When deploying Windows 10 operating system using SCCM (OSD), you will need to monitor SCCM task sequence progress. This allows us to track task sequence start, end time and most importantly errors (if any). Our post will show 4 different ways to monitor SCCM task sequences. Each of them has its own benefits and drawbacks. Monitor SCCM Task Sequence Using the Console You can view the progress of a task sequence using the SCCM console. This method is simple and easy but permit to see the status of only one machine at the time. If your deployment staff don’t have access to the console or view deployment status, this option is not for you. Open the SCCM Console Go to Monitoring / Deployments Search and right-click the deployment linked to your Windows 10 task sequence On the menu, select View Status In the Deployment Status screen, select the In Progress tab for a running … Read More
How to use Enterprise Mode Internet Explorer 11
One of the key feature of Internet Explorer 11, still unknown to many admins, is the Enterprise mode. This allow administrators to set a list of website to open in Enterprise Mode to emulate IE7 or IE8 and avoid compatibility issue that been preventing upgrading to Internet Explorer 11 or even moving on to more recent OS like Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. This feature is also available in Microsoft Edge. In this post, we will detail how to install, use and deploy the Enterprise Mode site list for Internet Explorer 11. Prerequisites Download Enterprise mode Site list manager here Internet Explorer 11 If you are still using older version of Internet Explorer, see our guide to upgrade to Internet Explorer 11 with SCCM Enterprise Mode installed Our guide to upgrade to Internet Explorer 11 with SCCM also provide guidance to install Enterprise Mode [su_box title=”Note” style=”glass” title_color=”#F0F0F0″] There is … Read More
Uninstall Windows Update using SCCM
With the recent problems caused by monthly Windows Update, knowing how to massively uninstall Windows Update with SCCM is a must! This action is not available by default in SCCM. There are 2 ways to uninstall a Windows Update. Both solutions require the command line utility WUSA.exe, that as been around since Windows Vista/Windows Server 2008 era. In this post, we will detail both solutions to uninstall a Windows Update with SCCM. If you are looking for how to manage Windows update with SCCM, see our SCCM Software Update Management Guide for complete instructions. Prerequisites SCCM any version Windows 7 and up Windows 2008 R2 server and up SCCM Uninstall Windows Update One method is to use a Custom Task Sequence with a run command line. The advantage of using this method is the ability to use the same task sequence on both OS Architecture. The second method involves having … Read More
How to add Latest Windows 7 Convenience Update in a SCCM Image
For this post, we will be talking about how to do a SCCM Windows 7 convenience rollup image creation. A lot of companies still use Windows 7 and have not yet migrated to Windows 10. So, in the spirit of still having Windows 7, I thought I would write up a post to help fellow administrators. You may have seen that a few weeks ago, Microsoft released a new convenience rollup for Windows 7 SP1. This convenience rollup is meant to make our lives easier when deploying fresh instances of Windows 7. As stated on the Technet article, it contains all the security and non-security fixes released since Service Pack 1, up to April 2016. Officially, the convenience update is released to help us administrators catch up our deployments of Windows 7 faster, have us have a Windows 7 release that’s consistent with the latest code levels, support benefits and so … Read More
Windows 7 Unknown Device TPM 2.0 Compatibility Issue
We came across an issue today while adding Windows 7 drivers for a new computer model to be deployed by SCCM. After deployment, the computer was showing an Unknown device warning in Device Manager even after installing all available drivers for the model. (Sorry for french screenshots) Troubleshoot Windows 7 Unknown Device TPM The first step to troubleshoot this issue is to get the Device ID of the unknown device. In the Properties of the faulty device, Details tab, note the Device ID for the device : ACPI\MSFT0101 When searching for the Device ID on the web, you will find out that this is the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip. But why is it showing as unknown ? CAB files from DELL usually provide all necessary drivers. When launching TMP.msc, we get an error that the TPM is not available : If we disable TPM in the BIOS, the Unknown device is gone. But … Read More
Windows 10 | Point and Print printer installation prompt UAC
