Daniel Petri

How can I enable Remote Assistance in Windows XP or Windows Server 2003? Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 install the Remote Assistance feature by default. To check your configuration: Go to Control Panel > System > Remote. You can also right-click My Computer (if the icon is shown on the desktop). Note: A faster…

How can I enable Remote Assistance in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003? Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 install the Remote Assistance feature by default. Note: A similar feature called “Terminal Services – Remote Administration” can be installed on Windows 2000. However the Windows 2000 version lacks many of the features found in Remote…

How can I enable the Shutdown Event Tracker on a Windows XP machine? Shutdown Event Tracker provides a way for IT professionals to consistently track why users restart or shut down their computers. It does not document why users choose other options, such as Log off and Hibernate. It gathers the reasons users give for…

How do I share a folder in Windows XP? Where is the regular "Sharing" tab I’m so used to? Windows XP Home Edition-based computers always have Simple File Sharing enabled. Windows XP Professional-based computers that are joined to a workgroup have the Simple File Sharing UI enabled by default. Windows XP Professional-based computers that are…

How can I enable sounds in Windows Server 2003? My sound does not work. All drivers are installed and the Device Manager reports it is working properly. Why isn’t it working? Windows Server 2003 Enterprise edition has the sound drivers disabled by default. Windows Server 2003 Standard edition does not, thus you CAN hear sounds…

Windows Server 2003 has the Telnet disabled by default (and so good that it does!) To have the Telnet service running on Windows Server 2003 follow the next steps: Go to the Services applet in Administrative Tools (or click Start, then Run, and type "services.msc" (without quotes) and click OK). Find the "Telnet" service, right-click…

How can I enable theme support in Windows Server 2003? Windows Server 2003 has the theme support services disabled by default. To enable themes on Windows Server 2003 follow the next steps: Go to the Services applet in Administrative Tools (or click Start, then Run, and type "services.msc" (without quotes) and click OK). Find the…

Aero is the new hardware-based graphic interface in Windows Vista that includes a ton of eye candy on the new desktop.  Aero stands for Authentic, Energetic, Reflective, And Open. It is intended to be cleaner and more powerful for the user. When you do a clean install of Windows Vista its possible that your video…

  Telnet Client allows a computer to connect to a remote Telnet server and run applications on that server. Once logged on, a user is given a command prompt that can be used as if it had been opened locally on the Telnet server’s console. Commands that you type at the Telnet client command prompt…

Using Cygwin, the free open-source terminal emulator, in coordination with OpenSSL, you can create cross-platform encrypted files. The files created using Cygwin can be exported using mobile media including thumb drives, CDs, external hard drives, etc. Cygwin and OpenSSL are bundled in the download of Cygwin. The following tutorial (although demonstrated using Windows Vista) can…

Through several registry modifications, you can create an enhanced “right-click” menu for the Recycle Bin. The new options will allow you to delete the temporary files in the following two directories: %UserProfile%AppDataLocalTemp and %SystemRoot%Temp. Additionally, another menu will be created that will allow you to run the disk cleanup utility. Please be aware that this…

I’m probably revealing a little too much about my age, but when I first started working with Windows Server, the current version was Windows NT Server 3.5. One of the interesting things about that version of Windows was that like all of its successors, it had the ability to host network print queues. At the…