What my 3-2-1 backup looks like.
DaleThere are people who do backups, and there are those who have not lost data yet. I use the 3-2-1 Backup strategy, which is: 3 copies of anything I want…
Bulk EFS decryption & encryption
Short story version: use the CIPHER command. I had a 3-2-1 backup fail on me recently." “21,684 files could not be copied”. The original files were EFS encrypted. Here’s a…
Re-using Bread Clips to make USB keys easy to identify.
I have lots of USB memory sticks. I have plenty of lanyards as well. Who doesn’t? Go to a conference, get a lanyard, get a USB memory stick. Identifying what’s…
How to open an InstallShield Data .cab file.
Some program installations use InstallShield, and the program files are compressed into Data .cab files. But InstallShield decided to be cute, and use their own propriety format with older versions…
Detecting inactive computers in your AD domain.
Use the LastLogonTimeStamp or the LastLogin Active Directory attribute. If you are on a Windows 2003 Functional Domain or later, use LastLogonTimeStamp. If you are on a Windows 2000 Functional…
How to clean a BlackBerry TrackBall
The biggest hardware problem I see with (older) BlackBerries is the TrackBall fails to scroll. It fails to scroll, because over time, it fills up with oil and grime from…
Company BlackBerry says: “JVM Error 517”.
On a Friday night, on my way home from work. I say, “You little bastard”. Now, sometimes you can fix this by reloading the software on the device. But to…
“How do I extract Microsoft CAB files?”
asked our newest SOE Developer. The best tool I’ve found for this is CABPACK v1.4, which was last updated in 1999. The age of the program might give you some…
Changing your password in a Terminal Services session.
So you’re using a Terminal Services Client (MSTSC) to connect to a remote server, and you want to change your password. The secret is to use CTRL-ALT-END. Which will bring…
Adding computers directly to SMS collections
I don’t do this often enough to remember it, so here’s a quick guide for me (and anyone else out there still using SMS 2003). Start the Administrator Console, and…