In this post, I describe how to fix a sitemap error that can occur if an unescaped character such as an & (ampersand) is included in the sitemap.xml. Cause The error occurs because the sitemap is not UTF-8 encoded.  In my case, I had a URL with an unescaped & (ampersand): <url><loc>https://www.centrel-solutions.com/company/testimonial.aspx?directory=education & testimonial=education-the-shared-learning-trust</loc><changefreq>never</changefreq></url> Resolution To resolve the error, I used an entity escape code for the & (ampersand) character as per the sitemaps specification: https://www.sitemaps.org/protocol.html <url><loc>https://www.centrel-solutions.com/company/testimonial.aspx?directory=education &amp; testimonial=education-the-shared-learning-trust</loc><changefreq>never</changefreq></url> Validate You can validate a sitemap here: https://www.xml-sitemaps.com/validate-xml-sitemap.html

In this post, I describe how to get or set the local user account expiry date in PowerShell. Resolution To get the current account expires date, run the following command in PowerShell, replacing  accountname  with the account you want to get. Get-LocalUser accountname|SELECT * To set the expiry date to a specified date: Set-LocalUser asmith -AccountExpires (Get-Date).AddDays(12) To set the expiry date to never expire: Set-LocalUser accountname -AccountNeverExpires

In this post, I describe how to fix the error: Insufficient access rights to perform the operation This error can occur when you try to enable the recycle bin in Active Directory. Cause In my case, this error occurred because I was logged on as the Administrator of a child domain.  By default, the Administrator of a child domain is a member of Domain Admins but not a member of Enterprise Admins. Resolution To resolve the issue, I logged on to the parent domain and added the child domain Administrator to the Members of the Enterprise Admins group. After logging off and logging back on again to apply the group memebership, I successfully enabled the recycle bin in Active Directory.

In this post, I describe how to fix the issue whereby a server that has been configured to be a Global Catlog shows  isGlobalCatalogReady:   FALSE .  You can check this in ldp.exe: The server has been configured as a Global Catalog in NTDS Settings in Active Directory Sites and Services: Cause In my case, the server was not Global Catalog ready because of a replication issue. There are several ways to diagnose this e.g. by running the following in a command prompt: - dcdiag - REPADMIN /REPLSUM - REPADMIN /SHOWREPS - REPADMIN /SHOWREPL You can also look in the Directory Services event log. The local domain controller has been selected to be a global catalog. However, the domain controller does not host a read-only replica of the following directory partition. The following error occurs when I try to replicate in Sites and Services: The DSA operation is unable to proceed because of a DNS lookup failure. Resolution To resolve the issue, I configured DNS on the serv...

In this post, I describe how to fix the error: The FSMO role ownership could not be verified because its directory partition has not replicated successfully with at least one replication partner. This error occured when I was trying to promote a server to a domain controller and add a new domain to an existing forest. Resolution To resolve the issue: 1. Open Active Directory Sites and Services 2. Navigate down to NTDS Settings  for each server, then right click <automatically generated> and press Replicate Now : 3. I was then able to successfully promote the server to a domain controller.

In this blog post, I describe how to enable (green underline) the Group Policy Object Regional Options.  These properties are located in: User Configuration -> Preferences -> Control Panel Settings -> Regional Options Resolution To enable (green underline) ths Regional Options, press F5 on the keyboard. Related Posts - Group Policy Documentation Tool

In this post, I describe how to stop the automatic time sync that occurs on an Active Directory Domain Controller. You may wish to disable 'Set the time automatically' if, for example, you're testing something and wish to set the time to a different time of day. Resolution To disable the automatic time sync: 1. Open regedit 2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters 3. Double click Type 4. Change the Value data  from NT5DS to  NoSync  and press OK

In this post, I describe how to stop the Windows Update service from automatically starting on Windows 11 even when the startup type has been set to Disabled: On a test PC, you may not want to run the Windows Update service which can consume CPU resource and decrease the performance of the PC.  Usually, disabling the Windows Update service stops it from running.  However, sometimes the service reenables itself and starts running. Resolution The service is reenabled and started by a Scheduled Task.  To stop this: 1. Open  Task Scheduler 2. Navigate to Microsoft > Windows > WindowsUpdate 3. Right click and Disable Scheduled Start Related Posts - Windows Modules Installer Worker High CPU Server 2022, 2019 & 2016 - Stop Windows Modules Installer Worker High CPU Server 2022, 2019 & 2016 Permanently Related Links - Windows Machine Automated Documentation Tool