How to configure the domain password expiration policy in the Microsoft Active Directory

The Microsoft Active Directory is a great system to manage the security of servers and workstations. One of the fundamental security tools is the password expiration policy.

To set the password expiration policy in an Active Directory domain follow the steps below

  • Remote desktop into the domain controller
  • Start the Active Directory Users and Computers snap in
  • Right click the root domain name and select Properties
  • Select the Group Policy tab
  • In the middle select the Default Domain Policy Group Policy Object Link
  • Click the Edit button
  • On the left side expand Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Account Policies
  • Select the Password Policy and Account Lockout Policy keys to set the desired values

active directory password policy

 

Warning!

All new and existing user accounts will inherit these settings, and the password of existing user accounts will immediately expire where the “Password never expires” option is not set.

Display deleted items in the Microsoft Visual Studio Source Control Explorer

When you delete a file or folder in TFS by default it is no longer displayed in the Source Control Explorer. To be able to “undelete” a file or folder enable the visibility of deleted items in Microsoft Visual Studio.

To see deleted items in the Source Control Explorer

  • Start Visual Studio
  • In the Tools menu select Options
  • On the left side expand Source Control
  • On the left side select Visual Studio Team Foundation Server
  • On the right side check Show deleted items in the Source Control Explorer
  • Click OK to save your changes

visual studio tfs show deleted items in source control explorer

To “undelete” a file or folder

  • Start Microsoft Visual Studio
  • Open the Source Control Explorer window
    • In the View menu select Other Windows
    • In the list select Source Control Explorer

In the Source Control Explorer window navigate to the location of the deleted item. Deleted files and folders are displayed in gray with a special icons.

visual studio tfs deleted folders in source control explorer

  •  Right click the item and select Undelete

 

Insert multiple rows into a Microsoft SQL Server database

There is a great way to insert multiple rows into a Microsoft SQL Server database in one statement. This notation has multiple advantages: simplicity and the grouping of multiple instructions into one transaction.

INSERT MyTable (name, description)
VALUES
('John', 'Manager')
,('Bill', 'Truck driver')

Script from Ernie Cruz

The ‘Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0’ provider is not registered on the local machine. (System.Data)

When you try to import Excel 2007 or later “.xlsx” files into an SQL Server 2008 database you may get the following error mesage :

The ‘Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0’ provider is not registered on the local machine. (System.Data)

sql server 2008 import excel xlsx

 

To solve this problem install the appropriate version of the Microsoft Access Database Engine.

 

On 32 bit Windows

On the 32 bit version of Windows Server 2003 download and install the 32 bit version of Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable from

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13255

 

On 64 bit Windows

On the 64 bit versions of Windows 7 and  Windows Server 2008 download and install the 64 bit version of

Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable from

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13255

and the

2007 Office System Driver: Data Connectivity Components from

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=23734

 

You may also have to execute the following lines in the SQL Server Management Studio

  • Open a new query window
  • Select the master database
  • Execute the following lines

sp_configure ‘show advanced options’, 1;
RECONFIGURE;
sp_configure ‘Ad Hoc Distributed Queries’, 1;
RECONFIGURE;
GO

 

Why do we need to install the old 32 bit driver on the 64 bit operating system?

SQL Server Management Studio is a 32 bit application, most likely it can only use the 32 bit driver on the 64 bit operating system.

If you try to install the 32 bit version of the newer Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable and you already have the 64 bit version of Microsoft Office installed on your 64 bit computer you will get the following error message:

“You cannot install the 32-bit version of Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 because you currently have 64-bit Office products installed. If you want to install 32-bit Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010, you will first need to remove the 64-bit installation of Office products. After uninstalling the following product(s), rerun setup in order to install 32-bit version of Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010: …”

sql server 2008 import excel xlsx 32 bit access database engine 64 bit office

 

The old 32 bit 2007 Office System Driver can be installed even if the 64 bit version of Microsoft Office 2013 is installed on the machine.

 

How to open SQL files in Visual Studio 2012

The default installation of Visual Studio 2012 cannot open SQL documents when you double click on them in Source Control Explorer.  To be able to do that you have to install the

SQL Server Data Tools  for Visual Studio 2012

For more information visit http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/data/tools.aspx