• Account disabled after one failed logon

    From T@21:1/5 to All on Fri Apr 19 19:00:25 2024
    Hi All,

    W10-pro 22H2

    I have a customer with two machines. Both have the
    same issue

    If you goof the first attempt to logon, your account gets
    locked out for five minutes.

    Password and attempts is set as follows:

    <win><r> secpol.msc
    --> Security Settings (very top of the left pane)
    --> Account Policies (left pane)
    --> Account Lockout Policy (left pane)
    --> Adjust the following (you have to set the threshold first):
    x Account lockout threshold (middle one) (10)
    x Account lockout duration (5)
    x Reset account lockout counter after (5) https://imgur.com/JBWWAuw.png


    The normal way to unlock an account before the wait period
    expires is
    --> logon as Administrator
    --> <win><R> lusrmgr.msc
    --> users
    --> select user
    --> uncheck "Account is disabled"

    Problem: the account is not disabled (lusrmgr.msc): https://imgur.com/2rxTBQo.png

    <editorial comment> AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!</editorial comment>

    Any Words of Wisdom?
    -T

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to T@invalid.invalid on Sat Apr 20 00:43:20 2024
    T <T@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    W10-pro 22H2

    I have a customer with two machines. Both have the
    same issue

    If you goof the first attempt to logon, your account gets
    locked out for five minutes.

    Password and attempts is set as follows:

    <win><r> secpol.msc
    --> Security Settings (very top of the left pane)
    --> Account Policies (left pane)
    --> Account Lockout Policy (left pane)
    --> Adjust the following (you have to set the threshold first):
    x Account lockout threshold (middle one) (10)
    x Account lockout duration (5)
    x Reset account lockout counter after (5) https://imgur.com/JBWWAuw.png

    The normal way to unlock an account before the wait period
    expires is
    --> logon as Administrator
    --> <win><R> lusrmgr.msc
    --> users
    --> select user
    --> uncheck "Account is disabled"

    Problem: the account is not disabled (lusrmgr.msc): https://imgur.com/2rxTBQo.png

    So, is your question how to disable the lockout interval timeout
    (duration) to just use the max attempt count (threshold)?

    Or do you still want a 5-minute lockout interval, and always use an
    admin account to unlock the lockout? By the time you get to the
    workstation, login under an admin account, and navigate into policies to
    unlock an account, you might've just waited the 5-minute login interval.

    I would expect a lockout interval does NOT mean the account is disabled,
    just the login gets stalled for that interval. Keep a login fail count (lockout threshold), but I'd probably up that from 10 to 30 for
    uber-boobs using the workstation.

    The lockout threshold (now at 10) cues it takes that many logins to fail
    before a lockout. You sure your customer is telling the truth that just
    1 failed login is locking up the login screen? Customers sometimes lie
    to save face.

    I had my dad with his SOHO office tell me that he didn't install any
    software since I last worked on his company computer. I'd find and show several programs he installed since then. He said he figured those
    didn't count. Uh huh. And it was one of those insignificant installs
    that fucked his computer.

    Alternatively, and if the image you showed is not of the customer's
    computer, a lockout duration of 0 (zero) means the account gets locked
    (not disabled). An admin then needs to unlock the account. The
    duration should be 1, or higher (measured in minutes). Once the
    threshold is exceeded, the account is locked for the interval set in
    duration, but a value of 0 means immediate lockout on a failed login.
    Some companies set the duration to 1440 minutes (24 hours), but the
    threshold of 5 means the authorized user could end up locked out for a
    day in just 5 failed logins. A duration of just 5 minues is way too
    short as a brute-force attacker can begin again in a very short time to
    hack into an account.

    Disabled and locked out are not the same regarding account status. Your
    image at https://i.imgur.com/2rxTBQo.png shows the "Account is disabled"
    option is disabled, so that account is /not/ disabled. Your image also
    shows "Account is locked out" is grayed out, so the account is not
    locked out, either. When you saved that image (after logging under a
    different admin-level Windows account and using lusmgr), had the
    duration already expired, so it was no longer locked out by the time you
    got around to looking at that account?

    https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/87665-unlock-local-account-windows-10-a.html
    "If Account is locked out is grayed out and unchecked, then the account
    is not locked out."

