HOWTO: Add a Local User to Windows 10 Using Group Policy (Add it To Local Administrators Group)

Since there are some outdated information about this topic, I’m going to give the steps necessary to create a local user to a Windows 10 machine using AD Group Policy, and then add this user to the local Administrator group.

First, create a new policy using Group Policy Management Editor and follow this screenshot:

Next, click on New and select Local User. In the Action field, select Update. For the other fields, select the options you need.

Click OK button and that’s basically how it’s done.

Next, I’m going to assign this user to the local Administrator group. I will be using the same group policy to achieve this.

Right-click on Restricted Groups and then click on Add Group…

Next, you’re going to type the username we created in the previous step.

I always find this misleading, but just make sure you local username account we created previously

Click OK to go to the next crucial step. You’re going to a work with This group is a member of section and click Add button

Next, type Administrators and click OK

The properties should look like the following screenshot

That’s all there is to it.

SCCM Task Sequence Remove Video Drivers

During my project to upgrade all our Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 (64bit) devices to Windows 10 Enterprise 1809 (64bit), I ran into a compatibility issue during the task sequence. Windows 7 video drivers were detected as incompatible during the in-place upgrade to Windows 10, so I had to find a way to remove the drivers during the SCCM task sequence.

This is the batch file code I used to disable, then remove video drivers from the task sequence.

@ECHO OFF

REM Driver is disabled
devcon disable =display

REM Driver is removed here
devcon remove =display

REM reg add command replaces whatever value is in the SearchOrderConfig with the appropriate value to tell the system NOT to go to windows update for driver updates
REG ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching /t REG_DWORD /v SearchOrderConfig /d 0x0 /f

REM Driver package is removed here
FOR /F “tokens=4 delims= ” %%A IN (‘devcon driverfiles ^=display ^| FINDSTR “Driver installed from”‘) DO devcon.exe dp_delete -f %%A

EXIT 0

The following shows where in the task sequence I add the video driver removal step. Also, note that I have a step to copy devcon.exe utility which is not on Windows 7 by default.

I’ve extensively tested this on my DELL devices and it works perfectly.

Forcibly Remove Dfs Nameserver

The following steps can be used to remove a Dfs nameserver that no longer exists in your environment.

1. Log on to a Dfs server
2. Open an elevated command line
3. We’re going to use dfsutil with the following parameters: dfsutil diag unmapdomroot \<domainname><DFSname> \<DFSrootserver><DFSshare>
   1. As a sample: dfsutil diag unmapdomroot \\DfsRootName\DfsFolderName \\Server_to_remove\DfsFolderName
4. No need to reboot just wait for replication

Renaming Windows Domain Controllers

The following are the steps needed to rename a domain controller; the steps have been tested up to Windows Server 2016.

Note: If your DC is also acting as a Dfs nameroot server, make sure you remove the nameserver from Dfs first!

From an elevated command line, type the following commands:

1. Add the new domain controller name NEW_DC; we’re replacing OLD_DC
   NETDOM COMPUTERNAME OLD_DC.companydomain.com /ADD:NEW_DC.companydomain.com
2. Designate the new name as the primary computer name; OLD_DC gets removed and NEW_DC is new primary name
   NETDOM COMPUTERNAME OLD_DC.companydomain.com /MAKEPRIMARY:NEW_DC.companydomain.com
3. Reboot domain controller
4. Now, let’s remove the old domain controller name from Active Directory
   NETDOM COMPUTERNAME NEW_DC.companydomain.com /REMOVE:OLD_DC.companydomain.com
5. Sync all DCs

In the event that you didn’t notice the warning on top and you went ahead and renamed the domain controller and you had Dfs services running on it, here are some instructions on how to manually remove Dfs nameserver and fix the issue.

1. Log on to the recently renamed domain controller
2. Open Regedit.exe
3. Go to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\DFS\Roots\domainV2
4. Delete the key found under domainV2 and reboot your server
5. Next, remove the Dfs share from the server
6. Now you can delete the Dfs folder
7. Done

Install Hyper-V Role to Windows Server 2012 R2 During OS Deployment

There are plenty of blogs about this subject, however, many of these blogs are outdated and some of their tips do not work properly for Windows Server 2012 R2. Also, in my case, I’m not using MSDT to install features and roles, but instead I’m using a captured WIM image.

To install Hyper-V role, just add a “Run Command Line” task, towards the end of the task sequence, Install Operating System task.

I’m using the following PowerShell command:

Powershell.exe -Command "& {&'Install-WindowsFeature' –Name Hyper-V -IncludeManagementTools -Restart}"

Also, here’s an interesting link that discusses this particular issue.

New Windows 7 Install Not Updating

There’s an issue with brand new installations of Windows 7. If you’re trying to patch/update a brand new Windows 7 installation, Windows Updates will sit there for days without patching anything.

It turns out that, a while back, Microsoft updated their patching servers and because of that, brand new Windows 7 installations will fail to patch until you install the following KBs:

KB3102810
KB3135445
KB3138612

Some of these KBs will not say that will not apply, but keep trying the others and one will fix the Windows Update issue with newly installed Windows 7.

A while back, I opened a Technet case on Microsoft’s forums and here’s the original link.

 

Run PowerShell Script in Schedule Tasks

The following will allow you to run a Powershell script as a scheduled task. These instructions have been tested on a Windows 7 64bit computer.

Before proceeding, make sure your Powershell script runs without any errors. The best way to make sure your script is running fine is by calling it from a command prompt.

Note: Make sure you run Set-ExecutionPolicy from an elevated Powershell window to make sure your system (Windows 7) is allowed to run Powershell scripts.

1. Open a Command Prompt window
2. Run: powershell -file <your ps script file>
3. Make sure it executes properly

 

Now, open Windows 7 Task Scheduler:

1. In the Actions tab
2. Power shell is found at: C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe
   1. You can also just use powershell.exe
3. In Add arguments (optional) field, add the following: -File “C:\Path-to-your-script\Your-ps-script.ps1”
   1. Sample: -File “C:\Program Files (x86)\Info Folder\Get-Speed.ps1”
4. In Start in (optional) field, add the following: C:\Program Files (x86)\Info Folder
   1. Sample: C:\Program Files (x86)\Info Folder

I’m not going to go over the other sections as this is the main section to be able to execute Powershell scripts from Schedule Tasks.

Outlook 2010 Keeps Prompting for Credentials

Issue: Outlook 2010 keeps prompting for credentials.
Environment: Windows 7 64-bit and Outlook 2010 (MS-Office 2010 SP1 with all updates)


Possible Fix 1
These steps came from the following link. These did not work for me personally, but it has worked for some people.

1. Open Outlook
2. Click on File
3. Click on Info
4. Click Account Settings
5. Click on Account Settings option, again..
6. Double click the Exchange Account (your name)
7. Click More Settings
8. Click Security Tab
9. Check the Always Prompt for Logon Credentials
10. Close Outlook
11. Open Outlook
12. Enter username and password
13. Click on Remember my Credentials
14. Close Outlook (repeat steps 11 – 14 at least 3 times, and don’t forget to click on Remember my Credentials)
15. Go back into More Settings (from step 7)
16. Security Tab
17. Now REMOVE the check from the Always Prompt for Logon Credentials
18. Close Outlook

Possible Fix 2
This fix came from this link. These steps did work for me and my users.