Category: Workstations

ScreenConnect Remote Access Tool

I have had the privilege of using a new remote support tool called ScreenConnect which was recently acquired. This tool has all the major features of other remote support tools including a built in screen annotation feature and OCR capability that feeds into the built in research tool. Looking forward to training and trying all the features of this wonderful new software.

Fab-ulous New Software Experience

Big thanks go out to the fellows at the PodNutz Podcast for the recommendation of Fab’s AutoBackup Pro as this has been one of the best investments I have made in automating my business in recent years. I was hesistant at its expansive claims to basically grab everything from every profile on an old computer or even removed hard drive and automatically put it into the associated new profiles on a target computer. The claims are all true and really have to be experienced to be believed, so don’t do this kind of thing manually anymore as Fab’s will take care of all the heavy lifting. It will move the following:

Fab moves Personal folders:

  • Windows desktop’s content
  • Windows desktop’s wallpaper
  • Quick Launch toolbar’s shortcuts (for Windows XP and Vista: this tool bar has been removed from Windows since Windows 7)
  • Windows Start screen/menu Modern UI layout (only shortcuts, not applications)
  • My Documents
  • My Pictures
  • My Music
  • My Videos
  • Downloads folder (Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10)

Fab moves Web browsers:

  • Windows Internet Explorer favorites
  • Windows Internet Explorer main start page
  • Windows Internet Explorer settings (proxy, security zones…)
  • Microsoft Edge favorites
  • Google Chrome profile
  • Chromium browser profile
  • Apple Safari profile
  • Opera profile
  • Firefox settings : bookmarks, extensions…

Fab moves Mail:

  • Outlook Express messages and settings (mail accounts, rules…)
  • Microsoft Office Outlook PST/OST files and email accounts (messages, address book and calendar are stored in)
  • Outlook signatures files
  • Microsoft Office Outlook typed email addresses history
  • Windows Mail messages and settings
  • Windows Live Mail messages and settings
  • Windows Address book, used by outlook Express or Windows Mail
  • Mozilla Thunderbird messages and settings
  • PostBox messages and settings
  • IncrediMail messages and settings
  • Opera Mail

Fab moves Misc :

  • Windows Vista’s calendar
  • Sticky Notes
  • Screen saver settings (enabled or not, password protected or not, delay before activation)
  • Documents templates
  • Skype data and settings
  • Trillian data ad settings
  • ICQ data and settings
  • Windows Gadgets (installed by user)
  • Network drives connections
  • Network places
  • Picasa (albums and database)
  • BlackBerry Desktop settings
  • BlackBerry devices backups
  • Logitech SetPoint settings
  • Microsoft IntelliType Pro settings
  • Microsoft IntelliPoint settings
  • Apple IOS devices iTunes backups (iPhone, iPod, iPad)

Fab moves Common items:

  • Common documents
  • Common desktop
  • Common pictures
  • Common music
  • Common videos
  • Public Downloads folder (Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10)
  • Fonts (useful if you have installed some by yourself or bundled with software)
  • Microsoft Office XP, 2003, 2007 and 2010 activation files (Microsoft Office 2013 is not handled)
  • Modem settings file (fichier rasphone.pbk), except credentials
  • Intuit QuickBooks data (experimental)
  • NCH ExpressInvoice data
  • Steam (downloads)
  • Installed printers list

Fab moves User defined:

  • Additional files (manual selection or using wildcards search on selected operating system partition)
  • Additional folders

I cannot say enough good things about this software. Buy it and tell everyone you know about it too.

My Computer Shows Network Drive Red Xs

Kept getting calls from clients about their network drives “disappearing” or disconnecting throughout the day at “random” intervals, so after much troubleshooting found these steps to take on the workstations and file server to help alleviate the issue:

Network Drive Red Xs On the Workstation:

1. Click on Start button then choose Control Panel
2. In Control Panel open the Device Manager
3. Expand the Network Adapters and open each one used on that workstation
4. Look in the Power Management tab and Advanced tabs to look for any power settings that would disable the device then uncheck them. Click OK button and close all other windows.
5. Open the Registry Editor.
6. Expand the tree to the following key:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Service\lanmanworkstation\parameters

7. If it doesn’t exist then create a REG_DWORD named KeepConn with the Decimal value of 86400 (aka 24 hours)
8. Reboot the workstation for changes to take effect.

