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This article describes the syntax that you use to build answer files to perform unattended installations of Active Directory Domain Services on Windows Server 2008-based domain controllers. Performing an unattended installation using an answer file is not as hard as it sounds, and can be performed without any user interaction. Using the answer (or sometimes…

System and software downtime frequently mean lost revenues, lowered employee productivity and reduced customer satisfaction. Despite the fact that companies are investing in high-availability systems and performance monitoring solutions for data centers, many are failing to follow best practice procedures to avoid human errors. Do you use any social networks? Follow ObserveIT on Facebook, Linkedin…

In today’s complex network and IT environments more and more people need to gain access to the corporate servers, applications, databases and management tools. Secure Remote Access allow secure access to corporate servers across the Internet, however can you see what these remote users are doing? While trying to minimize the human intervention with these…

In the two previous articles in this series (Planning for Windows Server 2008 Virtualization and Implementing Hyper Vision in Windows Server 2008), I walked you through planning and installing Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V. In this article, I will continue the discussion by showing you how to install a virtual operating system. Installing a Virtual Operating…

How can I create a large number of users for testing purposes? If you want to create a large amount of test user accounts in your domain or local accounts on your workstation, you can do so in more than one way. On this page I’ll try to list a few of these methods. By…

How can I easily perform management operations in AD from a customized Taskpad? As your AD infrastructure grows, and the number of objects within it constantly changes, you might find that managing the growing number of users, groups and computers is becoming more than a headache. Fortunately for us, one of Active Directory’s best features…

How can I create the Setup Boot floppies for Windows XP Pro/Home? Windows XP Setup boot disks are available only by download from Microsoft. The Setup boot disks are available so that you can run Setup on computers that do not support a bootable CD-ROM.  If your computer does support booting from a CD-ROM, or…

Windows Vista automatically assigns shortcuts to the quick launch toolbar. You can quickly create shortcuts to shutdown, restart, and lock the screen, and add them to the quick launch toolbar to have instant access to them. For example, the first shortcut in your quick launch toolbar is automatically assigned to WINDOWS + 1, and the…

How can I create Local users in Windows XP? How can I open the Local Users applet (from Control Panel) in Windows XP? To control local users and some of their settings from a Windows XP Pro machine you can use the LUSRMGR.MSC MMC Snap-in (run lusrmgr.msc from the Run command).  Alternatively, you can use…

You can turn scripts into redistributable executable files with existing software in Windows Vista and Windows XP.  Windows Vista and Windows XP both have a rarely used tool known as IExpress.  The tool allows you to wrap an executable file around your scripts so that you can distribute any script as an .exe rather than…

Neither Windows 2000 nor Windows (yuck) ME has the ability to create a simple, basic, DOS- based boot floppy (a “startup disk”). In Windows XP however, the floppy format option in My Computer an offer to “Create MS-DOS Startup Disk” is present. If you try to boot your computer with this floppy you will be…

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the Active Directory locator in Windows 2000. Active Directory clients and client tools use DNS to locate domain controllers for administration and logon. You must have a DNS server installed and configured for Active Directory and the associated client software to function correctly. This article guides you through the…