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Run the second advertisement from RAP Now that we've seen what the access content directly from Distribution Points setting does in relation to file copy, let's run the other advertisement, but before we do, delete the somedir and somedir2 directories Choose the copying file from packages - download task sequence and run. this task sequence will execute much quicker than the first when done, check c:\somedir, it contains all files and folders as we would expect from the package and finally check c:\somedir2 note how it ONLY contains the text files from our copy_file package, exactly as we expected originally, and this is all down to our Distribution Point settings in our Advertisement ! Interesting huh ? try it for yourself and share your results please cheers niall

Run the first Advertisement from RAP Now that we have done all the hard work, let's test it on the client, open up RAP (Run Advertised Programs) and select the first Advertisement which is called copying files from packages - access Let the advertisement complete and then check your c:\ for the results when finished we'll see our two directories created, the first dir (somedir) should contain all files from the copy_files package, and indeed it does We would naturally expect the second dir (somedir2)to only contain the TXT files from the copy_files package, but to our surprise it contains possibly hundreds of folders all marked with your site code, infact, these folders are every single package on your site server (and thankfully only the TXT files are copied, now do you see why I selected only the TXT files )

Duplicate the Task Sequence Right click on our selected task sequence again, but this time choose Duplicate you will be informed when the duplication is done, click Ok. Right click on the task sequence, choose properties and change the name to copying files from packages - download We now have our second Task Sequence and it is identical to the first except for the name (the reason of which will become clear soon). Create a New Advertisement Create a new advertisement for the copying files from packages - download task sequence as we did above except for the distribution settings do as follows:- Choose the following setting download content locally when needed by running task sequence

Advertise the Task Sequence Import the task sequence into configmgr and create the copy_files package using the package included in the post above. don't forget to distribute that package to your distribution points. Once ready, we will then advertise our Task Sequence. In Task Sequences, select the imported task sequence, right click on it and choose Advertise When the New Advertisement Wizard begins, select your All Windows XP collection (or whichever one you are testing with) and click next leave schedule as it is, make no changes For distribution settings, choose access content directly from a distribution point when needed by the running task sequence for Interaction, choose show the task sequence progress click next through the wizard to finish.

Let's say you want to copy some files from a package to your target computer, should be simple enough right ? In the following Task Sequence, copying files from packages - access.xml copying files from packages - access.xml we reference a package (called copy_files) which contains some blank files and folders copy_files.zip We have two groups in this simple task sequence, the first group copies all files from a package to a directory on your target computer (the computer that you run the task sequence on). The first step in the group creates the target folder if it doesn't exist, via a command line cmd.exe /c md c:\somedir To check if the folder already exists, you have to look at the options tab of that step The second step actually copies the files by referencing our copy_files package, the clever part here is the .\ infront of our path. so the command line to do the copying is as follows xcopy.exe ".\*.*" "c:\somedir" /D /E /C /I /Q /H /R /Y /S The second group in the task sequence is similar to the first except that it creates somedir2 and it only copies the TXT files from our selected package. (This is deliberate so that you can see what happens next..) Note: In the screenshot of the step above, I am deliberatly NOT including the .\ in front of the path, this is to show you how an advertisements distribution points settings can change the way command lines function. the xcopy command in the second group is as follows xcopy.exe "*.txt" "c:\somedir2" /D /E /C /I /Q /H /R /Y /S

are you saying that the capture process is failing ? if so please post the scanstate.log and scanstateprogress.logs here as attachments

those ones just don't grab me like the one you did for linux-noob.com how about basing one off of the logo used for the windows-noob.com twitter account ?

