How to setup MDT for deploy old and new operating systems

Question

Hi, I have a question

I've been playing around with my home network lab recently learning new roles and functions in Windows Server systems and I've reached the stage of implementing operating systems

how to set up the MDT or WDS service so that I can install systems from Windows XP to Windows 11. I tried using WDS -> it will no longer be supported, in MDT trying to import Windows Vista/7 -> it does not detect the "operating system installation" location. Hence my question - is it possible to set up one MDT server for multiple systems or is there a way to set it up for newer ones, e.g. Windows Server 2019 and older Windows Server 2008 R2 in the same network/domain?

PS. I know that older systems (XP/Vista/7/8.x) are no longer supported but in my opinion sometimes it's worth seeking knowledge on this topic because you never know what life will bring to your configuration :)

Answer 1

Hi,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft Q&A forum.

MDT can support for the newer operating systems, for example Windows server 2019 and Windows 10. However, the older systems, for example Windows XP and Windows 7, are long out of support, and because there is no longer support there also is no patching or testing for XP and Windows7 scenarios. So, while it may work today there's really no guarantee for tomorrow.

We can follow below guides to setup MDT environment to support the newer operating systems:

Prepare for deployment with MDT

Building a Windows 11 21H2 Reference Image using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)

Best regards,

Simon

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Answer 2

Hello Dawid Sęk,

Thank you for posting in Q&A forum.

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) supports deploying multiple operating systems. You can import different versions of Windows and create separate task sequences for each OS. This allows you to manage and deploy various operating systems from a single deployment share.

Please follow this guide:

Use the MDT - Microsoft Deployment Toolkit | Microsoft Learn

 

I hope the information above is helpful.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let us know.

Best Regards,

Daisy Zhou

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