    Since these login security measures are policies, and since a PDC can
    push policies onto a workstation, you didn't mention if the user is
    logging on using a local account, or an account in a domain. No matter
    what you set for policy, a workstation logging into a PDC will get those policies pushed onto their host. The only way I know of around this is
    to get the IT folks to give you the admin account login credentials to
    define a script for the Logon event that rewrites the registry settings
    for the policies. IT was pushing a short screen saver timeout that we
    needed disabled for a kiosk workstation in our Alpha Lab. Once I
    explained why we need that host (in a locked lab) to NOT allow the password-protected screen saver, they gave me the admin account (the one
    from the PDC, not a local admin account) to write a Logon script to use
    reg.exe to undo some of the corporate policies. They had no way to differentiate which policies were pushed onto which workstations, like excluding our kiosk host from their policies. Not a problem for hosts
    in our Lab that were on a different network segment where domain logins
    weren't used, but the kiosk host was outside our Lab's network, subject
    to corporate policies pushed via PDC, but in a locked office.

    Unlock account in a PDC setup:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8KWgt4oHRM

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From T@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Sat Apr 20 01:11:17 2024
    On 4/19/24 22:43, VanguardLH wrote:
    Or do you still want a 5-minute lockout interval, and always use an
    admin account to unlock the lockout? By the time you get to the
    workstation, login under an admin account, and navigate into policies to unlock an account, you might've just waited the 5-minute login interval.

    That is what I originally thought too, but I was quick and when
    I=tried to relogin as the user, I was still locked out.

    I want it to work the way I configured it. I have about
    20 other customers with that same configuration and they
    all work as expected.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From T@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Sat Apr 20 00:22:21 2024
    On 4/19/24 22:43, VanguardLH wrote:
    is your question how to disable the lockout interval timeout
    (duration) to just use the max attempt count (threshold)?

    I want the 10 not the one

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From T@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Sat Apr 20 01:12:13 2024
    On 4/19/24 22:43, VanguardLH wrote:
    The lockout threshold (now at 10) cues it takes that many logins to fail before a lockout. You sure your customer is telling the truth that just
    1 failed login is locking up the login screen? Customers sometimes lie
    to save face.

    It has done it to me several times, both in person and remotely

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From T@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Sat Apr 20 01:30:38 2024
    On 4/19/24 22:43, VanguardLH wrote:
    I had my dad with his SOHO office tell me that he didn't install any
    software since I last worked on his company computer. I'd find and show several programs he installed since then. He said he figured those
    didn't count. Uh huh. And it was one of those insignificant installs
    that fucked his computer.

    I did this customer's PCI (payment card industry) audit.
    I when though all his programs to remove unused stuff
    as required. I put him through both UCHeck and VulnDetect.


    Alternatively, and if the image you showed is not of the customer's
    computer, a lockout duration of 0 (zero) means the account gets locked
    (not disabled). An admin then needs to unlock the account. The
    duration should be 1, or higher (measured in minutes). Once the
    threshold is exceeded, the account is locked for the interval set in duration, but a value of 0 means immediate lockout on a failed login.
    Some companies set the duration to 1440 minutes (24 hours), but the
    threshold of 5 means the authorized user could end up locked out for a
    day in just 5 failed logins. A duration of just 5 minues is way too
    short as a brute-force attacker can begin again in a very short time to
    hack into an account.

    It is the minimum I can set it at to appease the PCI gods. Keep
    in mind that he gets locked out by the screen saver every
    fifteen minutes (10 minutes to screen saver and 5 minutes grace)
    and has to log back in. One goof up and ...

    It has also happened to me on a fresh boot up when I
    put my own password in, instead of his.

    And the bad guys are going to choke on the multi-factor
    authentication (MFA), the firewall (a real one), and the
    masked RDP port. I did check with the customer and he had
    this issues before I installed the MFA. MFA is only set up for
    remote RDP.

    Disabled and locked out are not the same regarding account status. Your image athttps://i.imgur.com/2rxTBQo.png shows the "Account is disabled" option is disabled, so that account is/not/ disabled. Your image also
    shows "Account is locked out" is grayed out, so the account is not
    locked out, either. When you saved that image (after logging under a different admin-level Windows account and using lusmgr), had the
    duration already expired, so it was no longer locked out by the time you
    got around to looking at that account?

