Kevin Oppihle's Tech Notes

Recently after Windows 10 updates all of my physical and wireless network devices disappeared. I could not connect even with a new USB to GB network adapter. I tried deleting and reinstalling the drivers to no avail. The devices showed in device manager, however they were not accessible in network and sharing center. The Windows updates would not uninstall as they were now part of the OS. After researching I found that forcing a reset of the network settings appeared to fix the issue. To do so open a command prompt as an administrator and run the following commands: Netcfg -v -u dni_dne Netcfg -d Then restart the system

With normal network maintenance and hardware replacement cycles it is a good idea to keep an eye on the age and other information of the computers on your network. There are lots of third party tools to run more detailed reports, but if you want a quick report why not use PowerShell on Server 2012 and export to a CSV file. Open up PowerShell as an administrator and review the Get-ADComputer commands Get-ADComputer -Filter * Will show you basic AD attributes of the systems: Get-ADComputer -Filter * -Properties * will give you way too much information but shows you all the possible variables you can choose from. Below are some of the more common properties you would likely want to query for reports: Now to run the following command to see the fully qualified computer names, the date and time they were created in AD, along with last logon date and time: Get-ADComputer -Filter * -Properties "DNSHostName","Created","LastLogonDate" |select dnshostname,cr...

So you are using wireless or a physical connection on your Windows 10 system and you want to use one or the other as the default for gateway/WAN traffic routes. Example: I am plugged in at a sites physical connection working on the local network which goes through strict external routing/content rules. Those rules block me from using my remote access programs, Skype voice, Pandora… I enable my wireless and use my Iphone hotspot or other MiFi device, however even though it connects, traffic by default is still (bound) routed to the physical connection. Open Powershell as Administrator and run the following commands to locate your WiFi and Ethernet “ifIndex” (interfaceindex) get-netipinterface Review the results listed and revise the one you want to be the default gateway/WAN traffic routes “InterfaceMetric” to be the lowest number as shown below for the “Wifi” interface 7. The command in the example below is: set-netipinterface -interfaceindex “7” -InterfaceMetric “3” Alternatively,...

Step One: There is an Essentials server test tool made by Microsoft that you can use to determine what underlying issues you may have: https://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Windows-Server-Essentials-556159c3 In my case everything passed on the initial tests but I was receiving the error on Ports “6602” and “8192” I created an additional firewall rule to make sure those ports were open in and out. The error persisted. I found that other services may be fighting for those ports so I ran the following command: Set-NetNatTransitionConfiguration -IPv4AddressPortPool @(“serveripv4, 6001-6601”, “serveripv4, 6603-8911”, “serveripv4, 8913-47000”) See example below with server IP “192.168.1.11”: I then reran the essentials server test tool and the ports were OK. I then restarted the Essentials 2012R2 Server and all clients started to come back online and backups began to run. Reference: Fred Moore, Small Business Susan http://blogs.msmvps.com/bradley/2013/03/21/direct-access-and-essentials-g...

If you are building a new domain best practices dictate that you should be using an internal domain that is in line with your external domain for example. “Office.Domain.com” with your external domain being “domain.com” However, by default Server 2012 R2 Essentials will not allow you to use a top level domain. It will try to set your domain to “.local”for example “Domain.local” if you use the wizard which will be a problem in the future as your domain and network grows. To resolve this install Server 2012R2 Essentials, but do not run the “Configure Windows Server Essentials” instead close it. Set your static IP on your network card, change the computer name to what you want it to be and restart. After restart logon and close the “Configure Windows Server Essentials” then open up Powershell as an Administrator: You will now create the new domain administrator account using the following command: PS C:\> $cred = Get-Credential –UserName LocalAdmin –Message “Authenticate please” N...

Download Exchange 2016 installation files. You can download the media here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49161 Before we begin I would recommend: · Make sure you have a good backup of your AD and Server (test it) · Restart your AD server to complete any pending updates, installers, … · Run MS AD Replication Status Tool to make sure AD is ready Extract the installer to C:\TempExch16 Open up a Command Prompts as an Administrator and cd to C:\TempExch16 Type setup /ps /IacceptExchangeServerLicenseTerms You will see Unattended Setup is running Files copied Organization Checks Completed and AD Schema extended: Open up Active Directory Users and Computers, Select “View”, Select “Advanced Features” as shown below: Now when you edit the properties of a user you can edit added Exchange Attributes from the “Attributes Editor” without ADSIedit as shown below: The same is also true for distribution and other groups:

