Gongalong

Have managed to get a second test machine to 21H2 using that specific enablement package (I "broke" my first test machine by going into Windows Updates, which kicked off the 22H2 download). Will see if I can go straight to 22H2 from there, or whether it requires CUs/SSs. Oddly the latter don't seem to be listed with a product category, but perhaps that's because they have to be deployed manually.

OK. Will have a search through the updates and see if they display a category. I did think it sounded all too easy...

Thanks. I have an ADR setup to deploy critical updates, definition updates, security updates, update rollups, and updates. It doesn't deploy feature packs, service packs, tools, and upgrades. Do servicing stack/cumulative updates fall into either of those, or do they have to be picked individually and deployed?

Hi folks, (Sorry, this is a mix of MEMCM and Win 10, so putting in the Win 10 forum) I've followed Prajwal Desai's guide to using the 22H2 enablement package and have deployed it to a test machine that's on 20H2. I set the update to be required and not to show in software center as I just want it to be applied. I did not set restarts to be forced. I checked the test machine in MEMCM 10-15 minutes later and it showed it as compliant. I went to the machine itself and it wasn't prompting for a restart and still showed as 20H2. I restarted it, still showed as 20H2. Any ideas as to why it's showing as compliant and not updating? Thanks

Hi Folks, For those with Macs, does such a thing as a user profile manager exist, even if 3rd party? I can’t spot it in MacOS. We’ve had our Macs for four years now and they are choked with dozens if not hundreds of profiles – they are domain joined so students login with their AD account. Four or five of them are now so low on space that they can’t run the latest Ventura update. Oddly the user profiles from 2020/21 aren’t restricted to the user, so could be manually deleted, or worst case I will just wipe them and start over once I’ve confirmed any Y10/Y11 data isn’t local. Thanks

Hi folks, Am I right in thinking that the law that applies to data protection in the UK is actually the Data Protection Act 2018, rather than the General Data Protection Regulation? A lot of folks tend to refer to data protection as GDPR, and I appreciate that's the EU wide guidance, but as I have to put this into some training I would like to use the correct legislation that applies in the UK. Thanks

Hi folks, We have a handful of special classrooms where students come and go e.g. Pastoral, SEN, which we track student movements to/from. To-date we have used a clunky but simple terminal with a OneDrive based spreadsheet where either staff or students go to the sheet for the day and fill out the student’s name for the lesson period. The spreadsheets are then shared with reception, attendance staff etc. so they can view the students’ movements. Our Pastoral team want to modernise this with a biometric or similar system, so the students can scan in and out. The problem they have in one classroom at least is that movements are not tracked effectively, and they think an easier system will improve the accruracy. The system would still need a facility where staff across the site could view it and see where the students are. We had hoped to use our till software, which is part of a bigger identity management system, but the registration module doesn’t support the barcoded cards we use with the tills. Any other schools using something similar they can recommend, along with a rough idea of cost? Something that integrates with SIMS to pick up the students names would be a bonus. Thanks

Found the product! Surprised Microsoft haven't added it, but perhaps they don't want to clobber a 3rd party developer... until such a time as they do, or buy them https://www.codetwo.com/autoresponder-for-microsoft-365

Hi folks, Is there a way to get more advanced behaviour with dates/times specified on automatic replies with Outlook? For some staff here they would like to be able to specify automatic replies out of hours that take effect on weekdays, but neither the automatic replies system nor rules seem to be complicated enough to allow that. Not sure if it requires purchase of something 3rd party, or whether something in the admin side can be configured for that? Thanks

SCCM style MEMCM. We haven't broached Intune/Azure yet, at least in terms of adding computers (we have 365), and have some impediments to moving to that. Deploying an enablement package sounds easy enough.

We use MEMCM for deployment and Windows Updates. Is it something you use, and can the enablement package be deployed with that? I've had a quick search but am not spotting a very clear guide on how to use the packages. There are some benefits in rebuild the PCs as we do get to update the apps all in one blow, test all is good with the hardware, and get a clean install. Still, interesting to hear there's an alternate approach. I had heard that it was possible to apply feature updates through MEMCM.

