Cleaning up WinSxS Directory to reduce space Windows Server 2012 R2
Hi I'm trying to reduce the amount of drive space taken up by Windows on my servers C Drive - currently the entire drive is taking up 28GB of a 30GB drive... I've used the disk clean up tool that ships with Windows but it didn't identify anything that could be removed (really!)... The Windows Directory is taking up 17.5GB of the 30GB drive so a big chunk. I've seen that you can reduce the size of the WinSxS directory within Windows which is currently taking up about 8GB, and this director (given it's size) seems a likely candidate for size reduction. I found this tool - but it is not compatible (won't install stating incompatible) - see: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2852386/disk-cleanup-wizard-addon-lets-users-delete-outdated-windows-updates-o Perhaps there's another tool I can use? Alternatively - perhaps there is something else I can do to reduce the data on my drive...? I'm working an a Windows 2012 R2 Server running off an EC2 Instance on AWS. Any help most appreciated? Thanks Mark
Hostname Character Limit
Still being limited to 15 characters for hostnames in 2019 is very upsetting. In an age where we are deploying servers in multiple data centres, whether that be on premise or in the cloud and having multiple environments as well means trying to come up with sensible hostnames in just 15 characters is basically impossible. I’m sure I am not the only person who is frustrated by this limit and would very much like it if Microsoft was to revisit this limit and increase it to bring it in line with the wonderful limit our Linux friends enjoy.HOW-TO: Import Out of Band Updates to WSUS using Microsoft Edge Chromium IE Mode and PowerShell
----- I recommend using https://www.powershellgallery.com/packages/Import-WSUSUpdate Full instructions to install the module are located here - https://www.ajtek.ca/blog/the-new-way-to-import-updates-into-wsus/ ----- History: 09/12/2023 - adding PowerShell method to the OP 07/30/2023 - please follow the latest comments for the updated approach using PowerShell. The method in the OP has become obsolete 01/13/2022 - update links and clarification to prevent an error "This update cannot be imported into Windows Server Update Services, because it is not compatible with your version of WSUS", added Troubleshooting and Q&A section. 02/11/2021 - initial version PREREQUISITES: Windows 10 / 11 / Windows Server 2016 or later with WSUS RSAT Tool installed. latest Microsoft Edge installed, version 97 as of time of writing. Internet Explorer (mode) is installed in Settings > Apps > Optional Features or equivalent location in Windows 11 HOW-TO: - Open Edge 97 or later - Open Microsoft Edge Options > Default Browser - Change "Allow Sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer Mode" to 'Allow' - Add links to add to Microsoft Edge IE Mode - Remove all other links in the scope of *.catalog.update.microsoft.com, only these shall remain for the catalog.update.microsoft.com page. https://catalog.update.microsoft.com/ https://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx see screenshots below for better illustration. - Close Edge and all catalog tabs if there were any open, especially if you use "Open tabs from the previous session" feature - Open WSUS MMC and right click Updates from the tree > Import Updates - The link in Edge should open in IE mode, there are several indicators on this the open tab to point to https://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx?SKU=WSUS&Version=10.0.xxxxx.xxxx&ServerName=YOURSERVER.CONTOSO.LOCAL&PortNumber=8531&Ssl=True&Protocol=1.20 NOTES 1.When the link opened in importing updates from WSUS MMC does not contain the "v7/site/" part or does contain a https://www.update instead of https://catalog.update your configuration is wrong. 2. The "Default" setting will not be sufficient to allow the installation and use of the ActiveX plugin. Go back to your update catalog tab, Install the ActiveX if you have not done on this box already. Check if you have not setup restrictions to execute or install ActiveX plugins in IE directly or via group policy. 3. Edge now has the ability to an IE Mode button. Also it has a new feature to automatically add pages to the exception list. Do not use this ability as shown in the picture for this use case as it might add wrong exceptions to the list. 4. When there are wrong exceptions in the exception list for IE mode it might not work correctly and cause a missing but very important redirection, which ultimately cause the import to fail. More troubleshooting assistance below. LINKS STARTING FROM DECEMBER 2021 / JANUARY 2022: Links to add to Microsoft Edge IE Mode https://catalog.update.microsoft.com/ https://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx TROUBLESHOOTING: Q 1: Microsoft Edge does not allow me to configure any IE Site Mode links (greyed out). A: Either you have not enabled "Allow Sites to be reloaded in Internet Explorer Mode" to 'Allow', or your enterprise has set policies to prevent that. This should be clearly indicated by a lock and message in the Edge settings tab. Q 2: I have followed this guide or a previous version. I can see the cart to import into WSUS but cannot import any or just specific updates. Others fail with a message "This update cannot be imported into Windows Server Update Services, because it is not compatible