Common Windows Server Issues
Windows license expired ("The default license has expired")
This error appears when trial license or KMS license is not renewed.
Check license status
slmgr /xpr # expiration date
slmgr /dli # basic license info
slmgr /dlv # detailed info
If you have KMS license (enterprise/datacenter)
# Activate via KMS server
slmgr /skms kms.server.com:1688
slmgr /ato
# Verify activation
slmgr /xpr
If you have OEM/Retail license
Enter the product key:
slmgr /ipk XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX
slmgr /ato
Grace period
If license expired recently you can reset the timer (up to 3 times):
slmgr /rearm
Restart-Computer
User account locked
"Your account has been locked out": too many failed login attempts.
# Unlock a specific account
Unlock-ADAccount -Identity "username"
# For local accounts (not domain)
net user username /active:yes
# See all locked accounts
Search-ADAccount -LockedOut | Select-Object Name, SamAccountName
# See account lockout policy
net accounts
To change lockout threshold (reduce false positives):
secpol.msc → Account Policies → Account Lockout Policy
→ Account lockout threshold: increase from 3 to 10
→ Account lockout duration: 15 minutes
→ Reset account lockout counter: 15 minutes
Missing DLL problems
"The program can't start because X.dll is missing"
Basic solutions
# Repair Windows system files
sfc /scannow
# Update Windows store components (often resolves DLL runtime issues)
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue}
# Restore Windows image
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Visual C++ Redistributable DLL
Many DLLs (vcruntime140.dll, msvcp140.dll, etc.) require Visual C++ Redistributable:
# Install via winget (all common runtimes)
winget install Microsoft.VCRedist.2015+.x64
winget install Microsoft.VCRedist.2015+.x86
winget install Microsoft.VCRedist.2013.x64
winget install Microsoft.VCRedist.2012.x64
winget install Microsoft.VCRedist.2010.x64
Missing .NET Runtime
# Check installed .NET versions
dotnet --list-runtimes
# Install specific .NET Runtime
winget install Microsoft.DotNet.Runtime.8
winget install Microsoft.DotNet.Runtime.6
Disable Windows Firewall
Disable firewall only if you use an external firewall (hardware or network-level). On a server exposed to internet without alternative protection, never disable the firewall.
# Disable all profiles (Domain, Private, Public)
Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Domain,Public,Private -Enabled False
# Only public profile
Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Public -Enabled False
# Re-enable
Set-NetFirewallProfile -Profile Domain,Public,Private -Enabled True
Restore firewall rules to defaults
# Complete reset (removes all custom rules)
netsh advfirewall reset
# Or via GUI: wf.msc → Restore Default Policy
Generic Windows internal errors
Check Event Viewer
# Last 20 critical errors
Get-WinEvent -LogName Application -MaxEvents 100 | Where-Object {$_.Level -le 2} | Select-Object TimeCreated, Id, Message | Select-Object -First 20
# System errors
Get-WinEvent -LogName System -MaxEvents 100 | Where-Object {$_.Level -le 2} | Select-Object TimeCreated, Id, ProviderName, Message | Select-Object -First 20
Via GUI: eventvwr.msc → Windows Logs → Application/System → filter for "Critical" and "Error".
Check crash logs (BSOD, minidump)
# See latest crashes
Get-WinEvent -LogName System | Where-Object {$_.Id -eq 41} | Select-Object -First 5
# Minidump path
ls C:\Windows\Minidump\ | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 5
Speed up Google Drive / MEGA downloads on Windows VPS
Downloads from Google Drive and MEGA via browser on RDP are slow because they go through the browser "Open" button.
For Google Drive:
# Install gdown (Python)
pip install gdown
gdown "https://drive.google.com/uc?id=FILE_ID" -O output.zip
# Or with rclone
winget install Rclone.Rclone
rclone copy gdrive:/ C:\download\ --drive-shared-with-me
For MEGA:
# MEGAcmd (official MEGA command-line tool)
# Download from: https://mega.io/cmd
mega-get "https://mega.nz/file/..." C:\download\
Install WMIC on Windows Server 2025
WMIC was removed from Windows Server 2025. Use PowerShell alternatives:
# Old: wmic cpu get name
# New:
(Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor).Name
# Old: wmic os get Caption
(Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem).Caption
# Old: wmic computersystem get TotalPhysicalMemory
(Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem).TotalPhysicalMemory / 1GB
# Compatibility script: create a wmic-like function
function wmic-info {
$cpu = (Get-CimInstance Win32_Processor).Name
$os = (Get-CimInstance Win32_OperatingSystem).Caption
$ram = [math]::Round((Get-CimInstance Win32_ComputerSystem).TotalPhysicalMemory / 1GB, 2)
"CPU: $cpu | OS: $os | RAM: $ram GB"
}
wmic-info
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