GPRESULT command in Windows
When a Group Policy setting is not applying as expected — a drive mapping is missing, a software restriction is not enforced,…
Guide
Step-by-step guides: how a command or feature works and how to use it on real Windows, Active Directory, VMware and Linux systems.
ICACLS command in Windows
NTFS permissions control who can read, write, and execute files and folders on Windows. icacls is the command-line tool for viewing and…
How to read Windows Event Logs with PowerShell (Get-WinEvent)
Event Viewer is fine for occasional manual checks. It breaks down the moment you need to search across multiple machines, filter by…
ROBOCOPY vs XCOPY: which one to use
XCOPY has been part of Windows since DOS. Robocopy shipped with Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit and became a standard OS component…
ROBOCOPY exit codes explained
Robocopy does not use a standard pass/fail exit code. It uses a bitmask — a number where each bit represents a different…
NETSTAT command in Windows
When a port is unreachable, a service is not responding, or something is holding a connection open, netstat is the first command…
How to backup files with ROBOCOPY
Windows Backup and File History work well enough for workstations, but they are not tools most sysadmins reach for when they need…
How to sync two folders with ROBOCOPY
Syncing two folders with Robocopy is one of the most common tasks sysadmins use it for – but it is also where…
Git and GitHub for System Administrators: A Practical Guide
Git is version control software that tracks changes in files over time. System administrators use it to manage PowerShell scripts, configuration files,…
nslookup in Windows: DNS troubleshooting from basic queries to AD diagnostics
Every DNS problem in a Windows environment starts the same way: something that should resolve doesn’t, and you need to know why.…