Windows 10 machines with bitlocker on when you didn't enable it (finding the recovery key)

 I had a Lenovo Carbon X1 laptop that was bitlocker encrypted that I did not turn on.  As such, I did not have the recovery key.  I found that when a machine is connected to Azure, the machine auto-encrypts and stores the recovery key in Azure.

I found this information here:
https://hardsoft-support.kayako.com/article/99-windows-10-bitlocker-turns-on-without-a-notice

Short version of the above article:
1) go to https://manage.windowsazure.com/ and log in with your Azure connected email address
2) Go to users and find your device where you *should* see the recovery key.

Windows 8 - User profile service failed the sign in

I came across a Windows 8 laptop (yes in February 2020) that was running Windows 8, but when I created a new user and tried to log in, I got an error that said "User profile service failed the sign in" and the profile would not load at all.

The fix was to log in with an existing user, go into the application event log and find errors during the log in process relating to a permissions error copying data from c:\users\default to the new profile and deleting the minimum amount necessary (not the default folder or c:\users\default\appdata - much more specific). 

I found this info here:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-security/user-profile-service-failed-the-sign-in/17ad3f7c-3b2d-433f-a3d5-bf7f6a79df1a?auth=1&page=3

Here's the important text, in case that link gets removed/changed:

I have figured out what the problem is.  Basically, something from the Default profile directory fails to copy (this contains the initial files that Windows uses to set up a user).  The Default profile is found at:

C:\Users\Default 

If you go to c:\users, you will not see the Default directory. 

To determine what fails to copy, go to the event viewer (this is on the start menu - right mouse on the start icon and a list of programs will display.).  Open the Application Event log - (it will take a few moments for it to load the application event log - the Event Viewer application builds the logs and indexes before it will open completely. 

Scroll down the event log until you see warnings from the "User Profile General" under the Source column.  EventID 1509 indicates what files are not being copied.  In my case, the entry said:

"Windows cannot copy file \\?\C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\VSCommon\12.0\SQM\sqmdata-13304-039-00000.sqm to location .... This error may be caused by network problems or insufficient security rights.

DETAIL - Access is denied.

^^^^^

Bingo - Access denied can be caused by a lot of things.  So, instead of struggling with what is wrong, just delete the directory that is causing the problem in the first place.  If it is critical, then running a repair on the application that fails should recover that information.  In my case, I deleted

VSCommon from C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\

(Use Windows Explorer and enter in the address bar the parent directory for the offending files - I chose to enter C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft because I didn't want to screw with it HA HA)

Once you do that, log in with the new account and it should work.  If it doesn't go back to the event log and locate the new EventID 1509. 

DO NOT DELETE C:\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft.  Delete the directory that is after that is causing the problem.  Deleting the Microsoft or any of the directories about it will cause you all kinds of grief with a resulting rebuild of the computer.

Good Luck and don't panic.  There is a solution, just a question of your patience to find it.

Quickbooks multi-user requires NETBOIS names

This is a quick reminder for myself or anyone who is getting H202 errors or perhaps 6190 and 816 errors, the mapped drives on the remote computers need to refer to the server via NETBOIS name.  Oddly, the NETBIOS name was not resolving (pre-empted by the DNS server to an external address) for a setup I worked on.

My solution was to edit the HOSTS file to hardcode the NETBIOS name so the name could resolve.  This fixed my problem.

Quick big picture process for Quickbooks multi-user hosting.

1) make sure the Quickbooks database server is installed on the server (this is part of the installation of QuickBooks).
2) Share the folder that the QBW file is located (read and write)
3) Run Quickbooks Database Server on the host machine and scan the folder where the QBW file is located
4) On the other machines, map the share to a network drive using the NETBIOS name
5) Open the QBW file on any computer and put it in multiuser mode.

Installing Office 2019 Volume License

Office 2019 Volume License installation has a new installation process.  Here's the process I've successfully used.

1. Download the Office Deployment Tool from here:
   https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49117
2. Create a new file called config.xml in the folder with the decompressed contents of the Office Deployment tool with the content referenced at the bottom of this post.  Make sure to add your own Office license MAK key in the PIDKEY area.
3. From a DOS prompt, navigate to the folder where the files are stored and run:
   setup.exe /download config.xml 
4. Wait 30 minutes
5. From a DOS prompt, navigate to the folder where the files are stored and run:
   setup.exe /configure config.xml

Get the content for the confg.xml file from here:
https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2164757-office-2019-no-msi-to-install-how-do-i-install-it

tracking disk usage on a Mac

When looking to track disk usage on a PC, I often use TreeSizeFree - which is awesome.  But I struggled to find something like that in a Mac.

I have used and like the trial of DaisyDisk.  It gives a graphical representation of all used files including hidden files and it can help you find things like Apple Mail usage or Outlook usage or itunes backups that can be eating up disk space within the Library folder.  

Windows 7 compression bug fills up hard drive in Windows temp space

A couple times, I've seen a Windows 7 computer with no free hard drive space and tons of space used in c:\windows\temp.  The answer is in this article:
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3112358/microsoft-windows/windows-7-log-file-compression-bug-can-fill-up-your-hard-drive.html

It's some sort of bug in Windows.  The fix is:

1) stop the Windows Module Installer service
2) move all the files out of c:\windows\logs\cbs (I typically move them to c:\windows\logs\cbs.old)
3) delete all the files in c:\windows\temp
4) reboot

Enabling modern authentication (ADAL) on Skype for Business

By default, Skype for Business requires users to use App Passwords for logging into Skype for Business.

I'm stealing the info from this post from this excellent tutorial:
https://www.ronnipedersen.com/2017/07/11/enable-modern-authentication-for-skype-for-business-online

I'm simplifying for my future use.  Important note - the DNS records as defined by Microsoft should be in place before going through this process.  Particularly, there should be a CNAME record pointing lyncsicover.domainname.com to webdir.online.lync.com.

First, download the Visual Basic C++ 2017 redistributable from here:
https://aka.ms/vs/15/release/VC_redist.x64.exe

This is needed for the Skype for Business Powershell installer.

Then download the Skype for Business Powershell installer itself:
https://download.microsoft.com/download/2/0/5/2050B39B-4DA5-48E0-B768-583533B42C3B/SkypeOnlinePowerShell.Exe


Then run PowerShell and run these commands:
$sfboSession = New-CsOnlineSession -UserName user@domain.com
Import-PSSession $sfboSession

Then run:
Get-CsOAuthConfiguration

You'll find a line for "ClientAdalAuthOverride" which will likely show "disabled" which is the behavior we want to change.

Run this command:
Set-CsOAuthConfiguration -ClientAdalAuthOverride Allowed

This process allows ADAL (aka modern authentication).  The tutorial I am replicating says this change can take up to 24 hours to take effect, but it often takes effect within one hour.