How to create a Veeam backup Repository using shared folder

When configure Veeam Repository, you may have many options. This article will show you how to create a Repository using shared folder.

1. With Veeam opens, click Backup Infrastructure and then click Add Repository

2. In Name, enter the Repository name and Next.

3. Select the Type. You have options to select Microsoft Windows server, Linux server, Shared folder as repository types.

4. If you select Shared folder, enter the Shared folder, for example \\servername\backup or \\10.0.0.178\backup

5. Click Next to complete the settings. Now, you should have the new Repository.

Please view these step by step video:

How to Upgrade Windows 2012 R2 DC to Windows Server 2019 DC

Note: Windows Server 2019 requires a Windows Server 2008 domain and forest functional level. To check the forest functional level, open Active Directory Domains and Trusts. Right click on domain and select Property.

  1. Install and join the new Windows Server 2016 to your forest. Restart when prompted.
  2. Login administrator account and open Server Manager, click Add Roles and Features.

3. In Before you screen begin, click Next.

4. In Select installation type, the default is Role-based or feature-based installation. Click Next.

5 In Select destination server, click Next.

6. In Select server role, check the Active Directory Domain Service and click Next.

7. Click on Add Features in Add Roles and features Wizard popup.

8. Click Next in Select features.

9. Click Next in Active Directory Domain Service.

10. Click Install in Confirm installation selections. Note: you may check Restart the destination automatically if required.

11. The installation may take a while. In Server Manager, click the yellow triangle, and from the drop-down click Promote the server to a domain controller.

12. On the Deployment Configuration screen, select Add a domain controller to an existing forest and click Next.

13. You have options to enable DNS and GC or RODC options in Domain Controller Options. Enter the password and click Next.

14. If you enable DNS on the new DC, you may receive a warning. Just click OK to continue.

15. In Additional Options, click Next to continue.

16. Click Next in Paths.

17. Click Next in Preparation Options.

18. For the remainder of the screens click Next. On the Prerequisite Check screen, click install.

19. After the restart, now it is time to transfer FSMO roles. On the Windows Server 2012 R2 server, in Server Manager, under tools, select Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell.

20. In the PowerShell windows use the Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole to move the FSMO roles. You can type the name of each -OperationMasterRole or use numbers to specify the roles.

For example

Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole -Identity “DC2019-1” -OperationMasterRole 0,1,2,3,4

DC2016-1 is the new DC hostname. Replace it with your windows 2016 DC name.

Please view this step by step video:

In-place upgrade Windows 2012 R DC to 2016R DC

In this article, we will show you how to upgrade Domain Controller from Windows Server 2012 R2  to Windows Server 2016 in-place.

Note: It is recommended to promote a domain controller on a new server Windows 2016 and then demote the old one. However, for many small companies, they have only one DC and in-place upgrade is their only option.

A. Collect info

1.  Open a command prompt, go to c:\Windows\system32, and then type systeminfo.exe. Copy and save the resulting system information.

2. Type ipconfig /all into the command prompt, and then save the resulting configuration information into the same location as above.

3. Open the Registry Editor, go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion hive, and then copy and paste the Windows Server BuildLabEx (version) and EditionID (edition) into the same location as above.

B. Prepare

1. Windows 2016 domain controller requires the domain functional level  to be 2003 or higher. To check the domain functional level, open Active Directory Domains and Trusts. Right click on the domain and then Property.

2. To do in-place upgrade of an existing domain controller to the Windows Server 2016, you need to run adprep /forestprepand adprep /domainprepmanually.

Adprep.exe is in Windows server 2016 DVD Support>Adprep folder.

When running adprepe /forestprep, you will receive the warning, enter C and press Enter to continue.

3. Ru dcdiagto check the status of DC health

For example, dcdiag /test:DNS

4. Verify current AD schema by running Powershell (in elevated mode) and run following command:

 Get-ADObject (Get-ADRootDSE).schemaNamingContext -Property objectVersion

You can see objectversion is showing as 69, which means we have “Windows Server 2012 R2” schema.

