Todd's Blog

Todd's Tips for System Adminstrators

Clearing the Windows Update Cache

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I’ve been seeing issues with Windows updates where computers are getting errors checking in with WSUS. Out of 250 computers I have half a dozen that have update errors. The fix for these is to clear the Windows update cache.

Clearing the cache is straight forward.

  1. Open a command prompt as administrator
  2. run “net stop wuauserv”
  3. go to the windows folder and delete the SoftwareDistribution folder.
  4. run net start wuauserv

There is a Microsoft fixit you can use as well. Check out this link http://support.microsoft.com/Default.aspx?kbid=971058 for more information.

Microsoft TechDays Ottawa – Day 2

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The second day of TechDays Ottawa saw better weather. Day 1 had a terrible snow storm, but despite that, turn out was quite good. I don’t have numbers on how many people came out either day.

My session on Day 2 focused on Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP2 (WSUS). The session went quite well from my side. All my demo’s worked which is always a good thing. The best part of the session was the end when people started coming up and asking questions. I like hearing how other people are using the technology I am speaking about. In my small environment (100 computers) where I am a jack of all trades, I like hearing how larger organizations are leveraging the technology. One organization was telling me how they use a disconnected a WSUS server to manage a network which has no internet connection.

I met a couple of people and spoke about MDT with them. One person has about 5000 computers they build images for in MDT and another builds images for 14000 computers which most are sent to offices in foreign countries. It was a case of the teacher becoming the student and I was able to pick their brain for a bit getting a few ideas on how to leverage MDT when I have someone else actually doing the deployments. (I build them, they deploy).

TechDays was a great event. I strongly encourage people to go out and attend when it comes around. My wish for next year is hands on labs.

Blue Screen of Death Appears at TechDays Ottawa

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The dreaded blue screen of death has appeared at TechDays here in Ottawa.

Blue Screen of Death in WINRE TechDays Demo

This was in the Windows Recovery session and it was part of the demo. They made it appear by feeding “Green Eggs and Ham” to SAM. When the SAM is replaced by something that is not supposed to be there, this is what happens. WINRE was used to recover the SAM and make the computer boot again.

This was just one of the many great sessions on Day 1 of TechDays in Ottawa. I presented the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 (MDT 2010) on Day 1; Day 2 is running today and I will be presenting Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP2 (WSUS). There are many great sessions going on today; Exchange 2010, DirectAccess and Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5 (ACT) are some of today’s great sessions, so be sure to check them out.