How to stop those annoying Charter Communications Telemarketers

As a Charter customer, it's very annoying to be constantly bombarded by telemarketing calls. Charter is relentless. No matter how much you ask them not to call you, they will continue and the reps are very aggressive. They are exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry because there is a business/customer relationship. At one point, I was contacted 16 times within two weeks from their 909-259-0292 number. They do change up the number that appears on the caller ID. Sometimes I have gotten their 404 area code.

Their website now has a privacy page that allows you to opt out of all marketing calls. Go to http://Charter.com. At the bottom, click on Your Privacy Rights.

Once the next screen comes up, click on Privacy Preferences. 

Now that you are on this page, fill out all of the fields. You will need your account number. At the bottom, select All of the above. Click submit and you should not receive any further harassing calls from them.

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Custom Naming Distribution Points

If you are using standard machines as distribution points in your remote offices, the naming might be an issue for you, as it was for us. There was nothing in the naming that distinguished them to allow us to know their location. The only option we had was to keep a spreadsheet list of the machines with the associated location. The easy way around this is to create a distribution point group that allows you to custom name the group. You only associate the one distribution point to that group, which then  gives you the custom naming schema you were looking for. When you distribute and deploy software, you select from the distribution point group instead of from the distribution points, thereby allowing for easy dissemination. 

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Deploying GimpShop

As you will see, GimpShop is open-source  but full of plugins. It is nearly impossible to do a silent install without something like AutoIT. You can't open the executable up in something like PeaZip because the only thing that will show up is one DLL. When you run the executable, it will extract the msi to the root of %TEMP%. It also creates a couple of temporary directories, which are not needed for repackaging. I packaged up version 2.8, so the name of the msi was GimpShop2.8.msi. That is all you need to install the application. The msi does not contain any plugins and you can do a simple /qb- /norestart. 

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SCCM: Deploying from a Network Share

Sometimes you need to deploy from a network share instead of a distribution point. The reason I do this sometimes is because of the sheer size of some installations. For instance, Autodesk Revit 2013 Building Premium is 26 gigabytes. Transferring that across a WAN will take a LONG time. We do maintain network shares in our offices that we update once a month, which contains all of our installation programs.

To start, you will want to create your Application install. You will want to leave the content location blank. Fill in the Installation program and Uninstall Program fields with the command line parameters. For the Installation Start In and Uninstall Start In fields, enter the network share location of the application install. You do not want to distribute the content to a distribution point, as there is no need since the package will be pointing to a network share. When you deploy it, uncheck the Automatically distribute content for dependencies and do not specify any distribution points. That is all that is to deploying via a network share. 

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SCCM: Distribution point won't update because of minor changes

When you make a minor change to an installer program, the change may not update in SCCM/SMS. This is because if there was a minor change within the script and there is no size difference, SCCM will think it is the same. It is possible to completely update the distribution point with a new package source, but an issue arises if you had already run the package on machines and had set it to download the package first. The changes can be seen as the same that is on the distribution point and the local machine, therefore the changes are not pushed down. There are two options in this scenario. First is to clear out the local caches on the target machines. This will force SCCM/SMS to redownload the newer package. The second is to delete the package and recreate it so that a new version is created on the distribution points that does not match the version downloaded on the local machines. This causes the package to be re-downloaded to the local machines, thereby pushing the new changes. 

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Unlimited International Calling back to the US for $9.95

Last August and September, I was in Africa. While there, I called and texted back to the US using a Voice over IP service called Line2. It is an app that works on the iPhone, iPad, or Android. All I can say is that it was great. I used it while connected to WiFi routers. One of the big things I liked about it was that I did not have to treat the calls as international. When I called back to Nashville, TN from Johannesburg, South Africa, I just dialed 615-xxx-xxxx. There was some lag, but the calls were still good quality.

• Local calling back to the US
• Flat rate of $9.95
• Good reception
• No international calling prefixes

The app also works through a 3G/4G connection on the phone, but I did not want to have to bother with and internation SIM card, pricing, and such.

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Powershell: Installation Script Functions

Here are several snippets I have created for writing powershell application installation scripts. These make it a lot faster by standardizing the functions to use as reusable code.

Display a Balloon Tip

 Function BalloonTip($ApplicationName, $Message, $DisplayTime){  
      [system.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName('System.Windows.Forms') | Out-Null  
      $balloon = New-Object System.Windows.Forms.NotifyIcon  
      $path = Get-Process -id $pid | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Path  
      $icon = [System.Drawing.Icon]::ExtractAssociatedIcon($path)  
      $balloon.Icon = $icon  
      $balloon.BalloonTipIcon = 'Info'  
      $balloon.BalloonTipTitle = "{Company Name}"  
      $balloon.BalloonTipText = $ApplicationName+[char]13+[char]13+$Message  
      $balloon.Visible = $true  
      $balloon.ShowBalloonTip($DisplayTime)  
 }  

