Shortcut Keys that works with Remote Desktop

The following is a list of the Remote Desktop Services shortcut keys.
Shortcut key Description.....
ALT+PAGE UP Switches between programs from left to right.
ALT+PAGE DOWN Switches between programs for right to left.
ALT+INSERT Cycles through the programs in the order they were started.
ALT+HOME Displays the Start menu. CTRL+ALT+BREAK Switches the client between full-screen mode and window mode.
CTRL+ALT+END Brings up the Windows Security dialog box.
ALT+DELETE Displays the Windows menu.
CTRL+ALT+MINUS SIGN (-) Places a snapshot of the active window, within the client, on the Remote Desktop Session Host (RD Session Host) server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on the local computer).
CTRL+ALT+PLUS SIGN (+) Places a snapshot of the entire client windows area on the RD Session Host server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on the local computer).

Change Local or domain user Password from the Command Prompt

One can change Local User / domain user Password from the Command Prompt by using 'net user' command. This is very usefull specially when you work on remote machines and access RDP within RDP(where ALT+CTRL+END doesn't work) and want to change you domain user password. In my case I wanted to change my domain user pwd on a Server 2008 remote machine, where Alt+Ctrl+End or Del is the only way to change your pwd(i couldn't find any other :P ).

To change a user's password at the command prompt, one should have administrator or required rights.

Syntx:- C:\Users\nMohammad>net user nMohammad * /domain

When you are prompted to type a password for the user, type the new password, not the existing password. After you type the new password, the system prompts you to retype the password to confirm. The password is now changed.

Alternatively, you can type the following command:
C:\Users\nMohammad>net user nMohammad asd#123 /domain, where "asd#123" is a new password.
When you do so, the password changes without prompting you again.

To change password of a administrator or local user account do this,

C:\Users\nMohammad>net user nMohammad asd#1234,  where "asd#123" is a new password.

Note:- In case if you don't have sufficient privilage, when attempt to change the password you will get a "Access is denied" error message.

How to import cached contacts from an .nk2 file into Outlook 2010

Unlike Outlook 2003/2007, Outlook 2010 no longer uses .NK2 files to cache email addresses for its AutoSuggest/AutoComplete feature. Instead, it now stores these addresses in a Suggested Contacts folder.


When you upgrade to Outlook 2010, the .NK2 file is automatically imported when you start Outlook 2010 for the first time.

However, when you will use a new computer, or create a new mail profile, you can import the .NK2 file this way:

Copy your current .NK2 file from the following folder:

 Windows 7

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Outlook

Windows XP

C:\Documents and Settings\%username%\Application Settings\Microsoft\Outlook

Now Re-copy this same file into same folder in your new computer or new mail profile.

Rename the .NK2 file to the name of your mail profile. Your default mail profile name is “outlook”, so if this is the case, you will rename this file to “outlook.nk2”.

(To check the name of your mail profile, go to Control Panel -> Mail -> Show Profiles).

Start Outlook 2010 with the /importnk2 switch by doing the following:

Windows 7

On the Start menu search box, type outlook.exe /importnk2

Windows XP

On the Start menu, click Run, then type outlook.exe /importnk2,

This cmd will import contacts from old version's .nk2 file to Outlook 2010 suggested contacts folder. 
Thats it....Now Outlook will show you contact suggestions..... enjoy :)

Remove custom views from all Outlook folders at once

Today when I was checking my mails, outlook got crashed and when I reopen it, its mail view was different for many folders. To reset mail view to default you may use below listed cmd......

Windows XP


Start-> Run: outlook.exe /cleanviews

Windows Vista and Windows 7

Start-> type: outlook.exe /cleanviews

Windows 8

Start Screen-> type: outlook.exe /cleanviews

Note: There is a space between outlook.exe and /cleanviews.

How to find Primary Domain Controller

If you have a environment with a lot of Domain Controller’s are just want to know which one is the primary…

You can run the below command to find who’s the primary dc

C:\nltest /dclist:Noor.com                     Where Noor.com is your domain.

This command will list all DC’s in a environment and accent the Primary DC with [PDC] as well as other DCs...............,
The below command will list only the primary domain controller for the domain you list after dcname:

C:\nltest /dcname:Noor.com

Alternatively from GUI, we can find PDC by doing this:

1.      Open AD users and computers,

2.      Right click on Noor.com

3.      Click on Operations Masters

4.      Now click on PDC tab......................That’s it.

Add a Hard Disk to a Virtual Machine..............

