Here are some handy ways in order to perform your tasks in Windows Operating Systems very fast. To run these commands, – Click on the start menu – Run and – Type any of the commands below.
Note: These commands can also be used via the Command Line Interface (CLI) as shown below. – Launch the Command Prompt or Using the Windows Shortcut “Windows key + X”. – At the command prompt, type the command you wish to access and press Enter. See the example below for “Taskschd .msc” (schedtasks)
Commands
Meaning
sysdm.cpl
Shows System Properties
Taskschd.msc
Displays Task Scheduler Window
Firewall.cpl
Displays Firewall properties
netplwiz
User Account Windows (Where sign-in can be disabled.
Note: FYI Only, this table will continuously be updated.
As defined by Microsoft: Windows PowerShell remoting lets you run any Windows PowerShell command on one or more remote computers. You can establish persistent connections, start interactive sessions, and run scripts on remote computers. PowerShell remoting is similar to SSH used in accessing remote computers.
PowerShell Remoting uses the Windows Management Instrumentation (protocol) – WMI is a set of specifications from Microsoft for consolidating the management of devices and applications in a network from Windows systems. WMI provides information about the status of local or remote computer systems to users.
Note: PowerShell is disabled by default, so you will have to enable PowerShell Remoting before it can be used.
This is the Commandline tool needed to have the WMI enabled, But in my lab, it was already running as displayed. Simply enter
winrm quickconfig
Since this is already enabled and running as stated, we will proceed to access computers remotely.
If you wish to enable PowerShell Remoting via Powershell cmdlet, simply run the command below.
Enable-PSRemoting -Force
As you can see, the WinRM service is already running. The next step would be to access our computers remotely.
Note: in order to achieve success in setting up PowerShell Remoting in your domain depends on how your network is provisioned. Most-times, this service can be disabled via GPO. You will need an Administrative privilege in order to administer PowerShell Remoting.
Now that we have successfully connected to a computer on our network as shown above. – Lets us now perform certain operations to get the computer system and security logs. Kindly see the image below for these steps.
Note: You can also connect to multiple computers at the same time and this requires using the PowerShell invoke cmdlet as shown below
Cmdlet explanation: “computer” here represents the remote PC name or IP Address. “Command” here is the command you intend to run. “USERNAME” is the username you want to run the command as on the remote computer. This should have the needed Administrative privileges.
Note: You’ll be prompted to enter the desired password for the username
Further Tips: Needed to have a mastery of this service. – Restart-Service WinRM – Test-WsMan COMPUTER (This is needed to test if the WinRM service is running on the remote computer). If this executes successfully, then everything is alright.
This issue was simulated in my lab by expiring the Administrator password in order to give a detailed explanation of the root cause and suggest remediations (ways to fix). The error here can happen to anyone, especially when the password is repeated, does not meet the length, complexity, or history requirements as stated below. Note: For best practices, ensure you have your default Administrators account disabled. When not disabled, it can be compromised.
Here are some other reasons why this error can be prompted.
Your given names are part of the password.
Passwords were previously used (This depends on your password history how far it goes back 12, 24 passwords)
You must have one “Capital” letter and one special character such as $,#,% etc. (Absolutely depends on your Password Policy).
Note: As stated previously, they all depend on your domain specific policy requirments.
This was fixed by simply changing the password to a different value, other than the previously used in my case. This ensured the previous error was corrected.
Below are other ways to troubleshoot these issues, if the above steps do not work.
1. Group Policy Management: For Domain managed PCs, this policy can be defined and applied as defined by your organization. To do this, kindly open the Group Policy Management Console and follow the steps below.
– Expand the Computer Management – Policies – Windows Settings – Security Settings – Accounts Policies – Password Policy and modify the following details as desired. Currently, this is not configured in my lab.
To configure this, simply double click or right-click on any of the policies – Select edit and then enable the policy and finally – click on ok.
Note: Finally ensure, the users log-off or login again, or force the group policy using gpupdate /force.
2.Local Group Policy: On your local machine (PC) that is not managed by the domain, simply navigate to the Local Group Policy Editor by following these steps below. – This can be accessed via the tying run in the start menu – In the run dialog window, type gpedit.msc – This will open up the Local Group Policy Editor. – Expand the Computer Configuration – Expand Windows Settings – Expand Security Settings – Expand Account Policies and finally – Click on the password Policy as shown below
These settings can be modified here as shown above. After modification, you can restart your PC, log-off, and log-on or force the group policy using gpupdate /force.
