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you should look into SCCM then, because it can do that no problem via collections and OSD plenty of guides right here but be warned it's a steep learning curve at first cheers niall

if you want PXE to work over different vlans then the recommended method is to configure IP Helpers on your switches/network devices and not to configure dhcp options, have you tried that ?

On a computer that is running Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 (SP2), you have the following features: * Software distribution * Software update management * Desired configuration management However, the following products are not listed as supported platforms for these features: * Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) * Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1) A supported hotfix is available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing the problem described in this article. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next software update that contains this hotfix. If the hotfix is available for download, there is a "Hotfix download available" section at the top of this Knowledge Base article. If this section does not appear, contact Microsoft Customer Service and Support to obtain the hotfix. Note If additional issues occur or if any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. For a complete list of Microsoft Customer Service and Support telephone numbers or to create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft website: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support) Note The "Hotfix download available" form displays the languages for which the hotfix is available. If you do not see your language, it is because a hotfix is not available for that language. Back to the top Prerequisites The following list contains prerequisites for the hotfix package: * System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 2 Restart requirements You do not have to restart the computer after you apply this hotfix package. Note You are required to close the ConfigMgr admin console before you install the hotfix package. Replacement information This hotfix does not replace a previously released hotfix package. Back to the top File information The global version of this hotfix uses a Microsoft Windows Installer package to install the hotfix. The dates and the times for these files are listed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) in the following table. When you view the file information, the date is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time item in Control Panel. To work around this issue, you can do the following: For software distribution program configurations, on the Requirements tab of the program properties, click to select the This program can run on any platform check box. Then, for configuration item configurations, on the Applicability tab of the configuration item properties, click to select the All Windows Platforms check box. Note You do not have to apply this update in order to support a client. You must apply this update only if you want to use the SMS Platforms setting for the software distribution, for software update management, and to obtain the desired configuration management features. However, we recommend that you apply this update. The hotfix package resolves issues in primary site servers and secondary site servers. You have to run the hotfix package on primary site servers and secondary site servers. Note The following hotfix package can be installed on a System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2 site server that is running an x86-based version of an operating system or an x64-based version of an operating system: SCCM2007-SP2-2489044-X86-ENU.msi Note For more information about how to install System Center Configuration Manager hotfixes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 2477182 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2477182/ ) System Center Configuration Manager 2007 hotfix installation guidance via > http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2489044/en-us?sd=rss&spid=12769

thanks for the kind words, believe me there's so much ConfigMgr material coming up in the next few years that I'm dedicated to staying in that area

there is no supported upgrade, you have to start again from scratch, and yes even me too !!

This week we are extremely pleased to release Beta 2 of Configuration Manager 2012. We thought it would be helpful to provide a technical introduction to the product, and share with you some places and programs you can use to get your hands on it. The main engineering investments for ConfigMgr 2012 are: * User Empowerment Recognizing the Consumerization of IT for organizations means delivering a platform that enables you to manage your users where/when they want to work, on the devices they choose. This means providing capabilities to support users in new scenarios like mobile, remote and more. Through the power of a new application model ConfigMgr 2012 can deliver the right application format – called a Deployment Type (MSI, AppV, Mobile CAB, and more) based on who the user is, the device they are on, and the connection they have. Through detection methodology, this scenario and resulting application delivery is calculated at run time to ensure the best experience possible, the right requirements are met, and the user gets their app in the best experience possible. This is also presented to users through a web browser based software catalog. Through the new console for ConfigMgr 2012, these global applications can be viewed in their relationships, so Administrators are equipped to be able to think about their users and the different scenarios. * Unify Infrastructure In order to truly deliver many new features but at the same time reducing infrastructure footprint, and complexity, ConfigMgr 2012 integrates device, virtualization and security management. From treating devices as first class citizens in places like the application model, to integrating true virtualization delivery mechanisms, and aligning Forefront Endpoint Protection in 1 pane of glass, will ensure organizations experience a simpler infrastructure. In addition, new features like Role Based Administration, new Client Agent settings at the Collection level, and investments in SQL will enable organizations to flatten their hierarchy, reduce server footprint, and simplify their architectures. All of this adds up to some significant improvements for the administrator, and the organization. * Simplify Administration Through the automation of tasks like software update deployment, and the auto remediation of non compliant settings, ConfigMgr 2012 will reduce mouse clicks, and processes that Administrators typically go through. Software Update Management now has a capability called Auto Deployment Rules, that allow automation from the point of update availability to flow through the infrastructure to the target systems. These rules can be defined at any level an update is categorized. Product, Language, Severity are examples of how updates might be categorized. Building on a feature from ConfigMgr 2007 called DCM (Desired Configuration Management) ConfigMgr 2012 will now add the ability to remediate non compliant CI’s, or entire Baselines. Much like how Group Policy behaves, ConfigMgr 2012 Settings Management will enable organizations to define how an OS, App or setting should be configured, and simply allow that 1 time setting to remain in constant compliance. Efficiency is driven at 2 levels. Efficiency for the Administrator, and new efficiencies for the actual network infrastructure. Both of these drive time, cost and other resource savings that are worth checking out. We hope you can take a look at ConfigMgr 2012. This beta 2 release is full of new features, capabilities and efficiencies. Check out our new console, the cool ribbon 1 click actions, and the new enhancements around our capabilities. Here are some resources for you to get going today: * Introduction to Configuration Manager 2012 - link * What’s New in Configuration Manager 2012 - link * Fundamentals of Configuration Manager 2012 - link * Download the ConfigMgr Beta 2 here * Join our 800 friends in the Community Evaluation Program here * Check out our Virtual Labs on Technet here (currently based on Beta 1, update coming soon) * Download a pre configured Virtual Machine here (currently based on Beta 1, update coming soon) via > http://blogs.technet.com/b/systemcenter/archive/2011/03/24/system-center-configuration-manager-beta-2.aspx

