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SOLVED: You can't open the Windows Notepad application - Check your account 0x803F8001

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I've recently had an issue whereby trying to run Notepad gives the following error: Check your account Notepad is currently not available in your account. Make sure you are signed in to the Store and try again. Here's the error code, in case you need it: 0x803F8001.   I tried the following: Log in and out of the Microsoft Store No effect Reset the Microsoft Store with the wsreset.exe command. No effect Go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps > Notepad > ... > Advanced Options > Repair No effect Go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps > Notepad > ... > Advanced Options > Reset No effect Run notepad directly from  c:\windows\system32\notepad.exe This did successfully run the class (non-App version of notepad). The solution in the end was to  Go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps > Notepad > ... > Uninstall Then goto the Microsoft store and search for Windows Notepad and click the  Get button.
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Get the Password Hash Sync setting for Entra Cloud Sync using Microsoft Graph and PowerShell

I've recently blogged about how to Get the "Password Hash Sync" setting for Entra Cloud Sync using Microsoft Graph and PowerShell as part of a bigger blog "Get the Cloud Sync configuration for an Entra directory using PowerShell and Microsoft Graph" https://www.centrel-solutions.com/blog/get-entra-cloud-sync-configuration-with-graph-powershell The Password Hash Sync setting isn't a boolean value but actually an attribute mapping within the "user" object mapping. # Determines whether password hash sync is enabled for the job. This only applies to "User and group sync" jobs. function   Get-IsPasswordHashSyncEnabled  {      param  (          $Job     )      $schema   =   Get-MgServicePrincipalSynchronizationJobSchema   -ServicePrincipalId   $configuration . Id  -SynchronizationJobId   $Job . Id;      foreach  ( $objectMapping   in  ...
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SOLVED: Pressing the CTRL key sometimes displays a white circle around the mouse pointer (Windows 11 and PowerToys)

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You may find that pressing the CTRL key sometimes displays a white circle around the mouse pointer. This can happen because of the following reasons: Control Panel Settings Open Control Panel (Start > Run > Control.exe). Select Mouse . Check whether "Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key" is checked. A screenshot of the mouse control panel PowerToys Open PowerToys Start > PowerToys (Preview) Locate and disable  Mouse Highlighter   A screenshot of PowerToys - While you're here - Why not check out our Windows Server Documentation and Audit Tool?
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Get the effective license mode for an Entra directory using PowerShell and Microsoft Graph - for example "Microsoft Entra ID P1"

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You might find yourself needing to know the license mode of an Entra Directory tenant - as seen in the "Overview" screen of the Entra Admin UI - for example "Microsoft Entra ID P1". This seems like it would be quite simple - install Microsoft Graph PowerShell  and run  Connect-MgGraph and then perhaps Get-MgOrganization ... Unfortunately it's not that simple, if you look for a Get-MgLicense command you'll also have an issue the cmdlets match the names in Graph which is subscribedSku. It gets more complex because Entra licenses are actually per user whereas Entra displays the license as if it were a tenant (organization) wide license. So what is actually happening is that the Entra Admin UI looks through all of the subscribed skus (licenses) and finds ones that are active and has one of the "AAD_*" service plans enabled. It then shows the best  (most expensive) license that it finds. The following PowerShell script performs that function.   functio...
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QuickBooks - Error 381 - Reconfirm your consent to continue seeing account updates (Something unexpected happened)

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 When you try and access transactions in Intuit QuickBooks online you may see the error Error 381 - Reconfirm your consent to continue seeing account updates. Reconnect your account. However, when you click the "Reconnect your account" link you receive a "Something unexpected happened". This is the quality you've come to expect from Intuit. The solution is simply to clear your cache or swap to a different browser. I logged into QuickBooks Online using Microsoft Edge and was able to reconnect the account without any issues. - While you're here - Why not check out our Windows Server Documentation and Audit Tool?
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Should You Switch to New Outlook? Pros, Cons & Missing Features from Classic Outlook (in 2025)

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I've recently decided to move to " New"  Outlook from Classic Outlook and wanted to detail some of the issues I've experienced. The new Outlook for Windows was officially released on September 21, 2023. It's designed to be a cloud-first platform and feature comparible with Outlook on the web https://outlook.office.com/  - and certainly it has the same look and feel. New Outlook Screenshot Performance + New Outlook is more performant than Classic Outlook - certainly emails arrive quicker and the search works far better. Start Menu Confusion + Not exactly a benefit but it can be a pain having both New Outlook and Classic Outlook on the same machine is that the Windows Start Menu will randomly pick one if you type "Outlook" into the start menu on Windows 11, it was confusing for me and would probably be confusing for other users. End of Life + The end of life for Classic Outlook isn't exactly well documented but it's looming. https://learn.microsoft...
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SOLVED: Running Microsoft Teams in the background system tray icon missing

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If you want Microsoft Teams  to run in the background and display a system tray icon. Open Microsoft Teams Select the ellipses next to your account Click Settings Tick Auto-start Teams . Tick Open application in background . Tick On close, keep the application running . If the icon is not visible Open Windows Settings . Select Personalization . Select Taskbar . Ensure that Microsoft Teams is set to On .  While you're here - Why not check out our Windows Server Documentation and Audit Tool?
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