Leave Domain: “A general network error occurred’
KB ID 0001738 Problem After a recent lab on the test bench, I ended up with a 2008 x32 standard server. It took me a while to get this setup and running, so I wanted to keep it (or turn it into a VMware template should I ever need another). But first I needed to ‘remove it’ from the domain it was in. However, when attempting to do so this happened; Computer Name /Domain Changes The following error occurred validating...
Windows File Server Migration (Maintain Share & NTFS Permissions)
KB ID 0001201 Problem When attempting a File Server Migration why isn’t this better publicised? Did you know Microsoft have a set of Migration tools, and one of them is for file servers? Now traditionally I’d use RoboCopy or XCopy to migrate files and folders, and for ‘User Profiles’ I would normally back them up, and restore them to the new server. This is because the file permissions on ‘correctly...
Running Dropbox On Windows Server
KB ID 0001489 Problem If you are here, you have probably already found out that Dropbox is not supported on Windows Server platforms. You can install it and set it up happily but it stops working and needs to be relaunched all the time (manually). I love dropbox! So much I actually pay for it! I run it on my management server and its handy for copying file up into my test network, so I can appreciate how annoying it is having to...
Windows – Find your ‘Uptime’
KB ID 0000552 Problem There are lots of reasons you might want to know your PC/Servers uptime, to make sure a client has rebooted a server (like you asked them to), or to see if a server has had a BSOD and rebooted overnight, etc. Check Uptime with Task Manager You can get your uptime from the Task Manager’s “Performance” tab. To launch Task Manger Start > Run > Taskmgr.exe {enter}. or Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC, or...
Moving Certificate Services To Another Server
KB ID 0001473 Problem If you are retiring a CA Server, or there’s a problem with the server and you want to move Microsoft Certificate Services to another server, the procedure is pretty straight forward. BE AWARE: We are moving the CA Server Name , NOT the Server Name (FQDN), the two things are NOT the same, (you might have called them the same thing!) But a Certificate Authority has a name of its own, and that’s what we...
VMware Converter ‘Unable to Connect to the Network Share’
KB ID 0001583 Problem I don’t think, Ive ever run the VMware Standalone Converter, without at least one error message or popup complaining about something! Today I was trying to convert a clients old Windows Server 2003 document management server, when trying to deploy the agent this happened; Unable to connect to the network share ‘{Sever-name-or-IP} \ADMIN$’. Solution It’s a pretty descriptive error, can you...
Manually ‘Installing’ Microsoft Integration Services Drivers
KB ID 0001512 Problem If your OS is 2008R2 or newer then you wont need to do this as the drivers are already included. But what if you have a machine that you want to put the drivers in before you virtualise or migrate it. Well if you mount the ISO and run it this happens; Unsupported Guest Environment The Hyper-V integration services can only be installed inside of a virtual machine running Hyper-V Bah! You are not the boss of me! I...
How to Tell if Windows is 32 or 64 bit
KB ID 0000153 Problem If you want to know what version (x64 or x86) of Windows you are running, then this is the simplest way to find out. Solution Under accessories run system information; Under System Type: If it says x86 then it’s 32 bit. However if it says x64 then it’s 64 bit. Windows XP and Server 2003 1. Click Start > Run > sysdm.cpl {enter} > General Tab. Windows XP x32 (x86) and Windows XP x64 Windows...
Windows – Lost / Forgotten Password?
KB ID 0000755 Problem There are many reasons why you might want to do this, someone has managed to change a user password and that person is not available, you might simply have forgotten it. Or you might have been given a machine, or bought one from ebay that has come without a password. Also there have been a few times when a user has looked me in the eye and said “I’m typing my password in, but it’s not...
Dcpromo Error: No Other Active Directory Controllers?
KB ID 0001453 Problem I was trying to demote a domain controller yesterday morning, it was a 2008 R2 Domain controller, (in fact it was SBS 2011). I’d already added a nice new Server 2016 Domain Controller to the domain, and transferred all the FSMO roles, so I was surprised when I tried to gracefully demote the old DC and got this; You did not indicate that this Active Directory domain controller is the last domain controller...