Network Drive Red Xs On the Server:

1. Login as administrator
2. Open Command Prompt as administrator
3. Type in the following to disable Auto Disconnect of network drives:

net config server /autodisconnect:-1

4. Reboot the server for changes to take effect.

Configure Server 2012 VPN Connections

Here are the basics to configure Server 2012 VPN connections to the local network. This is preferred by Farmhouse Networking over a third party vendor software or router based solution because of its native functionality and integration with domain credentials – think Single Sign On (SSO) or one password to access it all.

Install the Routing & Remote Access Service (RRAS) Role

1. Start the Server Manager
2. Click Add Roles and Features from the Manage Menu
3. On Add Roles and Features wizard begins and click Next
4. Select the Role-based or feature-based installation option and click Next
5. If you have more than one server managed via the server manager console, then select the desired server you’d like to install Routing and Remote Access on
6. From the Roles lists select Remote Access, click Add Features on the popup window
7. Click Next
8. Click Next as no additional features are needed
9. Select DirectAccess and VPN (RAS), click Next
10. Click Next
11. Accept default selections and click Next
12. Click Install
13. When installation is completed, click Close

Initial Server 2012 VPN Configuration

1. From the Server Manager screen, click on the warning sign and click ‘Open the Getting Started Wizard’
2. On Configure Remote Access, click Deploy VPN Only.
3. From the Routing and Remote Access MMC, right-click on the server and click ‘Configure and Enable Routing and Remote Access’
4. Click Next on the wizard
5. Select Custom Configuration
6. Select VPN access
7. On completion, click Finish
8. Click Start service to start the RRAS, then wait for the service to startup.

Add IPv4 IP Address Range

1. From the Routing and Remote Access MMC, right-click on the server and click ‘Properties’
2. Under properties screen click IPv4 tab, select Static address pool, click Add and enter the desired IP address range on the windows popup
3. Click OK to close

Open Ports on Network Firewall

For compatibility, here are the ports to open for both Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) and Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol (L2TP) on the network firewall:

500, 1701, 1723 & 4500

Need to open IP Protocol 47 also on the router to allow PPTP Passthrough.

(Note: On SonicWall routers, you will need to create address objects for internal / external IP addresses, service group containing all the above ports, NAT rule for PPTP traffic and firewall rule allowing the service group from the external to the internal IP address.)

Enable Remote Access for users

Open the properties of a domain user account via Active Directory Users and Computer MMC. Click on Dail-in, under Network Access Permission click Allow access

If your company is in need of a robust and simple to use Windows Server 2012 VPN connection to your LAN resources, then contact us for assistance.

Command Line Configuring TCP/IP Addressing

Recently had an issue where a client needed to have their IP address statically assigned and the thought came to mind that my Remote Monitoring software was able to give me command line access, so I thought I would try configuring TCP/IP addressing via the command line interface and not have to interrupt the end users work. Here is how to get it done:

netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" static [static IP] [subnet mask] [default gateway] 1

That gets the IP address, subnet mask and default gateway – so what about static DNS? Here is the next step:

netsh interface ip add dns name="Local Area Connection" addr=[DNS address #1]

netsh interface ip add dns name="Local Area Connection" addr=[DNS address #2] index=2

If your company need remote assistance or help planning / maintaining / configuring TCP/IP addressing in your network infrastructure, then contact us for assistance.

