Tips

Tips

• Pros and cons of Microsoft Active Directory

  An in-depth look at the upsides and the downsides of integrating Active Directory into your Windows environment.  Continue Reading

• Recover deleted AD objects using a daily System State backup

  Restore deleted objects in 10 minutes without having to restore from tape by making a daily, local backup of System State.  Continue Reading

• Active Directory and IntelliMirror

  Learn the basics of IntelliMirror, a Windows feature designed to enhance the management of user environments and profiles.  Continue Reading

• How to install the FTP server on Windows XP

  How to install the FTP server on Windows XP.  Continue Reading

• Understanding Kerberos in Microsoft Active Directory

  This short article breaks down the properties of Kerberos, Microsoft's primary authentication protection mechanism, with details on how it works in Active Directory.  Continue Reading

• 503 Error? Here's what to do

  What it is and possible fixes.  Continue Reading

• The principles of Active Directory infrastructure design

  Learn what forests, domains and organizational units are and how they differ from one another when considered for Active Directory infrastructure design.  Continue Reading

• Disable media sensing

  When to do it, and how.  Continue Reading

• Understanding multi-master replication in Windows 2000 Active Directory

  Multi-master replication is a great function of Microsoft Active Directory. In this short article, learn what it is and why admins are happy to have it.  Continue Reading

• Strange behavior? Check the MTU

  How it messes up Exchange server.  Continue Reading

• Let multiple users share the same mailbox

  How to let multiple users share the same mailbox.  Continue Reading

• Reducing bandwidth usage by creating Active Directory sites

  Reducing bandwidth usage by creating Active Directory sites  Continue Reading

• Diffie-Hellman key exchange

  An explanation of this key exchange method.  Continue Reading

• Manage desktop themes through GPOs

  Depending on the work tasks of the users, strictly controlling desktop themes may be desirable. Here are some tips for doing so with Group Policy Objects.  Continue Reading

• Stop users mapping network drives

  How to keep users from mapping network drives.  Continue Reading

• Keep local profiles when joining an AD domain

  When you have a highly customized Win2k local profile there is indeed a way to preserve it after joining a domain.  Continue Reading

• Solve offline address-book woes

  How to fix things when Exch 2000 doesn't create these address books.  Continue Reading

• Manage distribution lists from Outlook

  How you can do this, and why you want to.  Continue Reading

• Stop recipients from modifying sent e-mails

  How to make sure users cannot change the contents of a sent message.  Continue Reading

• Remove persistent applications from the 'Add/Remove Programs' list

  Programs may remain on your 'Add/Remove Programs' list after they've been uninstalled. Learn how to remove them permanently.  Continue Reading

• Control remote assistance via Group Policy Objects

  Learn the basics of Microsoft's remote assistance feature and how it can be managed through Active Directory.  Continue Reading

• Solve 'Page Cannot Be Displayed' errors

  How to fix the ubiquitous Page Cannot Be Displayed error.  Continue Reading

• Control Active Desktop via Group Policy Objects

  Explanation of applicable controls, and how admins can use Group Policy to control the ability of desktops to display live information from the Internet.  Continue Reading

• Use GPOs to manage error reporting in Windows

  Using Group Policy Objects, Windows administrators can keep system errors in-house.  Continue Reading

• Manage disk quotas in Windows with Group Policy Objects

  Keeping an eye on the amount of disk space users can use is an important part of network management. Learn how to do so using Group Policy Objects with Windows 2000.  Continue Reading

• The emergency repair process

  Some procedures after you are forced to do an emergency repair.  Continue Reading

• Fix protected storage

  Why you may need to do this, and how.  Continue Reading

• Control shared folders via Group Policy Objects

  Learn how admins can manage a user's ability to share resources Microsoft Group Policy.  Continue Reading

• Delegating Authority in Active Directory

  IT pro Douglas Paddock shares pros and cons of delegating authority in AD in preparation for the webcast on the same topic.  Continue Reading

• Control Windows Messenger with Group Policy Objects

  Administrators can set certain controls to stop Windows Messenger from ever starting -- or only on startup.  Continue Reading

• Using Group Policy Objects to manage script execution

  Learn how Group Policy can be used to specify execution parameters for scripts running on your Windows system.  Continue Reading

• Use BIOS protection features

  More things to do to protect a Windows computer.  Continue Reading

• Where do you draw the line on employee monitoring?

