Brian W. McCann

What W32tm is it anyway?

BrianM — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:49:00 GMT

My daughter Alyssa and I play a game…well she might not consider it a game but she is constantly asking me “What time is it without looking”. I’ve actually gotten pretty good at it and can usually get within a few minutes. Not sure why...(read more)

Admin's Guide to Server Core Commands

BrianM — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 16:50:00 GMT

Repost from AdminPrep.com…I will be moving several of the articles over to this blog. Before all this starts, credit must go where credit is due. I did not come up with all of the info within this article. A lot of people have felt my pain...(read more)

Frustration with Server 2008

BrianM — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:12:00 GMT

Please don’t just read this post…participate by answering the questions I ask using the comments. Don’t worry you don’t have to register. :) One of the things that I’ve been waiting awhile for, was a Windows operating system that is smart...(read more)

How to Configure Conditional Forwarders in Windows Server 2008

BrianM — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:32:00 GMT

Conditional Forwarders was a new feature within the Microsoft DNS server for Windows Server 2003. It was a great addition that allowed you to specify a specific DNS server for clients trying to resolve hosts in a specific domain. This way you could tell...(read more)

Display Your Computer Name on Server Core

BrianM — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:58:00 GMT

In my Administrator’s Guide to Server Core Commands article on AdminPrep I showed you how to display the time on the command prompt of your Server Core command window. I just read that Daniel Petri has some other cool shortcuts on what you can display...(read more)

Microsoft Certified Master

BrianM — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:41:00 GMT

How many of you have heard of this? This is the new “Premier Technical Credential” from Microsoft . The program will be required to obtain the Microsoft Certified Architect program. Kind of weird having the “Premier Technical Credential” in...(read more)

What I Love About Server Core

BrianM — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:07:00 GMT

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words…...(read more)

Export Email Addresses from a Distribution Group

BrianM — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:11:00 GMT

One thing that really bugs me is there is no easy way to grab some email addresses from a distribution group. Usually I end up expanded the group to list all the users and then I have to go to the Outlook properties of each user to view the email...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 User Right Assignments - Defined

BrianM — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:15:00 GMT

If you haven’t noticed yet, Windows Server 2008 has several more User Right Assignments in the Local Policy settings. If you’re looking for a definition of one or all take a look below. These are the same settings that are found in Group Policy...(read more)

Admin Tools of the Trade

BrianM — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:18:00 GMT

I’ve just finished writing an article up on admin tools that I use over on AdminPrep . If you have some tools that you would like to recommend please leave a comment here for others to see what helps get your through your day…tool wise that...(read more)

Follow up on my trip To Israel

BrianM — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:49:00 GMT

I haven’t followed up on my trip to Israel late last month. What a great place to visit. I stayed at the David InterContinental which is a really nice hotel on the south side of Tel Aviv. The beach there was great. The sea is so warm...(read more)

Easy Way to View Windows Server 2008 and Vista’s Network Card Properties

BrianM — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:07:00 GMT

That has to be the longest title I’ve ever had in any blog. In my opinion this has the ability to the best post I’ve ever created too. The reason being that I’m always looking for ways to make my life easier…and then share them...(read more)

Directory Services Core Infrastructure Presentation

BrianM — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:11:59 GMT

Just saw this on the “Ask the Directory Service Team” blog that they are going to have a webcast on Directory Service on the 21st of August. Here is the overview of what will be discussed: This session will look at core infrastructure services,...(read more)

What Version is Your Schema at?

BrianM — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 00:44:00 GMT

Have you ever had one of those jobs where you just weren’t sure what Schema update had been applied in an environment? The following command will let you know which of the Windows Server Schema updates have been applied. dsquery.exe * "CN=Schema...(read more)

Upcoming Trip to Israel

BrianM — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:12:04 GMT

You know I haven’t had a personal post about me and my life in quite some time. Just thought I’d share that next week I’ll be traveling to Israel for the first time. I’ll be staying in Tel Aviv and am really excited about being there for two...(read more)

Windows Server 2008 Command Lines for Administrative Consoles

BrianM — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:41:29 GMT

I’m always of fan of shortcuts and the Windows Server 2008 Administrator's Companion from Microsoft Press has a complete list of the command line shortcuts for starting Administrative Consoles for Server 2008. There are plenty of other goodies...(read more)

Process Explorer on Server Core

BrianM — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 21:10:28 GMT

While I’ve always been a fan of Task Manager but lets face the facts…its has its limitations. Mark Russinovich has rolled up his wonderful Sysinternal Troubleshooting Utilities into a single download that can be found here . In there you will find...(read more)

RODC Compatibility Issues with Down-Level Clients

BrianM — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 20:15:01 GMT

I just read over at Jane Lewis's blog that if you plan on deploying Server 2008 Read Only Domain Controllers (RODC) and have down-level clients (XP and 2003 clients) then you will want to check out the RODC Compatibility Pack. I know a lot of people...(read more)

Administrator's Guide to Server Core Commands

BrianM — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:25:00 GMT

Server Core has been a popular topic for me over the last year as it is something completly different from what i'm used to working on. I love the GUI but I know there are times when I have to do things via the command line. Well if you are going...(read more)

Active Directory Health Checks for Domain Controllers

BrianM — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 01:35:00 GMT

I've just written a small article on the common steps that I perform when doing health checks on domain controllers. Head on over to AdminPrep to check it out. I would love for you to come back here and let me know what else you do when you do health...(read more)