Posts on System Management

“An important update is pending” – Edge WebView2

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 19:35:00 +0300

Did you ever start Power BI Desktop and this error showed-up out of nowhere?! Clicking “Install now” seems to be doing something but in the end it fails saying Microsoft Edge Webview2 Runtime is already installed? Restarting the machine does not help, don’t bother trying 🙂 Uninstalling and installing Power BI Desktop again – same…

How to turn off automatic upgrade of Power BI licenses

Sun, 21 Aug 2022 18:38:41 +0300

Go to https://app.powerbi.com/. Using the gear icon go to Admin Portal and make sure Tenant settings is selected. Here, there are 2 options you can use, depending on your organization’s needs. To prevent auto-assignment from happening again you need to disable the “Allow users to try Power BI paid features” option. Of course, if there…

Oracle SQL: Update table with data from another table

Wed, 11 May 2022 14:57:56 +0300

Suppose you have a column in Table1 that you need to update with data from another column in Table2. Let’s do it!

Windows PowerShell vs PowerShell

Sat, 26 Mar 2022 19:46:17 +0200

There are few differences in the PowerShell language between Windows PowerShell and PowerShell. The differences are most notable in the availability and behavior of PowerShell cmdlets between Windows and non-Windows platforms and the changes that stem from the differences between the .NET Framework and .NET Core.

“Must declare the scalar variable” error in Toad for SQL

Sun, 21 Feb 2021 10:40:30 +0200

There are different execution needs depending on what you are doing. See when you need to use F5 and F9.

Repost: Welcome to the New Normal

Fri, 13 Mar 2020 08:09:04 +0200

I couldn’t resist of not sharing this. Excelent post from P3 regarding our friendship with Corona virus.

Power Query – Week start and end dates in same column

Sat, 02 Nov 2019 09:12:37 +0200

Someone asked me the other day below thing: “On the same column I want a Range of dates not Duration between two dates So I have a Creation date and fulfillment date I need to come up with a column of weekly Range like for example 10/21 – 10/27 10/28 – 11/01 11/02 – 11/09…

Examples of Count, Count IF, Count duplicates in SQL

Sat, 01 Jun 2019 17:13:14 +0300

Count: SELECT [ProductModel], COUNT(1) CNT FROM [AdventureWorks2017].[Production].[vProductAndDescription] GROUP BY [ProductModel] ORDER BY CNT DESC Count “if”: SELECT [ProductModel], [Name],COUNT(1) CNT FROM [AdventureWorks2017].[Production].[vProductAndDescription] WHERE [ProductModel] LIKE ‘%Frame’ AND [Name] LIKE ‘%52’ –here’s the IF statement GROUP BY [ProductModel], [Name] ORDER BY CNT DESC Count duplicates: SELECT [ProductModel], COUNT(1) CNT — select a field you want to…

TRUE or FALSE?

Thu, 27 Dec 2018 00:11:58 +0200

ITIL 4 coming soon

Wed, 19 Dec 2018 20:58:38 +0200

A new version of ITIL will be released in early 2019.

Power BI Data Profiling – distinct vs unique

Tue, 16 Oct 2018 08:48:09 +0300

“Another month, another Power BI Desktop update” as Guy(s) in a Cube use to say. Power BI Desktop October 2018 update brings in quite a few updates, with one thing being my favorite as I always do/check it manually when working with new data: Data Profiling. For more info and how to enable it, visit…

Azure Data Science Virtual Machine

Wed, 19 Sep 2018 09:00:30 +0300

Just: “Wow, this is nice!” Via: http://radacad.com/data-science-virtual-machine Additional info: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/machine-learning/data-science-virtual-machine/

Install-WindowsFeature Web-Net-Ext failed. Source files could not be found.

