Dougga here to answer a couple of quick RODC related questions.  I have been the fortunate PFE to perform ADRAPs (Active Directory Risk Assessment Program) that have had more than the average number of RODCs . I have also reviewed environments with...

Hey y’all, Mark here with some great news. A massive Slow Boot Slow Login (SBSL) hotfix rollup for enterprises that includes 90 post Windows 7/2008 R2 hotfixes is available for download. The hotfixes focus on performance (Hooray!) and stability...

Windows Server 2012 provided major improvements to the Hyper-V role, including increased consolidation of server workloads, Hyper-V Replica, Cluster Aware Updating (CAU), network virtualization and the Hyper-V extensible switch, just to name a few! Hyper...

By Mike Leary With Windows 8 + Hyper-V you have the opportunity to create a great lab environment on a single workstation. When I build a lab I like it to be isolated from any production network but also flexible enough to get Internet access from...

Remember these on Windows 2003 Server? I cannot count the number of times I’ve been asked how to clean this up. Apparently I’m not the only one that hates clutter. And what about that annoying prompt to insert your product CD-ROM...

Not sure where February went but it sure is flying by in a hurry. During the month I had another interesting question given to me to answer. Don't forget that you can contact us using the Contact tile just to the right of this article when viewed from...

Hey y’all, Mark here again. When visiting a customer PFEs tend to get a bunch of questions that have been “saved up” over time. One of my frequent customers always has a massive list for me when I get there. If they are reading this, they know who they...

Hey y’all, Mark here with a quick post. A while back Tom Moser and I wrote a powershell script to help backup and remove ADM files. http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfeplat/archive/2011/12/12/how-to-implement-the-central-store-for-group-policy-admin...

Some have noticed that my posts over the last few months have a focus on Windows Server 2012 storage features. (In case you're new to the Ask PFE Platforms blog, I'll include links to those at the end of this post.) On a typical day I'm not obsessed with...

KMS Activation I still receive TONS of questions on KMS even though it has been around for quite some time now. It’s fairly easy to ramp up on. I can generally bring an admin up to speed in under an hour, if they don’t want to read the...

Many posts that can be found on the new features of directory services on Windows 2012 both from Microsoft and from others. However, you need to get your hands on the features to learn them. Like other PFE that post on this blog I get to talk to you when...

Hi this is Brandon Wilson and today I will be providing you with a quick reference for troubleshooting Netlogon error codes. I say “quick reference” very loosely here, because this is one of those sticky subjects that can easily expand into many more...

Happy last Friday of January to all that read our Ask PFE Platforms blog! This afternoon’s post is based on a submission to the Ask PFE Platforms Mail Bag. The chosen question was submitted using the Contact tile just to the right of this article...

One common and potentially time consuming administrative task I hear my customers discuss is maintenance of SSL certificates on large Web farms (initial set up, renewals, etc.). These Web farms can be for Outlook Web Access, Ecommerce, intranet pages...

Hi All! DougG here to share some insight on password policies – enjoy. We were all excited when Windows 2008 Domain Functional level introduced FGPP (Fine Grained Password Policies). After several years in the field I have not seen abuse of this feature...

Hey y’all, Mark here again. Another year has come to an end, the Mayans were wrong and we started to look back on what our most popular post of the last year were. For you long time readers (AD MVP Mike Kline , our very first comment) this will...

I hope you enjoy the blogs we provide at AskPFEPlat. We love sharing our passion for Microsoft Technologies. But, believe it or not, we do have day jobs. As Premier Field Engineers we spend most of our time with Microsoft Premier Support customers, helping...

"The Cloud" is here to stay. Businesses continue asking questions to their IT departments and wondering out loud: "Are we 'Cloud-ready' and if not, when will we be?" "What apps can we port to The Cloud right now? Next 6-12 months?" "How will...

Hey y’all, Mark here with a quick post that all you PowerShell slackers should check out. Ashley McGlone aka GoateePFE (I've seen his goatee in real life and it is magnificent) has written up a nice little doc to help you finally let go of all your...

When I first heard of ReFS my immediate first question was whether ReFS as a file system was a direct replacement for NTFS. It didn’t take long before my customers began to ask me the same question. In learning about this new file system in Windows...

Thanks for great feedback and for reading my prior AskPFEPlat post regarding Storage Spaces in Windows Server 2012 . Based on feedback and questions following that post, it seemed like a great time to show how to import a storage pool on another server...

Remember when Windows Server 2008 R2 was released, and one of the exciting new features was Managed Service Accounts ?  Managed Service Accounts (MSAs) held so much promise – automatic password management and automatic SPN registration.  Remember...

By Roger Osborne Like many of you, when I test out new Windows features, I often turn to TechNet documentation, to be certain I’m following Microsoft guidelines and recommendations along the way. A lot of work and effort goes into making this information...

Time really does fly when you are having fun. Today marks the day when we went up live last year. We set off with a modest goal to share our field and real world experience with you, to perhaps one day talk about an issue that’s relevant to your...

Hey y’all, Mark here with another quick real world WDRAP ( Windows Desktop Risk Assessment Program) post. This one also involves a time issue which seems to be a theme around here as of late. Also I've already had some customers contact their TAM...