Run DeploymentType NEWCOMPUTER logged in to existing Operating System.

Question

Hi,
I've read quite a few articles but don't seem to be able to find the answer I'm looking for.
Is it possible to run a NEWCOMPUTER deployment Scenario when the user is already logged into the old operating system / computer.
So the service desk will run the litetouch.vbs from the clients computer and there will be two task sequences available
Refresh: Run Scanstate and install Win 7 on current system drive, loadstate.
NewComputer: Do not run Scanstate, reboot, repartition, reformat and install win 7
I have tried creating a task sequence and adding "Task Sequence Variables" for SkipDeploymentType=YES and DeploymentType=NEWCOMPUTER but it always runs a Refresh with USMT.
I have also tried adding the above variables to the litetouch.vbs command line.
Thanks,
Jason.

Answer 1

Sorry, I know this post is quite old but it was the first thing that came up in my searches while researching and just want to add my 2 cents.
Actually, it is possible to get a new computer task sequence working from the OS.  WinPE does get placed on the local disk, but it is loaded into the RAMdrive at boot so the sequence process does not get lost (at least, this is my understanding).  
I modified a standard client task sequence in MDT 2012 as follows:
At the start of the validation and state capture phases, set task sequence variable "DeploymentType" to "NewComputer" to override the script's attempts to call it a "refresh".
In the state capture phase, modify the constraints on the 'refresh only' folders to: "Task Sequence Variable OSVersion not equals WinPE".
In the preinstall phase, I got rid of the 'new computer only' after moving the 'format and partition disk', 'copy scripts' and 'configure' items up above 'enable bitlocker'/'inject drivers'.
At this point, I was getting an error after rebooting in the preinstall phase when it attempted to inject the drivers.  I discovered that the error was caused by the script attempting to find the windows partition as sized and serial-numbered BEFORE
the task sequence formatted and repartitioned the drive.  I did not see where the task sequence variables for this information were being set, so I backed up and modified ZTIUtility.vbs to exclude the search constraints by partition size and volume serial
number.
In my ZTIUtility.vbs, line 3403 now looks like this:
oEnvironment.Item(sTagVariable) = "SELECT * FROM Win32_LogicalDisk WHERE VolumeName = '" & oDiskPart.VolumeName & "'"
In effect, If your OS had more than one drive, or a non-system disk labeled the same as the volume name you assign in your task sequence, you could run into problems.. But this isn't an issue for us.
After doing that, I can now use this task sequence either from pxeboot or directly from the OS.  Now if I get a ticket complaining that the computer is running slow, I can just RDP in from home and it'll have a fresh image and be back on the domain
in the morning :)