Philip Elder

81 posts

Remote Desktop Services RD Farm: User gets Temp Profile Workaround

This morning we had a user unable to log on to a Remote Desktop RemoteApp session. The Details button while the logon process was running would reveal black blocks with nothing else. An admin logged on and found that the user’s profile disk (UPD) was not connected and we found […]

AMD EPYC or Intel Xeon? Some Thoughts

The discussion around Windows or Linux can be religious. As can be the discussion around which platform to use whether it be Intel or AMD. Qualifier: We’ve been in the System Builder Channel since the late 1990s. Intel System Builder When we started MPECS in 2003 we were an all […]

Veeam Error: Hyper-V 2012 R2: Writer ‘Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer’ is failed at ‘VSS_WS_FAILED_AT_PREPARE_SNAPSHOT’

This one was like finding a needle in the haystack as the Veeam forums had no mention of the actual fix for the following error: Failed to create snapshot (Microsoft CSV Shadow Copy Provider) (mode: Hyper-V child partition snapshot) Details: Writer ‘Microsoft Hyper-V VSS Writer’ is failed at ‘VSS_WS_FAILED_AT_PREPARE_SNAPSHOT’. The […]

Disaster Recovery Planning for Cloud and Hybrid Cloud and On-Premises

With the RackSpace situation looking to be beyond worst hitting the sacrosanct “Thou Shalt NOT Lose Data” wall, a little digging was done here to find some info on who is responsible for what when the data is in the cloud. In this case, Microsoft is the focus but one […]

Server or Workstation Board RMA Swap: Leave the M.2 x4 PCIe x16 Card Out Prior to First Boot

We just completed a workstation board swap of an ASRock TRX40 Creator board that was set up with an Asus HYPER M.2 x16 Card (link to current product). We had plugged everything back in and hit the power button on the board for that first boot then jumped up to […]

Cluster, Server, and Client Must Do for Troubleshooting: Enable Windows Firewall Logging

When we set up a greenfield Active Directory Forest and Domain we do the following in Group Policy: New Group Policy Object (GPO) Linked & Enforced at the domain Level: Default Domain Security Policy Enable Remote Desktop Inbound: Allow users to connect remotely by using Remote Desktop Enable the Windows […]

Cluster Finesse – Rename Those Cluster Shared Volume Folders

We’re in a pickle and things are really stressful. Documentation is lacking so who wants to jump into a cluster troubleshooting situation when all we see is: C:\ClusterStorage\Volume1 C:\ClusterStorage\Volume2 ETC ETC In a busy cluster environment the number of CSV folders can be quite large. What we do is once […]

Azure: Creating an SSL Certificate on IIS then Importing the .PFX

We use IIS to create the CSR and to complete the Certificate Request. We use the Computer Certificates MMC to export that certificate to .PFX. When exporting with the intent to import the .PFX into Azure we run the following steps: Open the Computer Certificates MMC Click on Start and […]

Remote Desktop Shadow Replacement for CoPilot: Microsoft Quick Assist

With the demise of the CoPilot service we’ve been using for about a decade now, we had to look for something to replace it. CoPilot was a simple to use remote desktop shadowing product that was very reasonable in cost. What we’ve come to use is free and built-in to […]