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Clean Windows install – recover original product key
A clean re-installation of Windows 11 failed to detect the original (OEM) digital licence on the machine. The activation troubleshooter doesn't resolve the issue. You can activate your licence by identifying the product key via PowerShell and then manually enter it...
Add static route on Mac – VPN connection on same subnet as local network
A remote Mac user needed to VPN into an office network, and then RDP onto their office machine, but their home network and the office were both using the same subnet. Using the native Mac VPN client meant that the VPN connected fine, but no traffic was routed to the...
Connect to admin shares on non-domain joined system
Needing to add a non-domain joined Hyper-V host to a Veeam B&R server gave the usual issues with credentials, network discovery, and ports needing to be opened, but Veeam could still not connect to the host. An error regarding potentially invalid credentials,...
M365 – Adding new user error – “We’re sorry, it looks like that email address is already in use. Please use a different email address.”
Trying to add a new user to the 365 portal returned the error that the desired email address was already in use, but helpfully didn't tell you which account/mailbox it was in use with. To identify the existing mailbox that is using the address in question, launch...
Activate eval server install using OEM key
A Dell PowerEdge server was supplied with an OEM install of Server 2022 Std and no media. After installing the Hyper-V role on the new box you then need to install the guest OS but you have a bit of a problem: You need the software and a method of activating it....
365 Resource mailbox wrong timezone for working hours
A newly created room (resource) mailbox in M365 then appeared for a user with the working hours set to the wrong time zone, i.e. the user's regular calendars showed 8-5 as normal, but this new one showed working hours as 1600-0100. There isn't - currently - a method...
HP Failed to create Conexant Audio Factory, the SmartAudio will now exit
On many HP machines the user is plagued by an error dialogue that pops up repeatedly, and clicking OK simply delays its reappearance. The content of the dialogue is "Failed to create Conexant Audio Factory, The Smart Audio will now exit". HP suggest various things,...
A program is trying to access Outlook email address information
If you receive a slightly alarming, but somewhat random, error along the lines of "A program is trying to access Outlook email address information", this can be caused by the integration of your anti-virus client with Outlook. To check and resolve: To check current...
Open embedded Excel object error: The server application, source file, or item cannot be found
A user, recently upgraded from Office 2013 to 365, received an error dialogue when trying to edit an embedded Excel object in a Word document. This process worked flawlessly prior to the upgrade, the file had not been changed since and continued to work fine on other...
Delete old shadow copies from Windows Server Backup drive to free up disk space
A single physical server (2016) running the basic Windows Server Backup to a locally connected USB drive ran low on space on the backup destination. There was only a single full backup image (and associated files) so not a lot to do any manual pruning on. Although WSB...
External forwarding in Microsoft 365
If you have previously, or recently, added a forward to an external address on one of your 365 hosted mailboxes you may receive an NDR in the forwarding mailbox along the lines of '550 5.7.520 Access Denied. Your organization does not allow external forwarding'. The...
Enable Modern Authentication for Office/Outlook 2013
Although Office 2013 is shortly to reach its end-of-life (April 2023) it is still in fairly widespread use (from what I've seen). Recently there have been a few cases of Outlook 2013 - fully updated - failing to connect to 365 servers; Outlook shows a status of...
Excel add-in keeps reloading
Having removed a (non-existent) add-in from Excel, when you restart the program the add-in still tries to load and throws an error because it doesn't exist. To ensure it is goes away, and stays away, remove the add-in from Excel as normal, close Excel, then check the...
Updating PowerShell module fails with “cannot convert value” error
When I was recently using the Exchange Online PowerShell module it repeatedly told me I was using an out-of-date version (albeit I had 2.0.5 and this was the latest non-preview version!) and it was going to be deprecated. The link that MS provided gives you the...
Send Veeam notifications via 365
With the advent of more "modern" and secure authentication methods being demanded by the main email service protagonists (Microsoft, Google et al), the days of using a basic username and password to send email out from internal devices and systems via an SMTP server...
