Even though it doesn't take long to add a folder to %Path% by clicking through Windows, I prefer to do this using a little PowerShell instead.

Here's a set of scripts to make it easier to view the items in the "BackConnectionHostNames" registry key, as well as add and remove hostnames.

Here's a set of scripts to make it easier to view the hostname mappings in the hosts file, as well as add and remove hostnames.

Wondering where all the precious free space in your SSD went? Well, here are a few possibilities.

Here's a little PowerShell script I whipped up to import the TechnologyToolbox.com log files into a SQL Server database for some "quick and dirty" analysis.

Here's a useful script for those, like me, that use SysPrep'ed images to create new virtual machines and also leverage Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) to keep machines up-to-date with the latest patches. Reset WSUS for SysPrep Image.cmd ...

In my previous post , I explained how I like to create separate VHDs for data and log files in my SharePoint development VMs. However, given the very small amount of content that I typically load into a SharePoint development environment, these VHDs certainly...

In the United States, "CDL" typically refers to a Commercial Driver's License -- but since I don't drive trucks for a living, I use the acronym for something entirely different. To me, these three letters correspond to the minimum number of drives I like...

One of the things I like most about running System Center Operations Manager in the "Jameson Datacenter" (a.k.a. my home lab) is that it greatly reduces the amount of effort required to monitor numerous servers. For example, in my environment I am...

Each time I create (or recreate) a virtual machine in Hyper-V using one of my SysPrep'ed images , I usually end up having to do a quick Internet search for: device manager show hidden devices I'm a little embarrassed to say that I simply can't remember...

A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about issues I encountered deploying Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 due to insufficient disk space on various VMs in the the "Jameson Datacenter" (a.k.a. my home lab). This morning I encountered similar issues...

This morning I rolled back one of my development VMs to a snapshot I created about a month ago. When I subsequently tried to login with my domain credentials, I encountered the following error: The trust relationship between this workstation and the...

Earlier this week, I posted about how I rebuilt my Windows 7 desktop while installing a new solid-state drive (SSD). This morning, I thought I would share some performance numbers that I gathered from the various disk configurations that I currently...

...make darn sure you have already installed the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 (if you want to use them, of course). Otherwise, like me, you'll likely resort to nuking your desktop and starting over. Earlier this week, I posted...

Several years ago, while working on the "Frontier" project at Agilent Technologies , I encountered a scenario where I needed to quickly identify logon failures on the site. The Agilent site was (and I believe still is) based on Microsoft Office SharePoint...

In the current sprint of the project I'm working on, we are deploying Office Web Apps to support an enterprise collaboration platform based on SharePoint Server 2010. While creating the installation guide for this sprint, I used the following TechNet...

In one of the sessions I attended last week at TechReady (an internal training conference at Microsoft), the speaker mentioned a new piece of "anti-frustration software" called Soluto which analyzes the boot time of your PC. It certainly sounded intriguing and I made a note to take a look at it when I got back home from Seattle. This morning I installed Soluto on my Windows 7 x64 desktop at home. Everything seemed great...at first....

I added a new item to my Toolbox this weekend -- LC ISO Creator . It's not fancy, or even supported, but it is free and it appears to do what it is supposed to without issue, specifically creating an ISO image from an existing CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. There...

Windows Update started generating errors last week on one of my servers. Specifically, the server (JUBILEE) was encountering an error when trying to install Microsoft .NET Framework 4: Log Name: System Source: Microsoft-Windows-WindowsUpdateClient...

[Sorry the blog has been relatively silent this month -- but, on the other hand, I did manage to make time for a vacation to Arizona this month (Sedona, Grand Canyon, and then Scottsdale). It was a little hot, but a wonderful trip nonetheless.] Here...

This past weekend, I upgraded my Team Foundation Server (TFS) 2008 environment to TFS 2010. I also upgraded the TFS project sites to SharePoint Server 2010. Why the SharePoint upgrade? The TFS project sites previously ran on Windows SharePoint Services...

A little over two years ago, I wrote a post about installing Visual Studio 2005 Service Pack 1 , in which I mentioned setting the MaxPatchCacheSize registry setting to 0 (in order to save some significant disk space while installing the service pack)...

I've mentioned in the past how I run a Windows Server 2003 mail server in order to use the POP3 service for basic e-mail functionality, and that I didn't have any interest in finding an alternative when I discovered POP3 is no longer available in Windows...

In a previous post , I noted how the " Jameson Datacenter " (a.k.a. my home lab) currently runs two domain controllers (DCs) on a couple of VMs. If you choose to virtualize one or more DCs in your environment, make sure you are aware of the considerations...

While working on some documentation today, I wanted to know the names of the Hyper-V servers running the various VMs for our Development and Test environments. [These VMs are running in a Microsoft datacenter on the other side of the planet from where...

I've been a bad blogger this month. Almost a month ago, I wrote a post about using Web standards with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 , but I noted that there would be more to come on that subject in the near future. Well, almost a full...

