Windows Server Article Categories

With the goal of making quality training on Microsoft products more accessible using modern technology, Microsoft has expanded the Microsoft Virtual Academy worldwide. Also known as the MVA, the growing site offers free training created and delivered by the product experts at Microsoft via live online and on-demand training courses. 

The Java Runtime Environment has become one of the most exploited components of any operating system. Even the US Department of Homeland Security warns users to disable java unless they have a really good reason to use it.  For most of us the days of Web sites requiring you to run Java applets has long passed.  However, there still are a good number of desktop applications written in Java so simply uninstalling it is not practical. Instead, a good way to minimize your risk is to disable the Java browser plugins.  That is the primary attack vector, meaning how Java is exploited, in most cases and closing that door will significantly improve the security of your device. 

Port 3389 is the home of the remote desktop protocol that powers Remote Desktop Services on all modern versions of Windows.  If your system has Remote Desktop enabled, it is listening for connections on port 3389.  Since this port is both well known and can be used to attack accounts, it is low hanging fruit for script kiddies and bots looking for an easy target.

The default flower user picture is displayed for new accounts and on various logon screens throughout the OS.  Customizing this picture requires a simple file copy and doing so will allow you to personalize your PC or even display a corporate logo.

Microsoft included a batch rename feature in the latest version of Windows allowing you to select multiple files, right click on one and select rename. All of the selected files will be renamed with the name you provided and a number. This functionality works well for basic files but does not provide any flexibility in exactly how the files are numbered and also does not allow the file extension to be changed.