Mon, 13 Aug 2018 13:45:09 +0300

Error: Trying to install .NET Framework 3.5 Features on a Windows Server 2016, either through GUI or PowerShell, returns below error (truncated): “The request to add or remove features on the specified server failed. Installation of one or more roles, role services, or features failed. The source files could not be found.” Cause: .Net Framework…

What and when: DateAdd vs ParallelPeriod vs SamePeriodLastYear

Wed, 30 May 2018 08:28:36 +0300

Reza Rad over at http://radacad.com/dateadd-vs-parallelperiod-vs-sameperiodlastyear-dax-time-intelligence-question explains the differences and provides easy usage scenarios for DateAdd, ParallelPeriod and SamePeriodLastYear DAX functions. Read his blog post to see how he reached to below conclusion: DateAdd and SamePeriodLastYear both work based on the DYNAMIC period in the filter context. ParallelPeriod is working STATICALLY based on the interval selected in the…

Power BI: The key didn’t match any rows in the table

Fri, 18 May 2018 06:54:54 +0300

Error: Refreshing Power BI report generates “The key didn’t match any rows in the table” error. Cause: Click “Edit Queries” button. If you do not see the error message, click “Refresh Preview” button. Once you have the error message, click “Go To Error“. Error message will remain, but you should have “Edit Settings” button now,…

How to get and view WordPress Statistics in Power BI

Fri, 11 May 2018 06:28:41 +0300

Soheil Bakhshi from http://biinsight.com has a super good article on how to get your stats from a WordPress site/blog and analyze them in Power BI. For lazy guys out there, he already built a Power BI template file that you can use straight away. The only thing you’ll need is WordPress API key but don’t…

What sites I logged in to using my Facebook credentials

Sat, 05 May 2018 06:58:59 +0300

Visit www.facebook.com/settings?tab=applications to see what applications and websites you’re logging in to using your Facebook credentials. You have 3 tabs to look at: Active: You recently logged into them with Facebook. These are active apps and websites that can access your Facebook data you chose to share with them. Use this list to: 1) View and update the…

Expressions that yield variant data-type cannot be used to define calculated columns.

Thu, 26 Apr 2018 20:57:47 +0300

Error: “Expressions that yield variant data-type cannot be used to define calculated columns.“ Cause: IF based Calculated Columns in Power BI or Power Pivot with 2 different data types is not allowed. Solution: Format one data type as needed using FORMAT() function. [code language=”sql”] Age = IF ( TableName[Birthday] < TODAY(), FORMAT ( Year (…

Creating an e-book. Part 3.

Tue, 17 Apr 2018 07:54:59 +0300

Continuing the series about how to create an e-book. Today we’ll have a much shorter post. Specifically, we’ll look at how to create the Title page. So, what is a Title Page? According to dictionary.com, Title Page is: “the page at the beginning of a volume that indicates the title, author’s or editor’s name, and…

How to automatically create and update Visio diagrams from Excel

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 12:47:05 +0300

To successfully create Visio diagrams from Excel, Visio Pro for Office 365 is required. Here you can see the prices or download trial. Open Excel (I have latest release of Excel from Office 365 suite) In the search box, type “process” and hit Enter. Among other search results, 2 Excel templates should appear with Excel…

How to start Word with a specific template

Sun, 08 Apr 2018 07:41:05 +0300

Open Word the usual way. In the template selection view, select the template you want and click Create. For example, Blog Post. When Word opened your document, click Save As and select Word Template in the Save as type drop-down box. Path should change automatically to your Custom Office Templates directory. Give your template a…

How to use Word for Blog publishing

Wed, 04 Apr 2018 07:16:45 +0300

Start your Office Word application. It works with any version starting with Word 2007. While you’re in the new template selection view, search for “blog” in the “Search for online templates” field. “Blog post” template should be listed. Click it and then select Create button. On first run only, you’ll be asked to register your…

Creating an e-book. Part 2.

