[EDIT] 09-04-2013 : As described in my blog post, this script has become unnecessary for most people. This is because Microsoft to allow almost every Flash site by default. [EDIT]
[EDIT] 13-01-2013 : Apparently for Windows RT, the script doesn’t seem to be working yet. Unfortunately I have no Windows RT to troubleshoot and resolve the issue. [EDIT]
Windows 8 and Windows RT include support for Flash in Internet Explorer 10.
In Windows 8 there are however two version of Internet Explorer 10 that handle flash websites differently. First there’s Internet Explorer 10 Desktop, which is similar as the Internet Explorer you’ve been used to with previous versions of Windows. Then there’s also Internet Explorer 10 (non Desktop), which is the Internet Explorer in the new modern/Windows interface (Metro) that is full screen.
Internet Explorer 10 Desktop allows Flash for all websites. Internet Explorer 10 (Metro) only allows Flash for websites that have been whitelisted.
Especially for Windows tablets, Flash support can be a selling point because most other tablets don’t have Flash support. It is however confusing for regular consumers that not all their websites will work. By example a friend of mine who’s a hairdresser, uses http://www.kapperssite.nl to show her customers hair models and their haircuts. The site is however completely in Flash and that it is not working by default is very annoying.
The websites that have been whitelisted are defined in your local appdate folder. By example: “C:\Users\Bjorn\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IECompatData\iecompatdata.xml”. This file also contains information about websites and which compatibility mode should be used for each. The segment between <flash> and </flash> contains the websites that have been whitelisted for flash. You can manually modify this file as described here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1961793
Basic steps include:
- Modifying the iecompatdata.xml to add the websites you want to whitelist for Flash. Wildcards don’t work unfortunately.
- Open Internet Explorer 10 Desktop, press ALT, Tools, “Compatibility View setting”. Then Disable “Download updated compatibility lists from Microsoft”. This way Microsoft won’t overwrite the updates you’ve made in step 1.
- Delete the IE10 browser history. The disadvantage of this method however is, that you won’t be taking advantage of future compatibility updates because you’ve disabled the update functionality. Leaving it enabled however means that you you would have to keep re-adding sites you want to whitelist for Flash.
As a workaround, I’ve created this script that will automatically perform these tasks:
- Disable “Download updated compatibility lists from Microsoft”
- Close all internet explorer processes.
- Download the latest iecompatdata.xml to the appropriate folder. Currently the latest version is: https://iecvlist.microsoft.com/ie10/201206/iecompatviewlist.xml
The script however will dynamically look for the latest versions by modifying the date in the url.
- Combine the data from the latest iecompatdata.xml with websites you want to whitelist for Flash (specified in “C:\Users\Bjorn\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IECompatData\flashsitestoadd.txt).
- Backup the original iecompatdata.xml and store the modified iecompatdata.xml
- Clear the Internet Explorer browsing history.
Because automatic downloading of updated compatibility lists has been disabled, I advise to schedule the script to run on a regular basis (by example monthly). For instructions read this blog post: http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2012/08/11/weekend-scripter-use-the-windows-task-scheduler-to-run-a-windows-powershell-script.aspx Keep in mind that this will clear your Internet Explorer browsing history though.
Tags: automation, Compatibility list, Flash, Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 10, Powershell, Script, Scripting, Whitelist, Windows, Windows 8, Windows RT
Many companies and people in the past have encountered where they lost users, groups or other resources from Active Directory either by disaster or human error. Since Windows Server 2008 R2, you can use the Active Directory Recycle Bin to easily recover from this.
The AD Recycle Bin features requires a forest functional level of Server 2008 R2 or higher and is disabled by default. Also, once it has been enabled it cannot be disabled.
With Windows Server 2008 R2 you could only enable the AD Recycle Bin using Windows PowerShell and you could also only restore objects using CLI. With Windows Server 2012 you can both enable and restore very easily from the GUI using Active Directory Administrative Center (ADAC).
The script can be found here.
The script basically performs the following steps:
- Determine the current forest.
- Use parts of the current forest name to dynamically generate a command that is appropriate for every environment to enable the Active Directory Recycle Bin Feature.
- If the Active Directory Recycle Bin Feature hasn’t been enabled yet, enable it.
Even though it has become very easy to do using the GUI in Windows Server 2012, automating is Always better. Therefore I also added it to the script I used in: Home LAB Setup guide – 04 Configuring Server 2012 VM as DC with DNS and DHCP using PowerShell
Tags: Active Directory, active directory recycle bin, AD, AD Recycle Bin, automation, Powershell, recycle bin, Script, Scripting, Windows
Tweakers is hosting the AppRace 2012 together with Microsoft. If you have the skills and time to build it, be sure to sign up for the AppRace. The best 5 apps are being rewarded with a Windows 8 RT device and the winner also gets a ticket for TechDays.
Today (December 6th) the kick-off will be at 18:30 CET. There will also be a live stream available if you’re curious about the event.
Tags: application, application development, AppRace, AppRace 2012, coding, ICT, kickoff, kickoff event, live stream, livestream, Metro App, Microsoft, Modern App, programming, Windows, Windows 8, Windows 8 RT, windows app, Windows store
As some of you might know Windows 8 has a new feature called Windows 8 fast startup. As the name implies, this allows for a faster startup.
Basically when you use shutdown in Windows 8, the system is never completely shutdown. It basically closes the user sessions and hibernates the kernel session (instead of closing it as with Windows 7). When you us restart in Windows 8, the kernel session will be closed.
