Installing and Upgrading to Microsoft Server 2012 - Considerations

Installing and Upgrading to Microsoft Server - Considerations

There are several considerations to take into account when upgrading to Server 2012. This article is not so much a how to on how to perform an upgrade, but more a guide on some tips and strategies that can be used to make the move easier for you and your organisation.

Upgrade or Fresh Install?

Server 2012 is the first Microsoft Windows Server that allows you to perform an upgrade instead of needing to perform a fresh install. To be eligible for this feature, the existing operating system needs to be Server 2008 or 2008 R2, both 64 bit.

Also for consideration is if the hosted services and applications on that server are capable of handling an upgrade. For this its best to contact the provider or manufacturer directly. In some cases, it may be possible to test this, especially if you have a relevant test environment. Serious consideration needs to be given to Active Directory and also Microsoft SQL server implementations.Other services that need intense considerations include Federated Services and MS Clustering. Microsoft produces several guidelines that can be obtained on their website and are updated regularly.

These reports an be exported as a Word doc and then provided to relevant managers or seniors for approval.

Planning an Implementation

There are several considerations when planning a Server 2012 deployment as follows:

Practice Makes Perfect

Be sure to test the installation in a VM and be familiar with the processes and what you need. There are several free / cheap hypervisors availiable today including VMWare  Workstation as well as Microsoft Hyper V Server. a trial copy of Windows Server 2012 can be downloaded from the Microsoft Website

Preparing for installation

Microsoft Produces the MAP toolkit as a means to verify (in some detail) whether existing systems are a good candidate for upgrade, and if not why not. This is a free downloaded from Microsoft and can be accessed from here : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb977556.aspx

Beyond the MAP toolkit you will want to be sure that the hardware proposed at least meets the minimum requirements for handling Server 2012. Ideally you will have hardware that exceeds these requirements and also satisfies the requirements for the applications that are to be hosted on the server. A the time of writing the min requirements are:

• CPU - 1.4 GHz 64 Bit
• RAM - 512 MB
• Disk Space - 32 GB

Timing is everything - if you are performing an upgrade make sure that you are doing so in a time that is acceptable to business (perhaps a dedicated maintenance window). taking a system off line in production is not going to make a lot of people happy. Also make sure that you have an up to date and verified backup of any systems that you are tinkering with.

Mass Storage (and other) Drivers

Server 2012 requires digitally signed drivers, and non signed drivers can cause issues in setup. To aleviate this, you can disable this requirement by: Pressing F8 at Startup -> Advanced Boot Options -> Disable Driver Signature Enforcement -> load windows and install driver

F6 is pressed during installation to enable installation of mass storage drivers during install. these may be needed for RAID and other associated disk devices.

  

Who is Hosting my Domain Email?

Who is Hosting my Domain Email?

To find out who is hosting your domain email is pretty easy. Here's how you do it:

1. Open a command prompt (shortcut to do this is hold down Windows Key and the R Key, then type CMD in the Run window) 
2. In the command prompt window type in

            NSlookup

            set qtype=mx

            (please note that this is entered without the www)

This will query your DNS and present you with the mail server for your domain - pretty easy!

How To Fix Windows Update Issues in Windows 8, 7, Vista, Server

How To Fix Windows Update Issues

Windows update can cause several issues, often leaving you with a cryptic error message such as 0x8024402c, 80070643, 8024800A or many others. Alternatively, you may also get an error like "Windows update cannot check for updates because the service is not running" . This article will go through how to troubleshoot Windows Update issues as a whole.Instructions for various specific issues such as those shown above can also be found on this site (just use the search feature to locate them).

Before making any changes to your system, please create a restore point or make a backup of any important work such as photos or documents. If you are unsure on how to create a restore point, please consult this Microsoft article: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows7/create-a-restore-point

Windows Update Fix It Tool

This tool is a great starting point for troubleshooting Windows Update and is highly successful in resolving a variety of issues. The Tool can be downloaded here: http://support.microsoft.com/mats/windows_update/ . At the time of writing there was no Windows 8 64 Bit version of this tool, hopefully Microsoft will make a version available in the near future.

