Performance Monitor counters for IOPS

6 June 2012 by

I usually refer to this excellent TechNet post when using PerfMon: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2008.08.pulse.aspx

However, for measuring IOPS, these counters are better:

  • Current Disk Queue Length
  • Disk Reads/sec
  • Disk Transfers/sec
  • Disk Writes/sec

These counters were recommended from this video on VDI and IOPS: http://www.brianmadden.com/blogs/videos/archive/2012/03/19/windows-iops-deep-dive-what-iops-means-to-you-and-why-you-can-t-do-vdi-without-knowing-about-them_2C00_-a-video-from-BriForum-2011.aspx

Filed Under: Microsoft, Storage Tagged With: ,

Enable Group Policy Preference logging and tracing

1 June 2012 by

Scenario

You’ve created and linked a new GPO that uses Group Policy Preferences to move some files. You’ve had this working before, but now find that the files aren’t being copied across on certain clients.

The Resultant Set of Policy (RSOP) tool does not show GP Preferences, so you need another way of troubleshooting this. Enter Group Policy Preference logging and tracing.

Follow the steps below to enable the GP Preferences log file(s):

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: , , ,

Print update rollup for Win7 and Server 2008 R2

30 May 2012 by

Whilst troubleshooting slow printing issues, I stumbled across the following blog post: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2012/03/16/print-update-rollup-available-for-windows-7-amp-windows-server-2008-r2.aspx

I was surprised to read this in the comments:

At this time there are no plans to make this available on WSUS

Really?! If it is “designed to reduce known issues such as printing performance, print spooler crashes, connectivity to print queues, and print driver installation” then why would Microsoft not distribute this through the normal channels?

You can get the updates at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-US;2647753 but don’t go blindly rolling this out; test first!

Filed Under: Microsoft, Printing Tagged With: ,

Using an elevated command prompt to open Add Remove Programs

29 May 2012 by

Scenario

You’ve noticed there is software that shouldn’t be installed on a client PC, but when you try to uninstall it via a remote desktop connection, a warning message appears saying “This installation can only be uninstalled by a user with administrative privileges”. Smeg!

Solution

  1. Open the run box (windows key + r) and type runas /user:DOMAINADMIN cmd.
  2. You will be prompted for the domain administrator password. Type said password and press enter.
  3. Once the elevated command prompt appears, type control appwiz.cpl to open the Add/Remove Programs control panel.
  4. You will now be able to uninstall the offending software…through gritted-teeth and a wry smile.
Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: , , ,

Deploying UltraVNC within an Active Directory environment using Group Policy

29 May 2012 by

Scenario

You’ve tried several different VNC applications and have decided UltraVNC meets your humble Remote Support needs. Now you want to centrally deploy and manage UltraVNC in your domain.

The default installer creates unwanted shortcuts on the user’s desktop, so you need to modify this before rolling out to all client PCs. In addition to this, there are separate installers for 32-bit and 64-bit PCs, so this will have to be accounted for.

Here is how to achieve remote desktop nirvana using UltraVNC:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: , , ,

Reset offline files cache in Windows XP

29 May 2012 by

If you ever have issues with the Offline Files feature in Windows XP – eg. clients keep trying to sync with old servers – you can reset the offline files cache and database using these instructions: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/230738

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With:

Migrating SYSVOL replication from NTFRS to DFSR using Windows Server 2008 R2

21 May 2012 by

Scenario

You’ve raised the domain functional level to take advantage of several new features, one of them being DFS Replication for SYSVOL. You now need to enable this feature.

Here’s how to migrate SYSVOL replication from NTFRS to DFSR:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: ,

Raising the Domain Functional Level using Windows Server 2008 R2

21 May 2012 by

Raising the Domain Functional Level (DFL) is easy to do and can enable many new features.

Read about them here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/understanding-active-directory-functional-levels(v=ws.10).aspx

To raise the DFL, follow these simple steps:

  1. From Active Directory Users and Computers, right-click your domain and select Raise domain functional level:
  2. Select the required DFL, then click Raise:
  3. Read the warning and click OK:
  4. This confirmation message should then be displayed:
  5. Job done!
Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: ,

Migrating print queues + troubleshooting WMI issues

20 May 2012 by

Just read an excellent post on migrating print queues: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2012/04/03/migrating-print-queues-quickly-using-printbrm-configuration-files-and-the-generic-text-only-driver.aspx

Also, there’s a great post on troubleshooting WMI issues using WMIDiag: http://blogs.technet.com/b/askperf/archive/2012/02/03/wmidiag-2-1-is-here.aspx

Filed Under: Microsoft, Printing Tagged With:

Force replication on a Domain Controller via command prompt

16 May 2012 by

Scenario

You want to force replication to all Domain Controllers, across sites, but you also want to see the actual server names, and abort if any servers are unavailable.

Solution

Run the following command:

repadmin /syncall /d /e /a

Then run this to check everything replicated ok:

repadmin /replsummary

More info can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc835086(v=ws.10).aspx#BKMK_examples

Filed Under: Microsoft Tagged With: ,
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