Windows Phone 7 looks great At first I thought the name was OK. Now I realize it's really not. Android is an operating system, and the collective name for phones running Android is hence "Android phones". Windows Phone 7 is an operating system, so the phones are... Windows Phone 7 phones? Eeew. Some have suggested that they're just "Windows phones", but that's silly too; it could just as well apply to Windows Mobile phones, and in any case, they're not running Windows. OK, I know behind the scenes they're running Windows CE, but that's not "Windows" in the way that people generally understand the term. And there are no windows on this phone anyway. Its applications are all full-screen and chromeless. It's clear why Microsoft named it that way—Windows 7 is a hugely successful brand that the company wants to exploit the good name of—it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Shoulda just called it ZuneOS, made them into ZunePhones, and then not have to suffer some silly renaming process (a la iPhone OS to iOS) when shipping it for tablets. ZuneOS, ZunePhones, ZuneTablets. Yup yup. Will it succeed? Windows Phone 7 is seen as Microsoft's last roll of the die in the smartphone space. Windows Mobile is all but dead and buried, KIN already is dead and buried, and if Windows Phone 7 doesn't succeed, it's easy to see the company just cutting its losses and abandoning the market entirely. "Success" is ill-defined for a product like this, but a good start would be for Microsoft phones to no longer be regarded as a joke (or a nightmare), and year one sales numbered in the tens of millions. When the first rumors about Windows Phone 7 circulated, people were astonished that Microsoft were completely discarding Windows Mobile and starting from scratch. Not just starting from scratch, but releasing a product that would be feature-deficient relative to everything else on the market. But it's not clear that there was any alternative, and for a general-purpose, consumer-friendly smartphone operating system, Windows Phone 7 is, even with its flaws, streets ahead of Windows Mobile. Whether Redmond will win over iPhone and Android customers with this initial release is hard to say—though I know a number of iPhone users who are seriously considering the platform—but it probably doesn't have to, anyway. Most existing mobile phone users don't have a smartphone. If Microsoft can win them over, it doesn't much matter about other smartphone users. Yes, Microsoft is late to the game, but it's a game that's still in its early stages. The new interface is brave. The use of hubs in preference to dozens of discrete applications requires a different way of thinking about the phone, and some may find this change jarring. It all makes sense and has been implemented well, though, so I suspect that anyone who actually gives the phone a try will get it. The only thing that comes close to this aspect of Windows Phone 7 is webOS, and even it does not take the unification concept as far as Microsoft has done. The hardware is solid, and the specification is pitched at the right level: poor performance and bad animations will tend to sour people on the platform, and by pushing for a high specification, Microsoft has ensured that the user experience will be as high-quality as the software. If anything, I almost wish the company had been a little less conservative in this regard; something like the webOS touch panel would have afforded exciting possibilities, even if it is somewhat exotic or unusual. The fact that most of the problems I have with the phone are things it doesn't do at all (but which can be added in software updates), rather than things it does do but does poorly, is I think an indication that Microsoft has ultimately succeeded in its goals for the first Windows Phone 7 release. The platform will not do well in checklist feature comparisons, but when it comes down to human interaction and using the thing, this software is a winner. Microsoft doesn't often get version one releases right, but this time, it has got the release very right indeed. Windows Phone 7 looks great, works well, and is a treat to use. Market success isn't assured, but judged on its merits alone, this is a platform that absolutely deserves to succeed, and I really, really hope it does. read the entire review > http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/reviews/2010/10/windows-phone-7-the-ars-review.ars/

are you saying it fails on every restore ? if so what is the failure message from the loadstate.log file ?

it's only available to Software Assurance customers (SA)

A day before Windows 7's first birthday, Microsoft this morning announced that it has sold more than 240 million licenses of the operating system, solidifying its position as the fastest-growing OS in history. The company cites Net Applications data showing that Windows 7 has more than 17 percent global operating system market share. Here's another interesting stat from that data: Windows XP still has more than 60 percent market share. That's either a challenge or an opportunity for the company, depending on your perspective. By the way, the Oct. 22 birthday of Windows 7 also marks an important milestone for Windows XP. It's the last day that computer makers will be able to sell Windows XP on netbook computers. Follow-up: TechFlash Q&A with Windows finance and marketing chief Tami Reller on Windows 7's first year, Service Pack 1, corporate uptake, HP, Dell, slates, etc. via > http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2010/10/windows-7-sells-240m-in-one-year.html?ana=from_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TechFlash_ToddBishop+%28TechFlash+-+Todd+Bishop%27s+Microsoft+Blog%29&utm_content=Twitter

Last week we learned that over 88% of all companies are currently piloting Windows 7 in their organization. This week we celebrate the one year anniversary of the launch of Windows 7. All I can say is thank you. What a year we have had since releasing the Windows 7. How did you help? You stepped up and lead events in 39 countries in 29 languages to hundreds of thousands of IT pros. You answered questions, posted demos, installed the Beta and RC and then helped your friends to do it. You shared your excitement and enthusiasm with your friends, peers and coworkers and went on to help us make Windows 7 the fastest selling OS in history. We want to thank all of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs), STEP members, Tech Bloggers, Newsletter readers, Tweeters, Bus Tour attendees, TechEd and TechDays attendees, journalists, our Talking About Windows and Virtual Roundtable participants, Forum participants and moderators, local and national user group members, and all the IT pros from around the world, who supported us and the Springboard Series on TechNet during this exciting launch year. We are very appreciative of all you have done. We look forward to continuing to support you and your organizations through Windows 7 SP 1 and beyond. Thank you The Springboard Series on TechNet Team http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/springboard/archive/2010/10/21/happy-birthday-windows-7.aspx?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

is sysprep present ? did you create a sysprep package ?

