Disk Management and Explorer Show Different Drive Size

 I ran into this issue today when trying to extend out the drive size on a data drive on our primary file server.  After expanding the virtual disk in VMware, I brought up computer management (compmgmt.exe if you want to go command line quicker).

I expanded out the disk and immediately noticed that explorer didn't reflect that change after a refresh.  Also, disk management could no longer access the disk to make any edits.  I restarted the virtual disk service with no success.  A restart also proved futile.

MAKE A BACKUP BEFORE RUNNING THESE COMMANDS!

After some quick research, here is the fix.  Use DISKPART from an elevated command prompt.  Just follow the commands below and choose the proper disk on your VM.  After running the command, a quick refresh of explorer now shows the correct size.

Good luck!

Show Hidden Network Devices in Windows Server

This happens all too often when I'm working on servers that have been through P2V or had their network adapters changed for some reason.  To work around this behavior and display devices when you click Show hidden devices:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2. At a command prompt, type the following command , and then press ENTER:
   set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
3. Type the following command a command prompt, and then press ENTER:
   start devmgmt.msc
4. Troubleshoot the devices and drivers in Device Manager.
   
   NOTE: Click Show hidden devices on the View menu in Device Managers before you can see devices that are not connected to the computer.
5. When you finish troubleshooting, close Device Manager.
6. Type exit at the command prompt.

Use BGInfo with Server 2008 R2

This is a great program to use if you work with a lot of different servers and you need to keep track of what you are connected to.  It also gives the ability to see the specifics of the box without the need to run all of that information down.

Here's the process:

1.  Create a text file named AutoRunBGInfo.reg and place it on your desktop.
2.  Enter the text in the file as follows - 

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]
"BGInfo"="\"C:\\BGInfo\\Bginfo.exe\" \"C:\\BGInfo\\config.bgi\" /timer:0 /silent"

3.  Now place a folder on C:\ named BGInfo.  Inside there place the BGinfo.exe file and your config.bgi file.  The config.bgi file is created when you customize the information you want on your server's desktop.  Below I have a list of the ones I use and in the same order.

4.  Start BGInfo once manually, accept the programs question, and then load the config.bgi file to set the wallpaper.  

5.  That's all.

Now that you've done this process everytime you login to the server you will get a fresh update of the statistics.  Having things such as free drive space at a glance is great when doing network maintenance tasks.

My BGInfo config: (All text in white except for the colors below.  Change yours to match the wallpaper's contrast so you can see it easily)

**COMPANY  NAME**
                                                                                      
User and Computer Info

UserID:   
Host Name:   
OS Version:   
Edition:   
OS Bits:    bit
Hardware Bits:    bit
Service Pack:   
IE Version:   
Boot Time:   

CPU:   
Memory:   
Volumes:   
Free Space:   
                                                                                     
Network Settings

IP Address:   
Subnet Mask:   
Default Gateway:   
DNS Server:   
MAC Address:   
Network Speed:   
Machine Domain:   

                                                                                      
Virtual (or Physical)

Model:    * or * will show here.