Enable Legacy Boot Mode on Windows 8 Pre-Installed Device

Apparently Microsoft requires OEM suppliers of Windows 8 systems to set the BIOS (actually UFEI now) to Secure Boot by default. This and another setting can prevent booting from CD/DVD drives and USB devices and also prevent Windows 7 (or older) network deployments from succeeding.

To enable smooth Windows 7 (or older) installations or booting from various boot disks, e.g. for disk imaging or repartitioning, etc, you will need to do the following:

1. Enter the BIOS/UEFI using whatever method the hardware vendor provides for this
2. Look for the Secure Boot option and disable this
3. Look for Legacy Boot or CSM (Compatibility Support Module) and enable this

In some cases, you will need to revert these settings to enable Windows 8 to install and/or boot.

Printer Colour/Duplex/Page-size Setting Won't Save in Windows

In the past I have found myself changing printer settings on a Windows PC, laptop, or tablet, only to find that when I go to print, the settings are not what I want. Examples of this are when the colour or black and white setting, the page size setting, or the duplex setting just will not stick!

What I've found in my travels are that most print drivers have a number of places where you can change these settings and if you don't check them all, they can seem to incessantly be returning to settings you don't want.

Ensure you check the relevant settings in the following locations:

If you're using a Windows-based print server:

1.       On the print server, in the Print Preferences on the General tab you first see when you open printer properties

2.       On the print server, in the Print Defaults on the Advanced  tab in the printer’s properties – THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE TO SET ON A PRINT SERVER

Whether you're using a print server or not:

3.       On the user’s PC, in the Print Preferences on the General tab you first see when you open printer properties – this does not affect other users, i.e. it is a per user setting.

4.       On the user’s PC, in the Print Defaults on the Advanced  tab in the printer’s properties. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE TO SET IF NOT USING A PRINT SERVER. If you ARE using a print server, these can often not be changed from a client PC/laptop/tablet. It's worth a look anyway.

5.       Lastly, on the user’s PC, within the program they are actually printing from, i.e. Word/Excel/whatever. When you change these settings, they only hold until you close the application. – this is therefore a per session setting.

Exchange 2007 Transport Service Not Starting

I found the following error in the Application Event Log

Topology discovery failed, error 0x80040a02 (DSC_E_NO_SUITABLE_CDC)

The fix was to reenable IPv6 on the server's NIC.

Other fixes, some of which are NOT best practice so are used at your own discretion, are available here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/keithmg/archive/2009/01/06/exchange-topology-discovery-failed-error-0x80040a02-dsc-e-no-suitable-cdc.aspx

References:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/keithmg/archive/2009/01/06/exchange-topology-discovery-failed-error-0x80040a02-dsc-e-no-suitable-cdc.aspx

Symantec Endpoint Protection Manager version 11 Recovery

See this link:
http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH102333



...that is all.

Windows Deployment Server Multicast Is VERY Slow

If WDS multicast deployment is creeping VERY slowy, you probably have switches that are not able to fragment packets the way Microsoft expects.


To change WDS so it does not send fragmented packets do the following

Windows Server 2008R2
Set the following registry key and restart the WDSService
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WDSServer\Providers\WDSMC\Protocol
Name: ApBlockSize
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1385 decimal

Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 uses network profiles to control the setttings.  Do the following to configure it to not send fragmented packets

1. Click Start, Run, WdsMgmt.msc
2. Right click the WDS server and choose properties
3. Choose the network settings tab
4. Change the network profile to custom

Set the following registry key and restart the WDSService
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WDSServer\Providers\WDSMC\Profiles\Custom
Name: ApBlockSize
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 1385 decimal

If this allows the multicast transmission to complete you can then modify the TpCacheSize registry key below to increase the performance.  If you decrease ApBlockSize without increasing TpCacheSize then overall performance will decrease. Basically ApBlockSize * TpCacheSize = the maximum bandwidth that can be achieved. Increase it from 1190.

Windows Server 2008 R2
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WDSServer\Providers\WDSMC\Protocol
Name: TpCacheSize
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 3145 decimal

Windows Server 2008
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WDSServer\Providers\WDSMC\Profiles\Custom
Name: TpCacheSize
Value type: REG_DWORD
Value data: 3145 decimal
Restart the WDSServer service after setting this registry key.  After setting this run a deployment to verify it completes and take note of the time to download the image.  Then increase this value in increments until it fails or reaches 7550.

If you have to disable IP fragmentation to get multicast working then this may be indicative of low-end switching/routing hardware that perhaps does not support fragmentation efficiently or does not support multicast efficiently (IGMP/MLD snooping etc.).  Multicast can be demanding on a network so it can expose problems or issues in network infrastructure that were unknown until multicast was setup. 

References
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2582106

Windows Deployment Server's Message from Administrator

On your WDS server type the following at a Command Prompt:

WDSUtil /set-server /AutoAddPolicy /Message:"To contact your network administrator, please dial 123-4567“

If your message is too long (I haven't tested how long), it will fail.

References:
http://trycatch.be/blogs/roggenk/archive/2010/06/23/message-from-administrator-in-wds-windows-deployment-services.aspx

Change Windows Public Network to Private

This works for Windows 8, but the Secpol bit should work for Windows 7 also, and probably Vista.
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/windows-8/change-from-public-to-private-network-in-windows-8/


See here for Windows Server 2012
http://www.jenovarain.com/2012/09/server-2012-network-location/