This post will show you how to check basic Exchange server 2007 health using powershell commands.
To check if all required services are running open exchange powershell on you Windows server 2003/2008 and type:
Test-servicehealth
To perform MAPI connectivity check type:
Test-MAPIConnectivity
This how to will reveal you some hidden places in your firefox browser. You can download this great web surfer from here . Next open Firefox 3.0 or greater on your Windows OS and type one of two in address bar:
about:robots
about:mozilla
Have fun!
In this post i`ll show one of many ways how to connect your users to shared printer. For that open notepad in Windows server 2003 or Windows XP and type:
REM Add Printers
RunDll32.EXE printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\sever\printername1
RunDll32.EXE printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\sever\printername2
REM Set Default Printer
RunDll32.EXE printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /y /n \\server\printername2
EXIT
For example i have two shared printers on server named “Fileserver” and these printers are shared as “HPLJ1″ and “HPLJ2″. Also i want “HPLJ1″ as default printer for all users. I will type :
REM Add Printers
RunDll32.EXE printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\Fileserver\HPLJ1
RunDll32.EXE printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\Fileserver\HPLH2
REM Set Default Printer
RunDll32.EXE printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /y /n \\Fileserver\HPLJ1
EXIT
Save this file as Addprinter.bat and place it as login script via group policy or you can deploy it to your users in any other way you prefer.
Sometimes you can encounter situation when you try to connect to Terminal server using RDP with Printer redirection enabled but printer doesn`t show in Terminal session. This problem occurs with printer port names that do not begin with COM, USB or LPT. How to deal with that? In that case you must add registry setting to redirect all printer ports. To do that open registry on your Windows XP machine and navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Terminal Server Client\Default\AddIns\RDPDR
On the Edit menu select New and then DWORD value. Type FilterQueueType and press Enter. On new value right click and select modify. Type FFFFFFFF and click OK. This will enable all ports to be redirected.
That all!
Additional Account Info addon will help you gather some usefull information about your active directory users.
User properties in AD users and computers
In order to have this add on your Windows server 2003 based active directory download “Account Lockout and Management Tools” from here .
Extract contents of the package and copy “acctinfo.dll” file to %systemroot%/system32 directory.
Then press Start > Run and type:
regsvr32 acctinfo.dll
Press OK.
Thats it, now you have additional tab under user properties in your active directory.
Open Active directory users and computers snap in and check it.
Cheers !
I`ll show you two quick ways to check FSMO roles on Windows 2003 server.
1. open command line and type :
netdom query fsmo
2. copy this code to notepad and save as fsmo.vbs script :
Set objRootDSE = GetObject(”LDAP://rootDSE”)
Set objSchema = GetObject _
(”LDAP://” & objRootDSE.Get(”schemaNamingContext”))
strSchemaMaster = objSchema.Get(”fSMORoleOwner”)
Set objNtds = GetObject(”LDAP://” & strSchemaMaster)
Set objComputer = GetObject(objNtds.Parent)
WScript.Echo “Forest-wide Schema Master FSMO: ” & objComputer.Name
Set objNtds = Nothing
Set objComputer = Nothing
Set objPartitions = GetObject(”LDAP://CN=Partitions,” & _
objRootDSE.Get(”configurationNamingContext”))
strDomainNamingMaster = objPartitions.Get(”fSMORoleOwner”)
Set objNtds = GetObject(”LDAP://” & strDomainNamingMaster)
Set objComputer = GetObject(objNtds.Parent)
WScript.Echo “Forest-wide Domain Naming Master FSMO: ” & objComputer.Name
Set objDomain = GetObject _
(”LDAP://” & objRootDSE.Get(”defaultNamingContext”))
strPdcEmulator = objDomain.Get(”fSMORoleOwner”)
Set objNtds = GetObject(”LDAP://” & strPdcEmulator)
Set objComputer = GetObject(objNtds.Parent)
WScript.Echo “Domain’s PDC Emulator FSMO: ” & objComputer.Name
Set objRidManager = GetObject(”LDAP://CN=RID Manager$,CN=System,” & _
objRootDSE.Get(”defaultNamingContext”))
strRidMaster = objRidManager.Get(”fSMORoleOwner”)
Set objNtds = GetObject(”LDAP://” & strRidMaster)
Set objComputer = GetObject(objNtds.Parent)
WScript.Echo “Domain’s RID Master FSMO: ” & objComputer.Name
Set objInfrastructure = GetObject(”LDAP://CN=Infrastructure,” & _
objRootDSE.Get(”defaultNamingContext”))
strInfrastructureMaster = objInfrastructure.Get(”fSMORoleOwner”)
Set objNtds = GetObject(”LDAP://” & strInfrastructureMaster)
Set objComputer = GetObject(objNtds.Parent)
WScript.Echo “Domain’s Infrastructure Master FSMO: ” & objComputer.Name
Then open command line and type:
cscript fsmo.vbs
This post will show you how to hide file in Alternate Data Streams.
ADS (Alternate Data Streams) is a “feature” of the NTFS that permit files to be completely hidden from the system.
Lets say we have secret.txt file that contains confidential info and it is placed in C:\Test folder . We want to hide secret.txt file from unwanted eyes and hidden file attribute is too simple solution for us.
In this case we can use ADS feature to completely hide it from system. Lets fork secret.txt file to C:\Windows\Zapotec.bmp file which is one of desktop backgrounds installed by default on Windows XP.
To fork it press “Start” > “Run”, type cmd and press “OK”.
In command line window type:
type c:\test\secret.txt > c:\Windows\Zapotec.bmp:secret.txt
Press “Enter”.
Ok, you forked secret.txt file to zapotec.bmp.
Now go to c:\Test folder and delete secret.txt file. Yep, you got it right, delete it.
After that you can start windows Search and try to locate secret.txt file. No traces… it is gone…
And now the Magic moment!
Open command line and type:
notepad c:\Windows\Zapotec.bmp:secret.txt
and press “Enter”
Secret info file is there and it is hidden pretty well this time.
Well done!
This post will show you how to view hidden files and folders on your Windows machine.
To do it press “Start” > “Run” and type:
control folders
Press “OK”.
In “Folder options” window select “View” tab and navigate down to “Hidden files and folders” options.
As you can see, by default, “Do not show hidden files and folders” option is selected.
Select “Show hidden files and folders” option, press “Apply” and “OK”.
You are Done!
This post will show you how to start “Add/Remove programs” via Run on your Windows computer. To start Add/Remove programs press “Start” > “Run” and type:
appwiz.cpl
Press “OK” and you are Done!
This post will show you how to start “Administrative Tools” via Run on your Windows computer. To start Administrative Tools press “Start” > “Run” and type:
control admintools
Press “OK” and you are Done!
This post will show you how to remove invalid boot paths from boot.ini file on your Windows machine.
To do it press “Start” > “Run” and type:
msconfig
Press “OK”.
In “System Configuration Utility” window press “Check All Boot Paths” button.
Computer will check all boot paths and will remove invalid ones.
After check restart your computers and you are Done!
This post will show you how to start “Certificate Manager” via Run on your Windows computer. To start Certificate Manager press “Start” > “Run” and type:
certmgr.msc
Press “OK” and you are Done!