with your version of WSUS". A: This is a "known" issue and the guide has been updated to reflect this issue and a potential change on the server-side. Please make sure only the two links are included in your IE mode list. They may not include www in the link name. You need to include both links, not just one or the other as in the previous version of this guide. Q 3: May I use the new Edge feature in Settings > Appearance > Internet Explorer Mode button A: I would recommend to refrain using this feature, as the mechanism between WSUS update import and the browser is extremly picky. It would not work if you just copy the same link into a browser tab. The feature of the cart to import into WSUS will be likely missing and you can just download to the Download folder instead. Q 4: Edge offers me to restart this tab in IE mode next time. A: you should not receive this message, otherwise the exceptions as stated in the guide are invalid or you have more than the stated links in place. Go through the guide again and double-check. Do not use this otherwise nice feature. It will cause to add more catalog links to the exception list which will cause an issue to import updates to WSUS, as described in Q #2. Thanks for the hint Eric_VanAelstyn, thanks to abbodi1406 for additional hints after this guide got invalid a redirection change in December 2021 / January 2022. cc AriaUpdated MissyQ cc for the other teams as I did not want to repost it in Edge and Servicing communities, unless you insist 🙂
Deploy fonts via GPO
Hi Everyone, We have recently purchased a package that contains fonts for the marketing team. These need to be distributed throughout the organisation. What is the best way to deploy this to every computer? I've tried to follow a few GPO steps but it does not seem to work for me. 1. Edit 'Fonts Installation' GPO and navigate to: User Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings > Files 2. Create New File: Right click > New > File 3. In Source file(s), enter location of the file 4. In Destination File: C:\Windows\Fonts\Orkney Bold Italic.tff 5. Click OK 1. Navigate to User Configuration > Preferences > Windows Settings > Registry 2. Create New Registry Item with the following attributes: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Fonts Value Name: [name of the font] (TrueType) e.g. Orkney Bold Italic (TrueType) Value type: REG_SZ Value data: Orkney Bold Italic.ttf 3. Click OK This does not seem to work for me. I've managed to get the font to appear in the registry using the method above but it does not appear within the font selection itself? Any ideas?How to resolve “MMC cannot initialize snap-in.”
Windows 2012 R2. I have at least two snap ins which will not load, eventviewer and DFS management. I have tried; SFC scannow DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth Delete registry key/reboot. Deleted files in %AppData%\Microsoft\MMC None of these worked, although the delete registry key trick was supposed to recreate the key automatically, it did not. I reloaded the .reg file. Everything seems to work well on the server, I can access the event viewer from another server, and do not see any errors. Where do I go from here?
Windows Server 2022 - KMS Activation yet?
I noticed Friday on my company's VLSC site that there are now MAK and KMS keys for WS2022. I have confirmed that I can now activate 2022 with a MAK key, volume license. However, I'm unable to activate it via our KMS server. I found the KMS key on our VLSC site: Windows Srv 2022 DataCtr/Std KMS XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-KQDWV KMS (Masked for privacy) I used these commands on our KMS server (running WS2016): slmgr.vbs /ipk KMS key slmgr.vbs /ato Both commands were successful. When I type slmgr.vbs /dlv all, I see this entry: Name: Windows(R), ServerDatacenter edition Description: Windows(R) Operating System, VOLUME_KMS_WS22 channel Activation ID: --- Application ID: --- Extended PID: 03612-04573-000-204477-03-1033-14393.0000-1972021 Product Key Channel: Volume:CSVLK Installation ID: --- Use License URL: https://activation-v2.sls.microsoft.com/SLActivateProduct/SLActivateProduct.asmx?configextension=Retail Validation URL: https://validation-v2.sls.microsoft.com/SLWGA/slwga.asmx Partial Product Key: KQDWV License Status: Licensed Remaining Windows rearm count: 1000 Remaining SKU rearm count: 1001 Trusted time: 7/19/2021 7:39:34 AM Key Management Service is enabled on this machine Current count: 50 Listening on Port: 1688 DNS publishing enabled KMS priority: Normal (Items masked for privacy) This all appears normal. Does anyone know why WS2022 won't activate yet? This is what I get on my WS2022 systems: Something prevented us from communicating with our activation servers. Wait a few minutes and then try again. Error code: 0x87E10BC6 I can even enter this command on the 2022 system to manually tell it to use our KMS server (Yes, I joined the 2022 system to our AD domain) slmgr.vbs -skms ourkmsserver.domain.name That works, but when I try: slmgr.vbs /ato It gives essentially the same error. Does anyone know if these keys are simply too new? Might there be a patch or MCU required on older Windows Server O/Ss to be able to activate newer versions? I know there was a patch back in the day that 2012 R2 KMS servers needed to install before they could successfully activate 2016 servers. Thank you for any info you may have! - Michael
