11. How do you view all the GCs in the forest?

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)


DSQUERY server can be used to locate global catalogs
To search the entire forest
dsquery server -forest -isgc
To locate global catalogs in your current (logon) domain
dsquery server –isgc.
To locate global catalogs in a specific domain
dsquery server -domain tech.cpandl.com -isgc
Here, you search for global catalog servers in the tech.cpandl.com domain.



You can also search for global catalog servers by site, but to do this, you must know the full site name, and cannot use wildcards. For example, if you wanted to find all the global catalog servers for Default-First-Site-Name, you would have to type
dsquery server –site Default-First-Site-Name.
The resulting output is a list of DNs for global catalogs, such as
"CN=CORPSVR02,CN=Servers,CN=Default-First-Site-
Name,CN=Sites,CN=Configuration,DC=cpandl,DC=com"

10. What is the Global Catalog?

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

The global catalog is a distributed data repository that contains a searchable, partial representation of every object in every domain in a multidomain Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) forest. The global catalog is stored on domain controllers that have been designated as global catalog servers and is distributed through multimaster replication. Searches that are directed to the global catalog are faster because they do not involve referrals to different domain controllers

9. How do you view replication properties for AD partitions and DCs?

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)




Install Replication Monitor from Support tools, run from command line with "replmon" command, and add DC and it will show you all partitions that DC holds and all replication partners for each partition.

8. How do you create a new application partition

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

You can create an application directory partition by using the create nc option in the domain management (partition management in windows 2008) menu of Ntdsutil. When creating an application directory partition using LDP or ADSI, provide a description in the description attribute of the domain DNS object that indicates the specific application that will use the partition. For example, if the application directory partition will be used to store data for a Microsoft accounting program, the description could be Microsoft accounting application. Ntdsutil does not facilitate the creation of a description.
To create or delete an application directory partition
The sample commands below were written for Windows Server 2008. If you're using Windows 2003, you don’t need to include the ACTIVE INSTANCE NTDS command, and you would use DOMAIN MANAGEMENT instead of PARTITION MANAGEMENT.
ntdsutil: activate instance ntds
Active instance set to "ntds".
ntdsutil: partition management
partition management: connections
Connected to \\server1.contoso.com using credentials of locally logged on user.
server connections: connect to server server1.contoso.com
Disconnecting from \\ server1.contoso.com...
Binding to server1.contoso.com ...
Connected to server1.contoso.com using credentials of locally logged on user.
server connections: quit
partition management: list
Note: Directory partition names with International/Unicode characters will only display correctly if appropriate fonts and language support are loaded Found 5 Naming Context(s)
0 - CN=Configuration,DC= contoso,DC=com
1 - CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC= contoso,DC=com
2 - DC=contoso,DC=com
3 - DC=DomainDnsZones,DC=contoso,DC=com
4 - DC=ForestDnsZones,DC=contoso,DC=com



partition management: create nc dc=app1,dc=contoso,dc=com
server1.contoso.com
adding object dc=app1,dc=contoso,dc=com
partition management: list
Note: Directory partition names with International/Unicode characters will only display correctly if appropriate fonts and language support are loaded Found 5 Naming Context(s)
0 - CN=Configuration,DC= contoso,DC=com
1 - CN=Schema,CN=Configuration,DC= contoso,DC=com
2 - DC=contoso,DC=com
3 - DC=DomainDnsZones,DC=contoso,DC=com
4 - DC=ForestDnsZones,DC=contoso,DC=com
5 - DC=app1,DC=contoso,DC=com
Create an application directory partition by using the DnsCmd command
Use the following syntax:
DnsCmd ServerName /CreateDirectoryPartition FQDN of partition
To create an application directory partition that is named CustomDNSPartition on a domain controller that is named DC-1, follow these steps:



1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER: dnscmd DC-1 /createdirectorypartition CustomDNSPartition.contoso.com
When the application directory partition has been successfully created, the following information appears:
DNS Server DC-1 created directory partition: CustomDNSPartition.contoso.com Command completed successfully.
Configure an additional domain controller DNS server to host the application directory partition
Configure an additional domain controller that is acting as a DNS server to host the new application directory partition that you created. To do this, use the following syntax with the DnsCmdcommand:
DnsCmd ServerName /EnlistDirectoryPartition FQDN of partition
To configure the example domain controller that is named DC-2 to host this custom application directory partition, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
2. Type the following command, and then press ENTER: dnscmd DC-2 /enlistdirectorypartition CustomDNSPartition.contoso.com
DNS Server DC-2 enlisted directory partition: CustomDNSPartition.contoso.com Command completed successfully.

