Using Remote Installation Services (Part 2)

Lesson 1

In the last module, you learned how to install and configure the RIS server, how to delegate control to users so that they can install Windows 2000 Professional via RIS, and how to do some basic customization of the dialog boxes during the client setup.
In this module, we'll look at Remote Installation Services in more detail. You'll learn how to modify the basic CD-ROM images that were copied to the hard disk during RIS server installation. We will also take a look at how to customize the installation using unattended answer files, how to restrict user-access to the image file, and how to actually go about installing RIS on the RIS client.

Microsoft Remote Installation Services (RIS) has been deprecated. RIS, a service for installing or upgrading an operating system on a remote computer, was a component of Microsoft's Windows 2000 server family. It provided a way for administrators to manage and install images from a central location.
The direct successor to RIS was Windows Deployment Services (WDS), which was introduced with Windows Server 2003. WDS expanded upon the functionality of RIS by adding more features and support for the latest network protocols and Windows operating systems. WDS allows for network-based installation of Windows operating systems, which can be beneficial in enterprise environments where multiple systems need to be deployed or upgraded.
Furthermore, Microsoft introduced the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) to work alongside WDS. MDT, a unified collection of tools, processes, and guidance for automating desktop and server deployments, offered an end-to-end solution for managing deployments of Windows operating systems.
Additionally, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), later rebranded as Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (MECM), provides more extensive management of deployments, including OS installations, updates, and patches, and system configuration.
Keep in mind that my information is accurate up to September 2021, and for the most recent updates, I recommend checking the official Microsoft documentation or reaching out to Microsoft support.
In summary, while RIS has been deprecated, Microsoft has provided several tools in its stead, including WDS, MDT, and MECM. Each of these offers unique features and capabilities, enabling administrators to manage system deployments in a variety of scenarios.

There are two ways you can customize an installation past the RIS image defaults. One is to create and attach custom answer files, and the other is to use a new feature with Windows 2000, the RIPrep.exe utility. RIPrep allows you to easily deploy images with highly customized user environments and applications.