Also available is The System Update Readiness tool, located here: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows7/what-is-the-system-update-readiness-tool . This tool will troubleshoot your system and solve any problems. The program is not very verbose, in that it doesn't really tell you what its doing, however it is effective in rectifying common Windows Update Issues.

Windows Update Log

For Those who wish to do further troubleshooting or if the above tools do not solve your issue, the Windows Update Log is a great place to start looking for clues as to what is going on. to access the log open a Run Command and type (or just copy from this blog) %Windir%\windowsupdate.log and press Enter. I have included a snippet from a log below:.

In this case, the log is displaying that error 0x800f0902 has occurred where Windows was unable to download updates. This is a fantastic starting point for further troubleshooting of issues that are occurring.

Windows Services

There are three main services involved with Windows Update, the Windows Update Service, Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS ) and the Workstation Service. If any of these are not started and running, Windows will be unable to apply updates.

To access the Windows Services open a Run Windows (Windows Key + R) and enter services.msc . This will open a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) showing Running Services.

For each of the above services check the following:

1. Scroll down till you find the service (in this case Background Intelligent Update Service). as seen in the picture, the status should be Running and the Startup Type should be :
• Automatic (Delayed Start) for the BITS service
• Automatic for the Workstation Service
• Manual (Trigger Start) for the Windows Update Service - (note that on some Windows 7 Systems it may also be set to Automatic Start)
2. If the services are shut down, or not set to the appropriate start up type:
• Double Click on the Service. This will open the Properties Window for the service
• Change the Startup Type to the correct mode and /or click start to start the service
  
3. If the service will not start, then a good thing to do is run the above Fix It Tool or System Update Readiness Tool and see the results. failing that, consult the Windows Update log as also shown above.

Deleting Windows Update File Locations

If you have an update that will not successfully install (e.g. it repeatedly tries to install but fails when shutting down) or further investigation has suggested, it may be necessary to manually delete the files and folders containing Windows Update data and database. Please ensure that you have backed up any data or created a restore point before deleting any files

Note that before doing this you may need to stop with Windows Update Service. - see above for instructions on how to locate the service. once found double click the service to expose the properties window and choose stop. After you can either reboot to start the service or double click and choose start

The Windows Update download location can be found at C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download . This is the repository where windows stores downloaded updates.

Its normally OK to delete these files as they are just the installers, not the actual applied updates. To delete these , click on the window, and press Control and A . This will highlight all the items in the screen. Right Click and choose Delete. answer YES to any verifcation prompts.

The Windows Update Download location is found at C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\datastore . 

This is the actual location of the Windows Update Database. if this database is corrupted then it may be easiest to delete it. Windows should create a new database automatically. To delete the database, open the location above click on the window, and press Control and A . This will highlight all the items in the screen. Right Click and choose Delete. answer YES to any verification prompts.

Uninstall Windows Updates

Occasionally you will installa n update that may not play nice with your system due to incompatibility with other installed programs, a failed install or occasionally an update that is not functioning as Microsoft intended. to remove these updates:

1. Open Control Panel
• In Windows 7 / Vista / 2008 go to Start -> Control Panel
• In Windows 8, or Server 2012 go to the Start Screen  and type Control Panel. this will bing up the control Panel Icon. Choose this Icon
  
2. Select to view by Small Icons (Optional) then choose Programs and Features
   
3. in the left hand corner, select View Installed Updates
   
   
   
   

From this location you can uninstall any updates that you are having problems with. The trick here is to know which update you are looking for that is causing you a problem. This may be identified by either the Windows Update Log (see above), Windows Event Viewer, personal observation or other knowledge base searches.

This article has discussed various ways of troubleshooting Windows Update problems and how to resolve them.

How To Shut Down or Restart Windows 8

How To Shut Down or Restart  Windows 8

Shutting down or restarting Windows 8 has proven to be a little tricky for users used to the old tried and true method of going to Start then -> Shut down as has been done in previous versions of Windows. In this article we will show you 3 Different ways to shut down and restart Windows 8.

