Disable hardware graphics acceleration GPU in Internet Explorer and Office

How to disable hardware graphics acceleration in Internet Explorer and MS Office using registry

Src:
http://shawnbass.com/psa-software-gpu-can-reduce-your-virtual-desktop-scalability/

Registry entries:

IE 9, 10, 11:

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main

Value:   UseSWRender

Type:  REG_DWORD

Data: 0x1

Office 2010:

Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Gfx

Value: DisableHardware

Type:  REG_DWORD

Data:  0x1

Office 2013:

Key:  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common\Graphics

Value:  DisableHardwareAcceleration

Type:  REG_DWORD

Data: 0x1

Disable RDP client credentials prompt

To disable credentials prompt for RDP client, add below line to a connection file (or to default.rdp file in c:\users\username\Documents for global change)

enablecredsspsupport:i:0

This option disables prompting for credentials, but cannot be used with
Network Level Authentication option enabled for RDP.
NLA is available on Windows Vista and newer, and requires credentials to be provided by the client before a session is created on the server side.

Windows 2008 Manage DHCP from command line

How to get MAC addresses of VM using PowerCLI:
PowerCLI C:\> Get-VM | ? {$_.name -like "xdw7pool*"} | Get-NetworkAdapter | sele
ct mac*

How to add reservation to a scope:
netsh dhcp server \\dhcpsrv01 scope 172.16.16.0 add reservedip 172.16.16.56 005056a63c31 xdw7pool03

More on DHCP command line configuration:
http://www.techotopia.com/index.php/Managing_a_Windows_Server_2008_R2_DHCP_Server_from_the_Command_Line

DHCP custom PowerShell module for Windows 2008 R2:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2011/02/14/use-the-powershell-dhcp-module-to-simplify-dhcp-management.aspx

DHCP module for Windows 2012:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/teamdhcp/archive/2012/07/15/bringing-powershell-to-dhcp-server.aspx

GPO Preferences – Target Windows 7 32/64-bit and hotfixes for filtering

There is known issue with GPO Preferences targeting on Windows 7 64-bit.
You need to install a fix described here:

Group Policy preference item-level targeting does not work for 64-bit versions of Windows 7
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2460922

To target Windows 7 32 and 64-bit correctly in GPP you need to use Environment Variable %Processor_Architecture% in Targeting Editor.

%Processor_Architecture% = x86 for Windows x86/32-bit
%Processor_Architecture% = AMD64 for Windows x64/64-bit

There are also two hotfixes related to GPP filtering –  for security group filter and LDAP filter:

976399     FIX: You cannot apply Group Policy settings on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 when security group filters are used in Group Policy preference settings
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976399

976398     LDAP filters in the Group Policy preference settings do not take effect on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 or Windows 7

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976398

Ref.
https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/70ccb4d4-2ae8-4719-9d65-0ce05693ef76/forum-faq-security-group-filter-and-ldap-filter-in-the-group-policy-preference-settings-do-not-take?forum=winserverGP

Error 0x80004005 Unspecified error during access Samba share from Windows 2008

If you try to access a network share located on Linux server with Samba
and you get an error 0x80004005 Unspecified error, please try to change a registry entry as below:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters
Name: RequireSecuritySignature
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: change from 1 to 0


This value is related to SMB packet signing.
You need to restart Workstation service or reboot a server after this change.
More on this:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2010/12/01/the-basics-of-smb-signing-covering-both-smb1-and-smb2.aspx

Open Excel files in new window using file extensions instead of DDE

If you would like to open your Excel files in new window every time you click on it
but an option in Excel “Ignore other applications using dynamic data exchange (DDE)” doesn’t work,
just create a new .reg file, paste the lines below into it and import them into your registry.
This method creates a new file action for .xls, .xlsx and .xlsm files to allow them to be open
in Excel using native excel.exe /x switch. It also doesn’t change DDE settings in Excel.

It works for 64-bit Windows 2008 R2 server with 32-bit Office 2010 and Excel installed in default location
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\EXCEL.EXE
For 32-bit Windows/64-bit Office/Office installed in other location just update the path to the excel.exe.
Once imported, right click on your Excel files – a new “Open in new window” option should be available.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.Sheet.12]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.Sheet.12\shell]
@="OpenInNewProc"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.Sheet.12\shell\OpenInNewProc]
@="Open in new window"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.Sheet.12\shell\OpenInNewProc\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\EXCEL.EXE\" /x \"%1\""

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.Sheet.8]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.Sheet.8\shell]
@="OpenInNewProc"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.Sheet.8\shell\OpenInNewProc]
@="Open in new window"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.Sheet.8\shell\OpenInNewProc\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\EXCEL.EXE\" /x \"%1\""

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.SheetMacroEnabled.12]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.SheetMacroEnabled.12\shell]
@="OpenInNewProc"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.SheetMacroEnabled.12\shell\OpenInNewProc]
@="Open in new window"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Excel.SheetMacroEnabled.12\shell\OpenInNewProc\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Microsoft Office\\Office14\\EXCEL.EXE\" /x \"%1\""

Exclude your app in Windows DEP using registry

Regedit, go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers
add new string value with full path and name to your app as Name
and DisableNXShowUI as a Data, for example:
Value name: c:\path-to-app\appname.exe
Value data: DisableNXShowUI

Group Policy Troubleshooting with GPSVC log

http://blogs.technet.com/b/askds/archive/2015/04/17/a-treatise-on-group-policy-troubleshooting-now-with-gpsvc-log-analysis.aspx

Windows – Allow non-admin users to install printers GPO

Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies ->
-> Security Options:
Devices: Prevent users from installing printer drivers – Disabled

Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Printers:
Point and Print Restrictions – Disabled

Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Driver Installation:
Allow non-administrators to install drivers for these devices setup classes – Enabled for below GUIDs:

{4658EE7E-F050-11D1-B6BD-00C04FA372A7} – IEEE 1394 and SCSI printers
{4D36E979-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} – Printers class

Run Internet Explorer in a loop

@echo off
set zm=1
start "" /b /wait "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
:loop
tasklist | find /i "iexplore" > nul
if %errorlevel% neq 0 start "" /b /wait "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
if %zm% GTR 0 goto loop