    Still locked out when I tried to get back into the user's account.

    https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/87665-unlock-local-account-windows-10-a.html
    "If Account is locked out is grayed out and unchecked, then the account
    is not locked out."

    Since these login security measures are policies, and since a PDC can
    push policies onto a workstation, you didn't mention if the user is
    logging on using a local account, or an account in a domain.

    Local account. Just two computers. No server.

    No matter
    what you set for policy, a workstation logging into a PDC
    ...
    Unlock account in a PDC setup:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8KWgt4oHRM

    Fortunately, no windows server involved. Windows servers
    are not useful in small businesses.

    What is weird is that I have about 20 other customers
    with the same configuration. And they have no such issue.

    I am thinking that my secpol.msc, Account lockout
    threshold is not the mechanize that is throwing
    the lockout. It is beyond me what is though.

    One of my major complains about Windows 10+ is the "one off"
    problems, where only one computer in the entire world
    has a particular issue. I wonder if I have come across
    my first "two off" problem.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Wang Yu@21:1/5 to All on Sat Apr 20 18:00:00 2024
    On 20/04/2024 03:00, T wrote:


    <editorial comment> AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!</editorial comment>

    Any Words of Wisdom?




    Windows continues to get worse. https://youtu.be/GkJihLz1DY0?si=GAmWpuxnBeKSmU-S

    Did you disable fast startup in your customers' systems? Chinese made
    battery powered vibrators are getting better. They are now using AI
    meaning augmented intelligence not artificial intelligence. But people
    should disable fast startup so that they get time to use Chinese made
    battery powered vibrators with AI, Even the price is dropping so you can
    make more profits by selling them to your customers. Do you still go to
    a massage parlour in the rougher end of your town for a social
    rendezvous? Always disable fast startup to get maximum benefit. Tell
    your customers you are a Windows expert and soon will start selling
    doors. Chinese made battery powered vibrators with AI can help you get
    started but selling doors will augment your bottom line.  So now you
    have Windows, Doors and Chinese made battery powered vibrators. You can
    also advertise for your local massage parlours and charge them for the
    service.

    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proin mollis
    vulputate dictum. Donec ut velit est. Nam pretium odio non placerat
    varius. Aenean vel metus lectus. Donec enim enim, egestas id ex quis, ullamcorper convallis nunc. Phasellus iaculis, diam ac viverra
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    tristique elementum. In commodo malesuada augue, sit amet sollicitudin
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    urna, non aliquet orci sapien a justo. Interdum et malesuada fames ac
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    nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nulla quis tincidunt leo, ac bibendum
    tortor. Fusce bibendum est sed magna fermentum, a malesuada lacus lacinia.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From T@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Sat Apr 20 14:36:17 2024
    On 4/20/24 14:21, VanguardLH wrote:
    T <T@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    One of my major complains about Windows 10+ is the "one off"
    problems, where only one computer in the entire world
    has a particular issue. I wonder if I have come across
    my first "two off" problem.

    The Home editions are betaware. Microsoft stopped maintaining labs with
    tons of scenarios to try testing the most common user setups, about the
    time they fired a ton of programmers. Microsoft uses Home users as
    though they were beta testers.

    Believe me, they do it with Pro users too.

    The term "what were they thinking" was coined
    for M$.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Wang Yu on Sat Apr 20 16:56:48 2024
    Wang Yu <T@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    Path: ...!paganini.bofh.team!not-for-mail
    User-Agent: Eternal September v2024

    No such client. Poster lied.

    Content-Language: cn

    Why specify Chinese when the content is ASCII?

    Chinese made battery powered vibrators are getting better.
    ...
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proin mollis
    <data block attempting to avoid anti-spam filters using a hash>


    An example why free access (no account registration) is a bad idea at
    BOFH Pagainini. No way to use Paganini's headers to determine if a
    poster used free access (unregistered) or an account there (registered).
    Google Groupers are migrating to Paganini, including trolls, peuriles, malcontents, nymshifters, and uber-boobs. A lot of trash would be
    avoided if Paganini dropped their free (unregistered) access to require
    account login (registered). There's no privacy issue when registering
    for an account, just something to lose by violating their TOS.