in order to cover the different scenarios mentioned in your post you'll have to get creative, the following should be possible however 1-Windows XP - Windows XP (USMT 3.0) - standard process using methods i've described already or customise to your hearts content --Custom Frontend HTA-- 2-Windows XP - Windows 7 (USMT 4.0) 3-Windows 7 - Windows 7 (USMT 4.0) the custom frontend hta simply gives you or a technician some choicse prior to executing, and the choices could be Reinstallation or New Installation, this hta will set a variable which in turn is checked for in your tasksequence in separate groups called Reinstallation and New Installation for New Installation, set the options to check for 'This option will run in the following task sequence variable DeploymentType=NEWCOMPUTER and for Reinstallation set the variable to DeploymentType=REFRESH the actual steps in those groups will of course vary and you'll have to test it in your environment as all environments are different, if i get time in the future i will put together a simple example but to get you started you'll need to enable HTA support in your boot image also, check out some of the custom frontends floating about on the internet plus checkout Maik Kosters web services, you'll most likely need them for this to work professionally. cheers niall

as you already have it set up use the folder you have,

for your build and capture windows 7 image i'd suggest you bundle in the heavy applications such as office 2010, Symantec Antivirus (or whatever your vendor is), windows updates, SAP (or some other BIG app that is heavy), then when the image is captured deploy it with a separate deploy windows 7 task sequence which also deploys some light dynamic apps like adobe reader/acrobat/winzip, the dynamic layer image can be changed frequently, the base master (or core) image changes less frequently.

hi all, apologies to anyone who posted yesterday/today and there post is missing, but i had to resort to restoring yesterdays backup of the site as the server crashed, this means one day of lost posts, once again i'm sorry cheers niall

and for anyone else that's wondering, check the schedule tab of the advertisement

based on what you've said i'd suggest a side by side approach, boundaries will assist you here

Our readers enjoy our browser market share stories, but sometimes complain in the comments that we don't do enough to compare the actual browsers. We've therefore decided to do some performance tests for the top five browsers (stable and beta versions) on Windows. This is not meant to be an exhaustive performance rundown, as we have not tried every test in existence nor did we run them on every browser for Windows. Also, please keep in mind that we have yet to identify a test that measures all the factors that influence the performance of a browser. Thanks to the frequent release of nightly builds, it's practically impossible to test the latest version of a browser and post the results before they're already outdated, but the data here remains recent. The setup We used an Asus laptop for every test. It features an Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 processor at 2.80GHz, 4GB of DDR2 800 RAM, a 320GB SATA hard drive (7200 RPM), an Nvidia GT 240M graphics card with 1GB of DDR3 VRAM, and a 15.6-inch HD LCD display (1366 x768). The first thing we did was add a brand new 50GB partition for a fresh copy of Windows 7 64-bit Ultimate. Then we let the hundred or so patches come through Windows Update. We made sure all the drivers were up-to-date, especially the graphics card's, and then we went out and downloaded all of IE8's best friends: Firefox 3, Chrome 6, Safari 5, and Opera 10. After running all the tests, we went out and grabbed the IE9 beta, Firefox 4 beta 6, Chrome 7 dev, a WebKit nightly, and Opera 10.70. As a side note, we tried using the latest Minefield build instead of the latest Firefox build, but we couldn't get a single test to run without a crash. Also, when these tests were run, Chrome 8 was not yet available... but as you'll soon see, that didn't hurt Google's results. The tests The first test we performed is known as the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark, and it's one of the most popular tests for measuring JavaScript performance. Version 0.9 was released by Apple's WebKit team in December 2007. We did not use version 0.9.1 this time because it was causing some of the nightly builds to crash. The second test we used was the V8 Benchmark Suite, developed by Google. We used version 5 of the test because version 6 was not yet available. The third test we ran was the Nontroppo General Browser Load-Time Test. It was used to test Opera 9.5, but still remains useful. The last test is Peacekeeper: The Browser Benchmark. It is developed by Futuremark, a Finnish software development company known for its benchmarking software. All the tests were run on the latest stable and the recent nightly build of each browser. We ran each test three times and then took the average score. The Results Before we jump right in, we want to make a quick note about 64-bit browsers. Internet Explorer is the only browser to have official 64-bit versions, so IE 64-bit is the only one we included in our tests. We don't explicitly compare the 64-bit version to the other browsers, since it's not a logical comparison, but the numbers are there for you to take a look at. We will say that, in the tests we did, 64-bit did not make a huge difference for IE. Still, we did notice an odd pattern: while IE8 32-bit and 64-bit are pretty much on par in most tests, the 64-bit version of the IE9 beta is much worse than the 32-bit version. Given that a 64-bit version of Flash is on its way, we can expect 64-bit browsers to start arriving soon. Until then, though, we're going to stick to evaluating the 32-bit versions. for the rest of this story > http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/10/windows-browsers-benchmarked-october-2010-edition.ars?utm_source=windows-noob.com&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss

yes the documentation could improve here, and here's a few examples of how to do it:- Copy all files from a package to a directory on the target let's say that I want to copy some files from a package to a folder locally on my target, to do so you need to try something like this create a new Run Command Line step in your task sequence: in the command line field paste the following xcopy.exe ".\*.*" "c:\somedir" /D /E /C /I /Q /H /R /Y /S in the Package field, browse to your chosen package on your sccm server. and that's it you are done ! Run a script from a package if you want to run a VBS or similar script from a package, here's one way of doing it create a new Run Command Line step in your task sequence: in the command line field paste the following cscript.exe ".\myscript.vbs" in the Package field, browse to your chosen package on your sccm server. the important bit above (which is missing from the documentation) is the ".\" this instructs the task to start whatever it's doing at the root of the package, if you omit this you'll end up at the root of ALL PACKAGES with very strange results indeed (especially if you are trying to copy stuff) does this help ?

have you seen this post yet ? http://www.windows-noob.com/forums/index.php?/topic/2283-customising-windows-7-deployments-part-3/

windows 7 backup and restore options are very cool, i've just done a quick test of it and i think it'll fit your needs take a look at this link for details http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/1838/using-backup-and-restore-in-windows-7/

As part of the “ConfigMgr Driver Management: The Novel” blog postings (see http://blogs.technet.com/b/mniehaus/archive/2010/04/29/configmgr-2007-driver-management-the-novel-part-1.aspx for the first part) and in various presentations I mentioned that most of the challenges with driver management in ConfigMgr stemmed from the way drivers are imported into the ConfigMgr driver store: duplicate drivers are ignored, so they don’t get put into the specified categories or packages. That’s where the PowerShell scripts came in: when a duplicate is encountered, the scripts take care of putting that existing driver into the right category and packages. Well, the ConfigMgr team has made available a hotfix that changes the driver import behavior in the console, handling duplicates differently than before. Depending on the driver scenario that you are using, this might be the solution that you need. The hotfix is available for download from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2213600. It requires ConfigMgr SP2 (no dependency on R2 or R3, but it works fine with either), and should be installed on the site server and any machine running the admin console. (Interestingly, this fix is provided as an MSI instead of the more typical EXE-based fix.) Once the hotfix is installed, you’ll notice a change in behavior: You’ll never see the console complain about a duplicate driver. It will always say that the drivers were imported successfully, even if they were already present. But how does it handle the scenarios that I had discussed? Let’s review them: * Scenario #1: “Auto Apply Drivers” without categories (“total chaos”). This scenario is unaffected. * Scenario #2: “Auto Apply Drivers” with driver categories. Unfortunately, this one still doesn’t work quite as expected: If you specify an additional category on a subsequent import, expecting that category to be added to the existing category list, that doesn’t happen. Instead, the existing categories are replaced with the specified category. (I’m trying to follow up on this one to see why this is the case.) * Scenario #3: “Apply Driver Package” with model-specific packages. The fix does work well for this scenario: Duplicates drivers aren’t ignored any more, they are added to the specified driver package. So this becomes a very simple scenario (and you don’t need to use the “unique file” import workaround, which ends up bloating the driver store). * Scenario #3J, “Johan’s Method” using driver packages without importing drivers at all. This scenario is unaffected. So if you use model-specific driver packages and import all your drivers into the driver store, you will want to try out this fix to see if it makes things simpler for you. For the other scenarios, you probably don’t need this fix. via > http://blogs.technet.com/b/mniehaus/archive/2010/10/15/configmgr-driver-management-a-new-development.aspx