ALL ABOUT TRAIN TICKET AND BIRTH STATUS

ट्रेन टिकट अौर बर्थ स्टेटस --

The advance booking for indian train ticket opens 60 days before the date of journey. Tickets can be booked both offline at Passenger Reservation System (PRS) or online using irctc website. Ticket booked online can be an e-ticket ( which is a print-out / sms) or an i-ticket wherein the PRS ticket is couriered to the passenger.

All the tickets issued have a unique 10-digit PNR (Passenger Name Record) which you should quote for any correspondence regarding your ticket / journey. The ticket also contains all the other journey details like train number, journey date, travel class, origin, destination, ticket status, berth details for confirmed tickets, passenger details etc. Maximum of six passengers can travel through one ticket. But just having a ticket does not guarantee that your journey is confirmed. It all depends on the ticket status. All the passengers in a ticket are assigned a ticket status which can be waiting (WL), RAC (a half berth), or confirmed (full berth). These are explained below in detail:

Waiting List (WL): If the passenger status is marked as WL followed by a number then the passenger has a waitlisted status. This can get confirm only if the passengers who have booked before you for the same journey cancel their ticket. For example if the status is GNWL 4 / WL 3 , then this means that you have a waiting list of 3 (the latter number) and your ticket will get confirmed only if 3 passengers who have booked before you for the same journey happen to cancel their journey. Similarly, GNWL/AVAILABLE means that current status of your ticket is CONFIRMED because some passengers who booked before you have cancelled their tickets. This status also gives some insight into the current ticket cancellation trends for this journey.In case the passenger status is waitlisted even after the chart preparation, then the passenger is not allotted any berth. If all the passengers on an e-ticket have waitlisted status after chart preparation, then the ticket gets automatically cancelled and the amount is refunded back to the user’s account. In this case, the passengers should NOT board the train. Waiting list can be of various types:

• GNWL: General Waiting List (GNWL) waitlisted tickets are issued when the passenger begins his/her journey at the originating station of a route or stations close to the originating station. This is most common type of waiting list and has got the highest chances of confirmation.

• RLWL: Remote Location Waiting List (RLWL) means ticket is issued for intermediate stations (between the originating and terminating stations) because usually these are the most important towns or cities on that particular route. This type of tickets will be given a separate priority and confirmations will depend on the cancellations of a destination confirmed ticket. For this type of ticket there are less chances of confirmation.

• PQWL: A Pooled Quota Waiting List (PQWL) is shared by several small stations. Pooled Quotas normally operate only from the originating station of a route, and there is only one Pooled Quota for the entire run. The Pooled Quota is generally allotted for passengers travelling from the originating station to a station short of the terminating station, or from an intermediate station to the terminating station, or between two intermediate stations.

• RLGN: Remote Location General Waiting List (RLGN) is issued when a user books a ticket where WL quota is RLWL. This means after ticket booking RLWL gets named as RLGN.

• RSWL: Roadside Station Waiting List (RSWL) is allotted when berths or seats are booked by the originating station for journeys up to the road-side station and distance restrictions may not apply. This waiting list has also very less chances of confirmation.

• RQWL: If a ticket is to be booked from an intermediate station to another intermediate station, and if it is not covered by the general quota or by the remote location quotas or pooled quota, the request for the ticket may go into a Request Waiting List (RQWL).

• CKWL: For tatkal tickets, the waiting list issued is CKWL. If CKWL ticket goes up, it directly gets confirmed and doesn’t go through RAC status unlike GNWL. During chart preparation, general waiting list (GNWL) is preferred over tatkal waiting list (CKWL) therefore tatkal waitlisted tickets are less likely to get confirmed. Follow these tatkal booking tips to get a confirmed tatkal ticket.

If you have booked a waiting ticket or you are deciding whether to book a ticket where current status is waiting, then check your chances of confirmation i.e. ticket will get confirmed or not. 

Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC): If a user has been issued an RAC ticket, then most likely his ticket will get confirmed by the time of chart preparation and he will get a berth. In case the ticket remains RAC even after chart preparation (if the coach number is preceded by R i.e. RB1, 31 means RAC seat no 31 in coach B1), then user is allotted a half berth (seat) i.e. two persons having RAC ticket status are allotted one side-lower berth. The TTE is obligated to allot berths which are cancelled after chart preparation to these RAC passengers.

Confirmed (CNF): In this case the passenger gets a full berth for the journey. In case of first AC (1A), the passenger may not get berth details even for confirmed ticket when ticket is issued. This is because the berth allotment for this class is done manually by the TTE on chart preparation.

टिप्स --

WL X/ WL Y ==> As per initial list, the Waiting list was X. Now, due to few cancellations, the status has been upgraded to Y (X>Y Always) 

WL X/ RAC Y ==> As per initial list, the Waiting list was X. Now, due to few cancellations, the status has been upgraded to RAC 

RAC===> RESERVATION AGAINST CANCELLATION 

RAC A/B ==> As per initial list, the list wasRAC A. Now, due to few cancellations, the status has been upgraded to RAC B (A>B always) 

WL X / REGRET ==> NO MORE TICKETS AVAILABLE

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NTFS and FAT32 FILE SYSTEM...

एन.टी.एफ.एस. तथा फैट फाइल सिस्टम में अन्तर

Today we will tell you about the differences between FAT32 and NTFS file systems used by Windows operating systems. This information may help you in choosing the right system as per your requirements.

Basic Definition
FAT stands for File Allocation Table and FAT32 are an extension which means that data is stored in chunks of 32 bits. These are an older type of file system that isn’t commonly used these days.

NTSF stands for New Technology File System and this took over from FAT as the primary file system being used in Windows.

Indeed, before making a choice you need to know about their capabilities. The table below will give you a rough idea of the features and respective support.

Description of Features

Few of the things here are self explanatory. So, I will expand those which require little description.

Fault Tolerance: NTFS maintains a log of disk changes and in case of power failure or abrupt errors it repairs the files and folders automatically without the user being notified anything. FAT32 maintains two different copies of the file allocation table and uses a back up mechanism if some damage occurs.

Security: In FAT32 you will have to depend on share permissions for security. This means that they are good in the Network but locally they are vulnerable. On the other hand NTFS allows you to set permissions on local files and folders as well.

Compression: FAT32 offers no compression feature whatsoever. While NTFS lets you compress files and folders individually so that you do not have to slow down the system by depending on partition compressions.

Conversion: You may easily convert a FAT32 system to NTFS. But the reverse is not true because NTFS follows a secure protocol. So, the only option here is to backup your data and format the disk.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Wi-Fi and MOBILE INTERNET (2G, 3G, 3G+ or 4G)?

मोबाइल इण्टरनेट तथा वाई-फाई में भिन्नता...

Surfing via Wi-Fi is cheaper than surfing via mobile Internet, but Wi-Fi coverage is limited to a building or a district.

Domestic Wi-Fi network (when you surf wirelessly at home) Wi-Fi uses a local wireless network to transfer information.

Its coverage is therefore limited to a building (pub, airport, etc.) or a public space. Access can be private or public, paying or free of charge, open for Internet or not.

To surf on your phone, you must have a Wi-Fi device.

To surf on your computer, you must have a Wi-Fi modem or a computer with a built-in 

Wi-Fi modem.

Mobile Internet (when you surf on the 4G network)Mobile Internet (when you surf on the 2G, 3G or 3G+ network)Mobile Internet (2G, 3G, 3G+ or 4G) uses a mobile telephony network to send and receive data.

With your SIM card, you access the Internet everywhere in Belgium and abroad.

To surf on your phone, you must have a 2G, 3G or 4G device.

To surf on your computer, you must have an external USB modem or a computer with a built-in mobile modem.

In all cases: choose an Internet price plan or option to pay less.

