General IT

  • Free IT Courses
    General IT,  IT

    Free IT Courses

    I’ve been looking into spending some of my spare time educating myself and have come across some free IT courses and learning resources. I thought I’d share my list of findings here. Some of the listings have paid for content on the site but there are free resources available as well.

  • Alerts,  General IT,  IT

    Domain Name Front Running

    Domain Name Front Running I have just been the victim of Domain Name Front Running. I did not even know it existed, or I had been a victim until it happened again and I was sure it wasn’t a coincidence…. I had a domain name “stolen” from me as I tried to purchase it. What is Domain Name Front Running Domain front running is when you search for a domain name to purchase but do not buy straight away, and a company registers the name and then tries to sell at auction or through a buy now for several thousands of pounds/dollars.

  • General IT,  How To

    How to Backup Sticky Notes and Restore in Windows

    Microsoft have changed how they store Sticky Notes in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update version 1607 (and later). I thought I do a quick post on how to backup your Sticky Notes and restore them between the same version and between different version. I will cover the older method and the new method, and how to transfer from old to new. To find out your version of Windows, press your Windows key + R to bring up the Run prompt. In the “open” box type “winver” and click OK. Sticky Notes How to backup Sticky Notes pre Windows 10 Anniversary Update This method also covers Windows 7, 8, and 8.1.

  • General IT

    This version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with this version of windows

    I was trying to repair a Windows Server 2008 R2 server and got an error at the System Recovery Options screen when booting from the Operating System DVD. This version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair. Try using a recovery disk that is compatible with this version of Windows The error read “This version of System Recovery Options is not compatible with the version of Windows you are trying to repair. Try using a recovery disk that is compatible with this version of Windows.”. The problem was that I was using the correct recovery disk, so why was windows reporting this.

  • Exchange,  General IT,  IT,  Support

    Exchange 2013 Uninstall Error – generating an offline address book

    “This mailbox server is responsible for generating an offline address book” I was trying to uninstall Microsoft Exchange 2013 after moving to Exchange 2016 but kept getting the error “This mailbox server is responsible for generating an offline address book” in the Readiness checks. I ran ‘Get-Mailbox – Arbitration’ to verify all the mailboxes had been moved. Nothing appeared to be pointing at the old server and I could not find any mailboxes on the server. In the end, I ran ADSIEdit and found under Configuration > services> Microsoft Exchange > First Organisation> Address List Container > Offline Address Lists that the Offline Address Book had a reference to the…

  • General IT,  How To,  IT,  Support

    Solved – Dell PowerEdge R430 and installing Windows 2016 from USB

    Today I got a delivery of a new Dell PowerEdge R430 and needed to install Windows 2016 Standard on it. I downloaded the ISO from Microsoft and created a bootable USB pen using the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download tool, but Dell’s LifeCycle controller refused to recognise the USB drive. Dell, if you’re listening, please let us install from USB through the Lifecycle Controller ! The ISO was 5.47 Gb so would not burn to a standard DVD and I needed to deliver this server to my client the following day.