Recent Blog Posts
Now the Black Screen of Death
by Austin on Sep 11, 2007
A look at the 'Black Screen of Death' phenomenon in Windows, similar to the infamous Blue Screen but appearing during different failure scenarios....
More on Euro DEC Part Deux
by Austin on Oct 8, 2007
Extended notes from the European DEC conference covering Read-Only Domain Controllers (RODCs), Active Directory auditing, and other advanced AD topics....
European Directory Experts Conference 23rd-26th September 2007
by Austin on Oct 6, 2007
Coverage from the European Directory Experts Conference held September 23-26, 2007, with sessions on Active Directory, identity management, and directory services....
Problems connecting to a Windows Server cluster
by markwilson on Oct 30, 2007
Troubleshooting connectivity issues with Windows Server clusters, including name resolution problems and network configuration challenges....
How cool is this?
by Austin on Oct 30, 2007
Sharing an exciting technology discovery - sometimes the coolest things are the unexpected ones you find while exploring new features....
TechEd IT Forum In Barcelona
by Austin on Oct 26, 2007
Notes and impressions from the TechEd IT Forum conference in Barcelona, covering sessions on Windows Server, virtualization, and enterprise IT....
Creating Test AD users with Powershell - Improved!
by Austin on Oct 25, 2007
An improved version of the PowerShell script for creating test AD users, with better error handling and more flexible configuration options....
Group Policy meets Powershell in a big way!
by Austin on Oct 23, 2007
Exploring the intersection of Group Policy and PowerShell, including Specops Command for deploying PowerShell scripts through Group Policy....
Creating Test AD users with Powershell
by Austin on Oct 22, 2007
A PowerShell script to create test Active Directory users from a CSV source file, demonstrating the power and simplicity of PowerShell for AD management tasks....
Creating Test Users in AD - Another way
by Austin on Oct 22, 2007
An alternative approach to creating test users in Active Directory, comparing different methods and tools available for bulk user creation....
Powershell: Real Glue!
by Austin on Oct 16, 2007
Why PowerShell is becoming the essential glue language for Windows system administration, connecting disparate management tools and automating complex workflows....
Windows Service Pack roadmap
by markwilson on Oct 15, 2007
An overview of Microsoft's planned service pack releases for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008, including expected timelines and key features....
Use full DNS Names and OS tags in GINA's Dropdown Dialog box
by Austin on Nov 8, 2007
How to configure the Windows logon dialog (GINA) to display full DNS names and OS version tags for easier identification in multi-domain environments....
ADInsight for Active Directory
by Austin on Nov 7, 2007
ADInsight from Sysinternals is a real-time Active Directory monitoring tool that replaces the need for separate tools like RegMon and FileMon for AD troubleshooting....
Microsoft's Awesome Stats
by Austin on Nov 6, 2007
Impressive statistics about Microsoft's IT infrastructure and global operations, showcasing the scale of their technology deployment....
Burn CD's and DVDs with Powershell
by Austin on Nov 2, 2007
How to use PowerShell with the IMAPI2 interface to burn CDs and DVDs programmatically, enabling automated disc creation workflows....
PoSH is here to stay!
by Austin on Nov 2, 2007
With Citrix, VMware, and many other vendors adopting PowerShell, it's clear that PowerShell (PoSH) has established itself as the standard for Windows management....
Exchange Unplugged!
by Austin on Nov 1, 2007
Coverage of the Exchange Unplugged event, where Microsoft demonstrated Exchange Server capabilities and roadmap in an informal setting....
Why I hate finger print scanners
by Scotty on Nov 1, 2007
A humorous take on the frustrations of biometric fingerprint scanners and their reliability issues in everyday use....
Problems with Hyper-V, ISA Server 2006 and TCP offloading
by markwilson on Mar 8, 2008
Addressing networking issues when running ISA Server 2006 in a Hyper-V virtual machine, particularly related to TCP offloading features that can cause connectivity problems....