Tag Archives: Windows Server

Windows PXE Boot Issues – KB4493467 (April 9, 2019)

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Microsoft has acknowledged an issue with PXE boot affecting Windows 8.1 and Windows Server 2012 R2 systems caused by a Security-Only update (KB4493467) released on April 9, 2019.

The Issue:

After installing this update, there may be issues using the Preboot Execution Environment (PXE) to start a device from a Windows Deployment Services (WDS) server configured to use Variable Window Extension. This may cause the connection to the WDS server to terminate prematurely while downloading the image. This issue does not affect clients or devices that are not using Variable Window Extension.

The Workaround:

To mitigate the issue, disable the Variable Window Extension on WDS server using one of the following options:

Option 1:
Open an Administrator Command prompt and type the following:

Wdsutil /Set-TransportServer /EnableTftpVariableWindowExtension:No

Option 2:
Use the Windows Deployment Services UI.

  1. Open Windows Deployment Services from Windows Administrative Tools.
  2. Expand Servers and right-click a WDS server.
  3. Open its properties and clear the Enable Variable Window Extension box on the TFTP tab.

Option 3:
Set the following registry value to 0:

“HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\WDSServer\Providers\WDSTFTP\EnableVariableWindowExtension”.

Restart the WDSServer service after disabling the Variable Window Extension.

Microsoft is working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release.

Windows Server 2019 Now Available

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The ISO download for Windows Server 2019 has been released and is now available from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) portal. You’ll find the 64-bit ISO file with a download size of 4351 MB.


Here’s a short description of Windows Server as seen in the VLSC portal. To learn more about Windows Server 2019, such as features, deployment, management, system requirements, and more, read HERE!

Windows 7 Network Controller Issues – KB4338818 (July 2018)

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The July 2018 Windows Updates for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 introduces a bug that could cause the network interface controller to stop working. The update referenced is KB4338818.

In case your systems run into this issue, the workaround from Microsoft is to do the following:

Please use your best judgement and evaluate the risks of applying this update to your Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 systems.

** Update **
According to an IT Pro who opened a support case with Microsoft, this is the information provided at this time:

“Regarding the known issue in the July monthly rollup about the network interface controller that will stop working. We are still looking at the data gathered from multiple customers and we do not have a list third party software that is causing the issue. What we do know until now, is that the issue is reproducing mainly on VM over VMware.”

Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) For Windows 10 v1803

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The latest version of the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 10 April 2018 Update v1803 have been released. The download is available here. You will find the following download files available for version 1.0 corresponding to x86 or x64 Operating Systems:

  • WindowsTH-RSAT_WS_1803-x64.msu (95.1MB)
  • WindowsTH-RSAT_WS_1803-x86.msu (69.9MB)
  • WindowsTH-RSAT_WS2016-x64.msu (92.3MB)
  • WindowsTH-RSAT_WS2016-x86.msu (69.5MB)

See here if you would like to determine if a computer is running 32-bit or 64-bit Windows OS.

Additional Information:

When to use WS_1803 RSAT Package: When managing Windows Server, version 1803 or Windows Server, version 1709
When to use WS2016 RSAT Package: When managing Windows Server 2016 or previous versions

Known Issues that may impact RSAT functionality:

Issue: DNS Tools missing
Impact: WS_1709 RSAT package users
Resolution: Use the WS_1803 or WS2016 RSAT package or apply this workaround

Issue: Cannot turn off individual RSAT components
Impact: WS_1803 and WS_1709 RSAT package users on Windows 10 1803/1709 (April 2018 Update/Fall Creators Update)
Resolution: Use the WS2016 RSAT package on Windows 10 1607 (Anniversary Update)

Issue: Tabs missing from MMC Properties
Impact: Windows 10 clients before 1607 (Anniversary Update)
Resolution: Update to the latest version of Windows 10 client and reinstall RSAT

Issue: Shielding Data File Wizard cannot create shielding data files
Impact: WS_1709 RSAT package users on Windows 10 1709 (Fall Creators Update)
Resolution: Use the WS_1803 RSAT package on Windows 10 1803 (April 2018 Update), or use the WS2016 RSAT package on Windows 10 1607 (Anniversary Update) to create shielding data files for Windows shielded VMs, or the built-in RSAT tools in Windows Server, version 1709 to create shielding data files for both Windows and Linux shielded VMs.