Method 1: The Windows 8 Power Icon

1. Hover your icon / mouse over the right hand lower corner to expose the Charms Bar as shown on the right:
   
2. The bottom Icon is labeled Settings. Tap / Select this to open the Settings Window
   
3. In the lowest half of the Settings window, choose Power
4. You will now have the options to Sleep, Shut Down or Restart your Windows 8 Computer
   

Method 2: Create a Windows 8 Shut Down and Restart Tile

1. Go to the Desktop (Press WindowsKey-D or go the Start Menu and choose Desktop)
   
2. Right click on a blank area and choose New, Shortcut
   
3. In the location field / box type shutdown /p and press next
   
4. Enter a name for the Shortcut such as Shutdown and choose Finish
   
5. (optional) To create a restart icon, follow steps 1 - 4 but enter shutdown /r /t 0 in the location field
   
6.  To attach this short Cut to your  Start Menu, right click and choose Pin to Start
   

Method 3: Use the Power Button to restart Windows 8

1. Go to the Start Screen and start typing Control Panel . This will show Control Panel in a list of results.
   
2. Select (click) the Control Panel Icon.
3. Locate the Search box (normally located in the top right hand corner) and type Power . This will show the computers Power Options.
   
4. Select Change What Power Options Do
5. The Setting for When I press the Power Button is defaulted to Sleep. change this to Shut Down. On a Laptop you may need to set this for both On Battery and Plugged In
   
6. Choose Save Changed to save these settings

And that's it! 3 Different ways to easily Shut Down and Restart Windows 8.

This Article can also be located on our sister site DizzyIT.com at: 

Windows Update Error 0x8024402C in Windows 7, 8, 2012, 2008 R2, Vista

Windows Update Error 0x8024402C in Windows 7, 8, 2012, 2008 R2, Vista

Windows Update Error 0x8024402C occurs when running windows update and you try to connect to the Windows or Microsoft Update Website.

Please see this post for an overview of how to troubleshoot Windows Updates: How to Troubleshoot Windows Update Issues

if you view the logs located at: %windir%\windowsupdate.log you may also see this error present like this:

FATAL: SelfUpdate check failed, err = 0x8024402C

2013-05-11 11:41:27:095 1208 2344 Agent  * WARNING: Skipping scan, self-update check returned 0x8024402C

2013-05-11 11:41:27:095 1208 2344 Agent  * WARNING: Exit code = 0x8024402C

This issue is commonly caused by Firewall Settings not being correctly set within Internet Explorer. There are 3 ways in which you can attempt to correct this error:

Method 1:

Download and run the Microsoft Windows Update Readiness Tool located at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947821 . If this fails to solve the issue then please try one of the other methods.

Method 2:

This Method is for if you ar ein a corporation or campus that uses a Proxy Server.

1. Open Internet Explorer and go to Tools -> Internet Options
   
2. Click on the Connections Tab, select LAN Settings and choose OK
   
3. Choose the Advanced Button
4. Clear any entries under the exceptions window and choose OK
   
5. Open a command prompt:
1. In Windows 7, Vista, 2008 either:
1. Go to start  chose run and type in cmd and press OK . Or:
2. Type command prompt into the search bar in the start menu
   
2. In Windows 8 
1. Go to the Start Screen and type command prompt. This will open a search screen where you can then select command prompt from the right hand side
   
6. in the command prompt window, enter the following pressing Enter After each command
1. netsh winhttp reset proxy
2. net stop wuauserv
3. net start wuauserv
   
7. restart the computer and try and install updates again

Method 3:

1. Open Internet Explorer
   
2. Go to Tools -> Internet Options
   
3. Click on Connections -> LAN Settings
   
   
   
   
4. Select Automatically Detect Settings 
   
5. Choose OK
6. close and re open Internet Explorer and try installing updates again.

Delegate Authority in AD to add and remove computers

Delegate Authority in AD to add and remove computers

Delegation of Authority in AD is a good idea to manage the level of access given to technicians. Normally, authenticated users within the AD environment (i.e users) can add up to 10 machines to a domain. after this, the privilege is revoked.