    No idea if the posting-account="9dIQLXBM7WM9KzA+yjdR4A" string arg in Paganini's Injection-Info header identifies free access, or the actual
    account through which a post got submitted. For all the Paganini
    submissions that I've found, they all have:

    Injection-Info: ...; posting-account="9dIQLXBM7WM9KzA+yjdR4A";

    So, that won't help to differentiate between freeloaders using free
    access to Paganini, and those using account to login.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to T@invalid.invalid on Sat Apr 20 16:21:39 2024
    T <T@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    One of my major complains about Windows 10+ is the "one off"
    problems, where only one computer in the entire world
    has a particular issue. I wonder if I have come across
    my first "two off" problem.

    The Home editions are betaware. Microsoft stopped maintaining labs with
    tons of scenarios to try testing the most common user setups, about the
    time they fired a ton of programmers. Microsoft uses Home users as
    though they were beta testers.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From T@21:1/5 to All on Tue Apr 23 02:02:39 2024
    On 4/19/24 19:00, T wrote:
    Hi All,

    W10-pro 22H2

    I have a customer with two machines.  Both have the
    same issue

    If you goof the first attempt to logon, your account gets
    locked out for five minutes.

    Password and attempts is set as follows:

    <win><r> secpol.msc
      --> Security Settings (very top of the left pane)
        --> Account Policies (left pane)
          --> Account Lockout Policy (left pane)
            --> Adjust the following (you have to set the threshold first):
                 x  Account lockout threshold  (middle one)   (10)
                 x  Account lockout duration                   (5)
                 x  Reset account lockout counter after        (5)
    https://imgur.com/JBWWAuw.png


    The normal way to unlock an account before the wait period
    expires is
        --> logon as Administrator
          --> <win><R> lusrmgr.msc
            --> users
              --> select user
                --> uncheck "Account is disabled"

    Problem: the account is not disabled (lusrmgr.msc): https://imgur.com/2rxTBQo.png

    <editorial comment> AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!</editorial comment>

    Any Words of Wisdom?
    -T


    Figured it out.

    Everything was working as it was suppose to. The
    reason why the account kept getting locked out was
    due to a "Brute Force RDP attack". The attacker
    kept running up the failed log in attempts in
    rapid succession.

    Fortunately, the security provisions I
    had put in place held.

    Now that I know what was causing the issue, I
    blocked the attackers multiple IP addresses
    at the network firewall.

    <editorial comment> OH HOLY [expletive deleted] !!!! </editorial comment>

    Thank you all for the help and tips!

    -T

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Carlos E.R.@21:1/5 to All on Tue Apr 23 15:31:44 2024
    On 2024-04-23 11:02, T wrote:
    On 4/19/24 19:00, T wrote:
    Hi All,

    W10-pro 22H2

    I have a customer with two machines.  Both have the
    same issue

    If you goof the first attempt to logon, your account gets
    locked out for five minutes.

    ...

    Any Words of Wisdom?
    -T


    Figured it out.

    Everything was working as it was suppose to.  The
    reason why the account kept getting locked out was
    due to a "Brute Force RDP attack".  The attacker
    kept running up the failed log in attempts in
    rapid succession.

    Gosh :-(


    Fortunately, the security provisions I
    had put in place held.

    Now that I know what was causing the issue, I
    blocked the attackers multiple IP addresses
    at the network firewall.

    <editorial comment> OH HOLY [expletive deleted] !!!! </editorial comment>

    Thank you all for the help and tips!

    Expletive indeed.

    --
    Cheers, Carlos.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From T@21:1/5 to Carlos E.R. on Tue Apr 23 07:05:46 2024
    On 4/23/24 06:31, Carlos E.R. wrote:
    On 2024-04-23 11:02, T wrote:
    On 4/19/24 19:00, T wrote:
    Hi All,

    W10-pro 22H2

    I have a customer with two machines.  Both have the
    same issue

    If you goof the first attempt to logon, your account gets
    locked out for five minutes.

    ...

    Any Words of Wisdom?
    -T


    Figured it out.

