Category Archives: Tutorials

Deploying a Registry Key / Value to HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU) – Part 2

By Scott | Published: July 20, 2020

Last year I posted this tutorial about how you can deploy a registry key/value to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU) registry hive of target computers. Following those instructions will enable you to place a registry key/value into the registry hive of all users who have logged on to the target computers. However, what if you want to […]

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Deploying Windows 10 Feature Update Version 2004 (the ‘May 2020 Update’) to Numerous Remote Computers Simultaneously

By Scott | Published: June 29, 2020

Beginning with the April 2020 release of BatchPatch, all Windows 10 feature updates/upgrades can be applied using the standard/normal Windows Update actions in BatchPatch (‘Actions > Windows updates > Download and install updates‘ or ‘Actions > Windows updates > Install downloaded updates‘). However, please note that for that to work, BatchPatch must be running in […]

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There are no applicable updates in the filtered collection

By Scott | Published: June 15, 2020

Sometimes we’ll get an email from someone who is confused about the message ‘There are no applicable updates in the filtered collection‘. They’ll note that when they execute ‘Check for available updates‘, BatchPatch finds updates, but when they execute ‘Download and install updates‘, BatchPatch reports There are no applicable updates in the filtered collection. Below […]

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Looping, Branching with Goto:Label in the BatchPatch Job Queue

By Scott | Published: May 21, 2020

The April 2020 release of BatchPatch has some new functionality in the job queue that we’re excited about. People have been asking for a while for more flexibility in the job queues, particularly to be able to create loops and have branching etc. We wanted the functionality to be as simple to use as possible […]

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Using the Job Queue to Clear ‘All Messages’ Before Executing a New Action

By Scott | Published: April 23, 2020

Some of our users launch a fresh instance of BatchPatch each time they use it, and they start with a brand new grid (or a set of grids) each time. They load their hosts and then begin patching. However, some of our users prefer to re-use the same grid file (.bps) over and over and […]

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Preventing Particular Updates from Installing on Target Computers

By Scott | Published: April 10, 2020

Under normal circumstances BatchPatch is used to initiate the download and/or installation of updates on a group of target computers. So long as you have setup your environment to work with BatchPatch as far as permissions and firewall settings are concerned, then BatchPatch can, if desired, be used without altering your existing Windows Update settings. […]

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Incorporating Custom Scripts in BatchPatch – Get Local Administrators Group Membership

By Scott | Published: March 19, 2020

Let’s have a look at how to incorporate a custom script into BatchPatch. In this case we’ll use BatchPatch to run a script that will retrieve the list of users who are members of the local administrators group on each target computer, and then optionally write it all to a text file. If you would […]

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Remotely Uninstalling Windows Updates

By Scott | Published: March 10, 2020

Let’s face it… even though we all wish Microsoft’s quality assurance and testing was better, it really seems to have gotten worse in recent years… significantly worse. There are a few primary ways that systems administrators can reduce the likelihood of encountering problems after installing Windows updates each month. First, have a testing lab setup […]

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Using the Job Queue to Execute an Ordered List of Actions on Target Computers

By Scott | Published: February 26, 2020

One of the most commonly used features in BatchPatch is the Job Queue. The Job Queue enables you to execute a series of actions, sequentially, on target hosts. Just about any action that BatchPatch can perform through manual execution can also be added to a job queue. One of the most common reasons people use […]

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Notify Users of Upcoming Reboot or other Patching Activity

By Scott | Published: February 19, 2020

When a systems administrator is performing a maintenance operation on end-user computers, one of the things that can really help significantly is being able to notify any currently logged-on users of any impending actions that are about to occur. Even if it’s a late-night or early-morning maintenance window, you never really know who might actually […]

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