  This article addresses employee monitoring and how to deal with the challenges of doing so.  Continue Reading

• Making sense of browser elections, part one

  The first installment of a two-part series on browser elections.  Continue Reading

• Setup a Performance Monitor log using a binary circular log file

  This tip allows you to configure Performance Monitor so that it will start at each boot and write to a circular log file.  Continue Reading

• Add a Notepad option to your right-click menu

  Following this tip will allow you to use Notepad to open a file simply by right-clicking on the icon.  Continue Reading

• IIS memory leak? Use IISRESET

  IISRESET is a command-line tool in Windows 2000 that stops, unloads, reloads, and restarts the IIS process.  Continue Reading

• Using Group Policy Objects to control user logon

  Learn how to use GPOs to control the login process for Windows XP and Windows 2000 clients in an Active Directory domain.  Continue Reading

• Set programs to run at startup

  Registry hacks to set programs to run at startup.  Continue Reading

• Use the RUNAS Command for administrative tasks

  The RUNAS command can be used to allow non-admins to do administrative tasks.  Continue Reading

• Recover a deleted Active Directory OU

  How a user recovered an important OU in a mixed mode environment that had lots of sub-OUs and users.  Continue Reading

• Use Group Policy Objects to manage disk quotas

  Learn to control the usage of disk space over your Windows network via Group Policy.  Continue Reading

• Command line options for Regedit.exe

  This user-submitted tip provides a collection of Regedit command line options gathered from a variety of sources.  Continue Reading

• Delete print jobs jamming print queue in Windows 2000 and NT

  Why certain print jobs can't be deleted in the conventional way and how to get rid of them.  Continue Reading

• Control incoming read receipts in Microsoft Outlook

  Learn how to customize your Microsoft Outlook mailbox so that you can control incoming email messages with read receipts attached.  Continue Reading

• Managing user profiles via Group Policy Objects

  There are three parameters in the GPO for an Active Directory container that make user profiles easier to handle.  Continue Reading

• Secure the All Staff distribution list

  How to stop spurious e-mail to everyone.  Continue Reading

• The advantages of multiple partitions

  This tip outlines the advantages of creating two partitions on your hard drive and using them for seperate purposes.  Continue Reading

• Administer AD users and computers in another forest or domain

  Administer AD Users and Computers in another Forest or Domain with this tip.  Continue Reading

• Using Active Directory security principles

  Details on what security principles are and what they do in Microsoft Active Directory.  Continue Reading

• Active Directory migration: Upgrade vs. restructure

  Learn the key considerations every administrator should make before migrating Microsoft Active Directory.  Continue Reading

• Dos & don'ts: How to convince management to approve your project

  Windows administrators can be dull as dirt when explaining their projects to management. Here's how to hone your pitch.  Continue Reading

• IIS authentication methods: What and when

  What the authentication methods are and when they are used.  Continue Reading

• Dealing with Event ID 1022

  How to react to, or maybe avoid, this error event.  Continue Reading

• Open a URL from a batch file

  Ways to do open URLs from a batch file.  Continue Reading

• The Microsoft Loopback Adapter

  Test network settings and protocol without the network.  Continue Reading

• How to change the default 'Save As' folder

  Use this tip to change your "Save As" location to whatever directory you want, including a network share or mapped drive.  Continue Reading

• Installing X.509 encryption certificates in Windows

  The intricacies of installing X.509 encryption certificates in Windows.  Continue Reading

• Controlling the appearance of printers in Active Directory

  Active Directory provides a way to hide the printer from all non-authorized users. Check out this trick for restricting access.  Continue Reading

• Prevent unauthorized software installs

  How to prevent unauthorized software installs and why you should want to.  Continue Reading

• Simple registry edit improves TCP/IP performance

  Here's a tip to enhance your TCP/IP's performance.  Continue Reading

• Change and configure pagefile.sys remotely

  When you're out of virtual memory, and you find yourself offsite, it helps to know how to adjust "pagefile.sys" remotely.  Continue Reading

• Wireless LAN Security 101

  This tip demonstrates keys to securing your WANs.  Continue Reading

• Fix a corrupt Add/Remove Programs panel

  Some programs, when installed or removed, may cause the Add/Remove Programs Panel to display incorrectly or not at all. Here's how to fix it.  Continue Reading

• Boost performance through the Task Manager

  Use Task Manager to increase performance by eliminating CPU-consuming processes.  Continue Reading

• File and Print Sharing: An Active Directory gotcha

  Disabling File and Print Sharing (FPS) for security may cause problems down the road wth your Active Directory.  Continue Reading

• What if deleted calendar items reappear?

