July, 2004 Archive

How do I disable MSN Messenger using group policies?

Q. How do I disable MSN Messenger using group policies? – Brian Cunliffe To use group policy to remove messenger. First go to Start – Run – type “gpedit.msc” Then drill down to : – Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesWindows ComponentsWindows Messenger(Set both items to Enabled) This will disable it for you. You can also use the […]

How can I stop users from connecting to Windows Update?

Windows Update is great for getting the latest fixes; however, you probably want to control change roll-outs, so it’s a good idea to stop users from connecting directly to Windows Update. You can do so via a Group Policy: Start the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in (Start, Programs, Administrative Tools, […]

What is the difference between Windows XP Professional Edition and Windows XP Home Edition?

Backup—XP Pro has the standard Win2K backup program; XP Home has no backup program. Dynamic Disks—XP Pro supports dynamic disks; XP Home doesn’t. IIS—XP Pro includes IIS; XP Home doesn’t. Encrypted File System (EFS)—EFS debuted in Win2K and lets you encrypt files on an NTFS partition, a very useful feature for mobile machines. XP Pro […]

How can I change the Recovery Console administrator password on a domain controller

When you use the Recovery Console (RC), the system uses the account passwords in the local SAM file. But if a system is a domain controller (DC), it doesn’t use the local SAM file, so changing the Administrator password changes the Active Directory (AD) account and not the local SAM password. To modify the SAM […]

How can I use the registry to configure Group Policy update times?

You usually configure Group Policy update times under the Computer ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesSystemGroup Policy and the User ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesSystemGroup Policy branches; however, you can also directly set the registry to configure Group Policy update times by performing the following steps: Start regedit.exe. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsSystem to set Computer refresh. Or, alternatively, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwarePoliciesMicrosoftWindowsSystem to set […]

How do I activate Windows XP from the command line?

Windows XP will typically remind you to activate the product (most users will have 30 days to activate XP after installation). To activate XP manually, you can use the Start menu shortcut in the System Tools Accessories folder. At the command prompt, type oobe/msoobe /a In case you’re wondering, msoobe stands for “Microsoft Out of […]

Why, when I try to install a service pack in Windows 2000, does my machine complain about the Print Spooler service?

When you install a service pack, the installer activates the Print Spooler service if it’s not already running. However, if you’ve disabled the start-up type for this service, the service will fail to start and the computer will display the following error message: Cannot install the Service Pack. The Print Spooler service is not started. […]

How do I determine which process has TCP ports or UDP ports open?

To display which process ID is using a certain TCP port or UDP port, you can start by using the Netstat command with the n (display in numeric form), o (display the owning process ID–this works on Windows XP only), and a (display all connections and listening ports) switches as follows: netstat -noa

Why do I receive an error message in Win2K that says my password must be at least 18770 characters?

This error occurs when you’re running Windows 2000 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and you connect to an MIT realm and select Change Password from the Security dialog box (Ctrl+Alt+Del). (An MIT realm is a Kerberos realm used for authentication in the same way that Win2K uses Kerberos 5 for authentication.) The full error you’ll receive […]

How can I let users search, but not browse, Active Directory (AD)?

You can use either a policy setting or the registry to configure AD for browsing. To use the policy setting method, perform the following steps: Open Group Policy with the Group Policy Editor (GPE). Navigate to User Configurations, Administrative Templates, Desktop, AD. Double-click “Hide Active Directory folder.” Select the Policy tab. Click Enabled, and click […]