Windows Server 2008

In Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008, when a removable drive (USB flash drive, flash card reader, portable hard drive, etc.) is attached for the first time, Windows mounts it to the first available local drive letter. So far so good. But if there is a network share on this letter, Windows will use it anyway for the new…

As you already know by now, in Windows Server 2008, Server Core installation does not include the traditional full graphical user interface (GUI). Read more about Server Core on my “Understanding Windows Server 2008 Server Core” article. Once you have configured the server, you can only manage it locally at a command prompt, or remotely using…

In Windows Server 2008 (and previous Microsoft operating systems) you must activate your computer in order to use it legally. You have 30 days after installing Windows to activate it online or by telephone. If this 30-day period expires before you complete activation, Windows will stop working. If this happens, you won’t be able to…

  A snapshot is a shadow copy—created by the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)—of the volumes that contain the Active Directory database and log files. With Active Directory snapshots, you can view the data inside such a snapshot on a domain controller without the need to start the server in Directory Services Restore Mode. Windows…

Terminal Server on Windows Server 2008 has 3 primary features that offer great out-of-the-box manageability, improved access and improved user experience. These key features include: TS RemoteApp TS Web Access TS Gateway Other features include TS Session Broker, TS Licensing and Easy Print, but these will be covered in a different presentation.. Settings tab, he…

The Windows Server 2008 certifications are part of the new generation of Microsoft certifications, which emphasize primary skill sets and job roles, providing a more relevant, flexible, and cost-effective way to validate core technical, professional, and architectural skills. Microsoft Certified Systems Administrators (MCSAs) and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers (MCSEs) in Windows Server 2003 can quickly…

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…

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…

As noted in previous articles, Windows Server 2008 has an interesting option to install it with a minimal graphical user interface (or GUI for short). This method of installation is called “Server Core”, and it allows an administrator to only install the minimum binaries required to run a specific server role (currently, there are 9…

  Windows Server 2008 has a new feature allowing administrators to create snapshots of the Active Directory database for offline use. There are quite a few scenarios for using AD snapshots. For example, if someone has changes properties of AD objects and you need to revert to their previous values, you can mount a copy…