Create a log folder and set log file

 $Global:LogFolderName = ""  
 Function CreateLogFolder{  
      If((Test-Path -path c:\temp) -ne $true){  
           New-Item -ItemType directory -Path c:\temp  
      }  
      If((Test-Path -path c:\temp\$Global:LogFolderName) -ne $true){  
           New-Item -ItemType directory -Path c:\temp\$Global:LogFolderName  
      }  
      $Global:LogFile = "c:\temp\"+$Global:LogFolderName+"\"+$Global:LogFolderName+".log"  
      Write-Host $Global:LogFile  
 }  
 CreateLogFolder  

Enable/Disable File Security Checks

 #Disable File Security  
 $env:SEE_MASK_NOZONECHECKS = 1  
 #Enable File Security  
 Remove-Item env:\SEE_MASK_NOZONECHECKS  

Determine if the OS is 32-bit or 64-bit

 $Global:OS  
 Function GetOSArchitecture{  
      $Global:OS=Get-WMIObject win32_operatingsystem  
      $Global:OS.OSArchitecture  
      #Answers: 32-bit, 64-bit  
 }  

Retrieve the relative path the powershell script was executed from

 Clear-Host  
 $Global:RelativePath  
 Function GetRelativePath{  
      $Global:RelativePath=(split-path $SCRIPT:MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path -parent)+"\"  
      Write-Host $Global:RelativePath  
 }  
 GetRelativePath  

Uninstall previous versions of programs

 Function UninstallPreviousPrograms{  
      #Change '%application%' to whatever app you are calling  
      $Output = wmic product where "description like '%sketchup%'" get IdentifyingNumber  
      $Output | ForEach-Object {  
           $_ = $_.Trim()  
        if(($_ -ne "IdentifyingNumber")-and($_ -ne "")){  
          $GUID = $_  
        }  
      }  
      $Arguments = "/X"+[char]32+$GUID+[char]32+"/qb- /norestart"  
      (Start-Process -FilePath "msiexec.exe" -ArgumentList $Arguments -Wait -Passthru).ExitCode  
 }  
 UninstallPreviousPrograms  

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SCCM: How to update packages on the distribution point

There are two ways to update a package on the distribution point:

1. Open up the Application package under Software Library and select the Content Locations tab. Now select the distribution point and click Redistribute.
2. Select the Software Library and then select an app under the Application Management. At the bottom, select the Deployment Types tab. Right-click on the advertisement and select Update Content.

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SCCM: SMS Functions missing in SCCM

As you have seen, a lot of the functions in SMS are now longer there in SCCM. For instance, you used to be able to re-run and advertisement on a specific machine. That is no longer there. There is a way to get the functions back. SCCM Client Center is a great alternative. It is a third-party client that gives back that functionality missing in SCCM. I highly recommend it. Here are just a few things it provides:

• WMI Repair
• Resizing the local SCCM cache
• Shutdown/Restart/Logoff
• Access both SCCM and system logs
• Re-run advertisements
• List all advertisements on the machine
• Monitor SCCM Jobs currently running
• Download User Policy

There are many more functions this provides. The application can be found here. 

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SCCM: SMS equivalent to updating the distribution point

In SMS, in order to update the distribution point, you go to the packages and select the distribution points, and click update distribution points.

The equivalent in SCCM is to go to the Software Library-->Application Management-->Applications, select the application. At the bottom of the screen, click the Deployment Types tab. Now right-click on the item in the menu above and click Update Content. That is all that is to it.

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Setting Acrobat and Reader to autoupdate

Here is a powershell script I wrote that adds the registry keys for both reader and acrobat to make them automatically update. This is intended for admins to deploy out to all users in a firm. It doesn't hurt to add both keys, even if you only have one of the two apps. Here is the Powershell script:

You can download the script from here. 

 #*******************************************************************************  
 #   Author: Mick Pletcher  
 #    Date: 27 March 2013  
 #  
 #   Program: Adobe Reader Automatic Update  
 #*******************************************************************************  
 Clear-Host  
 $Global:OS  
 Function GetOSArchitecture{  
      $Global:OS=Get-WMIObject win32_operatingsystem  
      $Global:OS.OSArchitecture  
 }  
 GetOSArchitecture  
 If($Global.OS.OSArchitecture -ne "32-bit"){  
      New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe" -Name "Adobe ARM" –Force  
      New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe\Adobe ARM" -Name 1.0 –Force  
      New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0" -Name ARM –Force  
      New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM" -Name iCheck -Value 3 -PropertyType DWORD  
      New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM" -Name iCheckReader -Value 3 -PropertyType DWORD  
 } else{  
      New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Adobe" -Name "Adobe ARM" –Force  
      New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe ARM" -Name 1.0 –Force  
      New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0" -Name ARM –Force  
      New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM" -Name iCheck -Value 3 -PropertyType DWORD  
      New-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe ARM\1.0\ARM" -Name iCheckReader -Value 3 -PropertyType DWORD  
 }  

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How to run a Powershell script as administrator

Say you are deploying a package and need to run it as admin with elevated privileges. Of course if you are running the script manually, you can open up powershell with admin priviledges by running the cmd.exe as administrator. I haven't been able to find any easy ways of doing this within Powershell scripts, although it can be done. There is an easy way though if you use VBScript as a Powershell wrapper. Create the VBScript and point it to execute the Powershell script as admin. Here is how:

 Set oShell = CreateObject("Shell.Application")  
 oShell.ShellExecute "powershell", "-executionpolicy bypass -file test.ps1", "", "runas", 1  

That is all that is to it. Execute the VBScript and the Powershell script will be executed as administrator.