the recommended method is to Build and capture, but if you really want to just capture then follow the how Can I capture windows 7 guide here How can I capture Windows 7 Capturing Windows 7 using a custom task sequence I hope you are trying beta 2 as it's now available, ie: don't use beta 1 anymore cheers niall

The day 2 keynote at MMS was focused on empowering IT, and the consumerization of IT - how can IT enable users to use at work the devices they use at home. The keynote covered new ways to manage mobile devices, easily deploy and manage software, patch and manage machines, regardless of where they are, and much more. Below is a screenshot of SCCM 2012 Beta 2 at MMS 2011 and here we can see a Windows 7 client getting software via the Software Catalog/Software Center features in SCCM 2012 beta 2 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/video/mms-2011-day-2-keynote

sounds like you have issues on the site server, how are your site component status's showing up ? all green or any problems ?

The Configuration Manager Team is pleased to announce the release of Configuration Manger 2012 Beta 2! It is now available on Connect: https://connect.microsoft.com/ConfigurationManagervnext/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=34794 Please reference the Supported Configuration Document and Release Notes which can be found on: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/4/5/54508737-EB00-4B65-8DB3-F0D810FA3A9F/Configuration Manager 2012 Beta 2 Supported Configuration.pdf http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg703318.aspx A few notes before you get started: 1. Please use only SQL Server 2008 SP1 and CU 10 or 11 (SQL 2008 SP2 or SQL 2008 R2 is not supported) 2. Ensure site server computer has internet access to download pre-requisites or run setupdl.exe from an internet connected computer 3. Ensure Windows Firewall is either disabled or SQL ports 1433 and 4022 are openon the CAS and Primary site. 4. To manage Windows XP SP3 non-English clients, locate and download the Windows Remote Management update from the following location: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936059. This update is needed to prevent the client from continually attempting remediation. Please see relnotes for more information. 5. From the Microsoft Connect site (https://connect.microsoft.com/ConfigurationManagervnext/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=29497), download the software update WSUS-KB131665-x64.exe and install the software update on all software update point site system rolesif you are usingSoftware Update Point based client deployment. Please see relnotes for more information. 6. For task sequence deployments the option for downloading content from the DP and running it locally will not work and will result in errors in the tsagent.log Workaround is to download content from the DP when requiredand run locally. Please see relnotes for more information 7. Configuration Manager Network Access Protection is not supported in this release You many also reference How to videos posted on TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/systemcenter/cm/gg721914.aspx We look forward to your feedback! Please submit your feedback regularly using the Feedback Form (https://connect.microsoft.com/ConfigurationManagervnext/feedback/CreateFeedbackForm.aspx?FeedbackFormConfigurationID=4216&FeedbackType=1). Thank you, Configuration Manager Customer Team

thanks for the kind words ! as regards the computer import problem, look at this hotfix The computer associations are not created by the import computer information wizard in SCCM 2007 Service pack 2 http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=980270

use computer association to import this computer into a collection that contains the Advertisement (of the new OS) then try again, or enable the Unknown Computers collection ability on your PSP (PXE service point) (need R2 or R3) and advertise the same TS to the Unknown Computers collection

