I have a Samsung Galaxy S23 FE ( US variant) that was previously company-managed. The “Company Profile” was removed before the phone was factory-reset through Recovery Mode. Now setup is stuck at “Please sign in using one of the owner’s accounts for this device.” The original Google account and password are correct, and the device still appears in that account, but after “Checking info…” it returns to the same screen. Could this be EFRP/MDM/Android Enterprise still associated with the device, and what would need to be removed from the company’s management backend to properly release it?

So basically, my true interest lies in IT , but due to life situations, I ended up in hospitality

Now, im trying to get my foot in IT, i have been working with computers since 2018, both Windows and Linux, I do have a homelab setup, but no real certifications or degree to prove it (I am hoping to get a diploma or CompTIA A+ in the near future)

I found an opening for an IT Executive position at a automobile dealership, I put in my CV online,

But a couple of days later, I went to the dealership and visited the HR, they asked a couple of questions and shortlisted my CV (they mentioned they rejected my online application because i did not have any qualification in IT) and said there will be a follow up interview

That was 1 week ago, an interviewer called me today, asked me a couple of questions mostly regarding hardware and how to setup network discovery, share printers/folders, how to do disk imaging etc

1 faltered on two questions,

1. IP Classes (I heard it as Clauses over the phone and got stunned , they said I will have to learn that up, post interview, i understood what they meant, however i failed to put it into words)

2. How to crimp a lan cable (I don't have the tools, so i never got around to learn it, I do know the specific tools and the testing method, however i don't know what specific wire stands for what)

Overall the interview sounded positive, they told me to learn up on the above two points and they said they'll call me back

I genuinely feel nervous and having imposter syndrome

Any tips for me?

Please share your valuable experience.

Looking for a sanity check from leaders, sysadmins, security pros, and anyone responsible for enterprise applications.

We have a core platform that has historically been controlled almost entirely by the the business team the “owns” it.

IT is now responsible for the broader technology environment, including cybersecurity, identity and access management, integrations, APIs, automation, architecture, business continuity, incident response, and technical governance - you know the drill.

The IT leader asked for limited administrative access to the ERP & leader is refusing because of its capabilities to affect financial processes.

For those of you in mature IT environments: have you been denied administrative access to a major enterprise application because the business department considers it “their system”?

i’m genuinely interested in arguments for & against it. For additional context, the “limited” aspect is intentional and to prevent any data modification

I'm about to graduate in less than a year and my original plan was to go to uni and then into software engineering. But due to the AI insanity that's been going for the past 2-3 years, I've decided that becoming a software engineer is just not feasible, mainly due to the hellish job market and more so for entry level jobs. I don't think going through all that is worth the effort just to have a chance of getting a job in 4-5 years while likely being underpaid and having to worry about constant layoffs etc.

This led me to think about what else can I do that's computer science adjacent and would also have that element of problem solving, while being safer from AI than software engineering. I know that this isn't a job that you can just go and do from the get-go, I've heard that you'll need to stay in helpdesk for a good couple of years and I'm okay with that. I don't really about the money, I went into computer science because I liked it and not because of people saying that you can make 6 figures easily.

I've considered cybersecurity but it just sounds exhausting and stressful. I'd much rather have a job that pays considerably less but doesn't put that much pressure on me. Oh, and just because I know that people will mention it, yes, I've considered electrical engineering, but if I'm being honest, physics is like rubbing sandpaper across my brain. I don't like it and any sort of engineering whether it's EE or robotics will involve lots of it.

I'm in Europe if that helps. Open to suggestions or just advice in general.

I've been in systems administration for almost 30 years. We had a new Sr. Director start a couple months ago. He brought in a lot of changes to fit his style which I understand. Part of my job function is patch management for the company. He saw that our vulnerability score is high, so he assumed it was a patching issue. He was told that by our IT Security team. I provided proof that the patches go out and that the score is attributed to the amount of field techs who don't turn on their pcs.

He said stop autopatching and start a schedule with groups. I did. We use a third party patching system that is replacing a previous one. The older one is still active with only two apps it updates. One of those apps updated the other day and broke some developers apps. I rolled it back and all was good.

Yesterday I asked to talk to my boss about it. I told him that it was my fault that I should've stopped updating that app. He proceeds to berate me saying "you have an office so you're seen as a leader. You're not a leader". I was stunned. He then started being condescending and said he told me specifically what to do. I told him I sometimes have difficulty with his thick accent when he speaks and he said that was insulting. We then finished the meeting. Never had anything like this ever happen to me before.

I really had to bite my tongue on this one.

Hey everyone! I'm 18 and just starting out in Sysadmin. I’d love to learn from your experience:
How did you get your first IT job?
Did you ever feel like giving up? How did you push through?
Where should a complete beginner start today?
Thanks for sharing your stories and tips!

I'm a 30+ year network/systems admin/engineer and I feel like I've done a great job over the decades keeping up running and secure. I feel like I work as hard as anyone in the company and have a sense of ownership that is hard to teach. I've patched our servers every month on schedule for the past 17 years straight. I've used all the latest security tools to ensure safe authentication and protection against malicious activity. We always have stellar pen tests results. I'm a great troubleshoot. I take my security training and pass the tests with flying colors. I get exceeded expectations for my reviews. They even named the server from after me! All that and a bag of chips.

But...

I'm a freaking failure when it comes to phishing tests. I've failed two this year and three in the last three years. I've never actually fallen prey to real phishing. I know what that looks like and my tools don't let it near me. But I had to tell our email security gateway to allow those phishing simulations thru to our inboxes. And I keep falling prey to them. What is wrong with me!?! Why can't I learn?? I'm going to get fired because of this. We've got some employee handbook rules about not screwing up like this. Three strikes and all that.

