Category Archives: Windows Server 2008 R2

Powershell script to find objects using objectGUID value

The objectGUID attribute is a little tricky to work with, especially if you want to use it as part of an LDAP filter.  This is because the value in stored within the directory as an octet string – essentially an array of one-byte characters.  This syntax is not especially user-friendly, which is why it is… Read More: Powershell script to find objects using objectGUID value »

How to find duplicate sAMAccountNames between two forests

When preparing for a migration of AD objects from one forest to another it is useful to know if any of the names are going to conflict.  There are, as you probably know, a number of different naming attributes in AD, but the one most likely to cause problems in the event of a conflict is sAMAccountName. … Read More: How to find duplicate sAMAccountNames between two forests »

How to clear group membership with Powershell

Something I often recommend to my customers is keep the membership of the Enterprise Admins and Schema Admins groups empty and only populate them (temporarily) when required.  The privileges assigned to these groups are obviously high and removing the members reduces the potential for costly mistakes and/or compromise.  Here’s a quick Powershell snippet that will… Read More: How to clear group membership with Powershell »

How to find the renamed domain Built-In Administrator account with Powershell

Many organisations choose to rename the Built-in Administrator account for the domain for security reasons.  Whether or not renaming the account provides any real protection is the matter of some debate.  What is clear is that any hacker worth his or her salt is not going to be fooled by the rename, because the account… Read More: How to find the renamed domain Built-In Administrator account with… »

Microsoft Exchange MAPI and CDO 1.2.1 with no Public Folders

  I came across a problem the other day when using version 6.5.8211.0 of Microsoft Exchange MAPI and CDO 1.2.1 on a server running Good Mobile Messaging.  The Good software accesses user mailboxes via the MAPI CDO client.  At first the mailbox access was failing horribly with the following errors: 2011-03-11 13:24:33 12:00  ERROR:-2147219707 2011-03-11… Read More: Microsoft Exchange MAPI and CDO 1.2.1 with no Public Folders »