Category Archives: Windows

Jan 29
2013

Install the native telnet client in Windows 7

Posted on January 29, 2013 by jason

I don’t know why, but every windows 7 machine I have used has been missing the telnet client.   Not that I use telnet for administration, but it’s a handy tool for checking if ports are open and listening.  To install … Continue reading →

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Jan 07
2013

Cleanup old software in windows 7 after service pack install

Posted on January 7, 2013 by jason

After windows 7 service packs have been installed, a lot of stuff is still left lying around your file system in case you need to roll back.  If you are ready to commit and want to get that space back … Continue reading →

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Dec 27
2012

How to switch windows from Legacy SATA to AHCI

Posted on December 27, 2012 by jason

If you installed windows 7 and left your BIOS drive emulation set to SATA or Legacy, you won’t be able to use TRIM support on an SSD.  If you switch your BIOS emulation over to AHCI, that still won’t allow … Continue reading →

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Dec 26
2012

How to tell if windows is using TRIM

Posted on December 26, 2012 by jason

How do I know if my windows 7 install is using TRIM on my SSD? The interwebs aren’t all in agreement on this, but here is what I’ve been using open a command prompt as admin. It has to be … Continue reading →

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Oct 20
2010

editing windows permissions from the command line

Posted on October 20, 2010 by jason

The cacls command lets you edit permissions from the command line on windows E:>cacls Folder outputs E:Folder BUILTINAdministrators:F BUILTINAdministrators:(OI)(CI)F NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM:(OI)(CI)F CREATOR OWNER:(OI)(CI)(IO)F BUILTINUsers:(CI)(special access:) adds full control of Folder to my user E:> Cacls Folder /E /G cyborg:F removes … Continue reading →

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Oct 15
2010

Write an event to the eventlog in windows from a script

Posted on October 15, 2010 by jason

I’m a regular user of the logger command on linux boxes and I’ve found the equivalent in windows. The command is called eventcreate.exe and seems to be present from windows XP forward. To create an informational event in the application … Continue reading →

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Oct 13
2010

find files older than X days on a windows box

Posted on October 13, 2010 by jason

To find files older than X days on a windows box, you either need the forfiles.exe command installed from the windows resource kit, or a 2003 and newer machine. The command looks like so forfiles -pC:TEMP -s -m*.* -d-5 -c”cmd … Continue reading →

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Aug 25
2010

Get the PID of an application pool in iis 6.0

Posted on August 25, 2010 by jason

All of the IIS process’s show up as the same process name, which makes it really challenging to figure out which of your websites has lost it’s mind.  In order to trace an IIS website or application pool back to … Continue reading →

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Jul 23
2010

Get a windows hostname from an IP using netbios

Posted on July 23, 2010 by jason

I’ve run into a situation a couple of times now where DNS hasn’t been setup correctly and I have no idea what hostname an IP resolves to. For better or worse, windows has the netbios system that keeps it’s own … Continue reading →

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Jul 30
2009

Automate setting up a windows PC onto a wireless network

Posted on July 30, 2009 by jason

I have to setup a couple of hundred laptops carried by sales folks in the field to connect to a new WPA2-PSK network for work.  Fortunately, windows XP has a nice little utility that lets you automate creating a new … Continue reading →

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