Act server install caused SQL VSS writer error
Recently installed Act! on a client’s existing SQL server and from that point on backing up the VM (using Veaam) failed with a VSS writer error that can be summarised as "Failed to create VM recovery checkpoint (code 32768)" Running vssadmin list writers showed the...
Configure 365 calendar permissions via PowerShell
On occasion I've had to adjust permissions on a calendar for a shared mailbox (note, not a resource mailbox) whereby all users need to be able to view all entries, but only edit/delete their own items. This can be achieved simply by setting the 'Default' user entry...
Set alternate email address for 365 accounts
Within your 365 tenant you can use the 'Alternate email address' field for each user to identify where to send links should the account be locked/password forgotten. You could of course leave this for the user to add, but if you know what the alternate should be, or...
Word/Excel 201x preview pane errors
An oldie but a goodie. A user still running Office 2013 started receiving odd errors when trying to open both Word and Excel files. In each instance the error was completely different, but the issue/solution was the same. The problem only occurred when they were...
Hyper-V guest hung before booting
Following a server reboot we had one of the Hyper-V guests (Server 2012R2 in this instance) hang on the initial Hyper-V splash screen (black background, white text) with no sign of progress, i.e. no Windows boot or spinning dots etc. Hyper-V manager showed the guest...
HP 4000 series printer ‘Resend Upgrade’ on control panel
A simple fuser kit replacement on an HP CP4025 took a rather strange turn. Having replaced the item and turned the device back on, after the initial boot screen the control panel would only show 'Resend upgrade' with no other options. This message relates to an...
Windows 10 feature update breaks Essentials connector
After every Win10 feature update you may find that your PC(s) are no longer shown as online on the server dashboard and the client connector runs but doesn't show as connected. If you try and re-run the connector from the server (https:\\<servername>\connect)...
Server Essentials Health Reports not sending after clock change
With the recent clock change (end of October) the health reports generated by Server Essentials (either role or server) fail to be sent. You'd have thought Microsoft might have fixed this bug, that was present way back in Server 2012, by now, but no such luck. The...
Save Sent Items and Deleted Items for shared mailbox in correct folders
By default in Outlook when you send, or delete, messages from a shared mailbox the sent/deleted item goes into your own primary mailbox Sent Items / Deleted Items folders. Obviously this means no-one else with access to the shared mailbox can see what you have...
Server Essentials Anywhere Access Repair wizard error
Over the last few months (2020 and later) we've had a number of issues with Microsoft's 'free' remotewebaccess.com option for Anywhere Access on Essentials (servers or standard servers with the essentials role). There seems to have been no acknowledgement from MS on...
VSS backup fails due to invalid characters in partition names
I was attempting to set up a simple Veeam backup agent on a standalone Windows PC when the installer hung on 'detecting external devices'. Cancelling the search showed the software was fully installed but when I tried to create a new job it produced an error dialogue...
Configure authoritative time server to use external source
We usually configure servers to use an external time source, but a new client's existing (2012) server was using the 'free running system clock' and was about six minutes fast. The quickest solution is to apply the registry changes outlined in the MS KB article...
Microsoft Teams web client is disabled
Someone was struggling to log in to Teams via a web browser. After doing a sanity check that they did indeed have a Teams licence in the 365 portal, and they had tried running it in an InPrivate/Incognito window (just in case), further investigation showed that the...
Restrict VPN user to access one network device (Draytek)
Needed a remote user to be able to access a server (with admin rights) but nothing else on the LAN. Without getting into detail, the option for using VLANs (tagged or otherwise) wasn't available, so needed a simple solution. Using the existing Draytek router I created...
Change Office updates to semi-annual channel
By default when you install Office (365 or 201x) it joins the 'monthly' update channel where you will receive all updates, both security and feature, as soon as they are released by Microsoft. Generally having the security updates applied immediately is a good thing,...
Change server share path to new drive
We added a larger virtual disk to a Hyper-V file server and copied over a shared folder to the new location. The folder also had a number of subfolders that were shared independently. The quick way to move the share permissions etc is via the registry (i.e. without...
