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showing posts tagged with 'windows'
 
Seizing FSMO roles in a Windows-domain
edited by on June 11th 2025, at 12:39
If for some reason, the PDC dies horribly, you are left with a semi-working domain. While the basic functionality will still be operational, certain aspects of the domain can no longer be reconfigured. If the broken DC can no longer be rescued, you need to transfer the five FSMO roles to a working DC as soon as possible as to ensure your domain will remain healthy.

If FSMO roles are not transferred time, it can have implications on the following items, depending on the roles that are located on the offline DC:

FSMO roleImplications of lossSchemaThe schema cannot be extended or reconfigured. This is not a problem unless you wish to perform a schema upgrade during the outage.Domain NamingPro  ...
 
Recommended placement of FSMO roles on 2 domain controllers
edited by on June 11th 2025, at 12:34

Based on recommendations and best practices from Microsoft, and information I found here, I compiled a FSMO placement scenario for 2 domain controllers:

DC1DC2
PDC Emulator
RID Master
Infrastructure Master		Schema Master
Domain Naming Master
Global Catalog

Also, if your domain is top-level in the AD forest, configure DC1 to sync with external time sources.

To transfer roles, it is recommended to use Powershell's Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole.

 
Copy DHCP reservations from one scope/server to another
edited by on March 27th 2020, at 11:52
On a Windows DHCP Server, if you have a lot of DHCP reservations in a particular scope on a server, and you have the need to migrate them to another scope (on the same or another server), you can do so quickly through netsh (a "legacy" command-line tool to perform network configuration on a Windows system).

Fire up a command prompt (or Powershell). First dump, the current scope configuration to a text file:

netsh dhcp server <serverIPAddress> scope <scopeAddress> dump > dump.txt

Note that if you run the command on the server where the originating scope is located, you don't need to specify the IP address/hostname of the server.

Open the text file with your favour  ...
 
Automatically enable Numlock in Windows
edited by on November 5th 2019, at 09:55
Ever since Windows 2000, by default, Numlock is turned off at the logon screen. This can be annoying if you use the numpad to type in (part of) your password. Luckily, you can change this behaviour through a registry fix.

The registry key to change is the same for all versions of Windows, but the value to enter is different depending on the version of Windows.

Fire up regedit.

Navigate to the key HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard.

Look for the registry value InitialKeyboardIndicators, which needs to be changed to:Windows 7: set the value to 2

Windows 8, 8.1, 10 (older builds): set the value to 80000002

Windows 10 (newer builds): set the value to 2147483650



Note that for Win  ...
 
How rules are evaluated in Windows Firewall
edited by on February 8th 2019, at 10:04

An excellent TechNet-article explained how rules are evaluated in Windows Firewall, specifically in what order and which rules take precedence over others.

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/13894.troubleshooting-windows-firewall-with-advanced-security-in-windows-server-2012.aspx#Rules_are_evaluated_in_a_specific_order

 
Windows Server 2016: upgrade from evaluation to full
edited by on December 20th 2018, at 15:10
On Windows Server 2016, when attempting to enter a full edition product key on an evaluation edition, you will get the error: "This edition cannot be upgraded". Fortunately, you can workaround the issue by "upgrading" via DISM (a built-in command-line tool).

Note that you will have to reboot the server when performing the upgrade, so schedule some downtime for it. Also, you cannot only convert full GUI versions of Windows Server. Server Core or Nano Server cannot be upgraded. Additionally, if you have the ADDS role installed, you need to uninstall this role before performing the upgrade.

Start an elevated command prompt, then type in the commands listed below.

First, m  ...
 
Setting network to Private in Server 2012 R2
edited by on March 22nd 2018, at 16:34
On a fresh install of Windows Server 2012R2, not joined to a domain, the first network connection (obtained through DHCP) is always treated as a Public network. Normally, when joining a domain, the network connection then becomes a Domain network, but if the server will not be joined to a domain, you probably will want to set it to Private. Unfortunately, the Public Network link in Network Center is not clickable, and thus, cannot be changed. But you can make the change anyway through the Local Security Policy.

