Windows 8 ADK (The new WAIK)

Yes folks, Microsoft have updated their tools for working with windows images.

What was once known as the Windows Automated Installation Kit has now been merged with more utils and is now called the Assesment and Deployment Kit.

A quick look on Microsofts site only seems to proveide a bootloader to install from the internet however if you run this file you are presented with the option to download the files for offline installation.

Be warned though its a biggie coming in at around 3 and a bit Gig.

It can be downloaded from here

Creating a more useful Powershell prompt

 

 

As Microsoft are moving more and more functions for their products to be Powershell aware, we are starting to use PS more than VBScript in our daily lives. Although I often use Quest’s Powergui for my coding as the watches built into the interface make debugging easier, I do also make use of the Powershell itself, in these instances I have to import the relevant module manually, by editing your PS profile you can make these tools available every time you click on the little blue icon.  This walkthrough will install the Active Directory and Exchange tools.

 

Here are the steps to achieve this.

 

1. Create a profile (If you don’t already have one)

New-Item -Itemtype file -path $profile -force

2. Edit your profile with notepad

notepad $profile

3. Add the following code

import-module activedirectory

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.Exchange.Management.PowerShell.E2010
. $env:ExchangeInstallPath\bin\RemoteExchange.ps1
Connect-ExchangeServer –auto

4. Save the file and re-open Powershell

 

You will now have a Powershell which loads the AD and Exchange tools by default.