Windows – Set Desktop Wallpaper From Central Server Share
KB ID 0001280 Problem You have a corporate wallpaper, and you want to set it as the desktop wallpaper on all your machines. Solution Firstly make sure you have some wallpaper! Create a hidden, (with a $ on the end) share on your server, set the share permissions to Everyone = Read. On the security tab make sure ‘Domain Users’ have read, and I would add in administrators with full control to be on the safe side. Now create...
VMware Fusion: Windows 10 ‘Lost’ Mapped Drive to the Host
KB ID 0001394 Problem My Windows 10 VM decided it was going to do a major update last night, so I let it get on with it. However today I can no longer access the ‘shared’ drive that it had back to the host (my MacBook). Solution I’m pretty sure this is the second time this has happened, so after berating myself for not documenting the fix last time, this is the fix. Run Regedit (Windows Key+R > regedit {Enter})...
Windows: Enable ‘Previous Versions’
KB ID 0001393 Problem Anyone who’s ever trashed a spreadsheet, or saved a file over the top of one that they shouldn’t, will appreciate previous versions. It’s done by a technology we have had since Windows XP (and Server 2003) called ‘shadow copy’. If you are familiar with virtualisation it’s a bit like taking ‘snapshots’ of files. It’s also great for sysadmins, as users can...
Windows 10: Why Can’t I Launch MMC?
KB ID 0001391 Problem Usually if I’m in Windows I’m on a server, and if I need a Microsoft Management Console, I simply type mmc, and away we go. On my new work Windows 10 laptop, when I do that and this happens; Solution I’ve also always assumed it was mmc.msc, but a search round on my laptop discovered that, (on Windows 10 anyway) it’s an exe file. So if you search for that it works? You can still launch it...
Remote Registry: No Location Found
KB ID 0001379 Problem When attempting to connect to a remote machines registry; Error The program cannot open the required dialog box because no locations can be found. Close this message and try again. Solution The ultimate cause of this problem is, that the machine you are on cannot see Active Directory, either because there are no domain controllers are online, or its DNS settings are incorrect. Related Articles, References,...
Windows 10 – Disable / Remove OneDrive
KB ID 0001328 Problem Microsoft have done a good job of embedding OneDrive into Windows 10. While Ive got nothing against OneDrive, for some admins the thought of users storing data out of their networks is quite worrying. So how do you ‘un-couple’ OneDrive from Windows 10? Solutions Option 1: Remove OneDrive ‘Quick and Dirty’ Open ‘Regedit’ and navigate to; HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT > CLSID >...
WannaCry – Protect Yourself
KB ID 0001311 Problem Last Friday, the IT world was hit by another attack, WannaCry is a Ransomware infection, that exploits a hole in the windows SMB Protocol. This hole was patched back in March, (Security update MS17-010) so if your, (windows update supported systems) have updates enabled, you will probably already be protected. Why were big organisations like the NHS hit? Primarily because they have systems that are no longer...
ADMT (Active Directory Migration Tool) Domain Migration – Part 4
KB ID 0001308 Problem On the homeward stretch now, back in Part Three, we migrated service accounts, groups, and users. Now we turn our attention to our machines. Note ADMT 3.2 Only support the migration of Operating Systems up to Windows 7, (that doesn’t mean Windows 8 and Windows 10 wont work, it just means they are not supported). Migrating Windows 8 and 10 throws a lot of security translation errors, because of the way it...
Windows – Display Memory Modules From Command Line
KB ID 0001294 Problem This is a handy command I came across this week, If you need to know the hardware memory configuration for a machine, and either don’t want to open the case to take a look, or you are at a different location, (i.e. remote connected onto the machine). How do you do it, without installing some audit software? Solution Simply run the following command; wmic MEMORYCHIP get BankLabel,DeviceLocator,Capacity,Tag...
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...