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Deploy Windows 8 Enterprise x86 on a UEFI x86 device using SCCM 2012 SP1

New Toys For The Boys Don’t we all love new toys, especially the ones that require an occasional recharge. The latest thing I got my hands on is the Lenovo Tablet 2, a very nice 10” tablet thing, with a couple of nice add-ons, like a docking  station, Bluetooth keyboard and a pen like stylus. But what I really like about it is that it runs a full version of Windows 8 x86, which means that I can deploy its OS over and over again   So I fired up my SCCM Console to do exactly that … The Drivers [...]

By | 2013-04-03T23:07:11+00:00 April 3rd, 2013|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info, OS Deployment, Windows Client, Windows Server|14 Comments
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All Windows Keyboard layouts

I’m working for this customer who needs computers deployed I several different country's. Because they run XP (I know!) they need that LCID – “hex code” number for the keyboard layout instead of the more user friendly “culture name” used in Win7, like en-US or da-DK. Every time I need these LCID’s I find myself going trough the internet trying to find the correct match for the country I need to deploy to. So here is a link to a list with all the info you could ever need for this.. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb896001 As a small bonus, I found this need [...]

By | 2012-03-06T12:34:00+00:00 March 6th, 2012|General info, OS Deployment, Windows Client|1 Comment
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Extending OSD progress UI Info in SCCM

While running a task sequence, info on what is happening is shown in the progress UI, well the name of the Task Sequence, and the step that is running anyway!! But what if we could extend that info to let us know other things as well! Turns out that is as easy as typing a little extra text in the Task Sequence editor. Example 1: Let say you are administrating a large environment, doing several OSD tests against a number of MPs, and DPs. Now wouldn’t it be nice if we could actually see where data is picked up, right [...]

By | 2012-02-27T08:51:00+00:00 February 27th, 2012|Configuration Manager (SCCM), General info, OS Deployment, Windows Client|3 Comments
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Enabling Hyper-V in Windows 8 Preview

Microsofts virtualization platform Hyper-V is now included in Windows 8. The requirements are as follows: Windows 8 64 bit version At least 4 GB of ram An x64-based processor Second Level Address Translation (SLAT) Hardware-assisted virtualization: Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT) or AMD Virtualization (AMD-V) technology. Hardware-enforced Data Execution Prevention (DEP): Intel XD bit (execute disable bit) or AMD NX bit (no execute bit) enanled in BIOS. Hyper-V is not enabled in Windows 8 by default. Here is how to enable it: Log on to Windows 8 and on the Metro start page, type: programs (1). Left-click on Programs and [...]

By | 2011-09-16T10:58:54+00:00 September 16th, 2011|Operating Systems, Windows Client|3 Comments
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Windows 8 Developer Preview is ready for download

Microsoft has made Windows 8 Developer Preview availible for download. You can get the 32 and 64 bit version both with or without the developer tools, which consists of: Windows SDK for Metro style apps Microsoft Visual Studio 11 Express for Windows Developer Preview Microsoft Expression Blend 5 Developer Preview 28 Metro style apps including the BUILD Conference app You can download it here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/apps/br229516 You can watch the keynote from the BUILD conference, which was solely concentrated on Windows 8: http://www.buildwindows.com/

By | 2017-08-22T13:12:47+00:00 September 14th, 2011|Windows Client|1 Comment
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Migrating Bitlocker enabled machines to another domain

In the SCCM Admins guide to preparing your environment for Bitlocker Drive Encryption post series, I walked you through how to prepare your environment for Bitlocker in order to enable the backup of the Bitlocker recovery password and the TPM owner password hash, to Active Directory. But what will happen if: 1. You join a stand-alone machine which already had Bitlocker enabled before the domain-join 2. You unjoin a Bitlocker enabled machine from one domain and join it to another domain, which could be a domain in the same forest or another forest. 3. You migrate the computer account of [...]

By | 2017-08-22T13:12:30+00:00 July 8th, 2011|Security, Windows Client|11 Comments
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SCCM Admins guide to preparing your environment for Bitlocker Drive Encryption – part 2

In part 1, I talked about the requirements for Bitlocker and showed you how to extend your Active Directory Schema if you run Windows Server 2003 SP1/SP2 Windows Server 2003 R2 domain controllers. We then sat the permission so that a Windows 7 machine was able to write its own TPM owner password to Active Directory. Today I am going to walk you through how to configure the Group Policy settings for Bitlocker which is required, in order to enable the backup of the Bitlocker recovery password and the TPM owner password, to Active Directory. You will need either a [...]

