Windows Server How ToYour Windows Server Knowledge Base

Quick tip for you how to find all DNS servers for your domain. Lets say that we want to list all DNS servers for domain named testdomain.lan . To do it open command line on your Windows server 2003 or Windows XP machine and type:

nslookup testdomain.lan

This post will show you how to test DNS configuration using command line on your Windows server. To do it open command line and type:

netsh diag show test

This command will perform quick network configuration test by pinging all DNS servers and gateways in your TCP/IP configuration.

Also you can test DNS by runing netdiag tool which is part of Windows Resourse Kit. To diagnose your DNS problems with this tool open command line and type:

netdiag /test:dns

This quick post will show you how to enable remote desktop service by editing registry settings on your Windows server. To enable RD open registry editor and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server

Double click on “fDenyTSConnections” and change Value data to 0 .

As you know, by default, group policy is being refreshed every 90 min + random time up to 30 min on domain members. And this refresh will occur only if group policy settings were modified.  In addition, every 960 min, security settings are being refreshed regardless of whether any changes to group policy were made. This post will show you how to modify time value for security settings refresh on you Windows server 2003 or Windows XP machine. To modify open registry editor and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\GPExtensions\{827D319E-6EAC-11D2-A4EA-00C04F79F83A}

Double click on “MaxNoGPOListChangesInterval”, change base to Decimal and enter your new Data value in minutes.

By default you have option to use Windows server 2008 for 60 days without activation . Do you know that you can reset this activation period 4 times per installation? In that case actual time of Windows server 2008 usage without activation increases to ~240 days. This post will show you how to reset it. To do it open command line and type:

slmgr -rearm

Got this error few hours ago after i installed “R1 backup” agent on my Windows server 2003 secondary domain controller. R1 backup agent required restart after install. After i restarted server all shares became inaccessable and i got tons of these errors in “System” log:

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Event Type:    Error
Event Source:    Srv
Event Category:    None
Event ID:    2011
Date:        5/14/2009
Time:        9:15:44 AM
User:        N/A
Computer:   Myserver
Description:
The server’s configuration parameter “irpstacksize” is too small for the server to use a local device.  Please increase the value of this parameter.

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After some googling i found that i have to modify registry to return Windows server into normal state. To repair this error open registry editor and navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters

In the parameters folder mouse right click and select New>DWORD value. Type IRPStackSize as value name. Note that value name is case-sensitive. Double click newly created value to edit. Change base to decimal, enter 18 as value and press OK.

Close registry editor and restart “Server” service to apply new settings.

Server is back now!

This post will show you how to change binding order of network adapters in your Windows server. Usually you have several network adapters that are connected to different networks. Also you may have a program that uses only first connection in the network connections list and you may want to make sure that this network connection is at the top of the list. Lets check how can we change priority in this list.

To change binding order of network adapters click Start>Run, type ncpa.cpl and press OK.

In “Network Connections” window select Advanced menu and click “Advanced Settings”.

In “Adapters and Bindings” tab under “Connections” area  you`ll see all your network connections. To change priority order select desired network connection and use arrows in the right to move up or down in priority list.

This post will help you to create first domain controller in your domain. Lets say we have  Windows Server 2003 named “testserver” and our task is to create first domain controller for our domain named “testdomain.lan”.

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1 STEP – TCP/IP SETUP

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First of all we need to asign static IP address to our future domain controller. To do it go to “Network Connections”, select Network card and open TCP/IP properties. In my example i`ll assign these values:

IP address: 10.0.0.2
Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0
Default gateway: 10.0.0.1
Preferred DNS server: 10.0.0.2

Make sure that Preferred  DNS server points to your IP address:

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2 STEP – DNS SERVICE SETUP

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Next step is to configure DNS server for your future domain. For that press Start and click Run. Type appwiz.cpl and press OK. Click “Add/Remove Windows Components”.

In “Windows Components Wizard” windows select “Networking Services” and press “Details…”.

In “Networking Services” window check “Domain Name System (DNS)”  and press OK.

Wait for DNS install to finish its work. When setup is over press Start>Programs>Administrative Tools>DNS. In DNS management right click “Forward Lookup Zones” and select “New Zone”.

