PXEFilter.vbs update to auto clear last PXE Advert

** This script has been deprecated with the release of SCCM 2007 R2.  It supports “Unknown Machines” inherently

I have modified the PXEFilter.vbs that ships with MDT 2008 to automatically clear the last PXE advertisement of the machine that is PXE booting. This allows me to set a mandatory assignment for my OS Deployment and removes the requirement for field techs to have to open the admin console to re-image a machine via PXE.

The section I added was:

‘//————————————————————-
‘// Clear Last PXE Advertisement
‘//————————————————————-
On Error Resume Next
Dim resources
Dim InParams

‘ Set up the Resource array parameter.
resources = Array(1)
resources(0) = iResourceID

Set InParams = oSMS.Get(“SMS_Collection”).Methods_(“ClearLastNBSAdvForMachines”).InParameters.SpawnInstance_
InParams.ResourceIDs = resources

oSMS.ExecMethod “SMS_Collection”,”ClearLastNBSAdvForMachines”, InParams

if Err.number <> 0 Then
PXE.LogTrace “Failed to clear PXE advertisement for resource: ” & iResourceID
Else
PXE.LogTrace “Clear PXE Advertisement Completed successfully for resource: ” & iResourceID
End If

Cleanup WSUS 3.0 Sync History

As any WSUS admin knows, the sync history for some unknown reason is not an option for cleanup using the built in cleanup wizard. This can result in excruciating load times when trying to view the sync history. Hopefully Microsoft will correct this in future releases however until then you can execute the following query against your WSUS DB to cleanup the Sync events.

DELETE FROM [SUSDB].[dbo].[tbEventInstance]
WHERE [EventID]=381 or [EventID]=382 or [EventID]=384 or [EventID]=386 or [EventID]=387

You may consider running this as a part of your monthly maintenance.

SMS_SQL_MONITOR Service Fails after upgrade to SCCM

After upgrading my SMS 2003 SP2 site to SCCM 2007 SP1 the “SMS_SQL_MONITOR” service would fail to start stating Error 2: Cannot find the specified file.

I finally figured out (by stumbling across the website below) that this service is an SMS 2003 service only and is not required for SCCM. Apparently this is a bug in the Setup that doesn’t remove this service for you..

*I should also note that I verified that this service does not exists in my clean install of SCCM in my Lab.

Instructions on removing this service here:
http://blogs.technet.com/alipka/archive/2008/07/22/sccm-sp1-slipstream-setup-on-sms-2003-sp2-sp3-site-fails-to-remove-sms-sql-monitor-service.aspx

Intel Graphics MiniSetup Hang issue

If anyone has used Sysprep with XP on a machine that uses an Intel Graphics chipset you have likely ran into the dreaded hang during mini-setup when plug and play installs the graphics driver. (Sits at the please wait screen and must be manually rebooted to continue)

Microsoft offers a hotfix for this (must be requested via the web form or through calling PSS)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/883667

It is effectively a single dll file that needs to be replaced.

12-Aug-2004 17:50 5.1.2600.2505 247,808 Newdev.dll SP2QFE

I have tested and it definately seems to do the trick.

Applications Virtualization Resource Blogs

Some great resources around virtualizing applications:

The App-V Blog:
http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/default.aspx

Application Virtualization Operations Guide
http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/11/13/softgrid-operations-guide-part-1.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/11/14/softgrid-operations-guide-part-2.aspx

List of applications that can be virtualized
http://blogs.technet.com/softgrid/archive/2007/09/27/list-of-applications-that-can-be-virtualized.aspx

Virtualworld Blog
http://blogs.technet.com/virtualworld

Windows: Enable MSI Service in Safe Mode

I have run into scenerios where I needed access to the Windows Installer service while in Safe Mode. You may be suprised to know that this service is not enabled by default. The following info will get it back for you:

To start Windows Installer in Safe Mode:
1. Restart your computer and press F8 before the Boot Menu or splash screen.

2. Open a CMD.EXE window.

3. Type the following commands and press Enter:

REG ADD “HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Minimal\MSIServer” /VE /T REG_SZ /F /D “Service”
net start msiserver

NOTE: You can use this technique to uninstall an application in Safe Mode.

Windows PE 2.0 AD Scripting requirements

 From the Vista install.wim or from a Vista machine retrieve the following files (located in the System32 directory):

adsldp.dll
adsnt.dll
mscoree.dll
mscorier.dll
mscories.dll

Mount your Windows PE boot image using imagex.
Example:
imagex /mountrw c:\PathToPEWim\WinPE.wim 1 c:\Mounted_Images

Copy the dll files above to c:\Mounted_Images\Windows\System32

Using regedit, load the SOFTWARE hive from your PE 2.0 Boot WIM and call it PE_Software.
(Location of the Software hive:
c:\Mounted_Images\Windows\System32\config\SOFTWARE)

Save the text below as a reg file. With the PE_Software hive loaded, import the registry key. UNLOAD the hive when finished to save the changes.
Unmount and commit changes to your PE wim image.

SCCM: Interactive Software install during Task Sequence

When building my base OS for capturing there always seems to something that cant be automated or is a royal pain to automate. Using the SCCM TS “Software Install” it has to be completely non interactive. This present a challenge for something you may want to install by hand. Here’s a trick to get around that:

Turn on the command shell capability in the Boot Image and when your in your “State Restore” phase press F8 to open a command window. Viola! you can now map a drive to a network share and execute (interactively) anything you like.