Windows 10 has killed this job for me.

[ICT_GUY]

I have a network of 200+pcs 100 ipads and all the stuff that goes along with them. It's just me.

 

Windows 10 just seems to be a non stop headache of that does not work. Does not work the way the documentation says it should. Things that frustrate teachers. Stuff that is broken for the sake of breaking it.

 

App defaults resetting even with a preferences file in place.

Windows update failing to take the server settings and instead restarting with 15 minutes notice that can't be stopped.

App Data, roaming profiles that no longer work (I tried UE-V and followed all the instructions and could not get it to work).

Updates that fail to install and lock the machine in a perpetual restart update loop.

Edge opening doing nothing before shutting down.

None of these issues would have given me much trouble before, but I am getting to the point where the whole system seems broken and poorly thought out / tested.

 

On top of this is the day to day rubbish that a techie has to do on a live system. No money, no training, rubbish pay and high expectations way beyond the senior IT tech pay grade.

 

Windows 10 has just about pushed me to walking out, I don't have the time to bodge stuff that used to work and should just work on an enterprise level network. With no one else to talk to for advice or help its getting to the point that I don't want to be here anymore.

Edited October 3, 2018 by ZeroHour

[FN-GM]

We use the LTSB version on nearly 2,000 computers and don't face these issues. There is a big debate as to weather it should be used or not but it works for us.

[3s-gtech]

I do know what you mean, and I tested Windows 10 for two years before I was happy it was ready to deploy (1703). You really do have to approach things differently - having had a number of 8.1 machines in place I felt I was already part way there though. Honestly though (and I'm no genius - I just work at problems until they wear away) I'm not finding Windows 10 to be giving me any extra work now. I sacked off redirected AppData entirely; haven't used roaming profiles for years (try local profiles, they work well - we still use super mandatory profiles too without issue); I never deploy updates that are fresh out so give them time to be tested elsewher (and approve manually)e; have got Edge in a useable state through perserverence (it's unuable before 1703 IMO). Try boiling your current setup down a bit - strip out GPs, test, try different profile types, try modifying the WIM that you use, etc. It is a lot of work - I did it over the space of around four months to really get somewhere and there were still teething problems. Now got it on 1000 PCs, with me looking after 750 of those alone.

[clockend25]

We've just rolled out 10 Education and we've had some unique issues although not particularly those listed. What I would say is that the work that is required to implement simple things like user profiles, start menu etc, is a disgrace and made me want to torch the place on more than one occasion.

[timbo343]

It took us about 8 months of solid testing to get it to work - this was 2 years ago when we decided to push it out. We have been using LTSB 1507 and now on 1607 and like @FN-GM says, MS say it shouldn't be used but f*** what MS say on this one. We have it setup to how we want it to run it and know how it runs.

[chazzy2501]

This is why I'm sticking to 8.1 for another year, I'm now waiting for the 2019 LTSB version of Windows 10 and Office 2019.

 

EDIT: after 2 weeks (2 fing weeks) of testing 1703 this was my list of continuing issues:

 

BAD:

applock enabled but needs fixing

Need custom start

too many admin options...

block programs: mstsc and powershell etc.

can access network shares through cortana.

turn off network icon explorer

turn off media devices

disable task view

windows defender security center panel

msra

internet explorer disable control panel (proxy)

security alert in ie11 (secure connection)

PDF file accociation need to be set to edge by default.

sound and clock missing in taskbar

Edited September 18, 2018 by chazzy2501
additional info

[chris_uk]

@ICT_GUY, not sure where you are in the country, I'm outside Croydon. More than happy to show you how we have done things, we rolled out Windows 10 with Office 365 installed over the summer to 600 workstations. Offer is on the table if you want to pop in for a coffee, (decent coffee, none of that instant junk) to see how we have done it.

[ICT_GUY]

I didn't have the luxury of testing.

Live system had to be converted to windows 10. I tried a phased introduction but I could never get 10 and 7 to coexist well on the system.

 

I am at the point now of having to upgrade our PDC from 2012 to 2016. Unfortunately I work term time only and I don't know how I am going to do that.

[maark]

windows 10 has been a PITA - finally got it working not too bad now - personally really getting to dislike Microsoft - Office 365 is a pain compared to google apps as well.

