Admin Tips
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Knowledge Base Tips topic

[	4014	]	Windows Server 2008/2003/2000/XP/NT Administrator Knowledge Base	Last updated: Feb 09, 2012
[	319	]	Admin Tips	Last updated: Feb 09, 2012
[	17	]	Registry Tips	Last updated: Feb 08, 2012
[	17	]	Miscellaneous	Last updated: Feb 08, 2012
[	4	]	User Tips	Last updated: Feb 07, 2012
[	12	]	Registry Hacks	Last updated: Jan 30, 2012

Administration Tips

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Skip the Open With Web Service Prompt: Date - May 03, 2011; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Eric Geier; Select an application to open the file with quickier.
Prevent users from changing their time zone setting: Date - Mar 16, 2011; Rating - 4; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How you can prevent users from changing the time zone setting on their computers.
Prevent use of writable CD/DVD drives: Date - Mar 16, 2011; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How you can prevent users from writing to writable CD/DVD on their computers.
Using Vista answer files with Windows 7: Date - Mar 15, 2011; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Can you use answer files created for Windows Vista to perform unattended installs of Windows 7?
Quickly Turn ON/OFF Windows Firewall Using Command Line: Date - Dec 16, 2010; Rating - 4; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This article explains how you can quickly Turn Windows Firewall On or Off. This tips applies to Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 only!
A Quick Tip To Create a Dependable Service: Date - Dec 02, 2010; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This article explains how you can create a service dependable on another service.
Run A Custom Script During WIN PE Intialization: Date - Dec 01, 2010; Rating - 4.5; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This article explains how you can run a custom script during WINPE intialization.
Integrate USMT With WDS Image For Profile Migration: Date - Nov 10, 2010; Rating - 4; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This article explains how you can integrate USMT 4.0 tool with WDS Image for migrating user profiles automatically.
How To Migrate User Profiles From Windows XP To Windows 7: Date - Nov 09, 2010; Rating - 1; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This tip explains how you can migrate user profiles from Windows XP to Windows 7.
A Quick Tip To Process System Idle Tasks Forcefully: Date - Jun 15, 2010; Rating - 1; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This article explains how you can process the System Idle Tasks on Windows Computers. This tip applies to Windows XP, 2000, 2003, Vista and Windows 7 Computers.
How To Set Multiple Services On Multiple Remote Computers: Date - Jun 15, 2010; Rating - 2.5; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This article explains setting up multiple services on remote computers.
Targeting policy for Vista computers: Date - Jul 29, 2009; Rating - 5; Author - Mitch Tulloch; If you have a mix of XP and Vista computers in a department or location, how can you configure a GPO so that it is only processed by the Vista computers?
A Quick Tip To Prevent Users From Accessing The Computer Tab: Date - Jul 21, 2009; Rating - 5; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This article explains a quick tip which you can use to prevent users from accessing the Computer Tab on My Computer property.
A Quick Tip To Create A User Mode Process Dump File: Date - Jul 16, 2009; Rating - 5; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This article explains how you can use ADPlus.vbs to create a User Mode Process dump file when a process terminates unexpectedly.
How To: Firewall Commands In Server Core: Date - Jul 01, 2009; Rating - 1; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This article explains the commands you can use to operate Windows Firewall in Server Core
Performing a Complete PC Backup from the command line: Date - May 21, 2009; Rating - 4.7; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Here's how you can perform a Complete PC Backup in Vista from the command line.
BCD: Boot Configuration Database Notes: Date - Apr 29, 2009; Rating - 4.5; Author - Nirmal Sharma; This article explains the new feature added to the Windows Boot process in Windows Server 2008.
Troubleshooting Group Policy: Date - Apr 22, 2009; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Here's a three-step approach to troubleshooting Group Policy issues in Windows Vista and later.
Using GPLogView: Date - Apr 22, 2009; Rating - 5; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Some tips on using the GPLogView.exe command-line tool for troubleshooting Group Policy issues.
Troubleshooting Folder Redirection: Date - Apr 21, 2009; Rating - 2; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to enable diagnostic debugging for Folder Redirection.
Creating a default network profile: Date - Apr 15, 2009; Rating - 4.7; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to create a default network profile in Vista.
Copying User Profiles: Date - Apr 14, 2009; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to copy user profile folders in Vista and later.