When you add a hard disk to a virtual machine, you can create a new virtual disk, add an existing virtual disk, or add a mapped SAN LUN.

Procedure

1.  In the vSphere Client inventory, right-click the virtual machine and select Edit Settings
2.  Click the Hardware tab and click Add..
3.  Select Hard Disk, and click Next.
4.  Select the type of storage for the virtual machine’s disk, and click Next

You can store virtual machine data in a new virtual disk, an existing virtual disk, or a Mapped SAN LUN. A virtual disk, which appears as a single hard disk to the guest operating system, is composed of one or more files on the host file system. Virtual disks can easily be copied or moved on the same host or between hosts.
Options
Create a new virtual disk

•   Enter the disk capacity.
•  Select a thin disk format or a thick disk format to allow the disks to support clustering features.
•  Select a location to store the disk. Store with the virtual machine or Specify a datastore.
•  If you selected Specify a datastore, browse for the datastore location, and click Next.

Use an Existing Virtual Disk

•  Browse for the disk file path and click Next.

Raw Device Mappings Gives your virtual machine direct access to SAN.

•  Select the LUN that you want to use for the raw disk, and click Next.
•  Select to store the LUN mapping files on the same datastore as the virtual machine files, or select a different a datastore, and click Next.

5. Select the compatibility mode.

• Physical allows the guest operating system to access the hardware directly.
• Virtual allows the virtual machine to use VMware snapshots and other advanced functions.

6. Click Next.
7. Accept the default or select a different virtual device node.

8. (Optional) Select the virtual disk Independent mode and select an option.

Persistent: The disk operates normally except that changes to the disk are permanent even if the virtual machine is reverted to a snapshot.

Nonpersistent: The disk appears to operate normally, but whenever the virtual machine is powered off or reverted to a snapshot, the contents of the disk return to their original state. All later changes are discarded.
Independent disks are not affected by snapshots.

9. Click Next.

10. Review the information, and click Finish.

That’s it... :)

Increasing the size of a virtual disk(VMware)

The procedure for increasing the size of a virtual disk slightly differs between VMware products. Here we are considering VMware workstation and player.
Before doing this, Make sure all snapshots have been removed and virtual machine is powered off.
To increase the virtual disk from command line, go to theVMware product installation dir and run this command,
C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Workstation\vmware-vdiskmanager -x 100Gb "d:\VM Folder\vmdiskfile.vmdk", Replace 100Gb with the actual size of virtual disk that you want
This will take some time, and once complete the application will give you some sizing messages.
Now you need to expand the capacity of the disk to take advantage of its new size. If the disk is the system volume you will need to mount the disk in a second VM and expand it from there. If its not a system volume do it within the virtual machine it belongs to.
Once you've mounted the disk in a different VM or booted up the VM it belongs to if its not the system volume, do the following.
Go to the command line and start the diskpart utility. By issuing the following command.
diskpartOnce you've started diskpart, list the drives using the following command:
list diskThis will show you the disks assigned to your machine. Now the important command
list volumeThis will show you the drives, their volume number, capacity etc. You now need to select the volume you are about to expand, using the following command. Where n is equal to the number of the volume.select volume=nOnce selected, you can now expand it using the extend command. You can optionally specify the amount extend it by.extendThat's it.For Workstation 7 and later and Player 3.x and later, you can increase the virtual disk from the GUI:
Select the virtual machine from the Inventory.Click Edit Virtual Machine Settings.Click Hard Disk.Click Utilities > Expand, enter the new size, then click Expand.
Once you've extended the disk, it's wise to defrag the drive. If you use the defragment tool in VMWare workstation you will find it much quicker than deframenting the drive from within the machine.
Now use a third party utility to resize disk partitions.
Note: Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 can expand the volumes from the Disk Manager in Computer Management. Right-click on the volume and click Extend Volume................

How to Install windows applications on Linux

CrossOver Linux- A tool with the help of that you can run many popular windows programs on Linux.
CrossOver allows you to install many popular Windows applications on your Linux computer. You can think of it as an emulator, but it's different, because there's no Windows OS license required. Your applications integrate seamlessly in Linux; just click and run. No rebooting, no switching to a virtual machine, and no Windows Operating System license required! Adding new Windows software is easy. Just place your install CD in your machine, and CrossOver will recognize it and offer to install it or if you have an exe then rt click on it and choose run with crossOver, now installation will begin just like windows.You can also install an exe by double click on it, its as easy as on windows. Once installed, CrossOver will configure your application to run on your computer. That's all there is to it.
You can also use wine to install windows applications on linux but its does not provide a lot of choice.