Windows Specific Optimizations for VDI Environment

Open the regedit (run -> regedit.exe)

Disable Windows Autoupdate
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
WindowsUpdate\Auto Update]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000001
"ScheduledInstallDay"=dword:00000000
"ScheduledInstallTime"=dword:00000003

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv]
"Start"=dword:00000004
Disable Offline Files

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\NetCache]
"Enabled"=dword:00000000
Disable Disk Defragmentation BootOptimizeFunction

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction]
"Enable"="N"
Disable Background Layout Service

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
OptimalLayout]
"EnableAutoLayout"=dword:00000000
Disable System Restore (Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 Only)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\sr]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\srservice]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SystemRestore]
"DisableSR"=dword:00000001
Disable Last Access Time Stamp

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001
Disable Hibernate

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Power]
Various keys and values are set according to the version of Windows detected.
Disable CrashDump

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl]
"CrashDumpEnabled"=dword:00000000
"LogEvent"=dword:00000000
"SendAlert"=dword:00000000
Disable Indexing Service

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\cisvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
Reduce Event Log File Size to 64 kB

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\
Application]
“MaxSize"=dword:00010000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\
Security]
"MaxSize"=dword:00010000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\
System]
"MaxSize"=dword:00010000
Reduce Internet Explorer Temporary File Cache

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Content]
"CacheLimit"=dword:00000400 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache\Content]
"CacheLimit"=dword:00000400 

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\Cache\Content]
"CacheLimit"=dword:00000400

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\Cache\Content]
"CacheLimit"=dword:00000400

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Internet Settings\Cache\Paths]
"Paths"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Internet Settings\Cache\Paths\path1]
"CacheLimit"=dword:00000100

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Internet Settings\Cache\Paths\path2]
"CacheLimit"=dword:00000100

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Internet Settings\Cache\Paths\path3]
"CacheLimit"=dword:00000100

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Internet Settings\Cache\Paths\path4]
"CacheLimit"=dword:00000100
Disable Clear Page File at Shutdown

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000000
Disable Superfetch (Windows Vista and Windows 7 Only)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SysMain]
"Start"=dword:00000004
Disable Windows Defender (Windows Vista and Windows 7 Only)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinDefend]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\
Run]
"Windows Defender"=hex(2):00
Disable Windows Search (Windows Vista and Windows 7 Only)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WSearch]
"Start"=dword:00000004
Disable Scheduled Disk Defragmentation (Windows Vista and Windows 7 Only)

Linux Blogging

Reset user's password without root: 

We all know to reset the users password in linux using the following command. 

Sol: sudo passwd username 

But is there any way to allow non-root users to change other user's password. Specifically, is there a way to grant help desk employees the ability to do password resets. The help desk already can reset Windows passwords, which is easy to delegate out. 

Sol: Add a group called helpdesk and add all heldesk users to it. Then add the following to sudoers file.

%helpdesk ALL=/usr/bin/passwd

Now they can sudo to change passwords but nothing else.

How to Fix “The Windows Logon Process Has Unexpectedly Terminated” Error in Windows

The Windows Logon Process (winlogon.exe) is “responsible for handling the secure attention sequence, loading the user profile on logon, and optionally locking the computer when a screensaver is running (requiring another authentication step). Wikipedia. ” Sometimes while working with your computer (XP, Vista, Windows 7) you might get the following error, unexpectedly: “The Windows Logon Process Has Unexpectedly Terminated”. This error is triggered when the winlogon.exe fails to work or run and, as a consequence, it crashes the system. Here is the procedure to fix it.

1. Restart your computer.
2. When the system starts to boot, type F8 repeatedly.
3. By pressing the button above, you should be able to gain access to Advanced Boot Options.
4. From the list, choose Last Good Known Configuration.
5. If this doesn’t work, restart the computer again, Press F8 and from the menu select Safe Mode (fist choice).
6. If this works then it means that you have recently installed a software or driver which is not working properly. Try to uninstall the software or driver which is giving you issues.