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Powershell: WMIC Product headers

If you are trying to query a list of installed applications using WMIC and want to only display certain headers, here is the list of header available:

wmic product get <header>

• Node
• AssignmentType
• Caption
• Description
• HelpLink
• HelpTelephone
• IdentifyingNumber
• InstallDate
• InstallDate2
• InstallLocation
• InstallSource
• InstallState
• Language
• LocalPackage
• Name
• PackageCache
• PackageCode
• PackageName
• ProductID
• RegCompany
• RegOwner
• SKUNumber
• Transforms
• URLInfoAbout
• URLUpdateInfo
• Vendor
• Version
• WordCount

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SCCM: Powershell Command Line

In order to run a powershell script as a task sequence/application in SCCM or MDT, you will need to use the following command line in MDT/SCCM to correctly execute the script:

• powershell.exe -executionpolicy bypass -File install.ps1

NOTE: You may need to enter the path to the powershell.exe and to the install.ps1, although for the install.ps1, it should see it from the path you enter in the working directory field. 

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Powershell: Public Desktop Environmental Variable

Powershell 3.0 now has a public desktop environmental variable, CommonDesktopDirectory, unlike versions 1 & 2. In order to make the powershell public desktop environmental variable compatible across different versions, use the following line:

• $desktop = ([Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Public"))+"\Desktop"

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Windows 8: Opening multiple application instances

In Windows 8, you can only open 1 instance of an app at a time by just clicking on the app tile. In order to open multiple instances of it, right-click on the app tile and run it as administrator. This will allow you to have several instances of the same application.

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Powershell: Adding powershell Run-as Administrator Option

For some Powershell scripts, they need the elevated privileges, even when UAC is disabled. In order to do this, there are two options.

1. Run a cmd.exe session as administrator and execute the PS1 file from the command line.
2. Add the registry key listed below to be able to right-click on a PS1 file and run-as administrator.

All you need to do is copy the info below to a blank notepad screen and then save it as {Filename}.reg. Double-click on the reg file and the key will be added to the registry, thereby adding the run-as administrator option. Here is the reg key to add the run-as administrator option:

You can download the reg key from here.

 Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00  

 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Microsoft.PowerShellScript.1\Shell\runas\command]  
 @="\"c:\\windows\\system32\\windowspowershell\\v1.0\\powershell.exe\" -noexit \"%1\""  

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Stopping system from locking

Most companies have a security policy enabled that locks a computer after a certain time interval to stop other users from being able to access the computer if the user forgets to lock the system when they step away. There are those times though that you need to prevent the system from locking for such things as a teleconference and you need to step away to the restroom. You will be booted from the teleconference if you lock your machine. Sometimes you may have a third-party vendor that, due to security reasons, has to remote in through your terminal in order to access servers for maintenance.

I wrote this program that will move the mouse cursor 6 places on the screen every two minutes and then clicks the control key. The executable is a wrapper that extracts the two Powershell scripts. The first script calls the script that actually moves the cursor, while the first script displays an OK button on the screen to click when you are finished. The executable wrapper then cleans up the Powershell scripts after OK is clicked. The executable was compiled using the old SMS installer.

Here are the three files. The executable contains the two Powershell scripts. It extracts them to the current directory and then executes them.

• SecureScreenStopper.EXE
• SecureScreenStopper.ps1
• MouseMover.ps1

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Powershell: Robocopy Invalid Parameter Error

It is nice having robocopy integrated with PowerShell, but there are some quirks that can make it a pain to deal with. While I was writing a Powershell script that will automate the robocopy, I began getting the Invalid Parameter error. I went through troubleshooting it and made sure it was exactly the same I was typing in at the command line. I still could not figure it out until I split it up.

 $Source = "..\na_clients"  
 $Dest = "..\"+$Location  
 $Files = "*.*"  
 $Switches = "/R:0 /W:0 /E /MIR /TEE /Z /TIMFIX"
 $Logs = "/LOG:..\0ReplicationLogs\"+$Location+".log"  
 $ExcludeDIR = "0Archive","0ReplicationLogs","DfsrPrivate","DesignPremium32Bit","Indesign32bit"  
 RoboCopy $Source $Dest $Files $Switches /XD $ExcludeDIR[0] $ExcludeDIR[1] $ExcludeDIR[2] $ExcludeDIR[3] $ExcludeDIR[4]  

This is where I split up the robocopy command line into variables for each of the switches. That fixed the issue. Apparently, Powershell does not allow for you to be able to use spaces between the switches within a quoted variable. I went as far as dividing up the $Switches variable with a +[char]32+ between each quoted switch and it did no good. This below is the only solution I came up with.

