Windows

The Windows Defender Firewall is a critical component of Windows security, controlling inbound and outbound network traffic to protect my system from unauthorized access and malicious activity. While often misunderstood, managing it effectively is essential for both security and application functionality. This post clarifies the distinction between “Windows Firewall” and “Windows Defender Firewall,” and provides command-line and PowerShell methods to manage its state (on/off) and configure rules. 1. “Windows Firewall” vs “Windows Defender Firewall” The naming of Windows’ built-in firewall can be a source of confusion, but the reality is simpler than it seems. ...

When writing portable scripts, one of the first challenges is locating files relative to the script itself. Whether in PowerShell or a classic Batch file, I need a reliable way to find my script’s “home” directory. This guide breaks down the two most important tools I use for this job: $PSScriptRoot for PowerShell and %~dp0 for Batch. 1. The Batch Method cd /d %~dp0 In Windows Batch scripting (.bat, .cmd), the magic variable %~dp0 is the standard for getting the script’s directory. I often use it with cd to change the working directory. ...

When it comes to transferring large files (10–100 GB) between Windows systems, the tool I choose can have a massive impact on speed, reliability, and security. In this ultimate showdown, I 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). I tested them across different network conditions, from a high-speed 10 GbE LAN to a real-world 5G wireless connection, to help me decide which tool reigns supreme for my specific needs. ...

When I tried to activate Microsoft Office in a corporate or restricted network environment, I 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. Note: This guide assumes you have already installed Microsoft Office. If you need a guide on how to automate the installation of Office 2021, see our companion article: Automate Office 2021 Install & Remove Old Versions ...

Creating a full, bootable backup of a USB drive as an .iso or .img file is a critical task for IT professionals and tech enthusiasts. Whether I am archiving a custom Windows installer, preserving a Linux live environment, or creating deployment images, a sector-by-sector clone ensures that the bootloader, partition table, and all data are perfectly preserved. This guide provides three reliable methods to clone a bootable USB drive, catering to different user preferences: the command-line power of PowerShell with WSL, the simplicity of a GUI tool on Windows, and the classic dd command on Linux. ...

For system administrators, creating a standardized desktop environment often involves customizing the Windows taskbar. While pinning items is easy for a user, automating the process of listing or unpinning applications can be surprisingly difficult. Windows intentionally does not provide a simple, built-in command to manage pinned items to prevent applications from pinning themselves without user consent. However, with a bit of PowerShell scripting, I can gain control over the taskbar. This guide will walk through the most effective methods I use to list, unpin, and manage taskbar items programmatically. ...

When installing Windows 11 on a VMware virtual machine (Workstation, Player, or ESXi), it’s common to run into a frustrating roadblock: “This PC can’t run Windows 11” or “TPM 2.0 requirement not met.” This error occurs because Windows 11 has stricter security requirements than its predecessors, mandating features that are not enabled by default on most virtual machines. Fortunately, this is easy to fix. This guide will walk through the best ways I found to resolve the TPM error, from the official VMware method to simple bypasses. ...

Querying Active Directory (AD) is a fundamental task for any Windows administrator. Whether I need to generate a report, audit user accounts, or automate a task, PowerShell’s Get-ADUser cmdlet is the most powerful and flexible tool for the job. This guide will walk through everything I learned to get started with Get-ADUser, from basic queries to advanced filtering and exporting results to a CSV file. Prerequisites Before I can use Get-ADUser, I need to have the Active Directory module for PowerShell installed. This is part of the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT). ...