Your device will automatically connect to the best mobile network available. It may happen that you switch from one network to the other.

With Proximus you can use the following mobile Internet networks: 2G (GPRS or EDGE), 3G (UMTS), 3G+ (HSDPA or HSPA+) and 4G (LTE).

With 2G

With GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 50 Kbps.

With EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 250 Kbps.

With 3G or UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 384 Kbps.

With 3G+

With HSDPA (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 7.2 Mbps.

With HSPA+ (High-Speed Packet Access +), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 42 Mbps.

With 4G or LTE (Long Term Evolution), you have a theoretical transfer speed of max. 129 Mbps.

Windows 7: MANAGE DISKS AND FILE SYSTEMS

मैनेज डिस्क्स अौर फाइल सिस्टम

The disks and file system are at the center of Windows 7 operations. The disks are where all your information is stored: OS files, applications, data, everything. The file system determines how this information is stored on your disks.

Partitions

Partitions divide and segment your disks. You can have a disk with either a single partition or multiple partitions. Even though having a single partition is the simplest way to configure your disks.

Having multiple partitions helps you separate your OS files, application files and data files. Sometimes, you’ll need multiple partitions because of size limitations for a partition. You may also need multiple partitions to run a multi-boot system. This would especially be the case if different OSes used different file systems. You’d need a different partition for each of the different file systems.

MBR and GPT

Most legacy disks are Master Boot Record (MBR) disks. MBR disks store partition information in the MBR, hence the name. This information is generally stored in the first sector of the disk.

GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks store partition information in the GPT header. For compatibility with MBR systems, GPT disks continue to store the MBR entry as the first sector of the disk. Following this entry is the start of the GPT, also called the primary partition table header. For redundancy, the GPT header and partition table are also written at the end of the disk.

In Windows 7, you can have MBR or GPT disks. When you first add a new disk, you must choose one or the other. It’s important you understand the differences between these two types of disks. Because the GPT format is newer, you may run into compatibility issues if you choose this format. MBR disks have a wider range of compatibility. GPT disks, however, support larger partition sizes.

Convert from MBR to GPT

You can convert an MBR disk to a GPT disk. To do so, the disk can’t have any volumes. If the disk has volumes, you should remove them before starting the conversion process. To convert an MBR disk to a GPT disk, follow these steps:

1. Open the Disk Management Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in.
2. Right-click on the disk and select Convert to GPT disk.
3. The disk will be converted, and should show as Online.

You can also convert a GPT disk to an MBR disk by following these steps:

1. Open the Disk Management MMC snap-in.
2. Right-click on the disk and select Convert to MBR disk.
3. The disk will be converted, and should show as Online.

Basic and dynamic disks

There are two types of disks available in Windows 7: basic disks and dynamic disks. You can think of basic disks as the traditional technology used for Windows disks. When disks are first created, they’re created as basic disks. In the original Disk Creation wizard, you can covert the disk to a dynamic disk. You can also convert to a dynamic disk later.

Follow these steps to convert a basic disk to a dynamic disk:

1. Open the Disk Management MMC snap-in.
2. Right-click on the disk and select Convert to Dynamic Disk. The Convert to Dynamic Disk window will appear.
3. Select the basic disks you want to convert to dynamic disks.
4. Click OK. The disks are converted to dynamic disks.

Converting between MBR and GPT format

When you convert a disk from MBR to GPT format, you’ll notice the amount of unallocated disk space on the disk decreases. This is because of the additional space used to hold disk and partition information on GPT disks. When you convert from GPT format to MBR format, you’ll notice the reverse effect. If the disk has a volume on it, you can’t convert it back to a basic disk. You must delete the volume before attempting to convert the dynamic disk back to a basic disk.

To convert a dynamic disk back to a basic disk, follow these steps:

1. Open the Disk Management MMC snap-in.
2. Right-click on the disk and select Convert to Basic Disk.
3. Click OK. The disk is converted back to a basic disk.

Volumes

Once you have your disks created and configured, you need to create volumes. You can’t store any information on your disks until you’ve created volumes. There are several different types of volumes from which to choose. You can create simple volumes, spanned volumes, striped volumes or mirrored volumes. Creating a simple volume is easy. Just follow these steps:

1. Right-click on “Unallocated space.” Select New Simple Volume.
2. The New Simple Volume wizard appears. Click Next.
3. On the Specify Volume Size screen, enter the desired size of the new volume. Click Next.
4. On the Assign Drive Letter or Path screen, choose the desired drive letter for the new volume. Click Next.
5. On the Format Partition screen, choose the option for “Format this volume using the following settings.”
6. Choose the NTFS file system. Enter a volume label. Select the option for Perform a Quick Format. Click Next.
7. On the Completing the new Simple Volume Wizard screen, click Finish. The new volume will be formatted and should show a status of Healthy.

To create a new spanned volume, follow these steps:

1. Right-click on “Unallocated space.” Select New Spanned Volume.
2. The New Spanned Volume wizard appears. Click Next.
3. The Select Disks screen will appear. Select the disk you want to add to the spanned volume. Click Add.
4. Once the disk is added, you can specify how much disk space from the disk you want to add to the spanned volume. Click Next.
5. On the Assign Drive Letter or Path screen, choose the desired drive letter for the new volume. Click Next.
6. On the Format Partition screen, choose the option for “Format this volume using the following settings.”
7. Choose the NTFS file system. Enter a volume label. Select the option for Perform a Quick Format. Click Next.
8. On the Completing the new Simple Volume Wizard screen, click Finish. The new volume will be formatted and should show a status of Healthy on each of the disks to which it was added.

Striped volumes and spanned volumes are similar, but have one big difference: Both types of volumes can stretch across multiple disks. Striped volumes use the same amount of disk space on all disks, whereas spanned volumes can use a different amount of space on each disk. To create a new striped volume, follow these steps:

1. Open the Disk Management MMC snap-in.
2. Right-click “Unallocated space.” Select New Striped Volume.
3. The New Striped Volume wizard appears. Click Next.
4. The Select Disks screen appears. Select the disks you want to add to the spanned volume. Click Add.
5. Once the disks are added, you can specify how much disk space from the disk you want added to the striped volume. This will be the same for all disks.
6. Click Next.
7. On the Assign Drive Letter or Path screen, choose the desired drive letter for the new volume. Click Next.
8. On the Format Partition screen, choose the option for “Format this volume using the following settings.”
9. Choose the NTFS file system. Enter a volume label. Select the option for Perform a Quick Format. Click Next.
10. On the Completing the new Striped Volume Wizard screen, click Finish. The new volume will be formatted and should show a status of Healthy on each of the disks to which it was added.

Windows 7 can create mirrored volumes. Mirroring volumes is done for fault tolerance and redundancy. When a volume is mirrored, a copy of the data written to one volume is also written to a second volume. This way, if one of the volumes becomes corrupted or a disk fails, you can still access your files and data using the copy of the data stored on the other half of the mirror. Follow these steps to create a new mirrored volume:

1. Open the Disk Management MMC snap-in.
2. Right-click on “Unallocated space.” Select New Mirrored Volume.
3. The New Mirrored Volume wizard appears. Click Next.
4. The Select Disks screen appears. Select the disks you want to add to the mirrored volume. Click Add.
5. Once the disks are added, you can specify how much disk space from the disks you want to be mirrored. This will be the same for all disks.
6. Click Next.
7. On the Assign Drive Letter or Path screen, choose the desired drive letter for the new volume. Click Next.
8. On the Format Partition screen, choose the option for “Format this volume using the following settings.”
9. Choose the NTFS file system. Enter a volume label. Select the option for Perform a Quick Format. Click Next.
10. On the Completing the new Mirrored Volume Wizard screen, click Finish. The new volume will be formatted and should show a status of Healthy on each of the disks to which the mirror was added.

