New book: “Windows 7 Resource Kit”

The Windows 7 Resource Kit is a comprehensive technical resource for deploying, maintaining, and troubleshooting Windows 7. The target audience for this resource kit is experienced IT professionals who work in medium-size and large organizations, but anyone who wants to learn how to deploy, configure, support, and troubleshoot Windows 7 in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) environments will find this resource kit invaluable.

Within this resource kit, you’ll find in-depth information and task-based guidance on managing all aspects of Windows 7, including automated deployment, desktop management, search and organization, software update management, client protection, networking, remote access, and systematic troubleshooting techniques.

You’ll also find numerous sidebars contributed by members of the Windows team at Microsoft that provide deep insight into how Windows 7 works, best practices for managing the platform, and invaluable troubleshooting tips.

Finally, the companion media includes the Windows 7 Resource Kit PowerShell Pack and sample Windows PowerShell scripts that you can customize to help you automate various aspects of managing Windows 7 clients in enterprise environments.

The six parts of this book cover the following topics:

• Part I — Overview Provides an introduction to the features of Windows 7 and an overview of security enhancements for the platform.
• Part II — Deployment Provides in-depth information and guidance on deploying Windows 7 in enterprise environments, with particular focus on using the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 (MDT 2010).
• Part III — Desktop Management Describes how to use Group Policy to manage the desktop environment for users of computers running Windows 7 and how to manage specific features such as disks and file systems, devices and services, printing, search, and Windows Internet Explorer.
• Part IV — Desktop Maintenance Describes how to maintain the health of computers running Windows 7 by using the eventing infrastructure, monitoring performance, managing software updates, managing client protection, and using Remote Assistance.
• Part V — Networking Provides in-depth information concerning core networking, wireless networking, Windows Firewall, IPsec, remote connectivity using virtual private networking (VPN), Remote Desktop, and IPv6.
• Part VI — Troubleshooting Describes how to troubleshoot startup, hardware, and networking issues, as well as how to interpret Stop messages.