Deleting User Profiles: Date - Apr 09, 2009; Rating - 4.5; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to properly (and improperly) delete a user profile.
Configuring a central store for ADMX templates: Date - Mar 10, 2009; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Windows Vista and later have a way of reducing the SYSVOL bloat that happens with Group Policy in earlier versions of Windows.
WinRE partitions and Vista SP1: Date - Mar 03, 2009; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; If you've deployed Vista RTM computers with a WinRE RTM partition, do you have to update the WinRE partition to SP1 when you update your operating system to SP1?
Unblocking executable files on Vista: Date - Feb 25, 2009; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to get rid of an annoying security dialog.
Preventing processing of local Group Policy: Date - Jan 28, 2009; Rating - 4; Author - Mitch Tulloch; In Windows Vista and later you can prevent the processing of local Group Policy by configuring—guess what—a Group Policy setting!
Using ADMX Migrator: Date - Jan 28, 2009; Rating - 1; Author - Mitch Tulloch; ADMX Migrator is a useful tool you can use to convert ADM template files to ADMX template files.
Using Group Policy vs. Registry Tweaks: Date - Nov 18, 2008; Rating - 4; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Why is it better to use Group Policy to modify the registry than to use Registry Editor itself?
Issues after disabling administrative shares: Date - Nov 12, 2008; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Here are several reasons why you should never disable the default administrative shares on Windows computers, especially in an enterprise (managed) environment.
Logon Scripts, Group Policy Preferences, and Windows Vista: Date - Nov 05, 2008; Rating - 5; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Many logon scripts that worked with Windows operating systems won’t work with Windows Vista. Here’s what you can do to replace them.
How to Disable Ad Hoc Wireless Connections on Vista: Date - Oct 28, 2008; Rating - 2.3; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Windows Vista won’t automatically create ad hoc wireless connections with other computers, but for greater security you may want to disable ad-hoc wireless connections entirely. Here’s how to do this.
Branding the Vista Logon Screen: Date - Oct 15, 2008; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Enterprises could easily brand the logon screen for Windows XP. For Vista however, doing this requires a third-party product.
Moving user profile location in Windows Vista: Date - Jul 08, 2008; Rating - 1.7; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to move the location where user profiles are stored in Windows Vista.
Disabling File and Folder Encryption: Date - May 24, 2007; Rating - 4; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to disable file/folder encryption on Windows Vista.
Getting past the size limit for roaming profiles: Date - May 03, 2007; Rating - 2; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to enable really big roaming user profiles if needed i.e. roam a lot of stuff.
Vista's Setup log: Date - Aug 23, 2006; Rating - 4; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to disable Vista's Setup log
Backing up event logs: Date - Aug 22, 2006; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to configure Vista to back up event logs.
More on preventing device installs: Date - Aug 15, 2006; Rating - 3; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Another way you can configure Vista to prevent certain kinds of devices from being installed.
Prevent any new devices from being installed: Date - Aug 09, 2006; Rating - 5; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Vista can be configured to prevent any new devices from being installed.
Overriding device installation policies: Date - Aug 08, 2006; Rating - 5; Author - Mitch Tulloch; Admins on Vista machines are also subject to device installation restrictions, but you can change this.
Controlling which kinds of devices can be installed: Date - Aug 02, 2006; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; In Vista, you can prevent any specify type of device from being intalled.
Disabling removable devices: Date - Aug 01, 2006; Rating - 3; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to prevent USB devices and other removable devices from being installed in Vista.
Configuring device installation timeout: Date - Jul 26, 2006; Rating - 4.5; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to allow more time for new devices to install properly in Vista.
Device installation and system restore: Date - Jul 25, 2006; Rating - 3; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to minimize creation of new restore points due to frequent driver upgrades and installs.
Disabling preferential device drivers: Date - Jul 19, 2006; Rating - 3.5; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to ensure Vista always uses the latest drivers for your devices.
Disabling device found popups: Date - Jul 18, 2006; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to disable annoying popups for new device detection in Vista.
Event log retention: Date - May 26, 2006; Rating - Not Rated; Author - Mitch Tulloch; How to configure event log retention in Windows Vista.