Networking

Encountering “System Error 5 has occurred. Access is denied.” when trying to access a Windows network share can be frustrating. This error typically indicates that while the client can reach the server, the server is rejecting the connection for security reasons. This often happens when trying to connect as a non-domain user or when guest access is not properly configured. This guide will walk you through the common causes of “Access Denied” (Error 5) and provide clear, step-by-step solutions to fix it. ...

“System Error 53 has occurred. The network path was not found.” is a common and frustrating error when trying to access a Windows network share. Unlike “Access Denied” (Error 5), which means you’ve reached the server but were rejected, Error 53 means your computer cannot even find a route to the server. This error almost always points to a problem with network connectivity or name resolution. This guide will walk you through the steps to diagnose and resolve this issue. ...

When attempting to create a new item on a Windows network share, you might encounter a security-related error that prevents the connection: “New-Item: You can’t access this shared folder because your computer is configured to require SMB signing. These policies help protect your PC from unsafe or malicious devices on the network.” This error indicates a security policy mismatch between your client machine and the server hosting the share. It’s not a permissions issue, but rather a conflict in how the two machines handle the integrity of SMB (Server Message Block) traffic. ...

When it comes to transferring large files (10–100 GB) between Windows systems, the tool you choose can have a massive impact on speed, reliability, and security. In this ultimate showdown, we compare three titans of file transfer: the secure and universal SCP (OpenSSH), the multi-threaded powerhouse Robocopy (SMB), and the PowerShell-native Copy-Item (WinRM). We’ll test them across different network conditions, from a high-speed 10 GbE LAN to a real-world 5G wireless connection, to help you decide which tool reigns supreme for your specific needs. ...

In the world of remote administration with PowerShell, two protocols stand out: the traditional, Windows-native WinRM (Windows Remote Management) and the modern, cross-platform SSH (Secure Shell). Both allow you to execute commands on remote machines, but they are built on fundamentally different technologies and philosophies. Choosing the right protocol is crucial for building a secure, efficient, and scalable automation strategy. This guide will provide a deep dive into both SSH and WinRM, comparing their setup, security, performance, and best use cases to help you make an informed decision. ...

If you’ve ever tried to activate Microsoft Office in a corporate or restricted network environment, you may have encountered frustrating activation failures. Even with a valid license, Office activation can fail if it cannot communicate with Microsoft’s activation servers. This is almost always due to a firewall blocking the necessary outbound traffic. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the required domains and ports for Office activation and offers ready-to-use scripts to configure various firewalls, including Windows Firewall, Cisco ASA, Palo Alto, pfSense, and Linux iptables. ...

In a secure or air-gapped environment, installing Windows features that normally require an internet connection can be a challenge. A common example is the OpenSSH Server, which is essential for secure remote management. When you run Add-WindowsCapability, Windows typically downloads the package from Microsoft Update. This guide provides two reliable methods for installing the OpenSSH Server on an offline Windows machine (Server 2019/2022 or Windows 10/11), ensuring you can maintain security and manageability even without internet access. ...

When diagnosing network connectivity issues, one of the most fundamental steps is to determine if a specific TCP port is open and listening on a remote host. A closed, blocked, or unresponsive port is often the root cause of application failures, and knowing how to test it is a critical skill for any IT professional. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the most common and reliable methods to test port connectivity on Windows, from modern PowerShell cmdlets to classic command-line tools. ...

The dsregcmd command-line tool is an indispensable utility for any administrator managing Windows devices in a modern, hybrid environment. It provides a wealth of information about a device’s identity and its join state with both on-premises Active Directory (AD) and cloud-based Azure AD (Entra ID). However, the output can sometimes be confusing. A common scenario is running dsregcmd /status and seeing that AzureAdJoined, EnterpriseJoined, and DomainJoined are all set to NO. While this might look like an error, it simply means the computer is in a standalone workgroup state. ...

Have you ever removed a computer from an Active Directory (AD) domain, only to find that you can still ping it and connect to it via RDP? This confusing behavior is a common source of frustration for system administrators and is often a symptom of a larger issue: stale computer identities. In a modern, hybrid environment, a single computer can have multiple identities across different systems. Understanding these identities is the key to resolving these conflicts and properly managing your devices. ...