Automation on Anything About IT

Finding unused User Accounts in Active Directory

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:05:17 +0000

As we move towards the end of the year I thought it’s a good time to do some housekeeping activities within the lab infrastructure in which we work on a daily basis. Throughout the year we often create test user and computer objects within Active Directory and of course sometimes we forget to delete them.

As I don’t want to reinvent a wheel again I searched the web and soon found a whole bunch of tools and scripts that would help me identifying unused user accounts. I decided that I wanted to use a script. I first found the Last Logon Dates scripts from Richard L. Mueller which are written in WSH. But then I found the Managing AD User Accounts with PowerShell article on WindowsITPro and decided to use the opportunity of using PowerShell to accomplish my task.

Active Directory Powershell Blog

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:34:48 +0000

Those interested in managing Active Directory with PowerShell, have a look at the Active Directory Power Shell Blog.

Reducing size of WinPE

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:23:35 +0000

Today I have been looking into the new “Profiling” options for Windows PE 3.0. Using the profiling options allow you to reduce the content of Windows PE to an absolute minimum without removing any boot critical content.

I am not going to re-write a step by step process here, as it is all described within the Windows PE User Guide for Windows 7 but here are the basic things

First build your PE boot.wim the way you have been doing it so far, but before unmounting it run the following command as well: dism /image:C:\PE\mount /Enable-profiling

Typo in PE 3.0 Users guide

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:02:05 +0000

I’ve just found a typo in the Windows PE 3.0 Users guide.

dism /image:C:\winpe_x86\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:“C:\Program Files\Windows OPK\Tools\PETools\x86\WinPE_OCs\winpe-wmi.cab”

dism /image:C:\winpe_x86\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:“C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\x86\WinPE_OCs\winpe-wmi.cab”

“OPK” should be replaced with “AIK” otherwise if you copy paste the sample commandline adding an optinonal component will not work.

Altiris related information sources

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:42:09 +0000

Today someone asked a question about importing computer accounts within the Altiris Console. I had created a script for that about 4 years ago, so I wanted to check if the tools and methods i used would still be valid today. In browsing the web for altiris related content I came across the sites listed below.

Altirigos.com http://www.altirigos.com/index.php?page=home

Juice http://www.symantec.com/community/

Altris Forums http://forums.altiris.com/

Altiris Support Portal http://www2.altiris.com/support/main.asp

System Center - Virtual Machine Manager Demo

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:07:32 +0000

Just recently Microsoft launched the System Center Virtual Machine Manager. Watch a demo here. For those that have a subscription to the Windows IT Pro Magazine, read the article “What You Need to Know About Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008”.

Windows PowerShell - Free booklet

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:10:10 +0000

As it looks like, Windows PowerShell will become part of Windows7, so it’s about time to start learning this powerfull scripting language. After i had downloaded PowerShell v1.0 (v2.0 is currently in CTP), i’ve started collecting and searching the documentation and learning guides. I’m not goig to list them all here, most resources and further links can be found on the Microsoft Technet Script Center. But there is one i would like to reference as it is a comprehensive and well written booklet provided and written by a Microsoft Consultant. Free Windows PowerShell workbook: server administration

ToolTip: Bulk Drive Manager

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:36:07 +0000

Easily and quickly disable USB Storage Drives, CD and Floppy drives across the network. The tool can be executed in GUI and command line mode.

The tool is actually just configuring the appropriate system services , therefore after applying a configuration setting, the system must be rebooted so that the change can take effect.

The tool can be downloaded from dovestones software.