1803 seems a lot better - stopped using roaming profiles with students.

Staff have problems if they logon a laptop that is 1709 and a station that is 1803.

Try to make sure they all on the same version and be careful with updates. Office updates broke ink as well so have stopped rolling them out for now.

[Simcfc73]

LTSB here for around 300, me and my tech have W10 Enterprise and I'm resetting my apops every morning... sometimes lose my Edge faves.

 

Agree though.. I miss Windows 7

[synaesthesia]

We're having a few little niggles but nothing that's really making us feel bad; running on Education; looked at LTSB but it wouldn't have offered any benefits over the upgrade from 7. Most issues are down to not having been given time to train staff but nothing major. Some printers are a bit funny though!

[sparkeh]

Perhaps we are lucky but we’ve not had such a bad experience. With the exception of fiddling about with the start menu win 10 has been pretty good for us.

 

You do need to rethink how you approach windows though, you can’t just upgrade from a previous version and expect everything to work as before.

[gshaw]

It took us about 8 months of solid testing to get it to work - this was 2 years ago when we decided to push it out. We have been using LTSB 1507 and now on 1607 and like @FN-GM says, MS say it shouldn't be used but f*** what MS say on this one. We have it setup to how we want it to run it and know how it runs.

 

Similar amount of testing here (initially 1703 but mainly 1709) with Education. OneDrive Files on Demand makes the switchover to 10 worthwhile so LTSB was never on the radar for us. About 2500 machines done now, couple of hundred left, mainly staff machines but people are actually requesting the upgrade so must be doing something right

 

Lots of changes and new GPOs, scripts to remove the crud etc. We also rebuilt most of our software packages around the same time so pretty much everything is fresh.

 

The main gripe I have with 10 at the moment is the removal of "Update and Shut Down" as that suited us in terms of how machines are used. Going to have to try scheduled installs again and see what happens...

Edited September 18, 2018 by gshaw

[Koldov]

Have to say I was in a similar position (although I don't have the amount of clients you guys have) and I buried my head in the sand about Win10 for a long time.

 

I have nobody to help me do anything, I am totally on my own in terms of the technical side of things (apart from EDUGEEK of course).

 

When the threads started coming out on here about how much trouble Win10 was to deploy/customise (get rid of the cr*p) and with the knowledge each new update would probably break something else... I tried a few test runs and hated it, so buried my head further, I was dreading the day I had to accept it and felt like I couldn't cope.

 

Eventually I made a decision to go with LTSB and local profiles and really, if I'd known how easy it was I'd have done it sooner (it may kick me in the a$$ in a few years and no, they can't get all the latest shiny apps but hey, I'll worry about it when the time comes). In fact, coming from Win7, LTSB was an easier transition in terms of the look and feel. I didn't go for Win8 (I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to do it as I had only just started my job when it came out and I wasn't prepared for that). Actually my Sister has just asked me to look at her slow running Win 10 laptop, when I opened it up I felt dizzy with all the notifications popping up, icon/squares rotating on the screen, the cluttered task bar and constant updates.

 

I guess I'm lucky with a smaller amount of clients in a small Junior School, I have the time to set a lot of things up personally and don't automate anything, although I have a WSUS server running and the GPO's for that seem to work fine (honestly though sometimes I wish it would restart their laptops automatically) we only get an 'Update and Shutdown/Restart option, so obviously they just close the lid rather than waiting.

 

They are locked down in a very basic way, because in the end I just didn't think it worth the stress level work out how to control every single little thing. I let them sort out their own start menu/theme (so no Start Menu worries), I don't use Edge obviously or the Store (LTSB), it's IE all the way, but I will install Chrome for the occasional user who uses websites that run better in it. I do put a default app xml in and that works out ok, I had a regedit to enable photo viewer and sticky notes, I've even got Windows Movie Maker running on a couple of them. I guess I am also lucky in the fact that we don't use a lot of bespoke 'educational' software. Apart from Adobe Reader, Office, Smartboard, well what else does a teacher need...?

Edited September 18, 2018 by Koldov

[JATSO]

Some interesting reads on this thread and I think that Windows 10 just throws us all most days, and like some in schools I am also a lone tech for which Edugeek is a great life line.

Like most I would have liked to have some solid training and advice from those that work in the same sector who have actually implemented successful roll outs of school networks.

