February 8th, 2010
Ok. It isn’t really a migration; in reality, you are joining an SBS 2008 machine to an existing Server 2003 domain. However, since you have to do similar tasks as you do for a migration, I’m calling it that.
In short, you are following the same instructions that are found in this Microsoft Technet posting. In a nutshell:
- Prepare the domain computer, including (and especially) updates to SP 2, and confirming that you don’t have any AD errors happening
- Backup the system state on the source server at the very least
- Raise the functional AD level to Windows 2003
- Run the Migration Prep tool from the SBS media. Note that you may need to run it more than once for it to update the Forest and Domain Schemas
- Prepare the answer file
- Install SBS on the new server with the answer file on a flash drive in the machine
- Prepare to wait, but check on the SBS machine often to make sure it hasn’t stalled on the AD migration process (it will tell you if it did)
- Robocopy. Learn it, love it, and prepare a batch file to run copy scheme after copy scheme if you have multiple shared folders to move.
- The Migration tool in the SBS Console will not work. However, you can do most of the items needed (especially the updating of Users and Groups to the new schema) via the Console screen under Users and Groups. You will need to do this to show the Users and Groups in the SBS console
That is pretty much it. The rest, especially decommissioning and older Exchange server is an exercise I leave to the reader.
Tags: join domain, migration, SBS 2008, Server 2003 Standard
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December 4th, 2009
Here is the crux of the issue:
Antivirus software works. Antivirus doesn’t work.
No matter what program you have, if you don’t have good, secure habits (and even that is not an absolute), you will get bitten. And your Antivirus program will not stop it. And you will have three options:
- Clean it yourself
- Pay someone to clean it up
- Backup the data and wipe the machine
In the past week alone, I’ve had three different calls from three different kids of users, using three different Antivirus “solutions”; all of whom got hijacked.
So, to recap: You pay $35 (or $45 or $55) per year, and still have to give up your machine for a couple of hours while it gets cleaned up. Oh, and you may have lost personal data in the meantime.
Even USA Today has figured this out. Unfortunately there aren’t any good pie charts to go along with the article.
What is the answer? I’m not sure. I’m thinking of just running Microsoft Security Essentials (on the theory that it is free, and they know about malware, having created the worst programs in the history of mankind; badda-bing!), with the occasional manual scans by MalwareBytes.
Let’s be careful out there.
Tags: antivirus, fail, Malware Bytes, mcafee, NOD32, norton, solutions
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November 23rd, 2009
Ok. I will admit that I was a little…suspicious of Netflix being able to deliver content over the internet. But, when they offered a free disk that would allow my PlayStation 3 to stream videos, I decided to give it a try.
Wow!
I am amazed how well it works. Within 5 minutes of starting up my PS3, I had started watching a movie, with almost no loss in quality. If not for the fact that some options seemed to be missing (extras and subtitles for example), I would think that I was watching a DVD.
The best part? I could stop a movie one night, and then resume it the next night at the same place without having to do anything special. How cool is that?
The short answer? Be sure to order this disk from Netflix if you have a PS3. The quantity isn’t there yet, but I see it becoming a game changer. And, if you have kids, it is the best thing since sliced bread.
Now we just need to get them to put up The Wire and BSG!
Tags: Netflix, PlayStation, PS3, streaming video
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November 17th, 2009
Here is the symptom:
Remote web workplace suddenly stops working, and when you try to connect, you get the following error:
“Connectivity to the remote computer could not be established. Ensure that the remote computer is on and connected to the Windows Small Business Server network.”
However, the computer is on, and when logged in locally, all network services work.
Chances are, some service other than RWW has grabbed onto port 4125. Here is how you can find out the offending service and then fix it. This comes from Microsoft’s support site.
- Open up a command prompt.
- Run this command: netstat -ano | find “:4125″
- You’ll see the following output: TCP IP_Address:Port IP_Address:Port LISTENING Process_Identifier
- Open up the Task Manager
- Click View, Select Columns, PID (Process Identifier)
- Locate the service that was listed in #3
- Open up Services and restart that service. You may need to look at the Service executable path to confirm you are restarting the correct one.
- RWW should grab port 4125 again. I leave it as an exercise to the reader to figure out how to get that service to stop grabbing the RWW port.
Good luck!
Tags: connectivity problems, Microsoft, Port 4125, Remote Web Workplace, RWW
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September 29th, 2009
I had a client whose Outlook 2007 would hang on the splash screen every time he started it up. However, when started in safe mode, it would open up just fine.
