LegacyPulsar

The whole system is completely whack. I'm still managing to successfully run a custom Start Menu in 23H2 by GPOing the start2.bin file at my users. There are occasions where a new user with a local profile will log on to a system and it won't work properly at all, and I have to scrub their profile and start again on the device (at which point it'll then work on their next login) but otherwise it's pretty consistent. I have definitely found that if I need to apply a new start2.bin to my domain, it HAS to be created and exported from a regular (non-admin) user account or else the shortcuts don't work. The links to SharePoint and online services I've had to do via installing Web Apps through Edge GPO, then pinning shortcuts to those to the Start Menu, as Microsoft doesn't allow pinning of internet shortcuts to the menu (absolute pain). The custom icons on the shortcuts are applied by robocopying them from a central location into a hidden C:\icon folder on each system, and these are then referenced by the shortcuts which are in the Start Menu folder. It was a very long and drawn out process getting it to this point, but apart from the occasional broken web app that needs updating, it seems to be working well. On a separate note I won't be updating to 24H2 because it breaks NIC ClassID, which we rely on to assign systems to certain areas of DHCP and therefore make sure they have the right level of filtering. I'm hoping they fix it in 25H2 or else we're going to be in a spot of bother...

I would have thought that the shortcut icon would have appeared correctly, but would have then failed to run? When opening CMD, users are typically just presented with 'the command prompt has been disabled by your administrator' message (whereas obviously those with elevated permissions can access just fine). Is there another way to do this that would allow those shortcuts to run?

I have the same issue - all of the installed applications and appx packages show up on the deployed Start, but (liking the look of your menu) I also created shortcuts for Duplicate/Extend/Miracast screen, Lock Screen and Sign Out but these are the only ones that are not appearing. I have all relevant files copied by GPO to the %allusersprofile%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs folder so they're available, created a Start layout from that location on an admin profile, took the start2.bin file and used GPO on a user policy to overwrite each user's default file in the same location, and I get near-total success ​other​ than these five cmdline shortcuts. Any advice here would be very helpful, thank you. ​Edit:​ interestingly after posting this, my miracast icon appeared in the menu in the proper place, but not within the folder it should be in. The only difference between it and the other four are that it is an ms-settings Run command, and the other four are cmdline commands - cmd is disabled for my end users. Would that affect those pins appearing?

IT Manager at a special needs school here, so we use a lot of cause-and-effect touch programs. We just invested in some lovely ViewSonic 65" displays which classes have been using well, but one teacher has noticed that when a certain student interacts with the screen, the context menu keeps appearing in Microsoft Edge which then disrupts the activity. It turns out this is because the student is touching the screen with two fingers, which Edge - JUST Edge - is apparently treating as the command to open the right-click context menu. As we're a special needs school, simply telling the student to only use a single finger or a pen isn't necessarily an option, as depending on the student interaction could be anything from one finger to a whole palm (or elbow, or face). I tested on a BenQ screen that we also have and found that the issue is also there, so it's not an OS or screen-specific issue - it literally ​only​ occurs in Microsoft Edge. The setting is not enabled in the Windows 10 OS under Devices > TouchPad (this setting doesn't even appear) so it's not the two-finger-tap option that can be found in there. Now before anyone says "use a different browser, Edge is rubbish lulz" we use Edge over Chrome etc. due to the very good built-in learning tools and the invaluable Immersive Reader. and would like to continue using it. I've been all through Edge GPO and the regular Settings/Experimental Features menus but can't find anything that looks like it could control this. Has anyone else come across this and found a way to disable it? We're currently on v.105.

Yeah, I just invested in some ViewSonic boards, rolled out SMART Notebook 20, and discovered that the pen features wouldn't work. Bummer. I'm going to try rolling back to V.12 and see what happens. Teachers etc. can install Microsoft Whiteboard on their account or use ViewBoard OS's built-in drawing tool app if they want without issue, but SMART itself recognises a non-SMART screen and blocks a lot of features

Any idea how it's analysing the content of the passwords in your local AD? I'm somewhat wary of any software that can gain access to that information. I would ​love​ to use it, but basically need to weigh up the security risks

Does anyone use this on their own environment? I'd love the ability to tell which users have weak/breached passwords and pre-emptively force a change before it's too late, but am somewhat concerned that the program must obviously be able to see what those passwords ARE in order to work out if they're weak and/or breached.

