Insider program is open for business customers

The insider program is now open for business customers. This gives MS much more business relevant feedback for the further development of Windows.

Please use this important program. It allows to give higher precedence of solving current or potential issues in the development phase and making sure that your business process is working right away and you do not need to wait until the CBB release make sure it is working.

The Windows Insider Program for Business was designed to better support the IT Professionals and business users in our Insider community.

You now have the option to download Windows 10 Insider Preview builds using your corporate credentials. This option will also increase the visibility of feedback submitted by you and others in your organization – especially on features that support your productivity and business needs. We’ll also help you deepen your connections with the IT Pro community, collect feedback within your organization, and resolve blocking or critical issues to better support your organization’s needs sooner.

Incorporating Insider Preview Builds into your deployment plans enables you to prepare your organization for the next update of Windows 10, to deploy new services and tools more quickly, to help secure your applications, and to increase productivity and confidence in the stability of your environment.

 

Register HERE

 

Source: https://insider.windows.com/forbusiness

 

Windows Update Optimization

Recently I discussed the Windows Update Peer to Peer functionality with one of my customers. And MS also added some GPOs to control this better.


In Windows Update -> Advanced Options -> Choose how updates are delivered
You will find the plain simple setting for this. But you can do much more.

 

 

What it is for:

Windows Update Delivery Optimization enables you to download Windows updates and Windows Store apps from sources other than Microsoft. This can help you get updates and apps more quickly if you have a limited or unreliable Internet connection. If you own more than one PC, Delivery Optimization can reduce the amount of Internet bandwidth that is required to keep all your PCs up-to-date. Delivery Optimization also sends updates and apps from your PC to other PCs on your local network or on the Internet.

You can use Group Policy to configure Windows Update Delivery Optimization. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Download the Administrative Templates (.admx) file for Windows 10 from the following Microsoft Download Center website:
   
   Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 10 Version 1607 and Windows Server 2016
   
   Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 10 and Windows 10 Version 1511
2. Copy the following files to the SYSVOL central store:
   • DeliveryOptimization.admx from C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Group Policy\Windows 10\PolicyDefinitions
   • DeliveryOptimization.adml from C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Group Policy\Windows 10\PolicyDefinitions\en-US
3. Start the Gpeditor tool.
4. Browse to the following location:
   Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Delivery Optimization
5. Make the following Windows Update Delivery Optimization settings, as appropriate.

Source
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3088114/how-to-use-group-policy-to-configure-windows-update-delivery-optimization-in-windows-10

Whats new in 1607:

There are also additional GPO settings available in 1607 which added more control on this (The support article refer to an obsolete article at the end!) This is the new replaced blog entry from Michael Niehaus.
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/mniehaus/2016/08/16/windows-10-delivery-optimization-and-wsus-take-2/

Delete an Azure AD Tenant - Mostly with Powershell

From time to time I need to cleanup my Azure Tenant with old unused Azure ADs. When you are a MS Partner using https://demos.micrsoft.com you get more and more MODxxxxxx tenants in your Azure Portal. Cleaning them up is a bit annoying.

This here will help you.
https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/ericgolpe/2015/04/30/walkthrough-of-deleting-an-azure-ad-tenant/

If you have still an EMS subscription connected with. Then you need to open a ticket from the Billing support to release them. This is something you can not do by your own!

Open the ticket from the Azure Portal!

Reveal stored WLAN passwords in Windows 10

Recently a colleague asked me for the WLAN password I used for our guest network in one of our locations. It was a while ago I asked for it and then I saved it for reusing it.

Then I needed it again and thought: "Where is this stored and can I reveal it?"
Yes you can!


1. Simply open a Admin CMD.
2. Type in: netsh wlan show profile  (This shows up all stored WLAN networks on your system!)

3. Type in: netsh wlan show profile "WLAN NAME" key=clear

The "Key Content" reveals the super secret password.
For security reasons this only works with and administrative command prompt.


Enjoy your new passwords ;-)

Miracast - Whats it and how to check for it?

Miracast is an open standard to connect your screen wireless with Miracast capable TVs or Miracast dongles. These dongles need typically an external power and provide an HDMI connector for your screen or beamer. 

As it is an open standard it works also with Android devices. Chromecast is nothing else than Googles name for Miracast. ;-) The only exception as always is Apple. Apple only works with Apple and nothing else. Means when you want to use such a function on Apple devices you need specifically Apples Airplay feature.


Miracast is a further development from originally Intels WiDi (Wireless Display). And it is supported since Windows 8.1.


To make sure your device is supporting it please validate that you have the latest wireless NIC and video card drivers.


It uses a standard called WiFi Direct. This is a second direct wireless connection between your Miracast adapter and your device. This ensures that you can surf in the internet while streaming your video to the Miracast capable device.


Wireless Network Interface Card (WLAN NIC)
NDIS Version minimum supported  6.30
Powershell Command to check is:
Get-NetAdapter | Select Name, NdisVersion

Video Driver Support
To check the support for the video driver you need at least an WDDM 1.3 driver version!
Therefore simply start the diagnostic program "DXDIAG" on your system.
Open the tool and click on "DISPLAY" tab and check the driver model.

Troubleshooting tips:
If you encounter issues then this support article may help you:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/15053/windows-8-project-wireless-screen-miracast

SCCM 1610: Ability to migrate BIOS to UEFI Partitioning and Boot

One of the biggest automated migration issues was always the fact that many companies have Windows 7 x64 in place but due to legacy issues with UEFI deployments in the past they stick still with LEGACY Bios settings and not with modern and much more secure UEFI boot bios settings. UEFI also need GPT partitioning and not MBR partitioning.

To remove this hurdle Microsoft introduced in SCCM 1610 a nice feature that allows you to migrate to UEFI during a task sequence.


Additionally to the task sequence you may need a vendor specific tool that allow you to migrate your bios settings to UEFI.


More you can find here:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sccm/osd/deploy-use/task-sequence-steps-to-manage-bios-to-uefi-conversion


Example with Dell CCTK.
The original blog still refer to an older alternate way. But the rest of the article in the end refer to the Dell CCTK tool to modify the BIOS. This is still valid.
http://www.scconfigmgr.com/2016/06/14/switch-from-bios-to-uefi-on-dell-systems-during-windows-10-deployment-with-configmgr/

Enjoy the show!

2 new categories available

Hey all!


to better maintain and have the single one stop shop for specific information's I added 2 new sides to my site bar right hand side.


Surface Pro tips and tricks (starting with diagnostic, maintenance and deployment stuff)
http://www.ms-labrats.de/p/surface-d.html


Powershell Playbook (where I store my own useful scriptlets for my projects)
http://www.ms-labrats.de/p/powershell-playbook.html


Just check out the right middle section of this website.




Enjoy your day!