In last night's post , I discussed the solution for an issue I encountered installing KB 970892 on one of my servers. Thankfully, this morning I confirmed the server no longer increments the Computers with Errors column in the daily report I receive from...

For a little over a month, Windows Update was failing on one of the servers in the "Jameson Datacenter" (a.k.a. my home lab). Specifically, KB 970892 simply would not install on JUBILEE -- my Systems Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 2007 VM, that I use...

As I've mentioned before, I don't spend much money or time maintaining the "Jameson Datacenter" (a.k.a. my home lab). However, that doesn't mean that I treat my infrastructure lightly. In previous posts, I've covered many of the Group Policy objects...

This morning I was doing some cleanup of my documents folder and I stumbled across a rather old Visio document that showed the beginnings of what I now refer to as the "Jameson Datacenter" (a.k.a. my home lab). For some geeky reason, seeing this again...

Yet another Group Policy object that I use in the "Jameson Datacenter" (a.k.a. my home lab) is one to automatically configure roaming profiles and redirect the Desktop and Documents folders to a server(a.k.a. "IntelliMirror"). Even though I don't have...

Another Group Policy object that I use in the "Jameson Datacenter" (a.k.a. my home lab) is one that I created a couple of years ago in order to eliminate various warnings from the Microsoft Baseline Security Advisor (MBSA). To automatically change...

In Part 1 of this post , I explained the Group Policy object (named Development - Restricted Groups Policy ) that I use for enforcing group membership on a specific set of servers. As a follow-up to that post, I also want to cover an alternate method...

Another Group Policy object that I use in the "Jameson Datacenter" (a.k.a. my home lab) is one to automatically configure Windows Update on all computers in the domain. This ensures that each server or workstation downloads updates from COLOSSUS (one...

In yesterday's post I covered one of the Group Policy objects that I use in the "Jameson Datacenter" (a.k.a. my home lab), specifically one that automatically enables Remote Desktop (Terminal Services) whenever I add a new server to my Active Directory...

In a previous post, I provided some details on the "Jameson Datacenter" (a.k.a. my home lab). In a follow-up post, I also discussed the Active Directory domain structure and mentioned how I use the Group Policy feature of Active Directory to "effortlessly...

Last Sunday, I rebuilt my desktop ( WOLVERINE ) with the RTM build of Windows 7 Ultimate (x64). Previously, I'd been running the RC1 bits and I figured it was about time I got around to "upgrading" to the RTM version. [I say "upgrading" because -- at...

In a previous post, I provided some details on the "Jameson Datacenter" , which is really just my home lab that I use for learning new technologies and improving my skills, as well as actually completing my day-to-day tasks on various customer projects...

Many customers deploying Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 often have a requirement to provide some kind of "faceted search" feature that allows users to quickly and easily narrow their search results. Before I ever knew the commonly accepted...

Back in a post from February 2008, I first referred to the "Jameson Datacenter" while discussing one of the servers running in my basement. Since then I've referenced my home lab about a dozen times in different posts but never provided significant details...

Last week before heading out to the airport for my SharePoint 2010 training, I powered down the "Jameson Datacenter" (i.e. the four computers running in my home office). Since I would be gone for almost 8 full days, it didn't make sense to waste the electricity...

One of the challenges I see in organizations that I work with is the lack of naming conventions for various environments -- or sometimes naming conventions that provide little or no value. For about the last ten years, I've been a strong proponent...

If you ever find yourself looking for reasons or evidence why you should choose the "Server Core" installation option for Windows Server 2008, try searching for the following: "Windows Server 2008 Server Core installation not affected" site:microsoft...

About a year ago, I wrote a post about saving huge amounts of disk space by slipstreaming service packs . Having just been through an ordeal installing Windows Server 2008 SP2, I thought it would be worthwhile to provide an update (since that original...

In yesterday's post , I noted the errors I encountered when trying to install Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2) due to "insufficient" disk space. I ended up having to expand numerous VHDs (one for each of my VMs running Windows Server 2008 x64...

Last week I approved Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Vista SP2 on my local WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) server. My expectation was that the various physical and virtual machines in the "Jameson Datacenter" would subsequently...

While cleaning off my Desktop this morning, I came across a file that I created back in December capturing my notes from a problem I was having with Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). Evidently I intended to blog about the issue, but apparently this...

I had a rather rough start this morning. When I attempted to boot up my primary workstation and login, I kept encountering a problem loading my roaming profile. I could login to Vista, but my desktop was blank and I kept getting prompted to enter my...

As I mentioned in my previous post , last month I built out a new virtual environment using Hyper-V on Server Core. Since you can't run MMC -- and therefore Hyper-V Manager -- on Server Core, you need to use remote administration to manage the VMs. ...

I'm building out a new virtualized environment using Windows Server 2008 and Hyper-V. In order to maximize performance and follow recommended best practices, I am using Server Core as the host OS. I have to admit, doing this much administration from...