#Windows

• Open Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)

• Change entry at Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Specify settings for optional component installation and component repair to “Enabled” and check the box for “Download repair content and optional features directly from Windows Update instead of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)”

• Run gpupdate in Command Prompt.

• Open Settings > Apps > Apps & features > Optional features and click “Add a feature”. Search for and install “RSAT: Active Directory Domain Services and Lightweight Directory Services Tools”

Alternatively, you can add it through Powershell:

Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name Rsat.ActiveDirectory.DS-LDS.Tools~~~~0.0.1.0

• Verify the installation was complete by running Import-Module activedirectory in Powershell.

#Windows #Intune

On Windows, to allow Quick Assist to display UAC prompts to a remote user, you need to make a few quick changes.

Microsoft Endpoint (Intune)

Older instructions are here: https://www.cloud-boy.be/portfolio/run-as-admin-gives-black-screen-in-quick-assist-teamviewer-intune-fix/ [A]

New instructions are:

1. Open the Endpoint management dashboard

2. Click on “Devices” and select “Configuration profiles”. Click on “Create profile”. Change Platform to “Windows 10 and later” and the Profile type field to “Settings catalog (preview)”. Click the “Create” button.

3. Give it a basic name and navigate to the “Configuration settings” page.

4. Click the “Add settings” button. Double click on the “Local Policies Security Options” entry in the Settings picker pane on the right. Check the box for the option “User Account Control Switch To The Secure Desktop When Prompting For Elevation”. Back on the main settings area to the left, change the dropdown to “Disabled” and click the “Next” button.

5. Enable the policy to all devices (as needed) and then test.

Discuss...

#Windows

%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\CachedFiles

or just...

%appdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\TranscodedWallpaper

I'm just writing this down for my notes.

#Windows #Powershell

# Uninstall-UmbrellaRoamingClient
# Tim D'Annecy 2021-06-04
# Removes Cisco Umbrella Roaming Client.

function Uninstall-UmbrellaRoamingClient {
    [CmdletBinding()]
    param ()
 
    $UmbrellaStatus = (Get-Service -Name 'Umbrella_RC').Status

    If ( $UmbrellaStatus = 'Running' ) {
        Write-Host 'Roaming Client was running. Stopping now.'
        Stop-Service -Name 'Umbrella_RC' -Force
        try {
            #wmic Product where "name='Umbrella Roaming Client'" call uninstall
            (Get-WmiObject -Class win32_product -Filter "Name='Umbrella Roaming Client'").Uninstall()
            Write-Host 'Umbrella successfully uninstalled using wmic call.'
            Start-Sleep -Seconds 5
            Clear-DnsClientCache
        }
        catch {
            Write-Host 'Umbrella could not be uninstalled.'
        }
    }
    else {
        Write-Host 'Roaming Client was not running. Exiting.'
    }
}

Uninstall-UmbrellaRoamingClient

#Windows #Powershell

While most organizations are moving files to cloud-based solutions, I'm working for a client who wants to keep everything in-house. In this environment, some users had a private folder under a previous drive letter mapping, others didn't have anything at all.

I created this quick and dirty Powershell script to automate the cleanup process for existing users.

This script gets all users from AD, sets their HomeDirectory attribute in AD to a fileshare and mounts it on the U: drive, and creates private folders with the correct ACL permissions.

# Assign-PrivateDrive
# Tim D'Annecy 2021-07-09
# Creates shared drive folder with correct permissions and sets AD property.

function Assign-PrivateDrive {
    param()

    Import-Module ActiveDirectory
    $driveLetter = 'U:'
    $PrimaryDC = 'sample.dc'
    $activeOUDN = 'OU=Users,DC=sample,DC=local'

    $users = Get-ADUser -Filter { Enabled -eq $true }  -SearchBase $activeOUDN -Properties * 
    foreach ($user in $users) {
        $UserSAM = $user.SamAccountName
        $fullPath = "\\samplefs\share\Private\{0}" -f $UserSAM
        Set-ADUser -Server $PrimaryDC -Identity $UserSAM -HomeDrive $driveLetter -HomeDirectory $fullPath 
        
        if (!(Test-Path -Path $fullPath )) {
            Write-Host "Creating directory at $fullPath"
            New-Item -path $fullPath -ItemType Directory
            $acl = Get-Acl $fullPath

            $FileSystemRights = [System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemRights]"Modify"
            $AccessControlType = [System.Security.AccessControl.AccessControlType]::Allow
            $InheritanceFlags = [System.Security.AccessControl.InheritanceFlags]"ContainerInherit, ObjectInherit"
            $PropagationFlags = [System.Security.AccessControl.PropagationFlags]"InheritOnly"
    
            $AccessRule = New-Object System.Security.AccessControl.FileSystemAccessRule ("sample\$UserSAM", $FileSystemRights, $InheritanceFlags, $PropagationFlags, $AccessControlType)
            $acl.AddAccessRule($AccessRule)
            
            Write-Host 'Setting permissions on folder.'
            Set-Acl -Path $fullPath -AclObject $acl 
        }
        else {
            Write-Host "Skipping $($user.Name) . Directory found at $fullPath"
        }
    } 
}

Assign-PrivateDrive

#Windows #AutoHotkey

I wrote an AutoHotkey script that inserts commonly used text when a keystroke is pressed.

I had issues using the script with Active Directory Users and Computers. I would press the hotkey, but nothing would happen. This has something to do with how Windows handles UAC. Luckily, AHK has a workaround.

Found out from the AHK FAQ that I needed to rerun the AHK installer, select “Modify” in the installer, and check the box for “Add 'Run with UI Access' to context menus”.

Now, I can run my script and interact with ADUC windows without issues.

Making this note for myself for future reference.

#Windows #Powershell

I found a great way to have something similar to the GNU program top on Windows in Powershell in this Stack Exchange post.

While(1) {ps | sort -des cpu | select -f 15 | ft -a; sleep 1; cls}

It's not the exact same app, but it gives you the top 15 running processes sorted by CPU load.

#Windows #AutoHotkey

This AutoHotkey script improves the way Windows inserts accents to be more MacOS-like. I don't like the way the International keyboard handles, so I wrote this script.

Press the right Shift key with one of the letters a,c,e,i,n,o,u to get those characters with commonly used accent or alternative characters. The left Shift key will capitalize as normal. The Control key can also be used for other characters.

• o + right Shift = ó
• o + right Shift + left Shift = Ó
• o + right Shift + Control = ö
• o + right Shift + left Shift + Control = Ö
• ? + right Shift = ¿

And so on.

; Accent keys, used with Right Shift key
RShift & 4::Send {€}
return

RShift & A::
    If GetKeyState("LShift", "P")
        Send {Á}
	Else Send {á}
return

RShift & C::
	If GetKeyState("LShift", "P")
		Send {Ç}
	Else Send {ç}
return

RShift & E::
	If GetKeyState("LShift", "P")
		Send {É}
	Else Send {é}
return

RShift & I::
	If GetKeyState("LShift", "P")
		Send {Í}
	Else Send {í}
return

RShift & N::
	If GetKeyState("LShift", "P")
		Send {Ñ}
	Else Send {ñ}
return

RShift & O::
	If GetKeyState("LShift", "P")
		If GetKeyState("Control", "P")
			Send {Ö}
		Else Send {Ó}

	Else If GetKeyState("Control", "P")
			Send {ö}
		Else Send {ó}
return

RShift & U::
	If GetKeyState("LShift", "P")
		If GetKeyState("Control", "P")
			Send {Ü}
		Else Send {Ú}
	Else If GetKeyState("Control", "P")
			Send {ü}
		Else Send {ú}
return

RShift & ?::Send {¿}
return

#Windows #AutoHotkey

This script inserts the date into the current cursor position after a hotkey is pressed.