Sun, 01 Apr 2018 02:57:29 +0300

Following on from previous post about creating an e-book, today we will make that “black on white” text look nicer and we will do it using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). I will not detail on what CSS is because this is not the purpose of this post. If you need to refresh your knowledge, please…

Creating an e-book. Part 1.

Fri, 30 Mar 2018 07:49:55 +0300

As explained in Ok, E-Books post, this topic became of an interest just recently. I have never created an e-book so you will not see me saying that I’m usually doing it this way or that way or other crap like this. No, cards on the table. I’m just as curious as you are about…

HTML vs XHTML

Thu, 29 Mar 2018 20:29:06 +0300

Ever wondered what HTML and XHTML is about? Long and official story can be found at W3Schools. Short story, below. Simply put, XHTML is the same as HTML but stricter. There are rules in place that one must follow. You are no longer allowed to leave tags unclosed or place them wherever you want. And…

Ok, e-books

Wed, 28 Mar 2018 10:22:22 +0300

Let’s start with some bullshit talk to tell you how this topic started. Feel free to skip it if you’re not curious. Personally, I’m not the kind of person who reads books not related to IT; think I can count all books I read throughout my lifetime and there are no more than 10, but…

Getting back online

Tue, 27 Mar 2018 01:35:57 +0300

After many years, giving this blog a rebirth. I lost my backup files and only found very few posts and those mainly about ConfigMgr 2012. Will post them below anyway; better few than nothing. Next planned articles will be about e-books and plain html maybe, we shall see Stay tuned! Also need to create/update “About”…

Object Replication Manager failed to process Object changes.

Mon, 20 Oct 2014 09:29:00 +0300

Symptoms Did your SMS_OBJECT_REPLICATION_MANAGER component shows a lot or 6004 MessageIDs with the following description: “Object Replication Manager failed to process Object changes. These changes will be retried on next processing cycle.”? Cause By design, maybe. Resolution Run the following query in SQL Management Studio (Warning! modifying the database directly may not be supported by…

Step-by-step guide to install Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 R2

Sat, 02 Aug 2014 13:58:45 +0300

Steps to perform on primary domain controller (DC) Extend AD schema Log in using a domain admin account Insert ConfigMgr 2012 SP1 DVD Open a command prompt window Type D:\SMSSETUP\BIN\X64\EXTADSCH.EXE and press Enter. Wait for a confirmation message in CMD window and then check for the existence of ExtADSch.log file in the root of C:…

Despooler failed to merge delta to the compressed package. Error 112.

Thu, 13 Mar 2014 10:15:00 +0200

Symptoms You make changes to a package and update your distribution points. Shortly you receive error messages in Component Status for SMS_DESPOOLER component. Status message details is similar to the following: Cause The destination drive where site server is uncompressing the package is full. Resolution If you don’t know the drive where the package is…

Uncheck “Install new versions automatically” in Internet Explorer 10 during deployment

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 16:30:00 +0300

IF you during deployment you want to easily uncheck “Install new versions automatically” feature, there is a registry setting you can configure prior to actual IE setup.exe or msi, whatever you use. Copy the following text to a notepad and save it as a REG file. Then use REG IMPORT “Disable_AutoUpdate.reg” before you deploy your…

Uninstall software on remote computers using WMIC

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:02:00 +0300

Recently, I wanted to install Nokia Ovi Suite to several computers in a company that started to have problems with their internet provider; it’s a third day when they do not have internet connection. So I thought it’s a good idea to show them how they can use their Nokia E72 phones to connect their…

Uninstall KB 2823324 using ConfigMgr

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 09:33:00 +0300

Create a CMD file with the following content @echo off :: – – – – – Check if KB is installed – – – – – – – – systeminfo | findstr 2823324 :: – – – – – If not installed (1), exit – – – – – – – IF %errorlevel% EQU 1…