When configuring these settings, it is advisable to set only on the OU's that you wish to delegate the authority on. Many times, its too easy to just want to save time and effort and set this at the top level of the domain, however this will come back to bite you big time if your help desk lackey deletes your domain controllers......

In order to configure the delegate authority to add and remove AD computers do the following:

1. Open up AD users and computers and navigate to the OU that contains the workstations / servers that you wish to delegate. 
2. Right click on the OU and select Delegate Control
3. click Next past the welcome screen
4. select the group  you wish to delegate access too, e.g. a group named helpdesk or level1_techs etc.
5. choose create a custom task to delegate and choose Next
6. select only the following objects in the folder and then select Computer Objects as well as the tick boxes Create selected objects in this folder and Delete Selected objects in this folder. Choose Next
7. In the Permissions window, select:
1. Create all Child Objects
2. Delete all Child Objects
3. Read All Properties
4. Write All Properties
5. Change Password
6. Reset Password
7. Validated Write to DNS Host Name
8. Validated Write to Service Principal
8.  Note that several other sub settings will be enabled after choosing the above settings. Leave these as they are and choose Next
9. Choose Finish to finalize the settings.

And that's it! As always, you should now thoroughly test these settings prior to distributing to them the required users to ensure that they have the required level of permissions (ie not too many and not too few). an easy way to test this would be to get the user to add or re add a workstation to the domain.

of course there are several other things you can do with delegation of authority including assigning permissions for user creation many other settings.

The above article discusses how to delegate authority in a Windows Active Directory domain for adding and removing workstations or computers.

This article can also be located on our sister site DizzyIT.com at http://dizzyit.com/2013/05/23/delegate-authority-ad-add-remove-computers/

Allow Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance Connections through Windows Firewall

Allow Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance Connections through Windows Firewall

To Connect to a remote session, the receiving computer must be able to communicate with your computer. In order to do this, you or the administrator may need to open a port in the firewall to allow this connection to happen. This is a common pain point and something that many administrators forget to do from time to time! When you choose to Enable a remote desktop Connection, the system may do this for you, however this is not always the case. Luckily, its quite simple to allow a remote desktop connection through the Windows Firewall:

1. Open Control Panel and Choose Windows Firewall
2. In the top left hand corner choose Allow a program or Feature through Windows Firewall
3. you are now presented with a list of programs. Scroll down to R where you will see 3 options pertaining to Remote Desktop / Assistance:
1. Remote Desktop - Choose this to allow remote Desktop Services
2. Remote Assistance - Choose this to allow shared screen remote assistance to your machine
3. Remote Desktop - Remote FX - this is a Windows 7 Service Pack 1 / Server 2008 R2 and later feature that provides a rich desktop experience for features like sound and graphics.
4. Choose the options pertaining to you by ticking the box in the connections you will allow this for ( Domain, Home / Work, Public)
5. Choose OK
6. you have now allowed remote desktop and / or remote assistance connections to your computer. to disable this, just un tick the boxes you have ticked in the firewall.

To Connect to a Remote Desktop Computer

To Connect to a Remote Desktop Computer

1. To open a remote desktop connection, either:
1. go to Start then Run and enter mstsc and press OK
2. go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, Remote Desktop Connection
3. In the Computer field, enter the Computer Name or IP Address of the computer you wish to connect to. If you are unsure of what this is, a few simple ways to find out are (these are done on the remote computer)
1. ask your administrator / help desk / remote desktop provider for the address needed
2. Open a Run Command (go to Start and Run or Windows Key + r), enter ipconfig  and look for the IPAddress field. you may need to scroll up to see this. you may also, depending on the configuration have a couple to choose from.
3. open a Run Command (start and Run or Windows Key + r) and when presented with the black DOS screen, enter hostname. This is the name of the computer.
4. You can chose the Options button to set parameters such as connection profile, display properties, whether to run specified programs, connection bandwidth and more, however this is optional
5. choosing Connect will initiate the connection.
6. you may be prompted for the log in credentials of a user on the remote machine that is allowed connection, enter these details here.
7. You should now have established a remote desktop connection to another computer

