My Writings. My Thoughts.
SBS 2008 Backups fail with unknown error.
// May 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized
I can’t stand stupid issues and an unknown VSS error to me is stupid. So when my backups were failing constantly I needed to figure it out. I narrowed the issue down to the SQL VSS Writer but even registering all the DLLs again didn’t fix the problem. I finally figured it out. I had moved my SharePoint Services databases to a different directory and the Network Service didn’t have rights to the directory. I added full control for the Network Service and now backups are flying through with no problem. I really wish an unknown error would be defined!
Microsoft Patches Windows 7 and 2008 R2 for a Memory Leak
// February 10th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized
If you are using Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and experience STOP: 0x0000000A error then here’s a lovely fix for the memory leak from Microsoft:
A great article on choosing a MSP
// February 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized
Status update!
// January 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // Uncategorized
I have been so busy with my job and trying to get a business model going that I’ve pretty much abandoned this “project.” I am fooling with cheap and simple ways to revamp my business web site to give it some flare and I’m struggling between Joomla or using WordPress. If anyone has suggestions please just leave a comment!
Samsung Blackjack II – How to unlock GPRS settings (tether)
// December 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Misc.
For anyone who wants to tether their BJ II there’s an easy solution to unlock all the connections so you can modify them.
- Open up File Explorer and navigate to the Windows directory
- Hit “U” on the keyboard
- Launch UAMgr and choose to unlock all.
- Now all the GPRS connections should be unlocked and you can edit them if you want
- Change the connection in IE to Internet if you want to go outside the AT&T network or leave it on WAP Network so Media Net works.
How to troubleshoot a locked account that keeps locking in Active Directory
// October 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008
- Login to a domain controller and download the Account Lockout Tools from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=7AF2E69C-91F3-4E63-8629-B999ADDE0B9E&displaylang=en)
- Extract the Contents to a directory on the server
- Open LockoutStatus.exe
- Select File and choose Select Target
- Type the user name that is locked and hit OK
- All the domain controllers should show up with the user state of the account. If you look at the far right there is a table column.
- Now choose the domain controller that enabled the lock and right-click on it choose Set Netlogon Logging
- Check the box for Misc Debug to enable logon errors to be recorded and click OK (this sets the flag for DBFlag to 0×4 under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters)
- Now right-click the original lock domain controller and choose Unlock Account. Right-click a DC and choose Refresh All. If any DC is still showing the account locked then right-click on that DC and choose Unlock Account.
- Once the account is locked again right-click on the DC that originated the lock and choose Open Netlogon Log
- Scroll to the bottom of the log and look for [LOGON] entries and then look at the error code at the end. If it is 0x000006A the account is being submitted with a bad password. This line entry should also list the IP or the Computer name where the bad logon attempt originated.
- If the Netlogon.log file is too big then you can go to the DC and use nlparse.exe included in the Account Lockout Tools to choose which flags you want to parse from a Netlogon.log file and dump to a CSV. The Netlogon.log is located in C:\Windows\Debug\ on a DC. The output from nlparse.exe will dump a file to that same directory called Netlogon.log –Out.csv.
After finding the root cause of the lockout it’s advised to go back in and disable the Misc Debug flag to minimize the amount of logging being done in the Netlogon.log file.
How to Fix Citrix Users Get a Published Desktop when Launching a Published Application
// October 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // Citrix
I got a call today from someone saying that one particular user was getting a published desktop instead of the application every time she tried to launch an application. My initial response was one of expletives but after some looking around I figured out what the issue was. Since it was only one user I knew it was not a server issue. After poking around her AD Object I discovered that the root cause was someone had checked Start the following program at logon in the Environment tab. This is a huge issue and causes Citrix and Terminal Services to flake out and just launch a desktop instead. This is what it should look like for every user:
How to Remotely Administrate Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 in a Workgroup
// September 29th, 2009 // 1 Comment » // Uncategorized
One of the most annoying things with Microsoft is their model of authenticating outside of a domain. I found out the hard way when configuring Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 and trying to use the remote administration tools. I kept getting an error that I couldn’t connect to the Hyper-V Service. Here are the proper steps to get it working.
- Make sure to have a user account that is an administrator on the Hyper-V machine with th same user name that you are logged in with. If you are logged in locally as administrator (bad, bad, bad) on your desktop or laptop then make sure that the password matches on the Hyper-V server. This works even if you’re in a domain and the Hyper-V server is not.
- Install the Remote Administration Tools for Windows 7 or Vista. You can get the Windows 7 ones here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=48359dd2-1c3d-4506-ae0a-232d0314ccf6&displaylang=en or Vista ones here http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9FF6E897-23CE-4A36-B7FC-D52065DE9960&displaylang=en .
- Once you install them you have to actually enable the remote administration tools so go to Control Panel and choose Programs and Turn Windows Features On or Off. Now scroll down and expand Remote Server Administration Tools and add the ones you want to enable by checking the boxes. The Hyper-V tools are located in the Role Adminstation Tools.
- Click Ok and let Windows Configure the installation of the tools.
- Now on the local Vista or Windows 7 machine click on Start and in the search type dcomcnfg and hit enter
- Expand Component Services until you see My Computer
- Now right-click on My Computer and go to properties
- Click on COM Security
- Under Access Permissions click on Edit Limits
- Click on ANONYMOUS LOGON and check the box for Remote Access and hit OK (this actually allows you to connect to the Hyper-V service on the remote server. This is the part that irritated me the most).
- Click OK twice and close Component Services
- Now go to Start – Administrative Tools and launch Hyper-V Manager (or create a custom MMC, whatever makes you happy)
- If prompted by the UAC click Yes.
- In the left pane right-click on Hyper-V Manager and choose Connect to Server.
- Type the name of the server you created and hit OK.
- You should now be able to successfully manage the server remotely. You can also use Computer Management and other MMC plugins for remote administration. Provided that you configured the firewall on the Hyper-V server to allow this administration.
Macrim Relfect = Ultra Cheap Image Backups
// September 15th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // Uncategorized
You’re not going to get universal restore capabilities but for $40 for a paid version this is hard to beat. Top it off with the free version that would work for home users it’s a good alternative to ones like DriveImage XML.