Find computer name for a remote computer using PSExec

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 18:41:00 +0300

Let’s say you know the IP address of a computer but you don’t know the hostname. Seems to be an easy task with ping –a, if you have a working DNS If not, you can try the following approach: Create a cmd file on client’s computer. Say in \IP\C$\Windows\Temp\FindHostname.cmd Edit FindHostname.cmd. Type in: echo %computername%…

Open local group policy settings on a remote system

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:40:00 +0300

From Run or Command Prompt window: gpedit.msc /gpcomputer: Computername

Collection with Windows 7 computers without SP1

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:50:00 +0300

First, if you want your query to display the right information, you must have a collection with all Windows 7 computers, regardless of the service pack version installed. Here is the simplest query to create “All Windows 7 computers” collection (please make this collection “Not collection limited”): select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM on…

Find OS Architecture using Win32_OperatingSystem class

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:45:00 +0300

WMI queries to find 64 and 32 bit computers: SELECT * FROM Win32_OperatingSystem WHERE OSArchitecture = “64-bit” SELECT * FROM Win32_OperatingSystem WHERE OSArchitecture = “32-bit”

Computers without Java 6 Update 30

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:44:00 +0300

select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS on SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.ResourceID = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.Version < “6.0.300” and SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.DisplayName like “Java(TM) 6%”

Count Adobe Reader versions

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:39:00 +0300

SELECT DISTINCT TOP (100) PERCENT DisplayName0, Version0, COUNT(Version0) AS Total FROM dbo.v_GS_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS GROUP BY DisplayName0, Version0 HAVING (DisplayName0 LIKE ‘%Adobe Reader%’) ORDER BY Total DESC, DisplayName0

Collections with computers without Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 client

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:32:00 +0300

A customer asked me today to help him with creating some collections with client computers that do not have FEP 2010 installed so he can advertise the antivirus client to those computers. You can find the queries bellow. All Windows 7 without Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM on…

Create a report to count all computer models and manufacturer for computers inside a specific collection

Fri, 21 Sep 2012 00:57:00 +0300

SELECT dbo.v_GS_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.Manufacturer0 AS Manufacturer, dbo.v_GS_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.Model0 AS Model, COUNT(dbo.v_GS_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.Model0) AS Total FROM dbo.v_GS_COMPUTER_SYSTEM INNER JOIN dbo.v_FullCollectionMembership ON dbo.v_GS_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.ResourceID = dbo.v_FullCollectionMembership.ResourceID GROUP BY dbo.v_GS_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.Model0, dbo.v_GS_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.Manufacturer0, dbo.v_FullCollectionMembership.CollectionID HAVING (dbo.v_FullCollectionMembership.CollectionID = ‘CollectionID’) ORDER BY Total DESC, Manufacturer, Model

I’ve been at Tech-Ed today…

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:01:43 +0200

Actually I just attended a local event organized by Microsoft Romania and the last session was Useful Hacker Techniques: Which Part of Hackers’ Knowledge Will Help You in Efficient IT Administration held by polish Enterprise Security MVP – Paula Januszkiewicz. Geez… this girl presented some things that, I can bet, made half of all admins…

Installing Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 RC – prerequisite error

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:41:37 +0200

While installing the latest “Forefront Client Security” product named Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 (RC version), the prerequisites verification step displayed an error at the “Verifying restart is not required” step. And the error details: “An earlier software installation still has outstanding file rename operations pending. Before Setup can continue, you must restart the computer.” The…

Install SQL Server on a 64 bit Windows Server–missing SQLncli_x64.msi

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:14:43 +0200

I had to install a copy of SQL Server 2005 on a Windows Server 2003 R2 SP2 x64. During installation I got a strange error saying that SQLncli_x64.msi file is missing. I was pretty sure that I have the same ISO file as I did while installing SQL so many times before and without any…

Installing Configuration Manager v.Next

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 07:19:03 +0200

Prerequisites configured before starting the installation: Windows Server 2008 R2 updated Active Directory Domain Services Installing Central Administration Site (CAS): Installing Primary Site:

Distribute Adobe Flash Player

Sat, 06 Nov 2010 22:02:45 +0200

If you need to create a ConfigMgr software package with Adobe Flash Player and want to use it’s .msi file, you can find this file at the following address: http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/fp_distribution3.html Please note that in order to distribute Adobe Flash Player you need to have a valid Adobe Flash Player Distribution License Agreement in place. For…

Report with computer models and manufacturers

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 11:08:44 +0300

SELECT TOP (100) PERCENT Manufacturer0 AS Manufacturer, Model0 AS Model, COUNT(Model0) AS Total FROM dbo.v_GS_COMPUTER_SYSTEM GROUP BY Model0, Manufacturer0 ORDER BY Total DESC, Manufacturer, Model

Collection with client Computers without ConfigMgr client

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 10:33:27 +0300

select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name, SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM on SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_R_System.Client = 0 and SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.Caption not like “%Server%” or SMS_R_System.Client is null and SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.Caption not like “%Server%”

Deploy Office 2007 SP2 with ConfigMgr 2007

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 07:43:16 +0300

As Microsoft recently released Service Pack 2 for Office 2007 suite, it is a good idea to add the update files to the package so it can be installed during the installation. So, first of all we have to download the SP2 executable file from here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b444bf18-79ea-46c6-8a81-9db49b4ab6e5&displaylang=en (see Visio and Project information at the end…

Collection based on computer model

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 10:24:42 +0200

select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name, SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM on SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.ResourceID = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.Model like “%HP ProBook 4710s%”

Add TCP/IP printer – Access Denied

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:04:34 +0200

Yesterday I was trying to install a network printer on Windows Server 2008 system. After typing printer’s IP address, I received an “Access denied” error. The problem was that I tried to install the printer while I was logged on with a user that had domain admin privileges, but not the default domain Administrator account.…

Find computer model and manufacturer using remote WMI

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 10:11:12 +0200

In case you need to find the computer model and manufacturer of a remote computer, just use the following command in a command prompt window: %windir%\System32\wbem\WMIC.exe /node:”ComputerNameORIpAddress” ComputerSystem Get Model, Manufacturer If you need to specify user credentials, use the following command: %windir%\System32\wbem\WMIC.exe /node:”ComputerNameORIpAddress” /user:”domain\username” /password:”password” ComputerSystem Get Model, Manufacturer

Upgrade Configuration Manager client

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:54:08 +0200

Recently I reinstalled ConfigMgr server in my company and was looking for an easy method to upgrade all Configuration Manager clients to 4.00.6487.2000 version. Put some notes on the table and finally made the following plan: Create a report that counts all client versions. (This is optional, just for informational purposes). Report query is:SELECT TOP…

Problem installing WSUS on a remote SQL server.

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:53:52 +0200

Today I again learned a lesson I knew for some time but was hoping that I can forget it. The lesson was about: “Trust anyone. Test for yourself.” Having to install WSUS on a remote SQL 2005 that had WSUS database installed before, I asked one SQL guy if renaming the old WSUS database is…

How to create a Windows Image (.wim) file

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:33:58 +0200

Depending on what you need the .wim file for, you can create it manually or automatically. – To manually create a .wim file (capture image) you need a bootable CD with Windows PE (with ImageX.exe included) that you can create using Windows Automated Installation Kit. The basics steps are: Boot your computer using Windows PE…

Windows cannot obtain the domain controller name error

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:47:39 +0200

Today a client called me and said that his second domain controller, which is on Hyper-V, is having connectivity problems. For example, running the ping command from DC2 results in very bad response times or timed out requests. Searching the event viewer, I saw many errors with Event ID 1054: “Description: Windows cannot obtain the…

Install software using Task Sequence

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:25:42 +0200

Besides using Software Distribution to install software, you can do this using a Task Sequence too. This can be done during and Operating System Deployment process or not. Usually, I install software during an OSD. For this, you must have a package for that software product (of course) and at least one program that runs…