 $Source = "..\na_clients"  
 $Dest = "..\"+$Location  
 $Files = "*.*"  
 $Retries = "/R:0"  
 $Wait = "/W:0"  
 $Logs = "/LOG:..\0ReplicationLogs\"+$Location+".log"  
 $CopySubfolders = "/E"  
 $Mirror = "/MIR"  
 $ConsoleWin = "/TEE"  
 $RestartMode = "/Z"  
 $FixTimeStamp = "/TIMFIX"  
 $ExcludeDIR = "0Archive","0ReplicationLogs","DfsrPrivate","DesignPremium32Bit","Indesign32bit"  
 RoboCopy $Source $Dest $Files $IPG $Retries $Wait $Logs $CopySubfolders $Mirror $ConsoleWin $RestartMode $FixTimeStamp /XD $ExcludeDIR[0] $ExcludeDIR[1] $ExcludeDIR[2] $ExcludeDIR[3] $ExcludeDIR[4]  

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WARNING - unable to set working directory: (-2147024894)

This error is caused when the working directory no longer exists that is assigned to the application being installed. It would be nice if MDT published which app it is, but it does not. To find the application, open up the BDD.LOG file. Search for the error message. You will see the directory it is trying to access on the line above. Just a few lines above, it should also display the app the directory is associated with right above the ################ line .

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MDT: Unable to locate the Results.xml file needed to determine the deployment results

This error can be caused by several different things. Here are a few suggestions to look for:

1. Have you inserted a new task before the boot image is installed? If so, this can trigger the error. (This was my problem. I was testing a new task to move the computer in AD in the Preinstall phase. When I disabled the task, the task sequence proceeded with no issues)
2. Regenerate all new WIM boot image files
3. Create a new task sequence and see if it proceeds normally. If it does, then just copy your custom tasks from the corrupted sequence to the newly created one
4. Has this occurred since upgrading the MDT? If so, do step 3.

If you have encountered this issue and know of some other cause or fix, please post it here and I will update the blog. Thanks

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MDT 2012 Update 1: Skip Roles and Features

There is a new window in the MDT Wizard. It is Roles and Features. If you are wanting to skip this, you will need to add the following to the customsettings.ini file:

• SkipRoles=YES

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MDT: Removing duplicate and old drivers

If you have setup your driver drivers like I have in which they are separated by OS-->Make-->Model, you will see duplicate drivers in each Model folder. This is caused by the fact that some drivers exist in more than one category. Although you have setup the driver folders in the GUI portion of MDT, MDT sorts them differently in the windows folders. It sorts them by driver type, such as display, bluetooth, modem, and such. They are sorted in the GUI interface through the XML file that sorts the GUIDs into the groups you specified.

Within each group folder, you will see duplicates with (1), (2) and such appearing after the name. This is because a driver may exist under both System and Net for instance. The NIC driver is commonly put in with the system drivers besides the network drivers folder, thereby causing it to appear twice.

To trim the driver list down, sort the Name field. When you find your first duplicated driver, look at the dates on the original and the dupe. If they do not match, then select the oldest ones to delete, leaving just one. Under the actions list, click Delete under the driver name, NOT under the folder name. If you click delete under the folder, the entire folder will be deleted. I have done that and could have kicked myself afterwards, so pay close attention. Once you click delete, do NOT select the Completely delete these items, even if there are copies in other folders. (Force)! If you select this, it will delete that driver across all models and types. I did this and then found out when building other model machines, they were missing those drivers. I had to go back and re-import the drivers for every model. When you leave it unchecked, it only deletes the pointer to the driver and not the actual driver.

Next, you will see duplicate drivers, except with different versions. You will most definitely want to clean up this list so that only the latest driver is there. For instance, I had one model that had 6 versions of NVIDIA Display NVDW.INF in the list. I deleted all, except for the latest one. I also made sure I only deleted it from the list and not completely from the folder.

This not only cleans up the number of drivers copied down during the build, but it also ensures the latest driver gets installed too, as I do see on occasion that the older driver got installed.

NOTE: Before you do any of this, make sure you have the original drivers that you imported into MDT in a windows folder, as if you make a mistake and need to re-import them. 

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MDT: Renaming the Task Sequence ID

Once a task sequence has been created, it is grayed out not allowing for it to be changed. There is an easy workaround to accomplish this.

1. Open up the TaskSequences.xml file. Search for the task sequence ID. Change that to your desired new name.
2. Rename the subfolder named after the task sequence ID to the same name you changed it to inside the XML file in step 1.

That is all that is to renaming the task sequence ID.

NOTE: Before you do this, I would first backup the control directory. Changes to files in this directory can disable the entire MDT.

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Cleaning up old task sequences

If you ever go into the Control folder of the deployment share, you will see every task sequence that has ever been created in there. They are listed by sub-folder names. MDT does not delete these when you delete a task sequence. The first thing you want to do is to open up the TaskSequences.xml file to compare it to the Task sequence list that appears in the Windows Deployment Wizard. You don't want to delete a task sequence that is being used. Once you have made sure it is not in the list, you can go ahead and delete the old task sequence folders. There should be no more references to these folders in any of the scripts. Just to make sure, I would also do a directory search on the task sequence folder name just to make sure it does not appear in any of the xml files. 

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iPad 1 Slowness after 5.1.1 Update

After the last update of iOS to 5.1.1, you have probably noticed that it slowed down drastically. This is because of the new features added by the update. The iPad 1 only has 256 MBs of RAM. The extra services and features added causes the iPad 1 to crash quite often, especially Safari. The best route of course, is to upgrade, but if you are like me, I find it a pure waste of natural resources to upgrade at every possible time, so I usually try and wait at least 4 versions before doing so. It is more eco-friendly.