    Everything was working as it was suppose to.  The
    reason why the account kept getting locked out was
    due to a "Brute Force RDP attack".  The attacker
    kept running up the failed log in attempts in
    rapid succession.

    Gosh :-(


    Fortunately, the security provisions I
    had put in place held.

    Now that I know what was causing the issue, I
    blocked the attackers multiple IP addresses
    at the network firewall.

    <editorial comment> OH HOLY [expletive deleted] !!!! </editorial comment>

    Thank you all for the help and tips!

    Expletive indeed
    Hyperventilated a bit too!

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to T@invalid.invalid on Tue Apr 23 13:00:21 2024
    T <T@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 4/19/24 19:00, T wrote:
    Hi All,

    W10-pro 22H2

    I have a customer with two machines.  Both have the
    same issue

    If you goof the first attempt to logon, your account gets
    locked out for five minutes.

    Password and attempts is set as follows:

    <win><r> secpol.msc
      --> Security Settings (very top of the left pane)
        --> Account Policies (left pane)
          --> Account Lockout Policy (left pane)
            --> Adjust the following (you have to set the threshold first):
                 x  Account lockout threshold  (middle one)   (10)
                 x  Account lockout duration                   (5)
                 x  Reset account lockout counter after        (5)
    https://imgur.com/JBWWAuw.png

    The normal way to unlock an account before the wait period
    expires is
        --> logon as Administrator
          --> <win><R> lusrmgr.msc
            --> users
              --> select user
                --> uncheck "Account is disabled"

    Problem: the account is not disabled (lusrmgr.msc):
    https://imgur.com/2rxTBQo.png

    <editorial comment> AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!</editorial comment>

    Any Words of Wisdom?
    -T

    Figured it out.

    Everything was working as it was suppose to. The
    reason why the account kept getting locked out was
    due to a "Brute Force RDP attack". The attacker
    kept running up the failed log in attempts in
    rapid succession.

    Fortunately, the security provisions I
    had put in place held.

    Now that I know what was causing the issue, I
    blocked the attackers multiple IP addresses
    at the network firewall.

    <editorial comment> OH HOLY [expletive deleted] !!!! </editorial comment>

    Thank you all for the help and tips!

    -T

    Wouldn't RDP'ing from the outside to a host on the inside of a firewall
    mean there was a hole punched in the firewall (a rule) to allow those externally sourced RDP requests?

    https://finerdp.com/blog/how_to_enable_rdp_in_Windows_10

    If an intranet host is exposed to externally-instigated connections, why
    isn't this host in a DMZ?

    Why was the problematic host running an RDP server? I thought this was
    for a workstation since some user was on the host using it as their workstation. Now it's a server? If a server, what is a user doing
    putzing around on the server host?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From T@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Tue Apr 23 15:57:29 2024
    On 4/23/24 11:00, VanguardLH wrote:
    T <T@invalid.invalid> wrote:

    On 4/19/24 19:00, T wrote:
    Hi All,

    W10-pro 22H2

    I have a customer with two machines.  Both have the
    same issue

    If you goof the first attempt to logon, your account gets
    locked out for five minutes.

    Password and attempts is set as follows:

    <win><r> secpol.msc
      --> Security Settings (very top of the left pane)
        --> Account Policies (left pane)
          --> Account Lockout Policy (left pane)
            --> Adjust the following (you have to set the threshold first):
                 x  Account lockout threshold  (middle one)   (10)
                 x  Account lockout duration                   (5)
                 x  Reset account lockout counter after        (5)
    https://imgur.com/JBWWAuw.png

    The normal way to unlock an account before the wait period
    expires is
        --> logon as Administrator
          --> <win><R> lusrmgr.msc
            --> users
              --> select user
                --> uncheck "Account is disabled"

    Problem: the account is not disabled (lusrmgr.msc):
    https://imgur.com/2rxTBQo.png

    <editorial comment> AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!</editorial comment>

    Any Words of Wisdom?
    -T

    Figured it out.

    Everything was working as it was suppose to. The
    reason why the account kept getting locked out was
    due to a "Brute Force RDP attack". The attacker
    kept running up the failed log in attempts in
    rapid succession.

    Fortunately, the security provisions I
    had put in place held.

    Now that I know what was causing the issue, I
    blocked the attackers multiple IP addresses
    at the network firewall.

