Russell Smith profile picture

Follow Russell

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

Controlling Password Replication on Read-Only Domain Controllers

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Learn how to change which users can have their account credentials cached on read-only domain controllers (RODC).

View Article

Office Tip: How to Extract Embedded Images from a Word Document

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

This handy Office tip demonstrates two techniques to export images from a Word document.

View Article

Getting Started with Azure SQL Database

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Russell shows how to create your first Azure SQL Database, configure a firewall and connect to the database using Visual Studio.

View Article

Anniversary Update Turns Windows 10 Into a Dumb Terminal for Continuum

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In today’s Ask the Admin, I’ll look at a new feature, coming in next week’s Windows 10 Anniversary Update (AU), that allows Mobile Continuum to connect to the display of any device running Windows 10, without Microsoft’s Display Dock or additional peripherals. In the time since I wrote Windows 10 Continuum: Could Your Next Phone…

View Article

GitHub for Windows – Branches, Pull Requests, and Conflicts

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this article about GitHub for Windows, learn how to add branches to GitHub repos, create pull requests and deal with merge conflicts.

View Article

Windows Store for Business

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

This article is an overview of Windows Store for Business, which businesses can use to create their own private portals for distributing purchased apps or apps developed in-house.

View Article

Getting Started with Azure Automation Desired State Configuration

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Russell shows how to create an Azure Automation account, upload and compile a DSC configuration, and on board an Azure VM.

View Article

Export Azure Resource Group as a JSON Template

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Learn how to export resource groups (RGs) as Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates using JSON, then deploy that resource group using your JSON template.

View Article

Add NAS-Based Network Locations to Windows 10 for Fast Search

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

In this article, learn how to add network locations to File Explorer in Windows 10 for faster search.

View Article

Configure RDS Collections Using PowerShell RDS Commands

Last Update: Jun 12, 2025

Learn how to configure Remote Desktop Services (RDS) collections using Windows PowerShell, including how to create, enumerate, and remove collections from RDS Connection Brokers, and how to add and remove RemoteApps to collections.

View Article

GitHub for Windows – Installation, Adding Accounts, Committing Changes, and Syncing Repos

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Learn how to get started with GitHub for Windows. We’ll install it, add accounts, clone a repository, commit changes and sync repositories.

View Article

Configure Remote Desktop Services Collections in Windows Server 2012 R2

Last Update: Sep 04, 2024

Learn how to configure Remote Desktop Services collections in Windows Server 2012 R2.

View Article
Go to page