The MMS 2011 Day 1 keynote was all about private cloud. Previews of new System Center 2012 products, like VMM 2012 and Concero, and lots of other cool stuff. This is the complete feed from the keynote – the action starts at the 17 minute mark. watch the video here > http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/mms-2011-day-1-keynote.aspx alt link > http://www.ditii.com/2011/03/23/mms-2011-virtual-machine-manager-2012-beta-plus-day-1-keynote/

the program will be run as local system account so no problems there, have you enabled logging for your actual MSI ? that is the log file we need to see as the 1603 error is extremely generic

here's Jason Sandys excellent Startup Script http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jsandys/Script/ConfigMgrStartup1.03.zip read the code for details about what it does, cheers niall

If you want a really good client health check tool (scripts) then look no further, Dan Thomson has created the below after many years of working on it and developing, cheers niall Project Description There are many pitfalls with maintaining ConfigMgr managed systems so they install the client software and can continuously report to the hierarchy. This project provides a scripted solution that detects many issues and automates their repair. The downloads locations: * The scripts are on the Source Code page * The Documentation is on the Documentation page and included in the source Introduction Poor system health…many have felt the pain and some are blissfully ignorant. Others however, are benefiting from a well run change management process and aren’t too poorly affected. Unfortunately, without a proper running operating environment, the Configuration Manager (ConfigMgr) client will face certain doom. This includes, at minimum, the inability to install itself on designated systems, a failure to discover its site assignment and receive policies, a lack of being able to report inventory or heartbeats, and not being able to process software and patch deployments. Where does that leave the intrepid administrator? ConfigMgr has some in-built features that aid in identifying systems with issues. These mainly come in the form of reports. There also exist some third party add-ons and community scripts of various forms and thoroughness that attempt to identify and automate the correction of known issues. The community scripts are generally deployed by means of a Group Policy Object (GPO) computer startup script. The Problem As mentioned previously, the ConfigMgr client will have various issues if the hierarchy and the client system are not properly configured. Various other issues exist even when the ConfigMgr client is working properly. These include stale items remaining in the client cache, reported inventory being lost in transmission to the client’s assigned server, and so on. With the Health Check Tool, we are going to focus on the health of the client system and the ConfigMgr client itself. We want to make sure the client system is properly configured with its services; its environment (%Path%, %Temp%, and %Tmp% variables); its ability to install the ConfigMgr client; and for the ConfigMgr client to get policies, run inventory, and install software and patches. Some of the issues can also be compounded by poor change management and unskilled administrators. Keeping up with client health is a daunting objective without an automated means to identify, report, and repair problems. The Solution Even though my environment now has one of the third party add-ons with a limited deployment base, there was a time when such a tool was not available. A co-worker and I were forced to create a solution by gathering the available community scripts and tailoring them into something that met our initial needs. That was a few years ago. Since then, I have been keeping up with the development and am now offering the solution to the community in hopes others can benefit as much as I do. The solution being offered is an automated two step process (a third step is on its way in the near future). The automation for these steps comes via: 1. The Health Check Tool.cmd –a command script 2. The Health Check Tool.wsf –a Windows Script Host script When these scripts run, they will record their activities to the %WinDir%\Temp\Health Check Tool.log file. Additionally, there is some tracking information written to the registry at the location specified by the RegistryStorePath option. This includes: 1. The name of the system the tool last ran on. This is useful if the client system turns into an image master or is renamed. If a change is noticed, the Health Check Tool will do a review of the EndPointQueues to determine if there might be a problem with the ConfigMgr client saving policies to WMI in future policy downloads. 2. The last date and time the Health Check Tool ran. 3. The last error codes that correspond to any detected known issues. 4. The last repairs that were conducted to fix known issues. I opted to use this multi step process so I could overcome various hurdles. Some of these are: 1. Some systems are not able to run certain scripts because the Windows Script Host is broken for some reason. 2. Running the health checks too soon after startup could produce inaccurate results and will most likely interfere with the startup of the system and the ConfigMgr client. 3. The scheduled task allows the health checks to be run on a normal schedule without requiring the client system to be restarted. download > http://configmgrclienthtc.codeplex.com/

as Peter says' it's a beta product so should only be used in a LAB environment to experiment with how the new version will look like, do not implement this version of ConfigMgr in a Production Environment, Microsoft does do carefully agreed upon TAP releases, if you have a customer that is interested in trialling beta software then speak to your Microsoft TAM

the smsts.log is found in various places, read this post to get details about it..

great work thanks for sharing and feel free to post that guide in the MDT part of windows-noob also

thanks and welcome !