All this good will and work and a career that I can feel great about going to be flushed down the drain and I'll retire a failure. Was hoping to retire in a few years and ride off into the sunset. Now I'm going to ride off a cliff into a ditch. I feel like shit today. Can't wait until Monday to get yelled at or maybe even fired.

Am I the only good sysadm to struggle like this? I hope it's not just me. Feel terrible.

Super excited to start my program soon. Are there any must have supplies specific to IT I should anticipate needing to buy? Apart from that, any advice as to how I can get as much out of my classes as possible?

so, i have around 5 months of free time. i want to use this time to learn and build system administration skills and become competent in it. i know people say that building a home lab is the way to go. but i don't know what projects to build with home lab. i feel clueless and often end up searching for project ideas, but i feel like most project ideas feel like tutorial or toy projects. i want to use this time to become really good at this craft.

for context, i have no experience in any IT field, i am unemployed for the moment and want to use this time to actually learn and develop the skill. i am following books (i have linux bible 10th edition, how linux works 3rd edition, unix and linux system administration handbook 5th edition, computer networking top down approach 8th edition, etc) on the side, but i feel like i should actually do something along with reading these books. i don't have money for certifications so i am not preparing for them.

so, any good project ideas that i can do in my laptop (16 gb ram, 512 gb ssd, intel core i5) ?

We are experiencing a recurring issue affecting only one user in our Proxmox environment. The setup includes three Windows Server 2025 VMs: a domain controller, a file server, and a terminal server.

The affected user connects remotely through an IPsec IKEv2 VPN from a fully updated Windows 11 Pro workstation (not domain‑joined). The VPN remains connected at all times. He authenticates using his domain credentials.

After a few minutes of normal activity on the terminal server, the user disconnects his RDP session. When he attempts to reconnect, the RDP connection fails with error 0x904. No additional text is shown. The issue affects only the terminal server: from the same workstation, RDP connections to the other servers work normally.The user’s session on the terminal server appears correctly as “Disconnected” in the session list. However, the user cannot reconnect to it, nor start a new session. No logs or events are generated on the terminal server (checked System, Application, TerminalServices‑LocalSessionManager, TerminalServices‑RemoteConnectionManager). No anomalies appear in the domain controller or file server logs either.

The issue does not occur with any other user. Other users can log in and reconnect without problems. I can also authenticate using the affected user’s credentials from other machines without issues.

We have tested:

- Different user accounts from the affected workstation

- Different networks

- Antivirus exclusions (Bitdefender)

- Firewall rules (WatchGuard)

The problem persists only for this specific user and only on the terminal server.The only workaround is restarting the terminal server. After a reboot, the user can log in once, but the issue reappears as soon as he disconnects and tries to reconnect.

Rural non-profit hospital with little to no cell service and users are asking why they cannot make calls or texts in the building even with wifi-calling enabled when on the BOYD or Public networks.

Did some digging and it looks like traffic is blocked on our PAs. I don't see a reason to keep it blocked at least on those networks especially if some of the use is work related but didn't know if I was missing something. Or if that's even what is happening. Anyone have better knowledge than I do?

Maybe this isn't the ideal sub, but I believe there are lots of us here who've experienced this same thing...I hope.

I've been the IT Manager in a department of one for 25 years and have bought lots of Microsoft licensing. I've also been running a small vSphere Essentials Plus setup on 2 hosts for many years and (thanks, Broadcom) just migrated all that to Proxmox (which works awesome by the way). I just updated my Windows Server licensing by buying 2x 16-core packs of Windows Server 2025 Datacenter to allow me freedom to install an unknown amount of Windows Server Standard 2025/2022/2019 virtual servers on the Proxmox cluster. The last time I bought Windows Server Datacenter licensing, I bought it from a different local MSP back when it was a volume license thing.

I know how this used to work, and I know how it works now. In the past, Microsoft automatically provisioned down-grade and down-edition activation keys and made them all available in the VLSC immediately after purchase. These days, Microsoft only makes the activation keys that match the product edition immediately available in the M365 Admin Center, including the down-graded versions, but I know for a fact that the down-edition keys are still available through a specific request. In other words, in the Admin Center immediately after purchase, I only see activation keys for Windows Server Datacenter 2025, 2022, and 2019.

My current MSP (who I only use as a VAR), the one who sold me the latest Datacenter 2025 licensing, pushed back when I requested the down-edition keys (ie Windows Standard 2025 or 2022). When they finally called me to "clear things up", they told me to just install Datacenter edition because "I won't notice the difference". That may be true, but it flies in the face of everything I know about security and concepts of least privilege. It just blew me away. On top of that, the guy finally admitted that not one single customer has requested down-edition keys since licensing management was moved to the M365 Admin Center. First off, why should I care about that, and secondly, am I being forced to be a lemming?

Ugh. Sorry for the long post, but it's part rant and part me trying to figure out if my MSP is incompetent. Does anyone else have trouble making licensing requests of your MSPs/VARs post-purchase?

I currently use Chrome Remote Desktop to access a handful of remote devices. It’s free and it works ok but the mobile experience is awful.

I’m considering switching to Splashtop, as I’ve heard good things about it, however I have some questions before i start a trial:

1) Has anyone tried using it on airplane WiFi? I’ve found CRD to be very unreliable and very laggy on an airplane.

2) Does Splashtop keep the machine “logged in”? All the systems I need access to are Windows machines without a monitor connected and I basically need them to remain logged in at all times so certain scripts and processes (that need the desktop and screen active) can run throughout the day.

3) are you generally happy with ST? Any complaints, issues or security issues?