Registering New Surface Devices to Autopilot

[Stephanie Nichols]

Hi, 

I just ordered a small batch of Surfaces from Microsoft Store for Education which I planned to deploy with Autopilot.  Right from the beginning, I let the sales agent know we were planning to use Windows Autopilot but they didn't have any information on how to enroll our devices and can't provide the device information.  I've been moved around to various Microsoft support divisions (Store, Windows 10, Surface) but nobody seems to have heard about Autopilot. 

I suspect the problem is that I don't fit into the standard box of people using Autopilot, a smaller company and a nonprofit.  Maybe the sales staff I worked with haven't been looped in yet?

The devices are being delivered as I type and I still haven't made any progress.  Any insights on what I should do next time to ensure the next batch gets enrolled?  Any last minute ideas to get devices delivered today enrolled?

Thanks!

Stephanie

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Hi Stephanie,
I have no idea how to get the information for the next batch, but it is possible to query your device from the first OOBE screen using CMD and this script https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/Get-WindowsAutoPilotInfo/1.3 and save it to a USB for example. Yes it takes a few minutes per Surface, but than you could just start using AutoPilot.

[#3]

Thanks for your response Peter, that's exactly what I did and it worked well.  Not quite as slick as the full autopilot experience but it was not a problem for a small batch of devices.

[#4]

I was in the same situation during a small pilot and used the script. Fortunately now received AutoPilot info from HP!

[#5]

Hey Stephanie,

Who is the hardware vendor ? As you probs know all the approved vendors have the autopilot onboarding service (at a cost) or the partners have access to do this for you. I guess it depends how many you are ordering I think Lenovo are $5 per box not sure on other vendors. otherwise as you have do will need to upload the machine details and loaded the AutioPilot module which sucks I guess :( 

[#6]

Hi Robert,

They were all 2018 Surfaces which were ordered directly from Microsoft, the Microsoft Store for Education specifically.  It's too early to tell definitively, but it ended up working out fine harvesting the device data using PowerShell and using Intune without enrolling in Autopilot using the Company Portal app.