Checklist: Manage Known and Unknown Computers

You can use Windows Deployment Services to link client computers to computer account objects in Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). This is called prestaging a client. Prestaged clients are also called “known computers”. Prestaging enables you to configure account settings to control the installation for each client. For example, you can configure which network boot program and unattend file the client receives, as well as which server the client downloads the network boot program from. For those computers that are not prestaged (unknown computers), you can enable the Auto-Add policy. When this policy is enabled, administrator approval is required before an unknown computer can install an image. For more information, see Prestaging Client Computers (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=131987).

	Step	Reference
	Prestage client computers in AD DS.	Prestage Client Computers
	Configure how to respond to unknown clients.	Configure the Auto-Add Policy and PXE Response Tab
	Configure AD DS settings for clients.	AD DS Tab

	Note
	See How to Manage Client Computers (https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=115265) for a list of procedures related to the Auto-Add policy and prestaging clients.