bump, if allowed

Hi, I'm looking to migrate some data to SharePoint but am aware that there is a 5,000 item indexing issue within sites. This can be avoided by creating Indexed Columns, and while I completely get the general principle behind them, I have the following questio which I'm hoping you can help me with: The columns that people are most likely to search by are going to be 'name', 'created' and 'modified', therefore these need indexing in order to avoid the 5000 item list view problem. However, when I go to index those columns I can do 'created' and 'modified' without issue, but I can't do the 'name' column. Sharepoint talks about indexing some columns automatically in the modern view when you sort by them, but I can't see anything online that talks about the 'name' column and if it is automatically indexed but never listed. Is it possible to index this column? Am I missing something? Any tips or advice here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone, I'm looking to see if it's possible to change the suggested templates that appear whenever you open up an Office 2019 ProPlus application such as Word, Excel etc. Currently and by default it references Microsoft's own suggested templates (as per screenshot), presumably from their online store. What I'm looking to do is instead offer staff the standardised templates such as documents for students, documents for staff, letterheads etc. in order to facilitate staff using these, rather than going off-brand with their own quirky and oft-awful IT skills. These could be stored within Sharepoint or on a local file server. Is this possible to do? Many thanks in advance.

Hi everyone, I have an issue in Skype for Business - seemingly only on Android - where the following pops up when staff install and sign in. We're not even part of Tavistock College or their MAT, so I'm not sure what the hell is going on here. Closing and reopening the app a few times, signing in from scratch each time, eventually makes this disappear, but I have no clue why it is even appearing in the first place! Anyone else come across anything similar? We will roll out Teams in the very near future which will render this all null and void, but this is just so people can keep in touch and discuss school business via video conferencing without having to use another third-party piece of software such as WhatsApp, Zoom etc. in the meantime.

Morning all, I've previously only posted questions here, but I've been working on something for my organisation which may be of use to some of you here, or which could (probably very likely) be improved upon by those of you here who are much better at Powershell than I am. We've long had the issue of clearing up users who have left the organisation. This involves disabling/removing them from the local AD, as well as a host of connected services such as CPOMs and the RM Unify platform. However, the most troublesome platform I've found to completely eliminate a user on is O365 (without going through both the O365 Admin Center ​an​ Exchange Admin and toggling options individually). Because we use RM Unify as our federated service to sync AD users to O365 (which appears to be a one-way sync: it doesn't deactivate users who are removed from AD), we find that gets in the way of deactivating users completely and so I've been looking for Powershell commands that would do the job for me using just the user's UPN, as well as remove/Account-wipe any synced mobile devices. While I've not found any single command or pre-existing script to do what I want, I've combined many different cmdlets together to do the job of deactivating the user, removing any active O365 sessions, completely disabling any potential to reconnect to their account (overkill, I know) and then wiping their exchange account from any synced mobile devices. Now I am hopeless at creating Powershell scripts, but I have no qualms about simply copy/pasting commands from a Notepad file into an active Powershell session connected to both MSolService and AzureAD sessions. I leave the scripting and .ps1 file making to the people who are good at that, but hopefully this may help a few people who have the same issue as me. All in all you just have to replace the user name throughout (a quick Ctrl+H job in Notepad), and then copy/paste their Mobile Device Identity(ies) into the final part of the script before it's run. For someone like me, who may only be deactivating up to 5 users at a time, it's ideal. So here's the 'script'. Hopefully it is of some use to some of you. If anyone has any improvements to make, please let those be known so it can be added. Some of these commands may be considered overkill or do the same job as others, but I'd rather be safe than sorry and - as I said - I'm a proper novice when it comes to Powershell. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Set-CASMailbox -Identity "[email protected]" -OWAforDevicesEnabled $false -OWAEnabled $false -ActiveSyncEnabled $false -ActiveSyncAllowedDeviceIDs $null -PopEnabled $False -ImapEnabled $False -MAPIEnabled $False -EWSEnabled $False -EwsAllowOutlook $False -EwsAllowMacOutlook $False -OutlookMobileEnabled $False -UniversalOutlookEnabled $False -SmtpClientAuthenticationDisabled $true Set-Mailbox -Identity [email protected] -HiddenFromAddressListsEnabled $true Get-AzureADUser -SearchString [email protected] | Revoke-AzureADUserAllRefreshToken Set-AzureADUser -ObjectID "[email protected]" -AccountEnabled $false Get-MobileDevice -mailbox "[email protected]" Once you've run the Get-MobileDevice command at the end of the above, you then copy and paste the Identity field (looks something like user\ExchangeActiveSyncDevices\Hx?Outlook?BDF512GV688A8FB7648F197FGE7​) into the following final bit of script. Clear-MobileDevice -Identity [Device.Identity] -AccountOnly Note that I only perform an AccountOnly wipe of their device as many of our staff access O365 emails through their own personal devices rather than school-supplied ones. You can remove the -AccountOnly switch to wipe all data from the device, however. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I hope that's of some use to someone else It is certainly making my life easier!

