Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Fixing "Open File - Security Warning" prompts in Windows 7 / 2008

If you enable Folder Redirection from a GPO, or even if you are trying to run a program from a non-local source, you'll run into this dialogue box:


For me, it was particularly annoying as it would happen when accessing any item from the start menu on our remote desktop server, as we were redirecting the AppData folder as well.

The fix is through GPO. I assume you know how to make a new GPO, and so to save time, here is the location.

User Configuration - Administative Templates - Windows Components - Internet Explorer - Internet Control Panel - Security Page  ... then it's Site to Zone Assignment List


I set both values for my file server here. You could also use a wildcard like *.yourdomain.com if you liked.

2 is the value for Trusted Sites. Check the help in the GPO Management box for other options.

The only downside to this is that now the user can't add their own trusted domains, as once it's specified in GPO, it can't be altered by the user.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Running Windows 2012 Server RC on ESXi 5.0 U1

If you're wanting to play with the upcomming Windows 2012 RC trial under ESXi 5.0 U1, you may find that it hangs if you're running your Virtual Machine as "Windows 8 (64 Bit)".

You need to set your Virtual Machine to "Windows 2008 R2 (64 bit) not "Windows 8 (64 Bit)". Once you make this change, it boots, and looks to run smoothly.

Vmware tools looks to install correctly, I can power up and down, and I can use the VMXNET3 network adapter in Windows. I also have the PVSCSI adapter enabled, and it looks to be running well.

I'm curious to test out it's built in iSCSI Target / clone abilities for running diskless (iSCSI Boot) Windows 7 Pro workstations.

Oh, and if you want to be able to use 2012 / Windows 8, check this site for where to find simpe things like shutdown and control panel.  I'm not sure it's wise to change such a staple of Windows useage, but it does make for a cleaner interface.

So far, I like the new interface.. we'll see how useful it is after extended use.