Windows Update – Server 201x stuck downloading updates at 0%
A Server 2016 VM was stuck at 0% attempting to download updates. Neither a manual restart of the Windows Update service, nor a server reboot, rectified the problem. Even tried to manually download the latest servicing stack update and cumulative update from the...
Windows Server Backup: “Preparing media to store backups”
If you use the native Windows Server Backup utility you may on occasion see it seemingly pause for a lengthy interval at the 'Preparing media to store backups' stage. This part of the process relates to the checking and consolidating of the existing backups on the...
Enable access to admin shares from non-domain (workgroup) computers
There is a comprehensive article on the Windows OS Hub that discusses administrative shares and how they can be tricky to access in a non-domain environment. I needed to run psexec against a standalone machine and the solution for that was to add an entry to the...
M365 mailbox usage report
You can quickly see the size of the mailboxes in use within your 365 tenant via the 365 Admin Center. Login as a global admin (or global reader/reports reader) and navigate to: Reports | Usage Under the Email activity heading select View More and then the Mailbox...
Calendar checking tool for Outlook
The Calendar Checking Tool for Outlook is a command-line program that checks Outlook Calendars for problems. To use this tool, the Outlook calendar must reside on a Microsoft Exchange Server. The tool does not work with IMAP, with POP3, or with other non-Exchange mail...
Veeam ports for Hyper-V host
If you try and add a Hyper-V host to your Veeam backup infrastructure, without having the correct ports open on the host, the installer will pause for some time on the "Detecting previously installed components" stage before finally returning a "Network path not found...
RDS 201x copy and paste files does not work
You may find that your RDS users are unable to copy and paste files from their local machine to the remote session. This may actually be required functionality, however if you do want to allow it and the clipboard option is enabled in the RDP client configuration but...
Check OneDrive folder sizes
Finding the size of the folder(s) you have stored in OneDrive is not particularly easy or obvious. You can check sizes by logging in to the web portal then select Settings | OneDrive Settings | More Settings | Storage Metrics.
Vssadmin writers associated services
Running vssadmin list writers may produce writers that have failed/are in an error state. You can identify the associated service and restart as required.
Store BitLocker keys in Active Directory
When you encrypt drives with BitLocker it can be a nightmare to manually keep track of recovery keys, it therefore makes sense to use the built-in integration with Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). Cyril Kardashevsky of The IT Bros has an excellent...
Link Excel workbooks in OneDrive
When two Excel workbooks are linked, or referenced, selected cell data in the Source workbook appears in referenced cells in the Destination workbook. If data is then updated in the Source workbook, the linked cell in the Destination workbook reflects the change. This...
Connect to Exchange Online (365) Powershell
The process for connecting PowerShell to your 365 (Exchange Online) tenant has been made a little easier. Assuming you are running a compatible PS version (and have previously set Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned) , on first run you need to run PS as admin and enter:...
remotewebaccess.com not updating IP address or certificate
Recently noticed that the IP address, and certificates, for various remotewebaccess.com (AnywhereAccess) sites - on Server 201x Essentials - were not updating. The cause is the retirement of earlier TLS versions, that Microsoft decided not to push an update out to...
Give read-only access to one or more mailbox folders
To give a user (read-only in this case) access to specific folders of another mailbox, without giving them full access to the whole mailbox, you need to grant permissions at the top (of the information store) level and then specify which subfolder(s) you want them to...
Activation Error 80070005 in Office after Windows update
A Windows 10 feature update broke the activation of a non-subscription Office 2019 installation. The error suggests a repair of Office but neither the quick nor online repair helped, neither did removing and re-installing the whole suite. Add permissions to a registry...
Disable Windows Update notifications on RDS 201x
Microsoft have helpfully deprecated the GPO that disables WU notifications for non-admin users (for use on RDS for example). The only "solution" is to nobble the exe that shows the pop-up. Run the following script to adjust the registry so that the exe is replaced by...