Resize a volume

Sometimes, after you’ve create a volume, you’ll need to change its size. Luckily, once you’ve created a volume, you’re not limited to that size. You can either extend or shrink a volume by taking the following steps:

1. Open the Disk Management MMC snap-in.
2. Right-click on the volume to be extended. Select Extend Volume.
3. The Extend Volume wizard appears. Click Next.
4. The Select Disks screen appears. You can choose to extend the volume on the current disk or extend it to another disk.
5. Click Next.
6. Click Finish. The volume is extended and maintains the same file system as the original volume.

To shrink a volume, do the following:

1. Open the Disk Management MMC snap-in.
2. Right-click on the volume to be shrunk. Select Shrink Volume.
3. When the Shrink Volume window appears, enter the amount of space by which you would like to shrink the volume.
4. Click Shrink. The volume is shrunk and the freed-up space is seen as unallocated space.

Delete a volume

There are several instances in which you may have to remove a volume. For example, you may need to remove a volume if you want to convert a disk to a different format. To delete a volume, do the following:

1. Open the Disk Management MMC snap-in.
2. Right-click on the volume to be deleted and select Delete Volume. You’ll receive a warning that all your data will be erased.
3. Click Yes to continue. The volume will be deleted and the freed disk space will be returned to unallocated space.

• Simple Volumes - Formatted partition on a hard drive. Has no fault tolerance.
• Spanned Volumes - Formatted partition or disk space on more than one partition or hard drive that appears as one volume. In Windows NT, this is called a volume set. Has no fault tolerance. The system or boot partitions cannot be included in a spanned volume. FAT, FAT32 and NTFS file systems may be included. Space from two to thirty two dynamic disks can be included. If one disk on the spanned volume fails, all data is lost, and no part of a spanned volume may be removed without destroying the entire volume.
• Striped Volumes - Also called disk stripingor a striped set in Windows NT, it is when two areas of disk space which are identical in size have half the information written on one area and the other half written on the second area. This effectively doubles the disk access speed, but provides no fault tolerance. In Windows NT, this is called a stripe set which is created on a basic disk.
• Mirrored Volumes - Also known as RAID 1 or a mirror set on Windows NT, this is a fault tolerance method where data is stored on two volumes (that appear as one) rather than a single volume. This costs access time, but is fault tolerant.
• RAID-5 Volumes - Require three or more areas of formatted drive space. Generating parity information can cost processor time.

Mirrored volumes and RAID-5 volumes are not supported by Windows 2000 Professional. Other than sector fixing, there is no fault tolerance provided with Windows 2000 Professional. For a certification test, fault tolerance is not provided with Windows 2000 Professional.

Stripe Sets

A stripe set is established using free space from between 2 and 32 physical hard drives. The free space on each drive must be the same capacity. Data is written is 64k blocks simultaneously on each drive in the stripe set which increases disk drive read and write access speed. Windows 2000 Professional supports stripe sets, but not stripe sets with parity. Windows 2000 Professional does not support disk drive fault tolerance, only supporting stripe sets without parity and sector sparing.

NT system and boot partitions cannot be part of a stripe set.

CONNECT INTERNET FROM COMPUTER TO ANDROID USING BLUETOOTH TETHERING

कम्प्यूटर के द्वारा मोबाइल पर इण्टरनेट चलायें (ब्लूटूथ)

Connect internet from Computer to android using Bluetooth Tethering. No need for any PC suite or USB cable to connect and access internet in PC or laptop. Tethering is one of the feature of Android mobile, which makes it possible. Tethering means actually we can share the internet connection of mobile phone with other device using WiFi connectivity, USB connectivity or Bluetooth. Android mobile offers to Tether over USB, Tether Over Wifi orTether over Bluetooth. So Why Tether over Bluetooth? WiFi drains battery in relatively short time, as compare to Bluetooth and USB grabs your phone to stick to a fixed position, soBluetooth tether is an another alternative to WiFi and USB tethering. You can also check for Connecting android internet to other mobile by tethering. Below are the steps to connect internet with Bluetooth tethering, but before implement the steps, ensure that

your computer or laptop should have Bluetooth device with installed Bluetooth driver and is functioning properly.

