The instructions in this post outline how to execute arbitrary code with administrator privileges on the Windows logon screen before the user signs in.

PowerApps is a low-code platform from Microsoft that enables businesses and individuals to quickly build custom applications for web and mobile, connecting to various data sources without extensive coding experience. I'm new to PowerApps and initially relied on guides on the internet to build my first app. The app was simple: collect user input and send it to Power Automate for processing. However, online guides can sometimes be outdated, and I ran into trouble with a deprecated Power Automate trigger called 'Ask in PowerApps.' The recommended solution is to use the newer PowerApps V2 trigger; this guide will show you how.

The Windows setup goes through several phases, with the last one being the Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE). It presents users with multiple dialogs for system configuration. Some settings are security-related, while others may be unclear to many users. Using an answer file, they can be automatically customized.

Ansible Vault allows you to encrypt sensitive data such as passwords, keys, and other secrets rather than storing them as plaintext in your playbooks or roles. In this tutorial, I will explain how to use Ansible Vault to encrypt and decrypt data during playbook runtime.

iVentory allows for easy Windows 11 deployment using a PXE server. The solution includes a DHCP server, provides image management, including automation through answer files, and can be managed via a web console. It's free for private and 49 USD per server for commercial use.

Ansible Facts are essential system information gathered from remote hosts during playbook execution. This information is crucial for making informed decisions before executing any actions. In this tutorial, I will demonstrate how to use Ansible Facts to retrieve system information and make deployment decisions using the when conditional statement.

If you want to pin the same program icons to the Start menu of many computers, you can export a reference configuration in JSON format and distribute it to the target PCs on the network. However, in Windows 11, this method no longer works when using Group Policy. If you don't have an MDM solution, two workarounds exist.

An Ansible loop allows you to repeat a task or a set of tasks multiple times with different values, reducing code duplication and making playbooks more concise and maintainable. Instead of writing the same task multiple times with slight variations, you can use loops to iterate over a list of items and perform the task(s) accordingly. A conditional controls the flow of tasks based on specific conditions or criteria within playbooks. Sometimes, you must install software only on specific operating systems or if certain dependencies are met. Conditionals allow you to control the execution of tasks based on these conditions, ensuring your playbooks adapt to different environments and avoid unnecessary actions. In this tutorial, I will provide simple examples of using loops and conditionals in Ansible.

In this post, you will learn what to do when Sysprep fails and how to fix the error: Sysprep was not able to validate your Windows installation.

If you want to deploy a web server like Apache or Nginx with Ansible, you can create a playbook outlining the installation and configuration steps. This approach works well for a single web server but can become repetitive and time-consuming if you need to deploy many servers. To streamline the process, you can use Ansible roles to avoid duplicating tasks and make deployment more efficient. To introduce the concept, this post provides a simple example of using Ansible roles.

Users will gradually receive the new Teams client depending on the license and update channel. Microsoft now offers a bulk installer for businesses looking to migrate to the new version. Subsequently, admins can enforce a specific client for users using a policy.

One of the most noticeable innovations of Windows 11 is the redesigned Start menu. This changes not only its appearance but also its technical foundations. However, the settings in the Group Policy have remained mainly the same, so it is unclear which ones still apply.

In a recent blog article, we discussed enabling or disabling Windows Copilot in Windows and Edge. One of the most common problems reported by end users is the fact that Windows 11 Copilot is not available or not working. In this blog article, I will go through various issues you might face and explain how to solve them.

If you want to centrally manage proxy settings for the Mozilla browser in a network, a Group Policy is available. Unlike Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, Firefox cannot only inherit the proxy configuration from Windows but can also receive it directly via GPO.

Before deploying to clients, you should update a Windows image with the latest patches and customize it to meet their needs. Depending on the deployment method, you need to provide the WIM archive on a bootable ISO file. This can be created using the tools from the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK).

Before deployment, Microsoft ISO's install .wim or custom images should be updated. With the DISM module in PowerShell, you can add .msu updates, apps, and drivers to a Windows image offline without the need to boot it up.

Explore Pulseway 9.4 remote monitoring and management's latest features: enhanced reporting, advanced automation, improved patching, and upgraded remote control for efficient IT management.

Organizations can dictate the appearance of the Windows taskbar for all computers in the network. This primarily involves pinning important applications. To do this, admins configure the apps for the taskbar in an XML file. This file can then be distributed to the end devices via GPO or Microsoft Intune.

The post Customizing and deploying the Windows 11 Taskbar with GPO or Intune first appeared on 4sysops.