By | 2017-08-22T13:11:57+00:00 May 16th, 2011|Configuration Manager (SCCM), Security, Windows Client|3 Comments
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SCCM Admins guide to preparing your environment for Bitlocker Drive Encryption – part 1

If you use Configuration Manager 2007 it is pretty simple to enable Bitlocker as part of your OS deployment. But you still need prepare your environment for Bitlocker and this is done external of Configuration Manager 2007. This guide is meant for SCCM admins wanting to enable Bitlocker and will guide you through the process step-by-step. This post is the first in a 3 part series describing how you prepare your environment for Bitlocker Drive Encryption. We will look at the requirement for Bitlocker and how you extend your Active Directory Schema if you run Windows Server 2003 SP1/SP2 Windows [...]

By | 2011-05-05T12:46:37+00:00 May 5th, 2011|Configuration Manager (SCCM), OS Deployment, Windows Client|4 Comments
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The annoyance of none elevated command prompts.

You know how when ever you run something from a prompt in Windows 7 or Server2008 you need to remember to elevate the privileges, or you will get the annoying message that you do not have administrative privileges, which then means you will have to open a new prompt, run it as administrator,  and do things all over again.. (especially annoying when working with WAIK) Well I know that you could just disable UAC all together, but that's not what Microsoft intended when they put it there! and it would also mean a huge decrease in security. So what to [...]

By | 2010-02-09T10:17:47+00:00 February 9th, 2010|General info, OS Deployment, Windows Client|0 Comments
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Changing boot order in Vista/Windows 7

If you do not want to play around with BCDedit or 3rd party tools like EasyBCD, it is quit easy to change boot order from within Windows 7. I Know that this is kind of low tech, but I notice a lot of  questions out there regarding, how to change the boot order using BCDedit. Here goes: Go to Computer – Properties. Note: You can also do this by hitting the key combo Windows + Pause/Break or Click on Advanced System settings Open the Advanced tab In the Startup and Recovery section click on Settings Note: run sysdm.cpl to go [...]

By | 2009-08-17T09:08:39+00:00 August 17th, 2009|General info, OS Deployment, Windows Client|4 Comments
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Enable Integration features for Virtual PC Beta running server 2008

Running on Windows 7 it obvious you would use the new Windows Virtual PC Beta. There is a problem however, when you want to run a Server2008 virtual PC. The server it self runs great, and is much faster than Virtual PC2007, but like in Virtual server2005 Drag’n Drop is not supported. This Should basically not be a problem because the integration features gives you access to all the host machines drives (including USB).  Only problem is that it doesn't seam to work on Server2008. It might work at first, but after a couple of reboots the integration features suddenly [...]

By | 2009-08-03T11:55:16+00:00 August 3rd, 2009|OS Deployment, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), Windows Client|9 Comments
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Try out Windows 7 without messing up your XP/VISTA installation

I just love Windows 7 RC… It runs much better than VISTA, and has lots of super nice features.  (Get it here http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/ ) One of these features is the ability to boot from a VHD, which actually means that I can run Win7 on my laptop, without having to reinstall my existing OS, mess around with partitioning or having to install some boot manager in order to run it a dual boot environment.  So what does this mean exactly!! Well for me it means that I can still have my Vista installed PC where I know my Microsoft training [...]

By | 2009-06-03T13:59:53+00:00 June 3rd, 2009|OS Deployment, Windows Client|1 Comment
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Fix none working DVD/CD drive in Vista and windows 7

When You upgrade a computer to Windows Vista or Windows 7 Beta, or install Windows Vista Service Pack, and after a restart, the computers CD/DVD drive no longer works as expected, or it says driver is not digitally signed, you will have to remove the affected filter drivers. To do this, follow these steps: Open Registry for editing (Regedit.exe). Locate, and then click the following registry sub key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} Caution To make sure that you are in the appropriate registry sub key, make sure that the Default data value is DVD/CD-ROM and the Class data value is CDROM. In the [...]

By | 2009-03-27T15:51:28+00:00 March 27th, 2009|OS Deployment, Windows Client|8 Comments
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Upgrading Windows Vista Enterprise to Windows 7 Ultimate

I just performed an upgrade from my Vista Enterprise SP1 x64 bit to Windows 7 build 7000 on my Lenovo T500. The upgrade path from Enterprise edition to Ultimate is not supported but with a quick little registry fix it turned out to be a painless upgrade. Prior to the upgrade change these settings: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\EditionID (value Enterprise) to Ultimate This should be enough to pass the prerequisite check and start the upgrade process.

By | 2009-01-18T10:13:23+00:00 January 18th, 2009|Windows Client|2 Comments
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