A user’s last logon authentication is recorded on the server where the logon (or unlock) occurred. FindLastLogon.vbs queries all the Domain Controllers in your domain for this information. You can send the results to your clipboard. No elevated rights required. Updated on 9/8/10 to improve error handling and queries of other domains. Tags: logon
The Internet is Broken
When I first saw this, I told my ISOs that the “internet is broken.” This is just the first of what I expect to be a torrent of problems: “A Turkish grad student has devised a serious, real-world attack on Twitter that targeted a recently discovered vulnerability in the secure sockets layer protocol. The exploit by Anil…
Ghosts in the Machine (getting rid of unused drivers)
There is a good article on howtogeek.com about how to “Remove Old Drivers After Upgrading to New Hardware”. The tip works for Vista and XP. Recommended. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/remove-old-drivers-after-upgrading-to-new-hardware/
View Files on Remote USB drive
The USB Monitor can be configured to silently notify you when a USB drive is inserted in a user’s computer. If you suspect wrongdoing, you can use USBDriveFiles.vbs to connect to the remote system, map a drive to the device and browse the files on the USB drive. Some interesting coding problems, if you want to take a look at the…
Is it a terminal server?
If you are running logon scripts you may want to bail, or do something special if the server the user is logging onto is a terminal server. isTermServer.vbs will allow you to test/determine whether a local or remote server is a terminal server, and returns an errorlevel for batch handling. Run without arguments for syntax. …
When was a GPO last applied to a system?
When troubleshooting group policy objects, you want to know whether they are applying. Inspired by an article by Chris Stauffer at myITForum.com, I decided to write GPOLastApplied.vbs to get this data on the fly. You can query a system locally or remotely to see when a GPO was last applied. Tags: GPO
The Machine SID Duplication Myth
Mark Russinovich, the founder of SysInternals, and now a Microsoft employee has debunked what we all learned about duplicate SIDS. http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2009/11/03/3291024.aspx Note that the advise does not apply to systems that have been joined to a domain and then cloned. Still a really bad idea. Also, SysPrep is still recommended. A worthwhile read. Tags: SIDS
What is in your home directories?
I use WinDirStat, http://windirstat.info/, to see what file users have accumulated in their home drives. “WinDirStat reads the whole directory tree once and then presents it in three useful views: The directory list, which resembles the tree view of the Windows Explorer but is sorted by file/subtree size, The treemap, which shows the whole contents…
Count Active Directory Objects
ADCounts.vbs will count and report the number of computer and user accounts in your OU breaking down for active and inactive accounts. Version 2 (3/24/2009) adds navigation to select a starting OU.
Dreamspark.com Free Server OS and Development tools for students
“DreamSpark is simple; it’s all about giving students Microsoft professional-level developer and designer tools at no charge so you can chase your dreams and create the next big breakthrough in technology – or just get a head start on your career. “ www.dreamspark.com