Create Office 365 Shared Calendars

Often when migrating a client from on-premise Exchange server to the Office 365 platform, the company will have an Exchange pubic folder shared calendar or two that are used for various reasons. Here is the steps for creating the new kind of Office 365 shared calendars:

Creating a Public Folder Mailbox

1. Open the Office 365 portal with an administrative user
2. Open the Admin panel
3. Open the Exchange Admin panel
4. Click on Public Folders, then on the Public Folder Mailboxes
5. Click on the + symbol then give the new Public Folder Mailbox a name and click Save

Creating the Root Public Folder

1. Still in the Public Folders section click on Public Folders at the top
2. Click on the + symbol then give the new Public Folder Mailbox a name and click Save
3. Click on the new Public Folder then on the right hand side click on Manage under Folder permissions
4. Add all administrator users to the Folder Permissions

Creating the Shared Calendar Public Folder

1. Open Outlook on administrative users workstation who will be the "Owner" of the folder
2. Click on Folders at the bottom and expand into the new root Public Folder
3. Right click on the root and choose Add New Folder
4. Give it a name and choose Calendar Items under folder contains then click OK
5. Right click on the new Public Calendar click on Properties then on Permissions tab
6. Add all users who will be accessing the calendar and appropriate permissions for them

Adding the Calendar folder to Outlook

1. Open Outlook on each users workstation
2. Click on Folders at the bottom and expand into the new Public Calendar
3. Right click on the Public Calendar and choose Add to Favorites which then makes it listed under their calendar tab.

If your company is migrating from on-premise Exchange to Office 365 or are in need of an Office 365 Shared Calendars setup, then contact us for assistance.

Network Ransomware Infection Best Practices

After several clients have faced this issue, it time to write out some best practices for how to immediately deal with an infection from one of the Cryptolocker / Cryptowall network ransomware infection variants. These usually infect a single workstation on the network, encrypt all local files, encrypt all network file shares and leave an instruction file on how to pay for the decrypt key in every folder. A good backup of the network file servers is key for this network ransomware infection not to do devastating damage to a company.

Steps for cleaning up after the network ransomware infection:

1. Login to file server and find one of the instruction files (usually HELP_DECRYPT.txt or decrypt_instruction.html) on the affected network share.
2. Right click on the file, chose Properties and click on the Details tab. The Owner listed is most likely the username for the person using the only infected computer on the network.
3. Isolate this machine from the network, deep virus clean or wipe / reload the operating system to get rid of the infection.
4. It is also good to run basic virus scanning on all workstation and servers on the network to determine if further infection has happened. Clean as needed.
5. It is good to know all the infected files on the file server, so here is a Powershell script to do so (change the instruction file as needed):

get-childitem [local path of file share] -include HELP_DECRYPT.* -recurse | select fullname >> C:\TEMP\InfectedFiles.txt

6. Send a copy of an encrypted file and of one of the instruction files to your Antivirus vendor because obviously they missed something.
7. Next comes the cleaning of the instruction files, so more Powershell to automate this (change the instruction file as needed):

get-childitem [local path of file share] -include HELP_DECRYPT.* -recurse | foreach ($) {remove-item $.fullname}

8. Use backup software to restore affected file shares to an alternate location.
9. Copy / replace files into their original location from the alternate location.
10. Test to make sure that users are able to get back into their files.

If your company has been infected with a network ransomware infection or would like to be proactive about protecting your important company files from disaster, then contact us for assistance.

Event ID 1000 Faulting Application spoolsv.exe

Had a users who had their printers disappearing and even after reboot or Print Spooler Service restart the printers would vanish after only a few seconds. After much research found an article from Chicago Tech that explains in detail how to troubleshoot this Faulting Application spoolsv issue. Here are the three steps that fixed the issue for this domain user:

Step 1: Clear the print caches to fix Faulting Application spoolsv

1. Open “Computer” and browse to the folder “c:\windows\system32\spool\printers” and delete all the files in the folder.
2. Do the same to clear the content in the folder “c:\windows\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86”

If the above step doesn’t work, please perform the next one.

Step 2: Reset the printer spooler to fix Faulting Application spoolsv

1. Open command prompt as administrator
2. Type “Net stop RPCSS” (without quotation marks) and press Enter.
3. Type “sc config spooler depend= RPCSS” (without quotation marks and note the spacing) and press Enter.
4. Type “Net start RPCSS” (without quotation marks) and press Enter.
5. Type “Net start SPOOLER” (without quotation marks) and press Enter.
6. Delete the printer and reboot the computer to allow Group Policy to re-install printer.

