Software install via GPO - Interrupted!

[bodminman]

Hi there,

 

I remoted into a school I do a little support for and kicked off a GPO software install. This was arranged with the school beforehand!

 

However, a teacher who was doing an after school club walked into the ICT suite and could see that the machines were sitting there with a "Installing ........" message and instead of the penny dropping and thinking ah yes I was told about this, she decided to power 6 of the machines off and then fire them up again to see if she could get the machines to login. Well she could get onto the machines but now those machines that were turned off don't have the software installed and I can't work out how the get the install to start again!

 

Any ideas/help will be greatly appreciated! (So long as they don't involve causing physical harm to the teacher in question!)

 

Thanks

[6Foot2]

Were using an MSI to install the software? If yes I would have thought that it would detect that the install was not complete and run the install procedure again.

 

If that is not applicable how about creating another OU within the OU of the machines in question, move them into the new OU and then create a GPO that allocates the software to those six stations in the new _OU.

 

_{Any good?}

[bodminman]

Were using an MSI to install the software? If yes I would have thought that it would detect that the install was not complete and run the install procedure again.

 

Hi DaveP,

 

It was being issued via MSI but now if you use any of the x6 machines the software isn't there.

 

I'll do what you said re creating another OU for these machines and allocating the software and that should do the trick.

 

Cheers

[liamvaughan]

if this ever happens for us I normally do a search in regedit and delete any enterys the installer has put in, and then do a gpupdate /force /boot

 

this should do the trick.

[plexer]

Make a formal complaint regarding the teachers actions?

 

Ben

[bodminman]

I have done already and I had to attend a meeting last week where she was rollocked and made to look a right Charlie!

 

The head there takes no sh1te!

[MrEprise]

Coincidentally, I've been recently looking into how to do this to each individual PC where a certain impatient individual restarts during a GPO install, then complains the software isn't working for them, "But it works on so and so's PC" they cry. Also useful when "Redeploy application" works on all PCs but the one you want it to...

 

To expand a bit on @liamvaughan 's post, you will need to go to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy\AppMgmt]. In here are various keys with GUIDs for names. You need to look through each one (or do a search) until you find the one that corresponds to the application you're attempting to install and then delete that particular key. Then run "gpupdate /force" and restart the PC. As the PC starts up, GP will check the above part of the Registry, find no record of the app ever having been installed (fingers crossed) and attempt to re-install the application.

 

Then rinse and repeat for each PC with the same problem. As the GUID used is the same for any PC you may be able to automate the key's removal in some way. As with anything like this YMMV, but I tested this several times at work last week, all with positive results.