Deployment and Imaging Group

Thanks for the info guys, two other questions for people:

Do you use aduit mode when building the image?

Are you guys leaving the store or removing it?

The link for the Whitepaper appears to be unavailable at the moment.

There is also this PowerShell script created by a user called Lite8:

#push the current dir to memory
pushd
#Enter the Mounting folder
cd Temp
#run dir to be sure you have windows folder there
#Get packages list excluding en-us packages
$s = dir .\Windows\servicing\Packages\*.cat -Exclude *en-US*,*en-*Package*
# Filter Packages
$s = (dir $s -Include *senseclient*,*WindowsFeedback*,*Windows-Skype-ORTC*,*Windows-Prerelease*,*Windows-DiagTrack*,*Windows-ContactSupport*,*OneCore-Maps*,*OneDrive*,*TroubleShooting*,*Search2*,*Cortana*,*Xbox*,*Defender* -Exclude *AutoMerged-xbox*).BaseName
#Count - empty means error or pkgs already removed
$s; $s.count
# Hive reg
reg.exe load HKLM\111 ".\Windows\System32\config\software"
#
cd "HKLM:\111\Microsoft\windows\CurrentVersion\Component Based Servicing\Packages"
# Remove Owners from reg
$s | foreach { join-path $PSItem \owners | rd }
#return to memrized working dir
popd
# save reg and unhive
reg.exe unload HKLM\111
# remove packages
$s |  foreach { dism /ScratchDir:. /image:temp /Remove-Package /PackageName:$PSItem }

I haven't tried it yet, though.

Hi Cody, I use the below (hopefully I understood what you look for) to remove these and works fine for me...

#powershell
$AppsList = "Microsoft.XboxApp", "Microsoft.XboxIdentityProvider", "Microsoft.ZuneMusic", "Microsoft.ZuneVideo", "Microsoft.CommsPhone", "Microsoft.BingFinance", "Microsoft.BingNews", "Microsoft.BingSports", "Microsoft.Office.Sway", "Microsoft.WindowsSoundRecorder", "Microsoft.WindowsMaps", "Microsoft.WindowsFeedbackHub", "Microsoft.People", "Microsoft.Office.OneNote", "Microsoft.MicrosoftSolitaireCollection", "Microsoft.MicrosoftOfficeHub", "Microsoft.Messaging", "Microsoft.Getstarted", "Microsoft.BingWeather", "Microsoft.Advertising.Xaml", "Microsoft.Advertising.Xaml", "Windows.PrintDialog", "Microsoft.XboxGameCallableUI", "Microsoft.Windows.CloudExperienceHost", "Windows.ContactSupport", "Windows.MiracastView"


ForEach ($App in $AppsList) 
{ 
    $PackageFullName = (Get-AppxPackage $App).PackageFullName
    $ProPackageFullName = (Get-AppxProvisionedPackage -online | where {$_.Displayname -eq $App}).PackageName
        write-host $PackageFullName
        Write-Host $ProPackageFullName 
    if ($PackageFullName) 
    { 
        Write-Host "Removing Package: $App"
        remove-AppxPackage -package $PackageFullName 
    } 
    else 
    { 
        Write-Host "Unable to find package: $App" 
    } 
        if ($ProPackageFullName) 
    { 
        Write-Host "Removing Provisioned Package: $ProPackageFullName"
        Remove-AppxProvisionedPackage -online -packagename $ProPackageFullName 
    } 
    else 
    { 
        Write-Host "Unable to find provisioned package: $App" 
    } 
}

In addition, I replace the standard layout XML (Start Menu) with a custom one (LayoutModification.xml) to match what we need in our environment.

-BBC

We have the same issue at the moment and we're slowly finding out different scripts and GP's to get rid of "some" of the bloatware.  So far we've managed to get rid of all of the apps for local users, and all of the consumer stuff (Candy Crush, Xbox, Minecraft, Twitter app icons) for domain users.  We're just missing that elusive setting for successfully getting rid of the other built-in apps for domain users.

The GPO for getting rid of consumer apps mentioned above is as follows:

Computer Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \ Cloud Content \ Turn off Microsoft consumer experiences

If you do manage to find anything else that may help - please report back here.

How are people handling the metro apps after doing an in-place upgrade? I have yet to find a solid script that I run that removes all of the bloatware for every user.