WMI query for processor manufacturer

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:56:08 +0200

Following the post regarding how to install drivers based on computer model using WMI query, here is another query you can use in your task sequences to install some processor specific software for example. To find the processor manufacturer during a task sequence, insert a condition for the step you need, and select Query WMI.…

How To: Operating System deployment with MDT 2010 and ConfigMgr 2007 SP2

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:52:40 +0200

Johan Arwidmark, Setup & Deployment MVP, just finished working on his Version 2.0 Deployment CD. It contains the following step-by-step guides and video tutorials: MDT 2010 Lite Touch Deployments (deployment without ConfigMgr 2007 SP2 R2, just the free tools) LTI01 – Installing the server for MDT 2010 Lite Touch LTI02 – Creating a Windows 7…

All reports with links to other reports

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:23:00 +0300

Last month, after restoring the only ConfigMgr site and importing new reports, I saw that none of the reports I’m using have a link to another report. To be sincere, this was a problem I didn’t know where to start troubleshooting. Thanks to guys from Microsoft’s ConfigMgr forum, who helped me identify the problem and…

Create collection with all Windows XP SP 1-2-3 systems

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 08:48:47 +0300

To create a collection with all Windows XP SP1 systems, use the query bellow: select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name,SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier,SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup,SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM on SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.ResourceID = SMS_R_System.ResourceId where SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.Caption like “%Windows XP%” and SMS_G_System_OPERATING_SYSTEM.CSDVersion = “Service Pack 1” Similarly, to create a collection with all Windows XP SP2 systems, just change the Service Pack version number: select…

During OSD, format first partition only

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 10:46:01 +0300

Our helpdesk asked me to make a task sequence that can be used on computers with more than one partition. In this case, I had to make sure that the operating system will install only on first partition and will not touch the data on other partitions. To achieve this, I copied another TS and…

Remote Server Admin Tools for Windows 7

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:49:54 +0300

Some time ago I used Admin Tools and RSAT for Vista and it saved my time from using remote desktop to log on to several servers. Now it is available (RTM, not RC or something…) for Windows 7 x86/x64. Using RSAT for Win7, you can manage the following roles and features from Windows Server 2008…

How to create a Windows XP SP3 Target Computer in Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 R2

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:29:39 +0300

This post assumes you have created a reference computer and captured an image of it as described in the previous post. Import and configure a task sequence to deploy the target computer After the task sequence to deploy the reference computer (Home-XPSP3-Ref01) finishes, a captured image of the reference computer is stored in \Home-SCCMCaptures$Home-XPSP3-Ref01.wim. Now,…

How to create a Windows XP SP3 Reference Machine using Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 R2

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:29:15 +0300

In this post, I will show how to deploy Windows XP SP3 (the easiest and least customizable way) in a virtual environment (Virtual PC 2005 SP1) step-by-step. This post is inspired from “Quick Start Guide for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007” document. In this post, I will create a reference machine with Windows XP…

All .mp3 files on Desktop and My Documents folder

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:48:19 +0300

Want to know if your users store mp3 files on Desktop or My Documents folders? Add .mp3 file type to Software Inventory Client Agent properties Navigate to Site Database – Site Management – Site Name – Site Settings – Client Agents and double click Software Inventory Client Agent Select Inventory Collection tab Click the new…

Deploy Office 2007 with custom Quick Access Toolbar commands

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:16:00 +0300

Receiving some complaints that users can’t find the Open, New etc. commands in the new Office 2007 interface, I had a task to customize Quick Access Toolbar so that all users can have these commands installed by default. Office 2007 applications (Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Word) use a Quick Access Toolbar setting file (.qat). Every…

Install drivers by computer model using WMI query

Fri, 22 May 2009 15:56:00 +0300

When using task sequence, you might want to install different driver packages for different computer models. This can be accomplished by using a WMI query. First of all you need to have driver packages for all your computer models and know the exact model name for every computer. To find this, open a command prompt…