MMC.exe blocked for your protection…
Seen a few Windows 10 PCs display an alert dialogue when attempting to run any MMC snap-in (e.g. Services, Local Group Policy etc). The dialogue helpfully states that an "administrator" has blocked you from running this app, and the only option is to close the box......
Gmail rejects SMTP mail submission, sign-in attempt was blocked
Using a Gmail account to send alerts from remote devices usually works fine. On occasion Google - for whatever reason - decide that this connection (that has been working fine for months) is now a suspicious login and blocks it. Most of the time simply logging into...
Force Windows Server 201x to recheck for updates
To force Server 201x to recheck for updates (when you have manually installed some, or it is only showing the Install Now option), open an elevated command prompt and run: usoclient StartScan That should immediately start a rescan (and be visible in the GUI).
Replace file server with new (using same name and IP address)
Recently had a requirement to replace an old Server 2008 file server with something a little newer. Rather than attempt an in-place upgrade we decided it was simpler to build the new server (2016 in this instance) afresh and then follow the simple instructions as...
Export list of licenced users from Microsoft 365
A simple script to export a list of licenced users from your M365 tenant: Get-MSOLUser | Where-Object { $_.isLicensed -eq "True"} | Select-Object DisplayName, UserPrincipalName, isLicensed | Export-Csv C:\Temp\365LicencedUserList.csv Note that this does not work...
Windows Photo app cannot print – configuration error
Attempting to print from the native Windows Photo app was producing a rather unhelpful "configuration error" message, even though it had previously been working fine. The solution was to locate printconfig.dll (to be found somewhere under the windows\system32\spool...
Quieten loud Dell PowerEdge servers
We've had a couple of Dell PowerEdge servers that had fans that seemed to be running continuously - and were loud - out of the box, and they didn't quieten down even after the array had completed its build and/or updates had been applied. There are a variety of...
Rename VHD(X) file
For whatever reason you may want to rename a VHD(X) file. To do so is quite straightforward (but will require a small amount of downtime): 1. Shut down the VM.2. Remove the virtual disk (VHDX) from the VM.3. Rename the file as required.4. Use Hyper-V manager (or...
Change O365 Group email address
You cannot currently change an O365 group email address from within the portal, it has to be done via PowerShell. For example you may want to change the group called "Sales Group" current primary SMTP address, sales@domain.com, to now be salesgroup@domain.com (so...
BitLocker prompt for recovery key on every boot
If you have had some hardware replaced, or simply moved your disk into a new PC, and the disk was encrypted with BitLocker, you may find that you are prompted for the recovery key on every boot. This is because on the initial recovery screen it asks for the key simply...
AD replication tools
A quick reminder of a few useful command line tools for diagnosing or checking AD replication status: repadmin /replsum Summarise status of domain wide replication repadmin /showreps List status of replication of localhost (other switches are available) Due to unclean...
DFSR admin commands
Unless you are intentionally using DFSR - and most small businesses I know are not (other than for the default Group Policy - sysvol - replication) - then you may not have encountered any of the command line tools that help identify the replicating servers and...
Acrobat Reader DC – clear recent files list
For whatever reason you may wish to clear the recent files list from Acrobat Reader DC (I had a case where the link produced an error, even though the target file was fine and would open without going through the recent files link). To clear the entire list, fire up...
Export Exchange mailbox to PST without Outlook
If you do not have access to a mailbox within Outlook (to facilitate a simple export to PST) you can do so via PowerShell. Firstly create a shared folder (must be accessible via UNC and not simply a local or mapped drive) and assign the "Exchange Trusted Subsystem" a...
List all distributions lists and members via PowerShell
A quick script to run against your Exchange server (on-premises, or O365) to list all distribution groups along with their constituent members: $Reports=@() $Groups=Get-DistributionGroup $Groups| foreach{ $GroupName=$_.Name $Report=Get-distributionGroupMember...
SQL ReportServer_log.ldf uses large amount of disk space
A SQL server recently ran short on disk space and the culprit was the ReportServer_log.ldf file that had grown to 189GB in size... By default this file is allowed to grow to a max size of 2TB (irrespective of available disk space!) and none of the standard maintenance...
Licensing mode for the Remote Desktop Session Host is not configured
Despite completing the wizards, and everything looking and installing without issue, you may find on completion of the setup of Remote Desktop Services (on Server 2012 or 2016) that no licences are issued and the RD Licensing Diagnoser complains that "Licensing mode...
Outlook: Global Address List (offline) not updating
Recently had a few instances where clients running Outlook 2016 in cached mode (connected to O365 Exchange Online) appeared not to be getting any updates to their offline global address list. Trying to manually download via the usual send/receive settings menu does...
Revert to previous version of Office click to run
If you use the so called Click To Run version of Office (2013 or later) you will be getting updates as soon as Microsoft releases them (untested usually!) and you may then find certain functions no longer work properly or new errors appear. Normally you can wait for...
Kill service stuck in “Stopping” state
Trying to restart (or stop) a service occasionally ends up with it in a state of "Stopping" that never ends until you reboot. To try and kill it, and avoid the reboot, from the command prompt (run as admin): sc queryex <servicename> This will return the process...
Random missing items in Outlook folders
Recently had a case where the Sent Items folder in Outlook (cached mode) would not show any messages after a specific date. Actually, that is not strictly true, the messages would appear in Sent Items briefly after being sent, but would then disappear. Having...
Count number of folders in mailbox (Exchange or O365)
Despite there being a limitation on the number of folders an Exchange on-premises/O365 based mailbox will allegedly allow, there is no simple way to identify how may folders and subfolders a user has in their mailbox. The Microsoft solution? Count them manually......
Turn off / disable BitLocker via PowerShell
I have seen a few laptops recently that have started encrypting their drives - using BitLocker - once the Windows setup process is complete. Whilst this is a great security feature it may not always be required (if you use an alternate encryption method for example)....
Migrate Sticky Notes to Windows 10
Sticky Notes are handled differently in Windows 10 (to Win7 for example) so you cannot simply copy the file into the same location in the user profile and expect it to work. Assuming you have the .snt file from the Win7 PC, on the new Win 10 system run through the...
Anywhere Access wizard fails: VPN was not configured successfully
When attempting to configure Anywhere Access (VPN and/or RWA options) on Server Essentials 2012/16, the wizard may fail at the final hurdle, producing the "helpful" message that: VPN was not configured successfully - and the option to retry (with no indication what...
Unlock domain account from the command line (or PowerShell)
If you find a domain account has been locked, you can unlock it via the command line (running as administrator). First, check the status by running the command below - replacing loginname with the username of course!:net user loginname /DOMAIN If the "Account Active"...
PowerShell RPC error using Get-WmiObject
Using a simple PowerShell script to check for low disk space on servers I encountered an RPC error ("The RPC server is unavailable") on some - but not all - of the systems when calling Get-WmiObject. It all points to firewall issues; and the solution was to enable the...
Clean install Server 2012 R2 Windows Update woes
Fresh installs of Server 2012 R2 always seem to have problems with Windows Update going through an install, reboot, revert, install loop... Brian Baldock came up with this solution that seems to do the trick! Before checking/configuring Windows Update, install the...
Outlook cannot copy folder because it may contain private items
A user was recently trying to copy a folder from a shared mailbox they had full access to but was prevented from doing so because Outlook stated that it 'Cannot copy this folder because it may contain private items'. There is a Microsoft KB article (3205975) that...
Grant user access to list of calendars via PowerShell
If you have a user that requires access to several other user's calendars you can set the permissions using PowerShell and a text file containing the list of mailboxes. Example text file...
How to expand RDS User Profile Disks
Remote Desktop Services (previously known as Terminal Services) now has the option of using 'User Profile Disks' for each user (essentially a mini VHD containing their profile). Whilst this is a great idea (and works well), the default size is quite small and cannot...
RDS install: Unable to connect to the server by using Windows Powershell Remoting
Attempting to install the RDS role(s) on a Windows Server 2012 R2 I received the error: "Unable to connect to the server by using Windows Powershell Remoting" - despite the install being done on the server that was going to be hosting the roles... As seems to be more...
Outlook certificate mismatch errors (On premises Exchange / SBS)
If you are using - usually with SBS installations - the self signed certificate with your on-premises Exchange server, you may find that you get 'Certificate Mismatch' warning dialogues when using Outlook. There are a myriad of reasons why this may occur, but you can...
Factory reset Windows Mobile devices with unknown lock password
Nokia has posted the following instructions for doing a factory reset at boot time, it should also work for HTC and Samsung Windows Phone 8 devices in addition to Nokia Lumia devices. [Warning: This erases all personal content on your phone and restores the factory...
Reinstate missing/deleted Clutter folder in Outlook
Although the Clutter folder is a 'system' folder (in Outlook/Exchange parlance) it can actually be deleted by the user within Outlook. However this doesn't actually remove the folder from the server and mail is still directed into it but the user can't see it......
Outlook message, show containing folder
Annoyingly when you do a search for a message in Outlook the results don't show you which folder the message(s) are in. This is especially a problem when you've inadvertently moved items and need to track them down again. The workaround is quite simple:* Do the search...
Change network location type
For certain apps, and firewall exceptions, you may need to change the network type that your server OS thinks you are connected to, e.g. from Public to Private. In Server Manager | Local Servers | Tools | Local Security Policy | Network List Manager Policies - right...
CBS .cab files using all available disk space
Recently I've had several instances where a (sometimes relatively new) Windows 7 PC has run out of disk space, and found that C:\Windows\TEMP has numerous files with names following the pattern "cab_XXXX_X" (usually around 100MB each), and these files are constantly...
Set RunAsAdmin compatibility settings via Registry
To programatically set application compatibility settings in Windows, add a registry value to one of the following locations:[For the current user]HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers[For all...
Control Panel Mail applet won’t open
Had a couple of recent cases of not being able to open the Control Panel Mail applet (either from Control Panel directly, or via command line etc). The general consensus seems to be that a recent MS update (quelle surprise!) has broken it. In addition to the suggested...
BSoD – BAD_SYSTEM_config_INFO, error 0x00000074
Just had an instance where a Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V guest shut down unexpectedly, and was then on a blue screen of death reboot loop on restart. (The fact it was a guest VM is pretty irrelevant, the following instructions will work for a physical server, or indeed a...
Issues installing .NET 3.5 on Windows 8/8.1/10
Similar to the issue I had previously installing .NET 3.5 on Server 2012, the same problem manifests in Windows 8/10 and later where the PC tries, and fails, to use WSUS to get the requisite update files. Making a small change to the Local Group Policy will help get...
Office365 migration – Outlook autodiscovers internal Exchange server
During a cutover migration you will usually end up with the on-premises Exchange server (as part of SBS for example) still running and this can cause issues whilst trying to get Outlook clients to autodiscover the Office365 servers. The first thing to do is to remove...
Find system service tag via command line
If you need to know the service tag of a system whilst not physically in front of the machine (or the service tag label is missing!) you can do so via the command line: If you can RDP to the system, open a command prompt (admin not required) and then enter: wmic...
Enable Remote Desktop (RDP) remotely…
Remote desktop connections are not enabled by default in Windows 7 and later, and although I normally enable it when installing PCs, there has been the odd occasion where I find that I forgot just when I need it! There are four steps to complete to remotely enable...
List devices connected via Exchange ActiveSync
If you need a list of all devices currently (or historically) connected to Exchange via ActiveSync, this PowerShell script will list the relevant info for you: Get-Mailbox | ForEach {Get-MobileDeviceStatistics -Mailbox:$_.Identity} | select-object Identity,...
O365 migration – List Exchange info including SMTP addresses and mailbox access
Have been doing a number of cut-over migrations from on-premises Exchange server (SBS usually) to Office365, and it is very handy to have a list of all the defined SMTP addresses for each user, along with who has full access to which mailboxes etc, to ease the setup...
