Schedule a restart using task scheduler.

Here's one that I like to use from time to time to schedule a restart for updates.

Open Task Scheduler and click Create Basic Task... and give it a name.

Click Next >. I'll be running this task just once so I'll click One time.

Click Next >. Schedule it

Click Next >.  We're going to be starting a program so click the radio button next to Start a program.

Click Next >. The name of the program is shutdown and in order for it to restart properly, we need to add some arguments. For a list of those arguments, click here. 

I will be using /r /f /t 0. /r to restart, /f to force any running applications to close and /t 0 so it waits for 0 seconds.

Click Next >. Verify your settings. This task requires some extra settings to guarantee that it runs properly so check the box next to Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish and click Finish.

I may or may not be logged in at the time this task is going to run so I clicked the radio button next to Run whether user is logged on or not. Click OK.

Enter your password and click OK.

Now you should be all set.

If you would like to use Powershell instead, there is also a method for that. Instead of typing shutdown with the arguments /r /f /t 0, you can type powershell with the arguments restart-computer -force. Here is some more information about it.

Schedule a restart using task scheduler.

Here's one that I like to use from time to time to schedule a restart for updates.

Open Task Scheduler and click Create Basic Task... and give it a name.

Click Next >. I'll be running this task just once so I'll click One time.

Click Next >. Schedule it

Click Next >.  We're going to be starting a program so click the radio button next to Start a program.

Click Next >. The name of the program is shutdown and in order for it to restart properly, we need to add some arguments. For a list of those arguments, click here. 

I will be using /r /f /t 0. /r to restart, /f to force any running applications to close and /t 0 so it waits for 0 seconds.

Click Next >. Verify your settings. This task requires some extra settings to guarantee that it runs properly so check the box next to Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish and click Finish.

I may or may not be logged in at the time this task is going to run so I clicked the radio button next to Run whether user is logged on or not. Click OK.

Enter your password and click OK.

Now you should be all set.

If you would like to use Powershell instead, there is also a method for that. Instead of typing shutdown with the arguments /r /f /t 0, you can type powershell with the arguments restart-computer -force. Here is some more information about it.

Clients not reporting to WSUS target groups.

So I came across this this morning which was a simple fix but easy to miss. I noticed that my computers still weren't going into the target groups that I assigned via Group Policy. Here is how to fix it. (I'll update my previous blog entry about setting up WSUS as well.)

Click Options on the left-hand side.

Click Computers.

Select Use Group Policy or registry settings on computers and click OK.

Now just wait a bit and the next time your computers send their status to the WSUS server, they should begin to fall into the groups that they belong in.

Clients not reporting to WSUS target groups.

So I came across this this morning which was a simple fix but easy to miss. I noticed that my computers still weren't going into the target groups that I assigned via Group Policy. Here is how to fix it. (I'll update my previous blog entry about setting up WSUS as well.)

Click Options on the left-hand side.

Click Computers.

Select Use Group Policy or registry settings on computers and click OK.

Now just wait a bit and the next time your computers send their status to the WSUS server, they should begin to fall into the groups that they belong in.

Find out which process is listening on a port in Windows.

Symantec on one of my servers keeps logging a port scan attack coming from my laptop and I can't figure out which process is causing it. Hopefully this will help.

ex. netstat -a -b

-a Displays all connections and listening ports.

-b Displays the executable involved in creating each connection or listening port. In some cases well-known executables host multiple independent components, and in these cases the sequence of components involved in creating the connection or listening port is displayed. In this case the executable name is in [] at the bottom, on top is the component it called, and so forth until TCP/IP was reached. Note that this option can be time-consuming and will fail unless you have sufficient permissions.

-n Displays addresses and port numbers in numerical form.

-o Displays the owning process ID associated with each connection.

For more information, click here.

P.S. This may create a lot of data to try and sift through in the command prompt so instead you can output everything to a text file by entering > filename.txt afterwards.

ex. netstat -a -b >netstat.txt

This will create a text file in the system32 folder or whatever directory you happen to be running command prompt from.

Find out which process is listening on a port in Windows.

Symantec on one of my servers keeps logging a port scan attack coming from my laptop and I can't figure out which process is causing it. Hopefully this will help.

ex. netstat -a -b

-a Displays all connections and listening ports.

-b Displays the executable involved in creating each connection or listening port. In some cases well-known executables host multiple independent components, and in these cases the sequence of components involved in creating the connection or listening port is displayed. In this case the executable name is in [] at the bottom, on top is the component it called, and so forth until TCP/IP was reached. Note that this option can be time-consuming and will fail unless you have sufficient permissions.

-n Displays addresses and port numbers in numerical form.

-o Displays the owning process ID associated with each connection.

For more information, click here.

P.S. This may create a lot of data to try and sift through in the command prompt so instead you can output everything to a text file by entering > filename.txt afterwards.

ex. netstat -a -b >netstat.txt

This will create a text file in the system32 folder or whatever directory you happen to be running command prompt from.