Windows Server 2008 Tips and Troubleshooting Links

• Quickly Remove Features in Windows Server 2008 R2
  In Windows Server 2008 R2, you no longer use the Add/Remove Windows Components option to remove features. Here’s a look at the new way to remove features.
  
  
• Quickly Add Features in Windows Server 2008 R2
  In Windows Server 2008 R2, you no longer use the Add/Remove Windows Components option to add features. Here’s a look at the new way to add features.
  
  
• Perform Admin Tasks During Windows Server Installation
  Discover how you can access common tools during Windows Server 2008 R2 installation so you can perform administrative tasks without having to restart the installation.
  
  
• Control How Group Policy Is Applied At Logon
  Fast Logon Optimization causes policy to be applied asynchronously so the user can start working more quickly. But you can configure systems to apply the latest policy updates before letting the user start working.
  
  
• Understand and Manually Trigger Group Policy Refresh
  Get a brief overview of how systems refresh Group Policy in the background to ensure users have the latest settings.
  
  
• Delegate Control to Users to Work with GPOs
  It's easy to give users the rights to work with a domain, site, or OU GPO. Here’s an overview of the permissions you can assign to users or groups and step-by-step instructions on how to do this.
  
  
• Delegate Privileges for Group Policy Management
  Learn how to delegate GPO creation and management privileges to other users—even non-administrative users.
  
  
• Five Command Line Tools for Managing Group Policy
  Here are five command line tools you should keep handy when managing Group Policy throughout your organization.
  
  
• Troubleshoot Group Policy from the Command Line with GPRESULT
  Get an overview of some best practices for using gpresult at the command line to troubleshoot policy settings.
  
  
• Fix Remote Administration when Windows Firewall Gets in the Way
  Windows Firewall can sometimes prevent you from performing remote administration with certain MMC snap-ins. Here’s a quick fix.
  
  
• Enable the Print Job Error Notification on Windows Server 2008
  Find out how you can enable (and disable) an audible error notification on print servers.
  
  
• Best Practices for Enforcing Password Policies
  Get an overview of how you should configure key password policies to ensure greater security on your network.
  
  
• Back Up and Restore the DHCP Database
  DHCP lease and reservation information is stored in database files. Here’s how you can backup and restore this information.
  
  
• Update DHCP Statistics Automatically
  The DHCP console provides statistics concerning IPv4 and IPv6 address availability and usage. But the info isn't updated automatically. If you monitor DHCP routinely, you might want to enable automatic updating. Here's how.
  
  
• Detect and Avoid IP Address Conflicts
  To better detect and avoid potential conflicts, you can enable IPv4 address conflict detection by following these two simple steps.
  
  
• Track User and Computer Sessions on Windows Server 2008
  Find out how you can easily track all connections to shared resources on a Windows Server 2008 R2 system.
  
  
• Know the Right Way to Resynchronize and Repair a Mirrored Set
  Data on mirrored drives can get out of sync. You can resynchronize and repair mirrored sets, but the corrective action you take depends on the failed volume’s status. Here’s a look at what you need to know.
  
  
• Make It Easier for Users to Find Shared Resources
  When you create a share for general use, here’s one thing you should do to make sure users can find the shared resource.
  
  
• Back Up and Restore the System State
  Learn the fastest and easiest way to use Windows Server 2008 to back up and restore a server’s system state.
  
  
• Understand and Configure System Environment Variables
  Environment variables let you specify path information that is dynamically assigned. Here's a look at the most common environment variables.
  
  
• Enable and Configure MAC Address Filtering
  Explore how you can include and exclude computers and devices based on their MAC address.
  
  
• Monitor your DNS Servers on Windows Server 2008 R2
  Explore the built-in functionality for monitoring a DNS server and get advice on how to configure this monitoring for your specific needs.
  
  
• Install the Windows PowerShell Graphical Environment on Windows Server 2008 R2
  Windows PowerShell 2.0 offers a handy graphical scripting environment, but it isn’t installed by default. Here’s how you can install it on Windows Server 2008 R2.
  
  
• Use the Server Manager module for Windows PowerShell
  Learn how to access and use additional Server Manager cmdlets in Windows PowerShell.
  
  
• Use the Sconfig Utility to Install Windows PowerShell on Server Core
  Get an overview of the new Server Configuration utility, which simplifies tasks in Windows Server 2008 R2 Server Core. And see how you can use it to install Windows PowerShell.
  
  
• Configure Windows Server 2008 to Notify you when Certain Events Occur
  Here are 11 easy steps for configuring Performance Counter Alerts in Windows Server 2008 R2.
  
  
• Configure Application Performance on Windows Server 2008 R2
  Find out how to configure Application Performance to improve application responsiveness.
  
