As a reader of this blog, I suspect that you, like me, are a frequent visitor to TechNet forums. Yesterday, a user posted a question on the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) forum asking for guidance on how to disable Version 1 of the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol in MDT generated Windows PE boot images. Version 1 of the Server Message Block (SMB) protocol was developed in the early days of personal computer networking, and as Ned Pyle wrote in a blog post in September of 2016 Stop using SMB1 there are many reasons to cease using it on your networks as it is vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack.
A few months ago a customer complained that on a Dell Optiplex 7040 MiniTower the boot menu contained multiple entries for the "Windows Boot Manager". Given that we were in the process of deploying Windows 10 client and the importance of the customer, I immediately started troubleshooting. This particular case is especially interesting because it might affect a large number of users and the vendor was not aware of the issue.
In my last blog post, I discussed clearing Trusted Platform Module (TPM) using PowerShell and MDT. This time I’m turning my attention to another issue: field upgrading TPM from 1.2 to 2.0 specification on HP and Dell systems which support discreet TPM switching.
Systems that shipped with Windows 7 from the factory will have TPM 1.2, however, most modern systems feature a firmware based component running in a trusted execution environment on a general purpose SoC, which allows discrete TPM mode switching in real time. Customers I worked with in the past couple of months and which roll out Windows 10 intend to make use of important security advantages of TPM 2.0 specification including greater crypto agility by being more flexible with respect to cryptographic algorithms, newer algorithms, which can improve drive signing and key generation performance, a more consistent experience across different implementations and a consistent dictionary attack protection guarantee.
Before a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) can be used for advanced scenarios it must be provisioned. Windows 10 automatically provisions a TPM, but if you are planning to reinstall the operating system, you may have to clear the TPM before reinstalling so that Windows 10 can take full advantage of the TPM. In today's blog post, I will take a closer look how to clear the TPM ownership using WMI in Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT), allowing Windows 10 to automatically take ownership of the TPM on the next boot (TPM AutoProvisioning). Clearing the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) cancels TPM ownership and invalidates cryptographic materials created by the previous owner.
This case is my favorite kind of case, one where I get to learn something new to solve a problem. The other day I was creating a couple of users in my Office 365 environment and assigning Exchange Online licenses when I was interrupted with a message that informed me that "The email address "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." is already being used by contact (Christopher Blair) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Use a different email address.".
As Windows 10 Fall Creators Update development winds down, it’s the grandiose time to examine updated and new Group Policy settings. There is no official documentation from the Group Policy team at this point, frankly there still might (or will) be a few changes to Group Policy settings. Still, it can't hurt to poke around current ADMX files because there are truly several things duller in our line of work than comparing thousands lines of text. Right?
If you’ve read any of my tweets, you know that I emphasize how Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and ConfigMgr are powerful OS deployment tools which allow a high grade of customization. This blog post is another demonstration of MDT flexibility. It also shows how a small PowerShell script can quickly lead to a solution.
As a reader of this blog I suspect that you, like me, are a frequent visitor to TechNet forums. And I bet many of you have already posted a question there or even spent a few hours helping other people out. A couple of days ago, a user posted a question on the MDT forum asking for guidance on how to upgrade Windows 10 VMs to the latest iteration of Windows 10 "Creator's update" using what I consider – not surprisingly given my history - the best free deployment solution, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT), partially because a Microsoft Deployment Toolkit task sequence allows you to completely automate the feature update process.