Windows Server 2008, 2012, 2016, 2019 & 2022 How To’s
We recently had a client who found that their Entra Cloud Sync (Formerly Azure AD Connect) Which was installed in Chicago was using a Domain Controller in Toronto for its changes. That is very odd because we thought Entra Cloud Sync / Azure AD Connect would use Active Directory Sites Read more…
Is your Windows Update broken? Obviously there are a lot of reasons why Windows Update can fail but here are some of the most common things that you can look for before you get into serious troubleshooting. When solving any technical problem it’s always best to start at the start Read more…
An awful lot of people think that snapshots are backups when in fact they are only good for rolling back to a the time they were taken and useless for most other purposes. Snapshots simply record all changes to the base disk since they were taken and freeze the VMDK Read more…
This is a follow up list to the top 200 worst passwords which we have HERE. This list shows the top 25 most common worst passwords used in the United States. This list was compiled by looking at recently hacked website information and filtering it by country; in this case Read more…
The Connected Devices Platform Service (CDPSvc) was first seen in Windows 10 1511 and while it was disabled by default, Microsoft changed it to start Automatically (Delayed Start) in Windows 10 1607. Some users have noted that the service is chewing most of their CPU from time to time and Read more…
It’s not uncommon to find poorly kept active directories. The more administrators there are and the more time that has elapsed it is common to find very poor active directory hygiene. One thing that a lot of administrators like to do is leave old accounts as disabled, scattered throughout the Read more…
If your Windows 10 or Windows 11 or even Windows Server, is having problems like: there are a five easy things you can do to fix the problems: 1 – Uninstall Windows Bloatware Programs Just right click on your start button and select INSTALLED APPS (or PROGRAMS AND FEATURES… depends Read more…
Windows Server has a feature called PROTECT CONTAINER FROM ACCIDENTAL DELETION that blocks even Domain and Enterprise Administrators from deleting Organizational Units, Computers, Printers and other AD objects. Speaking from personal experience in early 2000’s, I can tell you that this is a really nice feature because you can really Read more…
The SQL Server Browser service allows users to easily connect to a SQL instance when there are multiple instances on the same computer. Without the SQL browser service you would need to assign port numbers to each instance to differentiate between them, which is a minor pain. So if like Read more…
If you’re working with a Asigra backup and you launch the DS Classic client, you might see this error: This likely resulted from your Java runtime being updated and you either need to recreate the shortcut or adjust the path. Asigra does not use traditional shortcuts; it is just a Read more…
After you have FTP setup in IIS, you might find that you want to be able to set each users FTP folder. To do this you need to set IIS FTP to run in USER ISOLATION MODE, and while this not hard, is it not obvious.
The Intersite Messaging Service has been around since Windows 2000 Server and it provides Domain Controllers with the ability to to communication to servers in other sites. However, the Intersite Messaging Service also provides services to many other Windows services including SMTP, LDAP, and Knowledge Consistency Checker (KCC). Enables messages Read more…
October will be the last (unpaid) update available for Windows Server 2012R2 which means if you patch your servers every quarter, you have until January 2024 to upgrade them… if you want to stay safe. We have upgraded many servers from Server 2012R2 to Server 2016 and while the process Read more…
In this tutorial, we’re diving into an EASY and straightforward command that will help you export users from an Active Directory group into a CSV Excel file. Whether you’re a seasoned IT professional or just getting started, this step-by-step guide will have you exporting user data in no time. 0:00 Read more…
If you were on a Windows computer and you need to know the MAC address it is using you can simply use IPCONFIG /ALL in a command prompt. However, what if you don’t know anything more than the host name or IP address of a device, it is a bit Read more…
There are many reasons why you might need to know the MAC address of a device on your network but one of the most common reasons is because you need the MAC to give the device a reservation in your DHCP server. Let’s go over a few concepts. What is Read more…