Tag: Windows | IT Nota

How to Remove Cached Credentials without Rebooting Windows

The typical situation is you’ve connected to a network share with a User ID and a password. Then for one reason or another, the password was changed.

As soon as you get asked to enter the User ID and password again, even after entering the latest password, you’re still getting an error message:

Open Folder

\\server_name\c$ is not accessible. You might not have permission to use this network resource. Contact the administrator of this server to find out if you have access permissions.

The issue is after the password was recycled, the old password is still cached in your system, so we need to clear out the cache first.

You can check on what’s in the cache by opening a PowerShell or Command Prompt and type in the following:

C:\>net use

And you should see something similar to this:

C:\>net use
New connections will be remembered.


Status  Local    Remote                    Network
----------------------------------------------------------------------
OK      G:       \\Server1\Apps            Microsoft Windows Network
OK      H:       \\Server2\Customers       Microsoft Windows Network

Disconnected     \\server_name\c$          Microsoft Windows Network
The command completed successfully.

The network drive you’re looking for is the one that is disconnected and we need to delete it.

We can do so by typing the following command:

net use \\server_name\c$ /delete

And you will get confirmation that it was deleted successfully.

C:\>net use \\server_name\c$ /delete
\\server_name\c$ was deleted successfully.

Once you see this, you can close the PowerShell or Command Prompt windows and try to reconnect to the network share drive again.

How to Create SSH Keys

The recommendation now is to use ED25519 whenever you can.

Commands

Using ED25519

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Using RSA

ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 4096 -C "[email protected]"

-C is optional, if not used then the login and machine name is going to be used instead.

Use -b to specify key size.

Ways to create SSH keys on macOS

On Mac OSX and Linux

You just get to Terminal and start typing:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

You can use either your email address as label or anything that can be used to remind you what you use the SSH key for.

On PC

You need to download an external client such as puttygen (from putty) or if you have GIT, you can use the bash shell interface as well and the command is the same.

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "[email protected]"

Adding the Key

eval $(ssh-agent -s)

ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_keys

To see the Keys

ssh-add -l

To copy key to clipboard:

$ pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_keys.pub

How to Set MS Edge for IE Compatibility Mode

If you need to access legacy websites designed for earlier versions of Internet Explorer, such as those using VBScript client (as opposed to JavaScript), you may encounter issues with the website rendering or functionality in modern browsers, including Microsoft Edge.

However, there is a solution in Microsoft Edge that can help resolve these issues. By using Internet Explorer compatibility mode, you can ensure that these legacy websites will display and function properly in Microsoft Edge.

Here are the steps to set Microsoft Edge to Internet Explorer compatibility mode:

Method 1

Open Microsoft Edge and click on the three dots (…) in the upper-right corner to access the settings menu.
Select the Settings option from the drop-down menu.
Under Settings on the left pane, scroll down to the Default browser section.
Click on the Add button under Internet Explorer mode pages and an Add a page window will open.
Enter the full URL (or IP address) of the legacy site and click the Add button, it will bring you back to the Settings window with the newly added site.
Close the Settings page and restart Microsoft Edge.

Here’s a summary of the steps in a screenshot:

After restarting Microsoft Edge, it will be set to use Internet Explorer compatibility mode and you should be able to access websites and web applications that require Internet Explorer.

Method 2

If you have Enterprise Mode turned on, you can just add the website URL to the file sites.xml:

Go to C:\IEEnterpriseMode folder and look for a file called sites.xml.

Open sites.xml with a text editor and you should see something similar to this:

<site-list version="1">
  <created-by>
    <tool>EMIESiteListManager</tool>
    <version>12.0.0.0</version>
    <date-created>01/01/2023 00:24:49</date-created>
  </created-by>
  <site url="www.itnota.com">
    <compat-mode>IE11</compat-mode>
    <open-in>IE11</open-in>
  </site>
</site-list>

Just add all the sites you want to access with IE compatibility mode to the XML file like so:

<site-list version="1">
  <created-by>
    <tool>EMIESiteListManager</tool>
    <version>12.0.0.0</version>
    <date-created>01/01/2023 00:24:49</date-created>
  </created-by>
  <site url="www.itnota.com">
    <compat-mode>IE11</compat-mode>
    <open-in>IE11</open-in>
  </site>
  <site url="www.mysite.com">
    <compat-mode>IE11</compat-mode>
    <open-in>IE11</open-in>
  </site>
</site-list>

Once completed, just save the file and exit.

