In Windows 2000 you could create a shortcut to an Active Directory resource, and turn it into an Windows Explorer view.  One of my (now long gone) predecessors worked out it would make life easier for end users.

“Oh, you just want to see the security groups you have delegation rights too?  No problems.  I’ll create you a shortcut.”

The AD Folder shortcut would look like this on a Windows 2000 system:

The user reported that since a Windows XP upgrade, the icon looked like this:

(and the shortcut no longer worked.)

You can tell the Windows 2000 shortcut looks like a Folder shortcut.  The Windows XP shortcut, just looks broken.

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We used to hard-code a user’s home directory in a logon script; just like this:

net use H: \\NODDY22\%Username%$

Of course, it becomes a problem when you need to change some of the users to another server.  Say for load balancing.

So you think to yourself, “Oh, I’ll just use the %homeshare% variable!”
(%homeshare% contains the link to the user’s home directory, as stored in Active Directory).

net use H: %homeshare%

All goes fine, until someone logs onto a Citrix/Terminal Server.

“Wahhhh, I don’t have a home drive anymore”.

The cause? In the AD User Properties, you have a Profiles tab AND a Terminal Services Profile tab.

Guess which %homeshare% is loaded when you log on to a Terminal Server?  That’ll be the one in the Terminal Services Profile tab Chucky.  And yes, it was different from the users normal home directory.

How to Install GPMC on Server 2008, 2008 R2, and Windows 7 (via RSAT)

Can You See Me – Open Port Check Tool

Is a free utility for remotely verifying a port is open or closed. It will be useful for users who wish to check to see if a server is running or a firewall or ISP is blocking certain ports.

Setting up a Windows 7 Media Center

Windows XP Power Management and Group Policy Preferences

Windows XP only has one active power scheme for the entire computer and that scheme is based on the current or previously logged on user—that is to say Windows XP power schemes are only user-based. This means the power scheme can change as each user logs on. Also, it means that last logged on user’s power settings are the settings that remain once the user logs off. And yes, each user has its own power configuration; however, the entire operating system only has one active power scheme.

PHP and IE8 Web Slices

Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) shipped with a new feature for web users called Web Slices. … Essentially it lets you add enhanced links to your favorite bar that allow you to preview snippets of content from websites that you frequently visit without having to open up the page. It’s really useful to do little tasks like check on your web based Inbox, check the weather in cities you live or visit, traffic status, stock tickers, headlines, sports, the list goes on and on and you can check the IE add-on gallery for more examples of useful web slices and for inspiration.

How to customize default user profiles in Windows 7 (KB973289)

To customize a default user profile or a mandatory user profile, you must first customize the default user profile. Then, the default user profile can be copied to the appropriate shared folder to make that user profile either the default user profile or a mandatory user profile.

Get-ComputersNearMe

Today I learned a little bit about how to get to some of the data stored within special shell folders.  You can get a list of all of the easy-to-get-to special folders here.  I noticed one folder in particular that a bunch of systems administrators I know want to read, and that’s the Nearby Computers page.  Here’s a quick 23-line function that will go and get all of the computers from the Nearby Computers page, ping them, and return the Win32_PingStatus objects.

End-to-End WAN Optimization with BranchCache

Expanding a business into new regions of the world with branch offices is a great idea from a business perspective, but it often presents challenges to network architects and implementers. To connect each branch office to a central location requires some sort of physical or logical connection, with bandwidth that is typically orders of magnitude smaller than local area connections. Low bandwidth combined with the trend toward centralizing organization data often yields branch office links that are congested, resulting in poor performance for applications. Moreover, many types of wide area network (WAN) links are expensive and can incur substantial startup and monthly costs.

Understanding DFSR conflict algorithms (and doing something about conflicts)

I’m frequently asked to explain the DFSR conflict algorithm – i.e. what happens when files are created or modified on two servers before replication takes place. What we don’t document well is that there are actually three conflict algorithms and they all behave quite differently. I am breaking these out into scenarios for easier understanding.

The Configuration Manager Service Pack Install Guide

This document was created to help in troubleshooting Configuration Manager Service Pack 2 (SP2) install failures. This document is not entirely specific to Service Pack 2 and can apply to Service Pack 1 installs, upgrades from SMS 2003 to SCCM, and future service pack or Configuration Manager versions that rely on .mof file compilations, SQL SPNS, provider DLLs, etc.

PowerScripting Podcast with Ed Wilson

Some troubleshooting resouces:
serverfault.com
stackoverflow.com

W2K3 to W2K8 Active Directory Upgrade Considerations

I have collected some upgrade considerations from a couple colleagues of mine and have been sharing them on our internal technical DLs as the question comes up.  I have gotten positive feedback on the notes and have been encouraged to post them.  So, here they are.  Though, the real thanks go out to my colleages Tom and Arren.

Here are some of the problems customers run into when upgrading W2K3 DCs to W2K8

A very comprehensive list of solutions to problems people run into when upgrading from a Windows 2003 domain to a Windows 2008 domain.  Thank you Glenn LeCheminant.