Maybe this could be a mission for Edugeek to co-ordinate a annual central training event during the school holidays that school technicians could attend without the usual sell tactics that private companies use selling their own solutions, after all were all trying to achieve the same goals, which is to build, implement, maintain solid networks for our schools.

It would take some organizing and probably a contribution from those wanting to attend but sometimes it's just what some school techs need is to learn from the best in their sector if its not available local without the high costs of private tuition.

[alfatec]

750 Workstations/laptops on 1803 without any issues. Main thing after running windows 10 from version 1511 throughout the school is that I found that success was all down to stripping the default apps from the .wim file and use a local profile. I have a rar file under and old Alfatec post which has all the required details for setting up Windows 10 in a school.

[sparkeh]

Local profile is a must these days I think. There are lots of bits of win 10 that MS state don't support roaming profiles any more (eg the Start Menu customisation).

[3s-gtech]

Agreed. I think mandatory still works for some of us because it shares a lot of its functionality with local - just that a read only template profile is copied to the local location rather than a fresh one.

[free780]

Been rolling out Windows 10 since 1511 Current Branch and LTSC on occasion.

1. MS believe that devices are 1:1 and all users are technically competent.

2. Users should take responsibility for updates etc due to it being a 1:1 device.

3. There is a load of legacy. Roaming Profiles,RDS,Folder Redirection,Mapped Drive that doesn't really fit into the modern desktop idea.

 

If you bear these things in mind and start with fresh GPOs. Use SCCM. Try and automate as much as possible I've found it easier than Windows 7.

[mukz]

There is a load of legacy. Roaming Profiles,RDS,Folder Redirection,Mapped Drive that doesn't really fit into the modern desktop idea.

 

If you bear these things in mind and start with fresh GPOs. Use SCCM. Try and automate as much as possible I've found it easier than Windows 7.

 

We did just this.

We essentially started from scratch. Obviously OP cant do this as OP don’t have the luxury to wait and test.

We use Office365 and have desktop and documents redirected to OneDrive

[mavhc]

Onedrive is the main stupid thing, I blocked things running from appdata for a reason.

 

Never bothered with start menu layouts etc, so that was fine, some registry edits in a bat file that runs on startup/login to disable ads, sometimes I remove metro apps from the wim file, but doesn't seem to bother people if I don't, better than win7 because you don't end up with 100 updates to install after imaging

 

Version updates take about 30 mins to install now, put new wim on wds for new machine/ones that break.

 

We don't just give the answers to pupils in other subjects, so no point coddling them with computers, they should learn to fix basic problems anyway

[witch]

@ICT_GUY

Sorry to hear about your woes.

I know it is hard, but there are lots of people on here who will take the time to talk you through the bits on your network that dont seem to work - if you trust them, and I do, they can even remote in and really have a look and see if they can spot the issues.

This is where edugeek comes into its own - I have had people take HOURS to help me when I have been struggling. Have a look through these posts and contact the people that you think can help you. It will absolutely be worth it.

[PotNoodleTech]

Im just starting to dip my feet into the nightmare that is Win10.

 

Still running windows 7 and it's so bombproof that I am loath to change! Still, will have to at some point!!!

 

Not off to a good start though, as soon as I build a test pc with Win10 EDU 1803 once I join it to the domain the start menu and task bar stops working!!! I guess our existing win7 GPOs are not going to work on Win10. I redirected user profiles and start menu and desktop on windows 7 I guess this isn't going to work on win10 no more.

 

Back to the drawing board!

[MartinT]

Embrace W10, it works differently. Review every GPO. Try to come off any W7 customisations, they don't coexist well. Don't try to control the Start menu or taskbar, they don't want to be. GPO necessary icons onto the desktop. Update your WSUS but exclude drivers. Get rid of third party AV, Defender works well. Set overnight restarts for computer suite machines to allow them to update.

 

In time you will see how much more self-managing W10 is, not to mention tremendously more secure. Your fleet of machines will settle down and remain up to date and more stable than W7.

[caffrey]

I had similar trepidation moving from XP to 7 and now I have it moving to 10

 

Problem is I just don't have time to test, and I currently have no test hardware. I have made a start though and I'm planning on a summer 2019 rollout as I believe windows 7 support ends officially in January 2020