7. What are application partitions? When do I use them

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

An application directory partition is a directory partition that is replicated only to specific domain controllers. A domain controller that participates in the replication of a particular application directory partition hosts a replica of that partition. Only domain controllers running Windows Server 2003 can host a replica of an application directory partition.



Application directory partitions are usually created by the applications that will use them to store and replicate data. TAPI is an example it. For testing and troubleshooting purposes, members of the Enterprise Admins group can manually create or manage application directory partitions using the Ntdsutil command-line tool.
Application directory partitions can contain any type of object, except security principals. The data in it can be replicated to different domain controllers in a forest (for redundancy, availability, or fault tolerance).

6. Name the AD NCs and replication issues for each NC

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

There are three predefined Naming Contexts (NC)
1. Domain Naming Context - One per domain. The domain naming context stores users, computers, groups, and other objects for that domain. All domain controllers that are joined to the domain share a full writeable copy of the domain directory partition. Additionally, all domain controllers in the forest that host the global catalog also host a partial read-only copy of every other domain naming context in the forest.



2. Configuration Naming Context - One per forest. It stores forest-wide configuration data that is required for the proper functioning of Active Directory as a directory service. Information that Active Directory uses to construct the directory tree hierarchy is also stored in the configuration directory partition, as is network-wide, service-specific information that applications use to connect to instances of services in the forest. Every domain controller has one fully writeable copy of the configuration directory partition.
3. Schema Naming Context - One per forest. The schema naming context contains the definitions of all objects that can be instantiated in Active Directory. It also stores the definitions of all attributes that can be a part of objects in Active Directory. Every domain controller has one fully writeable copy of the schema directory partition, although schema updates are allowed only on the domain controller that is the schema operations master.
You can also define your own naming context in Windows 2003 and later -- called Application Partitions. Replication issues are not specific to a naming context.

5.What is the SYSVOL folder?

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

System Volume (SYSVOL) is a shared directory that stores the server copy of the domain public files (Policies and scripts) that must be shared for common access and replication throughout a domain. It must be located in NTFS volume (because junctions are used within the SYSVOL folder structure)

4.Where is the AD database held? What other folders are related to AD?

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

The Active Directory Database is Stored in %SYSTEM ROOT%\NDTS folder. Main database file for active directory is ntds.dit. Along with this file there are other files also present in this folder. These files are created when you run dcpromo. These are the main files controlling the AD structure
 ntds.dit: This is the main database file for active directory.
 edb.log: Transaction performed to ad stored in this file.
 res1.log: Used as reserve space in the case when drive had low space.
 res2.log: Same as res1.log.
 edb.chk: This file records the transactions committed to ad database.



When a change is made to the Win2K database, triggering a write operation, Win2K records the transaction in the log file (edb.log). Once written to the log file, the change is then written to the AD database. System performance determines how fast the system writes the data to the AD database from the log file. Any time the system is shut down; all transactions are saved to the database.
During the installation of AD, Windows creates two files: res1.log and res2.log. The initial size of each is 10MB. These files are used to ensure that changes can be written to disk should the system run out of free disk space. The checkpoint file (edb.chk) records transactions committed to the AD database (ntds.dit). During shutdown, a "shutdown" statement is written to the edb.chk file. Then, during a reboot, AD determines that all transactions in the edb.log file have been committed to the AD database. If, for some reason, the edb.chk file doesn't exist on reboot or the shutdown statement isn't present, AD will use the edb.log file to update the AD database.
The last file in our list of files to know is the AD database itself, ntds.dit. By default, the file is located in\NTDS, along with the other files we've discussed

3. Can you connect Active Directory to other 3rd-party Directory Services? Name a few options.

Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

Active Directory is a LDAP compatible directory service and supported by various third party applications like Novell DirXML, and Atlassian Crowd.
Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS) is one of the options you can use to act as an intermediary between two directories (including directories used by SAP, Domino, etc).