Note: Bluetooth Tethering is included after Android 4.0 i.e Ice Cream Sandwich versionas a in-built feature.

Steps to Connect internet from Computer to android using Bluetooth Tethering

1.) Turn on your Computer or laptop Bluetooth on and ensure that it is capable to discover all other devices within a range.

2.) Enable your data packet and see if your internet is working fine in your android mobile, by checking opening web pages in your phone browser.

3.) Tap to settings in your android device and select wireless and networks. Tap on toTethering and portable hotspot i.e Setting -> Wireless and networks -> Tethering and portable hotspot. Select Bluetooth tethering check box as shown below.

Note: Also ensure that your Bluetooth Device is visible. If not then, make it visible byselecting check box Visible corresponding to your mobile name, present in Setting -> wireless and setting -> Bluetooth as shown.

4.) Now move on to your computer or laptop to make couple of steps. Open control panel (For windows PC, Press window key then control panel) and select Devices and printer link to add your Bluetooth enabled android device, by pressing Add Devices button appearing in the above of window bar.

5.) In the opened up window, you can see your android mobile device which has Bluetooth On. Now select that device and then press next button. Let the device get paired with your computer or laptop.

6.) Last step. In the same window i.e in  Devices and printer, select the device and right click on it, where you can see the option to Connect with internet access. Once you clicked it, you are ready to go to access internet in few seconds in your Personal computer from your mobile device.

Open your browser and enjoy surfing.

REVERSE TETHERING – CONNECT INTERNET FROM COMPUTER TO MOBILE (WiFi)...

कम्प्यूटर के द्वारा मोबाइल पर इण्टरनेट चलायें (WiFi)

Tethering is one of the features which makes possible to connect and access internet in PC or laptop from mobile. Android gives this feature as an inbuilt over USB, Wi-Fi and Over Bluetooth. But what if, you want to access Internet from your phone to check WhatsApp message, Gmail account or any other and you don’t have Data packet, then you might think for Reverse Tether i.e. Access Computer or laptop internet in your Android mobile or other mobile. This post will give you direction to do the same, i.e. Connect Internet from computer to mobile, Reverse tether, without rooting your android phone.

Requirements to implement Reverse Tethering:

• Windows 7 or Windows 8 PC with WiFi and its drivers installed and which have           an access to internet with any means i.e Broadband, from other mobile, or with Net setter.
• MyPublicWifi : Freeware software(1.7MB approx)

Requirements to implement Reverse TetheringRequirements to implement Reverse Tethering

• Your Android device or mobile device with WiFi feature installed
• If above three requirement, are fulfilled, then here are the set of steps to implement reverse tethering.

  
  

  
  

  Steps for Reverse Tethering – Connect Internet from Computer to Mobile

  
  
  1.) Make sure, that your PC or Laptop is connected with internet. Install MyPublicWiFisoftware and run it as administrator.
  2.) Set desired network name(SSID) and Network key i.e password. Let Enable Internet sharing check box be checked in, and select the appropriate network connection from which you are accessing internet in your PC or laptop.
  
  
  
  Reverse Tethering – Connect Internet from Computer to Mobile
  3.) Press “Set up and Start Hotspot“, this makes your PC as hotspot. If all works fine then, this button label will be changed to “Stop Hotspot“.
  4.) Turn on your Mobile WiFi, and search for the network, that you just created. In My case, Network Name is “MyPublicWifi“. Connect to it, if prompted to enter password, then Enter the Network Key, that you entered or set during 2nd step. Well you are now connected to Computer Internet in your android mobile or other mobile device.
  
  
  
  Reverse Tethering – Connect Internet from Computer to Mobile
  If you find any problem, while implementing Reverse Tethering, do comment below. If you have any other ideas or any suggestion for the same, your valuable comments are always welcome.
  
