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Create snapshots with Active Directory Explorer (AD Explorer) from Sysinternals
Hi Windows Active Directory Friends, Wouldn't it be interesting to know what change there was in our Windows Active Directory? If there was a change, what exactly has changed since yesterday, for example? You can answer exactly such questions when you create snapshots with AD Explorer. You can then compare these snapshots. (Attention, this snapshot is a kind of copy, but is not to be confused with a snapshot like you get from Hyper-V (for example) where you can go back to a previous state.) How this works exactly, I will explain in this post. Let's go! As a first step we organize the AD Explorer from Sysinternals. To do this, you can either navigate directly to the Live Internals page: https://live.sysinternals.com/ or you go to the following URL: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/adexplorer I have stored the AD Explorer directly on my domain controller. This does not have to be the case, you can also store the AD Explorer on another system that is a member of the domain. With a double click on the AD Explorer you get a first message. Confirm the EULA. Now we need to establish a connection with the domain controller. Specify the name of the DC, the account of the domain administrator and the password click OK. Now we are connected to the Active Directory. Navigate to File in the menu and select "Create Snapshot". Give the snapshot a name and specify the location and click OK. I placed the snapshot in the C:\Temp drive. Navigate back to the menu on File and select "Connect". But now select the following: "Enter the path of the previous snapshot to load" and navigate to the location of your snapshot. The snapshot is now visible in AD Explorer. Now let's imagine a leap in time. A day later, you create another snapshot, just as you created the first one. Load the second Snapshot into the tool along with the first Snapshot. Mark the first snapshot as in the picture above. Navigate to "Compare" in the menu and select "Compare Snapshot". At "Select an archive to compare to", find your second snapshot. Then click Compare. Bingo! Now you know what has changed in Active Directory between one day. With this great tool from Windows Sysinternals Suite you can super manage and monitor your Windows Active Directory. I hope I could give you a little idea how to use AD Explorer among other things. Thank you and kind regards, Tom WechslerShare your Sysinternals stories!
Starting today, we are hosting a sweepstakes to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Sysinternals! To enter, all you have to do is post a video or text-based story on Twitter or LinkedIn with the hashtag #SysinternalsStorySweepstakes--or as a reply below--talking about your favorite Sysinternals tool. One lucky winner will receive a 30-minute mentoring session with Microsoft Azure CTO and Sysinternals Creator Mark Russinovich! Full rules for the sweepstakes are below. And, don't forget to join us on October 14, 2021 for Sysinternals @ 25--a live event for those who love (or are just learning about Sysinternals). We'll have a 1:1 chat with Mark, deep dives from the experts, live Q&A, and surprise giveaways. ————————————————————– COMMON TERMS USED IN THESE RULES: These are the official rules that govern how the Microsoft Sysinternals Story Sweepstakes will operate (“Sweepstakes”). In these rules, “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Microsoft Corporation, the sponsor of this Sweepstakes. “You” refers to an eligible Sweepstakes entrant. SWEEPSTAKES DESCRIPTION: For purposes of this Sweepstakes, each submission you post to Twitter or LinkedIn (together “Social Media”) containing the Sweepstakes hashtag #SysinternalsStorySweepstakes will be called an “Entry.” A winner will be selected by random drawing among all eligible entries received during the Entry Period. WHAT ARE THE START AND END DATES? This Sweepstakes starts at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on October 13, 2021, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on October 29, 2021 (“Entry Period”). CAN I ENTER? You are eligible to enter this Sweepstakes if you meet the following requirements at time entry: You are 18 years of age or older and have a registered account on one of the Social Media channels; and If you are 18 of age or older, but are considered a minor in your place of residence, you should ask your parent’s or legal guardian’s permission prior to submitting an entry into this Sweepstakes; and You are NOT a resident of any of the following countries: Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria. PLEASE NOTE: U.S. export regulations prohibit the export of goods and services to Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria. Therefore residents of these countries / regions are not eligible to participate. You are NOT an employee of Microsoft Corporation or an employee of a Microsoft subsidiary; and You are NOT involved in any part of the administration and execution of this Sweepstakes; and You are NOT an immediate family (parent, sibling, spouse, child) or household member of a Microsoft employee, an employee of a Microsoft subsidiary, or a person involved in any part of the administration and execution of this Sweepstakes. This Sweepstakes is void outside the geographic area described above and wherever else prohibited by law. HOW DO I ENTER? There are three ways to create an eligible Entry: Post an original video on Twitter or LinkedIn, using your legally registered account, discussing your favorite Sysinternals tool. The post must contain the hashtag ##SysinternalsStorySweepstakes Post a text-based story on LinkedIn, using your legally registered account, discussing your favorite Sysinternals tool. The post must contain the hashtag #SysinternalsStorySweepstakes. Reply to this post with a video-based or text-based story discussing your favorite Sysinternals tool. Entries must be posted to Social Media or as a reply to this post on the Microsoft Tech Community within the Entry Period and must remain posted until October 29, 2021 to be eligible. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, or administered by, or associated with, Twitter, or LinkedIn. Limit one video Entry or one text-based Entry per person. We are not responsible for entries that we do not receive for any reason, or for entries that we receive but are not decipherable for any reason. We will automatically disqualify: Any incomplete or illegible entry; and Any entries that we receive from you that are in excess of the entry limit described above. WHAT CONSTITUTES AN ELIGIBLE ENTRY? 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However, by submitting your entry, you: are granting us an irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide right and license to: (i) use, review, assess, test and otherwise analyze your entry and all its content in connection with this Sweepstakes and Microsoft products; and (ii) feature your entry and all content in connection with the advertising, marketing, sale, or promotion of this Sweepstakes and Microsoft products (including but not limited to internal and external sales meetings, conference presentations, tradeshows, and screen shots of the Sweepstakes entry in press releases) in all media (now known or later developed) agree to sign any necessary documentation that may be required for us and our designees to make use of the rights you granted above; understand and acknowledge that the Sponsor(s) may have developed or commissioned materials similar or identical to your submission and you waive any claims you may have resulting from any similarities to your entry; understand that we cannot control the incoming information you will disclose to our representatives in the course of entering, or what our representatives will remember about your entry. 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By entering this Sweepstakes you agree: To abide by these Official Rules; and To release and hold harmless Microsoft and its respective parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, employees and agents from any and all liability or any injury, loss or damage of any kind arising from or in connection with this Sweepstakes, or any prize won; and That Microsoft’s decisions will be final and binding on all matters related to this Sweepstakes; and That, by accepting a prize, Microsoft may use of your proper name and state of residence online and in print, or in any other media, in connection with this Sweepstakes, without payment or compensation to you, except where prohibited by law. WHAT LAWS GOVERN THE WAY THIS SWEEPSTAKES IS EXECUTED AND ADMINISTRATED? This Sweepstakes will be governed by the laws of the State of Washington, and you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the courts of the State of Washington for any disputes arising out of this Sweepstakes. 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Further, we may ban you from participating in any of our future Sweepstakes, so please play fairly. HOW CAN I FIND OUT WHO WON? If you send an email to SysinternalsSweepstakes@outlook.com within 30 days of winner selection, we will provide you with the name of the winner. WHO IS SPONSORING THIS CONTEST? Microsoft Corporation One Microsoft Way Redmond, WA 98052
Process Explorer DPI scaling problem on 4K display with 200% scale (Windows 11 Build 26120)
I'm running Process Explorer (procexp64.exe) on Windows 11 Pro Build 26120 with a 4K monitor scaled to 200% (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB card). Regardless of system scaling settings or compatibility adjustments, the UI of Process Explorer reverts to a "need strong reading glasses" size after launch. It seems to not be honoring my 200% scaling. Here’s what I’ve tested: Enabled “Override high DPI scaling behavior” and set it to “System (Enhanced)” Enabled “Program DPI” with “I open this program” option Created a custom external manifest (PerMonitorV2) in the same folder as procexp64.exe Tried toggling between PerMonitorV2 and Application in the manifest I did not enable the global PreferExternalManifest registry setting for safety reasons Process Explorer momentarily honors scaling overrides or manifest settings at launch, but once initialized, it redraws its main window at a smaller, unreadable scale. Dialogs and property windows also do not respect the intended DPI awareness. If I move the window to my second 1k monitor and change that display from 100% to 175% it looks good. It would be helpful if future builds of Process Explorer could maintain DPI consistency on high-resolution displays, or at least expose a command-line or UI flag to force a specific scaling mode. I'm currently agonizing with this issue over ArcGIS Pro's UI on my monitor. Co-Pilot helped me try to sort this issue, and also helped me write this report.Suggestion for AD Explorer
I'd like to see a "Refresh (F5)" feature in AD Explorer. Example - I'll open AD Explorer to a user object and find that a mailbox was never enabled for that account. I'll pop-open Powershell and enable the mailbox. Now, back to AD Explorer, the changes made are not reflected. Having a Right-click/Refresh on the object would be much more convenient than disconnecting and reconnecting with the directory. Thanks for the awesome tools that I use daily!
Autoruns renders system unbootable
Autoruns renders system unbootable, while using it from within WinPE: Autoruns -> Files -> Analyze Offline System... Last version causing no trouble using it this way is 13.100. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/autoruns Running Autoruns from a fully installed system and using this method does not cause any problems so far. Affected registry hives are SOFTWARE and SYSTEM. Recovering the system or at least some entries is only successful with an (older) existing backup of the registry files. The corrupted registry file SYSTEM even lost the computername. All information off the harddrives are lost too. Registry Recon confirms it. All red entries have been damaged. I am not sure where exactly i should report this. It can easily be reproduced by running it under any WinPE, it happens every time i used it. I like to use the newest versions under PE again. Maybe there is a way to recover the lost entries. I appreciate any help. With kind regards