Internet Explorer 9 has now been downloaded 2.35 million times in the first 24 hours since its Monday night release. That is over 27 downloads every second, or over 240 downloads every 9 seconds. Wow. We want to thank everyone around the world for downloading IE9 and the enthusiastic reception. 2.3 million downloads in 24 hours is over double the 1 million downloads we saw of the IE9 Beta and four times that of the IE9 RC over the same time period. In case you missed it, check out the collection of videos from the SxSW launch event. Ze Frank’s demo of Star.ME is one not to be missed! You can see all of the demos and the complete launch event by clicking play below. And to download Internet Explorer 9 for yourself, visit http://www.beautyoftheweb.com. via > http://windowsteamblog.com/ie/b/ie/archive/2011/03/16/2-3-million-downloads-of-ie9-in-the-first-24-hours.aspx

When Microsoft first introduced Internet Explorer 9 at PDC in November 2009, it didn't show much. A few benchmarks, some talk about the technologies that the browser would use, and a little information about the direction that development would take. But it was a significant event nonetheless. After years of playing catch-up—the stopgap Internet Explorer 7 added tab support, and then the solid Internet Explorer 8, which offered little in the way of support for new Web innovations—Microsoft was starting to position its browser not only as good, but able to take on the competition and be best in class. And with the release today of Internet Explorer 9, the company has gone on to deliver just that—IE9 is the most modern browser there is. Microsoft set out to do four things with IE9. The browser had to be fast, it had to be standards-compliant, it had to be trustworthy, and it had to put the focus on sites and Web content, rather than the browser. Ars has been following the browser's development since the first public preview in March 2010, with extensive coverage of the beta and release candidate, but those major points are still worth looking at. Focus on sites Internet Explorer 7, and then Chrome, have ushered in a trend for stripped-down browser interfaces. Internet Explorer 7 ditched the menu bar by default (though this default was later changed), and Chrome took this design a step further by putting its tabs on top and all but abandoning the toolbar concept. Internet Explorer 9 builds on—or rather, subtracts from—the work done in previous Internet Explorer versions. Its interface is stripped down, clean, and simple. The intent is that the site should be the focus, not the browser frame. So tabs have moved alongside the address bar—though they can be moved below it if desired—the status and menu bars are gone by default, the toolbars are gone by default, and the icons on the buttons use new artwork. read the entire story > http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/reviews/2011/03/the-most-modern-browser-there-is-internet-explorer-9-reviewed.ars

to install a patch just try a run command line step like this wusa.exe "Windows6.1-KB2443685-x86.msu" /quiet /norestart cheers niall

Microsoft is rumored to be preparing an “Aero Lite” UI for Windows 8 according to leaked components from a recent build. The “Aero Lite” UI is likely replace the Windows 7 Basic interface. Microsoft originally invented the Basic UI for those unable to run the full Windows Aero experience. Windows 8 is rumored to include a full 3D interface which has so far failed to leak out of Redmond’s tight ship. The Aero Lite UI has been revealed in msstyles files supplied to Angel of Despair. The new user interface is rumored to feature some flat Metro styles, similar to those found in Microsoft’s Media Center application and Windows Phone 7. Microsoft’s primary Windows 8 interface is believed to be fully 3D. The interface will be “fully dynamic” and able to adapt to user habits. Icons and shortcuts will adapt to different usage scenarios to speed up daily tasks. Windows 8 is also rumored to include a new fast hibernation system. The system will hibernate in around three to six seconds and save all open documents and running tasks. Rumors suggest that Microsoft will create a dual-UI for Windows 8. A tile-based user interface codenamed “Mosh” will reportedly be included. Microsoft has so far been extremely quiet on the Windows 8 front. Windows Chief, Steven Sinofsky, took to the stage at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January to introduce a technology preview of Microsoft’s Windows ARM support and show off an early build of Windows 8. Microsoft is partnering with ARM-based manufactures NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments to produce new Tablet devices. Steve Ballmer has described the next release of Windows as the company’s “riskiest product bet”. It is understood that Microsoft will feature deep cloud integration into the future OS to realise its vision of “three screens and a cloud”. One Microsoft employee recently said he believes Windows 8 will be the “most important Windows ever shipped.” via > http://www.winrumors.com/microsoft-preparing-metro-inspired-aero-lite-ui-for-windows-8/?utm_source=windows-noob.com