Ubuntu – Joining / Logging into Windows Domains
KB ID 0000384 Problem You have a Linux client machine, and you want to authenticate to, and log into a Windows domain. I don’t have too much history with Linux, but from what I’ve read this used to be a nightmare. Using Ubuntu (10.10) I did have a couple of hiccups, but I did get there in the end. Note: The domain controller is a Windows 2008 R2 Server. Solution Notes 1. The commands needed to install the...
Windows – Explorer Has Stopped Working – Crashes Windows
KB ID 0000388 Problem Spend any time working in windows and sooner or later something will upset Windows Explorer, and when it crashes it has a habit of taking something with it (usually your desktop experience – or something you’ve been working on and have not saved!). The underlying problem can be anything from some poorly coded software, a dodgy device driver, or a wayward Windows update. But you can offset the problem...
Windows – Get a List of all Installed Programs (and Updates)
KB ID 0000619 Problem I needed to get a list of installed programs from a server I was having problems with, so I could compare the results with another server. Note: This will work on Windows client OS’s as well. Solution 1. On the machine in question launch a command window. 2. To display all the installed programs execute the following two commands; WMIC product get name,version 3. To export all the installed programs to a...
Enable Aero for RDP “One or more of the themes has been disabled by Remote Desktop Connection settings”
KB ID 0000647 Problem If you have enabled Aero on your remote machine, when you connect to it via RDP you will see this error, (if you try and change the theme to Aero). One or more of the themes has been disabled by Remote Desktop Connection settings Solution 1. Close your RDP session, and launch the RDP client software again > Options > Experience > Place a tick in “Menu and window animation”. 2. Reconnect to...
Windows Server – Fine Grained Password Policies
KB ID 0000765 Problem Before server 2008 if you wanted more than one password policy, you had to create a sub domain just to do that! with Server 2008 we were given fine grained password policies, which were fine (if a little clunky), and involved you creating ‘Password Settings Objects’. They were a pain if you were not used to them e.g. five minutes is entered as 00:00:05:00. But now Microsoft have made things a LOT...