Through Powershell (preferred method):

Look up the name of the network interface (e.g. "Local Area Connection") in the network adapters list.

Open an elevated Powershell   ...
 
Security Essentials on Windows Server 2012
edited by on October 6th 2017, at 12:49

Although unsupported, it is possible to install Microsoft Security Essentials on a Windows Server 2012.

To do this, set the compatibility of the downloaded file to Windows 7, then start that file with the parameter /disableoslimit.

The installation goes without a problem, and as far as I can tell, there are no compatibility issues.

 
Changing grayed out options in a DHCP scope (e.g. subnet)
edited by on September 15th 2017, at 10:06
Sometimes it may become necessary to make changes to a DHCP scope on your Windows DHCP Server. Unfortunately, for existing scopes, not all scope options are editable, and it can become quite a hassle to recreate the scope, especially when there are a lot of reservations. Luckily, there's a workaround which allows you to edit the scope options, which is by using netsh.

It is not possible for netsh to directly edit scope options, but you can create a dump of the complete scope configuration (including all reservations), edit the resulting file, and import it back into the DHCP server. For this to work, you'll need admin (elevated) privileges on the DHCP server.

Notice
The procedure described  ...
 
Drive in Windows still displays old size after extending the partition
edited by on August 22nd 2017, at 13:49
After successfully extending a partition on a VM, Disk Management shows the correct partition size but Explorer still shows the old size, even after a reboot.

The reason for this is that while the partition has been extended to the new size, the filesystem itself has not. Normally, Disk Management should first extend the partition, then the filesystem, but for some reason, the second part did not happen.

To resolve, perform an extension of the volume using diskpart.

Open an elevated command prompt and start diskpart (type diskpart and press Enter).

List all volumes to find out which volume number corresponds with the drive you need to resize: DISKPART> list volume



Select the volume  ...
 
Enable Windows Photo Viewer on Server 2016
edited by on July 24th 2017, at 10:06
Windows Server 2016 no longer has an option to enable Desktop Experience from Server Manager. Instead, most (but not all) features are enabled by default. One such feature is Windows Photo Viewer, which no longer seems to be available, and there's no clear way of enabling or installing it. Luckily, there's a workaround to get it enabled again.

First of, you need to check on Server 2016 whether the required files are already present. If you have selected to install the full UI, the required files should already be there:

C:\Program Files\Windows Photo Viewer\

C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Photo Viewer\

They should already be present on a fresh install of Server 2016, but if not, then you  ...
 
Latest version of iSCSI Initiator for Windows 2000 / 2003 / XP
edited by on April 3rd 2017, at 14:44

You can download the latest version of iSCSI Initiator for Windows 2000, 2003 and XP. This will upgrade any previously installed version to the latest version:

https://www.microsoft.com/download/details.aspx?id=18986

 
Damaged version of Sonicwall NetExtender on Windows 7
edited by on January 31st 2017, at 08:55
When installing Sonicwall NetExtender 8.0.241 or later on Windows 7, you may get the following error:

"Damaged version of net extender detected on your system. Please re download net extender"

The reason for this error is you probably are missing Windows Update KB3033929, which adds SHA256 support into Windows. Because SHA256 certificates are now the new norm, the latest Sonicwall certificates also use this hashing algorithm. Without the update, Windows 7 and Server 2008R2 do not have support for SHA256.

You can resolve the issue by installing the update, then reinstalling NetExtender:

Download and install KB3033929.

Uninstall Sonicwall NetExtender (via Control Panel).

Delete  ...
 
ADMT version 3.2 download links
edited by on January 19th 2017, at 14:49
ADMT stands for Active Directory Migration Tool and is used to migrate AD objects (such as users, groups, computers, etc.) from one AD forest or domain to another, supporting complex scenarios in the process.

Why Microsoft hides their most useful tools is a mystery though. So here are the download links. You will need to accept some EULAs and have a Microsoft Account if you wish to download it though.

Navigate to https://connect.microsoft.com/site1164/program8540.

If you have not done so, you will have to log on with a Microsoft Account and join the program and accept its EULA things.

