anyweb

can you attach your unattend.xml please ? and both smsts*.log files

use ADR (automatic deployment rules) to do your patch tuesday monthly updates. I'll do a new post on that sooner or later

hi SpecialEd, the reason I've chosen to use custom ports is because it's a recommended best practice from Microsoft, see here as regards your original issue, do you have any of the logs you sent to Microsoft i'd be happy to look at them to figure out your problem

where is it failing, scanstate (backup) or loadstate (restore) the following logs will help you find out smsts.log scanstate.log loadstate.log

As promised, Microsoft today released the final version of Windows 8 to MSDN and TechNet subscribers. But it also posted a 90-day evaluation copy of Windows 8 RTM (release to manufacturing) that anyone can download. At approximately 1 p.m. ET, members of TechNet began reporting that Windows 8 RTM was available. "Downloading Windows 8 Enterprise now, with an Enterprise Multiple Activation key," said Ken Schannen, in a message posted on the TechNet discussion thread. "I also see Windows 8 Pro with 3 keys available." Others chimed in that they had start downloading, too. Not surprisingly, some subscribers said Microsoft's servers were sluggish under the strain. "TechNet is dying under the stress of all the downloads," said someone identified only as "Mercutio84" on a different thread. The MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) download site listed all versions of Windows 8 RTM (release to manufacturing), including Windows 8, and Windows Enterprise. The last targets businesses that have volume licensing plans in place. Two weeks ago, Microsoft announced that Windows 8 had reached the RTM milestone, and would be available to MSDN and TechNet subscribers today, Aug. 15. Companies with Software Assurance licensing agreements and members of the Microsoft Partner Network will be able to grab Windows 8 starting tomorrow, Year-long TechNet subscriptions start at $199, while the least-expensive MSDN subscription -- which lets members access only operating systems -- costs $699. But Microsoft has also made available the Enterprise edition of Windows 8 RTM to anyone willing to invest some download time. Although the company said the 90-day trial copy was "intended for developers building Windows 8 apps and IT professionals interested in trying Windows 8 Enterprise on behalf of their organization," those who don't fit into those two categories -- enthusiasts eager to get their hands on the finalized code, say -- aren't blocked from downloading the eval edition. Computerworld was able to register for the trial and begin the download process of Windows 8 Enterprise RTM without incident. The download generates an .iso file, or disk image, that must be burned to physical media, such as a DVD or a flash drive, or installed in a virtual machine. Unlike the versions distributed via TechNet and MSDN to paying subscribers, the evaluation expires after 90 days of use. At that time, Windows 8 blackens the desktop background, displays a persistent notice that the OS is not genuine, and most draconian of all, shuts down the PC every hour without giving the user a chance to save works in progress. When the evaluation period expires, users will have to replace it with a purchased copy or another operating system, and reinstall all applications, other software and files. "It is not possible to upgrade the evaluation to a licensed working version of Windows 8," Microsoft warned. If a user downloads and launches the evaluation copy today, it will run until Nov. 12, 2012, about two-and-a-half weeks after Microsoft officially launches Windows 8. The trial copy of Windows 8 Enterprise must be activated within 10 days of its first launch, but Microsoft said a product key was not required. It is available in Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. To download the 90-day try-before-you-buy -- available in 32- and 64-bit versions -- start at this Microsoft website. The 32-bit trial tips the bit scales at 2.4GB. via ComputerWorld > http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9230317/Microsoft_offers_free_Windows_8_RTM_eval_to_everyone

make sure to look at this too :-) Introducing the BitLocker FrontEnd HTA Multipurpose HTA with BitLocker Support for all three common scenarios, backup, reinstall, new computer [added Jan 2012]

the 32 bit boot image can be used to deploy both X86 and X64 images,

nope, changes to the task sequence steps don't require you to distribute content, unless of course you add a step that references content that has not already been distributed, or which has changed since being distributed

I dont see a way of doing it using the AntiMalware policy but perhaps you could query for this state and using a script force the reboot (ie: a package/program) based on collection membership.

it's not supported yet but it looks like support (for server 2012) is coming in Service Pack 1 see here

did you apply the command support change to both architecture boot images ? we really need your smsts.logs to help

yes you can, are you planning on using a SMP (state migration point) ?

your question is a bit confusing but if you want to break up the processes you can, simply create more than one task sequence to do so.

well you'd want a zero touch solution with mandatory advertisements, which can be very risky if done incorrectly, or add some interaction and make the advertisements optional

interesting and thanks for posting, i've added a troubleshooting note to that guide now to clearly show how to know if it's working correctly (or not) by reviewing the WUAHandler.log, I think you may have specified the Netbios name instead of FQDN (if your site server was configured that way), please review the troubleshooting note and see does it correspond to your logs, and yes, you can absolutely specify this GPO for installing clients using the SUP and it does not adversely affect Endpoint Protection or other updates later on, you can see this by reviewing part 6 which uses the SUP (with the configured GPO) to install Endpoint Protection Definition Updates.

hold on a minute, where are the task sequences advertised to ? which collections ? the unknown computers collection ? or just 'deploy' collections ? describe the process you go through to get a 'new' computer imaged (are you importing its name/mac into ConfigMgr ?) secondly, what does the component status of your server look like, is it complaining about anything in particular, like your management point ?

can you attach an smsts.log from one of these deployments please ? i doubt the installation of that update would break your osd and stop them at boot time, something else is wrong

check this those " don't look quite right to me..... probably because you copy/pasted them from Microsoft Word or something, remove them and re-enter them from your keyboard instead.

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Do we still need a SMSSLP= line in the client config? I thought the SLP was integrated into the MP in 2012 <--- not quite try SMSMP=F.Q.D.N otherwise it can't find the mp as its still in a workgroup.

contact me offline (pm) please

did you start Internet Explorer as 'run as administrator'

very good point Peter and thanks for pointing it out , however i can't see how it'll run offline as the group is set to not run if in Winpe, plus the off-line options are not selected by default so it'll still need modification, but nice to see the variable is being set and with another variable ! %_SMSTSUserStatePath% like I said, i'll blog it sooner or later , in the meantime i've modified the above

its possible in CM12 of course, first you need to change the task sequence to restart in WinPE if it isnt already, then you set a task sequence variable for the OSDStateStorePath variable to something like Set the OSDStateStorePath variable = %_SMSTSUserStatePath% and then you have a capture User state task and select both the Hard Links option and Capture in off-line mode, and finally disable your diskpart step, if i get the time and energy i'll blog it soon and maybe even a webcast Note: The screenshots below are from Configuration Manager 2012 RTM Booting the Virtual Machine to see Offline mode in WinPE in CM12 booting Windows 7 box into Windows PE using PXE boot... select the Offline Task sequence.. Here are the settings in the Task sequence RestartinWinPE if not in WinPE Set the OSDStateStorePath variable = %_SMSTSUserStatePath% Set your off-line capture options for USMT 4 start the task sequence, it will copy the USMT files automatically to C:\_SMSTaskSequence\Packages\USMTPackageID\... and then it executes scanstate.exe from the correct architecture directory, and once done capturing it will apply the operating system image

sure if you want to host the SUP role on that server