Hi atcoates. Unfortunately that was one of the first things I've tried: no app shows up in the list at all, and no app is even attempting to ask permission to use the camera/microphone when they should.

Disabling the cache and downloading straight from the App Store has made no difference. In fact, the offending iPad isn't even downloading ANYTHING without the cache despite it having the authority to do so...

I had a class iPad (running iOS 10.3.3 as it won't do 11.x.x) returned today as when they tried to use the camera within an app all they got is a black screen. Tried front and rear cameras: same result. However when testing it using the Camera app itself, the camera works fine. I've tried the camera within other apps: no joy, nothing is working. I've ensured all other apps are closed in case one of them is hogging all the glory. Nothing. I've turned it off/back on again, because let's start simple. Nada. I've force-reset it with the Home/Lock buttons. Zip. I removed the configuration profile I use to lock down the iPad settings and ensured that the camera was enabled in Restrictions (it was). I also tried removing the offending apps and redownloading them from the App store via my caching server (didn't work). Interestingly at this point I notice the microphone also isn't working. I've gone into the Privacy menu to check which apps want to use the camera. The list is empty. I loaded up another app which I know wants to use the camera and hasn't been used on the iPad before and wait for the permission prompt. Nothing comes up. I loaded up an app which would want the microphone. No prompt. I check the entire privacy list for apps that require permissions. All the lists are empty. I also check the apps themselves in the Settings menu for additional permissions and none of them show anything other than Location (which is disabled by default on school devices). To make sure I'm not crazy, I go into an app on another iPad that requires both the camera and microphone. Upon first launch, I get prompted to allow access to both as you would expect. I duplicate the experiment on the affected iPad: no prompts. I try to back up the photo data on the iPad in case I have to get drastic. I notice that the DCIM folder is completely missing when hooking the iPad into a PC. I try to use the File Explorer Pro app to share the photos to my network and discover that there are no Share options available. I finally manage to export the pictures using Photo Library on an iMac. Things are drastic: I wipe and rebuild the entire iPad on Apple Configurator to my standard blueprint. All settings are therefore wiped and everything is back to default. Load the app. No camera prompt. Black camera. Load a different app. No prompts. Black camera and no microphone. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Anyone got any ideas? I'm in the process of wiping the iPad, disabling my caching server and downloading an app directly from the App store to see if that makes any difference. I've wiped and rebuilt ten iPads in the last week using AC2 and this is the only one that is exhibiting this behaviour. As stated, the camera app itself works perfectly: the iPad is simply not asking for permissions to allow any form of access to media libraries, external inputs etc.

We are quite low-tech and, unfortunately, the teachers are quite ICT-reluctant. As we only have one device per classroom (so no teacher device) and no budget to expand this even if I wanted to, the need for Classroom just isn't there, and the option of rolling out multiple devices to a class isn't a practical option due to the range of MLD and PMLD and behavioural issues within each learning environment. I do keep a number of loan devices in the office if they wanted to do larger group work sessions, but this is a rare scenario. Completely appreciate that your answer to 1) is what it is, and that is quite a hurdle that I have to overcome that I've been left by the old manager: transfering and updating those purchases to reflect the number of devices we have. What fun!

We have a password-protected SSID in place powered by ubiquiti access points that all school devices currently access if permitted: currently the iPads accept a profile that have the WiFi credentials embedded in it as part of their default blueprint.

Thank you!! I do have MacOS server already on the same Mac that runs AC2 (I purchased it for the caching aspect, which six months later was then annoyingly rolled into the core OS for free...): I've noticed you can deploy profiles using it, but wasn't aware I could use that to also control app deployment over the air Are there any good guides around to get started with that?

