Tag Archives: Windows 2008 Server

RT Se7en Lite: Create Customizable Windows 7 Installation Disk/USB

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It can be difficult for common users to understand the complex process of creating an unattended installation disk (that requires for no manual interference during operating system installation), add custom wallpapers, themes, screensavers and other components to a Windows 7 disc. RT Se7en Lite is an application that simplifies the process of adding such features and creating an unattended installation disc/USB for Windows 7. Read on past the break for details on this useful little tool. Read More

CodeTwo Active Directory Photos Adds Photos To Active Directory Users

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Over a period of time even small businesses can end up having a number of Active Directory  users. For this reason, extra information such as telephone number, addresses, etc can be added to AD users for easy identification and to create a catalogue of employees with detailed credentials. Additionally, you can also use Import-RecipientDataProperty cmdlet command to upload user images to the Active Directory. However, doing so is a lengthy procedure particularly when it involves a number of users for which images are to be assigned. CodeTwo Active Directory Photos is an application which lets you upload pictures for Active Directory users and allows managing them within it’s GUI. Pictures uploaded with CodeTwo appear in internal Outlook 2010 messages, contact cards and Global Address List (GAL). These pictures can also be added to internal or outbound emails. By adding images to messages for your employees within an internal mail server can help make communication convenient, as it can become easy to identify a user at a glance when a mail is opened with the users picture. Read More

SysAdmin Anywhere Helps Manage Server 2008/2003 Domains With Metro UI

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When managing Active Directory and Domains in a forest, one can find it hard to keep track of the numerous devices and network resources. SysAdmin Anywhere is an administration application for Active Directory-based networks, which provides domain, server, client computer, users and group management options. The program lets you create an inventory of all software and hardware installed on network computers and generates reports for network resources. Interestingly, it has a Windows 8 style Metro user interface which unlike most Microsoft Server based applications, gives it a visually appealing look. With SysAdmin Anywhere you can quickly search for a computer on the network, view and edit computer properties, access events and processes of remote computers, monitor a remote computer's performance (such as CPU, available memory, etc), run remote commands, view the list of software and hardware for a computer, change user containers, perform group management, search for contacts, generate reports for creating network inventories and so on. Read More

Windows Server DNS 2003 / 2008 Monitoring Management Pack

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DNS (Domain Name System or Service or Server), translates domain names into IP addresses. As alphabetical domain names are easier to remember as compared to IP addresses, therefore, the human brain is far likely to remember a word or phrase such as addictivetips.com instead of an IP address. The Internet however, is based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example when you type www.addictivetips.com, DNS translates it in relation to 78.46.99.12. DNS saves us from the impossible task of remembering hundreds of thousands of IP addresses. Microsoft recently released Windows Server DNS 2003/2008/2008 R2 Monitoring Management Pack. This management Pack (as the name implies), monitors DNS infrastructure health, availability and performance on Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 32-bit and Windows Server 2008 R2. Read More

How To Change Default Internet Explorer Settings In Windows Home Server 2011

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One thing that the Windows Home Server 2011 has inherited from Microsoft are the paranoid Internet Explorer security settings. As mentioned in an earlier post these settings can be quite a hurdle in browsing and downloading content freely on a Windows based server. The change of settings are quite similar to configurations in Windows Server 2008 for which you can see our post here. In this post we will tell you how to change these settings in Windows Home Server 2011. Read More

How To Use Remote Desktop In Windows Server 2008 For Remote Management

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As a system administrator I have seen the time when despite the availability of 3-5 system admins at the same time, the management of end user issues can still become difficult to entertain. This is particularly true in the case of managing hundreds of users. In my previous job, me and my fellow admins used to resolve issues after receiving a ticket in our ticketing portal. Sometimes there were 15 tickets open at the same time, ranging from problems caused due to an unplugged power cable, to entire system crashes. In such a scenario it is not possible to run over to the server room each time you have to reset a password or unlock a locked account. To save time and resolve issues on the fly, we used to remotely login to the DC (Domain Controller), ADC (Additional Domain Controller), ISA (Internet Security and Acceleration) and Exchange (mail) Servers to resolve such issues. In many cases, we used the system of end users to complete these tasks with our DC admin accounts. Now that we have talked about the basic scenario. In this post, we will tell you how to use Remote Desktop in Windows Server 2008 for remote management. Read More

How To Create Additional Domain Controller (ADC) In Windows Server 2008

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Having a single Domain Controller can be quite risky because in case of any kind of hardware or some other technical failure, the entire network can be destroyed. Recently, we wrote a guide on How to create a Domain in Windows Server 2008, in this post we will tell you how to create a backup Domain or an Additional Domain Controller (ADC). Having an ADC means that in case your primary Domain fails, it takes over the functions of the Primary Domain and keeps the network functional. Client operating systems in this scenario do not get disconnected and a complete network failure is hence, avoided. Moreover, one or more ADCs can help in balancing load of the Domain, fault tolerance and to improve the availability and reliability of network services. Read More

How To Create A Domain In Windows Server 2008 And Things To Consider

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Gone are the days when separate user names had to be configured and used for logging into numerous servers for working on a network. For example, back in the early days a user might have to login to a mail server with a separate user name and password as compared to a data a UNIX server for managing files. With the advent of solutions such as the Active Directory, user authentication and management is much simpler now. For example, Kerberos authentication allows a user to easily manage mails, database related activities and access across multiple places on a network with a single user profile via the Active Directory in a Domain environment. In this post we will tell you the steps to create a domain in Windows Server 2008 and the things that you need to consider during this process. Read More

How To Change Default IE Security Restrictions In Windows Server 2008

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Windows Server 2008 like any other Microsoft based operating system, comes with the Internet Explorer browser. The default IE security restrictions can be a headache to manage due to the paranoid restrictions. One can get awfully tired of allowing each website and sub domain(s) access to IE when working with these default policies. Moreover, it might appear impossible to download a file (even another browser), as downloading is disabled. In this post we will tell you how to change the IE security configuration to suite your needs. Read More

Manage Windows User Profiles

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UserProfilesView is a small portable tool developed by NirSoft which can display detailed information of each and every user profile in Windows. Useful for system administrators who want to find information of all user profiles quickly. Read More

DISM – Command Line Tool To Manage Windows 7 Features

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The Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool (DISM) is perfect for IT professionals and power users that want to manage the Windows components without using the GUI. It is a built-in utility in Windows 7 and Windows 2008 Server which lets you  manage windows features from the command line. It helps developers to handle many common system features and they integrate its commands into their scripts. Read More