Jekyll2026-05-25T15:08:49+00:00https://bensonlabs.org/feed.xmlBenson Labs BlogTroubleshooting fixes and personal notesJustin BensonmacOS - Remove SafeMine profile2021-05-11T00:00:00+00:002021-05-11T00:00:00+00:00https://bensonlabs.org/macos-remove-safemine-profileSafeMine installs an admin profile that locks Chrome settings. Here’s how to remove it.

  1. Save these steps somewhere safe and close Chrome.
  2. Click the Preferences (System Preferences) icon in your Mac’s menu bar and select Profiles.
  3. Select all AdminPrefs profile(s) and delete them by clicking the minus (−) icon at the bottom.
  4. Once you’ve removed the unwanted “adminprefs” profile(s), open the Terminal app (Go > Utilities > Terminal or press ⌘Space and search Terminal).
  5. Enter the commands below, pressing Enter after each one:
defaults write com.google.Chrome HomepageIsNewTabPage -bool false
defaults write com.google.Chrome NewTabPageLocation -string "https://www.google.com/"
defaults write com.google.Chrome HomepageLocation -string "https://www.google.com/"
defaults delete com.google.Chrome DefaultSearchProviderSearchURL
defaults delete com.google.Chrome DefaultSearchProviderNewTabURL
defaults delete com.google.Chrome DefaultSearchProviderName
  1. Restart Chrome. The issue should be resolved. If not, restart your Mac.

Reference: https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/9350623

]]>Justin BensonPowerShell - Remove Dell SupportAssist2021-05-11T00:00:00+00:002021-05-11T00:00:00+00:00https://bensonlabs.org/powershell-remove-dell-supportassist-msiTwo quick PowerShell commands to remove Dell SupportAssist — one for the MSI/traditional install, one for the Windows Store app.

# Remove Dell SupportAssist (MSI install)
Uninstall-Package -ProviderName msi -Name 'Dell SupportAssist'

# Remove Dell SupportAssist (Windows Store app)
Get-AppxPackage *SupportAssist* | Remove-AppPackage

Run PowerShell as administrator before executing these commands.

]]>Justin BensonRe-Establish Domain Relationship trust using PowerShell2021-03-03T00:00:00+00:002021-03-03T00:00:00+00:00https://bensonlabs.org/re-establish-domain-relationship-trust-using-powershellWhen a Windows 10 machine loses its trust relationship with the domain, you can re-establish it without rejoining the domain using PowerShell.

  1. Log on to Windows 10 using the local Administrator account.
  2. Open a PowerShell terminal as admin.
  3. Run the following and press Enter: 
    $credential = Get-Credential
  4. Enter your domain account (which has admin rights) and password, then click OK.
  5. Run the following and press Enter: 
    Reset-ComputerMachinePassword -Credential $credential
  6. Close PowerShell.
  7. Restart the machine.
  8. Log on to Windows 10 using your domain user account.
]]>Justin BensonUbuntu 20 - black screen using xrdp from Windows 102020-06-08T00:00:00+00:002020-06-08T00:00:00+00:00https://bensonlabs.org/ubuntu-20-black-screen-using-xrdp-from-windows-10I installed xrdp via sudo apt install xrdp, but when connecting from a domain-joined Windows 10 computer I got a black screen after authenticating through the xorg session login.

After much failed sleuthing, I think I figured it out:

  1. Terminate any open RDP attempts into Ubuntu.
  2. Log out of your Ubuntu session.
  3. Run mstsc.exe from Windows back into Ubuntu — it should now be at the Ubuntu login screen and should connect successfully this time.

Root cause: unknown/not fully understood.

]]>Justin BensonHyper-V - Ubuntu 20 LTS no network connections2020-05-28T00:00:00+00:002020-05-28T00:00:00+00:00https://bensonlabs.org/hyper-v-ubuntu-20-lts-no-network-connectionsProblem: Created a new Ubuntu 20 LTS VM in Hyper-V, but the installer found no network.

Specs:

Observation:

No matter what I tried — ensuring Default Network Adapter settings were set to External, or creating a Legacy Network adapter — nothing made a connection inside the VM.