Convert Hyper-V dynamic disk to fixed size
By default when you create a new VM in Hyper-V - and a create a virtual disk at the same time - it creates a dynamic disk (i.e. it expands to the specified size as required). This is not usually a recommended option for production environments, albeit the official...
Cannot find source when installing .NET 3.5 feature on Server 2012 R2
Attempting to install the .NET 3.5 feature on a clean (domain joined) Server 2012 R2 Std VM (with internet access) failed as the wizard couldn't find the source. I suspect that the server was looking to WSUS for the files rather than actually going out to Windows...
List mailboxes with Full Access permissions assigned
You can use PowerShell to produce a list of all mailboxes that have Full Access permissions assigned against them, including who has the permission set: Get-Mailbox | Get-MailboxPermission | where { ($_.AccessRights -eq "FullAccess") -and ($_.IsInherited -eq $false)...
Office 365 – disable POP and IMAP access for (all) users
By default all users in Office 365 (Exchange Online) have POP and IMAP access enabled. This is not always required/desired but there is no simple method of turning it off (by which I mean a global check box in the Exchange Admin Center). You can enable/disable...
Create a bootable USB drive from an ISO – Rufus
Rather than faffing about extracting an ISO and then creating a bootable USB drive in separate steps, Rufus is a nifty utility does it all in one go - and extremely quickly in comparison to other tools.
Improve robocopy performance (including Scheduled Tasks)
Robocopy is a handy command line tool but it can be extremely slow on occasion (orders of magnitude slower than a GUI drag and drop for example). A few things to try: 1. On a reliable network don't use the /Z switch. 2. Include the /MT:16 switch (enables the use of...
Pin a remote (network) application to the taskbar
If you have an executable that is stored on a remote (network) drive that you wish to pin to your taskbar then the usual "Right-click, Pin to Taskbar" option is not available. The workaround is as follows: 1. Pin a local application (e.g. Calculator) 2. Show the...
Configure Remote Desktop Services (RDS) timeouts
You can configure Remote Desktop Services (formerly known as Terminal Services) to disconnect and/or end sessions based on timings of your choice. A Microsoft forum entry describes the various settings and options available.
Word error dialogue “Opening this will run the following SQL command”
When you try and open a Word mail merge document that is linked to a data source you may receive a warning dialogue that states: "Opening this will run the following SQL command". This dialogue can appear behind the application you are working on and it may therefore...
Export list of Exchange mailboxes and/or addresses
You may at some point want to get a list of all the mailboxes defined on your mail server, along with other details (such as additional email addresses) for each. From Exchange 2007 SP1 onwards there is an export list option in the Exchange Management Console (EMC)....
Multiple RDP listening ports
If you ever need to make a PC (or server) listen for inbound RDP connections on multiple TCP ports: 1) Run REGEDIT on your host machine. 2) Export the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp 3) Edit the...
Reboot remote computer with different credentials
If you ever find the need to reboot a remote computer (when you can't RDP in) and you need to supply credentials, e.g. for a machine on a different domain, you can't use the normal: shutdown /r /m \\COMPUTER To get around this, download the psshutdown tool from...
Move WSUS content and database
In the olden days you could move the WSUS content to a different partition using the SBS console, but you may also want to move the database itself (which can become quite large to say the least), and the instructions are still relevant today: Move WSUS Content and...
Use PowerShell to list all mailboxes a user has access to
Trying to find out which mailboxes a specific user has access to is a somewhat tedious process in the EMC. Thankfully there is a simple PowerShell command that will give you a complete listing: get-mailbox | get-mailboxpermission -User "UserName" | fl identity
Reduce size of the WinSxS folder
You may note that the WinSxS folder on your Windows Vista/7/Server 2008 system is taking up a large amount of space but in fact the reporting of the size it is using is inaccurate. Nevertheless, you can still reduce the size by permanently applying service packs and...
Stop spam filtering external servers sending email from accepted domains
Normally email sent from your accepted domains (as defined in Exchange Server) will only be generated from within your own network, however you may want to allow external servers (e.g. web servers) to send mail to your users with an accepted domain address, but this...