MIIS manages information by retrieving identity information from the connected data sources and storing the information in the connector space as connector space objects or CSEntry objects. The CSEntry objects are then mapped to entries in the metaverse called metaverse objects or MVEntry objects. This architecture allows data from dissimilar connected data sources to be mapped to the same MVEntry object. All back-end data is stored in Microsoft SQL Server.
Versions
 Zoomit Via (pre 1999)
 Microsoft Metadirectory Server [MMS] (1999–2003)
 Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Enterprise Edition [MIIS] (2003-2009)
 Microsoft Identity Integration Server 2003 Feature Pack [IIFP] (2003-2009)
 Microsoft Identity Lifecycle Manager Server 2007 ILM (2007-2010)
 Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager 2010 FIM [CR0] (Current)

Supported Data Sources
MIIS 2003, Enterprise Edition, includes support for a wide variety of identity repositories including the following.
 Network operating systems and directory services: Microsoft Windows NT, Active Directory, Active Directory Application Mode, IBM Directory Server, Novell eDirectory, Resource Access Control Facility (RACF), SunONE/iPlanet Directory, X.500 systems and other network directory products
 E-mail: Lotus Notes and IBM Lotus Domino, Microsoft Exchange 5.5, 2000, 2003, 2007
 Application: PeopleSoft, SAP AG products, ERP1, telephone switches PBX, XML- and Directory Service Markup Language DSML-based systems
 Database: Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle RDBMS, IBM Informix, dBase, IBM DB2
 File-based: DSMLv2, LDIF, Comma-separated values CSV, delimited, fixed width, attribute value pairs

Yes. Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS) is used to connect Active Directory to other 3rd-party Directory Services (including directories used by SAP, Domino, etc).

Yes We can Connect, by using dirxml and LDAP

2 Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

2. What is LDAP?
LDAP, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, is an Internet protocol that email and other programs use to look up information from a server.
Every email program has a personal address book, but how do you look up an address for someone who's never sent you email? How can an organization keep one centralized up-to-date phone book that everybody has access to?
That question led software companies such as Microsoft, IBM, Lotus, and Netscape to support a standard called LDAP. "LDAP-aware" client programs can ask LDAP servers to look up entries in a wide variety of ways. LDAP servers index all the data in their entries, and "filters" may be used to select just the person or group you want, and return just the information you want. For example, here's an LDAP search translated into plain English: "Search for all people located in Chicago whose name contains "Fred" that have an email address. Please return their full name, email, title, and description."



LDAP is not limited to contact information, or even information about people. LDAP is used to look up encryption certificates, pointers to printers and other services on a network, and provide "single signon" where one password for a user is shared between many services. LDAP is appropriate for any kind of directory-like information, where fast lookups and less-frequent updates are the norm.
As a protocol, LDAP does not define how programs work on either the client or server side. It defines the "language" used for client programs to talk to servers (and servers to servers, too). On the client side, a client may be an email program, a printer browser, or an address book. The server may speak only LDAP, or have other methods of sending and receiving data—LDAP may just be an add-on method.
If you have an email program (as opposed to web-based email), it probably supports LDAP. Most LDAP clients can only read from a server. Search abilities of clients (as seen in email programs) vary widely. A few can write or update information, but LDAP does not include security or encryption, so updates usually requre additional protection such as an encrypted SSL connection to the LDAP server.
LDAP also defines: Permissions, set by the administrator to allow only certain people to access the LDAP database, and optionally keep certain data private. Schema: a way to describe the format and attributes of data in the server. For example: a schema entered in an LDAP server might define a "groovyPerson" entry type, which has attributes of "instantMessageAddress", and "coffeeRoastPreference". The normal attributes of name, email address, etc., would be inherited from one of the standard schemas, which are rooted in X.500 (see below).
LDAP was designed at the University of Michigan to adapt a complex enterprise directory system (called X.500) to the modern Internet. X.500 is too complex to support on desktops and over the Internet, so LDAP was created to provide this service "for the rest of us."
LDAP servers exist at three levels: There are big public servers, large organizational servers at universities and corporations, and smaller LDAP servers for workgroups. Most public servers from around year 2000 have disappeared, although directory.verisign.com exists for looking up X.509 certificates. The idea of publicly listing your email address for the world to see, of course, has been crushed by spam.
While LDAP didn't bring us the worldwide email address book, it continues to be a popular standard for communicating record-based, directory-like data between programs.

1 Windows admin interview questions (includes Vista)

1. What is Active Directory?
An active directory is a directory structure used on Microsoft Windows based computers and servers to store information and data about networks and domains.