Download Exchange 2010 installation files. You can download the trial here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21570 Before we begin I would recommend: · Make sure you have a good backup of your AD and Server (test it) · Restart your AD server to complete any pending updates, installers, … · Run MS AD Replication Status Tool to make sure AD is ready Extract the installer to C:\TempExch as shown below Open up a Command Prompts as an Administrator and cd to C:\TempExch Type setup /PrepareSchema or setup /ps You will see a cancel Prompt for Unattended Setup (let it count down) Files copied Organization Checks Completed and AD Schema extended: Open up Active Directory Users and Computers, Select “View”, Select “Advanced Features” as shown below: Now when you edit the properties of a user you can edit added Exchange Attributes from the “Attributes Editor” without ADSIedit as shown below: The same is also true for distribution groups: Cred...

To test your AD replication in your environment I recommend the following MS tool: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=30005 Once downloaded and installed, typically but not required to be one of your Domain Controllers, you will have the following icon on your desktop: When you open the Tool, by default, it will pull in your local domain information. For a quick check simply click on “ Refresh Replication Status ” in the top left corner as shown below: It will then open up the Replication Status Viewer as shown in the example below: As you can see in my example above there is a replication error By looking up the 8524 error on the “Last Sync Result” and reviewing the “Last Sync Message” field I can then research and resolve my replication issues.

After importing a backup PST (used by an IMAP client) into Outlook 2016 the email was not showing in Outlook locally. I confirmed the OST file it imported into grew in size during the import. I copied one email from the PST file to the OST and it disappeared. I then discovered when browsing the folders at the very bottom it displayed “filter applied” as shown below: This was a new email profile and there should not have been any filters applied. At the top with the folder highlighted I selected “View Settings” as shown below: I then selected the filter option as shown below: Note: it shows “Messages:Advanced” Select the “Advanced” tab and note it has an “IMAP Status equals unmarked” Select “IMAP Status equals unmarked” and “Remove” as shown below and then “OK” The folder should now be populated with all the data. I had to repeat the steps on each folder as it will not change subfolders.

Open up the icloud.com website and log on Select the Calendar Once the Calendar loads select the broadcast icon on the right of the Calendar you wish to export as highlighted below: Note: from here you can send out sharing requests as well At the bottom of Calendar sharing select “Public Calendar” and “Email link” as highlighted below Enter in email address and send invitation Open email and view invitation Open invitation when it asks what program to use select “Outlook” Select Advanced and change “Calendar” to “Ical Import Calendar” Uncheck list as user and apply The calendar is now listed in outlook Once the calendar is in outlook to move the calendar completely into Outlook as its own calendar. highlight the “Ical Import Calendar” and in “view” tab in the top left corner select “Change View”. Select List Then you can select all and copy to the new outlook calendar. Once you are done copying you can remove the “Ical Import Calendar” and change the view back to “Calendar”

I had Windows 7 Professional running on a system and I downloaded the “Free” upgrade to Windows 10. The installer downloaded quickly and the initial checks went pretty quickly. Then it began checking for updates and Hung for over an hour. So I restarted the process and it repeated the same issue. I looked online and found the following: Windows Update Troubleshooter: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9830262 I did not stop the update process of Windows 10. I just ran that repair tool in the background and then Windows 10 quickly finished the updates and was ready to install! In some cases a quick fix is to temporarily stop the Windows update service . Credit : http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-windows_install/windows-10-setup-stuck-at-getting-updates/a25eb523-24d5-4a96-be14-a3dc22a46a35?auth=1

So you installed Veeam’s Endpoint Backup FREE on a physical system in your environment. Yes, it’s a FREE physical backup solution. You’re excited about the fact that you have a bare-bones recovery option of your physical system but you wonder, “How can I easily go about test restoring Veeam Endpoint Backup FREE backups?” It’s actually quite easy to do if you have Veeam Backup & Replication v8 or v9 running on your virtual environment. Here are the steps to restore that endpoint backup as a virtual disk. Once restored and tested you can rest comfortably knowing you have a working backup. First, let’s assume you have a fresh backup from Endpoint Protection and that it is stored on an external hard drive attached to the physical system. (Note: You can send your Endpoint Backups directly to your Veeam Backup & Replication storage.) Copy your file to your local Veeam Backup & Replication server. Then, open up Veeam Backup & Replication and on the Home tab in “Backup & R...