• ddd inserts the date like 2021-01-09

• DDD inserts the date like 2021-Jan-09

• fff inserts the date like 20210109T084323-0400

• FFF inserts the date like 20210109 @ 084344-0400

#SingleInstance force

:R*?:DDD::
    if GetKeyState("LShift", "P") {
        FormatTime, CurrentDateTime, , yyy-MMM-dd
        SendInput %CurrentDateTime%
    }
     else {
        FormatTime, CurrentDateTime, , yyy-MM-dd
        SendInput %CurrentDateTime%
    }
return

:R*?:FFF::
    if GetKeyState("LShift", "P") {
        FormatTime, CurrentDate, , yyyyMMdd
        FormatTime, CurrentTime, , HHmmss-0400
        SendInput %CurrentDate% @ %CurrentTime%
    }
     else {
        FormatTime, CurrentDateTime, , yyyyMMddTHHmmss-0400
        SendInput %CurrentDateTime%
    }
return

#Windows #Azure #EndpointIntune

The Freshservice Discovery Agent helps you keep track of your assets by sending details (and updates) about the machine it is installed on. You can use Microsoft Endpoint/Intune to deploy the Discovery Agent in all the computers in your tenant.

Download Discovery Agent

1. In Freshservice, go to Admin –> Discovery

2. In the Download Agent section, choose Windows. Click the Download Agent button.

Download Microsoft Win32 Content Prep Tool

1. Go to the Microsoft Win32 Content Prep Tool Github page. Click on IntuneWinAppUtil.exe.

2. Click the Download button.

Creating the IntuneApp

1. Open Windows Terminal or PowerShell as an Admin. Navigate to the downloaded exe file using cd

2. Type the command .\IntuneWinAppUtil.exe and press Enter.

3. Fill in the information requested by the packager:

   • Please specify the source folder: Type . to use the current directory. I downloaded my Freshservice msi in a folder on the same level, so my entry would be ../FS

   • Please specify the setup file: Enter the location of the Freshservice Discovery Agent msi file. Mine is ../FS/fs-windows-agent-2.7.0.msi

   • Please specify the output folder: Type . to use the current directory. I put mine back in ../FS

   • Do you want to specify catalog folder (Y/N)? Just type n to continue.

4. After entering that information, the package will be built in the location you specified.

Create deployment package in Microsoft Endpoint/Intune

1. Navigate to the Microsoft Endpoint main page.

2. Click on the Apps blade on the right-side menu.

3. Click All apps in the menu and then click on the Add button.

4. Choose Windows app (Win32) in the dropdown menu for App type and then click the Select button to continue.

5. In the first page of the wizard, click the link Select app package file. Find the .intunewin package and click the OK button to begin uploading.

6. Back on the “Add information” tab, put in the required information and click the Next button to continue.

7. On the “Program” tab, don't change any of the default options. Click the Next button.

8. On the “Requirements” tab, change the two required options. Click the Next button.

   • For “Operating system architecture”, select both 32 bit and 64 bit.

   • For “Minimum operating system”, select the lowest value. In this case, it's Windows 10 1607.

1. On the “Detection rule” tab, change the “Rules format” dropdown to “Manually configure detection rules.” Click the link to Add a new rule. In the popup pane, change the “Rule type” to “MSI” and the MSI product code should automatically generate the correct number. Click the OK button to continue and then Next.

2. On the “Dependencies” tab, just leave default and click the Next button.

3. On the “Assignments” tab, select the groups in the Required category on which you want the Freshservice Discovery tool to be installed. Click the Next button.

4. On the “Review + create” tab, make sure the options look correct and then click the Create button.

5. Remain on the page for a few minutes while the package uploads. When it's finished uploading and processing, the assignments will be populated and computers in the group will begin to receive the deployment.

More information here:

• Microsoft documentation: Prepare Win32 app content for upload

• Microsoft documentation: Win32 app management in Microsoft Intune

• Freshservice support: Installing Discovery Agent (Win) in a Domain (using GPO)