    <editorial comment> OH HOLY [expletive deleted] !!!! </editorial comment>

    Thank you all for the help and tips!

    -T

    Wouldn't RDP'ing from the outside to a host on the inside of a firewall
    mean there was a hole punched in the firewall (a rule) to allow those externally sourced RDP requests?

    This is true. You have to do a port forward and allow and
    unestablished connection for that port. It helps narrow
    the rule down if you know from what network and mask they
    are coming from, but that kills the ability to do roaming.

    https://finerdp.com/blog/how_to_enable_rdp_in_Windows_10

    If an intranet host is exposed to externally-instigated connections, why isn't this host in a DMZ?

    DMZ does not give access to what the customer needs.

    Why was the problematic host running an RDP server?

    Customer needs remote access those two computers.

    I thought this was
    for a workstation

    It is. You get one free RDP server license with a Pro workstation.

    since some user was on the host using it as their
    workstation. Now it's a server?

    This is the old serve vs workstation marketing tags.
    Any workstation can act as a server. It depends
    on how the software on it is configured.

    If a working stations is sharing files, that function
    is a server. Same with their single license for RDP.


    If a server, what is a user doing
    putzing around on the server host?

    Not a marketing tag as a server. They are Pro workstations.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Graham J on Wed Apr 24 02:38:10 2024
    Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> wrote:

    It does fail if the employee wishes to run some proprietary software for which there are only sufficient licenses to support the two machines at
    head office. In this case RDP to those machines would work better, but
    of course it denies use to staff at head office for the duration of the remote connection.

    We had a Windows host used as an RDP server that allowed 2 concurrent
    user sessions. Alas, too many times users would leave their computers
    with the RDP session left active which consumed a connection. Only took
    2 users to fuck up everyone else wanting to connect. I found out there
    is an admin session you can use to kill those user connects.

    https://v2cloud.com/tutorials/mstsc-admin

    Only took at couple complaints to the managers to get their employees to
    stop abusing the RDP connections by leaving them active when they left
    their computer for any reason (bathroom break, lunch, meeting, leave
    work). One user just couldn't remember to logoff when he left, so we firewalled him out. Forgetfullness was not an excuse.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Graham J@21:1/5 to All on Wed Apr 24 08:19:30 2024
    T wrote:

    [snip]

    Wouldn't RDP'ing from the outside to a host on the inside of a firewall
    mean there was a hole punched in the firewall (a rule) to allow those
    externally sourced RDP requests?

    This is true.  You have to do a port forward and allow and
    unestablished connection for that port.  It helps narrow
    the rule down if you know from what network and mask they
    are coming from, but that kills the ability to do roaming.

    A much better option would be to configure the router to accept incoming
    VPN connections. You will have to use a router (e.g. Draytek) that has
    VPN capability. That way the remote user establishes the VPN connection
    to the router using whatever mechanism is appropriate to allow roaming;
    and is then able to RDP to any or all of the machines on the LAN.

    When I ran a computer support business I used this mechanism to support
    my customers. It is made much easier if the customers have static
    public IP addresses; I also have a static IP address.

    Why was the problematic host running an RDP server?

    Customer needs remote access those two computers.

    There is now a different way to achieve access to your files, which is
    to use Microsoft OneDrive. In effect, you store all your files in the
    "cloud" in the storage that M$ sells you, and these files are accessible
    from anywhere that has an internet connection given that you log in with
    a Microsoft Account.

    If you are happy with this M$ environment it does work for the employees
    within a small business, who are then able to access company documents
    from, for example, a customer site.

    It does fail if the employee wishes to run some proprietary software for
    which there are only sufficient licenses to support the two machines at
    head office. In this case RDP to those machines would work better, but
    of course it denies use to staff at head office for the duration of the
    remote connection.

    Given that you are running a business that tries to support customers,
    do you think you should be better informed about how to support those customers? It worries me that you appear to be putting those customers
    at risk. Clearly they don't have expert knowledge - they come to you!



    --
    Graham J

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From T@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Wed Apr 24 04:22:22 2024
    On 4/24/24 00:38, VanguardLH wrote:
    Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> wrote:

    It does fail if the employee wishes to run some proprietary software for
    which there are only sufficient licenses to support the two machines at
    head office. In this case RDP to those machines would work better, but
    of course it denies use to staff at head office for the duration of the
    remote connection.