Good day, all! I currently manage about 40 iPads in a school and have recently discovered the 'delight' that is Apple Configurator 2. I say 'delight' because it is anything but. HOWEVER, I have managed to wrestle it in to something that conforms to what I want it to do (deploy custom blueprints, deploy profiles) but I need to connect the iPads the iMac that runs both MacOS Server and AC2 via USB cable. It's awfully messy, and we recently opened a second site a few miles which shares a network connection via an EAD line and has their own set of iPads - getting them back to my office on the main site is a pain, so I'd like to investigate an over-the-air solution but have no idea where on earth to start, and which MDM solutions even offer that kind of facility, or if that can be added into AC2 (as I know it asks about MDM servers during device preparation). iPads are spread out across the school site, one per classroom. There is no requirement for them to be using the Classroom App or separate users as we are a special needs school, so just a device set up to a uniform standard with restrictions in place for locking down device functions is all that's needed and all they've got. Now, I'm a self-taught newbie in the Apple ecosphere.: to be fair I'm not at all keen on them from a management perspective, but as the school made a significant financial investment in them before my time I'm duty-bound to facilitate the continuation of their use. I also have the issue where the Apple ID the school is using and previously purchased all their apps on is a standard iTunes Apple ID: NOT a VPP one, which means I basically have one license for the apps that these iPads are all sharing. I've not run into any issue yet with the 10-device limit on standard IDs: all the apps open without issue across all devices. So basically my questions are as follows: 1) Over-the-air deployment. Can it be done using just AC2 or does it require a third-party solution 2) If a third party solution, which is the best to use? I've seen there is another topic covering this, but having glanced through it I still find myself somewhat clueless when it comes to the jargon 3) Will I run into problems with an over-the-air system using an iTunes Store Apple ID, i.e. will it deploy an app to a single iPad and then stop dead? Many thanks in advance to any who answer this!!

Update: this problem seems to have fixed itself. Stupid Apple.

Aha, I've had some success on this since yesterday: I've had to install it as the local machine administrator rather than the network admin (why????). Everything is running just fine now, and I've created shortcuts to the applications in my DFS so that network users can log in and still access the programs through their managed Start Menu. Weird!

Afternoon all, I have a site license for Adobe CS4 Master Collection which, until now, I've not really used: I have a few systems throughout school with it on, but nothing major. I'm now trying to roll it out to the ICT Suite (Windows 7 Pro x64), so I log in as a network administrator, install the suite (and I've tried using a stand-alone install and a customised xml deployment for it) and get the following error when I try to start one of the programs such as Photoshop or Illustrator: The localized resource files for this application could not be loaded. Please reinstall or repair the application and try again Files are installed in System Drive\Program Files\Adobe folder. Now I have this installed without issue on a Windows 10 machine, so I know it's not a problem with compatibility. Has anyone else run into this and have a fix?

I've recently begun encrypting the iMac and MacBooks I have in school just for that extra level of security in the case of theft, and have done the same on the iMac that I use for Apple Configurator deployment and MacOS Server. Obviously High Sierra moved the caching from MacOS Server into the High Sierra OS itself, but since I encrypted the main drive I've run into a bit of an issue. When caching was handled by MacOS Server, I had about 60GB of Mac/iOS content stored. This was reflected in the caching properties both in MacOS Server and (subsequently) the HS OS. However, since I encrypted the drive and check the cache size to ensure it's properly working I find it saying Storage Used: None. Is this simply a glitch between HS's cache and Filevault where the cache is actually encrypted and the OS actually just can't see the size due to that, or does encryption actually mess the cache up so it no longer works. Deploying iPads is certainly slower than it used to be, which makes me assume the cache isn't working but it's down to identifying the issue as to why. Anyone else run into this or have some way of identifying if the cache is working properly that I can test? Many thanks!

Just a quick one regarding that lovely tool, Apple Configurator 2. I hope the sarcasm on the word 'lovely' conveyed itself there... I currently use a profile to prevent apps from being installed on the iPads I manage. If I want to put an app onto them, I have to hook the iPad up to the Mac (I don't have/use an MDM) and remove the profile, install the app, then reapply the profile. Is there a way to install apps without having to remove the profile first (i.e. the iPad knows it's on Configurator and drops its guard)? It's just a bit of a hassle to constantly have to drop/reapply profiles each time...

It is free, for which I am very grateful, but I do wonder if their intention was to make it so unintuitive that people would give up and pay for something else instead To be fair I only use it to set iPads up from their default settings and to deploy new apps and app/iOS updates, so it does the job I need it to, and far more efficiently (once it's working) than iTunes used to, as I had to do them one at a time with iTunes but can deploy 7-8 at once with AC2. It just really is baffling how logic seems to give it a miss, lol