The guys at the Ask the Directory Services Team blog have just published the list of latest Directory Services related hotfixes ( see http://blogs.technet.com/b/askds/archive/2010/10/18/new-directory-services-content-10-10-10-16.aspx ). For your convenience I have put in a direct link and a short description for the two Group Policy related hotfixes. KB2379592 – "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error message…

  Back in the days of Windows XP IT administrators could disable the local administrator account on domain joined computers but still be able to use the account if they rebooted the computer into safe mode (see How to access the computer after you disable the administrator account ). To log on to Windows by using the disabled local Administrator…

The below article shows you how to use Group Policy Preference to setup the registry keys on a computer so that it automatically logs onto when its turned on. While doing this is potentially huge security issue and not something I would generally recommend IT staff might want to implement on computers that are highly locked down and used for…

Microsoft have just announced they will allow small business with less that 10 seats to use Microsoft Security Essentials for free. But even having to configured 10 copies of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) can be a pain so below is a quick tutorial on how you can Group Policy Enable Microsoft Security Essentials. Update: Microsoft have now updated their Microsoft…

On my recent trip to New Zealand to speak a TechEd 2010 I managed to record a podcast with Richard Campbell for the RunAs Radio podcast. The conversation explores how group policy can now be used to map drives, printers and other features, leading to the virtual elimination of login scripts. If you would like to listen to the podcast…

Here is another one of my TechEd 2010 Australia sessions… Description: Managing Desktop Security is more than just installing scanning software, it’s about managing the applications, the data and ensuring the environment is monitored. In this session we look at AppLocker for to help you decide which ones to allow and which ones to squelch. Then at securing data both…

The video of my Australian TechEd Group Policy Preferences session is now online and its in h264 so you will should be able to play it back you iPad, iPhone or any other HTML5 browser without the need for a plugin. Description: This demo-heavy session illustrates how to use new features in Group Policy to do things that will make…

Last week I talked about the “Remove Homegroup link from the Start Menu” option that removed removed the links from the start menu to the Homegroup option without it being disabled. However the setting by itself does not stop a computer from joining a homegroup. So this weeks setting is of course called “Prevent the computer from joining a Homegroup”…