    We had a Windows host used as an RDP server that allowed 2 concurrent
    user sessions. Alas, too many times users would leave their computers
    with the RDP session left active which consumed a connection. Only took
    2 users to fuck up everyone else wanting to connect. I found out there
    is an admin session you can use to kill those user connects.

    https://v2cloud.com/tutorials/mstsc-admin

    Only took at couple complaints to the managers to get their employees to
    stop abusing the RDP connections by leaving them active when they left
    their computer for any reason (bathroom break, lunch, meeting, leave
    work). One user just couldn't remember to logoff when he left, so we firewalled him out. Forgetfullness was not an excuse.

    I have several customer that have told me they
    want to leave their computers on all night so
    in the morning they do not have to waste time
    booting up. I think it is dumb but ...

    So, after a few day, Windows goes to hell. To
    cope I install a nightly reboot at 3 in the
    morning. Solved the going to hell issue.

    But, you would not believe that crap they leave
    running just to have the reboot kill (/f). I am
    surprised they have not lost all their work.
    They must remember to save before walking out
    the door,

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Char Jackson@21:1/5 to Graham J on Wed Apr 24 12:05:03 2024
    On Wed, 24 Apr 2024 08:19:30 +0100, Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> wrote:

    T wrote:

    [snip]

    Wouldn't RDP'ing from the outside to a host on the inside of a firewall
    mean there was a hole punched in the firewall (a rule) to allow those
    externally sourced RDP requests?

    This is true.  You have to do a port forward and allow and
    unestablished connection for that port.  It helps narrow
    the rule down if you know from what network and mask they
    are coming from, but that kills the ability to do roaming.

    A much better option would be to configure the router to accept incoming
    VPN connections. You will have to use a router (e.g. Draytek) that has
    VPN capability. That way the remote user establishes the VPN connection
    to the router using whatever mechanism is appropriate to allow roaming;
    and is then able to RDP to any or all of the machines on the LAN.

    When I ran a computer support business I used this mechanism to support
    my customers. It is made much easier if the customers have static
    public IP addresses; I also have a static IP address.

    Why was the problematic host running an RDP server?

    Customer needs remote access those two computers.

    There is now a different way to achieve access to your files, which is
    to use Microsoft OneDrive.

    If he's supporting remote users, he'll likely need access to the PCs themselves,
    not just access to a few selected files.

    <snip>

    Given that you are running a business that tries to support customers,
    do you think you should be better informed about how to support those >customers? It worries me that you appear to be putting those customers
    at risk. Clearly they don't have expert knowledge - they come to you!

    You may have to tread lightly there. I said much the same thing several years ago and he got offended.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Graham J@21:1/5 to Char Jackson on Thu Apr 25 08:36:41 2024
    Char Jackson wrote:

    [snip]

    Why was the problematic host running an RDP server?

    Customer needs remote access those two computers.

    There is now a different way to achieve access to your files, which is
    to use Microsoft OneDrive.

    If he's supporting remote users, he'll likely need access to the PCs themselves,
    not just access to a few selected files.

    No, you've misunderstood. The OP (named T I think) is trying to support
    his customers. So he might well need access to those PCs.

    But T's customer requires remote access to files. So I presume that T's customer is a small business of some sort. The suggestion that I'm
    making is that T's customer should use OneDrive thereby avoiding all the difficulties with RDP and security.

    Given that you are running a business that tries to support customers,
    do you think you should be better informed about how to support those
    customers? It worries me that you appear to be putting those customers
    at risk. Clearly they don't have expert knowledge - they come to you!

    You may have to tread lightly there. I said much the same thing several years ago and he got offended.

    If the OP is not prepared to listen to advice and evaluate its
    credibility - entering into a dialogue where appropriate - then he's
    doomed anyway. All that happens is that he gives computer support
    businesses a bad name. So we have a duty to help him where we can.

    But we should be polite and not insult him, I agree.


    --
    Graham J

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From VanguardLH@21:1/5 to Graham J on Thu Apr 25 12:47:50 2024
    Graham J <nobody@nowhere.co.uk> wrote:

    Char Jackson wrote:

    [snip]

    Why was the problematic host running an RDP server?

