IT Knowledgebase Articles

How can I raise the forest function level in a Windows Server 2003-based Active Directory? Functional levels are an extension of the mixed/native mode concept introduced in Windows 2000 to activate new Active Directory features after all the domain controllers in the domain or forest are running the Windows Server 2003 operating system. When a…

How can I raise the domain function level in a Windows Server 2003-based domain? Functional levels are an extension of the mixed/native mode concept introduced in Windows 2000 to activate new Active Directory features after all the domain controllers in the domain or forest are running the Windows Server 2003 operating system. When a computer…

…Yes. There are at least 3 ways I can think of right now. Method #1 The easiest way is to run the command ​eventvwr.exe ”computername where computername is the name of the computer you want to view. Method #2 Another way is to run eventvwr.exe and then right click Event Viewer (local) and choose Connect…

How can I quickly shut down all the computers on my network? Use the FOR command combined with the SHUTDOWN command: ​FOR /L %i in (1,1,254) DO shutdown ”192.168.0.%i Windows XP will let you log-off all users in one line: ​FOR /L %i in (1,1,254) DO shutdown ”192.168.0.%i /l Change 192.168.0 to match you own…

How can I quickly open a new e-mail message and send it? Method #1: Using Outlook If you’re using Microsoft Outlook, you can send a quick e-mail message by using the mailto command: Go to Start then choose the Run command. Type ​mailto: in the Open text box and click OK. You’ll see a new…

How can I quickly search the web from my web browser? Searching the web for specific articles, sites and links can be quite tiresome as you go from one search engine to another. If you make a habit of always using the same search engine, be it Google, MSN Search, Yahoo! or any other site,…

How can I quickly perform search operations in AD from my desktop? No problem. Create a new shortcut on your desktop with the following command: ​%SystemRoot%SYSTEM32rundll32.exe dsquery,OpenQueryWindow Give it a name and run it. This is what you’ll get: You can also configure a specific search option, such as a subset of the entire domain…

Sometimes you might need to retrieve the CD Key used to install Windows in order to find out if it’s legally purchased, or just for safe keeping. I usually find myself in that position whenever I’m at a client’s location, trying to see if the copy of Windows 2000 he’s using is indeed legally registered….

How can I quickly reach specific MS Knowledge Base articles? As of November 7, 2002, prefix letters were phased out of all Knowledge Base (KB) articles worldwide making it easier for you to request an article in a language other than the one set in your browser. Today, KB articles are published in 21 languages,…

How can I quickly open a Command Prompt on a folder in Windows Vista? Although most of the Windows operating system tasks can be performed through the graphical user interface (or GUI) you can still find many important tasks and operations that require a Command Prompt window. Running CMD.exe from the run command is quick,…