Deploy ePolicy Orchestrator (ePO) agent

Thu, 14 May 2009 18:38:00 +0300

Having to create a package with McAfee ePO agent, I wanted to make it available to task sequence too so it can be installed during the operating system setup. For this, I had to make it install unattended or silent not requiring any user input. As I have never worked with McAfee, first, I did…

Failed to Run Task Sequence – 0x80072EE7

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:28:18 +0200

If you receive the following error: “An error occurred while retrieving policy for this computer (0x80072EE7)” when Task Sequence Wizard starts, this can happen if you have DHCP or DNS problems. You should check if you can contact the DHCP server in order to get an IP address or you can configure a static IP…

Failed to Run Task Sequence

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 23:18:44 +0200

I just spent half an hour trying to understand why my task sequence cannot find the files on a distribution point; although the TS runs normally, I see all available TSs and I can choose the one I need. Then I found why: I missed something I never missed before and that must not be…

Create an advertisement only for Windows 7 systems

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:32:35 +0200

Let’s suppose you create a package with one program and want to advertise it only to a few selected platforms, including x86 and x64 Windows 7 systems. Because Windows 7 is not supported yet with Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, you cannot choose it from the supplied list of platforms. As a result of this, after…

Create a collection with all x64 systems

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:55:07 +0200

As I have some free time, I’m testing different things with SCCM, mainly in creating different collections that I might need. Bellow you can find the query that will show you all x64 systems, client and server operating systems. select SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceID, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceType, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Name, SMS_R_SYSTEM.SMSUniqueIdentifier, SMS_R_SYSTEM.ResourceDomainORWorkgroup, SMS_R_SYSTEM.Client from SMS_R_System inner join SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM on SMS_G_System_COMPUTER_SYSTEM.ResourceId = SMS_R_System.ResourceId…

Failed to extend the Active Directory Schema

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:44:02 +0200

Usually, extending the Active Directory schema is the last step I do when installing SCCM. This time, while installing SCCM in a virtual machine, you have to provide a path to a folder with SCCM updates or download these updates from the internet. Working in a virtual machine with a “Local only” network adapter, I…

Create a collection with all mobile (laptops, notebooks, portable) systems

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:27:42 +0200

Someone just asked how to create a collection with all laptop computers? Well, if there is a good naming convention on site, this query will be easy to make. But, otherwise, we need to use chassis type value because, for example, laptops and notebooks are not the same things according to Microsoft. The full list…

Troubleshooting Task Sequences in SCCM

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 10:12:21 +0200

I don’t do this usually, but this time this is really interesting. I want to recommend a very good blog post written by Kenneth Van Surksum about troubleshooting Task Sequences in Configuration Manager. Find it here http://www.techlog.org/archive/2009/03/01/troubleshooting_task_sequences. He talks about the smsts.log file, where to find it during installation and what tool you can use…

Create a collection with systems without Adobe Reader 9

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:49:34 +0200

Recently, I needed a collection with all computers that do not have Adobe Reader 9 installed. I created a collection with this query: SMS_G_System_ADD_REMOVE_PROGRAMS.DisplayName not like “%Adobe Reader 9%”. Everything was fine except the fact that my computer was also listed, despite the fact that I have Adobe Reader 9 installed. Well, I’m not an…

Show hidden devices in Device Manager

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:00:58 +0200

Yesterday I started to play with Hyper-V and SCVMM 2008. I added two hosts and also imported one virtual hard disk (with Windows Server 2003 SP2) to see if a .vhd created by Virtual Server 2005 SP1 works well in Hyper-V. I noticed that I do not have an internet connection, actually there wasn’t any…