  
  

WINDOWS INSTALLATION SOURCES

विण्डोज इन्सटाल करने के तरीके

Key terms: installation, cd, dvd, usb, network share, windows deployment services, answer files

CD/DVD

Windows can be installed from the traditional CD/DVD which we can buy in a local store or purchase it online. We can also download ISO image from Internet and then burn it to the CD/DVD. When installing form CD/DVD, we have to ensure the proper boot order to boot from the CD/DVD drive. If BIOS settings cannot change to 'boot from CD/DVD', we should update the BIOS firmware. When the proper boot order is set, we simply insert Windows CD/DVD in the drive and then restart the computer. The autorun menu should automatically start. Then we simply follow the installation prompts to complete the installation process.

USB Drive

For faster and more customizable installation we can use a USB drive which must have at least 4GB of free space (for Windows 7). The USB drive can store both the Windows source files and any additional software and drivers that a Windows DVD cannot store. We also have to make sure that we format our USB drive with a FAT32 file system.

Network Share

Windows can be installed from a network share in a similar fashion as from a DVD or a USB drive. We have to have a network installation prepared before we can install Windows form a network. To install Windows from the network first we have to boot our computer to the network using network boot disk or WinPE. Then we connect to the network share and then simply run Setup.exe. The setup files must be copied to an accessible network location. Windows PE replaces MS-DOS as the Windows pre-installation environment. It is a bootable startup environment in which Windows can be installed. For Windows deployment, Windows PE contains tools such as Netcfg (used to configure network access), Drvload (used to install drivers and use hardware without restarting the computer), DiskPart (used to partition and format the computer's hard drive) and Net Share (used to connect to a shared folder containing Windows installation and setup files). If we want to do a custom installation across the network we have to pre-create custom WIM image file which can be done using ImageX. Installations from a network share can be slower than a DVD and USB installations, but their main benefit is that they allow us to have our source files centralized. By having all our Windows installation files centralized we only need to update one location. Also, we don't need to have Active Directory environment to do installations from a network share.

Windows Deployment Services (WDS)

We can also use Windows Deployment Services (WDS) which replaces Remote Installation Services (RIS). RIS was used in Windows 2000 and 2003 networks. WDS is used for installations of more than one computer in business environments. WDS requires that we have an Active Directory environment running Windows Server 2008. This method can be used to install more than one computer at the time over network. WDS allows an administrator to upload customized installation sources for the different types of computers they might have. The client computer will access WDS server by PXE booting (Pre-eXecution Environment) of the network and downloading the available image. The main difference between installing from WDS compared to network installations is that we don't have to copy installation files across the network to the client. Instead, the client pulls down a premade customized Windows image from the WDS server. We can choose which image to download and use for installation.

In addition to the installation sources mentioned here, there are many other third-party tools that can perform Windows installation as well.

Answer Files

For all installation sources that we mentioned here we can create answer files. Answer files can be created with Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) which replaces Setup Manager Tool used in 2000 and 2003 environments. Answer file is now XML file and the default name is Autounattend.xml. If we are installing from a network resource, we have to make sure that the Autounattend.xml file is in the same directory as the Setup.exe file. If we are installing from DVD, we have to put the Autounattend.xml file on the root directory of removable media, such as a USB drive or DVD. If we place the answer file in the correct location with the default name, the answer file will be used automatically when we run the Setup.

Remember

Installation sources are CD/DVD, USB drive, network share and Windows Deployment Services (WDS). When installing form CD/DVD, we have to ensure the proper boot order to boot from the CD/DVD drive. For faster and more customizable installation we can use a USB drive which we have to format with a FAT32 file system. Windows can be installed from a network share in a similar fashion as from a DVD or a USB drive. The setup files must be copied to an accessible network location. We can also use Windows Deployment Services (WDS) which require that we have an Active Directory environment running Windows Server 2008. For all types of installation we mentioned here, we can create answer files for automated installation.