We came across a strange issue today on Windows 10 devices that we haven’t seen since the Windows Vista days. Users have started to get prompts for User Account Control(UAC) when connecting to some printers. The Point and Print feature is responsible for this as it easily allows standard users to install printer drivers from the trusted print server. This post describes how to fix Windows 10 point print UAC problem. The problem appeared right after applying last July monthly updates. (MS16-087) Windows 10 Point Print UAC Prompt Cause Microsoft as tightened the requirement for printer drivers on print servers. If you : Are using a print server Allow standard user to install printer drivers using the Point and Print Group Policy Are using old printer driver that might have the following : Non-package-aware v3 printer drivers Unsigned or expired certificate validation drivers Following MS16-087 installation, you receive a UAC prompt and a Connect to … Read More
How to install Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS)
One of the challenges faced by workstation administrators, is to manage the local administrator account in large environment. One of the options was to use Group Policy Preferences, but that was before KB2962486 removed the possibility to set password using Group Policy Preferences. Since then, Microsoft as come up with a solution : Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS). Here’s the benefits of using LAPS : Unique password for local administrator per computer Password available from Active Directory, if needed to use local administrator account Remotly change the local administrator password Ability to use a custom administrator account Limitation : Only the local administrator account can be managed or a custom local account as administrator. In this post, we will detail how to install Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) to manage the local administrator password on a Windows 10 computer. High-level steps to install Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS) On management computers … Read More
Windows 10 Deployment | SCCM Task Sequence Upgrade Windows 7 to Windows 10
In the fourth post of this blog series about Windows 10 Deployment using SCCM, we will show you how to upgrade a Windows 7 to Windows computer 10 using SCCM task sequence upgrade. The goal of an upgrade task sequence is to upgrade an existing operating system to Windows 10 without loosing any data and installed software. This post assumes that you are running SCCM 1511 or SCCM 1602 and that you completed the preparation of your environment for Windows 10. If you are running SCCM 2012 R2 SP1, the product team has release important information about SCCM task sequence upgrade that you can find in this blog post. In the past, an in-place upgrade scenario was not a reliable and popular option to deploy the latest version of Windows. With Windows 10, it’s now reliable and features an automatic rollback in case something goes wrong. This scenario can also be considered faster than the wipe and reload deployment scenarios, since … Read More
Windows 10 Deployment | Create SCCM Windows 10 Build and Capture Task Sequence
In the third post of this blog series about Windows 10 Deployment using SCCM, we will show you how to create a SCCM Windows 10 Build and Capture Task Sequence and deploy it. Complete the preparation of your environment before reading this post. You will be able to edit this task sequence later to customize it to your environment. The goal of a build and capture task sequence is to capture a reference machine OS in order to redeploy its configuration multiple time. As a best practice, we recommend not to add too much software and customization to your reference image. Rather, use the task sequence steps to customize your deployment which decrease management operation tasks in the long run. For example, if you want to include Adobe Reader to your reference image because all your users need it, do not install it on your reference machine and do your capture. Instead, … Read More
Change Windows Edition from Enterprise to Professional
Windows 10 is coming out tomorrow. You want to install the latest Windows version to have the new OS features but you found out that one of your computer is running Windows 8 Enterprise edition which is not covered by the free Windows 10 upgrade. If you don’t need the Enterprise features, you can decided to downgrade your Windows 8.1 Enterprise edition to Windows 8.1 Pro to have the free upgrade to Windows 10. This post will show you how to downgrade / change Windows edition from Enterprise to Professional in a couple of steps. This procedure works for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 and you won’t need to reinstall your software and apps. The whole procedure should take about 30 minutes. What you need Windows 8 Pro media A valid Windows 8 Pro product key Valid backup of you data in case something goes wrong Which version can be upgraded to Windows 10 The following Windows versions can upgrade free to … Read More