Squelch

I didn't like their server backup/restore process so I kept veeam for that and redstor for the 365 backup.

We had the greyed out support thing when I let the a1 licenses expire after moving to a3. Got some a1's back and no more greyed out support.

We get the same problem with auto sign in and we're in a good signal area.

The sky is falling in our school.

For me, nothing will install after ESP until the first login.

I was also initially frustrated with Intune, after a couple of years of using it I am more relaxed. Nobody wants to wait around for apps to install but they really don't take long. I still use groups to target apps and policies. I know that I should have moved on but it works and it's what I'm used to.

IME it's not a good idea to install too much during ESP. My ESP installs Office and ScreenConnect (for remote access) plus a few other minor bits and pieces. ESP can and will fall over if you ask it to do too much. Each computer takes around 30 to 45 mins to install all software after ESP has finished. In total, I would estimate that a computer will fully build in approximately 90 minutes. I used a summer holiday to rebuild every computer in the school. I very rarely wipe a device. I usually just rebuild from scratch. I would say having fast internet is essential for Intune as it will reduce the time needed to build/rebuild/whatever. Also, restarting a device will often trigger apps/policies to apply.

I've got about 500 devices and I'm down to 6 that need manual intervention. They are all teacher laptops and are never even switched on much less signed in to.

Our sports hall is occasionally used for large meetings, any permanently installed projector would be a target. I opted for a Hisense PL1 from Richer Sounds here It can be quickly setup on a table and taken down again with minimal hassle and can project a much bigger image than we'd get from a IWB/TV It's advertised at up to 120" but you can go bigger. The sound output is surprisingly good too. I have so far resisted taking it home "to test" during a holiday..

We had the same issue which magically fixed itself some time ago.

How about using a USB keyboard to press F2 or Fwhatever it wants?

And here is a much better way of doing it written by someone else. how-to-deploy-sims-net-to-entra-joined-devices

Maybe gpresult could shed some light on the situation?

Can you apply the 24H2 image but take it out of the domain? Just to be absolutely sure it isn't getting a policy from somewhere unexpected.

I tried V10 and then went straight to ScreenConnect instead (good price and it works well for my remote access across the school). We still use V9 for some teachers who actually want to do a bit of class management.