A central component of the Windows platform, Active Directory directory service provides the means to manage the identities and relationships that make up network environments. Windows Server 2003 makes Active Directory simpler to manage, easing migration and deployment.

Backing Up the Registry

There are many backup programs for the registry but if the computer goes down and you can't fire off Win95 because of the registry problem.
Backup to a directory the following files:

• SYSTEM.DATA
• SYSTEM.DA0 (Yes seem to be the same size)
• USER.DAT
• USER.DA0 (Same size likely)
• WIN.INI
• CONTROL.INI
• SYSTEM.INI

These files can be copied to the windows directory from Win95 or DOS to help correct problems.

Keyboard Shortcuts

When speed counts, the keyboard is still king. Almost all the actions and commands you can perform with a mouse you can perform faster using combinations of keys on your keyboard. These simple keyboard shortcuts can get you where you want to go faster than several clicks of a mouse. You'll work faster on spreadsheets and similar documents, too, because you won't lose your place switching back and forth between mouse and keys.



Here are some of the most useful keyboard shortcuts:

Copy. CTRL+C
Cut. CTRL+X
Paste. CTRL+V
Undo. CTRL+Z
Delete. DELETE

Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin. SHIFT+DELETE
Copy selected item. CTRL while dragging an item
Create shortcut to selected item. CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item
Rename selected item. F2
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word. CTRL+RIGHT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word. CTRL+LEFT ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph. CTRL+DOWN ARROW
Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph. CTRL+UP ARROW
Highlight a block of text. CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop, or select text within a document. SHIFT with any of the arrow keys
Select all. CTRL+A
Search for a file or folder. F3
View properties for the selected item. ALT+ENTER
Close the active item, or quit the active program. ALT+F4
Opens the shortcut menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR
Close the active document in programs that allow you to have multiple documents open simultaneously. CTRL+F4
Switch between open items. ALT+TAB
Cycle through items in the order they were opened. ALT+ESC
Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop. F6
Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer. F4
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item. SHIFT+F10
Display the System menu for the active window. ALT+SPACEBAR
Display the Start menu. CTRL+ESC
Display the corresponding menu. ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name
Carry out the corresponding command. Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu
Activate the menu bar in the active program. F10
Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu. RIGHT ARROW
Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu. LEFT ARROW
Refresh the active window. F5
View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer. BACKSPACE
Cancel the current task. ESC
SHIFT when you insert a CD into the CD-ROM drive Prevent the CD from automatically playing.

Use these keyboard shortcuts for dialog boxes:

Move forward through tabs. CTRL+TAB
Move backward through tabs. CTRL+SHIFT+TAB
Move forward through options. TAB
Move backward through options. SHIFT+TAB
Carry out the corresponding command or select the corresponding option. ALT+Underlined letter
Carry out the command for the active option or button. ENTER
Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box. SPACEBAR
Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons. Arrow keys
Display Help. F1
Display the items in the active list. F4
Open a folder one level up if a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box. BACKSPACE

If you have a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, or any other compatible keyboard that includes the Windows logo key and the Application key , you can use these keyboard shortcuts:

Display or hide the Start menu.
Display the System Properties dialog box. +BREAK
Show the desktop. +D
Minimize all windows. +M
Restores minimized windows. +Shift+M
Open My Computer. +E
Search for a file or folder. +F
Search for computers. CTRL+ +F
Display Windows Help. +F1
Lock your computer if you are connected to a network domain, or switch users if you are not connected to a network domain. + L
Open the Run dialog box. +R
Display the shortcut menu for the selected item.
Open Utility Manager. +U

Helpful accessibility keyboard shortcuts:

Switch FilterKeys on and off. Right SHIFT for eight seconds
Switch High Contrast on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +PRINT SCREEN
Switch MouseKeys on and off. Left ALT +left SHIFT +NUM LOCK
Switch StickyKeys on and off. SHIFT five times
Switch ToggleKeys on and off. NUM LOCK for five seconds
Open Utility Manager. +U

Keyboard shortcuts you can use with Windows Explorer:

Display the bottom of the active window. END
Display the top of the active window. HOME
Display all subfolders under the selected folder. NUM LOCK+ASTERISK on numeric keypad (*)
Display the contents of the selected folder. NUM LOCK+PLUS SIGN on numeric keypad (+)
Collapse the selected folder. NUM LOCK+MINUS SIGN on numeric keypad (-)
Collapse current selection if it's expanded, or select parent folder. LEFT ARROW
Display current selection if it's collapsed, or select first subfolder. RIGHT ARROW

Remove shortcut arrow from desktop icons

Here's how you can remove those shortcut arrows from your desktop icons in Windows XP.