How to Fix MBR in Windows 7 (Operating System not found)

MBR in Windows 7 is the “master boot record (MBR), or partition sector, is the 512-byte boot sector that is the first sector (“LBA/absolute sector 0″) of a partitioned data storage device such as a hard disk”. The issue with such a partition is that it may become corrupted thus preventing you from booting up your computer. The most common error such a corrupted MBR returns is“Operating System not found”. Let’s see how to fix it with this quick tutorial. If this trick doesn’t work for you read this other tutorial of mine: Fix MBR.

1. Insert your Windows 7 DVD to your CD/DVD drive and reboot your computer.
2. The following message should appear on your screen: “Press any key to boot from CD”.
3. After pressing a key ( I usually press Enter) you should face a screen asking you to select your language, time and keyboard etc.
4. On the following scree you should see a link like this: “Repair Your Computer”. Click it.
5. At this point, Windows Recovery Option will start searching for Windows 7 installation files on your computer.
6. Once it finds all it needs, a small window will warn you to choose the operating system it found.
7. Select your operating system and press the Next button.
8. A new Windows Recovery Options window will appear on your screen. Select Command Prompt which should be the last option of the list.
9. On the Command Prompt, type bootrec.exe /fixmbr and press Enter.
10. Done!

How to Fix “Windows Cannot Connect to the Printer” Error in Windows

If you have your printer connected to a network, you might have got the following error, while trying to print a document: “Windows Cannot Connect to the Printer” or “Windows Cannot Connect to the Printer. Access is Denied”. There are different issues which trigger such an error but most of the time, it seems to be caused by firewalls which have been improperly set, antivirus infection or wrong configurations. Let’s see these three cases and how to fox this error in your Windows operating system (XP, Vista, Windows 7).

Firewall

The first thing to do after getting the error is to look at your Windows Firewall configuration. Make sure that File and Printer Sharing option is ticked (allowed). Also make sure that such option is enabled on the computer to which your printer is attached. Here is the procedure to turn on the option above.

1. Click Start.
2. Click Control Panel.
3. Click Windows Firewall.
4. Click Exceptions.
5. Thick the File and Printer Sharing option.

Antivirus

Try to turn off the antivirus, antispyware etc. If your printer starts to work…well, you will have to add special exception to your antivirus.

Configuration

1. Try to add your network printer as a local printer. To do that, click Start.
2. Click Control Panel.
3. Click the Printer icon.
4. Click Add a Printer.
5. Click Add a Local Printer.
6. Now, select Create a New Port and then type as Local Port. Click the Next button.
7. In the Port name field, type your network path for the printer you want to use and click Next.
8. At this point take your Printer CD containing your Printer drivers.
9. Follow your computer instruction. (it should ask you to install your printer drivers).
10. Done!

How to Lock a Microsoft Office Document in Office 2010

If you use Office 2010 a lot, you might wish to lock Microsoft a Office document with a password so that other users won’t be able to open or modify them in any way. Locking your Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents is also useful when you send them via e-mail because in this way you will be sure that they won’t be stolen before reaching the recipient. This quick trick will show you how to protect your most important works!

1. Open your Word, Excel or PowerPoint document.
2. Now, go to File – Info – under Permission click the Protect Document icon.
3. A small window will appear, click the Encrypt with Password icon.
4. Set your password.
5. Confirm your password.
6. Click OK.
7. Save your document.
8. Done! Your document will be locked!

How to Delete/Hide Unread Mail Messages (emails) from the Welcome Screen in Windows XP/Vista/7

As you know right after you boot Windows 7 (as well as Windows XP and Windows Vista) the system greets you with the famous Logon Screen or Welcome Screen. Such screens, apart from displaying the User Accounts available on the machine, also show you a specific message telling you the number of mail messages you still have to read on your email client (such as Microsoft Outlook, for example). Let’s see how to delete and hide the “You have unread messages” notification from your Windows operating system!

1. Click Start.
2. In the Search field (Run…if you have XP) type regedit and press Enter.
3. Locate this registry folder for the actual logged on user: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\ UnreadMail
4. Locate this registry folder for all the users available on the computer: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\ UnreadMail.
5. On the right pane, locate and click the key named MessageExpiryDays
6. If such a key doesn’t exsit, right click any empty space and from the menu click: create new DWORD value data, name it MessageExpiryDays
7. Click the registry key and change its vale to 0 (zero).
8. Exit regedit.
9. Reboot your compute for the changes to take effect.