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Hardware Support Apps without Microsoft Store

With versions of Windows 10 since 1809, Microsoft has introduced the concept of Modern Drivers. These new drivers have a few requirements:

  • Declarative: The driver must be INF installable with no co-installers
  • Componentized: The driver must support the architecture of having a base driver with optional extension drivers for customizations above the base functionality
  • Hardware Support Apps: Any software required for working with the device must be in the form of a UWP app available from the Microsoft Store and will be associated to this driver in the INF.

Lenovo Model Information in MDT

When using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT), the ZTIGather.wsf script will pull important information MDT needs and place it into variables for usage during a task sequence. The %Model% variable is a key piece of information during task sequences especially for targeting software and drivers.

Hosting a repository in an Azure blob

Azure

System Update v5.07.0110 and later supports Blob storage access via HTTPS

When it comes to managing a centralized Update Retriever repository, challenges arise with widely distributed environments. This is where leveraging a cloud storage solution can bring value.

Deploying Commercial Vantage with ConfigMgr

Previously, Lenovo provided two separate apps (Lenovo Settings and Lenovo Companion) that allowed the user to change hardware settings, run diagnostic scans, and check for software and driver updates. As of December 2017, all of the features in those two apps (discontinued) were merged into a single app Commercial Vantage

This post will walk through deploying Commercial Vantage as a ConfigMgr application.

MDT No Longer Detects Enclosure Correctly

The SMBIOS Specification was updated again this year to add new enclosure type values that affect the IsDesktop, IsLaptop, and IsServer variables in MDT. These variables are populated by ZTIGather.wsf. To ensure your IsDesktop, IsLaptop, IsServer variables are accurate you should upgrade your MDT environment to version 8456.