User Tools

Site Tools

Action disabled: source

wiki:os:microsoft:windows:tips

General Windows Tips

Ever since Windows XP, consumer Windows has been built on a foundation that has remained consistent through every subsequent major release of the OS. Windows 11 has changed quite a bit under the hood, and since I don't use Windows 11 myself, I can't assume that anything in this section will work on any version after 10.

Articles in this section

      • Digital Camerasplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigDigital Cameras

        Photo Import Wizard

        The Problem

        Since Windows XP, a simple wizard for importing photos has been integrated with the OS. This was called the *Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard* in Windows XP. The interface was streamlined in Windows Vista, and that import wizard has been integrated into Windows through at least Windows 10. It's a really useful tool, as it makes it efficient and easy to import photos from a digital camera and name them
    • Enabling Remote Desktop...Remotelyplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigEnabling Remote Desktop...Remotely

      I’ve been working on rebuilding my home Active Directory environment, as well as splitting our personal data from multimedia to separate file servers. After getting everything up and running in Windows Server 2016, I moved both servers into our server room (just a corner of the basement, but it sounds fancier).
    • Fixing Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager when it saves a bad server nameplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigFixing Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager when it saves a bad server name

      I’m a big scary IT contractor now, working for a relatively small Texas-based company on a contract for the USDA. It’s pretty awesome, and I’ve learned all kinds of things since I started here. One of the cooler tools made available to us is Microsoft System Center, which allows for a single application to manage a huge variety of tasks, including pushing updates to users, working with virtual servers, and inst…
  • Windows 7plugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigWindows 7

    Windows 7 is officially unsupported by Microsoft. Use at your own risk.

    That said, Microsoft Security Essentials still works, as well as PC Matic, which i haven't used, but has a lot of positive reviews.

    Notes

    Even though Microsoft no longer supports the OneDrive client for Windows 7, you can still connect to your OneDrive quite easily via
  • Maximizing Windows: Restoring “Run As…” in Windows Vistaplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigMaximizing Windows: Restoring “Run As…” in Windows Vista

    At work, we use Microsoft SQL Server 2005. The client software requires Windows authentication to connect to a database. However, the credentials are pulled from your logged in Windows account. If you’re not on Purdue’s domain, you can’t connect. While putting my workstation on the domain wasn’t an issue, I prefer using my local user account on my laptop.windows index
  • Windows Management Instrumentationplugin-autotooltip__default plugin-autotooltip_bigWindows Management Instrumentation

    The Future of WMI

    Windows Management Instrumentation, also known as WMI, is a systems management abstraction layer that has been part of Windows since NT (SP4). You can read more about it over here. You might notice in Microsoft's KB article that windows index