Out of Office Hours

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  • “Windows RT in the Enterprise”

    Here’s a blast from the past: a document that I wrote many years ago about Windows RT in the Enterprise. We all remember how that went, right? This particular document version, which has highlights in it that weren’t in the original, came from someone (a customer who in the end didn’t buy any of the…

  • OneDrive in Windows media is not up to date

    That might seem like an obvious statement: the OneDrive client is updated frequently, so of course the version of OneDrive that is included in Windows 10 and 11 media is going to be out of date. But just how out of date? Let’s take a look. OneDrive is not installed in the images on Windows…

  • Updated Media Tool available

    Back in 2023, I posted a Media Tool app (which uses PowerShell behind the scenes) to download Windows 10 or 11 media, for both x64 and ARM64 architectures. I’ve now uploaded a new version of that with a few tweaks: You can get the latest version directly from GitHub at this link: OofhoursMediaTool.zip The new…

  • Windows device provisioning with Workspace ONE, part 4: Other provisioning scenarios

    Provisioning a new device can be done in ways other than with Windows Autopilot. Let’s look at some scenarios implemented in Workspace ONE that leverage technologies that have been around since before Windows Autopilot even existed. Provisioning packages When using provisioning packages (PPKG files), you create a single file (.ppkg) that contains settings that should…

  • Windows device provisioning with Workspace ONE, part 3: Windows Autopilot

    In the first part, I set up Workspace ONE and integrated it into my existing Entra ID (Azure AD) tenant. In part 2, I set up apps and policies that should be deployed to my devices. That prepares me for the next step, provisioning new devices with Windows Autopilot. Configuring ESP Deep in the Workspace…

  • Windows device provisioning with Workspace ONE, part 2: Apps and policies

    In the first part, I got to the point where I could successfully get a device into a managed state, but that doesn’t mean the device is actually usable. To get it to that state, I need to deploy some apps and policies to it. I typically deploy a list of representative apps that are…

  • Windows device provisioning with Workspace ONE, part 1: Getting started

    I’ve spent a lot of time over the years talking to ISVs about provisioning Windows devices, but I’ve never actually used any non-Microsoft solutions for doing that. In that time, one of those solutions has shifted names from AirWatch to Workspace ONE, now from Omnissa, a new company spun off from its former corporate parents.…

  • Thanks for reaching out

    It’s been just over a month since I posted the Microsoft giveth, Microsoft taketh blog post (which, ironically, is one of the top posts on the site), and I think I’ve finally caught up on the e-mails, direct messages, texts, and every other sort of communication from literally hundreds of people. Thanks for the support,…

  • Using PowerShell 7 as a replacement for Windows PowerShell 5.1

    Windows PowerShell 5.1, the version that’s built into Windows, shipped back in 2016 with the release of Windows 10 1607 and Windows Server 2016, with support for older OSes back to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008. That was almost eight years ago. What has changed with PowerShell 5.1 since then? While there are more…

  • MSI apps are now downloaded using Delivery Optimization

    Phil Wilcock posted a blog last week with details about “non-peerable” content, pointing to Microsoft’s official documentation about what is and isn’t “peerable.” Interestingly, the Microsoft documentation is missing an entry for one specific type of content: MSI apps. These are delivered using the Enterprise Desktop App Management CSP, which historically has used BITS to…

  • RIP: Autopilot support in Store for Business

    In the slow march to its final death, the Microsoft Store for Business (and presumably the Microsoft Store for Education as well) has removed the ability to add, edit, and remove Autopilot devices. That’s a bit anticlimactic, because most customers have probably forgotten about the Store for Business/Education since the private store feature was removed…

  • Autopilot v2: My “second” thoughts

    My first thoughts around Autopilot v2 (a.k.a. Autopilot device preparation) are scattered through a week of posts: Summarizing those, along with my observations along the way, leads me to these thoughts: But that’s not what stands out the most to me. The most important change I see is the architecture that is being used. With…

  • Setting the computer name with APv2

    One of the things that is not currently included in the APv2 device preparation policy is an option to configure the computer name, so as a result the devices end up being given a random name like “DESKTOP-1GY5FL7”. Initially, I thought that would be easy enough to work around using a custom OMA-URI policy that…

  • Running an SCCM task sequence during APv2

    I mentioned in my previous post that I was able to use “Co-management Authority” (a.k.a. “Co-management settings”) to install the ConfigMgr agent and then initiate a task sequence (using PROVISIONTS) during an APv2 device provisioning process, but that I didn’t think that it was actually being monitored by APv2 since I saw no error when…

  • What is it with Microsoft and progress bars?

    People have made fun of Microsoft’s progress bars for decades. We’ve all seen examples, e.g. file copies that show days, then minutes, then hours; “updating Windows” messages that sit for a long time on a particular percentage and then jump forward; etc. And certainly there are challenges with accurate calculations, especially when conditions change (e.g.…

  • Windows Autopilot v2: Random chatter

    The social media DMs, e-mails, and blog comments around Autopilot v2 have raised a bunch of questions, interesting points, speculation, opinions, etc. I figured it would be useful to summarize those with even more questions, interesting points, speculation, and opinions of my own. This will be a long one, so find a comfortable spot, grab…

  • Microsoft giveth, Microsoft taketh

    On May 1st, Microsoft e-mailed me to congratulate me: Today, the e-mail was to take that away: The basic justification given for that was that the Intune product group was not comfortable sharing NDA information with me. My first stint at an MVP lasted only a few months before I joined Microsoft; this one ended…

  • Windows Autopilot v2 experience: Some surprises (including updates)

    Now that my “real” lab tenant has been updated, I can easily try it out. I set up a new unregistered VM, created a new Autopilot device preparation profile that targeted “All users” with a number of apps linked to it, and started the process. As expected, I saw the EULA page; since I was…

  • Digging into Windows Autopilot v2

    Yes, I know the official name is “Windows Autopilot Device Preparation.” But that’s too much of a mouthful and doesn’t really even describe what this is, other than “something different.” And overall, I think it is useful to think of it in “v1” vs. “v2”: If you read through my “reading the tea leaves” post,…

  • Getting rid of the “Learn about this picture” icon on the Windows 11 desktop

    After doing a clean install of Windows 11 24H2 (Insider Preview), I noticed that there was a new “Learn about this picture” icon on the desktop. There’s nothing I hate more than something on the desktop that I didn’t put there myself (except for the “Recycle Bin” because it’s too hard to find otherwise), so…