Backing up Cisco switch / router config to TFTP location:
“Show uptime of multiple computers” – Looking after multiple servers, I wanted to check which have rebooted and require rebooting due to windows updates. In order to interrogate multiple servers I can use the Sysinternals “PSTools”
Multiple Servers: (Output to txt)
psinfo uptime \\* c:\ShowSystemUptimesReport.txt |
Uptime = Shows only uptime
\* = checked every pc on the local network
> c:\inventory.txt = Outputs file to this location
Example:
psinfo uptime \\Server-DC1,Server-DC2 > c:\ShowSystemUptimesReport.txt |
Single server: (without tools)
systeminfo | find "System Boot Time:" |
This needs a registry update, customize the string value with your OST path.
This is for Office 2013, but can be used with Office 2007/2003 by changing the “15.0” version option.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\outlook] "ForceOSTPath"=string:D:\My Documents\Outlook |
Once the registry update has been completed, create a new profile (which defaults to this location) and move the old .ost to this directory (same file-name and overwrite the existing .ost)
List of common LDAP AD fields which can be used with the “DSQuery” or other tools which lookup AD objects.
csvde -m -f c:\DSQueryUsers.csv -d "OU=Users,OU=UK,DC=domain,DC=localm" -r "(&(objectClass=*)(mail=*))" -l displayName,userPrincipalName |
In order to simplify the process of creating LDAP queries you can use the SysInternals “Active Directory Explorer” tool to help with this process.
See Below for table:
There are a couple of tools for creating objects in AD:
I’ve been looking for a simple method to add trusted sites into Internet Explorer 10 since they removed the “Internet Explorer Maintenance” (“The Internet Explorer Maintenance (IEM) snap-in is replaced by the Internet Explorer 10 preference extension”) options from the Server 2012 GPO.
Unfortunately a number of the methods for “adding trusted sites” prevent the local user from being able to customise the list with any additional sites. The method below is the quickest I have found to add a site to the “trusted sites” whilst also allowing users customisation. The following will add “work.edwardsd.co.uk” to the trust sites list:
*.BAT File Method:
REM See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732643.aspx for Reg Commands/Switches REG ADD "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains\edwardsd.co.uk\work" /v "http" /t REG_DWORD /d 00000002 /Y |
*.REG Method:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\ZoneMap\Domains\edwardsd.co.uk\work] "https"=dword:00000002 |
Note: The dword number represents the following values:
"https"=dword:00000001 "https"=dword:00000002 "https"=dword:00000003 "https"=dword:00000004 |
GPO Method:
The alternative option would be to use a GPO, usually my preference however I found this a little bit more complex so opted for the *.BAT option. This is a top site for GPO guides: GPO to configure IE zones sites (remember if you use this method the users can’t make changes themselves, but great for a controlled environment.
If “Cached Exchange Mode” in Outlook is grayed it can be switched on/off via regedit.
To Enable OST files and switch cached exchange mode on:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\outlook\ost] "NoOST"=dword:00000000 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\outlook\cached mode] "Enable"=dword:00000001 |
To Disable OST files and switch cached exchange mode off:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\outlook\ost] "NoOST"=dword:00000002 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\14.0\outlook\cached mode] "Enable"=dword:00000000 |
You can also enabled/disable cached exchange mode for shared mail folders (note this is only slightly different and contained under “Policies”):
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\OST] "NoOST"=dword:00000002 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Outlook\Cached Mode] "CacheOthersMail"=dword:00000000 |
Reference: KB982697
View Office License/Product Key installed:
cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\OSPP.VBS" /dstatus |
Office 2010 (32-bit) on a 64-bit version of Windows
cscript "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\OSPP.VBS" /dstatus |
Office 2010 (64-bit) on a 64-bit version of Windows
cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\OSPP.VBS" /dstatus |
Office 2013 (32-bit) on a 32-bit version of Windows
cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\OSPP.VBS" /dstatus |
Office 2013 (32-bit) on a 64-bit version of Windows
cscript "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15\OSPP.VBS" /dstatus |
Office 2010 (64-bit) on a 64-bit version of Windows
cscript "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office15\OSPP.VBS" /dstatus |
Install Office Key via *.BAT file:
cd c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14 cscript ospp.vbs /inpkey:XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX cscript ospp.vbs /act |
Change Office License/Product Key installed:
Quickest method I use for Office 2010 to prompt for a new license/product key (and remove the existing one entered):
Regedit -> right click “Registration” and delete the entire key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Registration |
When you load Office, it should now prompt you to enter the license/product key.
I’ve been having some problems trying to enable UAC and spent some time trying to resolve this, starting a technet post to help. My preference would be to use Group Policy (GPO) to enable this, however experienced issues with the UAC not being fully functional (no admin elevation prompts). Unfortunately I never really got to the bottom of the issue., however as a workaround used the following script in a *.bat file to disable it in the registry.