C. Installation

1. From Windows Server 2016 DVD, right click on setup.exe and select “Run as Administrator“.

2. Select Yes to start the setup process.

3. Next page will show Get updates, drivers and optional features. Select “Not right now” and click on Next.

4. In Select Image, click on Windows Server 2016 Standard (Desktop Experience).

5. In Application notices and license terms, click Next.

6. In Choose what to keep, check Keep personal files and apps since we are doing in-place upgrade.

7. Click Install in Ready to install

8. It starts installing Windows Server 2016. It may take 30 minutes to complete it.

D. Check the status of DC and test after your upgrade is done

1. Run dcdiag to check any errors.

2. Test login, access websites and more.

Please view this step by step video:

How to Decline or not approve Windows Updates in WSUS

Microsoft recent update such as Windows 10 vision 2004 and 20H2 cause some problems in some computers. This article shows you how to not approve or decline these updates in WSUS.

1 With Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) open, navigate to Update Services>Servername>Updates>All Updates.

2. In Approval, select Any Except Declined; in Status, select Any. Click Refresh.

3. Right click on the update you want to decline. Select Decline. 

4. Click Yes in the Decline Update warming.

5. To confirm the declined updates, select Declined in Approval and any in Status. Then click Refresh.

Note: You can also disable Automatic Approvals. To do that, Got o Options>Automatic Approvals. Uncheck Default Automatic Approval Rule.

Please view these step by step video:

Windows 2012 R2 DC to 2019 DC in place upgrade

In this article, we will show you how to upgrade Domain Controller from Windows Server 2012 R2 to Windows Server 2019 in-place.

Note: It is recommended to promote a domain controller on a new server Windows 2019 and then demote the old one. However, for many small companies, they have only one DC and in-place upgrade is their only option.

A. Collect info

1.  Open a command prompt, go to c:\Windows\system32, and then type systeminfo.exe. Copy and save the resulting system information.

2. Type ipconfig /all into the command prompt, and then save the resulting configuration information into the same location as above.

3. Open the Registry Editor, go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion hive, and then copy and paste the Windows Server BuildLabEx (version) and EditionID (edition) into the same location as above.

B. Prepare

1. Windows 2019 domain controller requires the domain functional level  to be 2008 or higher. To check the domain functional level, open Active Directory Domains and Trusts. Right click on the domain and then Property.

2. To do in-place upgrade of an existing domain controller to the Windows Server 2019, you need to run adprep /forestprepand adprep /domainprepmanually.

Adprep.exe is in Windows server 2019 DVD Support>Adprep folder.

When running adprepe /forestprep, you will receive the warning, enter C and press Enter to continue.

3. Ru dcdiagto check the status of DC health

For example, dcdiag /test:DNS

4. Verify current AD schema by running Powershell (in elevated mode) and run following command:

 Get-ADObject (Get-ADRootDSE).schemaNamingContext -Property objectVersion

You can see objectversion is showing as 69, which means we have “Windows Server 2012 R2” schema.

C. Installation

1. From Windows Server 2019 DVD, right click on setup.exe and select “Run as Administrator“.

2. Select Yes to start the setup process.

3. Next page will show Get updates, drivers and optional features. Select “Not right now” and click on Next.

4. In Select Image, click on Windows Server 2019 Standard (Desktop Experience).

5. In Application notices and license terms, click Next.

6. In Choose what to keep, check Keep personal files and apps since we are doing in-place upgrade.

7. Click Install in Ready to install

8. It starts installing Windows Server 2019. It may take 30 minutes to complete it.

D. Check the status of DC and test after your upgrade is done

1. Run dcdiag to check any errors.

2. Test login, access websites and more.

Please view this step by step video:

In-place upgrade Windows 2016 DC to 2019 DC

In this article, we will show you how to upgrade Domain Controller from Windows Server 2016  to Windows Server 2019 in-place.

Note: It is recommended to promote a domain controller on a new server Windows 2019 and then demote the old one. However, for many small companies, they have only one DC and in-place upgrade is their only option.

A. Collect info

1.  Open a command prompt, go to c:\Windows\system32, and then type systeminfo.exe. Copy and save the resulting system information.

2. Type ipconfig /all into the command prompt, and then save the resulting configuration information into the same location as above.

3. Open the Registry Editor, go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion hive, and then copy and paste the Windows Server BuildLabEx (version) and EditionID (edition) into the same location as above.

B. Prepare

1. Windows 2019 domain controller requires the domain functional level  to be 2008 or higher. To check the domain functional level, open Active Directory Domains and Trusts. Right click on the domain and then Property.

2. To do in-place upgrade of an existing domain controller to the Windows Server 2019, you need to run adprep /forestprep and adprep /domainprep manually.

