Surface 3 - SCCM task Sequence Spordically Fails.

Boot The device by pressing power and holding down the Down volume to boot from USB. You can release the Down volume when the Surface logo appears.

It will then start recovery, and allow you to choose a Boot device. We choose, usb, and The device reboots into the Task Sequence.



Once running, we noticed that some would randomy fail to go.

On investigation, we discovered that the Date and Time were incorrect, and  this was causing the failure.

Press F8
Enter Time - Update the time to Current
Enter Date - Update date to Current.

Click Finish on the tasksequence error Screen, and in the cmd window enter tsbootshell, and press Enter to restart the sequence. (Dont close the window, however)

Remotly Get Group Policy Application on a Device

The Following command will give you a nice HTML Report of all the policy settings which are applying on a remote computer, including which policy the setting comes from in case of a conflict.

gpresult /s COMPUTERNAME /user DOMAIN\USERNAME /h outputfile.html

Make sure the account you specify has rights to the Computer you are running against.

Shedding the Office Landline

The Modern office worker often finds themselves with 3 telephony devices on their desk - A Landline phone, A Mobile Phone, and MS Lync used for video conferencing. This often leads to a collection of numerous headsets.

Enter the Jabra Pro 9465 Duo Headset. this is the only headset I am aware of that works with Lync and PC Based Soft phones via USB, A Mobile via Bluetooth, and a traditional desk phone. Setup of the headset, and switching between options is accomplished via a touchscreen on the headset base. (Left Swap Between Mobile and PC)

Since the object of the headset was to ditch my desk phone, I have not tried it with a Landline Phone. The PC integration was seamless, and the driver installed when the base station was connected via USB. Lync picked up the headset right away and i was able to make calls.

The mobile integration is the Best part. The base paired with my phone, a Blackberry Z30 during initial setup. When paired I can pickup and hangup the phone via the touchscreen. this allows me to access BlackBerry's voice dialing, which is handy, however, the touchscreen also can present a dial pad allowing me to make calls with the blackberry while it is still holstered and clipped to my belt. (Right: dial your phone while holstered)

The headset itself is quite clunky compared to either of the 2 Plantronics devices I used previously, however it is not uncomfortable.