Enroll device Intune without reinstalling Win10 (keep softwares)

Question

Enroll device Intune without reinstalling Win10 (keep softwares)

Chned 51

We are phasing out our on-premise AD.

What is the best way to enroll a Win10 device in Intune without re-installing the OS.
So the device should be managable with Intune and member of Azure AD.

We have a bunch of on-premise AD joined devices with all kinds of software on them and we don't want to re-install all that software.

Reza-Ameri 17,341 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2021-06-03T14:25:27.267+00:00

What type of applications are they?
Do you have any specific policies for the applications?
Chned 51 Reputation points

2021-06-03T14:41:13.05+00:00

There are a lot of different local applications, so there might be some with special settings and others don't.
The main thing we try to avoid is the need to re-install everything with the help of the different vendors. We don't have the time for that.
Jarvis Sun-MSFT 10,231 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2021-07-08T08:25:31.183+00:00

Does the reply of Jason help? Is the problem solved? If there is anything update, please feel free to let us know.

2 answers

Your answer

Reza-Ameri 17,341 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2021-06-03T14:25:27.267+00:00

What type of applications are they?
Do you have any specific policies for the applications?
Chned 51 Reputation points

2021-06-03T14:41:13.05+00:00

There are a lot of different local applications, so there might be some with special settings and others don't.
The main thing we try to avoid is the need to re-install everything with the help of the different vendors. We don't have the time for that.
Jarvis Sun-MSFT 10,231 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2021-07-08T08:25:31.183+00:00

Does the reply of Jason help? Is the problem solved? If there is anything update, please feel free to let us know.

Answer 1

Jason Sandys 31,406 Microsoft Employee Moderator

You can certainly hybrid azure AD domain join these systems to achieve that short-term goal. Keep in mind though that the systems are still on-prem AD domain joined and so not magically transformed to for remote purposes or connectivity.

Ultimately, while I understand the ask, it's fairly short-sighted as at some point, you 100% will have to reinstall these apps (when the users get new systems do to attrition, crash, hardware failure, lost/stolen device etc.) so if you haven't automated that, you're just asking for pain at some point.

Chned 51 Reputation points

2021-06-08T06:15:44.957+00:00

That is all very clear.
But what is the best way to get them in Intune without reinstalling?
Jason Sandys 31,406 Reputation points Microsoft Employee Moderator

2021-06-08T13:20:40.297+00:00

Best is in the eye of the beholder and is subjective based on the entire scenario. There are also short-term and long-term bests, along with pros and cons for different approaches so it depends on your goals, constraints, resources, etc.

Best IMO is to do things the "right" way which means not doing things like manually installing software in the first place because once you automate your software distribution and make it portable (along with data, settings, and configuration), that constraint becomes moot and enables a much better overall user and admin experience.

Answer 2

Pavel yannara Mirochnitchenko 13,336 MVP

I understand that you want to avoid OS re-install but get rid of AD and maybe Hybrid AD is not a good option? You would have to some manual work, disjoin computer from AD, sign in with local admin and join in to AAD. Existing user profiles, local user data and applications settings will be removed, but OS and Application installations will stay.

Chned 51 Reputation points

2021-07-16T08:29:07.07+00:00

Thanks, we already tested this succesfully.
By the way, I think you mean 'disjoin from AD'
Pavel yannara Mirochnitchenko 13,336 Reputation points MVP

2021-07-16T14:56:09.09+00:00

Yep sure :)

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Enroll device Intune without reinstalling Win10 (keep softwares)

2 answers

Your answer