windows 2003, 2008, R2 how tos
When performing file restores using Veeam you may see an error that says: Copying Data from Deduplicated Volumes Requires That The Console Is Installed on Windows Server 2012 R2 or Later. This message appears when the data you are restoring was originally stored on a server with Windows Data Deduplication enabled. Fortunately all you need to do to get around it is to install the Data Dededuplication Console on the server that hosts your Veeam. You…
If you are considering using Azure Storage via Azure File Sync or Azure File Share, you need to know how fast files transfer. To figure this out we setup Azure storage shares in Toronto, San Antonio, California and Ireland than ran some tests. Specifically, we used Azure File Sync which moves ALL of the files to the Microsoft Azure cloud but lets you cache files on your local servers to dramatically increase performance of your commonly…
If you are using Azure File Shares you will find connection errors on various Operating Systems and configurations. This article is designed to tell you what you need to know quickly. Azure File Share Requirements: SMB3 : You need to be on Windows 8.1 or above or Windows Server 2012 (original ‘R1’) or above because Azure File Sharing requires SMB 3.0 See the OS/SMB table at the bottom of this article for more details .…
The short version is that if your host server is running Datacenter you can NOT upgrade an existing Windows Server 2016/2019 STANDARD Virtual Machine to anything but Datacenter. If you try you will see that Windows Server STANDARD is missing and not an option from the list. The way it was explained to me is: Datacenter upgrades to Datacenter ONLY. Windows Server Standard is missing from the upgrade list, by design: There is also no…
The instructions and video below assume you know very little about Azure and have nothing but a Windows Server 2016 (or 2012R2 or 2019) server. In case you don’t already know, Azure Storage lets you create a real UNC share on to an Azure cloud disk, kind of like what many people thought One Drive For Business was going to do. You can also use Azure File Sync to take old files from your existing…
If you have a HyperV Virtual Machine that shows only SETTINGS, EXPORT, RENAME and HELP on a CHECKPOINT that you want to delete, don’t panic. If your HyperV manager does not show DELETE as an option for a Checkpoint: Click REFRESH from the actions pane. Then right click on the Checkpoint and if DELETE is still not an option; Close and re-open the HyperV Manager. Then right click on the Checkpoint and if DELETE is still…
If you have setup a Remote Desktop Server (RDS) farm, you will know how to manage the monthly patches, but if you are managing someone else’s RDS farm you will likely be confused. The nut of the problem is that from Server 2016 on, you can no longer directly install patches on a Remote Desktop Server Host. There is a process you need to go through. Fortunately that process is not too challenging. Log into…
If you are new to databases or open source software it is easy to get lost trying to get software running on your systems. In this short video we explain and demonstrate how to download Install & Configure MySQL 8 on Windows 10 or Server 2016. We also briefly show how to create a database using the command line and see the databases and tables in MySQL Workspace GUI. This demonstration shows the free version…
Dell Endpoint Security Suite (ESSE and ESS) looks like a fantastic product I was very excited to play with it. ESSE should not be confused with your ordinary security tools, or perhaps it should, because it includes most of them. Dell ESSE provides: An awesome encryption suite that includes everything from Full Disk Encryption to Bit Locker management and ‘removable media’ encryption. As a differentiator, ESS offers Policy Based Encryption so you can apply encryption only…
If your Windows 10 computer does not have the NETWORK icon in the system tray and you see nothing but a line in TURN SYSTEM ICONS ON OR OFF (see screen shots below) there are several fixes we will detail. However, to get to the point, we have found that usually the problem is the NETWORK LIST service, see details below. 4 FIXES FOR MISSING NETWORK ICON: Right click on the START button, select…
If you have worked on Windows for more than a few years you will know that C:\Windows\WinSXS takes up an ever increasing amount of disk space and that you should not delete anything from it. Microsoft says: One commonly asked question is, “Can I delete the WinSxS folder to regain some disk space?” The short answer is no. You can, however, reduce the size of the WinSxS folder using tools built into Windows. For more…
If you are trying to manage Windows Updates on a Windows 10 or Server 2016 / 2019 computer you have no doubt already figuredout that WUAUCLT no longer functions. We are not sure why Microsoft has done this because the only replacement we can find is a new undocumented tool named USOCLIENT that is built into Windows 10 and Server 2016/19 at C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\USOClient.exe. We say undocumented and mean it. Microsoft has made no information available…
Microsoft certainly has been making patching Windows 10 PC’s difficult these days but after some significant effort, I have found a simple combination of commands and one free tool does the trick. The command in question is an undocumented program inside Windows 10 named C:\Windows\System32\USOClient.exe This program manages Windows Updates much like the old wuauclt used to: Launch a CMD prompt or PowerShell AS AN ADMINISTRATOR Type USOClient.exe ScanInstallWait You would expect that command to download and install…
PIN’s used to work in Windows 10 with no changes to GPO’s but at some point in recent Win 10 ADMX templates, Microsoft added an odd setting. They turned off PIN’s by default and you have to turn them on in via GPO if you want to use them on a domain connected user account. This means that there is not a GPO that is blocking your use of PINs and the message “THIS SETTING…