Then, you will be able to click through to the download page and download ADMT version 3.2, and, if req  ...
 
Windows 7 stuck in Startup Repair
edited by on November 7th 2016, at 16:40
If your Windows 7 happens to be stuck in Startup Repair, where allowing it to repair your computer still results in going back to Startup Repair, and restoring a restore point doesn't help either, you could try to manually restore the Windows Registry to the last known good configuration.

Allow your computer to boot into Startup Repair, but rather than letting it perform the automatic repairs, click to go to the System Recovery Options menu. From there, you can open a command prompt.

Locate the system drive: this is usually the C: drive, but if not, navigate to other drivers and look for folders like Program Files, Users and Windows.

Once you've found the correct drive, navigate to the fo  ...
 
Launch processes as the SYSTEM account
edited by on August 2nd 2016, at 09:54

Sometimes, being an Administrator just isn't enough. In that case, try being the SYSTEM account... You can run processes as the local SYSTEM account quite easily with PsExec (64-bit).

Use it as follows:

psexec -i -s cmd.exe

The command above would run a command prompt as the SYSTEM account. You can replace cmd.exe with something else, although from a command prompt, you can basically run anything else, all as the SYSTEM account.

Use with caution
Running processes as the SYSTEM account can be potentially dangerous as you will bypass several built-in security restrictions. But I guess that's the reason why you want to use the SYSTEM account...
 
Uninstalling a specific Windows update through command line
edited by on June 27th 2016, at 09:42
If you're looking to uninstall a specific update, you'll find that it's quite tedicious to do this via the GUI. It shows an endless list of updates and it's very difficult to find the right one through its KB number. Fortunately, you can also uninstall updates from the command line, by specifying only its KB number, which is veeerry useful indeed.

Open an elevated command prompt and run the following command to uninstall an update by its KB number:

wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583

Replace the number with the number of the KB you wish to uninstall (the line above would uninstall the Windows 10 Upgrade prompt).

You can also add additional parameters:

wusa /uninstall /kb:3035583 /quiet /noresta  ...
 
Using one RDS WebAccess and Gateway for multiple RDS farms
edited by on June 6th 2016, at 16:24
While not recommended, it is possible to use one RDS gateway for multiple RDS farms, each with their own broker. In this case, the RDG must use the same FQDN in all deployments, and you should only make changes to its configuration from only one of the deployments.

In 2012, it is not possible to use one RDS WebAccess to service multiple brokers. It can only be used on a single deployment. Attempting to add the WebAccess server to another deployment will overwrite the configuration of the first deployment.

A better approach would be to create a single deployment with an RDS WebAccess, RDG and broker (single or HA), and add your "different deployments" as collections to the broker.  ...
 
Internet Explorer 8 for Windows XP and 2003 download links
edited by on May 23rd 2016, at 15:27
Internet Explorer 8 is the last version for Windows XP and 2003, but with them no longer being supported, the download links have been removed as well, making it difficult to download and install it. Although XP and 2003 are quite outdated, certain scenarios still require the use of XP and/or 2003.

A default install of XP/2003 contains Internet Explorer 6, so not being able to download IE8 would result in those systems running an even more outdated and unsecure browser. While IE8 isn't that much better, I consider it a tiny bit more secure, hence this article...

For the moment, the standalone installation files still exist on the Microsoft servers, but they are no longer linked to from the  ...
 
Accessing encrypted DMG in Windows
edited by on April 26th 2016, at 16:56
If you have an encrypted DMG on Mac and you need to access the contents on a Windows machine, you can use HFSExplorer!

Similar to Microsoft's Bitlocker, you can also encrypt entire drives/partitions with a high-grade security algorithm. And just like Bitlocker can encrypt virtual harddisks (VHD), Mac can encrypt volumes stored in a DMG. Out of the box, the two technologies are not at all compatible. But there are some third-party tools out there which allow you to access encrypted DMGs from Windows.

HFSExplorer is an open-source utility on Windows which can open any type of DMG and also supports opening encrypted DMGs. To install the software, you will need to have 32-bit Java installed (d  ...
 
 
showing posts tagged with 'windows'
 
 
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