Windows – Deploy and Configure Photo Screen Saver via GPO
Screen Saver via GPO KB ID 0001281 Problem I was tasked with working out how to do this for a client a couple of weeks ago, so I thought it would make a decent article. I’m going to have a central server share, with some photos in, then I’m going to copy them down to all the clients, and finally set their screen saver to use those photos as a ‘slide show’ screen saver. I’ve done this with Windows 10...
Windows 10 Create a WMI Filter for Group Policy
KB ID 0001267 Problem I was messing around with some GPO’s for client today to replace ‘Edge’ as the default browser, (with IE11). To make the whole process more efficient, I wanted to use a WMI filter toapply the policy only to Windows 10 machines. Before this used to be simple enough, you just set the Windows version in a WMI query. But because it searches for a string e.g. 6.1 (for Windows 8.1), that’s...
Move AD Group Members to an OU
KB ID 0001266 Problem I got asked to do this at work this week, PLEASE BE AWARE, moving users about within AD may drastically change the way your ‘User Group Policies’ are being applied. So do some Group Policy Modelling beforehand, to avoid any problems. Solution In the example above, I’ve got ten users in a security group called ‘Source-Group’. For simplicity, they are all in the same source OU as well,...
Windows Server – Locating, Transferring, and Seizing FSMO Roles
FSMO Roles KB ID 0001257 Problem I’ve written about transferring and sizing FSMO roles, (Flexible Single Master Operations) before, see the following article; Transferring Your FSMO Roles Now you have a PowerShell Commandlet to help ‘Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole’. FSMO Roles : Solution As before you can view your FSMO role holders, by using the following command. netdom query fsmo To transfer them to...
Event ID 1030 and 1058
Event ID 1030 KB ID 0000119 Problem Event ID 1030 and 1058, Windows cannot query for the list of Group Policy objects. A message that describes the reason for this was previously logged by the policy engine. and Windows cannot access the file gpt.ini for GPO CN={31B2F340-016D-11D2-945F-00C04FB984F9},CN=Policies,CN=System,DC=<domain name>,DC=com. The file must be present at the location <<domain name>sysvol<domain...
Password Does Not Meet Complexity Requirements
KB ID 0000229 Problem Windows Server has a password complexity requirement to make sure passwords are strong. Yes it can be disabled, but while it is in place you need your passwords to confirm to the following. Error within AD Error at Logon Note: To disable password complexity click here. Solution To meet the policy your password MUST, 1. Passwords cannot contain the user’s account name or parts of the user’s...
IIS: How to Create a Certificate Request
KB ID 0000840 Problem If you would like to obtain a digital certificate either from your own CA, or from a public certificate vendor, you need to submit a certificate signing request (csr) first. Solution Note: I’m making the assumption you have already installed the Web Server (IIS) role on your server. 1. Windows Key+R > iis.msc {Enter} > Select the servername > Server Certificates. 2. Create Certificate Request >...
Windows Server – Secure RDP Access with Certificates
KB ID 0000944 Problem This ensures that traffic that is sent over an RDP connection to a server is protected by TLS/SSL Encryption. IT DOES NOT stop clients connecting to an RDP server if they do not have a trusted certificate. If you need that level of security, that should already be done by 802.1x. Solution Create an RDP Certificate Template 1. On the domain CA Launch the Certification Authority Management Console > Certificates...
Windows Server – Stop Server Manager from Launching
KB ID 0000042 Dtd 04/08/15 Problem Server Manager on Windows Server 2008 and Server 2012, launches every time you log on, (with administrative access). After a while this can get very annoying, if you log into a lot of servers for example. So I tend to stop it auto-launching (it’s still on the taskbar if you need it!) Solution Disable Server Manager Opening on Startup 1. With Server Manager Open > Manage > Server Manager...
Windows Server – Migrating DHCP Scopes
KB ID 0000447 Problem Normally you can just create a new scope on your new DHCP server, but if you have a lot of reservations that you don’t want to have to recreate (for printers network devices etc), then it’s a better option to migrate/copy the scope to the new server. Solution 1. Copy all the DHCP settings to a text file with the following command; netsh dhcp server export C:\dhcp.txt all 2. Stop and disable the DHCP...