AlexSemi's Blog

Alexey Semibratov's Blog on OSD/SCCM/MDT

New version of drivers harvester copies all OEM drivers to separate folder

Download: Drivers Harvester I've updated Drivers Harvester Tool with a new version. Now it takes a...

Author: alexsemi Date: 12/19/2016

Drivers harvester now ignores PNF files!

I updated Drivers Harvester tool addressing the issue with PNF files I described here Enjoy!

Author: alexsemi Date: 09/01/2015

Harvesting drivers from C:WindowsSystem32DriverStoreFileRepository and PNF files

In my blog article with harvesting drivers tool here I described how to harvest drivers from the...

Author: alexsemi Date: 08/11/2015

Compare two ZTIWindowsUpdate logs with this script to see which patches added and removed

The standard MDT step called "Install Windows Updates" calls ZTIWindowsUpdate.wsf script that...

Author: alexsemi Date: 08/10/2015

Back to blogging!

I have not written any new blogs due to some technical difficulties and being extremely busy in last...

Author: alexsemi Date: 08/07/2015

Bullet-proof version of ZTIWindowsUpdate.wsf

I'm removing this page soon, since the new ZTIWindowsUpdate.wsf from MDT 2013 U1 works just fine....

Author: alexsemi Date: 08/07/2015

Mask all important passwords in all MDT logs

By default, MDT logging routine masks the entire line if it sees the word "password". I came across...

Author: alexsemi Date: 11/13/2014

StartMBAMEncryption script updated!

In my previous blog post here:...

Author: alexsemi Date: 07/23/2014

Dart Remote recovery starts too late in your OSD MDT Deployment? Here is the fix.

I hope everybody leverages DART Remote Recovery remote agent in their OSD task sequences with MDT...

Author: alexsemi Date: 07/07/2014

Prevent "half-baked" computers in your environment with special handling of failing steps in State Restore phase

I bet you've seen technicians, imaging computers, ignore failed task sequences when in Live OS...

Author: alexsemi Date: 06/17/2014

Meaningful error messages in SCCM OSD Task Sequence

How many times a technician came back to you reading some "4005" generic error back to you expecting...

Author: alexsemi Date: 05/19/2014

Harvesting drivers from running computer - cleaner, better, works on Windows 7.

Download: Drivers Harvester Update from 12/19/15 - now the program copies all OEM drivers to a...

Author: alexsemi Date: 11/05/2013

Start MBAM encryption on Bitlocker pre-provisioned and Windows To Go drives.

Dave Hornbaker from Deployment Guys wrote a script some time ago, that kicks off MBAM encryption of...

Author: alexsemi Date: 08/12/2013

New view - Real IP address based on v_GS_NETWORK_ADAPTER_CONFIGURATION and calculated Subnet field (not a subnet Mask!!!)

Another custom query and a function for me. Basically, IP address is a mutivalue property, and...

Author: alexsemi Date: 01/30/2013

Modified Administrative Security > "Administrative users security assignments" report with effective rights

One of most useful reports is Administrative Security > Administrative users security...

Author: alexsemi Date: 01/29/2013

Computer Make / Model with Lenovo real models

After looking at a couple of reports / SQL queries for Lenovo models, I realized that they have some...

Author: alexsemi Date: 01/23/2013

Script, that populates base variable with packages and programs based on Computer's AD group membership.

Here is the script, that will find all groups computer belongs to and if they start with some...

Author: alexsemi Date: 10/09/2012

LoadState captures the same profile twice for users that were migrated with ADMT/Quest tools.

You may run in a situation, when LoadState captures the same profile two or more times. This happens...

Author: alexsemi Date: 09/25/2012

Updated reports - now for CM 2012

I converted reports I created for CM 2007 to 2012 format:...

Author: alexsemi Date: 04/11/2012

One old and 2 new compliance reports

Remember "Compliance Report, break down by months"? I created two child reports - one shows break...

Author: alexsemi Date: 03/19/2012

x-mass present! AUTOMATICALLY open all important logs - smsts.log, bdd.log - anything!

Hi! How many times you have been looking for SMSTS.LOG checking all possible locations, finally...

Author: alexsemi Date: 12/21/2011

Increase CM cache and clean it - 2

Next version to...

Author: alexsemi Date: 12/20/2011

Increase CM cache and clean it

Sometimes it's hard to accommodate all needed packages in SCCM cache, so admins usually increase the...

