoring it to a new workstation after installing Windows 7. Because you are working with two computers, you need two separate task sequences. The first one, based on the Standard Client Replace Task Sequence template, contains the Capture User State command and skips the process of installing Windows 7, as shown in Figure 7-2. In the second task sequence, which runs on the new computer, the installer skips the Capture User State command, installs Windows 7, and then performs the Restore User State command to copy the user state data from the existing computer to the new one.