Adding DaRT 8.1 from MDOP 2013 R2 to ConfigMgr 2012 R2

By Johan Arwidmark / December 11, 2013

Note: For ConfigMgr Current Branch you want to read this article instead: Adding DaRT to ConfigMgr Boot Images – And starting it earlier than earlyhttps://deploymentresearch.com/adding-dart-to-configmgr-boot-images-and-starting-it-earlier-than-early/ When integrating MDT 2013 with ConfigMgr 2012 R2 (which you should, Capish!), and if you have access to DaRT 8.1 (MDOP 2013 R2), you can remote into WinPE when deploying […]

Deploying Surface 2 Pro with ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 CU3

By Johan Arwidmark / December 9, 2013

This week I was assigned the task of deploying a Windows 8.1 Enterprise x64 image to a few Surface 2 Pro machines, using ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 CU3 integrated with MDT 2012 Update 1. I had already created the necessary WinPE 5.0 boot images as outlined on Niall Brady's blog, and applied the UEFI fix from […]

Script to build a VM in Hyper-V and boot from an ISO

By Johan Arwidmark / December 6, 2013

This week I was doing a ConfigMgr 2012 R2 class in New York, and one of students asked if he could get the script I used to create the VM I use to build my reference images. Sure, here it is: Happy Deployment,/ Johan

ADSI plugin for WinPE 5.0

By Johan Arwidmark / December 6, 2013

Back in 2005 I wrote my first ADSI for plugin WinPE (WinPE 2005 or v1.6), and per request I have since then updated it for every WinPE release… This is the release for WinPE 5.0 (part of ADK 8.1). Note: I don't recommend using ADSI in WinPE. It's not supported by Microsoft, and this release […]

What if I told you – The OSD Support Matrix for MDT and ConfigMgr is here?

By Johan Arwidmark / December 4, 2013

For anyone doing OSD with MDT 2012/2013 and ConfigMgr 2012, the current OS support-matrix is just utterly confusing. Here are the facts: ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 CU3 – Supports deploying the following Operating Systems as OS Images Windows XP SP3 x86 Windows XP SP2 x64 Windows Vista SP2 Windows 7 Windows 8 Windows 8.1 (assuming a […]

Finding WinPE drivers for Dell Servers

By Johan Arwidmark / December 3, 2013

Here is a quick tip for finding WinPE drivers for Dell Servers. You also find an additional tip in the end of the post that can help you find drivers for Windows Server 2012 R2. Update 2013-12-16: In addition to the steps last steps, and thanks Mirko Schnellbach (@MadMirko) for tweeting this, you can also […]

Samples from the @SCU2014 webinar on ConfigMgr 2012 R2 OSD

By Johan Arwidmark / November 22, 2013

On November 13, 2013, I presented a webinar for System Center Universe were I was using a few PowerShell scripts (well two), to enumerate variables during deployment. After the session I got a request for the scripts, so here they are: EnumVariable.ps1 Just listing the variables used by the task sequence EnumVariablesAndValues.ps1 Listing the variables […]

Adding Internet Explorer 11 to your Windows 7 SP1 reference image

By Johan Arwidmark / November 22, 2013

This article is basically the same as my Adding Internet Explorer 10 to your Windows 7 SP1 reference image post that was published in July 2013, but obviously this one is updated for Internet Explorer 11. For those of you using Windows 8 only, don’t bother reading, just replace your Windows 8 images with Windows […]

Back to basics – Automating the Windows To Go setup (Windows 8.1 Enterprise)

By Johan Arwidmark / November 18, 2013

Earlier this week I got an email from a fellow deployment geek, where he wanted to know how he could enable the local Administrator account on his Windows To Go stick (Windows 8.1 Enterprise). He had created the reference image in MDT 2013 (as you always should), but after running through the Windows To Go […]

Final Configuration for MDT Lite Touch, now with Autologon support

By Johan Arwidmark / November 15, 2013

Some times you want to execute a script after the MDT Task Sequence is completed, for example to cleanup any setup leftovers or to configure a user for autologon (something that MDT by default prevents). This script will clean out any leftover C:\MININT or C:\_SMSTaskSequence folders, enable (optional) autologon with another user account, and then […]