After disabling all obvious add-ins, the problem still occurred.
So, some poking around on Da Net lead to some postings that pointed at the Windows Search service. So, I tried disabling that service, and Outlook opened just fine.
A quick trip into the Control Panel to reset the index, a restart of the service (and the machine), and all was good in the hood!
Tags: hang, Outlook 2007, splash screen, Windows Search
Posted in General | 1 Comment »
August 17th, 2009
You know, for someone who is active in technology, I am not very good with tools. I can handle stuff I know (like replacing a hard drive in a machine), but cannot change the oil in my car.
So, when my daughter managed to break-off the pull cord for the ceiling fan so that it was no longer outside of the fan, my first inclination was to just replace the whole unit (which would also involve calling an electrician, as 220 is no friend of mine). However, I soon realized that made no sense, and took the thing apart.
As it turns out, the fix was just a $3.99 device, and it took 15 minutes to fix it.
Well, it took two hours, as I had to drive to the store, get the part, bring it home, break it, drive back to the store, get the second part, and then install that.
But, it was well worth it!
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July 31st, 2009
Here was an interesting problem.
Timeslips 2008 running on a Vista machine. The preferences file (prefs.prf) file could not be found in the default directory of:
C:\Program Files\Timeslips
However, when looking at the preferences file within Timeslips, it would appear to be there. Here is the answer. For some reason, Vista was putting the prefs.prf file in the following directory:
c:\users\<user name>\appdata\local\virtualstore\Program Files\Timeslips
So, the fix for me was to do the following steps:
- Set the security of the Timeslips folder under the Program Files directory so the logged-in user has full rights.
- Close Timeslips
- Delete (or better yet, rename) the preferences file found in the Users…. directory
- Restart Timeslips, which will recreate the preferences file in the default directory
That is it!
Tags: Timeslips, Vista
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July 27th, 2009
Here are some lessons learned from a recent SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 Migrations.
- Migrating a network you have barely touched is much more difficult than a network you built from the ground up.
- Always follow the instructions in this document.
- If this is the second migration of the network…especially if the previous network was running Exchange 5.5, you need to stop and uninstall (in that order) the Microsoft Exchange Active Directory Connector.
- If installing on a Dell server, be sure to download all of the appropriate drivers for the server (especially the Chipset and Network drivers) before starting, in case you need to ignore the System Management Tool.
- Once again, printer drivers are a pain when dealing with a 32-bit client and a 64-bit server. If worse comes to worse, install the drivers on the client machines.
- If others have moved items around in Active Directory (AD) so that they are not in the expected positions for the Migration tool, there will be a fair amount of clean up in terms of security and distribution groups. If you can, clean up AD to the default settings before the migration.
- If you have a client who likes to use Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), they will hate the SBS Console settings. Download the WSUS installer and install the Admin Console (only) on their machine.
- If the client has a spam appliance or filter not on the server, turn off content filtering in Exchange.
- Having to have the original SBS 2003 disks to uninstall Exchange is a pain in the ass. Always keep your disks!
That is it for now. Best of luck!
Tags: migration, SBS 2003, SBS 2008
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July 10th, 2009
Here is a new one.
A brand-new Xerox Phaser MFP (Multi-Function Printer) with an ADF (Automatic Document Feeder).
Printer work fine. Scans work fine on the glass. Copies work find on the glass.
However, the ADF won’t feed; it claims that there is paper on the glass.
The issue? Too much light in the room. Yes; this Phaser apparently writes in blood. Or steals your soul. Or something.
Actually, the light reader is just too sensitive. Sigh…
Tags: ADF problems, soul suckers, vampires, Xerox
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July 6th, 2009
For years, I have been a Dell supporter. I tend to recommend Dell to my clients for a couple of reasons:
- Their support, for the most part, is pretty good.
- Their machines, for the most part, don’t come preloaded with AOL crap (looking at you, Sony!)
- Finding drivers for their machines is fairly easy, and has gotten easier with newer models.
However, for a long time, Lenovo/Thinkpad had the market beat when it came to updating the drivers. You could start up the ThinkVantage System Update (TSU) utility, it would scan your machine, and suggest updates that you could use.
Then, for some odd reason, Lenovo decided to stop supporting the TSU utility, and instead insisted on going through their website. Which would be fine, except for the fact that the downloaded software would not auto-launch the setup/update utility (like Dell would), and as a result it would take twice as long to install.
Well, the TSU is back, and I am happy again. Now, if only they made their machines less…boxy.
Tags: AOL, Dell, Lenovo, ThinkVantage System Update
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