Year: 2016

VMware: Intermittent Error: Unexpected character ‘’ (code 65279 / 0xfeff) in prolog; expected ‘<' at [row,col {unknown-source}]: [1,1] pop up in Windows vSphere client ?

Recently, I got the error below when using the vSphere client. Problem: I have only tested this solution on: Solution: Repair your installation of Microsoft Visual J#® 2.0 Redistributable Package – Second Edition (x64) Download The error went away after repair. In trying to google the error some user have reported that uninstall the patch KB3147458 worked for … Read moreVMware: Intermittent Error: Unexpected character ‘’ (code 65279 / 0xfeff) in prolog; expected ‘<' at [row,col {unknown-source}]: [1,1] pop up in Windows vSphere client ?

Windows: Hide Internet Explorer 11 address bar & navigation bar

Applies to: Windows Server 2008R2, Windows Server 2012R2, Windows 10 There are two ways this can be accomplished depending on your needs for the controlled environment. GPO: I would like to first clarify that there is not a single GPO to just hide TABS in IE11. There is however a way you can enforce IE in Full … Read moreWindows: Hide Internet Explorer 11 address bar & navigation bar

Excel: Check email addresses in bulk if format is correct or not

So had a request today to clean up email addresses as some of them were not valid. This was needed for over 1500 email addresses. So used the formula below and was able to find all addresses that were “FALSE”. I filtered them out and was able to fix them as needed. Here’s what you … Read moreExcel: Check email addresses in bulk if format is correct or not

DFS Namespace service could not initialize cross forest trust information

After you install Active Directory on Windows Server 2008 R2, you may start seeing the following error message after the server boots: The DFS Namespace service could not initialize cross forest trust information on this domain controller, but it will periodically retry the operation. The return code is in the record data. This occurs because … Read moreDFS Namespace service could not initialize cross forest trust information

DNS broken after Windows Update KB3145126

I noticed the DNS broke on my servers after Windows Update. The problem was KB3145126. Read more about it here. After a quick removal and reboot, DNS was operational again. To remove/uninstall KB3145126, open powershell and run the following:

Hope this helps.

Check Proxy settings from Powershell

To check the proxy settings like ProxyOveride or if it is enabled or not:

To disable proxy from PowerShell:

To enable proxy from PowerShell:

 

IE Enable/Disable Proxy Settings via Registry

Whatever the reason may be to enable or disable proxy, here is a simple registry hack to turn it on or off. Open powershell in admin mode. Enable:

Disable:

The above method require an IE restart, alternatively if you don’t want to restart IE. Make similar change under:

To find your SID … Read moreIE Enable/Disable Proxy Settings via Registry

Disable IPv6 on Windows Core Server 2008 R2 – 2012 R2

GUI Version: Open Control Panel > Network & Internet > Network & Sharing Center > Change Adapter Settings > Choose the Adapter Right Click – Select Properties Networking Tab DeSelect IPv6 Close No GUI… No problem (Core): After doing the above procedure you might have to use the registry editor aswell to completely disable the … Read moreDisable IPv6 on Windows Core Server 2008 R2 – 2012 R2

Change the password age in bulk for Active Directory accounts

Ran into an interesting situation where pretty much all domain accounts did not follow the default password policy and had the option of ‘password never expires’ checked. I needed to fix this immediately without impacting the users and expiring any accounts that may affect the business. I needed to adjust the password age for all … Read moreChange the password age in bulk for Active Directory accounts

Disable Office group creation

Every Exchange user has an OWA mailbox policy that governs what they can and can’t do with their mailbox. Updating this mailbox policy removes the ability for users to create Groups. Because OWA policies are per user, you can limit the ability to create Groups for some users and not others. At this time, the … Read moreDisable Office group creation