This is the first I've heard of the enablement package, I'm surprised I've not seen mention of it! So you apply the package and it just updates the build? Why do feature updates through Windows update (or installing from a newer build) take so long, why don't Microsoft just use this package? I'm confused, LOL.

Normally we have the time in the Summer, and because we have a changing set of apps that go onto PCs, and it also acts as a good check of the hardware, we just go for the rebuild. This summer though I'd like to avoid it. If only the end of support life was mid-July... We roll windows updates out on a monthly basis, typically middle of the month, to try and retain a balance between getting them on PCs and Microsoft breaking things. I appreciate there are different view on that, but factoring that in as well it does suggest that a window of 3-4 weeks might not be catastrophic.

Hi folks, I'm looking at Win 10 feature updates for the Summer and just wanted to check my understanding. Normally we always rebuild classroom PCs in the Summer with the latest version of Win 10, but this Summer I am looking at going away for 4 weeks and won't have time to rebuild them, if I go away. We currently have 21H2 education on our classroom PCs, and that has an end of support life of 22/6/24. Therefore it leaves a gap of 3 or so weeks before the 2024 Summer hols start. I am trying to gauge how much that exposes us from a security point-of-view. Is it absolutely the case that security updates stop at the end of the support life, or do critical updates, or some other class of updates, still get produced for the build? Thanks

Hi folks, Anyone using Power BI Pro? We have bought 3 licenses via our Microosoft reseller which were ordered and in theory assigned a couple of days ago, but I don’t see them anywhere obviously either under the cloud or volume licenses. The free licenses appear under 365 Products so are easy to attribute. Not sure if Pro works via the cloud or has to use the desktop app, and therefore how it is licensed. Anyone know? Thanks

Hi folks, On a fairly regular basis we get requests for an educational reference request e.g. when a particular student studied at the school and what they studied. Mostly I think these get passed to our SIMS/data/exams department and they just reply back. Sometimes these requests come with a purported letter from the person it's for. What do other schools do to vet these? Do you always require a letter from the person it's for? I can't spot any specific ICO guidance on this. Thanks

The problem for Windows at least is the driver bit of the install. The EXE will install silently with /S, but then the driver bit comes up (and presumably has to be installed for it to talk to the device via USB). This is testing with v.5.4.0.

Interesting!

I asked Dell to log this as an issue with Intel but they said it was working as designed and refused to escalate it. We've just resigned ourself to getting called to classrooms to update it when required. I think it does at least remember the model, but the more 4k models we get the more of a pain it's going to be.

Ah good I was certainly confused!

Not sure if you're being sarcastic? But thanks for the answer!

Hi folks, I've got a very simple spreadsheet. On the first sheet I've got two columns where staff enter data. The first column is dates (formatted to be in dd-mmm-yyyy format), the second column is text. Those cells are then replicated on other sheets using = etc. For example on the second sheet a cell might say "='All Years'!A6" referring to the first sheet. The problem I've got is that even though there's no data in the first sheet the second sheet shows "00-Jan-1900" for a date field, and "0" for a text field. So it seems to be wanting to interpret the lack of data as a zero. Why?! Anyone know how I can get it to show a blank cell, just like the source data? Thanks

A member of staff here suggested that. Did you use anything specific? The stand is flush with the desk, so there's no space inside the stand to put Velcro, and I wondered whether adding that would make it more unstable versus velcro sticking power.

No. Bespoke stand. (Lenovo ThinkCentre Neo 30a)

Hi folks, We bought three classrooms worth of all-in-one PCs over the Summer, and subsequent to that we’ve had two topple over in as many months and the screen has smashed. We think these have been accidental topples, in that someone has caught the top of the PC and pulled it over on the bench or floor. The main problem is that the parts are crazy expensive and it’s the same price as buying a new machine. Just wondering if anyone else has had this issue, and if so what did you do? We’ve considering putting a screw through the base or securing the back and front of the stand with brackets. Thanks