There’s an issue in Windows 10 which causes Microsoft Account passwords to become out of sync when using Remote Desktop (RDP). For example, I have a few computer systems running Windows 10 which I only access via Remote Desktop using my Microsoft Account (for example, username@outlook.com). If I were to change my Microsoft Account password from another computer system or Outlook.com, the new password will not work when connecting over RDP. However, the old password will continue to authenticate successfully. This is both annoying and a security issue. Below is a method to force a password sync. Continue reading…
How to enable c$ admin share on Windows 10 and Server 2016
The hidden administrative network share (also known as c$ admin share) is not accessible by default in Windows 10. The administrative share is automatically created but can’t be access by browsing to “\\computername\c$” from a machine on a workgroup or home network. In a domain environment the c$ share should already be available. In a workstation or home environment the administrative share can be enabled from the registry. Continue reading…
How to install Kodi addons
The majority of Kodi add-ons are obtained through third-party repositories. These repositories are maintained by communities and don’t last forever. Some are even forced offline due to legal pressure. In some cases completely legitimate add-ons are affected and adding new repositories or add-ons to continue accessing specific content.
Adding repositories and add-ons to Kodi is fairly straight forward. You can follow the general instructions below to add a repository and install any of its hosted add-ons.
For more information on Kodi and a list of popular add-ons, see How to stream tv shows, movies, and sports with Kodi.
How to fix “No stream available” in Covenant for Kodi
In October 2017 numerous updates were made to the Covenant add-on for Kodi. One of those updates included a new dialog to display the number of different quality streams and has resulted in the error “No stream available” although streams are clearly available. Good news, there’s an easy fix. Continue reading…
Watch NHL Gamecenter or NHL.TV in 60fps with Kodi
If you’re unable to use the NHL app for iOS or Android to stream the game then you’ve probably tried the NHL.TV or Rogers Gamecenter websites. And you probably discovered they’re terrible. Especially from a Media Center PC running Windows. The websites do not support high DPI displays and stream at a measly 30fps. But if you’re running Kodi, there’s a great add-on called NHL TV available from the official Kodi repository. Continue reading…
Avoid blackouts with NHL Gamecenter or NHL.TV
It seems each year more and more NHL games are facing blackouts for cord cutters. This mostly applies to “in-market” games using NHL.TV or Rogers NHL Gamecenter (depending if you live in the US or Canada). The NHL defines “in-market” games as those which are broadcast by a regional television provider in your area. “Out-of-market” games can be streamed with no problem. For example, if you’re a Montreal or Ottawa fan living in Atlantic Canada, you won’t have much luck. But if you’re a Canucks fan, you’ll be able to stream every game. Continue reading…
How to stream tv shows, movies, and sports with Kodi
Kodi is a full featured media center actively developed for numerous platforms such as Windows, Linux, and Android. Kodi can play media such music, videos, pictures from your device, over your home network, as well as from the Internet. But Kodi’s add-on functionality is what makes it such a great media centre. Add-ons from official and third-party sources provide the ability to stream movies and television shows. I’ll go over the basics and then explain how to get started with my favorite add-ons. Continue reading…
HTA to prompt for computer name and time zone in OSD of Configuration Manager
A common requirement of new operating system deployments from Configuration Manager is to have the ability to prompt for variables such as a computer name, time zone, and whether or not to install applications and updates. You could add MDT integration to Configuration Manager or you could create your own HTA using basic HTML and VBScript. However there are limitations with HTA files you should be aware of and you’ll need to tweak your task sequences. Continue reading…
WSUS virtual machine high CPU usage
I was recently deploying a WSUS server as part of a System Center Configuration Manager implementation when my Configuration Manager server’s CPU became pegged at 100%. It was clear the issue was being caused by the WsusPool IIS application pool. I was expecting the CPU to struggle for a few hours during the initial check-ins by Windows Clients. I had also made the recommended changes to the WsusPool to service the demands of Windows 10 clients. However after 24 hours the server was still struggling with 8 vCPU using 99% CPU.
Eventually I noticed VMTools was absent from the virtual machine. I researched whether this could have an enormous performance impact and as it turns out, it can. The storage drivers alone vastly improve I/O performance for intensive workloads.Installing VMTools immediately resolved the issue. The WsusPool continued to be intensive for a few more hours while it processed client check-ins but used only 20-30% CPU while the IIS Worker Process was able to grow to consume 12GB of memory. But a few hours later initial client check-ins had completed and everything was back to normal.
Conclusion: Install VMTools.
Windows 10 Express Updates in Configuration Manager taking a long time to download and install
Windows 10 and Server 2016 Express Updates may not be what we think they are. I was recently implementing System Center Configuration Manager 1702 and thought I’d try enabling Microsoft’s newly released Express Updates functionality which become fully supported as of the April 2017 Cumulative Update. However I quickly discovered there’s major consequences of enabling the global settings.
How to stream from iPhone, iPad, or Android to Kodi
Media such as music and videos can be streamed to Kodi from an iOS or Android device basically transforming your Kodi instance into an AirPlay and/or DLNA receiver. Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices rely on Airplay while Android device can leverage the DLNA standard in conjunction with an app. However these features are not enabled within Kodi by default. Continue reading…
How to improve sources in Kodi with a premium provider
Addons for Kodi such as Covenant, Elysium, and Exodus rely on third-party sources for content. In many cases these sources will have daily bandwidth limits and connection throttling. Real-Debrid is an unlimited multihoster which provides access to premium hosting providers with faster, reliable, and higher quality sources (1080P and HD). It’s fairly inexpensive costing around $5 a month. For more information on Kodi, see the article What is Kodi and how do I use it to stream movies and tv shows? Continue reading…
Send vCenter statistics to Graphite/Grafana with PowerShell
In this article I’ll walk you through setting up VMPerf-To-Graphite PowerShell script written by Matthias and available on GitHub. This will provide the ability to graph metrics such as CPU memory, IOPS, read latency, and write latency on a per-VM basis. It’s extremely useful information that will provide insight for troubleshooting resource contention. And the best part, it’s Open Source.
If you don’t already have Grafana and Graphite, see the article Installing and configuring Grafana on Ubuntu. Continue reading…
How to use your own router with Bell Aliant FibreOP internet by enabling Advanced DMZ
Bell Aliant FibreOP internet is a popular choice among Atlantic Canadians. It’s one of the fastest providers in the country with no bandwidth limitations. However the equipment provided by Bell Aliant may not suit everyone’s needs. If you’ve tried to attach a router to a Bell Aliant modem you will quickly realized that multiple internal networks are created as the Bell Aliant modem also acts as a router and wireless access point. It becomes convoluted if you require port forwarding as the rules would have to be configured on both the Bell Aliant equipment as well as your router. To make matters worse, the Bell Aliant equipment could interfere with your personal router’s wireless network performance. There’s a better way to use your own personal router with Bell Aliant FibreOP internet. Continue reading…
Installing and configuring Grafana on Ubuntu
Graphite is a scalable metric graphing solution. It’s a popular choice in the enterprise for collecting metrics from multiple sources and producing readable graphs. However, Graphite’s graphing interface isn’t all that user friendly and it’s difficult to showcase the collected metrics. This is where Grafana shines. Grafana is a web front-end for Graphite or InfluxDB. Although they have their own graphing solutions, Grafana is far more powerful and much easier to use. I’ll guide you through installing and configuring Graphite and Grafana on Ubuntu 14.04.
Continue reading…