Tips, thoughts and notes from the world of IT
You need to confirm if Group Policy Preference Client Side Extensions are installed for Windows XP, but nothing shows up in Add/Remove Programs.
You’re sure that you have the right update (http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=3628), but Group Policy Preferences are not working.
Here’s how you can confirm Preference CSEs are installed:
You have shiny new Win7 PCs for your users, but several applications are not compatible with Win7. You’ve tried every trick in the book (including swearing) to make the applications work, but still no joy.
The answer is to use XP Mode, which is free if you have Win7 Professional or above.
XP Mode is great, but can also be a pain to get working happily on your domain. Here’s what I did:
You’ve installed and configured Remote Desktop Services (RDS) on a 2008 R2 server, and configured several RemoteApp Programs to display via RD Web Access.
Despite adding your user account to the Remote Desktop Users local group, and your computer account to the TS Web Access Computers local group, the RemoteApp icons do not display when logged into RD Web Access (https://hostname/RDWeb). However, the icons appear fine when logging in as Administrator.
Here’s how I fixed it:
Have you ever changed the name of a computer, removed that computer from WSUS, then struggled to get the renamed computer to reappear in WSUS?
Here are a few commands that will help you get things working quickly.
When initially setting up WSUS, you may get the following error when trying to synchronize with Microsoft for the first time:
“The synchronization with the upstream server or Microsoft Update was canceled”:
It took a while, but I finally fixed the problem!
I got the following error whilst trying to log into a user’s mailbox via Outlook Web Access:
Request Url: https://mail.domain.local:443/owa/lang.owa User host address: 123.123.123.123
Exception Exception type: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Storage.StoragePermanentException Exception message: There was a problem accessing Active Directory.
Call stack
Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Storage.ExchangePrincipal.Save() Microsoft.Exchange.Clients.Owa.Core.RequestDispatcher.DispatchLanguagePostLocally(OwaContext owaContext, OwaIdentity logonIdentity, CultureInfo culture, String timeZoneKeyName, Boolean isOptimized) Microsoft.Exchange.Clients.Owa.Core.RequestDispatcher.DispatchLanguagePostRequest(OwaContext owaContext) Microsoft.Exchange.Clients.Owa.Core.RequestDispatcher.PrepareRequestWithoutSession(OwaContext owaContext, UserContextCookie userContextCookie) Microsoft.Exchange.Clients.Owa.Core.RequestDispatcher.InternalDispatchRequest(OwaContext owaContext) Microsoft.Exchange.Clients.Owa.Core.RequestDispatcher.DispatchRequest(OwaContext owaContext) System.Web.HttpApplication.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously)
Inner Exception Exception type: Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.InvalidADObjectOperationException Exception message: Property Languages cannot be set on this object because it requires the object to have version 0.1 (8.0.535.0) or later. Current version of the object is 0.0 (6.5.6500.0).
Call stack
Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.PropertyBag.set_Item(PropertyDefinition key, Object value) Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADObject.set_Item(PropertyDefinition propertyDefinition, Object value) Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADObject.StampCachedCaculatedProperties(Boolean retireCachedValue) Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADObject.ValidateWrite(List`1 errors) Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.Recipient.ADRecipient.ValidateWrite(List`1 errors) Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.Recipient.ADUser.ValidateWrite(List`1 errors) Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Directory.ADSession.Save(ADObject instanceToSave, IEnumerable`1 properties) Microsoft.Exchange.Data.Storage.ExchangePrincipal.Save()
Turns out a mailbox attribute version was wrong:
Exchange Server 2007 and Exchange Server 2010 both use the msExchVersion attribute to determine the version of Exchange Server with which user objects are associated. If the version value is less than 0.1, Exchange Server 2007 or Exchange Server 2010 considers the user object as Read-only.
Find out the attribute version by running:Get-Mailbox [username] | format-list ExchangeVersion
And fix by running:Set-Mailbox [username] -ApplyMandatoryProperties
Find out more here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941146
Wrong!
This is a common sight on my desk, and although small, I always say you can never have enough screens. Actually, I’m getting a bigger desk soon – time for another monitor 😉
The iPad really comes in handy as an extra screen for reference material, whilst working between my PC and multiple servers via RDP and the excellent Remote Desktop Connection Manager.
I posted a How to Remove Printers guide on the excellent Spiceworks Community some time ago, but the link to the Printer Deleter has already changed a few times.
In the event that the link breaks again, you can download the Printer Deleter here instead.
If that doesn’t work, the final option is to reset the print spooler to factory defaults. You can do this by running Reset Print Spooler – MicrosoftFixit50126. Here’s some info on using it:
This Fix it Solution automates resetting the Print Spooler on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008.
The Fix it has two modes: Light and Full. The light mode will make changes to the spooler that should not require the end user to make any changes. The full mode will restore the print spooler to defaults and require a reinstall of printers.
Taken from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc736842(v=ws.10).aspx
EDIT
A much easier way is to make sure View > Advanced Features is ticked in Active Directory Users and Computers, then right-click > Properties on the object of choice, navigate to the Object Tab, then untick Protect object from accidental deletion:
I’ve got loads of commands and variables that I use periodically, but I forget them often.
I only have a few that spring to mind now, but I’ll add to this when I remember more!