It is important to realize this, because some changes to your systems might require a reboot to become active. Even though in the past it was also ok to shut down the system and then start the system again, with Windows 8 you really need to perform a restart.
To manage the Fast Startup feature, check this blog post. Here’s another great blog post that discusses the Fast Startup feature in more detail and also covers Fast Startup in relation to shutdown.exe and PowerShell.
Tags: Fast Startup, hibernate, ICT, Microsoft, Powershell, Restart, Shutdown, shutdown.exe, Windows, Windows 8
I’ve been using Windows 8 for quite some time now (10 months or so), but at first I also had trouble getting used to the new GUI. When I talk to people about Windows 8, there seem to be a lot of people that are having these troubles as well.
For those people, please read this great article before deciding to move back to an older version of Windows:
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Windows8ProductivityWhoMovedMyCheeseOhThereItIs.aspx
Tags: graphical user interface, gui, ICT, Interface, Metro, Metro Interface, Microsoft, Modern, Windows, Windows 8
Great videos of Windows 8 deployment and system management sessions can be found here.
Sessions:
- Creating Custom WinPE 4.0 boot images
- A Geeks guide to the Galaxy – Building a SC 2012 Configuration Manager OS Deployment Solution
- Inside Windows 8 – The new Assessment and Deployment Kit, ADK
- Inside Windows 8 – Mastering the Setup Engine
- SC 2012 Configuration Manager OSD – Tips & Tricks from the Deployment Masters
These sessions were recorded at the NIC 2012 (Nordic Infrastructure Conference). Be sure to check the website for more videos and interesting information.
Tags: ADK, Assessment and Deployment Kit, ConfigMgr, Configuration Manager, Configuration Manager 2012, Deploy, Deployment, ICT, Microosft, Operating System Deployment, OSD, System Center, System Center 2012, system management, Windows, Windows 8, Windows Preinstallation Environment, WinPE, WinPE 4.0
Altaro is offering 50 Free PC Backup Licenses for ALL Hyper-V admins to use or give away to friends/family. You only have to send a screenshot of your Hyper-V manager together with your name and E-mail.
I have no experience with Altaro Home PC Backup, but since it is free, why not take advantage of ths offer and test it.
Tags: Altara Home PC Backup, Altaro, backup, Free, Home PC Backup, ICT, Software, tool, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows client, Windows Vista, Windows XP
A new Humble Bundle, the Humble THQ Bundle is available now and it includes some great games.
This is a way to give to charity and get great games (or the other way around). Basically you can determine how much you give and you can even specify who should receive which amount of your donation. You can read more about the concept and other bundles in a previous blog post.
The Humble THQ Bundle
The Humble THQ Bundle contains the following steam redeemable games:
Tags: android, bundle, charities, charity, Company Of Heroes, Darksiders, Entertainment, game, game bundle, Gameplay, Games, gaming, humble bundle, linux, mac, Metacritic, Metro 2033, PC, Red Faction, Saints Row, THQ, Windows, Youtube
General
Last Friday I attended the first Dutch Powershell User Group meeting in Eindhoven at Master IT Training and it was great. There were a lot of knowledgeable and passionate people and the interactive sessions were great as well. Thanks go out to all attendees, but especially to the ones presenting and organizing the event.
The fact that we were asked to leave the building (because it was getting pretty late and they wanted to lock up), also stresses the passion of all attendees because. If this wasn’t the case we probably would’ve stayed a lot longer.
Be sure to check out the Dutch PowerShell User Group (DuPSUG) website and Twitter on a regular basis for articles and future events. Ed Wilson also wrote a post of the meeting on the “Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog”.
Photos
Original photo on flickr
Sessions
Below are the sessions with some info about the speakers and their sessions. I also added notes I took and other information I looked up afterwards. If you come across any errors or have comments, please leave a reply so I can fix it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Active Directory, AD, AD DS, ADDS, ADSISEARCHER, Apache Subversion, CIM, CodePlex, Common Information Model, dcom, distributed com, DuPSUG, Dutch PowerShell User Group, Ed Wilson, Eindhoven, Event, git, Integrated Scripting Environment, ISE, Jaap Brasser, Jeff Wouters, LDAP, Master IT, Mercurial, Powershell, Powershell 3.0, PowerShell Remoting, Powershell v3, Richard Siddaway, rpc, snippets, splatting, SVN, team foundation server, Team Foundation Server 2012, Team Foundation Service, TFS, The Scripting Guy, The Scripting Wife, Version control, Windows, Windows 2012, Windows 2012 Server, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, WinRM, WMI, workflow, ws-man
In the last week several newssites reported that apps in the Windows store had been hacked. First there was a hack to convert a trial app to a fully functional app using WSAConeKey. Then there was also a “hack” to remove ads from apps.
I wonder if, how and when Microsoft will patch these vulnerabilities. If they don’t do something quickly, I think it could severely limit the number of apps being developed for Windows 8. And although the number of apps in the Windows Store is increasing pretty quickly, there’s still some catching up to do.
On the plus side however, Microsoft has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses in a month 🙂
I’ve personally been using Windows 8 for quite some time now and really like it. It did take some time getting used to, but Hyper-V makes my life so much easier. For me the Modern (Metro) interface and Windows 8 apps are a nice extra, but to be honest I don’t use them that often. Maybe that will change when more good apps will be released.
[UPDATE 12-12-2012]
App developers have always been able to secure their apps better as mentioned here.
[UPDATE 12-12-2012]
Tags: apps, hack, hacked, ICT, Metro, Microsoft, Windows, Windows 8 Apps, WSAConeKey
blog.bjornhouben.com 