Adventures of a CTO

Managing separate GitHub accounts for work and personal projects? Learn how to configure SSH keys, URL rewriting, and conditional git settings to automatically select the right identity—plus where GitHub's tools still need manual account switching.

Intermittent .NET host processes locking your build outputs? MSBuild's node reuse feature causes file locking in complex build systems. Learn how MSBUILDDISABLENODEREUSE fixes years of sporadic build failures, why this optimization backfires, and when you should disable it.

Visual Studio build logs are noisy and useless for real insight. MSBuild binary logs reveal what the IDE hides: where time is spent, which analyzers drag, and why projects rebuild. Learn how to capture .binlog files and finally see the truth behind your .NET builds.

Windows leaves behind hidden proxy configurations in the ProxyMgr registry that break apps even after disabling proxy settings. Learn how to identify and completely eliminate these phantom settings that affect system services like Kerberos authentication.

A hands-off experiment building a Rust-based Model Context Protocol (MCP) proxy tool using only GitHub Copilot agent mode. Covers setup, multi-transport support, and lessons learned from letting Copilot do all the coding.

Microsoft’s Remote Desktop client (MSRDC) is being deprecated, and recent updates have broken MsRdpEx support. Learn how to download and pin a stable version, disable auto-updates, and preserve access before MSRDC goes away for good.

Learn how to disable the Windows 11 taskbar search box for all users by default using PowerShell and registry edits. Includes a deep dive into why the setting gets reset and how to prevent it with a reliable fix.

Learn how to automate the cleanup of ghost Hyper-V network adapters and migrate static IP configurations using PowerShell. This post walks through detecting stale adapters, reassigning IP settings, and setting up a scheduled task to keep your lab environments self-healing on boot.

Learn how to automate taskbar app pinning in Windows 11 using PowerShell by generating a LayoutModification.xml file and forcing the shell to reinitialize the layout without creating new user profiles.

Learn why mstsc requires the RD Gateway to act as a KDC proxy for Kerberos authentication, how this undocumented behavior causes silent NTLM downgrades, and how to fix it by enabling the KDC proxy service.

Learn why AD CS may silently skip CRL publishing when the server is turned off or running with constrained resources, leading to revocation errors like CRYPT_E_REVOCATION_OFFLINE. This post breaks down the root cause, highlights overlooked pitfalls in default AD CS configurations, and provides practical fixes using PowerShell, HTTP CRL distribution, and scheduled tasks.

Discover how to disable Bing search in the Windows Start Menu for faster, more responsive local search results. This step-by-step guide shows how to modify the registry with PowerShell or a .reg file, apply the setting for all users, and optionally use Group Policy or Intune to deploy the change across an organization. Improve Start Menu performance and streamline your Windows experience.

Learn how to isolate a Windows system service into its own process for easier debugging. This guide walks you through identifying service process IDs, listing service group members, and using PowerShell to move a service into a new, dedicated service group.

Learn how to set up a TUN-based virtual network interface in Windows using WinTun and tun2socks, route traffic through a SOCKS proxy, and build your own custom VPN solution from scratch

Explore how PowerShell enables interprocess communication (IPC) using named pipes in .NET applications, allowing seamless remote control and API access. This hands-on guide walks through creating custom named pipes, using Enter-PSHostProcess for connection, and integrating PowerShell with your .NET projects to enhance flexibility and streamline automation workflows with real-world examples.

Explore the essential steps to secure Mac RDP connections using Kerberos authentication with a focus on troubleshooting Protected Users and NTLM issues. This guide provides practical solutions for configuring Kerberos in an Active Directory environment, ensuring robust security for remote desktop access.

Enable PowerShell 7 WinRM remoting for efficient server management without relying on SSH. This post provides a straightforward method to incorporate PowerShell 7 into Windows environments, ensuring compatibility and simplifying remoting tasks with practical code snippets and configuration advice.

This post guides through decompiling Hyper-V Manager to rebuild it from source, aiming to assess its value for potential open-sourcing. It explores manual and automated decompilation processes, including troubleshooting and enhancing the tool, advocating for community-led improvements to this widely-used but neglected software.

Learn to create and debug PowerShell binary modules in Visual Studio, covering both local and remote debugging. This guide simplifies the development process for PowerShell modules, enhancing productivity with practical examples and troubleshooting tips for common issues.

Discover the intricacies of Active Directory's Kerberos KDC certificate selection for PKINIT, including techniques for choosing a specific certificate, analysis using IDA Pro, and PowerShell cmdlets for managing certificates. This deep dive explores the challenges and solutions for ensuring the right KDC certificate is used, overcoming the unpredictability of certificate selection in Windows environments.

A deep dive into Active Directory LDAPS certificate selection, detailing the technical intricacies of ensuring secure communications through TLS. This guide covers the validation and selection process, including PowerShell scripts for certificate management, aiming to clarify and resolve common issues with LDAPS implementation.

This post tackles the challenges of RDP Network Level Authentication (NLA) with Azure AD, labeled as the PKU2U nightmare, offering detailed solutions for common problems. It addresses enabling PKU2U authentication, Azure AD workplace joining, the correct Azure AD username format, and third-party application support, providing both technical insights and practical steps to mitigate these issues in Azure AD environments.

Navigate through the confusion of "the specified user name does not exist" error during RDP smartcard logon, offering insights into common misinterpretations and actionable solutions. This post breaks down error messages, suggests disabling strict KDC validation, and guides on certificate trust validation, ensuring successful authentication with practical steps and PowerShell commands.

This guide demystifies the "TrustedHosts" setting in PowerShell remoting, explaining its significance and how to configure it to avoid common errors. It offers solutions for enabling remote connections, particularly when Kerberos or HTTPS isn't used, ensuring security and connectivity for non-domain-joined machines or across different domains.

Unpack the dilemma between Cloud Kerberos Trust and Key Trust in Windows Hello for Business deployments. This post navigates through troubleshooting login issues, clarifying deployment types, and offering solutions for transitioning between deployment models with Group Policy and PowerShell, ensuring a smoother Windows Hello setup and operational reliability.

Resolve RDP NLA issues on domain-joined devices outside the corporate network by configuring a scheduled task to fetch the Kerberos machine TGT at startup. This practical solution ensures secure, remote desktop access without compromising network security, detailed with step-by-step instructions and troubleshooting tips.

Explore the correct method to disable Web Proxy Auto Detect (WPAD) in Windows to enhance security without breaking essential components. This guide clarifies common misconceptions and provides a safe approach using registry modifications, avoiding potential pitfalls associated with service deactivation.