Select “Primary Zone” as zone type and press “Next”. In “Zone name:” window type your domain name. In our example it is testdomain.lan.

Press “Next” two times. In “Dynamic Update” section select “Allow both nonsecure and secure updates” option and press “Next”. Press “Finish” to complete new zone creation.

After you succesfully created Forward lookup zone lets create new Reverse lookup zone for you domain. For that right click on “Reverse Lookup Zones” in DNS management and select “New zone”.

In “Zone type” section leave “Primary Zone” selected and press “Next”.

In “Reverse Lookup Zone Name” window type your network ID. It is first three octets of your network IP address. In our example it will be 10.0.0

Press “Next” two times. In “Dynamic Update” section select “Allow both nonsecure and secure updates” option and press “Next”. Press “Finish” to complete new zone creation.

DNS server configuration is completed for now and we can proceed with domain controller set up.

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3 STEP – DCPROMO

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Last step is to run dcpromo command to setup your domain controller. Press Start>Run, type dcpromo and press OK. Press “Next” two times until you reach “Domain controller type” section. Make sure you select “Domain controller for a new domain” as you are setting up first domain controller. Press “Next”. In next window select “Domain in a new forest” option and press “Next”.

In “New Domain name” window enter your domain name as “Full DNS name for new domain”. In our example it will be testdomain.lan :

Press “Next”. In “NetBIOS domain name” section press “Next”. In “Database and Log Folders” windows leave defaults and press “Next”. In “Shared system volume” window press “Next”. If 1 and 2 STEPS were configured correctly you`ll get similar window:

Press “Next”. In “Permissions” section leave default “Permissions compatible only with Windows 2000 or Windows server 2003 operating systems” option unless you are planing to use legacy server systems in your domain. Press “Next”.

In “Directory Services Restore Mode Administrator password” section enter password for DSRM. This mode is needed when you want to troubleshoot active directory database problems or restoring deleted AD objects. Press “Next”.

In “Summary” screen review your domain configuration one more time and press “Next” to start Active Directory creation process.

After process is over you will get following window:

Press “Finish” and restart your server.  Note that after restart from now on you have option to login to newly created domain.

WELL DONE !!!

This post will show you how to disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on your Windows server 2003. NetBIOS over TCP/IP is a must for legacy windows os (pre windows 2000) and applications based on NetBIOS resolving. If you dont have any of these you can get rid of NetBIOS in a few clicks.

To disable NETBIOS over TCP/IP click Start>Settings>Network Connections. Right click desired network adapter and select properties.  Select “Internet protocol (TCP/IP)” in “General” tab and press “Properties”. Now press “Advanced” in “General” tab. Select “WINS” tab in “Advanced TCP/IP Settings” window. Under “NetBIOS setting” select “Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP” and press OK two times.

This quick how to will show you the way to ged rid of Dumprep.exe which is responsible for error logging to a file and sending to Microsoft. When serious error hits your system you always get prompt to notify Microsoft by sending error code to it. In some cases this prompting may result performance issues on your system. If you want to disable Dumprep.exe open command line on your Windows XP and type:

REG DELETE HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run /V Dumprep /F\

Press Enter.

After that restart your computer.

This post will guide you how to boot your OS into safe mode. If you are not able to boot you machine into normal mode you need to boot safe mode and then troubleshoot any issues you encounter. Safe mode will bypass many normal windows settings and startup programs allowing you to fix OS. To get into SAFE mode press  F8 key several times when your computer is booting. This will bring “Windows advanced options menu” and you will be able to select “Safe Mode”.  Note that you`ll be presented with several Safe mode options:

“Safe Mode” – basic safe mode option, it has no additional support and is recommended in most cases.

“Safe Mode with Command Prompt” – advanced safe mode option with command line access.

“Safe Mode with Networking” – advanced safe mode option with network access. Very useful if you need to download new drivers or OS updates during troubleshoot process.

In this short post i will show how to reset Windows time service if it is not working properly on your Windows server 2003 or Windows XP machine. To perform reset open command line ant type:

w32tm /unregister press Enter

w32tm /register press Enter