1. Start regedit.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTlnkfile
3. Delete the IsShortcut registry value.

You may need to restart Windows XP.

My Computer Won't Shut Down Itself After Installing XP

There are a number of users who are noticing that their PC will no longer automatically power down/shut off without pressing the power off button on the computers unlike in Windows Me/95/2000. There could be a number of reasons for this - but the main one seems to be that ACPI is not enabled on the computer or in Windows XP. Here is how to try that out:

1. Click - Start - Control Panel - Performance and Maintenance - Power Options Tab
2. Then click APM - Enable Advanced Power Management Support

How To Enable Hibernation

Under Windows 98, Me, or 2000 there was an option in the shutdown dialog box to enter the computer into hibernation (where all the content of the RAM is copied to the hard disk). The shutdown dialog box of Windows XP doesn't offer any longer the hibernation button. Some users may get confused about how to enable the hibernation mode. If this mode is supported by your motherboard (ACPI) you have to do the following:

1. Click Start and Shut Down,
2. Point the standby button and maintain the shift key pushed,
3. A new hibernation button appears: click it while still holding the shift key: voila your PC will hibernate.

Microsoft Office 2007 filename extensions

Word 2007 File Type Extension


• docx - Word 2007 XML Document

• docm - Word 2007 XML Macro-Enabled Document

• dotx - Word 2007 XML Template

• dotm - Word 2007 XML Macro-Enabled Template

Excel 2007 File Type Extension

Restricting Logon Access

If you work in a multiuser computing environment, and you have full (administrator level) access to your computer, you might want to restrict unauthorized access to your "sensitive" files under Windows 95/98.
One way is to disable the Cancel button in the Logon dialog box.
Just run Regedit and go to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Network/Logon
Create the "Logon" subkey if it is not present on your machine: highlight the Network key -> right-click in the left hand Regedit pane -> select New -> Key -> name it "Logon" (no quotes) -> press Enter. Then add/modify a DWORD value and call it "MustBeValidated" (don't type the quotes). Double-click it, check the Decimal box and type 1 for value.
Now click the Start button -> Shut Down (Log off UserName) -> Log on as a different user, and you'll notice that the Logon Cancel button has been disabled.

Search For Hidden Or System Files In Windows XP

The Search companion in Windows XP searches for hidden and system files differently than in earlier versions of Windows. This guide describes how to search for hidden or system files in Windows XP.
Search for Hidden or System Files By default, the Search companion does not search for hidden or system files. Because of this, you may be unable to find files, even though they exist on the drive.
To search for hidden or system files in Windows XP:
Click Start, click Search, click All files and folders, and then click More advanced options.

Click to select the Search system folders and Search hidden files and folders check boxes.
NOTE: You do not need to configure your computer to show hidden files in the Folder Options dialog box in Windows Explorer to find files with either the hidden or system attributes, but you need to configure your computer not to hide protected operating system files to find files with both the hidden and system attributes. Search Companion shares the Hide protected operating system files option (which hides files with both the system and hidden attributes) with the Folder Options dialog box Windows Explorer.

Add Open With to all files

You can add "Open With..." to the Right click context menu of all files.This is great for when you have several programs you want to open the same file types with. I use three different text editors so I added it to the ".txt" key.

1. Open RegEdit
2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\Shell
3. Add a new Key named "OpenWith" by right clicking the "Shell" Key and selecting new
4. Set the (Default) to "Op&en With..."
5. Add a new Key named "Command" by right clicking the "OpenWith" Key and selecting new
6. Set the (Default) to "C:\Windows\rundll32.exe shell32.dll,OpenAs_RunDLL %1", C:\ being your Windows drive. You must enter the "OpenAs_RunDLL %1" exactly this way.

Turn off Welcome screen

Open User Accounts in Control Panel.
Click Change the way users log on or off

XP Computer management console

To quickly access the computer management console, where you can see event logs (to see what's causing a problem, for example), right-click My Computer and choose Manage.
Then, select the Event viewer and double-click highlighted events in the Applications or System areas to view detailed explanations of what went wrong.