Recently, Microsoft released KnowledgeBase article 2743367 with the ominous title Adprep ''not a valid Win32 application'' error on Windows Server 2003, 64-bit version. When you’ve been reading this blog, you might have already guessed what might be causing this issue, even though adprep.exe on the Windows Server 2012 DVD is a perfectly fine ...

Many software vendors and organizations have adopted workflow tools to accommodate their needs towards faster delivery of the same quality. At least, getting an OK from a senior executive, is something that can be automated to save time, right? Another angle a lot of organization explore is Delegation of Control. Why wait for a centralized admin ...

I’ve seen a couple of vendors release backup products, specifically targeted at Hyper-V. Some solutions utilize the Hyper-V Volume Shadow Service (VSS) writer to make backups. The big question, however, is whether this type of backup is of any use to backup Domain Controllers for disaster recovery. Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of issues ...

This page contains the following whitepaper: Host-Based Backups and Restores of Domain Controllers How to be effective in backing up and restoring virtual Domain Controller with host-based backup solutions Title:Host-Based Backups and Restores of domain Controllers How to be effective in backing up and restoring virtual Domain ...

In the past 11 years, Microsoft has released four versions of Windows Server on which you could install Active Directory. On all these platforms, Microsoft offered two ways to promote a server to a Domain Controller. In this blogpost I’ll reveal the differences between the advanced mode and normal mode for dcpromo.exe for the Windows Server 2003 ...

Whenever a worm utilizes the normal access and daily tools systems admins use, there is a significant problem. After all, shutting down the attack vector suddenly isn’t that easy. So, without making dramatic changes to your environment, how can you rest assured?     About Win32/Morto.A One of the latest threats to use ...

Microsoft has included numerous features in Active Directory the last couple of years. Also, more and more technologies in products like Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and the Windows client (Windows Vista, Windows 7) have an Active Directory opt-in to store information in Active Directory. All this bountiful integration, however, comes with ...

Active Directory relies on accurate time for a number of reasons. One of this reasons is Kerberos authentication, which by nature can only cope with a difference in time (time skew) of five minutes between the Kerberos server and client. Now, don’t get me wrong. I think the time skew limitation and the overall Kerberos implementation as we know ...

You might be running Windows Server 2003 (R2) and Windows Server 2008 Domain Controllers at the moment and you're looking to replace these servers with Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Controllers to utilize the new features of Windows Server 2008 R2. You might also be looking to replace your aging Windows Server 2003 (R2) and Windows Server 2008 ...

While last year, Jorge mentioned the 10 year anniversary of a production deployed Active Directory domain, today DirTeam is celebrating the 10 year anniversary of Active Directory as a released product. The first deployed Active Directory domain According to Brian Puhl, on April 9, 1999 the Domain Controllers for the redmond.corp.microsoft.com ...