Next month, on January 14, 2020, Microsoft ends the “extended support” for Windows 7 and they will stop releasing security updates. At least if you don’t pay extra for it… Microsoft has an “Extended Security Updates” (ESU) program that can keep you Windows 7 clients secure for another 3 years.Many enterprise customers have access to these updates as part of their Microsoft E5 licenses or volume licensing (VL). They just need to enable it.This blog post will explain how setup the Extended Security Updates for Windows 7, if using volume licensing (VL) to manage on-premises deployments of Windows 7.In order…
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OS Deployment and patch management has always been big challenge for many admins around the world. Not just the testing, but also to get the customer image patched made many ConfigMgr admins a lot older . One of the new features in ConfigMgr 2012 allows you to apply updates to an OS image that’s been imported to the ConfigMgr 2012 library. This feature only supports “Component Based Servicing” (CBS) updates, and can be applied to Windows Vista and above. To use this feature, navigate to Software Library -> Overview -> Operating Systems – Operating System Images, select the Image that…
Michael Niehaus has a new post on how to create a fully patched image using MDT 2010 Lite Touch. Read the full post here. I’ve always been a fan of the thinnest image possible. Taking that to an extreme, that means using the original image straight off the Microsoft media. But over time if you did this you’d find that the time required to apply patches to that image becomes unmanageable. (Case in point: I started up a new laptop for the first time with an OEM-installed image that had hooks to require all patches be applied before first logon.…
It’s finally here… Brief Description Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows® 7 with SP1 enables IT administrators to manage roles and features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server® 2008 R2, Windows Server® 2008, or Windows Server® 2003, from a remote computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows 7 with SP1. RSAT SP1 can be downloaded here.
December 6, 2010 The snow is still falling around our little country, and x-mas is getting closer. Each day in December, you can test your knowledge in a daily quiz for Danish IT Professionals, and I’ve got the honor to host today’s question. If you think you know the answer, send it to ronni.pedersen@eg.dk, after Bjarne Dollerup has announced the question on his Blog or on Twitter (@ bdollerup). The quiz does not start until it has been publicly announced by Bjarne, so no need to start sending mails until it’s been announced… The first to send the correct answer…
If you wish to deploy Windows 7 32-bit using Configuration Manager, and you need to enable AERO during deployment, you needs to add a “Run Command Line” step to the Task Sequence with the following command: WinSAT.exe formal If you do the same while deploying Windows 7 64-bit, the step will fail. The is due to the File System Redirector, and the fact that the Tack Sequence is running in 32-bit context. To workaround this minor issue, make sure that you select Disable 64-bit file system redirection, on this step.
By default, the "Enable BitLocker" task of a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Task Sequence defaults to an encryption method and cipher strength of "AES 128-bit with Diffuser". However, the "Enable BitLocker" task does not have any way of changing from the default encryption method and cipher strength to any of the other options: AES 256-bit with Diffuser AES 128-bit AES 256-bit Normally the BitLocker encryption method and cipher strength is controlled by Group Policy. This policy can be found in the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) under the following node: Computer Configuration –> Administrative Templates –> Windows Components –> BitLocker…
What is better than spending a moment to kick off a completely automated process to redeliver an existing operating system as a virtual machine within a new build of Windows 7? Answer: Making the entire process "zero touch" without necessitating a visit to the target computer or manually initiating the migration! P2V Migration for Software Assurance can now be implemented using System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Operating System Deployment as well as native Lite Touch Installation with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010. Computer refresh, replace and restore task sequence templates for Configuration Manager are included and documented in this Beta…
Today I got a call from a customer that wanted me to add a new network driver for a Lenovo ThinkPad T410, to the boot image in ConfigMgr. The driver was a Windows 7 only driver, so I needed to apply the KB978754 hotfix first. When I first tried to apply the hotfix I got the following error: Software Update for ConfigMgr 2007 SP2 (KB978754) Setup Wizard ended prematurely. The hotfix is a standard MSI, so I added the log switch (SCCM2007-SP2-KB978754-X86-ENU.msi /l d:kb978754.log), and tried again. The setup was unable to stop the “tmlisten” service (Trend Micro OfficeScan NT…
Microsoft is currently preparing for an update for MDT 2010 that will add some new enhancements to the product. One of the most exciting ones is the new “user-driven OS deployment task sequence template”, which will enable “self-service OS deployment” with System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2. The idea for user-driven OS deployment was first developed by Microsoft IT under the codename “Modena” (http://blogs.technet.com/osd/). Modena was first “announced” to the public at Microsoft Management Summit 2009 (MMS) in Las Vegas, where Chris Adams delivered one of the best presentations I’ve ever seen at MMS. According to several rumors and now…