If the issue persists, please go on to Step 3 since the issue can be caused
by some corrupted printer drivers on the computer.

Step 3: Remove Printer Drivers to fix Faulting Application spoolsv

1. open RegEdit as administrator
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print, click Registry->Export Registry File on the menu, and export the current key to a REG file for backup. (Note: You may double click on the REG file in Windows Explorer to restore the original settings)
3. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environment\Windows NT x86\Drivers, remove both the Version-2 and Version-3 keys if they exist.
4. Remove all sub keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers. (Do not remove the Printers key.)
5. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environment\Windows NT x86\PrintProcessors, delete any processor that is not the following:

winprint

6. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers, delete any provider that is not one of the following:

Internet Print Provider
LanMan Print Services

7. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Monitors, delete any monitor that is not one of the following:

BJ Language Monitor
Local Port
PJL Language Monitor
Standard TCP/IP Port
USB Monitor
Windows NT Fax Monitor
AppleTalk Printing Devices
LPR Port

8. Exit the registry editor.\

9. Remove all files from the following directories if they exist:

C:\Windows\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\2
C:\Windows\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3

10. Reboot to let Group Policy install the printer drivers again. This will take extra time for this one reboot.
If your company is uses Group Policy to deploy printers or just needs help troubleshooting network printer issues, then contact us for assistance.

ShadowCopy Quickly Saves Your Bacon

In my opinion this feature is simply a must for all servers and stand alone workstations – ShadowCopy otherwise known as previous versions. As per Microsoft:

Previous versions are automatically saved as part of a restore point. If system protection is turned on, Windows automatically creates previous versions of files and folders that have been modified since the last restore point was made. Typically, restore points are made once a day. If your disk is partitioned or if you have more than one hard disk on your computer, you need to turn on system protection for the other partitions or disks.

To enable and configure ShadowCopy of Shared Folders:

1. Go to Administrative Tools and then click Computer Management .
2. In the console tree, right-click Shared Folders, click All Tasks, and then click Configure Shadow Copies.
3. In Select a volume, click the volume that you want to enable Shadow Copies of Shared Folders for, and then click Enable.
4. You will see an alert that Windows will create a shadow copy now with the current settings and that the settings might not be appropriate for servers with high I/O loads. Click Yes if you want to continue or No if you want to select a different volume or settings.
5. To make changes to the default schedule and storage area, click Settings.
If your company has important files shared on a network and would like to prepare in advance of a disaster to protect them, then contact us for assistance.

Deploying Adobe Acrobat DC Cloud Edition

Had a school that bought the cloud licensing for Adobe Acrobat DC and wanted help deploying Adobe Acrobat to the workstations on their network. Began the process by creating an MSI based package with the Adobe Cloud Packager for deployment via group policy, but the deployment failed. Found that this is a known issue with Adobe Acrobat DC and can only be solved by running a script instead:

Creating Script for Deploying Adobe Acrobat DC Cloud Edition

Open an administrative command prompt

Change directory to – [Package Location]\Exceptions\APRO15.0en_US\Adobe Acrobat\

Run the following – Setup.exe /sALL /extUI /sl “en_US” /msi INSTALLDIR=”” EULA_ACCEPT=”NO” SUITEMODE=1 OWNERSHIP_STATE=1 LANG_LIST=”en_US” INSTALLLEVEL=101 AS_DISABLE_LEGACY_COLOR=1 IGNOREAAM=1

Open the application then Sign In to Adobe Cloud

Paste Product Key into the prompt that opens

This was found after some deep research into the Adobe Support site. Once you have tested these line of code then a batch file can be created for deploying Adobe Acrobat DC via Group Policy.

If your company is using Adobe Acrobat DC and needs help deploying Adobe Acrobat DC to network workstations, then contact us for assistance.

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And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say,
“They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”
For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. - 2 Corinthians 9:8-10