Win10 – “Sets” – What belongs together, stays together!

So Microsoft eared all about it and developed “Sets”. This is not the final and definitive name but will be available soon for everyone on Windows Insider Program (WIP).

This new feature will allow users to have a similar experience with tabs like in Edge browser.
The new mantra for “Sets” is that what belongs together stays together.
Basically this means that you can aggregate on a single window everything you need about a subject.

For example, during a project, you need to browse some websites, edit your PowerPoint presentation and create a Word document, all this on the same window what should make you work faster.

Here’s a video from Microsoft showing off Windows “Sets”:
Microsoft Windows - Sets in Windows 10

Issues – Microsoft Office Excel 2016, 2013 Cursor Flickering with Windows 10 v1709 (Fall Creators Update)

After deploying Windows 10 v1709 (Fall Creators Update) and when opening an Excel spreadsheet I’ve noticed a strange behavior where even on a blank spreadsheet the mouse cursor seemed to flicker all the time.

Thought it was something related with my display driver so I’ve updated to a different one and still the same behavior. It’s something like the video below.

This is still an ongoing investigation like reported on Microsoft Office Support website:
Excel cursor flickers after updating to Windows 10 Fall Creators Update (v1709)

Tips&Tricks – Extracting MSI from Adobe Acrobat Reader DC

It’s been a while since Adobe stopped to distributing directly the msi files to install Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, but there’s a really easy way to extract it from the exe file.

Here’s a command-line example for the latest version 18.009.20044:

1. Download the *.exe as usual from the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC Distribution website
2. Now open an elevated command-prompt and navigate to where o saved the download file
3. Run the following command-line: AcroRdrDC1800920044_en_US.exe –sfx_o”C:\Temp\Adobe” –sfx_ne

(“C:\Temp\Adobe” should be replace for your preferred location)

And you’re done.

Windows 10 – KB4048955 - Cumulative Update – November 14, 2017

It’s now available the Microsoft Windows 10 Cumulative Update November 14, 2017.
The quality update KB4048955 sets Windows 10 build to version 16299.64.

Improvements and Fixes

• Addressed issue that causes the Mixed Reality Portal to stop responding on launch.
• Addressed issue that causes a black screen to appear when you switch between windowed and full-screen modes when playing some Microsoft DirectX games.
• Addressed a compatibility issue that occurs when you play back a Game DVR PC recording using Android or iOS devices.
• Addressed issue where the functional keys stop working on Microsoft Designer Keyboards.
• Addressed issue to ensure that certain USB devices and head-mounted displays (HMD) are enumerated properly after the system wakes up from Connected Standby.
• Addressed issue where the virtual smart card doesn't assess the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) vulnerability correctly.
• Addressed issue where Get-StorageJob returns nothing when there are storage jobs running on the machine.
• Addressed issue where applications based on the Microsoft JET Database Engine (Microsoft Access 2007 and older or non-Microsoft applications) fail when creating or opening Microsoft Excel .xls files. The error message is: “Unexpected error from external database driver (1). (Microsoft JET Database Engine)".
• Addressed issue where application tiles are missing from the Start menu. Additionally, applications that the Store app show as installed don't appear on the application list of the Start menu. Computers that have Internet connectivity and upgrade on or after November 14, 2017 will receive this preventative solution and avoid this issue. Machines that lack network connectivity or have already encountered this issue should follow the steps in the Microsoft Answers thread “Missing apps after installing Windows 10 Fall Creators Update”. Microsoft will release and document an additional solution in a future release.
• Addressed issue where Microsoft Edge cannot create a WARP support process and appears to stop responding for up to 3 seconds during a wait timeout. During the timeout period, users cannot navigate or interact with the requested page.
• Security updates to Microsoft Scripting Engine, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Graphics Component, Windows kernel, Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player.

Download
You can download this cumulative update from Microsoft Update Catalog

Tips & Tricks – IE11 Enterprise Mode – Forcing to Update Websites List

Sometimes you need to do a quick change to your IE11 Enterprise Mode site list and you also need to quickly test this change.

To force the update of websites list just do the following:

1. Do you changes using the Enterprise Mode Site List Manager
2. On your target machine, close all Internet Explorer instances
3. Open registry editor (regedit.exe)
4. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Main\EnterpriseMode
5. Delete the entry called “CurrentVersion”
6. Open Internet Explorer again
7. Done!

Deploy Tips&Tricks – Removing Superseded Components After Base Image Creation

If you’re creating a base or golden image with a lot of updates, it’s good to cleanup superseded components before saving your new wim file.

Here’s a simple way using DISM command line tool:

1. Just before finish your image (on a task sequence for example)
2. Run the following command: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

This will cleanup the superseded components.
Just be aware that after running the DISM command all existing service packs or updates cannot be uninstalled.

For a complete list of available commands and options just type this on an elevated prompt:
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /?