Author Archives: harjit

T-Bone > The Crash!

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So, this happened today! We (Francisca from Chile and Lewis from Sweden and I) were involved in a bad car crash this morning at the entrance of the Richmond VT park-and-ride as we were about to pickup Faryal (exchange student from Pakistan). We were going to travel to Randolph for an AFS Vermont event with other exchange students.

As I crossed Main St on a green light from the I-89 Southbound off-ramp (exit 11), a lady driving a Jeep Wrangler T-boned my car at approximately 50 MPH (she beat a red light) causing my car to spin and airbags were deployed. There were no skid marks to indicate that she braked, so my car ended up as her brakes. Judging from her demeanor and eye-witness accounts of her conversations, she was driving distracted. My passengers were screaming and crying due to the impact and bruising Incurred to their legs and body but they were okay. They were transported by ambulance to the hospital emergency room for evaluation and later released. Both kids are doing fine but are sore and bruised. I’m glad that they didn’t sustain any physical injuries or internal complications. I’m so glad that I asked Fran to sit at the back so she could have a conversation with Lewis. Otherwise, she would have sustained some very severe physical injuries as the front passenger side was the most impacted and was badly crushed.

Thank you to the awesome first responders for their professionalism and for taking good care of us. A special Thank you to Faryal and her host mom Maribella for the amazing help, support, and comfort on-scene and for spending the time with us at the ER. I’m sorry that these three wonderful kids had to miss their retreat with their friends today but I hope to make it up to them soon. Also, a big Thank you to our friends Aly and Larry for taking care of our daughter, Hannah while we dealt with the crash situation.

I was informed by the firefighters that we were very lucky due to the type of car I drove. The Hyundai Sonata was designed well and kept us safe. I have always loved this car and even more now. The car is a total loss but it can be replaced. I’ll have to deal with all the insurance stuff, DMV reports, etc next week which will be an inconvenience but will need to be done. As for me, I guess I’m okay. The shock has started to wear off and the stiff neck is starting to sink in. I’m sure if I was t-boned on the driver’s side, I wouldn’t be here posting this message. So, that’s a good thing! Thanks to everyone who has reached out to me to check in on our situation.

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Check out the video of the aftermath:

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MDT 2013 Update 2 Released

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mdt2013update2

The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2013 Update 2 has been released and the most current version (6.3.8330) can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center.

According to the MDT blog post by Aaron Czechowski (Senior Program Manager), MDT 2013 Update 2 is basically a quality release which does not contain any new features. Some of the significant changes in this update include:

  • Security- and cryptographic-related improvements:
    • Relaxed permissions on newly created deployment shares (still secure by default, but now also functional by default)
    • Creating deployment shares via Windows PowerShell adds same default permissions
    • Updated hash algorithm usage from SHA1 to SHA256
  • Includes the latest Configuration Manager task sequence binaries
  • Enhanced user experience for Windows 10 in-place upgrade task sequence
  • Enhanced split WIM functionality
  • Fixed OSDJoinAccount account usage in UDI scenario
  • Fixed issues with installation of Windows 10 language packs
  • Various accessibility improvements
  • Monitoring correctly displays progress for all scenarios including upgrade
  • Improvements to smsts.log verbosity

There are no significant known issues in this release, however the previous post for MDT 2013 Update 1 has some information that may still be applicable, other than the fixes list above. The following post provides some information on How to get help with MDT, in case you need it.

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PowerShell 5.0 RTM Now Available

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PowerShell 5.0 has finally RTM-ed, just in time for Christmas as announced on the PowerShell team blog. Windows Management Framework (WMF) 5.0 RTM replaces WMF 5.0 Production Preview and it’s supported on Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 SP1.

WMF 5.0 adds new management functionality which includes Just Enough Admin (JEA), PowerShell Classes, PackageManagement, PowerShellGet, and improvement to existing technologies such as Desired State Configuration (DSC), PowerShell Script Debugging, Software Inventory Logging and etc.

