windows - Jacob Salmela

Fully Automated: DeployStudio Dual Boot

I was recently tasked with deploying dual-boot Macs to all new staff. Naturally, I wanted this to be as automated as possible so it was repeatable and consistent. I already knew how to use an answer file to fully-automate the Windows side of the deployment. And I also knew how

windows

How To Make An Automagic Windows 10 Boot Camp Install .pkg

I spent a long time trying to automate a dual-boot deployment of macOS and Windows 10. The reason being is that it’s very useful to only buy a single piece of hardware (Apple) and have it run Windows and macOS (and maybe Linux, too). But getting two completely different

windows

Customize WinPE With Wallpaper and Custom Startup Script

WinPE is a useful tool for booting a computer and laying down a new operating system. In this post, I’ll show you how to make WinPE a little more useful by automatically running a custom script at startup. Generate WinPE File StructureOn your Windows 10 machine, make sure the

windows

Windows 10 Is Bourne Again With A Linux Shell

Yup, Windows 10 is getting a bash shell! I have always loathed doing anything in Windows because it was difficult to script/automate anything. And Window’s Command Prompt was a sorry excuse for a shell: no copying/pasting, you can only re-size it vertically, no command history, no grep!

windows

How To Image A Computer With Windows 10 Using dism

If you want to image a lot of computers with a clean Windows 10 image, Microsoft has lots of built-in tools to help do this, but it’s easy to get lost and overwhelmed with their documentation. To alleviate that headache, I will explain step-by-step how to: create and use

tips

Windows Snap Shortcut

I recently discovered this keyboard shortcut, which works in Windows 7 and 8. It has been around for a long time, but I never knew about it. The keyboard shortcut allows you to quickly snap windows the left, right, or top of the screen. Windows key +Left Arrow, Right Arrow,

windows

Windows: Uninstall Programs Via Command Line (Sudo Control Panel > Programs and Features > Uninstall)

I love when Windows command line tools are actually useful and friendly. wmic is a rare one that fits the bill. I use the following command to uninstall programs silently (using Java as an example). Find The Program NameRun this command first to get the list of programs you can

windows

Altiris: Fix Error 1618: Another Installation Is Already In Progress

I’m still stuck using Altiris 6.9DS. It works, but it’s also finicky. I often run into error 1618, which means another install is in progress (download the full error list here). This is not always the case, but sometimes, other jobs can make it seem this way.

windows

Find Your Windows Product Key Without Any Software

One thing I have always found frustrating about buying a PC with windows re-installed (among many things) is you don’t always have easy access to the product code. Sometimes it is posted on a sticker, but often it is not. How To Geek shows how to get the product

windows

Manage Windows Printers At The Command Line

Install An IP PrinterThis will create a new printer port at the IP address 10.10.10.10 and name it IP_10.10.10.10. cscript %windir%\system32\printing_admin_scripts\en-us\prnport.vbs -a -r IP_10.10.10.10 -h 10.10.10.10 -o raw -n

windows

Create A Scheduled Shutdown Via Script In Windows

I often use this command to create a scheduled shutdown. You could also use to run any program you want. schtasks /Create /SC daily /RU DOMAIN\user-account /RP myPassword /ST 18:00 /TN Auto-shutdown1800 /TR "%windir%\system32\shutdown.exe /s /f"Just replace your username, password, and give it a

windows

Create Desktop Shortcuts Via Batch Script In Windows

Some application installers in Windows do not create a desktop icon. I used this script to create one for all users. Just modify the highlighted lines per your environment. @echo off set SCRIPT="%TEMP%\%RANDOM%-%RANDOM%-%RANDOM%-%RANDOM%.vbs" echo Set oWS = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell") >

python

TestNav Workflows - OS X and Windows

OS XPre-requisitesInstall click (direct download)Create an ARD workflow to prepare machines for testingSave each script as a template. 00.Enable Accessibility Run this once per computer and then reboot. 01.Login student user This will log in the student user from the login window. 02a.Safari “Run in

python

Scripting Pearson's TestNav on Windows Using Python

Getting Pearson’s Web-based TestNav to work on OS X was challenging enough, but getting it to work on Windows is also difficult. Fortunately, Windows can run Python–even though it isn’t installed by default like OS X. And Python is great for scripting and automating mundane tasks. Pair

windows

Using Ubuntu MRT to Fix Malware on a Windows Machine: *Nix Saves Windows

A family member brought me their malware-infested machine. It was the worst infection I had seen in a while. First off, this device had some annoying malware, including: Conduit SearchDelta ToolbarImage Editor PackagesUpdate for Image EditorDriver DetectiveDriverUpdateSupportSoft Assisted ServiceDelta Chrome ToolbarDefaultTabNot surprisingly, all the Web plugins were out-of-date. And on