You can try each method or both in conjunction. It shouldn’t affect one or the other. That’s all there is to it.

How to Delay Shutdown or Restart on a Windows Server

One client had a windows server with a memory leak problem that needed further investigation. While the application was still being checked, the production server had to be rebooted at least once a week.

What struck me was that they really assigned an FTE to log in after midnight to reboot the server manually. And this is really unnecessary.

While I understand that a highly critical system may need close supervision, most activities such as this can be done automatically using the shutdown.exe command tool. This tool is available on all Windows OS (server or desktop) and very handy for a super simple task like the case above. If needed, you can even do a more fancy automation with a script.

Nobody should do an extra work at odd hours just to reboot a server. You can always execute the shutdown command in advance by using a time-delay option.

For a server reboot with a time-delay, use the following command in Command Prompt window or Windows PowerShell:

PS H:\> shutdown /r /f /t 21600

/r – Restarts the computer after shutdown.

/f – Forces running applications to close without warning users.
Caution: Using the /f option might result in loss of unsaved data.

/t – Sets the time-out period before shutdown to xxx seconds.

In this example, the time is set to 21,600 seconds (or 6 hours).

Pay attention that you get a confirmation window to check when the system will be rebooted (bottom right corner).

If you make a mistake or just want to change your mind on the parameters, you can always cancel your job by using /a parameter (abort). This only works when you use the time-delay. Otherwise the shutdown is instantly executed.

PS H:\> shutdown /a

Then you can execute a new shutdown command with the new parameters.

For more available options, you can run shutdown with a /? flag or check the link at the end of this post.

Important: If you want to really shut down a computer or server, you need to use /s parameter (instead of /r), but only use it to a local workstation or server that you can access. I personally never use this flag for any remote systems.

It’s also worth repeating from the remarks, that the user id you use to execute this command has to have the proper access level:

Users must be assigned the Shut down the system user right to shut down a local or remotely administered computer that is using the shutdown command.
Users must be members of the Administrators group to annotate an unexpected shutdown of a local or remotely administered computer. If the target computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure. For more information, see:
- Default local groups
- Default groups

Yes, there is a situation that warrants a manual reboot when there are sensitive interconnecting processes involved, but for a simple server reboot, there’s always a smarter and more practical way to do it and we should try to utilize any tools provided to make life simpler and minimize burn out.

How to Type Emoji Using Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows and macOS

One thing that you can do easily in a smartphone but not so obvious in a desktop computer is to quickly type an emoji character in your text. By memorizing these keyboard shortcuts, you can do the same, whether it’s on a Mac or a Windows system.

Mac

On a mac, press all these keys: ⌃ CTRL + ⌘ Command + spacebar.

Windows

Either of these combinations will work on Windows 10 or later:

Windows + . (Period)
Windows + ; (Semicolon)

That’s all there is to it.

Notice that the emoji will be rendered a bit differently for each OS, but that should not be a problem.

Once you know this trick, soon enough you’ll be more tempted to using it more in your notes or blog. 🍻

How to Remove Cached Credentials without Rebooting Windows

Further Reading

How to Create SSH Keys

Commands

Ways to create SSH keys on macOS

On Mac OSX and Linux

On PC

Adding the Key

To see the Keys

To copy key to clipboard:

Further Reading

How to Set MS Edge for IE Compatibility Mode

Method 1

Method 2

Further Reading

How to Delay Shutdown or Restart on a Windows Server

Further Reading

How to Type Emoji Using Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows and macOS

Mac

Windows

Further Reading

Recent Posts

Further Reading

Commands

Ways to create SSH keys on macOS

On Mac OSX and Linux

On PC

Adding the Key

To see the Keys

To copy key to clipboard:

Further Reading

Method 1

Method 2

Further Reading

Further Reading

Mac

Windows

Further Reading

Recent Posts

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