Enable a Remote Desktop Connection

Enable a Remote Desktop Connection

Remote Desktop allows you to connect to a computer over a network and utilize it as if you were sitting in front of it at the terminal. This is different to Remote Assistance which is a shared interactive experience used primarily for support purposes. In most versions of windows clients, only a single user may connect at a given time to a computer. This is different in Server installations, where a maximum of 2 remote connections are Nativity supported, and Terminal Servers where hundreds to thousands of remote clients can be supported. To enable Remote Desktop in a Windows Client:

1. Open Control Panel, then navigate to System choose Advanced System Settings and choose the Remote tab
2. In the second half of the page, you see Remote Desktop and have 3 options, choose the 1 most relevant to you. Choosing option 2 will be the most "user friendly" solution. If in doubt, consult your organisations security policy.
1. Dont Allow Connections to This Computer - This prevents all users from establishing a remote desktop connection with your computer. This is the most secure setting.
2. Allow connections from computers running any version of remote desktop - This setting is the most generic, and most commonly used. It allows almost all Windows based remote desktop clients to Connect
3. Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication - This setting means that only computer that have Network Level Authentication enabled will be able to connect. This setting is most common in well structured corporate environments
3. Choose Select Users. Here you enter the users that you want to have access to your computer. The user currently logged in is normally automatically added, as are Domain Administrators in a network Environment. Choose the user / group that you would like to have access and choose OK  and OK again to exit
4. you have now enabled remote desktop on your computer. please note that you may need to open a firewall rule in order to access the desktop remotely. 

Enable a Remote Assistance Connection

Enable a Remote Assistance Connection

Remote Assistance will allow select individuals (those that you or your organisation allows)  to connect to your computer to collaborate or solve issues that you may be experiencing. This is an interactive experience in contrast to Remote Desktop, which forms a remote terminal style connection with an individual user having sole control of the desktop environment. To Enable Remote Assistance you:

1. Open Control Panel, then navigate to System choose Advanced System Settings and choose the Remote tab
2. At the top of the page, you will see Remote Assistance. Tick the box  Allow Remote Assistance Connections to this computer then click apply. 
3. Choose the Advanced Button.
4. If you want to allow your computer to be able to be controlled remotely then tick the box Allow this computer to be controlled remotely
5. The Invitations box allows you to choose the amount of time a remote assistance request remains valid. For Security reasons, its better to keep this number shorter than longer.
6. Choose OK
7. you have now enabled remote assistance on your desktop. Please note that you may also need to open a port in your firewall to allow these connections through. 

Set up Remote Desktop Connection in Windows

Set up Remote Desktop Connection in Windows

Remote Desktop Connections allow you to connect to a computer from another, and interact with the desktop and installed software as if you were sitting in front of the remote computer. This article will show you a few ways to enable this in both Windows 7 and Windows 8

Enable a Remote Assistance Connection

Remote Assistance will allow select individuals (those that you or your organisation allows)  to connect to your computer to collaborate or solve issues that you may be experiencing. This is an interactive experience in contrast to Remote Desktop, which forms a remote terminal style connection with an individual user having sole control of the desktop environment. To Enable Remote Assistance you:

1. Open Control Panel, then navigate to System choose Advanced System Settings and choose the Remote tab
2. At the top of the page, you will see Remote Assistance. Tick the box  Allow Remote Assistance Connections to this computer then click apply. 
3. Choose the Advanced Button.
4. If you want to allow your computer to be able to be controlled remotely then tick the box Allow this computer to be controlled remotely
5. The Invitations box allows you to choose the amount of time a remote assistance request remains valid. For Security reasons, its better to keep this number shorter than longer.
6. Choose OK
7. you have now enabled remote assistance on your desktop. Please note that you may also need to open a port in your firewall to allow these connections through. For information on how to do so, click here:

Enable a Remote Desktop Connection

Remote Desktop allows you to connect to a computer over a network and utilize it as if you were sitting in front of it at the terminal. This is different to Remote Assistance which is a shared interactive experience used primarily for support purposes. In most versions of windows clients, only a single user may connect at a given time to a computer. This is different in Server installations, where a maximum of 2 remote connections are Nativity supported, and Terminal Servers where hundreds to thousands of remote clients can be supported. To enable Remote Desktop in a Windows Client:

1. Open Control Panel, then navigate to System choose Advanced System Settings and choose the Remote tab
2. In the second half of the page, you see Remote Desktop and have 3 options, choose the 1 most relevant to you. Choosing option 2 will be the most "user friendly" solution. If in doubt, consult your organisations security policy.
1. Dont Allow Connections to This Computer - This prevents all users from establishing a remote desktop connection with your computer. This is the most secure setting.
2. Allow connections from computers running any version of remote desktop - This setting is the most generic, and most commonly used. It allows almost all Windows based remote desktop clients to Connect
3. Allow connections only from computers running Remote Desktop with Network Level Authentication - This setting means that only computer that have Network Level Authentication enabled will be able to connect. This setting is most common in well structured corporate environments
3. Choose Select Users. Here you enter the users that you want to have access to your computer. The user currently logged in is normally automatically added, as are Domain Administrators in a network Environment. Choose the user / group that you would like to have access and choose OK  and OK again to exit
4. you have now enabled remote desktop on your computer. please note that you may need to open a firewall rule in order to access the desktop remotely. for information on how to do so, click here: 

To Connect to a Remote Desktop Computer

1. To open a remote desktop connection, either:
1. go to Start then Run and enter mstsc and press OK
2. go to Start, All Programs, Accessories, Remote Desktop Connection
3. In the Computer field, enter the Computer Name or IP Address of the computer you wish to connect to. If you are unsure of what this is, a few simple ways to find out are (these are done on the remote computer)
1. ask your administrator / help desk / remote desktop provider for the address needed
2. Open a Run Command (go to Start and Run or Windows Key + r), enter ipconfig  and look for the IPAddress field. you may need to scroll up to see this. you may also, depending on the configuration have a couple to choose from.
3. open a Run Command (start and Run or Windows Key + r) and when presented with the black DOS screen, enter hostname. This is the name of the computer.
4. You can chose the Options button to set parameters such as connection profile, display properties, whether to run specified programs, connection bandwidth and more, however this is optional
5. choosing Connect will initiate the connection.
6. you may be prompted for the log in credentials of a user on the remote machine that is allowed connection, enter these details here.
7. You should now have established a remote desktop connection to another computer

Allow Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance Connections through Windows Firewall

To Connect to a remote session, the receiving computer must be able to communicate with your computer. In order to do this, you or the administrator may need to open a port in the firewall to allow this connection to happen. This is a common pain point and something that many administrators forget to do from time to time! When you choose to Enable a remote desktop Connection, the system may do this for you, however this is not always the case. Luckily, its quite simple to allow a remote desktop connection through the Windows Firewall:

1. Open Control Panel and Choose Windows Firewall
2. In the top left hand corner choose Allow a program or Feature through Windows Firewall
3. you are now presented with a list of programs. Scroll down to R where you will see 3 options pertaining to Remote Desktop / Assistance:
1. Remote Desktop - Choose this to allow remote Desktop Services
2. Remote Assistance - Choose this to allow shared screen remote assistance to your machine
3. Remote Desktop - Remote FX - this is a Windows 7 Service Pack 1 / Server 2008 R2 and later feature that provides a rich desktop experience for features like sound and graphics.
4. Choose the options pertaining to you by ticking the box in the connections you will allow this for ( Domain, Home / Work, Public)
5. Choose OK
6. you have now allowed remote desktop and / or remote assistance connections to your computer. to disable this, just un tick the boxes you have ticked in the firewall.

