Setup BITS for ConfigMgr Current Branch

By Johan Arwidmark / May 28, 2017

When using ConfigMgr in distributed environments, there are times when you want to limit how much bandwidth a client is using when downloading content. In all fairness, when having techniques like Peer Cache, and BranchCache at your disposal, you may get away by not limiting the bandwidth, but for most distributed environments you probably want to configure BITS to control how much bandwidth that is used over the WAN links. BITS is after all the component that is used for the actual downloads.

Using the Unified Write Filter (UWF) feature in Windows 10

By Johan Arwidmark / May 25, 2017

In the Windows 10 Enterprise (including LTSB) and Windows 10 Education editions, you can enable the Unified Write Filter (UWF) feature to prevent changes to the hard drive. This is particular useful for kiosk-type scenarios, or classroom environments where you don’t want enthusiastic students to install software etc. on to the machines 🙂

Why adding WinSAT formal to your task sequence can be a shiny thing to do

By Johan Arwidmark / May 12, 2017

It has certainly been a good twitter-week with many interesting announcements and discussions (if you’re not on twitter, get on twitter). One discussion that stood out was a question about running WinSAT formal being needed for Windows 10 Deployments.

The complete idiots guide to Windows as a Service

By Johan Arwidmark / May 6, 2017

For what feels like the tenth time, Microsoft is changing their terminology/strategy around Windows 10 updates. Below is a recent thread covering the topic (thanks to Ami Casto (@AdaptivaAmi) and SystemCenterDudes (@scdudes) for making me aware of the changes):

Customizing the Hydration kit, PowerShell style! – By Mattias Benninge

By Johan Arwidmark / April 26, 2017

Johan has done a great job creating the Hydration kit but I had the need to do some customizations. Johan did a write-up on which files needed to be changed (here) but that’s a lot a manual work which I really recent 😉

Adding the Intune Client Software to your Windows 7 Reference Image using MDT

By Johan Arwidmark / April 20, 2017

No, really, don't add the Intune client software to your Windows 7 reference image, install at deployment time instead via the task sequence.

Removing Windows Store and Mail icon from the Windows 10 v1703 Taskbar

By Johan Arwidmark / April 19, 2017

Earlier today I got a question on how to remove the default Windows Store and Mail icons from the taskbar in Windows 10 v1703.

Importing VMs with checkpoints (snapshots) using PowerShell

By Johan Arwidmark / April 19, 2017

Yet another late night working with a set of VMs, exported out of one standalone lab environment into another.

Fixing why Sysprep fails in Windows 10 or Windows 11 due to Windows Store updates

By Johan Arwidmark / April 13, 2017

When creating reference images for Windows 10 or Windows 11, Sysprep is very likely to fail if the machine has Internet access, and have enough time to start updating it's built-in applications, or install new ones as part of the consumer experience feature. This post is about preventing that from happening, and is a companion to my guides on building Windows 10 and Windows 11 reference images.

Using pfSense Community Edition as a virtual router for your lab environment

By Johan Arwidmark / April 11, 2017

When build lab and proof-of-concept solutions in a virtual environment it's very useful to also have a virtual router to enable multiple networks to connect, and to simulate a larger environments. For example to do lab setups like below:

Building a Windows 10 v1703 reference image using MDT

By Johan Arwidmark / April 6, 2017

Here is a step-by-step quick guide on building the perfect Windows 10 v1703 reference image using MDT 8443.

Making a ConfigMgr boot image work with standalone WDS or 3rd party PXE server

By Johan Arwidmark / April 6, 2017

To have a ConfigMgr environment coexist with another PXE environment, like WDS or just a 3rd Party PXE Server, you need to make some changes to the ConfigMgr boot image.

ConfigMgr Driver Management in just four steps – By Matthew Teegarden

By Johan Arwidmark / March 25, 2017

Written Matthew Teegarden (@TheEmptyGarden).

Managing Windows PCs using Microsoft Intune – With or without the Intune Client Software

By Johan Arwidmark / March 20, 2017

A little while back I had to do a presentation about what options that are available from Microsoft to manage Windows PCs, and to summarize, there are only two (sort of): ConfigMgr or Intune (standalone), or combining ConfigMgr and Intune (the hybrid model). Anyway, when preparing the presentation I spent some time on testing the standalone Microsoft Intune solution, and quickly run into a question: Should you, or should you not, use the Intune client software ?

Windows 10 Configurations – PowerShell and WMI Bridge vs. Provisioning Packages

By Johan Arwidmark / March 11, 2017

In Windows 10 you have the option of creating provisioning packages to apply settings/configurations to a machine. For example upgrading a machine running Windows 10 Professional to Windows 10 Enterprise. Now, to apply a provisioning package, you can either do it automatically in WinPE via DISM.exe, or later in the running Windows operating system by double-clicking the provisioning package and walk through a quick wizard.

Setup BranchCache for ConfigMgr Current Branch

By Johan Arwidmark / March 5, 2017

Windows 10 updates, both the scheduled updates from Microsoft as well as updates of Windows 10 apps, can put a significant load on your network. At least if you compare it with what a Windows 7 client does. Add that to all you normal deployments, images, applications etc. and you’ll find yourself running down the hallway, chased by folks from the network group 🙂

SQL Server 2016 shininess for ConfigMgr Current Branch

By Johan Arwidmark / March 3, 2017

A quick update on SQL Server 2016 changes that are helpful for ConfigMgr Current Branch installations.

Setup Peer Cache in ConfigMgr Current Branch

By Johan Arwidmark / February 9, 2017

In ConfigMgr Current Branch v1610 Microsoft added in a new feature called Peer Cache. It had previously had a few guest appearances in the Technical Preview branch, but now finally made it to the shinier branch, e.g. Current Branch. Anyway, this feature is designed to help reduce the network impact of delivering content to clients in distributed environments, and works with the package types that ConfigMgr supports (updates, legacy packages, applications, images etc.).

What's new in the Windows ADK 10 Insider Preview v15021

By Johan Arwidmark / February 5, 2017

A very shiny week turned into even shinier with the release of Windows ADK (10) Insider Preview v15021.

Configuring the Hyper-V MAC address pool for a Lab Environment (and finding duplicates)

By Johan Arwidmark / January 18, 2017

Ugh, it happened again!