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Russell Smith

Editorial Director

Russell Smith, the Editorial Director at Petri IT Knowledgebase, has over two decades of hands-on experience in IT, in both small business settings and government IT infrastructure projects.

Russell started writing for Windows IT Pro Magazine in the early 2000s. Since then, he has contributed insights to various IT publications, including Petri and CDW. His authoritative voice has resonated across industry blogs, where he dissects complex topics into an ‘easy read’.

Russell has authored over a thousand articles, each a testament to his depth of knowledge. His expertise doesn’t stop there: he wrote a book on Privilege Management and co-authored another for Microsoft’s MOAC series. Moreover, Russell’s commitment to education shines through in the courses he crafted for Pluralsight.

He is also presenter on his own YouTube channel, This Week in IT, and the current presenter of Petri Dish.

LATEST

How to Customize the Windows 10 Start Menu with Group Policy

Last Update: Jul 02, 2025

Russell Smith shows you how to use and customize the Windows 10 Start menu using group policy, along with steps to configure the default live tiles layout for your users.

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Windows 10 Technical Preview: Using Snap, Task View, and Virtual Desktops

Last Update: Jun 26, 2025

Russell Smiths shows us what’s new in the Windows 10 Technical Preview with Snap, Task View, and Virtual Desktop features.

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Create New Active Directory Users with Excel and PowerShell

Last Update: Oct 21, 2025

Learn how to create new Active Directory users in bulk with Excel and PowerShell in Russell Smith’s latest article.

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Install the Windows 10 Technical Preview in VMware Workstation 10

Last Update: Nov 19, 2024

Russell Smith walks readers through how to install the Windows 10 Technical Preview in a VMware Workstation 10 virtual machine.

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Search Active Directory for Accounts with Passwords Set to Never Expire

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Learn how to audit Active Directory for accounts that have passwords set to never expire in this step-by-step tutorial by Russell Smith.

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Differences Between Windows 8.1 Pro and Enterprise Editions

Last Update: Jun 27, 2025

Can’t decide between Windows 8.1 Pro or Enterprise Editions? Russell Smith provides breaks down differences in each edition to make your decision easier.

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How to Downsize to an ‘Extra Small’ Server Core Azure VM

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Learn how to downsize to an ‘extra small’ server core Microsoft Azure VM in this how-to by Russell Smith.

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Why the Cloud Is the Key to IT Competitiveness

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Russell Smith offers up his argument for why the cloud computing competitive advantage means that companies that fail to embrace it could fall behind.

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Connect to Windows 8 Remotely Using PowerShell

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Need to connect to a Windows 8 client remotely? Russell Smith shows us how to use PowerShell to do exactly that in this handy how-to article.

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How to Enable PowerShell Remoting in Windows 8

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Russell Smith shows an easy way to enable PowerShell Remoting in Windows 8 with the command line or Group Policy.

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Using the Microsoft Security Compliance Manager Tool

Last Update: Jul 29, 2025

Learn how to get started with Microsoft’s free Security Compliance Manager (SCM) tool and how it can be used to manage security and Group Policy settings.

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Manage Servers using Server Manager in Windows 8.1

Last Update: Nov 19, 2024

Learn how to manage servers using Server Manager in Windows 8.1 in this how-to article by Petri IT Knowledgebase Contributing Editor Russell Smith.

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