DFS and non-domain joined pc's

It won't work, period.


We have some outside consultants in-house for the next few months.. I created them all domain accounts and they VPN in.  Since they are all using laptops that are not part of our domain they cannot follow DFS links.  So for a shared folder I had to give them the direct path :(

Search-ADAccount -lockedout.. Where have you been all my life?

So yesterday I had a supervisor call me because a few of his users could not get logged in.  I went down the usual list of accounts that I know they use and non-were locked out.  I tell him to get find out what username the problem folks are using and to let me know.  So he hangs up and while Im sitting there I decide to google it.

Search-ADAccount - locked out

Is what I found.. OMG! Where has this command been for the past few years? So easy.. So short.. So easy to remember.

GT Rebuild: Sears ST/16 Part 3

And now the moment I have been waiting for ;)  She's is finally finished*.

Here's some pics as I know everyone wants pics first.. then text.

Technically she';s not "finished" finished, as I still need to replace the regulator, and wire up the lights however I am able to drive it and plow with it.

PowerShell: Export-CSV with specific user info

Today I had need to export a bunch of info about our users for some sort of internal survey sending situation.


Get-ADUser -Filter * -SearchBase "OU=Employees,DC=Domain,DC=Com" -Properties DisplayName, EmailAddress, Department, Manager | Select DisplayName, EmailAddress, Department, Manager | Export-CSV "D:\path"

GT rebuild: Sears ST/16 Part 2

So one of the very first problems I ran into on this build was the engine smoked like a freight train.  The previous owner said he thought it needed piston rings.  I ran able to get it started and drove it around the yard twice and I noticed two things: A. The head gasket was blowing oil onto the back of the muffler and B. Yes lots of smoke comes out of the muffler itself.

I checked, and double checked and triple checked the valve clearance and the .006 intake and .010 exhaust is set correctly. The starter, sheet metal, valve train, and SSI were all good.

Being as the ring kits were upwards of $60 bucks, and I lack the tools to remove the rockers and valves I decided to re-power.

Lucked into a nice guy on Craigslist who had a Tecumseh OH140 14hp engine, with a bad SSI.  Since I had a known good one I figured it'd be a good buy. We tested the starter before exchanging money and it turned over very well, which mine did not.  So I bought it and brought it home.

I spent quite a few days cleaning the new engine. and then putting on and testing the SSI swap.  Now what I don;t know is, at some point during the SSI testing I somehow either killed mine or it just stopped working. Damn.  Replacement SSI units even on eBay run almost $250!  No way would I spend that kind of dough on it so in my many googling sessions I stumbled across Ed Stoller's website about converting SSI ignitions into coil/battery setups.
Engines and Magnets

Of Note: Be careful scraping off the existing epoxy, once it gets hot and you start pushing with the flathead the pieces will basically shatter off and they are hot to boot so yeah..watch out for burns.
Secondly: Do NOT try to crank the engine without a spark plug attached and grounded.  The SSI (if working) will build up current and end up shorting some internal component as it tried to find it's own ground.

Anyway after breaking the trace, and soldering both the jumper and the diode my SSI is now a pickup coil :)

I've gotten excellent spark with Ed's setup and it's MUCH cheaper than replacing the SSI with either new or even refurbished modules.

GT rebuild: Sears ST/16

I'm veering off my normal path here with a non-IT posting.  I've recently gotten into rebuilding garden tractors, and my latest project is a 1973 Sears ST/16. I bought it from a guy down towards the southern end of the state and it came without a mowing deck but with a front blade, rear blade, a single bottom moldboard plow and a disc.
These units were built tough before built tough was a trademark. It originally came with a Tecumseh OH160 16hp overhead valve, single cylinder engine. And a 3 forward and 1 rear speed geared transmission.

Here it is at the beginning. Rusty and ugly.

I have taken the hood, grill and fenders off and repainted them all. The white I used was IH white, the yellow was New Caterpillar yellow. This hog came with heavy wheel weights and a body weight that I sold the front blade which was for a John Deere 200 series.

Engine wise is smoked like a freight-train.. lots of blow by. So with the ring kits being upwards of $60 I found a replacement engine for $75 (which gives me a lot of spare engine parts) which ended up being an OH140 14hp Tecumseh.  Same exact setup only with a smaller piston.

Other existing issues included a leaky gas tank, frozen up carb, old fuel lines, no fuel filter or pump, the transmission fluid was horribly old, left front tire has holes and the muffler was rotten.

I post this now because I'm almost at the end of this rebuild.. I'll follow it up with an after pic once fully completed.