Filter Exchange SMTP logfile before decommission using PowerShell
All Exchange admins have been there. You have moved all your mailboxes and want to decommission the server but before you uninstall, you check the SMTP logfile (for Exchange 2010, that is \Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange...
Chrome with Azure AD Conditional Access and Hybrid Azure AD Join
I see more and more enabling MFA (Multifactor Authentication) to secure access to Office 365. The challenge is to make the environment more secure but still keeping the users productive and asking for MFA several times a day is not a way of doing it - we want Single...
Remove bloatware from Windows 10
8 years ago I wrote a very popular post how to optimize my laptop and only install the necessary drivers and software to make it as fast as possible. That took the boot time from 64 seconds to 29 seconds. It seems like Microsoft heard our calling and have since then...
Configure Ubiquiti wireless AP to authenticate users using AD username/password
If you have a Ubiquiti wireless network and want the users to authenticate to it using their Active Directory username and password - this guide is for you. I didn't find a proper guide for this so decided to write my own. This guide helps you configure the NPS...
Restore Default Domain Policy and Default Domain Controller GPO settings to default
It's pretty common that I see in installations that someone has changed the default GPOs in Active Directory: Default Domain Policy Default Domain Controller Policy I always recommend as a best practice not to to edit these GPOs except when absolutely necessary. Why?...
Ubiquiti UniFI AP vs. AP AC LITE performance comparison
I'm a big fan of Ubiquiti and own both their wireless AP's and Firewall Edgerouter. At work we use Cisco, HP and other Enterprise brands but at home I use Ubiquiti as you get Enterprise grade solutions for the cheap. I've been using aht UniFI AP at home for years and...
Configuring NTP on Windows using GPO
My post on Configuring NTP on Windows 2012 gets many hits so it seems like it's a popular topic. While that post is still valid and correct, sometimes you prefer using GPO in a domain environment instead of w32tm.exe command. And since I couldn't find a good...
Meegopad T02 – an alternative to Intel Compute Stick
Sometimes, virtualization won't do. You need physical computers to test out some new cool client thing. Having a bunch of fullsize desktops takes up too much space and it's not often you have a bunch of unused laptops at your office. Many of you have probably heard of...
What happened to street numbers in Waze?
Previously when you searched for a street address together with a street number in Waze all the results showed up at the same page. Usually one of the search results from Google gave you the correct location. However, recently they changed the look of the search...
Mailbox size and Quota useful PowerShell commands for Exchange
I often need to get statistics and check mailbox sizes and quotas and here are some useful notes and examples that I often cut'n'paste instead of re-inventing them: Get top list of big mailboxes, sorted by size: Get-Mailbox -ResultSize Unlimited |...
Create bootable USB for MDT
Sometimes, it's not possible to PXE-boot your machines to install them using MDT 2010 (because it might be a remote network/VLAN) . Then you have two scenarios that I will cover in this post: Scenario 1: A bootable USB that will connect to the Deployment Share over...
Creating a fully patch install.wim for Windows 7/8 without MDT but using WSUS Offline Updater
I often get asked by friends to re-install their computers and in return, they often offer dinner and wine in return... Sweet deal I think. Installing Windows doesn't take very long but the patching-reboot-patching-reboot take hours and I prefer sitting at the dinner...
Disable/Block running logon script in Citrix/TS/RDS environments
I work with a lot of big customers, often with an AD forest with multiple child domains. And one thing I often run into is that centrally they have a Citrix/TS/RDS farm where they run central apps that everyone needs access to. And often, users complain of long login...
GPP driving you crazy? Some Drive Maps and Printer mappings doesn’t always apply?
If you've spent some time using GPP such as Drive Maps and Printers you might have noticed that it simply doesn't always apply when you added/removed/changed something... I did notice this and it was driving me crazy not to know the reason for it. So I decided to post...
Creating a portable MDT 2012 Deployment Solution on your laptop
Here's a tip for all your MDT fans and those of you who need a portable MDT 2012 deployment solution on your laptop. I'm not talking a USB-stick that you install from but I'm talking creating a VM on your laptop that you can bring to branch offices, customers and even...
Public Folder alternatives but NOT Sharepoint and NOT Exchange 2013
In this article I explained how you can inventory and hopefully get rid of many Public Folders. But you probably end up with a couple that's actually being used. What to do with them if you want to dismount and remove that last Public Folder database? Microsoft says:...
Get Forest and Domain Functional Level from command line or PowerShell
Here's how to get Forest Functional Level (FFL) and Domain Functional Level (DFL) of Active Directory from command line or using PowerShell: Get Domain Functional Level using PowerShell: Get-ADDomain | fl Name,DomainMode Get Forest Functional Level using PowerShell:...
Backing up QNAP NAS to CrashPlan online backup service
CrashPlan provides online data backup, with unlimited online storage for as low as $3/month - I paid $139.99 for 4 years. That's even cheaper than the electricity for a NAS for 4 years if I would do backup myself to another NAS. All my data is stored on a QNAP NAS 269...