Modifying backup plan fails on SQL Server 2012 SP1 CU3

By Johan Arwidmark / November 8, 2013

Earlier this week I run into an issue tying to modify a SQL Server 2012 backup plan for ConfigMgr 2012 SP1. Creating the backup plan had worked just fine, but trying to modify it failed. Modifying the SQL Backup plan for ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 CU3 (version 11.0.3349). The failure When selecting Modify on the backup […]

Speeding up the 1E PXE Lite boot process

By Johan Arwidmark / November 8, 2013

This week I had the great fortune of hanging out with fellow MVP Dave Kawula and OSD guru Emile Cabot during the #OSDWeek in Calgary. Yesterday we installed and configured the 1E PXE Lite software that allows normal Windows clients act as PXE servers for ConfigMgr 2012. Though it worked perfectly well, I thought the […]

Install an MDT application, but only if machine is domain joined

By Johan Arwidmark / October 30, 2013

Earlier today I got an email from a fellow deployment geek struggling with getting a VBScript application wrapper for MDT to work. He wanted to install the app, but only of the machine was joined to the domain. Now, if you review the ZTIDomainJoin.wsf script, you find a ready-made function to do just that, the […]

Always up-to-date links to MDT and ConfigMgr (SCCM) trainings

By Johan Arwidmark / October 28, 2013

Why not indulge yourself with a Hands-On-Lab training on MDT and/or ConfigMgr. On our training page you find up-to-date links to trainings from word-class training providers like TrueSec. The trainings are presented by some of the best MDT and ConfigMgr gurus in the world. Me presenting a deployment session in Stockholm earlier this year. 🙂 […]

A Geeks Guide for upgrading to ConfigMgr 2012 R2 and MDT 2013

By Johan Arwidmark / October 27, 2013

In this post you learn to upgrade an existing ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 and MDT 2012 Update 1 environment to ConfigMgr 2012 R2 and MDT 2013. Known issues Before diving into the guide, please note that you need to install the KB2905002 hotfix if you want to do OSD in ConfigMgr 2012 R2. The hotfix solves […]

Windows XP SP3 support in ConfigMgr 2012 R2

By Johan Arwidmark / October 22, 2013

There are many posts in the forums about Windows XP support in ConfigMgr 2012 R2. Windows XP SP3 is still a supported as a ConfigMgr 2012 R2 client, and both ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 CU3 and ConfigMgr 2012 R2 can deploy everything from Windows XP to Windows 8.1 However, to deploy Windows XP SP3 with either […]

Sizing your ConfigMgr 2012 R2 Primary Site Server

By Johan Arwidmark / October 22, 2013

Getting the right server configuration for your ConfigMgr 2012 R2 environment is far from an exact science, but with a few simply tests you can at least get an idea if you’re dead wrong, or still on track… As you probably know, ConfigMgr 2012 requires a lot more CPU and memory than ConfigMgr 2007 ever did, but the key bottleneck is most often Disk I/O.

Windows ADK 8.1 Re-Released

By Johan Arwidmark / October 21, 2013

On October 17, 2013 the Windows ADK 8.1 was re-released. Update #1 October 21, 2013: Record speed update from the Windows documentation team, see the Windows ADK service updates section here : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/hh825613.aspx Update #2 October 21, 2013: Michael Niehaus also wrote a post today: http://blogs.technet.com/b/mniehaus/archive/2013/10/21/the-adk-for-windows-8-1-has-been-updated.aspx I could not find any announcement about the release, […]

The Hydration Kit for ConfigMgr 2012 R2 is available for download

By Johan Arwidmark / October 19, 2013

NOTE: This Hydration kit has been updated, you probably want to use this one instead:The Hydration Kit for System Center 2012 R2 is available for downloadhttps://deploymentresearch.com/Research/tabid/62/EntryId/149/The-Hydration-Kit-for-System-Center-2012-R2-is-available-for-download.aspx Here is a download that builds a complete Configuration Manager 2012 R2 infrastructure, running on Windows Server 2012 R2 and SQL Server 2012 SP1, in either Hyper-V or VMware. […]

MDT Lite Touch Driver Management

By Johan Arwidmark / October 11, 2013

In MDT Lite Touch, there are two types of drivers to worry about when deploying Windows. There are drivers for Windows PE (the boot image) and there are drivers for the Windows Operating System that you deploy. Driver management for the boot image is pretty straight , but driver management for the Operating Systems that […]