  What to do if deleted calendar items reappear.  Continue Reading

• Boosting the performance of a print server

  A few things you can do to ease your print server's burden and increase performance.  Continue Reading

• Keep applications from stealing focus

  How to cure system ADD.  Continue Reading

• Planning a network management system: Six easy steps

  By planning your system, you'll avoid spending hours of fruitless time trying to manage it later.  Continue Reading

• The difference between REGEDIT and REGEDT32

  What you can do with them.  Continue Reading

• Check out the new MCP transcript format

  The new transcript is here, now here's how to get it.  Continue Reading

• Introduction to steganography

  Mark explains steganography, the basics and uses of this security technology, and how it differs from encryption.  Continue Reading

• Stop users creating shared folders

  Procedure for eliminating shared folders.  Continue Reading

• Manage Plug-and-Play devices from the command line

  How to use a command-line utility to handle Plug-and-play devices.  Continue Reading

• Use the registry to enable services

  Use the registry to enable services.  Continue Reading

• Shortcut to ipconfig /all

  A quick shortcut to find the ipconfig /all settings in a wink.  Continue Reading

• Create a DOS boot disk for Windows 2000

  How to create a DOS boot disk.  Continue Reading

• Removing the "everyone" group in AD

  What you have to remember if you remove the everyone group from drive permissions under Active Directory.  Continue Reading

• Configure opportunistic locking

  A way to allow concurrent read operations on open files.  Continue Reading

• When to use Active Directory containers

  Active Directory offers five basic containers: forest, tree, domain, site and OU. Find out how they work and what their differences are.  Continue Reading

• Single forest vs. multi-forest Active Directory design

  Learn how single forest compares to multi-forest Active Directory (AD) design when it comes to security.  Continue Reading

• Mirror to increase capacity and more

  Advantages of mirroring, a form of Web caching.  Continue Reading

• Simple VPN authentication choices

  Pros and cons of different authentication protocols.  Continue Reading

• Perimeter security explored: Firewalls

  The foundation of your perimeter security should be firewalls.  Continue Reading

• Domains vs. organizational units in Active Directory

  Learn the key differences between Microsoft Active Directory OUs and doamin, plus exactly why you should care.  Continue Reading

• Shortcut to Offer Remote Assistance

  Here's a shortcut to the Offer Remote Assistance feature of the Windows XP Help and Support Center.  Continue Reading

• Locking a workstation vs. logging off

  Why locking a workstation is better, and what to do if you cannot.  Continue Reading

• Use Outlook tasks for help desk operations

  Tricks for using Outlook as a task scheduler for help desk operations.  Continue Reading

• Setting a default DIR command (using an environment variable)

  The environment variable DIRCMD can be used to set default "dir" command options.  Continue Reading

• Stripe and cluster your RAID

  How to set stripe and cluster size in a Win2K RAID.  Continue Reading

• Troubleshooting slow connections to SQL Server

  If your attempts to connect to a SQL Server 7.0 or SQL Server 2000 take an extreme amount of time, try this workaround.  Continue Reading

• Manually changing MAC addresses

  How to do it, if your email adapter is programmable.  Continue Reading

• HTTP basic authentication

  Pros and cons of this widely used authentication method.  Continue Reading

• Troubleshooting tools for common Active Directory problems

  Check out these helpful tools and utitlities for when things go awry with Active Directory.  Continue Reading

• Windows 2000 and cached credentials

  Cached credentials in Win2k can be a security hazard. Learn more in this Tech Tip.  Continue Reading

• A more elegant way to wait for InstallShield to terminate

  Use the -SMS command line when using InstallShield.  Continue Reading

• Change OS system drive letter

  Change the letter of your system drive.  Continue Reading

• View the Exchange service account name

  Use the registry to see this account name, in case Exchange has stopped running.  Continue Reading

• Use SIGVERIF.EXE to ID unsigned drivers

  How to find drivers that are not on the Microsoft HQL list.  Continue Reading