Managing Windows Server 2008 password policy

Windows Server 2008 has implemented stricter security/password policies. I work in a development/test environment, where the network is isolated and not publicly accessible. In my case, the security policies are not of much importance since it is a closed and controlled environment. The following steps reduce the security level for the password policy settings.

1. Start --> Run --> gpedit.msc
2. Computer Configuration
--Windows Settings
--Security Settings
--Account Policies
--Password Policy
3. Set the following entries as shown:
Maximum Password Age: 0
Minimum Password Age: 0
Minimum Password Length: 0
Password Must Meet Complexity Requirements: DISABLED

View and manage saved Windows usernames/passwords

Enter the following command:
rundll32.exe keymgr.dll, KRShowKeyMgr --- note the "KRShowKeyMgr" is case sensitive.

The window which pops up shows all connections which have saved usernames/passwords.

The alternate method of accessing this window is by opening the following
Control Panel -> User Account -> Advanced tab -> Manage Passwords

Vista's Windows Update 8000FFFF error resolution

In Windows Vista, there could be an error thrown up while trying to run Windows Update.

To resolve Windows Update error 8000FFFF, try the following steps:
1. Launch REGEDIT
2. Go into HKLM\COMPONENTS, and check if these three values exist under the COMPONENTS key:
PendingXmldentifier
NextQueueEntryIndex
AdvancedInstallersNeedResolving
3) Providing they do exist, back up the Components key, then delete the three above values.
4) Restart the computer, and Windows Update should now be working fine.

Removing the default proxy setting for RedHat's "yum"

If you had set up the yum wizard to use an http proxy, these settings/environment variables are placed in /etc/sysconfig/rhn/up2date.

So, if you decide to remove/stop using this default proxy, you would need to modify the above file by setting the following variables to the respective values:

enableProxy=0 <- set this value to 0 (zero)
httpProxy= <- remove the proxy string
proxyUser= <- remove the username string
proxyPassword= <- remove the password string

Accessing the console session (session ID 0) using Remote Desktop

1. Open the Group Policy snap-in (Gpedit.msc).
2. In the left pane, under the Computer Configuration branch, expand the Administrative Templates branch.
3. Expand the Windows Components branch.
4. Click the Terminal Services folder.
5. In the right pane, double-click "Sets rules for remote control of Terminal Services user sessions".
6. On the Setting tab, click Enabled.
7. In the Options box, click Full Control with users' permission, and then click OK

Another way to open the console session (session ID 0) is to issue the command:
mstsc /v:<server name or IP address> /admin /console

Calling the DOS Format command without prompting the user to confirm

NOTE: This is only for experienced users. This disk formatting method does not prompt a confirmation before the data is wiped out on your drive. USE WITH CAUTION!!!

While writing some Perl test scripts at work, which need drives and partitions to be created and formatted, I hit a road block. When I issued the format command to format a partition, the console running the script kept hanging. After some pondering, I realised that the format command had a safety mechanism, which warned the user that data could be lost and required a user confirmation to proceed with the format. This is a problem while developing automation scripts because the user cannot be expected to be sitting at the console waiting for each and every confirmation prompt by format command. Even so, there was no optional flag which could be specified together with the format command, which would allow it to run without requiring the user to confirm to proceed with the format. This was a problem which I had never faced before. Now, how would I be able to provide the confirmation input without the script hanging?

An idea came to my mind. Now, this idea was neither a stroke of luck, nor was it my experinece in programming. Instead, it was my knowledge in DOS batch file programming. All I had to do was pipe the format command with an echo command. Sounds jibberish? Not at all... Here is how it can be done.

echo y ¦ format :

The "y" is a YES to confirm that the format should proceed. This way

Simple eh? Absolutely! But my brain was chewing on this for over 6 hours, before it even dawned to me that it was not for the script to resolve, but instead the console command which the script had to issue.

QuickTime player displays purple/green screen when playing videos

For the past 8 months now, I have been trying to use my QuickTime player to view the trailers that I download from "Dave's Trailer Pages". However, when I open the downloaded .mov file, I only get a purple screen (sometimes flickering purple and green). I was on the verge of giving up on the QuickTime player, when I decided to Google my problem for the last time yesterday.

I found an article that addressed a similar problem. I just thought to myself, "Well, what the heck, I have come so far, it would not hurt to try this out, before actually throwing the QuickTime player out of my system". Lo and behold, it worked. WOOOO HOOOOO!!! Three cheers to the guy who provided the solution. It was simple, yet, not obvious.

Here is how the problem was resolved.

1. On the QuickTime player menu, click "Edit" -> "Player Preferences..."
2. On the "Advanced" tab, in the "Video" section, UN-CHECK the box for "Enable Direct3D video acceleration"
3. Then just shutdown the player and re-start it.
4. If that does not work, try disabling DirectX in QuickTime by selecting "Safe mode (GDI only)"

I stopped at Step 3 and did not have to perform Step 4. Now, finally, QuickTime player is back up and running for me.