Author: Bob Lin

Q: Our Malwarebytes software mat stop working and need to restart the Malwarebytes services. I would like to create a batch file to restart it remotely. How can I do it?

chicagotech.net: you can use SC command line, foe example: SC \\computername start SCCommService. To find the service name, run service and go the properties. Or use SC  \\COMPUTERNAME query command.

Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool is a command-line tool that can be used to service and prepare Windows images, including those used for Windows PE, Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE) and Windows Setup. DISM can be used to service a Windows image (.wim) or a virtual hard disk (.vhd or .vhdx). DISM comes built into Windows and is available through the command line or from Windows PowerShell.

To use the DISM, please follow these stpes:

1. an elevated command prompt.
2. Type the following command, and then press Enter. DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
3. if your Windows Update client is already broken, use a running Windows installation as the repair source, or use a Windows side-by-side folder from a network share or from a removable media, such as the Windows DVD, as the source of the files. To do this, run the following command instead: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:C:\RepairSource\Windows /LimitAccess

Q: What’s Windows RE and WinReTools?

Chicagotech.net: Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is a recovery environment that can repair common causes of unbootable operating systems. By default, if you install Windows using media created from Windows Imaging and Configuration Designer (ICD), you’ll get a dedicated WinRE tools partition on both UEFI and BIOS-based devices, located immediately after the Windows partition. This allows Windows to replace and resize the partition as needed.

WinRE includes these tools:

1. Automatic repair and other troubleshooting tools.
2. Push-button reset, which enables your users to repair their own PCs quickly while preserving their data and important customizations, without having to back up data in advance.
3. System image recovery which restores the entire hard drive.

Q: How do you enable or disable popup in Microsoft Edge?

chicagotech.net: Click on 3 dots on the top of right. Click Settings and then Advanced. Under Media autoplay, you will have option to Allow, Limit and Block.

1. Change the paging file size to improve performance.
2. Free some disk space on your PC.
3. Uninstall apps you don’t use anymore.
4. Disable the programs running in background by using MSCONFIG so they don’t run when your PC starts.
5. Scan any virus and malware.
6. Check corrupted windows system files using The Deployment Image Service and Management Tool (DISM) and run System File Checker (SFC).

Q: How do you apply the configuration change on Paloalto Firewall?

chicagotech.net: Click Commit at the top right of the web interface to commit, validate, or preview your changes to the firewall configuration.

Tip: To save, revert, import, export, or load configurations, select Device > Setup > Operations.

Q: Can I lock my configuration when I am working on Paloalto Firewall so that other admin can’t mess up the configuration?

chicagotech.net: yes, you can. The web interface enables you to apply a configuration or commit lock so that other administrators cannot change the configuration or commit changes until the lock is removed. To lock it, click the top right lock of the web interface.

Tip: To configure the firewall to automatically set a commit lock whenever an administrator changes the candidate configuration, select Device > Setup > Management, edit the General Settings, enable Automatically Acquire Commit Lock, and then click OK and Commit.

Q: We would like to a rule to allow VPN users access network resources. Could you please give us the steps by steps instruction.

chicagotech.net: Sure, here is how.

1. Open Symantec Endpoint Protection and right-click Options on Network and Host Exploit Mitigation. Select Configure Firewall Rule.

2. Click Add.

3. Enter Rule name, for example Enable Mapping.

4. Click Host and check IPv4 address. Enter 192.168.108.1-192.168.108.254. Click OK.

5. Now, highlight the Enable Mapping rule and move it to the top.

6. After closing the Symantec Endpoint Protection, re-establish the VPN and try the mapping. If we still have the same issue, please tell me your computer name and the time you try. We will check the error log for further troubleshooting.

Q; I would like to stop/resatrt Symantec Endpoint Protection temproryly. But the sto and restart SEP service is grayed out. How to stop Symantec Endpoint Protection?

chicagotech.net: To stop SEP service, run this command:  smc -stop, and

then run service to stop it.

Q: I hear about Paloalto Firewall Task Manger. What is it and how to use?

chicagotech.net: Paloalto Firewall Task Manager displays the operations that you, other administrators, or PAN-OS initiated since the last firewall reboot. The Task Manger is located at the right bottom of the web interface.

The Task Manager provides these information and actions:

Type: The type of operation, such as log request, reports, license refresh, or commit. You can click certain types to see more details about the operation, such as warning messages.

Status, Start Time, Message, Action, Show and Clear commit Queue.