Category Archives: Windows 8

Where can I find the USMT return codes and error messages for USMT 5 based migrations ?

Posted on October 16, 2013 by ncbrady

Introduction If you are using System Center 2012 Configuration Manager SP1 to migrate your computers from Windows XP to Windows 7 (or Windows 8) then you’ll be using USMT 5 (from the Windows 8 ADK). The return codes and error … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment and Deployment Kit, Windows 8 | 2 Comments

How can I pause a task sequence in System Center 2012 Configuration Manager ?

Posted on August 15, 2013 by ncbrady

Introduction Sometimes things don’t go as planned, you are deploying an operating system to a computer and the task sequence fails. You can use normal troubleshooting methods such as     press F8 and review the smsts.log in CMTrace     review … Continue reading →

Posted in ConfigMgr 2012, Windows 8 | Leave a comment

How can I set the DPI setting when deploying Windows 8 to the Microsoft Surface Pro with Configuration Manager 2012 SP1?

Posted on July 23, 2013 by ncbrady

Introduction If you’ve followed my previous guide here,  you’ll have learned how to Deploy Windows 8 to the Microsoft Surface Pro using Configuration Manager 2012 SP1, however that guide didn’t show you how to set the DPI (dots per inch) … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment and Deployment Kit, ConfigMgr 2012, Windows 8 | 1 Comment

How to fix when Windows Store tells you “we weren’t able to connect to the store. This might have”

Posted on June 27, 2013 by ncbrady

Have you ever seen this in Windows 8 ? a non functional store with a nice message telling you… “We weren’t able to connect to the store. This might have happened because of a server problem or the network connection … Continue reading →

Posted in Windows 8 | 5 Comments

using System Center 2012 Configuration Manager – Part 14. Using Compliance Settings

Posted on June 10, 2013 by ncbrady

In Part 1 of this series we created our new LAB, we got the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager ISO and extracted it, then copied it to our Active Directory server. We then created the System Management container in AD, … Continue reading →

Posted in Compliance Settings, Compliance Settings, ConfigMgr 2012, Custom Client Device Settings, Windows 8 | Leave a comment

using System Center 2012 Configuration Manager – Part 13. Deploying Windows 8 X64 with custom Start screen

Posted on May 4, 2013 by ncbrady

In Part 1 of this series we created our new LAB, we got the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager ISO and extracted it, then copied it to our Active Directory server. We then created the System Management container in AD, … Continue reading →

Posted in ConfigMgr 2012, Windows 8 | 2 Comments

When creating a new Task Sequence in Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 the Partition disk step might be hardcoded to 30368MB in size if using a captured image

Posted on April 30, 2013 by ncbrady

Introduction Sometimes things don’t go as planned, when creating a new task sequence to deploy Windows 8 on a New Computer with no partitions I got a catastrophic failure after selecting the Task Sequence. The reason was simple but I … Continue reading →

Posted in ConfigMgr 2012, Windows 8 | 1 Comment

using System Center 2012 Configuration Manager – Part 12. Connecting PowerShell and Building a reference image of Windows 8 with .Net 3.5

Posted on April 12, 2013 by ncbrady

In Part 1 of this series we created our new LAB, we got the System Center 2012 Configuration Manager ISO and extracted it, then copied it to our Active Directory server. We then created the System Management container in AD, … Continue reading →

Posted in ConfigMgr 2012, Windows 8 | 1 Comment

PXE boot failure after upgrading to System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Service Pack 1

Posted on March 20, 2013 by ncbrady

Introduction I’ve seen reports about problems with PXE boot specifically related to the boot images not getting properly upgraded during the upgrade to Service Pack 1, and I came across this problem yesterday, the suggested fix’s published by others online … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment and Deployment Kit, ConfigMgr 2012, Windows 8 | 4 Comments

How can I deploy Windows 8 X64 to the Microsoft Surface Pro using Configuration Manager 2012 SP1

Posted on March 4, 2013 by ncbrady

Introduction Now that the Microsoft Surface Pro is available organizations are buying it and re-imaging the default Windows 8 Professional installation with their own corporate install (usually means installing an Enterprise edition of Windows 8). In this post I’ll show … Continue reading →

Posted in Windows 8 | 3 Comments

The CM12 BitLocker FrontEnd HTA

Posted on January 18, 2013 by ncbrady

Introduction Update: This has been replaced with newer versions ! The latest available was released in 2016 and is available here. I guess this could be called version 3.0 of the original windows-noob FrontEnd HTA, and this time it has … Continue reading →

Posted in ConfigMgr 2012, Windows 7, Windows 8 | 7 Comments

Deploying Windows 8 with Configuration Manager 2012 SP1

Posted on November 22, 2012 by ncbrady

hi all, the video of my session at the Enfo Workplace day in Malmo Sweden is now online, please have a look, share and tell me what you think of it 🙂 and here’s my PowerPoint from the event (PowerPoint … Continue reading →

Posted in ConfigMgr 2012, Windows 8 | Leave a comment

How can I disable the “While we are getting things ready” animation for All users in Windows 8

Posted on September 24, 2012 by ncbrady

If you are testing Windows 8 deployments with Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 then you’ll surely notice the first Windows 8 login screen with a nice picture of the Space Needle in Seattle (I’ve been to Seattle twice but have yet … Continue reading →

Posted in admx, ConfigMgr 2012, Windows 8 | Leave a comment

How can i disable “Connect to a wireless network” during Windows 8 OOBE

Posted on August 26, 2012 by ncbrady

Introduction During Windows 8 deployments, if you are using wireless capable computers then you’ll most likely have wireless enabled on them by default and this means that the following screen will most likely appear during Windows 8 setup (OOBE). The … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment and Deployment Kit, Windows 8 | 3 Comments

How can I deploy Windows 8 in UEFI mode using Configuration Manager 2012 ?

Posted on August 24, 2012 by ncbrady

Introduction To UEFI The Legacy BIOS that we are all accustomed to has been around for a long time and is showing it’s age, for example it cannot handle discs larger than 2TB in size.  Realizing the need for change, … Continue reading →

Posted in Assessment and Deployment Kit, ConfigMgr 2012, Windows 8 | 1 Comment