Adprep.exe is in Windows server 2019 DVD Support>Adprep folder.

When running adprepe /forestprep, you will receive the warning, enter C and press Enter to continue.

3. Ru dcdiag to check the status of DC health

For example, dcdiag /test:DNS

4. Verify current AD schema by running Powershell (in elevated mode) and run following command:

 Get-ADObject (Get-ADRootDSE).schemaNamingContext -Property objectVersion

You can see objectversion is showing as 87, which means we have “Windows Server 2016” schema.

C. Installation

1. From Windows Server 2019 DVD, right click on setup.exe and select “Run as Administrator“.

2. Select Yes to start the setup process.

3. Next page will show Get updates, drivers and optional features. Select “Not right now” and click on Next.

4. In Select Image, click on Windows Server 2019 Standard (Desktop Experience).

5. In Application notices and license terms, click Next.

6. In Choose what to keep, check Keep personal files and apps since we are doing in-place upgrade.

7. Click Install in Ready to install

8. It starts installing Windows Server 2019. It may take 30 minutes to complete it.

D. Check the status of DC and test after your upgrade is done

1. Run dcdiag to check any errors.

2. Test login, access websites and more.

Please view this step by step video:

How to disable Office 365 AutoSave

Situation: After upgrade Office 365 from office 2013 and also uses OneDrive, the template doc was auto save any new entry.

By design, new Office 365 with OneDrive adds a new feature and auto save any entry to current doc. If you want to disable the AutoSave OneDrive online, please follow these steps.

  1. With Word open, click File

2. Click on Save and then uncheck AutoSave OneDrive and SharePoint Online files by default on Word.

Note: You may wan keeping other autosave features.

How to Upgrade Windows 2012 R2 DC to Windows Server 2016

Note: Windows Server 2016 requires a Windows Server 2003 domain and forest functional level. To check the forest functional level, open Active Directory Domains and Trusts. Right click on domain and select Property.

  1. Install and join the new Windows Server 2016 to your forest. Restart when prompted.
  2. Login administrator account and open Server Manager, click Add Roles and Features.

3. In Before you screen begin, click Next.

4. In Select installation type, the default is Role-based or feature-based installation. Click Next.

5 In Select destination server, click Next.

6. In Select server role, check the Active Directory Domain Service and click Next.

7. Click on Add Features in Add Roles and features Wizard popup.

8. Click Next in Select features.

9. Click Next in Active Directory Domain Service.

10. Click Install in Confirm installation selections. Note: you may check Restart the destination automatically if required.

11. The installation may take a while. In Server Manager, click the yellow triangle, and from the drop-down click Promote the server to a domain controller.

12. On the Deployment Configuration screen, select Add a domain controller to an existing forest and click Next.

13. You have options to enable DNS and GC or RODC options in Domain Controller Options. Enter the password and click Next.

14. If you enable DNS on the new DC, you may receive a warning. Just click OK to continue.

15. In Additional Options, click Next to continue.

16. Click Next in Paths.

17. Click Next in Preparation Options.

18. For the remainder of the screens click Next. On the Prerequisite Check screen, click install.

19. After the restart, not it is time to transfer FSMO roles. On the Windows Server 2012 R2 server, in Server Manager, under tools, select Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell.

20. In the PowerShell windows use the Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole to move the FSMO roles. You can type the name of each -OperationMasterRole or use numbers to specify the roles.

For example

Move-ADDirectoryServerOperationMasterRole -Identity “DC2016-1” -OperationMasterRole 0,1,2,3,4

DC2016-1 is the new DC hostname. Replace it with your windows 2016 DC name.

Please view this step by step video:

How Change the default font in Outlook

1.With Outlook open, go to File > Options > Mail > Stationery and Fonts…

2. There are 3 areas you can change the fonts.

  • New mail messages – Sets the default font for original messages you compose.
  • Replying or forwarding messages – You can have a different font on messages you’re forwarding or replying to. This setting is mostly for the two check boxes that let you mark your comments with your name (or other text) or with a different color of text.
  • Composing and reading plain text messages – Plain text messages will be received by the other person with a standard font, but if you want to use a nicer font when you’re writing the message you can. Just understand that font won’t be sent with the message.

3. by default the font is size 11. You can also change the Font style and more.

4. Click all OKs to save the change.