The SUPERPING PowerShell Test-NetConnection

You can use it for testing ICMP and TCP connectivity among end users, servers and other network devices. It can also replace tools like nslookup and tracert, and even provide much more powerful troubleshooting and management capabilities. So I'm using PowerShell in the las time much more than the good old Sysyinternals Tools, but not all of these can tools be so easy replaced.

So at this time let's see an internal test inside the local domain:

GPUPDATE REMOTELY

One of the speechs I sometimes hear from the level 2-3 support is: Just wait for the gpupdate half an hour or one hour. Well, that speech forced me and the GPO's :-) in the workstations to force inmediately the gpo from a single workstation or a group of workstations.

Let's use powershell to force this, and point to an specific OU. 

Requisites: do it from Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012 with the Remote Server Administration Tools installed:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=28972

This is for Windows 8. Make a quick search for Windows Server 2012

and make a call to the users that you are doing this because they'll get a black cmd window(~5-10 seconds) with the message that the GPO is updating.

Example: test domain, contoso.com and an OU named Accounting with a subOU named TEST:

PS C:\Users> get-adcomputer -SearchBase "OU=TEST,OU=ACCOUNTING,DC=CONTOSO,DC=COM" -Filter * | %{invoke-gpupdate -Computer $_.Name -RandomDelayInMinute 0; "Refreshing host $_."}

The output looks similar to this:

Refreshing host CN=PC1,OU=TEST,OU=ACCOUNTING,DC=CONTOSO,DC=COM

Refreshing host CN=PC2,OU=TEST,OU=ACCOUNTING,DC=CONTOSO,DC=COM

Refreshing host CN=PC3, OU=TEST,OU=ACCOUNTING,DC=CONTOSO,DC=COM 

Good Luck!

Note: you can do this also from the GUI Windows Server Administration Tools, but you are not always the admin.

Get monitor and cpu serial numbers

The security best practices(and for 3 months ago the ISO27001 with us) forces IT departments to control the assets. So, what do we have in the hand as lazy admins to collect assets en the network, it depends!

• Send 10-20 technicians to take inventory manually through the entire office, 1-2-3-4 AD Sites?
• Use System Center, OK, that's great for serial numers of CPU's but less for monitors, or we can have independent reports for CPU and monitors. So, it's not enough for me.
• Use this script I found, and find it great from: http://www.itsupportguides.com I don't know the owner of the site but it's a great script and I allow my self to share it.

http://www.itsupportguides.com/vbs-scripts/vbs-script-get-monitor-serial-number-remotely/


The results is exactly what our Management expects, an Excel with serial numbers from CPU's and monitors, associated to the user. Really great and congratulations to the owner of the script!