Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7, Windows 8 and more How Tos
As you likely already know, because you have found this page, the GPO to disable the MICROSOFT STORE app was set to be ineffective on Windows 10 Pro after build 1511. This annoying change meant that you could only block the store using a GPO if you were running Windows 10 ENTERPRISE or EDUCATION and that made admins cranky. The solution was to block the store app through a SOFTWARE RESTRICTION GPO as we explained…
If you have problems with Internet Explorer like: IE will not launch IE crashes frequently IE will not refresh IE will not connect IE will only run when using RIGHT CLICK, RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR … We will go through the fixes from easiest and fastest to more technical solutions: Clear Temp Files: CONTROL PANEL > INTERNET OPTIONS > BROWSING HISTORY button > check all of the options that you would like, but ensure you have…
When you see error 0x80244022 in Windows update or in the Windows Update log, it relates to a networking error. If you are using WSUS, it could be an indication that the IIS AppPool running your WSUS has stopped and needs to be started: Start IIS Manager Expand APPLICATION POOLS If WSUSPOOL is stopped, right click on it and select START Share This With Your Friends Now:
If you have enabled MEMORY INTEGRITY in Windows 10 you will likely see that the ON/OFF slider is grayed out there will be red text stating THIS SETTING IS MANAGED BY YOUR ADMINISTRATOR. This can be frustrating as you can not easily turn if off. Fortunately, you can simply disable MEMORY INTEGRITY via the registry: Click START and type REGEDT.EXE then press ENTER Expand HKLM > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > DeviceGuard > Scenarios >…
This video demonstrates how to install Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) on Windows Server 2016. We also quickly show the Group Policies required to have your office PC’s use the WSUS server as their source for updates. How To Install & Configure Windows Server Update Services: Minimum Server Hardware Specification For WSUS: Hardware Low-end 500 or fewer clients Typical 500–3,000 clients High-end 3,000–20,000 clients, or rollup of 30,000 clients Super high-end 10,000 clients, or rollup…
If you have a PC that is very slow and you notice that Task Manager shows near 100% disk is being used but the individual items do not sum to anything approaching 100%, you may have an issue with SuperFetch. Fortunately it is easy to correct. We recently dealt with a frustrating case on a Dell Latitude 5480 Laptop with a Caching SSD (see our video). Put simply, Intel Rapid Storage Technology software utility makes…
Normally when you have a problem with Windows Update there are two processes you should go through: Download and install the Update manually (rather than relying on the Windows Update GUI) Reset your Windows Update: Launch SERVICES.MSC, and STOP both “WINDOWS UPDATE” and “BACKGROUND INTELLIGENT TRANSFER SERVICE” then set them to DISABLED Delete all files and folders in C:\windows\softwaredistribution Launch SERVICES.MSC, and set the following to AUTOMATIC startup “WINDOWS UPDATE” and “BACKGROUND INTELLIGENT TRANSFER SERVICE”…
When I started working NIC Teaming I thought that “link aggregating” two NIC’s would double my throughput and while that is possible, it is not likely and here is why. When you link aggregate or Team Network cards using the common standards of the last decade, each NIC will still only connect to one system at its maximum speed (often 1GB). Teaming / Link Aggregation lets that same server connect to a second system (say…
Here are the features that Microsoft is killing in Windows 10 1803. There are two lists, features that have been removed and features that Microsoft has stopped working on. Note that Windows 10 1803 is also known as the “Spring Creators Update” and “Redstone 4”. FEATURES REMOVED FROM WINDOWS 10 1803 FEATURE DETAILS Groove Music Pass Groove streaming music service sales ended in 2017. The Groove app is being updated to reflect this change. You…
Google Earth desktop is going away; it is being replaced with Google Earth Web App. That should not be a big surprise in this connected world. For more details, read THIS. However, Google is still producing new builds of Google Earth as the Web App version still has serious limitations. Google has also changed the way that you can deploy Google Earth and removed the old copy the .MSI from %temp% trick. In fact,…
There are only a few things about Windows 10 1803 (build from Spring 2018) I do not like and one of them is that Microsoft removed FILE EXPLORER but added PHOTOS and DOCUMENTS to the START menu, even on the Pro and Enterprise versions. While that is great for home users, most companies have their staff keep files on network shares so they will want the old FILE EXPLORER shortcut back. Fortunately, adding FILE EXPLORER…
Windows Timeline is a new feature in the just released Windows 10 Spring 2018 (1803) build that lets you easily see and resume your activities from the last 30 days: What Windows Timeline Includes: Windows Timeline will only display apps that support Timeline and today that includes primarily Microsoft Office, “modern apps” (like the Calculator, News, Weather, Maps…) and the Edge browser. It will also have a “basic card” for any program you start through…
If you are in a corporate setting, so called “alerts” can be quite annoying to your users and you will likely want to disable them. Unfortunately there are no native GPO’s to disable the various notifications. Fortunately there are two very easy ways to disable notifications using GPO’s. Download an addtional ADMX template from this Technet Article . If you do this be aware of the warning the author writes just above the end of the…
If you have a new Windows Server 2016 or Windows 10 installation, you will find that when you right click on the START button, you will see COMMAND PROMPT as an option. For standard users this is fine, but for administrators, you will likely want the more powerful POWERSHELL option. Fortunately this is easy to change. To change COMMAND PROMPT to POWERSHELL on the START menu: Right click on the TASK BAR and select SETTINGS…
Crytojacking may sound like a method of extorting money by encrypting files against someones will and then charging them for the decryption key. However it is not. Cryptojacking is using unsuspecting peoples devices to cyrptomine (compute solutions to make new cryptocurrency), like Bitcoin. Can Cells and Tablets be CryptoJacked? When we say devices, we mean all devices with a processor, including low power devices like tablets and cell phones. If you know anything about cryptomining…