Download WMF 5.0 from the Microsoft Download Center. WMF 5.0 requires .NET Framework 4.5 or higher which you can also obtain from the Download Center.

**IMPORTANT**
Systems that are running the following server applications should not run Windows Management Framework 5.0 at this time:

    • Microsoft Exchange Server 2013
    • Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP3
    • Microsoft SharePoint Server 2013
    • Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010
    • System Center 2012 Virtual Machine Manager

Servers running System Center Configuration Manager 2012 (ConfigMgr) can install and run WMF 5.0.

If you would like to provide any feedback to the PowerShell team, you can do so by using the UserVoice site.

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The following is a post by Neema Saeedi on MSDN which I’ve added for additional details:

Download the correct package for your operating system and architecture:

Operating System Architecture Package Name
Windows Server 2012 R2 x64 W2K12R2-KB3094174-x64.msu
Windows Server 2012 x64 W2K12-KB3094175-x64.msu
Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 W2K8R2-KB3094176-x64.msu
Windows 8.1 x64 W2K12R2-KB3094174-x64.msu
Windows 8.1 x86 Win8.1-KB3094174-x86.msu
Windows 7 SP1 x64 W2K8R2-KB3094176-x64.msu
Windows 7 SP1 x86 Win7-KB3094176-x86.msu

To install WMF 5.0 from Windows Explorer (or File Explorer in Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1):

  1. Navigate to the folder into which you downloaded the MSU file.
  2. Double-click the MSU to run it.

To install WMF 5.0 from Command Prompt:

  1. After downloading the correct package for your computer’s architecture, open a Command Prompt window with elevated user rights (Run as Administrator). On the Server Core installation options of Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, Command Prompt opens with elevated user rights by default.
  2. Change directories to the folder into which you have downloaded or copied the WMF 5.0 installation package.
  3. Run one of the following commands:
    • On computers that are running Windows Server 2012 R2 or Windows 8.1 x64, run W2K12R2-KB3094174-x64.msu /quiet.
    • On computers that are running Windows Server 2012, run W2K12-KB3094175-x64.msu /quiet.
    • On computers that are running Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 or Windows 7 SP1 x64, run W2K8R2-KB3094176-x64.msu /quiet.
    • On computers that are running Windows 8.1 x86, run Win8.1-KB3094174-x86.msu /quiet.
    • On computers that are running Windows 7 SP1 x86, run Win7-KB3094176-x86.msu /quiet.

Additional Installation Notes for Windows Server 2008 and Windows 7:

Ensure following prerequisites have been met:

  • Latest service pack is installed.
  • WMF 4.0 is installed

WinRM Dependency: Windows PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) depends on WinRM. WinRM is not enabled by default on Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7. To enable WinRM, in a Windows PowerShell elevated session, run Set-WSManQuickConfig.

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You Get To Keep Your Free OneDrive Storage

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OneDrive

Last month on November, 2, 2015, Microsoft made a surprising announcement regarding changes to it’s OneDrive storage plans, which resulted in a backlash from the OneDrive user community. Over 70,000 votes were generated in a form of a protest called “Give us back our storage” which was launched on the UserVoice site, forcing Microsoft to address this issue. And they did today.

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The above feedback on UserVoice was closed by Douglas Pearce, Microsoft Group Program Manager, who also offered this statement:

In November we made a business decision to reduce storage limits for OneDrive. Since then, we’ve heard clearly from our Windows and OneDrive fans about the frustration and disappointment we have caused. We realize the announcement came across as blaming customers for using our product. For this, we are truly sorry and would like to apologize to the community.

While we are not changing our overall plans, we’d like to clarify what we are doing for customers impacted by the changes and share a new offer which we hope will go a long way in making the situation better for our biggest fans.