  
• Use the Wbadmin Backup Command Line Utility in Windows Server 2008
  Are you familiar with the Wbadmin Backup Command Line Utility? Wbadmin is the command-line counterpart to Windows Server Backup. You use Wbadmin to manage all aspects of backup configuration that you would otherwise manage in Windows Server Backup. For more info, read on.
  
  
• 9 Questions You Must Ask Yourself When Planning a Backup Strategy
  It takes time to create and implement a backup and recovery plan. To help you create a plan, consider the following questions in this tip.
  
  
• Use Group Policy and the Scwcmd Tool to Deploy Security Policies
  This tip shows you how to use the transform command in the Scwcmd utility to create a GPO that includes the settings in the security policy (and any security templates attached to the policy).
  
  
• Create Shared Resources that Are Hidden
  This tip shows you how to hide a share from users. Pretty sneaky stuff!
  
  
• Monitor and Tune Network Bandwidth and Connectivity
  No other factor matters more to the way a user perceives your server’s performance than the network that connects your server to the user’s computer. The delay, or latency, between when a request is made and the time it’s received can make all the difference. To determine the throughput and current activity on a server’s network cards, you can check these counters.
  
  
• Uncover Memory-Related Bottlenecks
  Memory is often the source of performance problems, and you should always rule out memory problems before examining other areas of the system. Here’s an overview of counters that you’ll want to track to uncover memory, caching, and virtual memory (paging) bottlenecks.
  
  
• Create and Use Starter GPOs
  When you create a new GPO in the GPMC, you are given the opportunity to base the new GPO on a starter GPO. Because the settings of the starter GPO are then imported into the new GPO, you can use a starter GPO to define the base configuration settings for a new GPO. Here are the steps you need to follow to create a starter GPO.
  
  
• Create a New Failover Cluster in 12 Steps
  Once you’ve thoroughly researched and planned your implementation of Failover clusters, you’re ready to actually create the cluster. The mechanism to create and manage Failover clusters is the Cluster Administrator application, part of the Administrative Tools folder. Here are the 12 easy steps!
  
  
• Use Windows PowerShell to Manage Virtual Machines
  Here are a few examples of how you can use Windows PowerShell scripts to manage virtual machines running on a Server Core installation. Note that these scripts are presented as samples and may need to be customized to work in your environment.
  
  
• Install the Windows Server Backup Feature on Server Core
  Before you can back up a Server Core computer, you must install the Windows Server Backup feature. This can be done in two ways, both of which we detail here.
  
  
• Use Built-In Tools to Monitor DNS Servers
  Windows Server 2008 offers built-in functionality for monitoring a DNS server. You can configure monitoring to occur manually or automatically by following these simple steps!
  
  
• Installing and Uninstalling Roles and Features Using Ocsetup
  You can use Ocsetup.exe to install or remove roles, role services, and features on Server Core. Note that the Ocsetup.exe syntax is case sensitive so you must type package names exactly as shown in this list.
  
  
• Administer Windows Server 2008 Server Core from the Command Prompt
  This tip offers a list of tools that will help you become an expert in administering Server Core from the command prompt.
  
  
• Disabling an Unused Part of Group Policy Objects
  One way to disable a policy is to disable an unused part of the GPO. By disabling part of a policy that isn’t used, the application of GPOs and security will be faster.
  
  
• Quickly Map a Network Drive in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
  Need to quickly map a network drive? We show you how, in both Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
  
  
• Create and Restore Shadow Copies on Windows Server 2008
  Simple steps for creating and restoring Shadow Copies on Windows Server 2008!
  
  
• Run Check Disk from the Command Line to Find and Fix Errors
  You can run Check Disk from the command line or within other utilities. At a command prompt, you can test the integrity of the E drive by typing these commands.
  
  
• Use Built-In Tools to Create Partitions and Volumes in Windows Server
  Windows Server 2008 simplifies the Disk Management user interface by using one set of dialog boxes and wizards for both partitions and volumes.
  
  
• Understand Implicit Groups and Identities in Windows Server 2008
  Windows Server 2008 defines a set of special identities that you can use to assign permissions in certain situations. The special identities are listed here.
  
  
• Create System Startup / Shutdown and User Logon / Logoff Scripts
  With Windows Server 2008 you can configure four types of scripts: Computer Startup Executed during startup; Computer Shutdown Executed prior to shutdown; User Logon Executed when a user logs on; and User Logoff Executed when a user logs off. Here's how to write these useful scripts.
  
  
• Quickly Filter Event Logs in Windows Server 2008
  The Event Viewer automatically creates several filtered views of the event logs. You can also create a custom view to make it easier to look for specific types of events.
  
  
• Commands and Tools for Managing Windows Server 2008 Server Core
  With a core server installation, you have a minimal UI that includes a limited desktop environment for local console management of the server. Here is an overview of key commands and utilities you’ll use for managing server core installations while logged on locally.