Changing Password policies in Server 2008

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I have been using Windows 2008 Server Standard as my operating system of choice at home for quite a few months now, and twice I have had to change my password due to the security policy in place by default. This setting forces you to change your password every 42 days. Anyway, up until now I had been too lazy to disable the policy. So for those of you who don’t know where to do this, here is how.

Go to Start – Run, and type in gpedit.msc

Click OK.

Expand the following branches by clicking the little arrow signs next to each one :

Computer Configuration – Windows Settings – Security Settings – Account Policies – and then finally,  Password Policy

Select Password policy, and on the right hand side list double click (or right click – properties) on “Maximum Password Age”

Change this to setting to 0, and then click OK.

Close the Group Policy editor, and from now on you won’t have that annoying mandatory password change every month or so.

password_policies2

Getting back into 3D modeling

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Over the past few days I have felt the need to do something slightly more creative than gaming / watching tv / eating Christmas pudding / general lazing about on holiday. I haven’t really done any 3D modeling since 2005, apart from a few odds and ends here and there. This was done after some recapping and getting back up to speed with 3D Studio Max.

I used a couple of techniques learnt from doing some recap tutorials for the mountains and rocks. I made the texture on the rocks by overlaying a photo of some old mossy type plants over a photo of some sandy rock. Bump mapping was done using the same image in high contrast black & white. Anyway, here is the current render I have. I will upload one of the first renders later, and then perhaps see if I can improve on the current render whenever I get a spare moment.

Desert Temple

Xbox 360

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The other day I decided it was time to get another Xbox 360. My original Core unit that I bought a couple of years ago was stolen in South Africa, and since then I have not been into console gaming. After playing Rock band, Geometry wars, and seeing the new Gears of War 2 previews, the temptation was too much, and we went out and got an Xbox 360 Premium, an extra wireless controller, play and charge kit, and a few games. I was pleasantly surprised to see an HDMI connector on the back of the console, and must say that 1080p, along with optical audio (using Logitech Z5500 speakers) equals an incredible gaming experience! All I need now is my own TV! (This one belongs to our housemate).

mediasetup1

So far we are playing :

PGR 4, Sonic, Ninja Gaiden 2, and a bunch of free demos from Xbox Live. Can’t wait to get hold of : Rockband / Rockband 2, GoW2, GTA IV, and Tomb Raider Underworld.

Here is my Gamertag for now. This should dynamically update as I get more gamerscore.


Let us begin…

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42. The so-called answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything according to the supercomputer “Deep Thought” in the science fiction novel “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.”

Marvin
Marvin

This is my technical blog, where I hope to record many solutions that I find / already know to various IT-related issues and problems I come across at work. I might even give the whole “blog thing” a go, and ramble on about my day-to-day life every so often… I shall then use this site to come back to every time I re-encounter an issue, and can’t quite remember how I solved it the last time. Hopefully this will also provide help to others facing similar issues.