To stop the iPad from continuously crashing and alleviate the slowness, you will need to disable some of the new features. Here is the list of features I disabled on my iPad 1 that solved the issue.

• Disabled Settings-->Location Services on quite a few of the apps that I really did not need it turned on for. Definitely leave the Find My iPad turned on
• Turned off the Settings-->General-->Multitasking Gestures
• Turned off all of the Settings-->iCloud except for the Find My iPad
• Under Settings-->Mail, Contacts, Calendars, I set Fetch New Data to Manually
• Turned off Settings-->Messages, as that takes up a good amount of memory
• Under Settings-->Photos, I turned off Photo Stream
• Under Settings-->Store, I turned off Music, Apps, and Books

After making those changes, the iPad is almost back to normal. It is not going to completely correct it, as the apps written in updated code will most likely also cause it to slow down. 

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MDT: Defining and Implementing Make and Model in the SQL Database

This is a very easy, but also tricky process. The first thing you will need to do of course is setup your SQL database if it has not already been done. Next, you will need to obtain the how the make and model of the machine is written in the bios by doing a WMI query. Once this is done, you will want to enter the different make and models in the SQL database. If it is going to be pointing to an application to execute for that specific make and model, you will need to go to the application to make sure Hide this application in the Deployment Wizard is unchecked. If it is checked, the application will not be executed. This is because it checks off the application to be executed during the Windows Deployment Wizard in the Applications screen. If it does not appear there, then it can't be run. That is all that is to doing the make and model.

NOTE: When I do a WMI query, I have the VBScript to put a quotation mark at the end of the name. I do this because sometimes the manufacturer will put spaces after it and if you do not enter it exactly like it is when queried, MDT will not recognize the machine.

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SMS 2003: Deploying apps from a network share

You have software already on a network share and want to deploy it to everyone within the local network. You don't have to waste time and space, especially if it is an enormous application, by populating the distribution point. You can deploy it directly from the network share through SMS.

The first step to do this is to create the package. There will be no data source, so all you have to do is populate the General Tab for informational purposes. Next, you will click on the programs and create a new program. In the General Tab, you will enter the command line to execute the installation. The start in field is what points the package to the network share that contains the installation package. Under the Environment Tab, you will need to select Whether or Not a user is logged on, click Run with Administrative Rights, and select Use Software Installation Account. You can now setup the Collection and Advertisement. That is all that is to setting up an SMS package that can deploy from a network share, instead of its distribution point. I am now working with SCCM and will update this as I verify if this is also possible with SCCM. 

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Deploying Photoshop Elements 11

Deploying Photoshop Elements is different from the rest of the Adobe CS6 applications. The MSI file cannot be executed independently. The setup.exe file must be run. The setup.ini is the key to distributing the software in either a silent or basic display mode. Inside the ini file, the two parts that are pertinent to an unattended installation are [Launch] and [OEM]. Under [Launch] you can delete all of the CommandLines, except for CommandLine0. These command lines are there for installing different language packs, which you can only install one. I live in the US, so this is the command line I successfully used:

CommandLine0=msiexec /i "Adobe Photoshop Elements 11.msi" TRANSFORMS=1033.mst ELEMENTS_EN_US=1 ORGANIZER_EN_US=1 COUNTRY=244 AgreeToLicense=Yes /qb- /norestart

The second part to populate is the SERIALNUMBER under [OEM]. You will need to enter it with dashes.

The required items are the country, agreement to the license, serial number, and language. Once these are populated in the above listed items, the installation becomes unattended. Here is the full setup.ini file that I edited and has now made the setup.exe unattended.