Enable UAC (via *.bat)
%windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f |
Disable UAC (via *.bat)
%windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f |
Problems with GPO (technet): Enable UAC via GPO | Windows 7
The “Contact linking field” isn’t always displayed by default in Outlook:
To display the “contacts” selection box for an “event” in Outlook 2007
Tools > Options > Contact Options > "Show Contact Activity Information on All Forms" |
Not the usual technical post, but I keep forgetting the process for image stacking in Photoshop CS5
RJ45 Ethernet / Patch cable guide including crossover configuration.
Basic PAC file configuration. The browser can be configured to point to this file (proxy.pac) in order to direct the browser traffic to the correct Gateway Proxy server. The path can be configured to use a public URL such as http://proxy.domain.com/_proxy/proxy.pac.
Internet Explorer -> Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings -> Automatic Configuration -> Use Automatic configuration script
I recently developed a few faults with Windows Server 2008 R2 install running on my HP Proliant Microserver.
A number of posts and articles suggested the fault maybe the result of a faulty HDD therefore I ran a series of disk checks and applications to verify. Unable to locate any faults I opted to remove both 2TB HDDs (configured in RAID1) in order that I could dock them in another workstation and run thought some more thougher checks.
strangely as a result of removing the HDDs the Windows “BSOD” and crashing did stop, however I was still unable to locate any errors on the HDDs.
Rather than installing both HDDs back in the system, I thought it best to only reinstall one HDD in order to fault find, therefore breaking the RAID. Once happy that the fault was correct (Never found out the issue) I started RAID1 rebuild process using the following steps.
Well it is a New Year! But not sure how “Happy” it is so far… 🙂
Back to work and with more technical conundrums! Lets hope there isn’t too many Bugs, Viruses and Windows updates to bring everything crashing to the ground on a cold, wet server room floor!
Best Wishes to all the I.T. community in 2013!
Methods to delete files via command line: Normally I take ownership of the folder/files (takeown):
takeown /f c:\folder\location /r /d y
Change Permission (icacls):
icacls c:\folder\location /grant administrators:F /t
Delete Process (del):
del c:\folder\location\*.* /s /q
Delete Process (RD):
RD /S /Q c:\folder\location\
Example using RD to remove a troublesome files that just wouldn’t delete:
Running out of the diskspace on C:\ I found the C:\WINDOWS\Installer\$PatchCache$ to be massive! I used JamSoftware “treesize” to view what was taking up the space.
From research this folder can be safely deleted, however you MUST NOT delete the top level “Installer” folder “C:\WINDOWS\Installer” (only the sub-folders inside it)
A quick method for deleting this directory is:
Stop “Windows Installer Service”
net stop msiserver |
Run the “Remove Directory” command (/q Quiet: /q | Removes all directories and files: /s)
rmdir /q /s %WINDIR%\Installer\$PatchCache$ |
Start “Windows Installer Service”
net start msiserver |
Reference: http://goo.gl/SW5M9
I often use Robocopy when migrating/copying data from file servers.
When running the copy process to transfer data from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008 I usually run robocopy from the destination server (usually the newer server) in order that it will use version XP027 (5.1.10) There are a number of flaws in XP026 and also requires a seperate download Windows 2003 Resource Kit to obtain it.
This is the main syntax I use to perform a full copy.
robocopy D:\Source E:\Destination /MIR /R:1 /W:1 /COPYALL |
Example, when copying from another server (using UNC):
robocopy \\myserver\e$\data E:\data /MIR /R:1 /W:1 /COPYALL |
Although “/MIR” is mirroring the data, this will not actually copy the ACL permissions, therefore you will need to ensure that /COPYALL is included. I’ve copied a whole load of data before without including this only to find I have had to recopy to correct the ACL.
/COPYALL : Copy ALL file info (equivalent to /COPY:DATSOU) including timescamps, permissions, ACL, other attributes.
/MIR : MIRror a directory tree – equivalent to /PURGE plus all subfolders (/E)
/R:n : Number of Retries on failed copies – default is 1 million.
/W:n : Wait time between retries – default is 30 seconds.
Sometimes the copy may set the top level folder to “hidden” This can be un-hidden using the “attrib” command:
attrib -h -s E:\data |
-s : Removes the system file attribute.
-h : Removes the hidden file attribute.
If you need to get a list of AD users in “Dynamic Distribution Groups” then you can use this PowerShell script… here. Only problem is that the script does not export details of Dynamic Distribution Group.
You can list DDG users by running this script using the Exchange Management Shell (EMC)
$Group = Get-DynamicDistributionGroup -Identity "Staff-UK" Get-Recipient -Filter $Group.RecipientFilter -OrganizationalUnit “domain.com/UK_Users_OU/Branch_Users” | Out-File c:\Staff-UK.txt |