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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

Everything You Need to Know About Windows – September 2018

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

This month sees lots of announcements coming out of Microsoft’s annual Ignite conference for IT pros, including about a preview version of Windows Virtual Desktop and Windows Server 2019 general availability.

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Windows Admin Center 1809 Reaches General Availability

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Just before Microsoft’s Ignite conference got started this week, version 1809 of the Windows Admin Center and SDK reached general availability. In this Ask the Admin, I’ll look at some of the new features.

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Docker For Windows: Create a Linux Container on Windows 10

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Looking to create a Linux container in Windows 10? Russell shows you how with easy step-by-step instructions.

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Patch Tuesday September 2018

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Microsoft patches 62 vulnerabilities, 17 of which are rated Critical. Including a patch for the zero-day ALPC vulnerability that was publicly disclosed on Twitter at the end of August.

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Azure Update Management Part 2: Schedule Updates, Check Update Compliance, and Enroll Non-Azure VMs

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In the first part of this series, Russell showed you how to enroll Azure virtual machines to Azure Update Management. In the final part, Russell demonstrates scheduling updates, checking update compliance, and how to enable Update Management on non-Azure VMs.

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How to Use Azure Update Manager

Last Update: Nov 19, 2024

In today’s Ask the Admin, Russell shows you how to enroll Azure virtual machines to Azure Update Management and provide a general overview of how the solution works.

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How To Stop Windows 10 Updating Device Drivers

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In today’s Ask the Admin, Russell shows you how to stop Windows 10 updating device drivers automatically via Windows Update regardless of which edition of the OS you are running.

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What is Windows Defender Application Control?

Last Update: Nov 19, 2024

In this blog post, Russell looks at the story behind Windows Defender Application Control in Windows 10.

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How To Defer Windows 10 Feature Updates

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this Ask the Admin, Russell explains how you can defer Windows 10 Feature Updates by up to 18 months.

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Microsoft Edge – Performance vs. Battery Life

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Despite Microsoft’s claim that its Edge browser in Windows 10 is faster than Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, putting Edge through its paces in several different benchmark tests shows that it is slower in those that simulate real-world usage.

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Everything You Need to Know About Windows – August 2018

Last Update: Jul 04, 2025

This month sees lots of changes in Windows Server 2019 Insider builds, Microsoft announced more efficient Windows 10 updates, and a last minute zero-day drama.

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Microsoft Unifies Quality Updates in Windows 10 Version 1809

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this Ask the Admin, Russell explains the changes that Microsoft is making to full, delta, and express updates in Windows Server 2019 and Windows 10 version 1809.

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