On an IIS server, with a simple static web page, I constantly got:
HTTP Error 503. The service is unavailable
I did not get any entry in the IIS logs and when stopping the respective app pool, I got the same message.
There was definitely no port conflict as I checked with TCPView if any other process was using port 80.
After a while I tried to change the binding to port 81. And - bingo - , on port 81, the web site worked.
After digging for a while, I found that port 80 had an "ACL reservation". Read more [...]
Due to the inherent security risks exposed by the nearly 30-year old SMBv1 protocol, it is advised that it be disabled on the network to migigate security risks from malware and targeted attacks.
As the SMBv1 vulnerabilities are publicly exploited, I recommend to uninstall and disable it completely from all Windows 2012 R2 servers and newer. I have not seen anything break, so it is quite safe to disable and uninstall.
The easiest is to do this with PowerShell (Windows 2012 R2 and newer):
Check Read more [...]
With the onboard tools of Windows, you can only create symbolic links with the command line (unless you download some third-party GUI tool). The syntax is as follows:
mklink /D "c:\inetpub\External" "\\server\share"
This will create a folder c:\inetpub\External and it will point to a share on a server. You can delete c:\inetpub\External via normal File Explorer, it will only delete the Symbolic Link, not the destination share.
I have already written a blog post about doing a factory reset on older iPads and iPhone (with a Home button). As the newer models do not have a Home button, the procedure has changed.
If you forget your device passcode or PIN, there is no way to get into your iPhone or iPad again. You have to do a factory reset of the device. For that, you need iTunes and a USB cable to connect your device to your PC.
Find below the steps to recover your handheld:
Important: These steps will wipe (delete) Read more [...]
On Windows Server 2019, I wanted to switch off Windows Defender Anti-Virus realtime scanning to test something. I went to "Windows Security" and then cliecked on the "Open Windows Security" button. This brought up the following error message:
You need a new app to open this windowsdefender
After some searching, I found that you need to install the missing app yourself, it seems to be a bug in Windows Server 2019. To do this, open Powershell as Administrator and type (all in one line):
Add-AppxPackage Read more [...]
I recently had a Windows 2016 server that could not install automatic updates. It always hang at some percentage and would never finish. The next step was to try to install an update (.msu file) manually. But this always hung forever at "Copying packages to the update cache".
Here is what helped me:
Start a cmd box as Administrator
Run the following commands:
net stop wuauserv
net stop cryptSvc
net stop bits
net stop msiserver
del /f /q "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Network\Downloader\qmgr*.dat" Read more [...]
After installing Windows Server 2019 Standard, I tried to activate it with a MAK key from the Microsoft Volume Licensing Portal. I clicked on "Change product key" and entered the key from the Microsoft Portal. I got the following error message:
The product key you entered didn't work. Check the product key and try again, or enter a different one. (0x80070490)
Searching on Google, this error number mostly refers to Windows Update or Windows Store errors, but not to licensing issues.
I finally Read more [...]
When I wanted to install CU11 for Exchange 2016, at the Prerequisites Check, I got the following error message:
"There is a pending reboot from a previous installation of a Windows Server role or feature."
I restarted the server twice, but still got the same message. After messing around with some registry keys and still no luck, I looked at the error message in more detail. The key part is "installation of a Windows Server role or feature". So this was not talking about a normal pending reboot Read more [...]
