Posts Tagged ‘Workstation’

How to troubleshoot user logon issues?

Posted: April 3, 2012 in Logon Script with Shell, Server, System Basics, System Information, Windows XP, WorkStation
Tags: , ,
0

User logon problems are sometimes hard to troubleshoot. Have you checked the Application log on the machine in question? There might be (most likely) some errors in there from source Userenv (ID’s 1053, 1054).
Turning on Userenv debug logging will also help in troubleshooting user logon problems. You can do this by adding a Registry key:

– Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
– Value: UserEnvDebugLevel
– Value Type: REG_DWORD
– Value Data: 10002 (Hex)

The log will be located in: %systemroot%\debug\usermode\userenv.log.

In the log you will exactly see what happens during logon at what time. If you see a large difference between times you’ll know what part of the logon process is causing the long delay.

Advertisement

Hubs versus Switches

Posted: June 1, 2011 in Cables, Networking, Switch, System Basics, System Information
Tags: ,
0

Hubs and switches are similar in many ways. Both contain connection ports into which twisted-pair RJ-45 connectors (similar to phone RJ-11 jacks) plug. They can be administered remotely. Either can be used to create a LAN, and they funnel messages to the network backbones.

 

There are salient differences between hubs and switches, however:

 

  • Shared or dedicated bandwidth —The main distinction is how they operate. Hosts in a hub-based network share the full bandwidth, but a switch is capable of creating independent full-speed connections for any two devices on the LAN that must communicate. Each connection operates at the full switch bandwidth.
  • How they handle signals —A hub acts like a repeater. It takes an incoming frame and retransmits it to all other attached hosts. Each hub port has a single host connected to it. Hubs are dumb devices and cannot learn. Switches examine incoming frames and immediately transmit them to one or more other ports. This process is very fast. Each switch port can have a single host or a LAN segment connected to it. Switches learn media access control (MAC) addresses and build a contentaddressable memory (CAM) table.
  •  Cost —Switches are more expensive than hubs for the same number of ports because they have more powerful hardware and software capabilities. Switches have more memory, a CPU, and a complete suite of software tools to manage them. Hubs have a trimmed-down version of the firmware code.

 

Like switches, bridges are also layer 2 devices. They learn MAC addresses, filter and forward frames, and can be used to segment LANs. However, they usually have 16 or fewer ports. Much of the functionality of bridges has been moved to routers.

 

Just as routers have replaced bridges at layer 3, switches (as their cost continues to fall) may eventually replace hubs at layer 2, but that has not happened yet. Hubs, it must be pointed out, have become smarter, less expensive, and easier to set up and manage. As more and more LANs are being set up, network managers continue to deploy hubs as an easy and inexpensive way to connect printers, low-traffic servers, PCs, and management consoles. The number of installed hubs is increasing mainly because of cost and simplicity.

Education First, Bangalore [EF]

Posted: April 12, 2011 in EF, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
13

EF stands for “Education First”. Founded in 1965 by entrepreneur Bertil Hult, EF is a privately-held company with 16 divisions that offer a range of educational programs from language training, educational travel, and academic degrees to cultural exchanges. With a mission to break down barriers in language, culture and geography, EF has helped people of all ages and nationalities become citizens of the world.

From Berlin to Beijing, Moscow to Mexico City, Dubai to Denver, EF operates 400 schools and offices in over 50 countries. EF’s global network includes 9,000 staff and 25,000 teachers and guides. To date, EF has helped over 15 million people to learn a new language, discover the world, or earn an academic degree.

“Education First” is more than our company name. It is our corporate passion.

EF’s mission is to break down the barriers of language, culture and geography that divide us.

The Official Website

 

About EF Bangalore

It all started with the idea that rather than outsourcing our systems development and maintenance, we could do it smarter and better ourselves – with our own people!

Just over a year and a half ago, a team of people therefore came to Bangalore, the Santa Barbara of India, interviewing hundreds and hundreds of people to find the most remarkable talent the market could offer. We started small, hiring only the best of the best, and began the journey from a very tiny temporary office.

 

As the number of highly skilled people grew, we also initiated the hunt for a bigger and more suitable workplace. After months of negotiations with landlords and architects, innumerous approval stamps, vanished construction workers and delayed furniture, we finally got everything in place and moved in to our new EF office on Cambridge Road on February 1st.

