Category Archives: Microsoft

Windows 8 keeps requiring me to change a password even though I have not set one

Leave a reply

I doubt that I am the only one who finds Windows 8 completely and utterly frustrating. One annoyance is that Windows 8 keeps requiring the account password to be changed even though I have not set one. Here is how to stop Windows 8 requiring this.

1) Start your Windows 8 machine (or virtual machine).

2) Start typing “Run” at the start screen, then click on the Run item

3) Type the following words in run box.

control userpasswords2

4) Click on Advanced tab in the user account.

5) Click on Advanced button in the Advanced user management window and it will open Local User and Group.

6) Double click the Users Folder in the Local User and Group.

7) Select your username on the lists and right click > select Properties

8) It will open another window, click on General tab and check the option of Password never expires.

9) Click on Apply and then click on OK button.

 

Problem solved.

Check for server vunerabilities using a free web

Leave a reply

We have many Windows Server 2008 R2 servers that host systems, and recently had been getting lots of failed logon attempts, so it was imperative that we investigated not only the source, but how to prevent them even trying.

This is a fantastic free web-based utility that scans the computer it is running on.

https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2

Airplay receiver for Windows

Quite possibly one of the greatest pieces of Freeware I have every found. Shairport4w is a simple executable that runs and turns your PC in to an AirPlay receiver – allowing you to play music through your PC speakers directly from your iPad, iPhone, iPod or iTunes on another PC.

Shairport4w.zip

Download and save locally

Extract the .exe file and run! Its that simple!! (NB. the first time it runs it may ask to modify your firewall to allow the airplay content through to it).

If you want the program to run every time your PC starts, simply add it in to your startup folder in the Start Menu.

I have tested it on Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. If you run this sucessfully on other set-ups please comment to let others know what it works on.

Apple’s AirPlay feature makes it easy to share and stream your iTunes library to iOS devices, but it lacks the option to stream media in the opposite direction. Shairport4w is a free application that makes it possible to transform your Windows based computer into an AirPort receiver so you can stream media from one machine to another.

The application can be used in conjunction with any computer or device that includes a version of iTunes or iOS that supports AirPlay, and the process of configuring your computer to be a media access point can be completed in just a moment.

Shairport4w is based on the recent Shairport app, but has been designed specifically with Windows users in mind. The program can be used in a variety of ways, but the most obvious benefit is that it makes it possible to have a single iTunes library that can be played anywhere in the home. As the app is portable, it can also be used in other ways.

If you have an extensive music library on your iOS device, you can pop a copy of Shairport44w on a USB drive and take it with you to parties or when visiting friends. Run the app under Windows and your music collection can be played back through computer speakers, and playback controlled from your iPhone or iPod while you sit on the sofa.

Windows Server 2008 R2 DNS – Solved!

Something has been driving me absolutely INSANE – why does Windows Server 2008 DNS stop working intermittently and require either the service to be re-started or the whole server to be re-booted to get it working again?

After 2 years of this annoyance I decided to spend lots of time to get this working, and many phone calls and harrasment of various Microsoft Partner organisations and Microsoft Technical Support later… I think there is finally a
fix that works and stops it falling over!

The problem, according to Microsoft appears to be that Windows is more advanced than the rest of the Internet, and falls over occasionally when trying to deal with other non E-DNS aware servers (or something like that)

Open Command Prompt (with Run As Administrator)

Type dnscmd /config /EnableEDNSProbes 0

Close the Command Prompt

Open Services (Start, Run, Services.msc)

Right-click on the DNS Server item, Click on Tasks and choose ReStart

Working!

Microsoft drops Flash from IE on Windows 8 tablets

The Metro interface is designed for when Windows 8 is being used on a tablet

One of the web’s most widely used technologies is going to be absent from some versions of Windows 8.

Microsoft is to drop support for Adobe Flash from the web browser that works with the Metro interface on Windows 8. The Metro user interface is most likely to be used on tablets as it displays applications and programs as easy to touch coloured tiles. Flash will still be supported in the Windows 8 desktop interface and the desktop version of IE.

The announcement about the lack of Flash support was made in a blog post by Dean Hachamovitch, head of IE development at Microsoft. In the post he said Microsoft had worked hard to make Metro rely as little as possible on older technologies. Instead it had concentrated on the latest version of web technology HTML 5.

Supporting HTML 5 meant making Metro plug-in free, he said. One of the most widely used plug-ins for web browsers is Adobe’s Flash as many sites use it to show video, multimedia and games.

“The experience that plug-ins provide today is not a good match with Metro style browsing and the modern HTML5 web,” wrote Mr Hachamovitch. “Providing compatibility with legacy plug-in technologies would detract from, rather than improve, the consumer experience of browsing in the Metro style [user interface],” he said.

Microsoft showed off the Metro interface this week at its Build developers conference in California. Windows 8 has been “re-imagined” said Microsoft and the Metro interface was specifically designed with tablets and touch screens in mind.

 Apple dropped support for Flash in early 2010 saying it made Macs crash. Mr Hachamovitch said plug-ins were rapidly becoming unnecessary. Flash was by
far the most widely used plug-in, he said. Removing plug-ins will mean longer battery life on tablets, protect privacy and improve security, he said. Users will still be able to get at sites that run Flash by exiting the Metro interface, returning to the classic desktop view and running Internet Explorer.

Adobe responded to the news in a blogpost of its own.

“We expect Windows desktop to be extremely popular for years to come (including Windows 8 desktop) and that it will support Flash just fine,” wrote Danny
Winokur.”In addition,” he wrote, “we expect Flash based apps will come to Metro via Adobe AIR, much the way they are on Android, iOS and BlackBerry Tablet OS today.”

In dropping Flash support, Microsoft is following Apple’s lead which has had a long-standing policy of not letting its gadgets support the technology.

In an open letter explaining the ban published in April 2010, Apple boss Steve Jobs said: “We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash”. Flash was “the number one reason Macs crash”, he added.

Folder called Reports requires extra username and password?

We have had a recurring, and very annoying problem on some of our live servers – when trying to access any folder in IIS called “reports” it was asking for additional login information, and not showing the actual content from the folder. A bit of digging revealed that the culprit was SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services.

Turning off Reporting Services didnt have any effect, we just got a 503 Error.

Resolution:

Click on Start

Type in Reporting Services Configuration Manager

Click on Report Manager URL on the left hand side of the Reporting Services Configuration Manager – by default it is set to “Reports”, as you can see here, we have already changed ours to “SQLReports”

Please leave a comment if this has helped you resolve the same problem we had!

ISArc drags the Kiosk into the 21st Century

WebFence
WebFence

So today we began another revolution – to drag the humble “web-kiosk” into the 21st century.

Our goals were clear:

  • Create kiosk software that actually works and allows users to browse the web un-hindered by previous users
  • 100% remotely controlled by a central web-based information management system
  • Allow for whitelist of approved websites
  • Must run on low-power Atom-based PCs (but still require Windows 7 - for now)
  • Must use Internet Explorer 9 (or an implemention of the IE browser engine)
  • Must have “session” management – allowing for the creation of individual session logons
  • Must provide reporting on time-spent, number of users etc
  • Must have a catchy name
  • Must be very very very easy to use and manage
  • Must be “self-fixing” – and require zero maintenance call-outs
  • Must allow for the recording of activity
  • Must allow for the remote termination of a session

the result….

www.webfence.co.uk

A visual basic (framework 4) custom browser application that replaces Windows Explorer, connects using web services to an information management system written in ASP.Net Framework 4 with Microsoft SQL Server running behind the scenes and automatically re-sets everything at the end of the browsing session.

Simple.

the work continues!