Building hardened Windows images
Even with the increased adoption of the BYOD model and the advancement of self-provisioning technologies such as Windows Autopilot, building hardened images is still a relevant and effective method of device provisioning. Many organizations may have shifted to a lighter imaging process as these technologies can complement the traditional image deployment process and automate some provisioning tasks. Use cases for building and maintaining images still exist, whether it's for deploying laptops, workstations, or virtual desktops, and having a hardened image might be the best option for balancing security with ease of deployment. In the next few sections, we will provide an overview of the following device provisioning tools:
- Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (Windows ADK)
- Windows Configuration Designer (WCD)
- Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)
- Windows Deployment Services (WDS)
Let's start by looking at Windows ADK...