Exporting the List of installed Windows Security Updates on the Server

Exporting the List of installed Windows Security Updates on the Server

Recently found another method that doesn't require 3rd party software using wmic; just type: wmic qfe from the command line. The default output gives really long lines, so you might be better off redirecting to a file and viewing it in your favorite text editor.

Variations on a theme include:

• wmic qfe list full
• wmic qfe get HotfixID,ServicePackInEffect,InstallDate,InstalledBy,InstalledOn
• wmic qfe where "HotfixID = 'KB973687'"
• wmic qfe where "HotfixID = 'KB973687'" get HotfixID, InstallDate, InstalledBy, InstalledOn
• wmic qfe where "HotfixID = 'KB973687'" list full
• wmic /node:myserver qfe list full

Installing the Vi-Client

How to enable Network Level Authentication for Remote Desktop on Windows XP

How to enable Network Level Authentication for Remote Desktop on Windows XP

When connecting to a Windows Server 2008 or newer remote host using remote desktop, you get an error saying that "The remote computer requires Network Level Authentication, which your computer does not support."

To enable Network Level Authentication (NLA) on Windows XP you need to do the following:

1.     Install Service Pack 3.

2.     Click Start->Run, type regedit and then press enter
In the left pane, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa

In the right pane, double click "Security Packages", this brings up a dialog box to modify the values, leave all existing values as they are, and at the end of the list add "tspkg", and click OK.

3.     In the left pane, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders, and in the right pane double click SecurityProviders, and in the dialog box, add "credssp.dll" to the end, be sure that if the list that is present currently is separated by commas, that you add a comma to the value immediately before the "credssp.dll" that you just added. Click OK to save your changes.

4.     Exit the registry editor and restart your computer.

5.     Reattempt your remote desktop connection.

How to install the vSphere Client 5.0

How to install the vSphere Client 5.0

If you’re considering a machine with Windows 8, you may notice that the installer for VMware vSphere client 5.01a (latest release) complains that it can only be installed on “Windows XP SP2 or higher” and quits. For now, here’s the work-around I used:

1. Use 7-zip to open the ~350MB executable and extract the contents
2. In Windows 8, run dotnetfx35.exe – it will prompt you to download and install .NET 2.0. I let it download and install the files it needed.
3. Next, run vjredist64.exe (Assuming Windows 8 x64)
4. Right-Click VMware-viclient.exe, choose “Properties”
5. On the “Compatibility” tab, check the “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and choose “Windows 7″ from the list. Click “Ok”
6. Run the VMware-viclient installer as you normally would.

Windows8 vSphere Client 5.01a Compatibility Settings