Most people who use Maya, Nuke, etc will disable UAC because of batch render issues. In Windows 8.1/10/Server it will give you some errors where you cannot run native Windows app with the error "App can't open with built in administrator account".

Ever in need of a big file to test NAS/SAN copy speeds? Well in Windows this is the command to do it (quick!)

"fsutil file createnew c:\25gb.txt 25000000000"

To change IP from the commandline for several machines try this:

netsh interface ip set dns name="Local Area Connection" static none
netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area Connection" source=static addr=10.0.0.XX mask=255.255.255.0 gateway=none 1

Do you have the problem that after every reboot Windows (7) does not seem to recognize the network and it keeps setting it to Public? Then add this to the registry to tell it that all networks are considered Private (WORK) - less secure but for machines in the office not a problem I'd say. Download here www.sevenforums.com/attachments/tutorials/83185d1278258594-unidentified-networks-set-private-public-set_unidentified_networks_private.reg

To install The Foundry NUKE on all your machines on the windows farm/workstations you can download the MS tool PSEXEC (see Links section) and use this from the command-line. Mind the CASES. Error code 0 is the message for a clean install. 

"psexec \\MACHINE -u USERNAME -p PASSWORD \\SERVER\pipeline\software\nuke\Nuke9.0v2-win-x86-release-64.exe /verysilent"

You might want to set a shared config directory by setting an environment variable like this:

If you don't want these 10 icons The Foundry installs on your desktop add this parameter /MERGETASKS="!desktopicon"

To install MODO on all your machines on the windows farm you can download the MS tool PSEXEC (see Links section) and use this from the command-line. Mind the CASES. Error code 0 seems the message for a clean install. 

"psexec \\MACHINE -u USERNAME -p PASSWORD \\SERVER\pipeline\software\modo\MODO_801_SP3_win.exe /S /D C:\Program Files\Luxology\modo\801_SP3"

You might want to set a shared Content directory by setting an environment variable like this:

For those familiar with Linux, one of the great things is how Symbolic Links work and greatly integrate into the FS. For example storing versions /v02 /v03 and link them to /latest is a very handy trick to keep things organised. Read on for the syntax.

Especially for (small) SSD installs it saves a lot of space to turn of Hibernation (default is 75% of RAM size)

 In an elevated command prompt, type powercfg -h off and press Enter.

 Install windows on SSD with ProgramData and Users on D:\