Windows 8.1 Start Menu restart shutdown option

The best part about the new (win8.1) Start Button is the "right click menu" that provides easy access to numerous functions!

This menu also available by using the shortkey "Windows key + x" Also available under windows 8. except the restart and shutdown option.

Windows 8.1 boot to Desktop

With the release of Windows 8.1, Microsoft has added the capability to boot directly to the desktop J.

1. After booting Windows 8.1click the Desktop tile to enter Desktop mode.

2. Right-click any open area in the taskbar, then click Properties.

3. Click the Navigation tab, then check the box next to Go to the desktop instead of Start when I sign in.

4. Click OK, then reboot. Windows should boot you right into Desktop. 

Install Antivirus Personal on Server OS

Usually you're not able to install (Free) Antivirus software on a server OS (2008, 2012).

It's pretty simple and might work for other programms as well which check for a Server OS and deny the installation too.

1.) Start --> Run --> Regedit
2.) Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE --> SYSTEM --> CurrentControlset --> Control
3.) Now edit the permissions of the folder "ProductOptions" --> add your user account (Computername\Username) and deny yourself the read rights for the whole folder. Be careful not to deny the rights for all administrators (it's possible windows will not not boot anymore).
4.) Now you should be able to install your (Antivirrus) sotware.

In case you want to revert the permission settings just log to your administrator account. Here you can again grant your user account full rights for "ProductOptions".

Server 2012 Desktop Experience My Computer icon to the desktop.

To get the Windows 8 experience on Windows Server 2012, you can install this as a feature. This feature will have the following effects:

·         Applications added to the Start screen: Windows Store / Default Programs / Windows Media Player / Character Map / Disk Cleanup / Snipping Tool / Sound Recorder / Math Input Panel.

·         At startup, the Start screen will automatically appear instead of the classic desktop.

·         Charms bar (bar on the right side of the screen) will beside the buttons ‘Search’, ‘Start’ and ‘Settings’ also have ‘Share’ and ‘Devices’.

·         The Settings option of the Charms bar will also have the ‘Change PC Settings’ option which is a Windows 8 version of the Control Panel.

·         The context menu of the classic desktop will have the ‘Personalize’ option added. So you can add My Computer icon to the desktop.

·         Applications: Windows Mail, Windows Photo Viewer

·         Services: ActiveX Installer, Offline Files, Windows Image Acquisition (WIA), System Events Broker, Time Broker, WebClient, Still Image Acquisition Events, Microsoft Account Sign-in Assistant

·         Miscellaneous: Various screensavers, Ability to burn .iso’s from Windows Explorer, Sync Center in Control Panel, Adobe Flash Player

Start the Server Manager and click the Add roles and features  and add the following Feature.
User Interfaces and Infrastructure > Desktop Experience

Completely Disable User Account Control (UAC) on server 2012

Microsoft has modified some settings for managing User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Server 2012. By default, UAC will be enabled in Windows Server 2012. 

There is a two-step process needed to disable User Account Control in Windows Server 2012.

First: Change UAC settings

1.       Select Start > Control Panel 

2.       Click System Security

3.       Under Action Center, choose Change User Account Control settings

4.       Move the slider bar down to the Never notify selection and click OK

5.       Reboot the machine for changes to take effect

 

 Step Two: Disable User Account Control policy

1.       To see your current UAC status, go to: control panel>system security>action center.

2.       To change the UAC policy, you need to go to the local security policy by running command secpol.msc or select Local Security Policy in the Tools menu in the server manager.

3.       Navigate to Local Policies>Security Options

4.       Select  the policy: User Account Controls: Run all administrators in Admin Approve Mode:

5.       Your default setting will have "Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode" enabled. Change this setting to Disabled

6.       Click Apply, then OK, and then restart the server to finish changing your settings

 

Error while installing Lync 2013

“Prerequisites not satisfied: Windows Identity Foundation is required”

When “Prepare Single Standard Edition Server” The following error appears: “Prerequisites not satisfied: Windows Identity Foundation is required”

Windows Identity Foundation is available for Windows server 2008 (6.0) and Windows Server 2008 R2 (6.1). Which you can download here. 

For windows server 2012 you can enable this as a feature, so no separate download is required.  

w32tm time config

On one of the Domain Controllers : 

• w32tm /configure /manualpeerlist: nl.pool.ntp.org /syncfromflags:manual /update
• net stop w32time && net start w32time
• w32tm /resync /rediscover

On member servers:

• W32tm /config /syncfromflags:domhier /update
• net stop w32time && net start w32time
• W32tm /resync /rediscover 

Test :

• w32tm /query /status
• w32tm /query /source
• w32tm /monitor