 [Launch]  
 Count=4  
 Lang0=0009  
 Lang1=0007  
 Lang2=040c  
 Lang3=0011  
 Default=0009  
 EnableLangDlg=NO  
 CommandLine0=msiexec /i "Adobe Photoshop Elements 11.msi" TRANSFORMS=1033.mst ELEMENTS_EN_US=1 ORGANIZER_EN_US=1 COUNTRY=244 AgreeToLicense=Yes /qb- /norestart  
 [OEM]  
 OEM=  
 SERIALNUMBER=xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx  
 DISABLEOLSFEATURES=1  
 MANUAL=  
 REBOOT=No  
 STARTMENULOCATION=  
 [en_us]  
 Title=Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 - Setup  
 OSErrMsg=Your system does not support the minimum operating system requirement. Installation of Photoshop Elements 11 is supported on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 Operating Systems.  
 AdminUserErrMsg=Please login as an Administrator and then run the installer.  
 MultipleInstances=Installation is already in progress. Please complete that installation.  
 BuildIncompletErrMsg=Setup.exe was not able to locate some components required for successful installation of the product. Please retry after making sure the complete set of files is available.  
 [de_de]  
 Title=Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 - Setup  
 OSErrMsg=Ihr System erfüllt nicht die Mindestanforderung für das Betriebssystem. Die Installation von Photoshop Elements 11 wird unter Windows XP, Windows Vista oder Windows 7 unterstützt.  
 AdminUserErrMsg=Melden Sie sich als Administrator an und führen Sie dann das Installationsprogramm aus.  
 MultipleInstances=Die Installation wird bereits ausgeführt. Schließen Sie diese Installation ab.  
 BuildIncompletErrMsg=Die Datei "Setup.exe" konnte einige für die Installation des Produkts erforderliche Komponenten nicht finden. Stellen Sie sicher, dass alle Dateien verfügbar sind und versuchen Sie es erneut.  
 [fr_fr]  
 Title=Installation d'Adobe Photoshop Elements 11  
 OSErrMsg=Votre système ne prend pas en charge la configuration minimale requise. Vous ne pouvez installer Photoshop Elements 11 que sur les systèmes d'exploitation Windows XP, Windows Vista ou Windows 7.   
 AdminUserErrMsg=Veuillez vous connecter en tant qu'administrateur, puis lancer le programme d'installation.  
 MultipleInstances=Une installation est déjà en cours. Vous devez terminer cette installation.  
 BuildIncompletErrMsg=Setup.exe n'a pas pu trouver certains des composants nécessaires à l'installation du produit. Assurez-vous que tous les fichiers sont disponibles, puis réessayez.  
 [ja_jp]  
 Title=Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 セットアップ  
 OSErrMsg=ご使用のシステムは、オペレーティングシステムの最低要件を満たしていません。Photoshop Elements 11 をインストールできるオペレーティングシステムは、Windows XP、Windows Vista または Windows 7 です。  
 AdminUserErrMsg=管理者としてログインし、インストーラーを実行してください。  
 MultipleInstances=インストールは既に進行しています。 このインストールを完了させてください。  
 BuildIncompletErrMsg=Setup.exe で、製品の正常なインストールに必要な一部のコンポーネントを検出できませんでした。ファイル一式が揃っていることを確認し、再度実行してください。  

If you live in a different country, thereby needing a different country code, you can obtain it by opening up the Adobe Photoshop Elements 11.msi file in ORCA. The list of countries and associated country codes are under the ComboBox Table. There, you will see the list. The value you are looking for is in the Value (s64) column. For your convenience, here is a list of country codes I extracted from the MSI file:

Property (s72)	Order (i2)	Value (s64)	Text (L64)
COUNTRY	1	3	Afghanistan
COUNTRY	2	6	Albania
COUNTRY	3	4	Algeria
COUNTRY	4	10	American Samoa
COUNTRY	5	8	Andorra
COUNTRY	6	9	Angola
COUNTRY	7	300	Anguilla
COUNTRY	8	301	Antarctica
COUNTRY	9	2	Antigua and Barbuda
COUNTRY	10	11	Argentina
COUNTRY	11	7	Armenia
COUNTRY	12	302	Aruba
COUNTRY	13	303	Ascension Island
COUNTRY	14	304	Ashmore and Cartier Islands
COUNTRY	15	12	Australia
COUNTRY	16	14	Austria
COUNTRY	17	5	Azerbaijan
COUNTRY	18	22	Bahama, The
COUNTRY	19	17	Bahrain
COUNTRY	20	305	Baker Island
COUNTRY	21	23	Bangladesh
COUNTRY	22	18	Barbados
COUNTRY	23	29	Belarus
COUNTRY	24	21	Belgium
COUNTRY	25	24	Belize
COUNTRY	26	28	Benin
COUNTRY	27	20	Bermuda
COUNTRY	28	34	Bhutan
COUNTRY	29	26	Bolivia
COUNTRY	30	25	Bosnia and Herzegovina
COUNTRY	31	19	Botswana
COUNTRY	32	306	Bouvet Island
COUNTRY	33	32	Brazil
COUNTRY	34	114	British Indian Ocean Territory
COUNTRY	35	37	Brunei
COUNTRY	36	35	Bulgaria
COUNTRY	37	245	Burkina Faso
COUNTRY	38	38	Burundi
COUNTRY	39	40	Cambodia
COUNTRY	40	49	Cameroon
COUNTRY	41	39	Canada
COUNTRY	42	57	Cape Verde
COUNTRY	43	307	Cayman Islands
COUNTRY	44	55	Central African Republic
COUNTRY	45	41	Chad
COUNTRY	46	308	Channel Islands
COUNTRY	47	46	Chile
COUNTRY	48	45	China
COUNTRY	49	309	Christmas Island
COUNTRY	50	310	Clipperton Island
COUNTRY	51	311	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
COUNTRY	52	51	Colombia
COUNTRY	53	50	Comoros
COUNTRY	54	43	Congo
COUNTRY	55	44	Congo (DRC)
COUNTRY	56	312	Cook Islands
COUNTRY	57	313	Coral Sea Islands
COUNTRY	58	54	Costa Rica
COUNTRY	59	119	Côte d’Ivoire
COUNTRY	60	108	Croatia
COUNTRY	61	56	Cuba
COUNTRY	62	59	Cyprus
COUNTRY	63	75	Czech Republic
COUNTRY	64	61	Denmark
COUNTRY	65	314	Diego Garcia
COUNTRY	66	62	Djibouti
COUNTRY	67	63	Dominica
COUNTRY	68	65	Dominican Republic
COUNTRY	69	7299303	East Timor
COUNTRY	70	66	Ecuador
COUNTRY	71	67	Egypt
COUNTRY	72	72	El Salvador
COUNTRY	73	69	Equatorial Guinea
COUNTRY	74	71	Eritrea
COUNTRY	75	70	Estonia
COUNTRY	76	73	Ethiopia
COUNTRY	77	315	Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
COUNTRY	78	81	Faroe Islands
COUNTRY	79	78	Fiji Islands
COUNTRY	80	77	Finland
COUNTRY	81	84	France
COUNTRY	82	317	French Guiana
COUNTRY	83	318	French Polynesia
COUNTRY	84	319	French Southern and Antarctic Lands
COUNTRY	85	87	Gabon
COUNTRY	86	86	Gambia, The
COUNTRY	87	88	Georgia
COUNTRY	88	94	Germany
COUNTRY	89	89	Ghana
COUNTRY	90	90	Gibraltar
COUNTRY	91	98	Greece
COUNTRY	92	93	Greenland
COUNTRY	93	91	Grenada
COUNTRY	94	321	Guadeloupe
COUNTRY	95	322	Guam
COUNTRY	96	323	Guantanamo Bay
COUNTRY	97	99	Guatemala
COUNTRY	98	324	Guernsey
COUNTRY	99	100	Guinea
COUNTRY	100	196	Guinea-Bissau
COUNTRY	101	101	Guyana
COUNTRY	102	103	Haiti
COUNTRY	103	325	Heard Island and McDonald Islands
COUNTRY	104	106	Honduras
COUNTRY	105	104	Hong Kong S.A.R.
COUNTRY	106	326	Howland Island
COUNTRY	107	109	Hungary
COUNTRY	108	110	Iceland
COUNTRY	109	113	India
COUNTRY	110	111	Indonesia
COUNTRY	111	116	Iran
COUNTRY	112	121	Iraq
COUNTRY	113	68	Ireland
COUNTRY	114	117	Israel
COUNTRY	115	118	Italy
COUNTRY	116	124	Jamaica
COUNTRY	117	125	Jan Mayen
COUNTRY	118	122	Japan
COUNTRY	119	327	Jarvis Island
COUNTRY	120	328	Jersey
COUNTRY	121	127	Johnston Atoll
COUNTRY	122	126	Jordan
COUNTRY	123	137	Kazakhstan
COUNTRY	124	129	Kenya
COUNTRY	125	329	Kingman Reef
COUNTRY	126	133	Kiribati
COUNTRY	127	134	Korea
COUNTRY	128	136	Kuwait
COUNTRY	129	130	Kyrgyzstan
COUNTRY	130	138	Laos
COUNTRY	131	140	Latvia
COUNTRY	132	139	Lebanon
COUNTRY	135	146	Lesotho
COUNTRY	136	142	Liberia
COUNTRY	137	148	Libya
COUNTRY	138	145	Liechtenstein
COUNTRY	139	141	Lithuania
COUNTRY	140	147	Luxembourg
COUNTRY	141	151	Macau S.A.R.
COUNTRY	142	19618	Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic of
COUNTRY	143	149	Madagascar
COUNTRY	144	156	Malawi
COUNTRY	145	167	Malaysia
COUNTRY	146	165	Maldives
COUNTRY	147	157	Mali
COUNTRY	148	163	Malta
COUNTRY	149	15126	Man, Isle of
COUNTRY	150	199	Marshall Islands
COUNTRY	151	330	Martinique
COUNTRY	152	162	Mauritania
COUNTRY	153	160	Mauritius
COUNTRY	154	331	Mayotte
COUNTRY	155	166	Mexico
COUNTRY	156	80	Micronesia
COUNTRY	157	21242	Midway Islands
COUNTRY	158	152	Moldova
COUNTRY	159	158	Monaco
COUNTRY	160	154	Mongolia
COUNTRY	161	332	Montserrat
COUNTRY	162	159	Morocco
COUNTRY	163	168	Mozambique
COUNTRY	164	27	Myanmar
COUNTRY	165	254	Namibia
COUNTRY	166	180	Nauru
COUNTRY	167	178	Nepal
COUNTRY	168	333	Netherlands Antilles
COUNTRY	169	176	Netherlands, The
COUNTRY	170	334	New Caledonia
COUNTRY	171	183	New Zealand
COUNTRY	172	182	Nicaragua
COUNTRY	173	173	Niger
COUNTRY	174	175	Nigeria
COUNTRY	175	335	Niue
COUNTRY	176	336	Norfolk Island
COUNTRY	177	131	North Korea
COUNTRY	178	337	Northern Mariana Islands
COUNTRY	179	177	Norway
COUNTRY	180	164	Oman
COUNTRY	181	190	Pakistan
COUNTRY	182	195	Palau
COUNTRY	183	184	Palestinian Authority
COUNTRY	184	338	Palmyra Atoll
COUNTRY	185	192	Panama
COUNTRY	186	194	Papua New Guinea
COUNTRY	187	185	Paraguay
COUNTRY	188	187	Peru
COUNTRY	189	201	Philippines
COUNTRY	190	339	Pitcairn Islands
COUNTRY	191	191	Poland
COUNTRY	192	193	Portugal
COUNTRY	193	202	Puerto Rico
COUNTRY	194	197	Qatar
COUNTRY	195	198	Reunion
COUNTRY	196	200	Romania
COUNTRY	197	340	Rota Island
COUNTRY	198	203	Russia
COUNTRY	199	204	Rwanda
COUNTRY	200	341	Saipan
COUNTRY	201	259	Samoa
COUNTRY	202	214	San Marino
COUNTRY	203	233	São Tomé and Príncipe
COUNTRY	204	205	Saudi Arabia
COUNTRY	205	210	Senegal
COUNTRY	206	269	Serbia and Montenegro
COUNTRY	207	208	Seychelles
COUNTRY	208	213	Sierra Leone
COUNTRY	209	215	Singapore
COUNTRY	210	143	Slovakia
COUNTRY	211	212	Slovenia
COUNTRY	212	30	Solomon Islands
COUNTRY	213	216	Somalia
COUNTRY	214	209	South Africa
COUNTRY	215	342	South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
COUNTRY	216	217	Spain
COUNTRY	217	42	Sri Lanka
COUNTRY	218	343	St. Helena
COUNTRY	219	207	St. Kitts and Nevis
COUNTRY	220	218	St. Lucia
COUNTRY	221	206	St. Pierre and Miquelon
COUNTRY	222	248	St. Vincent and the Grenadines
COUNTRY	223	219	Sudan
COUNTRY	224	181	Suriname
COUNTRY	225	220	Svalbard
COUNTRY	226	260	Swaziland
COUNTRY	227	221	Sweden
COUNTRY	228	223	Switzerland
COUNTRY	229	222	Syria
COUNTRY	230	237	Taiwan
COUNTRY	231	228	Tajikistan
COUNTRY	232	239	Tanzania
COUNTRY	233	227	Thailand
COUNTRY	234	346	Tinian Island
COUNTRY	235	232	Togo
COUNTRY	236	347	Tokelau
COUNTRY	237	231	Tonga
COUNTRY	238	225	Trinidad and Tobago
COUNTRY	239	348	Tristan da Cunha
COUNTRY	240	234	Tunisia
COUNTRY	241	235	Turkey
COUNTRY	242	238	Turkmenistan
COUNTRY	243	349	Turks and Caicos Islands
COUNTRY	244	236	Tuvalu
COUNTRY	245	240	Uganda
COUNTRY	246	241	Ukraine
COUNTRY	247	224	United Arab Emirates
COUNTRY	248	242	United Kingdom
COUNTRY	249	244	United States
COUNTRY	250	246	Uruguay
COUNTRY	251	247	Uzbekistan
COUNTRY	252	174	Vanuatu
COUNTRY	253	253	Vatican City
COUNTRY	254	249	Venezuela
COUNTRY	255	251	Vietnam
COUNTRY	256	252	Virgin Islands
COUNTRY	257	351	Virgin Islands, British
COUNTRY	258	258	Wake Island
COUNTRY	259	352	Wallis and Futuna
COUNTRY	260	261	Yemen
COUNTRY	261	263	Zambia
COUNTRY	262	264	Zimbabwe