The office was built on the notion that you should feel at home, even when you are in the office; it should be a place where creativity and ideas spire, where you can feel the energy and power to achieve the impossible, and where your friends and colleagues inspire you to walk the extra mile.

We in Bangalore are very proud of our new office and would love for you to come and visit, maybe have a chai in our coffee lounge or enjoy the views from our roof terrace. And, we would of course take the opportunity to show you what we can and will achieve with technology!

Get IT right! Own IT!

What Happens When You Start Your Computer

Posted: May 22, 2010 in Bios, System Basics, System Information
Tags: ,
0

As stated earlier in this chapter, the Windows XP/Windows Server 2003 boot sequence closely resembles that of Windows NT/2000. Listed below are the processes that take place when Windows NT-based operating system successfully starts on an x86-based computer:

  • Power On Self Test (POST)
  • Initial startup process
  • Boot loader process
  • Operating-system selection (if you have a multi-boot system)
  • Hardware detection
  • Hardware-profile selection
  • Kernel-loading process
  • Kernel-initialization process
  • User-logon process
Note The startup sequence quoted above applies to systems started or restarted after a normal shutdown. The startup processes begin when you do one of the following:

  • Turn on the computer
  • Reboot the system

However, this startup sequence does not apply when resuming from hibernate or standby modes.

When you log on, the process of loading Windows NT/2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 is completed, as well as are most of the initialization procedures. However, the startup can only really be considered as successfully completed after you log on to the system.

The following requirements need to be met to successfully begin the Windows NT/2000/XP/Windows Server 2003 startup:

  • Correct initialization of all the hardware.
  • Presence of all required files for starting the OS. If any of these files aren’t present in the correct folder or are corrupt, the startup will fail.

Adding Shutdown or Restart Reasons and Comments

Posted: May 2, 2010 in System Basics, System Information, WorkStation
Tags: ,
1

In most network environments, it’s a good idea to document the reasons for shutting down or restarting computers. With unplanned shutdowns, you can document the shutdown in the computer’s system log by expanding the syntax to include the following parameters:

/e /c "UnplannedReason" /d MajorCode:MinorCode

where /C “UnplannedReason” sets the detailed reason (which can be up to 127 characters in length) for the shutdown or restart, and /D MajorCode:MinorCode sets the reason code for the shutdown. Reason codes are arbitrary, with valid major codes ranging from 0 to 255 and valid minor reason codes ranging from 0 to 65,535. Consider the following example:

shutdown /r /e /m \\Mailer1 /c "System Reset" /d 5:15

In this example, you are restarting MAILER1 and documenting the reason for the unplanned restart as a “System Reset” using the reason code 5:15.

With planned shutdowns and restarts, prefix the reason codes with p: to indicate a planned shutdown, as shown here:

/e /c "PlannedReason" /d p:MajorCode:MinorCode

For instance, consider the following code:

shutdown /r /e /m \\Mailer1 /c "Planned Application Upgrade" /d p:4:2

Managing Restart and Shutdown of Remote Systems

Posted: May 2, 2010 in Server, System Basics, System Information, WorkStation
Tags: ,
0

With remote systems, you need to specify the UNC name or IP address of the system you want to shut down or restart using the /M parameter. Thus, the basic syntax for shutdown, restart, and cancel delayed shutdown become

Shutdown remote system:

shutdown /s /t ShutdownDelay /l /f /m \\System

Restart remote system:

shutdown /r /t ShutdownDelay /l /f /m \\System

Cancel delayed shutdown of remote computer:

shutdown /a /m \\System

In this example, MAILER1 is restarted after a 30-second delay:

shutdown /r /t 30 /m \\Mailer1

In this example, the system with the IP address 192.168.1.101 is restarted immediately and running applications are forced to stop running:

shutdown /r /f /m \\192.168.1.101

Managing Restart and Shutdown of Local Systems

Posted: May 2, 2010 in Registry, Server, System Basics, System Information, WorkStation
Tags:
0

On a local system, you can manage shutdown and restart using the following commands:

Shutdown local system:

shutdown /s /t ShutdownDelay /l /f

Restart local system:

shutdown /r /t ShutdownDelay /l /f

Cancel delayed shutdown of local computer:

shutdown /a

where /T ShutdownDelay is used to set the optional number of seconds to wait before shutdown or restart, /L optionally logs off the current user immediately, and /F optionally forces running applications to close without warning users in advance. In this example, the local system is restarted after a 60-second delay:

shutdown /r /t 60