SysAdmin – Page 3 – Cannot Display

September 5, 2017NR

Printer fix script – Quickly clear print queues and restart print spooler

printer fix script

Printers are the bain of any helpdesk engineer, or actually any one in IT in general!

Here is a quick printer fix script to help:

Whilst basic, (restart spooler and clear all print queues) it does in our office, at least, clear 99% of printer issues.

Copy and paste the below to a batch file (file extension .bat) and click away:

::Printer Fix Script @cannotdisplay.com
net stop spooler
pause
del /S /F “C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS\*”
del /S /F “C:\Windows\System32\spool\SERVERS\*”
net start spooler
pause
::end

It will prompt you several times to make sure you wish to delete queues and then pause at the end to show you how it went,
Any alterations or suggestions comment below!

June 26, 2017NR

Install multiple programs with Chocolatey

Ever had the need to install multiple programs on a new or existing PC?

We have all been there; a brand new PC out the box, a relative who needs some software installed, a re-install of windows on your own PC.
So how do we go about collating all our software, is there a nice quick way to re-install everything and get us up to date quickly. Well today we are going to go over the basics of how to install multiple programs using Chocolatey.

What is Chocolatey?

From its own site:

Chocolatey is a package manager for Windows (like apt-get or yum but for Windows). It was designed to be a decentralized framework for quickly installing applications and tools that you need.

How can I install chocolatey?

Very easily. Chocolatey is built for windows and use through Powershell, so as long as you have been updating windows, you should be able to install it seamlessly.
Either head over to the chocolatey install page, or use my favorite method of install – using Powershell itself:

iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

How to create a multiple install script:

Simply now open powershell and with your new chocolatey powers run the choco install script as follows:
choco install notepadplusplus googlechrome atom 7zip

You can find the full list of programs supported from either running a choco search in powershell, or by visiting the package repository here: https://chocolatey.org/packages

Hope this is of some help. If you are not wanting to install multiple programs, don’t want to mess with powershell as mentioned in previous posts, perhaps Ninite will be better suited for you.

May 22, 2017NR

What is Ransomware & how do i stop it?

Ransomware is upon us, but what is this thing, and how can i protect myself or my business from it?

So the definition and description according to Wikipedia is the below:

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that blocks access to the victim’s data or threatens to publish or delete it until a ransom is paid. Any action is possible once device or system is infected and there is no guarantee that paying the ransom will return access or not delete the data.

So how to i prevent and stop Ransomware?

Patch,
Secure,
Backup

>Patch

Patching it often the most overlooked defense in anyone’s arsenal. Patching is as simple as making sure that your windows updates are current and installed, and also checking over other software that you use on a regular basis for updates. Things to keep a keen eye out for, and PDF viewer (Adobe Acrobat, Foxit, Reader DC), Adobe Flash, M$ Office, Web browsers.

>Secure

Securing your PC from Ransomware is as easy as installing a known, tried and trusted AntiVirus software.
Other steps to look into include, adding a firewall to your network, or tighten your current routers firewall settings. Adding Malware protection, using a VPN, locking down user permissions, and a whole lot more.

>Backup

The key to recovering from an infection is a good backup strategy. Backing up is the single most useful thing you can do to prevent falling victim to a ransomware attack. With a good offline backup – or at least a backup to another PC, cloud or server location – the whole process of being infected is alot less of an issue.

There you have it, a very short and simple overview of ransomware in 2017 – if you want to know more on any of the three above steps, feel free to get in contact, or leave me a comment below.

March 31, 2017NR

Change the username in O365 when syncing with onsite active directory

When creating a new user in Office365 with a hybrid or active directory syn’d setup it is quite common for Office365 to append the .onmicrosoft.com domain to any new address you set up.

This unfortunately cannot be changed by means of GUI, you need to change the username in O365 using powershell.

To change the username in Office 365:

1. Make sure you have the WAAD module
2. Run PowerShell
3. Type “Connect-MsolService” –> ENTER. Enter your admin credentials for Office 365 –> OK
4. Use the below command to update the primary email address used to log in exchanging parts in bold;

"Set-MsolUserPrincipalName -UserPrincipalName current_email@****.onmicrosoft.com –NewUserPrincipalName new_email@domain"

Nice and easy 🙂

January 12, 2017NR

How to change the RDP port on a RDS server

There are many reasons you may wish to change the RDP port on a RDS or terminal services server.

Change RDP port number

My default action when setting up a new RDS server is now to ensure that it is not listening on the standard port (3389). This is for multiple reasons, mainly though to add a small extra layer of protection against automated RDP bruteforce attacks. Sure if an attacker wanted to they could run a port scan to find the new port, but really unless you are targeted, no-one is going to do this via bot/automation.

The easiest way to change the RDP port is via regedit:

Navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp\

and change the value of the DWORD "PortNumber" select Decimal and change to whatever you wish the port to be.

You will then need to restart the server for this to take effect – simply restarting the gateway services does not seem to refresh the listening port.

Other option is to put this into a .reg file and simply click on it to merge the rdp port change into the registry. To do this, copy the below script into notepad and save it is a .reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-Tcp] "PortNumber"=dword:0000846c

This will change the port to 33899

January 5, 2017NR

[SOLVED] Java update “Failed to download required installation files.”

