Windows 10
In-Place Upgrade to Windows 10 1909 November 2019 Update (19H2) with MDT
· ☕ 7 min read
2019-11-12: Microsoft have confirmed on Twitter that there will be no updated ADK for Windows 10 1909, so keep using ADK 1903 with the fix as noted below. 2019-10-24: At the time of writing there is no ADK for Windows 10 1909 November 2019 Update (19H2), so I’ve tested this walkthrough using the ADK for Windows 10 1903 with the hotfix for Windows System Image Manager. I’ll keep these pages up to date when Windows 10 1909 is officially released.

Removing Built-in Apps from Windows 10 1903
· ☕ 1 min read
I’ve updated my previous post on removing the built-in apps from Windows 10 to reflect the minor changes in the Windows 10 1903 May 2019 Update. You can find that post here, or under the Windows Deployment menu at the top of the page, and click on 1903 May 2019 Update (19H1). If you have any questions or comments please leave them below. Thank you. -Mike

Deploying A Windows 10 1903 May 2019 Update (19H1) Reference Image with MDT
· ☕ 14 min read
Current Known Issue: With the Windows 10 1903 ADK on 64-bit, the Windows System Image Manager (WSIM) will fail to generate a catalogue. Microsoft has issued a fix which you can download here. The fix contains two updated files, ImageCat.exe and ImgMgr.exe which need to be copied to the location the ADK is installed. By default the location is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Deployment Tools\WSIM. After installation you will still not be able to access the WSIM through MDT, but launching WSIM manually and then opening the install.

Windows 10 1809/Windows Server 2019 availability has been restored by Microsoft
· ☕ 1 min read
Microsoft has resumed the rollout of Windows 10 1809, Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server, version 1809. The ISO’s are now available to download from the Volume Licensing Service Center once again. Microsoft have posted about resuming the rollout and how they test and validate updates over on the Windows blog. There’s also a good post on the Windows IT Pro blog regarding the volume license availability of the new update.

Deployment of Windows 10 1809/Windows Server 2019 Paused by Microsoft
· ☕ 2 min read
Update 2018-11-13: Microsoft has resumed the rollout of Windows 10 1809, Windows Server 2019 and Windows Server, version 1809. The ISO’s are now available to download from the Volume Licensing Service Center once again. Hi all, Given I’ve posted my usual guides on how to deploy Windows 10 1809 with MDT, I thought it important to also post that Microsoft has chosen to delay the rollout of Windows 10 1809 and Windows Server 2019 for the time being due to some users reporting that files are missing after an upgrade.

Altering an MDT Task Sequence to Update from Windows Update
· ☕ 2 min read
I’ve been revisiting my MDT process as I wanted to try and use Windows Update to get drivers during deployment - by itself this is not a problem, I can just remove the WSUSServer=http://wsus:8530 configuration from the CustomSettings.ini. However as the device is added to the domain, Group Policy will configure the device to use the local WSUS for updates, this is desired as I still want to use WSUS for future updates, but I want to use Windows Update during deployment.

Windows Client and Server in 2018
· ☕ 2 min read
In a couple of weeks the next update to Windows 10 - Redstone 4, 1803, the Spring Creators Update will be released and later this year Redstone 5, 1809 will be come out, all being well. This continues the pace set last year and the semi-annual release cycle that Microsoft have put into place. For those of you who, like me, might be wondering what would happen to Windows Server’s release cycle.

Building a Windows 10 1709 (Fall Creators Update) Reference Image with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
· ☕ 11 min read
Update 16/01/2018: Updated this post to reflect the release of Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 8450, which fully supports Windows 10 1709. Update 30/10/2017: If SysPrep is consistently failing when building your Windows 10 1709 image, it is most likely due to the Windows Store update process updating the built in UWP apps. This issue is a known issue, but one I’ve managed to dodge when building previous versions of Windows 10. With 1709, I’ve had SysPrep fail every time.

Windows 10 1709 (Fall Creators Update) Available 17th October 2017
· ☕ 1 min read
I don’t usually do these news-type posts (plenty of other blogs for that) but here we are… The next major update of Windows 10 version 1709 also known as the Fall Creators Update has been announced for 17th October 2017. As with 1703 (Creators Update), it will roll out over Windows Update in phases and for those of us who’ll be wanting the .iso from the Volume Licensing Service Center, it should be available very close to the main release date.

Delving Into Disabling OneDrive
· ☕ 3 min read
UPDATE 2017-11-07 After testing the method below on Windows 10 1703, I found that it wasn’t working as it did with 1607. To disable One Drive and remove the One Drive folder from the Navigation Pane of Windows Explorer, enable the group policy item: Computer Configuration/Policies/Administrative Templates/Windows Components/OneDrive/Prevent Usage of OneDrive for file storage and also set the following registry key from 1 to 0: 1 2 HKEY\_CLASSES\_ROOT\CLSID\{018D5C66-4533-4307-9B53-224DE2ED1FE6} "System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree"=dword:00000000 Please note that the registry key must be set on a per user basis.

Some Notes On Building a Windows 10 1703 (Creators Update) Reference Image with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit
· ☕ 4 min read
With the release of Windows 10 1703 (Creators Update) ISO on the Volume Licensing Service Center, I’ve recently been looking into using the “final” code with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) to build reference images and discover what issues are present. This post is a round up of differences and issues I’ve found with building and deploying Windows 10 1703 thus far, and some resolutions. For a full walk through on installing MDT and creating a Windows 10 1703 (Creators Update) reference image, check out this post.

Removing Included Microsoft Store Apps from Windows 10 & Windows 11
· ☕ 7 min read
When deploying Windows 10/11 you might want to remove some of the included Microsoft Store Apps to help speed up the login process, save storage space, bandwidth etc. Important note! A “provisioned app” is an app that is a part of the Windows 10/11 installation and will be available for all users. Otherwise the app is only installed for the currently logged on user. To remove apps for all future users and the currently logged on user, you must remove both types of app.

Quick Tip: Windows 10 Screenshots
· ☕ 1 min read
You’re probably aware that the Print Screen captures a screenshot and stores it in the clipboard. What you may not know is that Win + Print Screen also captures a screenshot and saves it in Pictures\Screenshots. When you press the key combination, the screen will dim for a second. Man, you learn something new everyday. Additionally if you’re looking for more control over taking screenshots, the awesome Snipping Tool has been in Windows since Windows 7.