Setup Windows and ConfigMgr – 0x80004005

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:43:33 +0200

Suppose you have created a task sequence, advertised it and booted from task sequence media or however you want; if you receive the following error: “Task Sequence: has failed with the error code (0x80004005). For more information, please contact your system administrator or helpdesk operator.” at Setup Windows and ConfigMgr step you might…

Update proxy settings used by Software Updates role in SCCM 2007

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 23:14:00 +0200

Few months ago I had an interesting problem at a client site that took me a while to resolve. So I want to post it here, maybe it will help others… After a successful upgrade from SMS 2003 to SCCM 2007 SP1, I configured software update point, synchronized with Microsoft update to get the list…

SCCM 2007 description of all log files

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:24:43 +0200

Another very good resource I just found! The description of all log files in ConfigMgr 2007. See bellow an example and follow the link for the full post: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb892800.aspx. Management Point Log Files If management points are installed in the site hierarchy, management point log files are stored in the SMS_CCMLOGS folder on the management…

Issue with Windows XP SP3 Volume License

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 09:08:02 +0200

A few days ago I had to make an image with Windows XP SP3 with all needed applications for lite touch installation. Everything went well and I was happy until I entered the mini-setup phase on the first computer with that image applied on it. I received an error regarding the product key. I guess…

TechEd Online Bloggers

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:47:08 +0200

My last post (Using Group Policy to deploy Office 2007) was quoted on TechEdBloggers site.

How Microsoft IT is using Configuration Manager 2007

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:40:13 +0200

Do you know how Microsoft IT manages thousands of servers worldwide in multiple countries for a large number of departments and customers using SCCM 2007? If no, then you should listen to this 30 minutes podcast: Microsoft IT Business Case for System Center Configuration Manager 2007 in a Data Center. And here is the full…

PXE Boot not working after restart

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:38:42 +0200

In case you have PXE Boot working normally but suddenly it is not working anymore, it may be because of the WDS service. This might sound strange but sometimes Windows Deployment Services (WDS) Server does not start after restarting the server, even if it is set to automatically start. It happened to me a few…

“The hash value is not correct”

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:37:16 +0200

Here is another error related to Task Sequence and MDT 2008. After creating and advertising a task sequence, most probably you will run it :). Make sure you have the latest version of your packages on the distribution point, otherwise you will receive an error while running the task sequence. This will be something like…

“The ConfigMgr Provider reported an error”

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:36:43 +0200

Today I came across an interesting problem in ConfigMgr while creating a Windows Vista image of reference computer. And again, ConfigMgr 2007 displays the error with not much intuitive help. I’m using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2008 with ConfigMgr 2007 when I need to deploy an operating system. At the end of the imported Task Sequence,…

Using Group Policy to deploy Office 2007

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 02:15:05 +0200

Last week I tested how Office 2007 installs via Group Policy. I created a software installation package and it worked successful; except the fact that it is not fully installed when a user logs on and that it will not upgrade (or remove) the existing version of Office even if I added the Office 2003…

Group Policy – User Configuration Logon script

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 01:20:35 +0200

Something I have learned the other day… I had to install a small .msi using Group Policy, using a logon script. As it was a small package and not very important, I used a User Configuration Logon script.I created and linked a new GPO to a specific OU with some users (with no admin privileges)…

How to format Hard Disk and apply the operating system on a specific partition

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:33:00 +0200

Yesterday, on SCCM TechNet forum, somebody asked me more info about “Format and Partition Disk” and “Apply Operating System Image” tasks in a task sequence. As the answer requires some screenshots to be provided, I decided to write a post here with that details and direct that user to this post. Format and Partition Disk:…

009 error codes

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:30:05 +0200

During “troubleshooting period”, I have found a very nice website with error codes’ descriptions. Now, every time I get an error in any program, I check the list from this blog http://blogs.msdn.com/joshpoley/pages/errors-009-facility-sspi.aspx. This is how the table with error codes looks like: Code HRESULT Description #define 1 0xC0090001 The specified event is currently not being…