Run PowerShell (and Command Prompt) Administratively
KB ID 0000988 Problem We had the ‘run as’ service way back in Windows 2000, so the concept of running a command window ‘as administrator’ should not be difficult to understand. But the amount of times I tell people ‘You need to run that as administrator’, and they reply ‘I AM an administrator’ is far too high. With PowerShell theres no way of knowing, and with command prompt the...
RDP Black Screen
RDP Black Screen KB ID 0001840 Problem This problem has jumped up through various iterations of Windows operating systems. You attempt to RDP to a machine; it connects but you simply get a black screen. RDP Black Screen Solution Over the years various ‘hotfixes’ were known to cause this, but before proceeding make sure both the machine you are connecting FROM and the machine you are connected TO are fully patched and...
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...
Windows Server: Stop Programs Auto Starting / Auto Running
KB ID 0001600 Problem I like to learn the keyboard shortcuts for these sort of things, (because developers will change the way things are done in the GUI). So in the good old days I simply ran msconfig, and located the offending software on the startup list and disabled it. Then that got removed and put in ‘Task Manager’, then that got removed. So I’m pulling a frowny face at Microsoft Developers for their lack of...
VMware vSphere Hot Add and Hot Plug
KB ID 0000527 Problem I was trying to hot add some memory to a VM the other day, and found the option grayed out. Normally I’d just down the VM, add the memory, then bring it back up. But it was a production server and I was pretty sure the OS supported it. A quick Google search told me why it was grayed out, but it also transpired there was little to no information on what version of Windows hot add and hot plug would work...