Eng. Alessandro Mazzanti

2003 - Windows update with error 0x8024402C

On windows 2003 if you got this Windows update error 0x8024402C you can view this microsoft article that give you fix it tools to solve:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/883821

Precedent article mention these other errors too.

0x800A0046
0x80248011
0x80072EE7
0x8024402C
0x8024502D
0x800A01AD

About error I solved utilizing these tools from precedent article in section:

"Error Code 0x8024402C o 0x8024502d"

To have us resolve these errors for you, go to the "Fix it for me" section. If you prefer to fix this problem yourself, go to the "Let me fix it myself" section.

Fix it for me

To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix it button or link. Click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in the Fix it wizard.

Excel 2010/2013 - how to disable protected view

If you got on Excel file this alert (that they are for security purpose)

You can simply click on --> Enable Editing or disable this excel file feature.

Here they are relative screenshots:

About Excel/office 2013

Software - NK2Edit Edit Autocomplete Outlook

Every time that you type an email address or name in the message window of MS-Outlook, it automatically offer you a list of users and email address that you can choose. This feature is known as 'AutoComplete' and Outlook automatically build this emails list according to user activity and save it into a file with .NK2 extension.

In some circumstances, you may need to repair or modify the values appeared in the AutoComplete list, or you may want to remove unwanted email addresses and/or to add new email addresses. MS-Outlook doesn't provide any ability to edit this AutoComplete list, so this is where NK2Edit software can help you.

NK2Edit Features

Easily modify or fix all information stored in the NK2 file, including the display name, the email address, the exchange string, the Drop-Down display name, and the search string.
Easily remove unwanted single quote characters from the display name and from the Drop-Down list.
Delete unwanted emails, as well as add new emails, by typing them manually, or by choosing them from the address book of Outlook.
Copy NK2 records from one NK2 file to another - simply by copy and paste !
Build a completely new NK2 file and add the desired emails into it, by typing them manually, by adding them from your address book, or by copying records from another NK2 file.
Extract data from corrupted NK2 files that Outlook cannot read anymore (When Outlook AutoComplete stopped working) and even repair them so Outlook will be able to read them again.
Export all data stored in the NK2 file into a special Unicode text file in a structure similar to .ini file of Windows. You can open it any text editor you like, make the changes you need, and then convert it back into NK2 file that Outlook can use.
Export the emails information stored inside NK2 file into HTML/Text/csv/xml file.
Export the emails information stored inside NK2 file directly into the contacts of Outlook.
Copy the selected NK2 records in tab-delimited format and then paste the information into Excel.
Change the order of the records in the NK2 file, which also affects the order they appear in the drop-down. You can also sort the list in alphabetical order of the Drop-Down display names. (However, be aware that Outlook change the order again when the user send emails)
Command-Line Support: Write simple scripts that can add, remove, or modify records inside the NK2 file, without displaying any user interface.
NK2Edit is a portable application that can be used from any computer with Windows operating system (Starting from Windows 2000) without need of any installation process, and without making changes in the Registry.
NK2 Control Center - Allows you to watch to location and the status of all NK2 files in your organization.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/outlook_nk2_edit.html

Vmware - Restarting the Management agents on an ESXi or ESX host (1003490)

Complete vmware article:

Restarting the Management agents on an ESXi or ESX host (1003490)

Symptoms

Cannot connect ESXi/ESX to VirtualCenter/vCenter Server
Cannot connect directly to the ESXi/ESX host from the VMware Infrastructure Client / vSphere Client
Cannot stop or start a virtual machine
A virtual machine is shown as running in vCenter Server when it is not
vCenter Server displays the error:

Virtual machine creation may fail because agent is unable to retrieve VM creation options from the host

Steps that I utilized:

Restarting the Management agents on ESXi

To restart the management agents on ESXi:

From the Direct Console User Interface (DCUI):

Connect to the console of your ESXi host.
Press F2 to customize the system.
Log in as root.
Use the Up/Down arrows to navigate to Restart Management Agents.

Note: In ESXi 4.1 and ESXi 5.0, 5.1, 5.5 and 6.0 this option is available under Troubleshooting Options.
Press Enter.
Press F11 to restart the services.
When the service restarts, press Enter.
Press Esc to log out of the system.

Vmware - Backing up VMware vSphere 5.x and 6.0 products (2119754)

Here they are tons of links, from official Vmware KB base, that explain how to backup Vmware ESX(i) configuration and proceed with relative restore:

Backing up VMware vSphere 5.x and 6.0 products (2119754)

Backing up and restoring ESXi configuration using the vSphere Command-Line Interface and vSphere PowerCLI (2042141)

Purpose

This article contains links to relevant information for backing up VMware vSphere 5.x and 6.0 products.

Resolution

ESXi:

vCenter Server:

VMware Inventory Service:

Backing up and restoring the vCenter Server Appliance Inventory Service database (2062682)

VMware Single Sign-On:

Windows 10 - Deploy a Windows 10 image using MDT 2013 Update 1

This interesting Microsoft article and related subsections well explain and gives workflow on how to deploy windows 10 O.S. on Windows 7 machines (and other O.S. versions), automating pc backup process, upgrade O.S., deploy though PXE, drivers and patches installation and install non standard applications.

Here they are key features and full articles links:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt297537(v=vs.85).aspx

<--->

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit

Deploy a Windows 10 image using MDT 2013 Update 1

Build a distributed environment for Windows 10 deployment

Refresh a Windows 7 computer with Windows 10

Replace a Windows 7 computer with a Windows 10 computer

Windows Client support. Supports Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10.
Windows Server support. Supports Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2.
UEFI support. Supports deployment to machines using Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) version 2.3.1. (it means that you can remote access pc screen when O.S is not booted on)
Offline BitLocker. Provides the capability to have BitLocker enabled during the Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) phase, thus saving hours of encryption time.
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt297542(v=vs.85).aspx
Upgrade task sequence. Provides a new upgrade task sequence template that you can use to upgrade existing Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 systems directly to Windows 10, automatically preserving all data, settings, applications, and drivers. For more information about using this new upgrade task sequence, refer to the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit resource page.
Support for Office 2013. Provides added support for deploying Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013.
USMT offline user-state migration. Provides support for running the User State Migration Tool (USMT) capture offline, during the Windows PE phase of the deployment. (it means that you can backup users profiles/data from previous windows version to windows 10 and restoring data automatically)

Here is relative screenshots: