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Windows update KB4480970 (1/9/19) breaks smb

Around 1/9/19, Microsoft pushed a Windows update (KB4480970) that breaks SMB in a way that inhibits network communication with the computer’s shares. This is most often reported as sudden inability to scan to shared folders from a network-connected scanner.

A subsequent patch (KB4487345) was released on 1/11/19 to correct this and it can be found here (choose your platform):

http://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=KB4487345

 

Reset UniFi controller password

Thanks to the TechVideos channel on YouTube

  1. Install RoboMongo (now called Robo 3T) from here.
  2. Start the UniFi controller (To be able to access the database with the password, the Unifi controller must be running. )
  3. Start Robomongo
  4. Create a new connection in Robomongo, leave all settings as it is except the port which needs to be changed to “27117″. (Name can be set to UniFi)
  5. Click on save so that the settings are saved.
  6. Select the new connection in the list and click on “Connect” Now you are connected to the UniFi database.
  7. In the left panel select /expand ‘ace’. Then right click on ‘admin’ and select view document.
  8. Go here: https://quickhash.com/ (see * note below)
  9. Select “SHA-512 / crypt(3) / $6$” as the Algorithm
  10. Put the desired password as your Input Data (see below for “password”)
  11. Use “9Ter1EZ9$lSt6″ as the Salt.
  12. Hit “Generate (Over Secure Connection)
  13. Back in RoboMongo, right-click x_shadow and click Edit Document
  14. Replace the “x_shadow” value with the value created at quickhash
  15. Click Save and you’re done. You can use your new password now

* If you can’t get to the quickhash site, this is what you can use
for the password “password”:

$6$9Ter1EZ9$lSt6/tkoPguHqsDK0mXmUsZ1WE2qCM4m9AQ.x9/eVNJxws.hAxt2Pe8oA9TFB7LPBgzaHBcAfKFoLpRQlpBiX1

 

Quick way to increase DHCP scope via subnetting

The DHCP address pool on a Windows Server machine was being exhausted, so we wanted to increase the number of available addresses.

Original scope: 192.168.10.0 / 255.255.255.0

  • provides the pool 192.168.10.1 – 192.168.10.255 (255 addresses)

Desired scope: 192.168.10.0 / 255.255.254.0

  • provides the pool 192.168.10.1 – 192.168.11.255 (510 addresses)

The usual way requires you to delete the scope and re-enter it manually which can be tedious and time-consuming if you have a lot of exclusions and reservations.  Windows provides a way to do this programmatically:

  1. Open a command window.
  2. c:> netsh dhcp server \\”Server name” scope “scope subnet” dump>c:\dhcp.txt
    (In our case, it was netsh dhcp server \\Server scope 192.168.10.0 dump>c:\dhcp.txt)
  3. Edit the created text file and change the net mask and save the file
    (we changed 255.255.255.0 to 255.255.254.0)
  4. Delete the scope in the DHCP program on the server
  5. Finally, in the command window,
    netsh exec c:\dhcp.txt

When we did this, a couple of scope options had to be re-entered: 046 and 051

Downtime on DHCP (i.e., no scope entry) was about 15 seconds.

Remember that, after doing this, any device that has a statically-assigned IP address instead of using DHCP should have its netmask changed or devices using an address outside the original scope won’t be able to see it.  DHCP clients will get the new netmask automatically at the next renewal.

VPN stops working: “You might need to change the network settings for this connection.”

A previously-working VPN connectoid stopped working after a client “did some things to fix the Internet.”  It apparently clobbered with WAN miniports.

We were able to resolve this easily thanks to the website here.  It involves running this tool (64-bit machines) and rebooting the computer. After rebooting, the computer will re-install all the WAN miniports (visible in Device Manager.)

If the above link to the tool is dead, you can also find it here: wan-miniport-repair-v2-x64

Accommodating legacy applications in Windows 10

Some legacy applications are broken when run on Windows 10.  Here are some common problems and their solutions:

Cannot see mapped drives within applications:
Add this registry key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
“EnableLinkedConnections”=dword:00000001

Cannot write to root of C drive:
Change this registry key:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
“EnableLUA”=dword:00000000

 

Remove Shutdown & Restart from RDP user’s options

The Remote Desktop hosting feature of Windows 10 Pro differs from that of earlier versions of Windows in that, by default, it allows remote users to shut down the machine via the Start menu.  These power-related menu options can be limited to Disconnect and Sign Out via Group Policy:

  1. Run gpedit.msc
  2. User Configuration > Administrative Templates/ Start Menu and Taskbar
  3. Enable the option “Remove and prevent access to the Shut Down, Restart, Sleep, and Hibernate commands”

If a remote user must restart or shut down the computer, they can still do so by sending Ctrl-Alt-End and using the power icon in the lower-right corner (just as in previous versions of Windows.)