Hi Cody,

Please download Win10Whitepaper Collateral.7z from David first post (it's in attachedmnt).

Place REL_-_Windows_10_Enterprise_x64_OS_Source_(1607).xml and REL_-_Windows_10_Enterprise_x86_OS_Source_(1607).xml in any empty folder and specify it in Software Resource Replicator in Import Softrare Resources tab.

After that you can change package location as described in David Whitepaper.

I'm agree with you that it's not clear in this white paper that you need to use xml files from attachment on the Symantec Connect page.

Regards,
Dmitri

Hi Cody,

Please verify that user which is used to run the Software replicator tool have rights to access the DB. For more details please see  How to use the Software Resource Replicator utility at http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH166711

Regards,
Dmitri

What i'm confused on is looking in the collateral folder the REL_-_Windows_10_Enterprise_x64_OS_Source_(1607) is not the version of windows I'm using and if you edit the file it's pointing everything to folders I don't even have. So do I need to create this info on my own? it seems like they left out a entire chunk of the instructions in the white paper about how this works.

So i was able to get a new image to work fine but now moving onto the in place upgrade and running into a issue. I have the replicator tool but whenever I point it to the collateral folder on my NS I get the below msg in logging:

6/23/2017 6:46:42 AM: 0 files from 100 was processed
6/23/2017 6:46:42 AM: unexpected error during processing file:
6/23/2017 6:46:42 AM: exception: Failed to construct DatabaseContext object. Connection to database failed.

The only difference between migrating from an existing OS and doing it from scratch is the option to upgrade in-place and a personality migration. Just skip those parts and you're all set.

The Whitepaper and sample jobs will indeed be released with the launch event.

[added some edits]

Hi, thanks for posting.

There is (rightly) a lot of confusion about Norton Ghost and what if anything replaces it. While in principal Ghost Solution Suite includes the same Ghost binaries as Norton Ghost they are not generally comparable products. GSS is now squarely focused on the needs of business customers while Norton Ghost was geared towards consumer use. Unfortunately there is no direct replacement for Norton Ghost and while we have some customers using GSS in smaller numbers, it's sometimes not cost effective or appropriate to do that.

Much will depend on how many machines you're running, can you share that information?

Thanks,

David

This sounds very useful.  Will this documentation also include the capture and deployment of a Windows 10 image from scratch (rather than migration from an existing OS)?  If not, does that information already exist somewhere?  Finally, any ETA on when this information will be avaiable - I assume after the 8.1 launch webinar?

"What do I do to get up and running again (where the heck do I find installation instructions!)"

If you have fewer computer than, let's say 30, Install The Ghost Standard Tools and use Ghostcast server and Boot Disk Creator to capture and deploy images. If you have hundred of computers, install the whole suite console; the full suite requires a DB server, if doing a simple install, it installs SQL express server 2014.

How to download and license Ghost Solution Suite 3.1 http://www.symantec.com/docs/INFO3509

Video tutorials on how to install and use Ghost are here http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC8558

Platform Support matrix: https://support.symantec.com/en_US/article.TECH234513.html

And our License department can be reached at 1-800-721-3934,  Option 2 ask them about your license and specifically if you can get a license file for Ghost 3.2.

Note: I uploaded a PDF file that explains how to use Ghost, from installing to configuring and capturing/deploying images, it is a short version of requirements with link to documents on how to accomplish tasks. It was written for Ghost 3.1, but it is the same principles for 3.2. Official documentation is located here  http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC8558

I purchased Norton Ghost 15 a few years ago to clone my PC's and wanted to use it again on my Win10 laptop, just to find to my horror that it no longer exists and that it was replaced with Symantec Ghost Solution Suite...

So, after reading a lot of stuff, I registered for the trial version of GSS, just to be told on the pre-eequisite check (installation) that;

SERVER CHECK SUMMARY:
    FAILED - GSS is supported on Server OS only. This OS is not a Server OS. There may be performance implications running GSS on a client OS.

    FAILED - GSS requires the logged on user to be part of local administrator group. The current logged on user is not a admin user.

    FAILED - GSS requires the UAC to be disabled. UAC is currently enabled on this machine.

What the heck... What do I do to get up and running again (where the heck do I find installation instructions!), and what happens to the license of NG15 i purchased?

Here's hoping someone will be able to assist...