Office 365 Home, Personal, and University subscriptions will continue to include 1 TB of storage. Any subscriber who received additional storage as part of our unlimited offer will keep it for at least 12 months. For anyone unhappy with the decision to not offer unlimited storage, we will offer a full refund.

For customers of our free service who have over 5 GB of content and who are directly impacted by the storage change, we will offer one free year of Office 365 Personal, which includes 1 TB of storage. These customers will receive an email with redemption information early next year.

In addition, for our biggest fans who have been loyal advocates for OneDrive, we are adding a new offer that lets you keep your existing 15 GB of free storage when the changes happen next year. If you also have the 15 GB camera roll bonus, you’ll be able to keep that as well. From now until the end of January, you can sign up to keep your storage at the link below.

http://aka.ms/onedrivestorage

We are all genuinely sorry for the frustration this decision has caused and for the way it was communicated. Thank you for sticking with us.

Bottom line, if you want to keep your 15 GB free storage as well as the 15 GB bonus for using the Camera Roll feature, head over to https://preview.onedrive.com/bonus/ before the end of January 2016 to lock that in for each individual account you use.
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Once you have done so, you’ll be glowing with success!
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ADMX, ADK, RSAT Released For Windows 10 (Version 1511)

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With the release of Windows 10 version 1511, the following tools to support this latest release has been made available, which includes Windows 10 Administrative Templates (.ADMX), Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK), Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT), as well as the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool.

Windows 10 Administrative Template (.ADMX)

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 (RSAT)

Windows 10 Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)

Windows 10 Media Creation Tool

Microsoft Office 2016 Administrative Templates and Office Customization Tool is also available for download.

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Update – Windows ADK For Windows 10 (Version 1511)

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windows10_adk

Update / Warning:

Aaron Czechowski, Senior Program Manager, Enterprise Client and Mobility has issued a warning regarding the latest release of Windows ADK for Windows 10, version 1511:

“…….there is a serious issue with it that blocks the following Configuration Manager OS deployment scenarios:

  • From Software Center, launch a task sequence that uses a Windows PE v10.0.10586 boot image. When the computer restarts into Windows PE, it will fail when “Initializing hardware devices” with the error: “Windows PE initialization failed with error code 0x80220014.”

At this time, we do not recommend that Configuration Manager customers use the 1511 version of the Windows 10 ADK.”

Johan Arwidmark, a System Center and OSD expert had also posted a warning on November 15, 2015 on his blog post “Inside Windows 10 ADK Build 10586“.

“Warning: Do NOT upgrade your ConfigMgr 2012 R2 SP1 or MDT 2013 Update 1 environments to this build yet. For ConfigMgr, even though it seems to fix the x64 UEFI / PXE and Powershell/.NET issue, which is great, the new ADK does break Computer Refresh scenarios (Bare metal works). The error code is 0x80220014. Research and discussions with the product teams in progress… MDT 2013 Update 1 yet to be validated, but error comments on twitter does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.”

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Original post: November 20, 2015.

The Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 10, version 1511 is now available from Microsoft’s “Download Kits and Tools for Windows 10” site.

The Windows ADK now includes:

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Windows 10 Enterprise Build 1511 ISO Available on VLSC

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win10-ent3

Microsoft Volume License customers will now find the Windows 10 Enterprise (build 1511) downloads (ISO files) are now available on the Microsoft Volume Licensing Center (VLSC) portal (as of November 16, 2015).

There are two downloads available for this edition (see image below):

  1. Windows 10 Enterprise (Released Jul ’15)
  2. Windows 10 Enterprise, Version 1511 (Released Nov ’15)

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** Windows 10 Enterprise, Version 1511 is a Current Branch and includes the latest updates and features. For Current Branch for Business, install Windows 10 Enterprise (Released Jul ’15).

  • System Requirements for Windows 10:

    Processor: 1 GHz processor or faster
    Memory: 1 GB ( 32-bit ) and 2 GB (64-bit)
    Drive Space: Up to 20 GB available hard disk space
    Operating System: Windows 10