Enable Fast Startup in Windows 8

Enable Fast Startup in Windows 8

Fast Startup is a Windows 8 feature that allows you to boot your PC / Laptop much faster than was available in Windows 7. This is accomplished by utilizing the hibernation file as a boot source,instead of the system needing to initialize and load drivers, services etc which take considerable more time. The below graphic illustrates this:

As with any new feature in operating system, some  people are reporting that there is some system instability associated with this feature such as hung start ups and BSOD. This is especially true in dual boot set ups. If this is your case then i would recommend that you disable this feature and see if this settles down the behavior. If the problem goes away, then its also possible to re enable in the future and see if the problem re emerges.

Enabling Fast Startup using Microsoft Windows System Settings

1. Log into Windows using an Administrator Account
2. Open The Control Panel and choose Power Options
3. On the left hand side menu is a link labeled Choose what the power buttons do. Choose this link.
4. towards the top of the screen, select/click change settings that are currently unavailable. You may receive a UAC prompt here, if so choose "Yes"
5. Towards the bottom of the page is a heading called Shutdown settings. under this is the option Turn on for fast startup. Select (tick) this check box to enable Fast Startup on the machine. 
6. Choose Save Changes to finalize these Settings.

NOTE: the Fast Startup settings may not appear of hibernate has been disabled. Enabling Hibernate will make the Fast Startup option 

KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR Blue Screen BSOD in Windows 8

KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR  Blue Screen BSOD in Windows 8

The KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR in Windows 8 blue screen tends to occur on a cold bootup, and will cause the machine to loop and reboot.

Commonly, the KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR is caused by a driver issue, or an issue with the MBR and is especially prevalent in systems that have slightly older hardware, such as those that have been upgraded from Windows 7.

To fix this issue, firstly you should consult the manufacturers site of your computer and ensure that you have the latest approved drivers for your system.

After this has been done,  boot the machine into Safe Mode (start pressing F8 when the computer is turrned on, you will be given a menu list, just choose safe mode). from here open a command prompt (easiest way is to go to the start menu and type cmd into the keyboard.

Once you have the command prompt open, you run a checkdisk program to find and fix errors in the MBR. the command to enter into the back command prompt is chkdsk /f /r which should identify and fix any errors on the disk. Often You will be prompted that chkdsk needs to be run on a restart and would you like to continue? choose y to do so

Hopefully this will help solve your KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR blue screen issues!

This article can also be found on our sister site DizzyIT.com at: http://dizzyit.com/2013/05/05/kernel_data_inpage_error-blue-screen-bsod-windows-8/

IE 10 Group Policy Settings in Windows 8

IE 10 Group Policy Settings in Windows 8

If you are running a 2008 or 2003 Domain, the group policy settings for Internet Explorer 10 are missing. In Fact, several Windows 8 options are not present if you look hard enough.

In order to leverage the Group Policy options available in Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10 you need to Install Microsoft Remote Administration Tools (RSAT) available here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=28972 . After you install this tool, you connect it to your 2008 Domain Controller and the Windows 8 Options will be available to you.

This Article can also be found on our sister site DizzyIT.com at: http://dizzyit.com/2013/05/05/10-group-policy-settings-windows-8/

Remove Burn Button in Windows Explorer

Remove Burn Button in Windows Explorer

You may want to remove the Burn button in Windows Explorer for a variety of reasons including security ( not allowing staff to burn in a secure Windows Environment) through to the fact that it just gets in the road. The Burn icon in Windows Explorer is shown below:

The good news is that its very easy to remove with some knowledge on how to manipulate the registry.

1. open the start menu and enter regedit either in the search bar of Windows 7 or just type it into the start menu on Windows 8. 
2. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer .
3. right click in the white pace in the right hand window and choose new then Dword
   
4. name the dword NoCdBurning and set the Value to 1
   
5. Close the registry editor and restart the computer.

The above article details how to remove the Burn icon from Windows Explorer.

How to Delete Windows.old files in Windows 8 and Windows 7

How to Delete Windows.old files in Windows 8 and Windows 7

The Windows.old file is created when you perform an upgrade to Windows 8, perform a refresh, or perform an installation where you don't reformat the drive prior to installation (i.e you are installing Windows 8 onto the same partition as Windows 7).