Solution:

I re-rolled it.

  • Deleted the Gen 1 VM and created a Gen 2 VM instead.
  • Had to turn off Secure Boot in Settings for it to boot at all. This is a test VM, so security was not a consideration — plan accordingly.

Hyper-V Generation 2 settings screenshot

Extras:

]]>Justin BensonLastPass - fix slow sync between phone and computer2020-05-28T00:00:00+00:002020-05-28T00:00:00+00:00https://bensonlabs.org/lastpass-fix-slow-sync-bt-phone-and-computerLastPass is great, but when you need a password in a hurry and it’s not syncing between your phone and computer fast enough, here’s how to quickly force the sync.

On a computer (browser extension):

  1. Click on the LastPass extension icon
  2. Account Options
  3. Advanced
  4. Click Refresh Sites

On iPhone app:

  1. Settings
  2. Actions
  3. Refresh Vault

Tested with: LastPass from Chrome Web Store, iOS 13.4.1

]]>Justin BensonPowerShell - Log IP status2020-05-07T00:00:00+00:002020-05-07T00:00:00+00:00https://bensonlabs.org/powershell-log-ip-statusA simple PowerShell script to ping a list of IP addresses or hostnames and log whether each one is up or down, with a timestamp.

# Gets a list of computer names or IPs from a .txt file.
$names = Get-Content '<location of .txt file full of IP addresses>'

# Sets the name and location of your output .CSV file.
$IPstatus = '<location of .csv file>'

$date = Get-Date

# Pings each device in your list.
foreach ($name in $names) {
    if (Test-Connection -ComputerName $name -Count 1 -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
        # logs all UP IPs with timestamp
        Add-Content -Value "$name,up,$date" -Path $IPstatus
    }
    else {
        # logs all DOWN IPs with timestamp
        Add-Content -Value "$name,down,$date" -Path $IPstatus
    }
}

Replace the two placeholder paths with the actual paths to your input .txt file and output .csv file before running.

]]>Justin BensonmacOS - Remove SearchMine malware script2020-05-06T00:00:00+00:002020-05-06T00:00:00+00:00https://bensonlabs.org/macos-remove-searchmine-malware-scriptSearchMine hijacks Chrome by installing an admin profile and changing your homepage/search settings. Here’s how to remove it.

  1. Save these steps somewhere safe and close Chrome.
  2. Click the Preferences (System Preferences) icon in your Mac’s menu bar and select Profiles.
  3. Select all AdminPrefs profile(s) and delete them by clicking the minus (−) icon at the bottom.
  4. Once you’ve removed the unwanted “adminprefs” profile(s), open the Terminal app (Go > Utilities > Terminal or press ⌘Space and search Terminal).
  5. Enter the commands below and hit Enter after each one (or put them into a .sh script and run as sudo):
#!/bin/bash

defaults write com.google.Chrome HomepageIsNewTabPage -bool false
defaults write com.google.Chrome NewTabPageLocation -string "https://www.google.com/"
defaults write com.google.Chrome HomepageLocation -string "https://www.google.com/"
defaults delete com.google.Chrome DefaultSearchProviderSearchURL
defaults delete com.google.Chrome DefaultSearchProviderNewTabURL
defaults delete com.google.Chrome DefaultSearchProviderName

Now restart Chrome and the issue should be resolved. If not, you may need to restart your Mac.

Reference: https://support.google.com/chrome/thread/9350623

]]>Justin BensonDirectAccess stuck connecting2020-05-05T00:00:00+00:002020-05-05T00:00:00+00:00https://bensonlabs.org/directaccess-stuck-trying-to-connectIf a computer is stuck trying to connect via DirectAccess, here’s how to fix it:

  1. Remote into the computer with DirectAccess issues.
  2. Copy the install folder of your VPN over the remote connection.
  3. Install and connect through VPN, then run this 2 times in CMD with admin privileges: 
    GPUPDATE /FORCE
  4. Sign out / sign in.
  5. Uninstall the VPN (DirectAccess might not let you connect to folders until VPN is disconnected — better to just uninstall it).
]]>Justin Benson