There have been a few occasions recently where a Java update fails

Java Update failed to download the required files

Having looked about for a solution, there is two methods that i have found to quickly rectify the problem.

1) The cheats way.
Re-install java on top of itself.

NB, Java has many different versions depending on which OS and update version of the OS you are using, the quickest way to re-install with the latest version i have found is to use Ninite. This will find version and install it correctly for you.
https://ninite.com/java8/

2) Edit compatibility settings on the Java updater.

go to: %PROGRAMFILES%\Common Files\Java\Java Update

and find jucheck.exe (updater)

right click --> Properties --> Compatibility

select the tick box to run with a previous version of windows, anything before Vista seems to do the job. (XP, Win95 etc…) As this is just the updater and not java, it ensures you still get the correct version.

BONUS 3)
This seems to be an issue with privilege elevation in windows – if you have access to an admin account, then you can log into that then try updating 8/10 it works without the above.

December 16, 2016NR

The Windows Death command – Kill a Windows PC

Sometimes in the IT world you just need to let off some steam – sometimes a pile of old PC’s through in the PC ‘Graveyard’ are a fun way to do so.

Often we will play with various ways to kill off old PC’s before they are then securely wiped and recycled, and this command we are about to go into is one of the basics.

del /S /F /Q /A:S C:\windows

Thats it.

Yes it really is that easy to kill a windows PC!

Lets go through it and some of the pitfalls you may find.

del – This is the windows command to delete an object, pretty self explanatory
/S – Deletes specified files from the current directory and all subdirectories. Displays the names of the files as they are being deleted.
/F – Forces deletion of read-only files.
/Q – Specifies quiet mode. You are not prompted for delete confirmation.
/A:S – Deletes files based on the following file attributes, in this case: s = System files
C:\windows – The destination we are deleting.

Why does this work? – Well most people reading this know already, but if you didn’t – the Windows folder simply put is the heart of the Windows operating system. Killing it will stop the OS from booting.

Most users readers will be asking “Why put the C:\Windows” at the end of the script, should it no logically be put in front of the other switches? Well this is to do with personal preference really, and to do with the fact that it is convinient to then go about and delete more contect using the same script, by hitting up arrow, then simply backspacing and changing your destination. Lazy much? You bet you!

Bonus post of to Kill a Windows PC and to make this more effective coming next week – little hint:
takeown /f C:\Windows /r /d y

p.s. This is for information only – be responsible!

August 17, 2015nick

ownCloud server replied: Forbidden (ownCloud Forbidden)

I recently installed the latest version of ownCloud. A self hosted cloud platform for syncing all your favourite documents and files you may need to access from elsewhere.

The install was easy enough – See other post – however i did then encounter a few issues when using the Windows sync software,

Here is what i had to do to fix a: “ownCoud server replied: Forbidden” ownCloud Forbidden error.

(Well hopefully it works for you also! )

I had to do 2 things in order to get this installed:

The first error i got was;
“download of ownCloud source file failed.
SSL certificate problem: self signed certificate in certificate chainSSL certificate problem: self signed certificate in certificate chain”

The solution i found here was to add the below into my installer.php :

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_CERTINFO, FALSE);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, FALSE);

This allowed me to start the install, and then supply it with my DB creds and table to get started.

The second error, was only once i had set up my default file structure using the web interface and finally installed the desktop based client was the aforementioned ownCloud Forbidden error.

The solution? After endless hours of scrolling through countless Forums and the full ownCloud documentation;

In plain text, to show spydah’s fix to an ownCloud Forbidden error:

Simply add the following to your .htaccess file:

<Limit GET POST>
order allow,deny
allow from all
</Limit>
<Limit PUT DELETE>
order allow,deny
allow from all
</Limit>

Done. Sorted. finally!

June 15, 2015nick

Run elevated command prompt (CMD)

The quickest way to run an elevated command prompt from windows xp all the way through to Windows 10, is to simply right click and ‘Run as Administrator’ from the start menu, see below

Click on the start menu, or press the WIN key, then simply type (win vista+) CMD
Right click on cmd.exe and select, run as administrator

If that does not for some reason work, or you cannot get into your start menu, try pressing WIN + R and typing CMD, then enter:

runas /noprofile /user:Administrator cmd

This will prompt you for your admin password

June 4, 2015nick

Getting the path of AppData using PowerShell

Getting the path of %AppData% using PowerShell + $env: usage

There are 2 ways to find the folder location of AppData on a PC, and to check appdata path.

The first method uses the simple $env: command. This command has long been used by C# users to make multi platform software, in the case where your AppData or any other environmental variable may be living somewhere other than the normal factory set location.

Simply open up powershell and type:

$env:APPDATA

Method 2 is basically doing the exact same as above, but this time using a call and answer approach:

Get-Childitem env:APPDATA | %{ $_.Value }

Below are some extra $env: variables that you may find useful;

Name                           Value
----                           -----
TEMP                           C:\DOCUME~1\bob\LOCALS~1\Temp
SESSIONNAME                    Console
PATHEXT                        .COM;.EXE;.BAT;.CMD;.VBS;.VBE;.JS;.JSE;.WSF;.WSH;.PS1;.PSC1
USERDOMAIN                     WINGROUP
PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE         x64
SystemDrive                    C:
APPDATA                        C:\Users\bob\Application Data
windir                         C:\WINDOWS
USERPROFILE                    C:\Users\bob