At the time of writing Windows Admin Center has been around for almost 18 months, in those 18 months it’s come a long way and is still being actively developed and updated. It’s a simple install, can be installed on either Windows 10 or Server 2016/2019, doesn’t require an internet connection or Azure, and will work with your existing on-prem servers. It’s also free. Windows Admin Center (WAC) is a much needed tool for modernising the management of servers in the Microsoft ecosystem.

As you may be able to tell I’ve updated the site design and structure to assist in finding the most relevant information. I’ve also recently updated all my PowerShell utilities to support custom subject lines in the email output, along with a few other improvements and fixes. The best place to get my most up to date utilities and see other scripts I’m working on is on my GitHub. I still update the scripts on TechNet and PowerShell Gallery, but GitHub is where I focus my work.

I’ve been deploying Windows since the Windows 2000 and Ghost days. I began deploying Windows 10 at scale with version 1607, and over the years I’ve learned a lot and developed a good and proven system for building and deploying reference images using Task Sequences and Microsoft Deployment Toolkit. Windows 11 is (so far) very similar to Windows 10, but I’ll be continuing my deployment guides and tips just as before.

Hi there I’m Mike Galvin. I have been working in IT for almost 20 years, starting with first-line support and moving through several technical roles. I have always been more interested in the problem solving and implementation side of IT ever since I first started rolling out Windows 2000. My primary skills are in server and desktop Operating System deployment, Group Policy, Active Directory, and scripting. This site is where I post solutions I want to share with others in the technical community and documentation about my own scripts and utilities that I create.

3D Maze Remix - Available for Windows, macOS and Linux A simple 3D Maze game built in Unity, based off the Windows 9x screensaver. Download and Play for Free Development History Warframe Community Tools Warframe Stream Schedule A countdown and information website to track Warframe livestreams times for different time zones. Made with HTML,CSS and Javascript Link: Warframe Stream Schedule Warframe Release Stats A google sheet with many formulas release statistics of all the Warframes released in the game ‘Warframe’ by Digital Extremes.

Over the years I’ve built a number of Windows Utilities. These scripts are aimed at IT workers and enthusiasts to help automate common tasks. I maintain them on GitHub and also make them available on Microsoft’s PowerShell Gallery. Below are links to the documentation pages for each utility. These are free for anyone to use, but if you like them and want to support their development monetarily, please check out these links:

Microsoft Office Update Manager Office Update Utility is available from: GitHub The Microsoft PowerShell Gallery Please consider supporting my work: Support with a one-time donation using PayPal. Please report any problems via the ‘issues’ tab on GitHub. Thanks -Mike Features and Requirements This utility will check for and download update files for Microsoft Office. It can also remove old update files. This utility requires the Office Deployment Tool a free download available here.

Download it from the Microsoft TechNet Gallery the PowerShell Gallery and GitHub. Today I’ve released a minor update to my Hyper-V Backup Utility. In version 4.4 I’ve added more feedback when the script is used interactively. Whether you are running Hyper-V on a Windows 10 desktop or a Windows Server 2016 cluster, this utility can be used to backup your virtual machines. My original post with the full documentation is available here.

If you’re familiar with deploying Office 2016 or any previous version, then the first big change when looking into Office 2019 or Office 365 is that there is no longer an MSI installer. Office 2019/Office 365 is now only available as a ‘Click-to-Run’ installation, which means we’ll need to change how we package, deploy and update Office 2019 or Office 365. Links to sites used in this post: Download the Office Deployment Tool (ODT) from Microsoft here.

Here’s a couple of helpful tips and tricks I’ve found from Windows 10 1909/1903 and previous versions. Let’s get into them! Search and Cortana Are Separated In 1903/1909 A good change IMO and my first impressions of the new search is that it’s back to being as good as Windows 7’s. The search bar on the Taskbar is now just search and has nothing to do with Cortana. By default the search bar is expanded on the Taskbar and Cortana is just an icon.

I’ve updated my previous post on removing the built-in apps from Windows 10 to reflect the minor changes in the Windows 10 1903 May 2019 Update. You can find that post here, or under the Windows Deployment menu at the top of the page, and click on 1903 May 2019 Update (19H1). If you have any questions or comments please leave them below. Thank you. -Mike

Current Known Issue: With the Windows 10 1903 ADK on 64-bit, the Windows System Image Manager (WSIM) will fail to generate a catalogue. Microsoft has issued a fix which you can download here. The fix contains two updated files, ImageCat.exe and ImgMgr.exe which need to be copied to the location the ADK is installed. By default the location is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Deployment Tools\WSIM. After installation you will still not be able to access the WSIM through MDT, but launching WSIM manually and then opening the install.

Current Known Issue: With the Windows 10 1903 ADK on 64-bit, the Windows System Image Manager (WSIM) will fail to generate a catalogue. Microsoft has issued a fix which you can download here. The fix contains two updated files, ImageCat.exe and ImgMgr.exe which need to be copied to the location the ADK is installed. By default the location is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Deployment Tools\WSIM. After installation you will still not be able to access the WSIM through MDT, but launching WSIM manually and then opening the install.