In instances where you have done an upgrade on an upgrade (e.g. from Vista to Windows 7 and then again to Windows 8 you may also may have a Windows.old.000 folder present. this is the older installation data.

Having these files can eat up a lot of room, especially on smaller laptop SSD drives. in this article, we show you how to remove these folders.

Some of the methods listed below will also be applicable for deleting the Windows.old file in Windows 7 as well

NOTE: before deleting any files or folders, you need to ensure that you no longer need any files or folders located in this location. If in doubt you must back this up to external storage.

Method 1:
Deleting from the Command Prompt

This method is very straight forward and can be scripted for situations that invlove upgrades in an organisation.

1. Open an elevated administrator command prompt
2. To delete the folder, enter or copy the following command into the command prompt window:
RD /S /Q %SystemDrive%\windows.old

3. For a Windows.old.000 folder then repeat the above with the Windows.old replaced with Windows.old.000

Method 2:Disk Cleanup

Disk Cleanup can be used to delete the Windows.old folder. To do so:

1. Open disk cleanup (either Open Computer, right click on C: choose properties and then disk cleanup or type cleanmgr into a run command)
2. If you have more than 1 drive letter available  you will be asked to choose the drive you with to cleanup. Choose C: as the drive to cleanup

3. In the lower left hand corner, you will see an icon labeled "clean up system files", choose this.

4. You may be prompted by UAC, choose Ok. you may need to repeat step 2.
5. In the disk cleanup menu, scroll to previous Windows installations, and then tick this box. choose OK to continue. This will mark the Windows.old file for deletion.

6. If prompted as to if you would like to delete these files, choose delete files

7. this will now delete the windows.old file.

This article discussed how to remove Windows.old and windows.old.000 from Windows 8 and also Windows 7

Set Desktop Background via Group Policy in Windows 7, Windows 8 in a Server 2008 or Server 2012 Domain

Set Desktop Background via Group Policy in Windows 7, Windows 8 in a Server 2008 or Server 2012 Domain

Setting the desktop background for all machines in the domain is easy, and also normally a requirement for machine identification / standardization in a work environment. This article will cover setting for all machines in the domain, however if you wanted to apply to only a certain group of machines you could create a separate policy and apply it to the OU of your choice.

The process for setting the desktop background is as follows:


1. Type \\domain.local\sysvol in the start menu search bar and hit enter
2. Place your BMP or JPG file in that folder
3. Open the start menu and type gpedit in the search bar
4. Right click on the default domain policy and navigate to User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Desktop\Desktop Top\Desktop Wallpaper and set the setting the the JPG you moved to the SYSVOL folder
5. Enable the Prevent Changes policy in that same location
6. Run a GPUPDATE/FORCE on one of the machines, log off and then log back in to test it.

This Article can also be found on our sister site DizzyIT.com at http://dizzyit.com/2013/04/14/set-desktop-background-group-policy-windows-7-windows-8-server-2008-server-2012-domain/

How to Install Features and Roles using PowerShell in Server 2012 and 2008

How to Install Features and Roles using PowerShell in Server 2012 and 2008

Server 2012 allows you to install features and roles via PowerShell. Before doing this, you may need to load the Server Manager Module with the command Import-Module Servermanager .

Firstly, you need to know the name of the windows feature / role that you wish to install. To find this information you enter the command Get-WindowsFeature . This will list the features available to install.

Server 2012

To install a feature or Role on a local machine, open PowerShell and type: install-windowsfeature {featurename} using the feature name you previously identified.

 Often this will require a restart,so you can add the -restart switch to the end of the command if you wish. It is also possible to install a feature on a remote machine using PowerShell by adding the -computername switch to the above command.

Server 2008

In Server 2008, the command to install is a little different to the above, but the switches are the same. The command used to install is add-WindowsFeature {featurename}  .

This Article can also be viewed on or sister site DizzyIT.com at http://dizzyit.com/2013/04/13/install-features-roles-powershell-server-2012-2008/