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MDT: Installing Windows 7 Updates as Packages

This is a really nice feature that MDT has allowing for all updates to be installed during the initial windows setup process. The problem is that certain updates will not install and cause the Install Updates function to fail, thereby halting the build. You will see the message Windows could not apply unattend settings during pass [offlineServicing]. The only way to resolve this is to remove the updates that caused it to halt.

The best way to locate the updates causing the problem is to create a structured package group. The way I setup my company's was to create the following structure:

1. Windows 7 Updates
1. Pre-Image Updates
1. Non-Security Updates
1. 2009
2. 2011
3. 2012
4. 2013
2. Optional Updates
3. Security Updates
1. 2010
2. 2011
3. 2012
2. Post-Image Updates
1. Non-Security Updates
2. Optional Updates
3. Security Updates

This gives an easy, sorted structure for the updates, which also allows you to find and remove those updates no longer needed after a service pack is installed. Plus, it allows you to activate/deactivate smaller sets of updates through the selection profile, thereby making narrowing down to the bad updates much easier. You might wonder where I got this structure. I use Windows Updates Downloader to download all of my windows updates and it uses this structure  I can verify that it works out great. This also allowed me to more easily find those updates that caused the build to crash during the offline installation. As far as associating them with a task sequence, all you have to do is check-mark each folder to be included in the selection profile, allowing all of the folders to be installed under a single task sequence. 

As far as the list of updates I found to halt the build of Windows 7 64-Bit with SP1, here it is:

• KB2496898
• KB2533552
• KB2604521
• KB2726535

Once I removed these updates, the offline update worked flawless. I did not bother trying to get these updates back in the system. I allow WSUS to install them.

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MDT: Injecting Variables into Task Names

While creating tasks in the task sequencing, you may want to create unique names that are stored in an MDT variable. This can easily be done. For instance, I have setup MDT to automatically install drivers by the make and model of the machine. I would like for it to also display which make it is installing it for. I went to the Inject Drivers task and added %Model% to the end of the Name field. It now displays the model it is installing the drivers for. Any variable that MDT uses can be entered into the Name field of a task sequence.

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