Issue: Template disks created from the Template Disk Wizard do not boot
Impact: WS_1709 RSAT package users on Windows 10 1709 (Fall Creators Update)
Resolution: Use the WS_1803 RSAT package on Windows 10 1803 (April 2018 Update), or use the WS2016 RSAT package on Windows 10 1607 (Anniversary Update) to create template disks for Windows shielded VMs, or the built-in RSAT tools in Windows Server, version 1709 to create shielding data files for both Windows and Linux shielded VMs.

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Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) For Windows 10 v1709

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The latest version of the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 10 Falls Creators Update v1709 have been released. The download is available here. You will find the following download files available for version RS1-1.2, RS3-1.0 corresponding to x86 or x64 Operating Systems:

  • WindowsTH-RSAT_WS_1709-x64.msu (94.5MB)
  • WindowsTH-RSAT_WS_1709-x86.msu (69.9MB)
  • WindowsTH-RSAT_WS2016-x64.msu (92.3MB)
  • WindowsTH-RSAT_WS2016-x86.msu (69.5MB)

See here if you would like to determine if a computer is running 32-bit or 64-bit Windows OS.

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ADMX Template For Windows 10 Creators Update (1703) Now Available

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To coincide with the release of Windows 10 Creators Update (1703), the following tools to support this latest release has been made available, which includes Windows 10 Administrative Templates (.ADMX) and Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) as previously mentioned in this blog post. The previous Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) works just fine with Windows 10 Creators Update.

Windows 10 Administrative Template (.ADMX)

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 10 (RSAT)

Windows 10 Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)

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

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Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) Version 1.2 For Windows 10

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The latest version of the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 10 have been released. The download is available here. You will find the following two download files available for version 1.2 corresponding to x86 or x64 Operating Systems:

  • WindowsTH-RSAT_WS2016-x64.msu (92.3MB)
  • WindowsTH-RSAT_WS2016-x86.msu (69.5MB)

See here if you would like to determine if a computer is running 32-bit or 64-bit Windows OS.

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How To Fix: Bitlocker Recovery Key Prompts On Every Reboot

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There are few reports of users having Bitlocker issues following the October 2016 patches.

The issue: On every reboot, the Bitlocker recovery key is required which is quite disruptive and cumbersome. As a workaround in order to solve this issue, the following steps can be taken:

On the next reboot and once in Windows, reset Bitlocker by disabling and re-enabling it.
In administraive command prompt, do the following:
manage-bde -protectors c:-disable
then do this:
manage-bde -protectors c:-enable

At this time, I’m not certain on which patch is causing the issue but I wanted to share this info to help. You can also discuss in this TechNet post.

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System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) Console Crash

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** UPDATE**
(October 19, 2016)
A fix for the SCOM console crash issue as previously blogged below has been released. See the following KB320006 article to obtain the hotfix.

***************************************************************************************************

**Posted on October 18, 2016**

There is a widespread report of System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2012 R2 / 2016 console crashes due to some bugs in October 2016 Cummulative Updates, in particular with the following patches: KB3194798 / KB3192392 / KB3185330 / KB3185331.

The product team has acknowledged the issue on their blog post and is said to be working on releasing a fix soon. The current recommendation is to uninstall the problematic patches as a temporary workaround. According to the blog post, an announcement will be made on the SCOM Team blog when a fix has been made available. So, keep a close eye on it.

Links related to this post:

SCOM Product Team Console Issue Ackowledgement
TechNet Discussion
SCOM Product Team Blog
Microsoft Tech Community Discussion

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