Author: alexsemi Date: 12/15/2011

Remote Connection to WinPE during SCCM deployments - creating shortcuts with Ticket numbers and IP on a file share

Update - I've found a bug and fixed it. Now you can call this script from PE in OS Refresh scenario...

Author: alexsemi Date: 11/29/2011

Sending SCCM Status Messages from MDT Scripts.

Recently, I asked Michael Niehaus would it be a good idea to send Events, that normally go to...

Author: alexsemi Date: 11/04/2011

Compliance report, break down by months

Instead of maintaining endless Update Lists with patches from each month, I created this custom...

Author: alexsemi Date: 05/03/2011

Creating faster OEM Images with OSD and MDT.

Creating faster OEM Images with OSD and MDT. Introduction OEM scenario is where you prepare the...

Author: alexsemi Date: 01/18/2011

Collecting SCCM computer object last logon time.

Sometimes it may be usefull to see when the last time computer account contacted domain, so you...

Author: alexsemi Date: 10/12/2010

Associate log files with Trace32.exe

It's always a good idea to have Trace32.exe copied to every computer to be able to take a look on...

Author: alexsemi Date: 06/07/2010

ZTIWindowsUpdate.WSF does not install all patches

This article is obsolete. The algorithm how  was changed in recent versions of MDT, and now this...

Author: alexsemi Date: 03/17/2010

Script to add specific packages to all distribution points

Script to add some packages to all distribution points As your SCCM hierarchy grows, you might found...

Author: alexsemi Date: 02/11/2010

Patch management notifications dilemma

It's always been challenging to choose either to check "Hide all deployments from end users" in...

Author: alexsemi Date: 02/05/2010

Report, showing all collections computer belongs to

Here is an SCCM report, that takes computer name and shows all collections that computer belongs to...

Author: alexsemi Date: 01/13/2010

Adding config.xml, generated by scanstate.exe /getconfig, to your migration.

After you have fixed the problem with scanstate.exe can't access down level manifests,...

Author: alexsemi Date: 01/12/2010

When upgrading or reinstalling Windows XP to Windows 7 using USMT 4.0 to migrate system and user state, settings like Wallpaper and Network Printer mappings are not migrated.

Update: MDT 2010 Update 1 addresses this issue. Frank Rojas came up with much simpler idea of just...

Author: alexsemi Date: 12/10/2009

Applications picker for SCCM/MDT

BUG: when after implementing this solution the customsettings.ini is not getting processed. Download...

Author: alexsemi Date: 12/04/2009

Hide cscript.exe window for MDT general purpose wizard hook

As you could notice at this post by Michael Niehaus, on a back there is a big "dos" window with a...

Author: alexsemi Date: 11/30/2009

Count anything with unique Serial Number

Here is how I do it for OS and Service Packs select Caption0, CSDVersion0, COUNT(1) from ( select...

Author: alexsemi Date: 11/05/2009

USB Media for User Data in Computer Replacement Scenario

My customer asked me for a solution, and he described the process like this:1. Technician walks to...

Author: alexsemi Date: 10/09/2009

There is a known issue when you're setting Legal Notice text and caption in GPO and when deploying...

Author: alexsemi Date: 08/28/2009

Direct OU in SCCM

SCCM stores AD organizational unit in the DB exposing it to v_RA_System_SystemOUName view. The...

Author: alexsemi Date: 07/29/2009

Installing Hyper-V integration components in Windows XP when building reference image

I started using Hyper-V to build my reference XP images, and the reason for that - Hyper-V is the...

Author: alexsemi Date: 07/21/2009

Images Builder

UPDATE 01/29/2013: I'm no longer using Windows service and srvany, I recommend to use standard...

Author: alexsemi Date: 07/16/2009

Patch Management in isolated environment SMS 2003

When you don't have Internet Connection, going through all patches may be a real pain, so, to make...

Author: alexsemi Date: 04/05/2006

Reporting client to distribution point network bandwidth to SMS Hardware Inventory

Network infrastructure is very important for successful SMS deployment. The most network consuming...

Author: alexsemi Date: 04/03/2006

Using scripting host to develop and test MOM Scripts.

Developing and testing MOM scripts sometimes can be tricky, because you can’t simply cut and paste...

Author: alexsemi Date: 02/20/2006