    Customer needs remote access those two computers.

    There is now a different way to achieve access to your files, which is
    to use Microsoft OneDrive.

    If he's supporting remote users, he'll likely need access to the PCs themselves,
    not just access to a few selected files.

    No, you've misunderstood. The OP (named T I think) is trying to support
    his customers. So he might well need access to those PCs.

    But T's customer requires remote access to files. So I presume that T's customer is a small business of some sort. The suggestion that I'm
    making is that T's customer should use OneDrive thereby avoiding all the difficulties with RDP and security.

    Given that you are running a business that tries to support customers,
    do you think you should be better informed about how to support those
    customers? It worries me that you appear to be putting those customers
    at risk. Clearly they don't have expert knowledge - they come to you!

    You may have to tread lightly there. I said much the same thing several years
    ago and he got offended.

    If the OP is not prepared to listen to advice and evaluate its
    credibility - entering into a dialogue where appropriate - then he's
    doomed anyway. All that happens is that he gives computer support
    businesses a bad name. So we have a duty to help him where we can.

    But we should be polite and not insult him, I agree.

    Alas, T's customers have admin privs when logged into Windows, and want
    to use workstations as both end user computers and servers rather than dedicating each to a separate role. His customers can easily fuck up
    their computers which T has to repair, but his customers really don't
    have the expertise to be sysadmins. I'm pretty sure T does backups of
    his customers' computers to give him an escape route for recovery, but
    then his customers can be stingy, so he doesn't have the needed hardware resources, like more drives, an FTP server host (which is NOT used as a workstation), or some means of saving those backups out of reach of his customers.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From T@21:1/5 to VanguardLH on Thu Apr 25 15:15:50 2024
    On 4/25/24 10:47, VanguardLH wrote:

    Alas, T's customers have admin privs when logged into Windows, and want
    to use workstations as both end user computers and servers rather than dedicating each to a separate role. His customers can easily fuck up
    their computers which T has to repair, but his customers really don't
    have the expertise to be sysadmins. I'm pretty sure T does backups of
    his customers' computers to give him an escape route for recovery, but
    then his customers can be stingy, so he doesn't have the needed hardware resources, like more drives, an FTP server host (which is NOT used as a workstation),

    Have one customer with that. Awesome! And it defeated
    a ransomware attack once too

    or some means of saving those backups out of reach of his
    customers.

    I can only push things so far. Most of their programs will
    not work without admin privileges. And hackers can easily
    bypass that. Yes, I have them backing up, but it is
    like pulling teeth getting them to read their backup reports.

    On certain users I have taken away their admin privileges
    to keep them off of junkware and viruses, but
    had to restore them as they could not get their stuff
    to work after a bit (no upgrades they needed would install).

    I can only sell UPS's for about three days after a big
    thunderstorm. Backup is difficult until they lose
    their first drive.

    It is the nature of things to be suspicious of things
    you do not understand.

    It's a living.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Graham J@21:1/5 to All on Fri Apr 26 08:23:14 2024
    T wrote:

    [snip]

    I can only push things so far.  Most of their programs will
    not work without admin privileges.

    Classic problem with financial accounts programs. You would have
    thought that the accountants that designed these programs would have
    understood the concept of security. But most of these programs were
    written for Windows 3.1 and have not been properly revised since.

    [snip]

    I can only sell UPS's for about three days after a big
    thunderstorm.  Backup is difficult until they lose
    their first drive.

    I have seen this problem with customers. Mostly they underestimate the reliance they place on computers. Their argument is: "If I spend the
    money as you suggest, I won't be able to afford the raw materials with
    which to make my product so I will go broke".

    So they live in hope that nothing goes wrong. Is it any wonder that
    businesses fail, when they don't equip themselves with the proper tools
    to do the job?

    As a support service you have to be tough. Increase your prices so you
    can justify being a virtual on-site IT manager. And look for other work
    so when that customer fails you don't lose out.

    Ultimately tell that customer you cannot support him/her any more
    because he/she does not take your advice. I only had to do this once in
    about 20 years of trading.


    --
    Graham J

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)