# MCB Systems

> Software and I.T. Services

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## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://www.mcbsys.com/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Blog](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/): Mark Berry of MCB Systems blogs about technology related to software and I.T. management.
- [Install Microsoft Document Explorer](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/install-microsoft-document-explorer/): If you ask Visual WebGui 6.4’s installer to include documentation in the install, it looks for Microsoft Document Explorer. But Document Explorer is no longer included in Visual Studio 2010 (complaints, Microsoft’s story). So where can I get Document Explorer? A comment in this thread recommends installing Document Explorer from the Visual Studio 2008 media.
- [Using GoldLink with 3CX Standard](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/04/using-goldlink-with-3cx-standard/): Update April 2024 MCB GoldLink is not compatible with 3CX version 20. See details at the bottom of this post. MCB GoldLink to 3CX requires the Pro or Enterprise edition of 3CX for full functionality. But you can get 3CX to “pop” (move to) the inbound caller’s GoldMine record even with 3CX Standard. 1. Install
- [Allow Synology Active Backup for Business to Access Hyper-V](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/05/allow-synology-active-backup-for-business-to-access-hyper-v/): This has tripped me up twice, so time to blog it. Synology has an article on setting up Hyper-V for access from Synology: Which Windows services on Hyper-V servers are required for Active Backup for Business? In spite of following that, I kept getting authentication errors (though I knew my username and password were good.)
- [Don’t Paste That ClickFix Verification Link](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2026/07/dont-paste-that-clickfix-verification-link/): This morning I visited the web site of a faucet supplier. Initially, things looked fine:But then it redirected to what looks exactly like a Cloudflare verification page: Thinking back, this is already a clue: if Cloudflare verification were in use, the verification would happen before any of the web site content was displayed.After clicking in
- [Entra Security Defaults Does Not Always Require MFA](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2026/07/entra-security-defaults-does-not-always-require-mfa/): A couple years ago, Microsoft started pushing Security Defaults as the best baseline configuration for Microsoft 365 / Entra users when the customer is not paying for Entra P1 or P2 licenses (in which case Conditional Access is preferred). I’ve learned recently that Security Defaults does not always require MFA when you think it will.
- [Recovery Failure after Full System Restore](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/01/recovery-failure-after-full-system-restore/): I’m a big believer of getting image-based backups of all computers, including desktops. Unfortunately, after a full-system restore, it seems that more often than not, the machine fails to boot.A big blue screen comes up with an error code like 0xc0000001 or 0xc000000f. And invariably, the suggested automatic repair fails to resolve the problem. Articles
- [Wrangling the Windows 11 Context Menu](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2026/05/wrangling-the-windows-11-context-menu/): My Windows 11 context menu has been taking several seconds to populate, especially since I installed Adobe Bridge, which requires Adobe Creative Cloud, which adds many items. I wanted to get rid of those context menu items, but also Microsoft OneDrive, Clipchamp, Paint, Photos|Create with Designer.In Nirsoft ShellExView and Sysinternals Autoruns, I disabled every Adobe
- [Re-Join a Windows Client to a Domain](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/09/re-join-a-windows-client-to-a-domain/): A customer has a Windows Server 2016 Essentials machine with several Windows 10 clients. As those clients upgrade to Windows 11, the Windows Server Essentials connector sometimes fails to connect. Soon the server itself will be upgraded to Server 2022 or 2025, which does not offer the Essentials Connector. When you go to the Essentials
- [Cloning Bad, Unique SID Good](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2026/04/cloning-bad-unique-sid-good/): Microsoft is starting to clamp down on cloned machines (article), but how do you know if your machine has a unique SID? The idea is that each machine in a network needs a unique Security Identifier (SID). If you install Windows from scratch, it should get one. If you use Sysprep to prepare machine images,
- [SentinelOne Blocks VSS Shadow Deletion–Access is Denied](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/11/sentinelone-blocks-vss-management-access-is-denie/): I had a Windows 10 to 11 upgrade fail today. SetupDiag makes it sound like the problem was removing System Restore (VSS) checkpoints: 0xc1900101-0x20017 Error: SetupDiag reports rollback failure found.Last Phase = FinalizeLast Operation = Remove System Restore checkpointsError = 0xC1900101-0x20017 System Restore was not active on any drive, vssadmin list shadowstorage shows 5GB in
- [DFSR Error 4012 on Stand-Alone Domain Controller](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/12/dfsr-error-4012-on-stand-alone-domain-controller/): I recently migrated a Windows Server Essentials 2012 R2 install to Server 2016 with the Essentials role. Part of the migration was to migrate all FSMO roles, demote the old server, and uninstall Active Directory on the old server. All that worked successfully. However, after 60 days, I started getting this error on the new
- [Quick Fix for a Squealing UDM Pro SE Fan](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2026/01/quick-fix-for-a-squealing-udm-pro-se-fan/): My UDM Pro SE was making a high-pitched squealing noise that was driving me crazy. I see posts saying that its fan ramps up when you install a hard drive, but I have no drive installed.I wanted to confirm it was the UDM and not another device making the noise. Before unplugging it, I went
- [Win11 24H2 Blocking NTLM for RDP and SMB](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/08/win11-24h2-blocking-ntlm-for-rdp-and-smb/): I have two laptops on the same domain. One has been running Windows 11 Pro for a while and even with a recent update to 24H2, has no problems connecting to remote RDP hosts or to my local NAS via SMB. The other laptop I just upgraded from Windows 10 22H2 to Windows 11 24H2
- [Migrate from CA certificate to Self-Signed Certificate](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/09/migrate-from-ca-certificate-to-self-signed-certificate/): I manage a few small networks where there is a single server for the company. Last year, on one of those networks, I set up Server 2022 with a new domain from scratch. I did not install Certificate Services. It created a 20-year self-signed certificate for both Server Authentication and Client Authentication and has been
- [AT&T Flexible Reach with a Grandstream UCM](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/10/att-flexible-reach-with-a-grandstream-ucm/): I blogged in 2019 about connecting 3CX running on Windows with an AT&T Flexible Reach SIP gateway. Now I’m moving that customer to a Grandstream UCM6301, currently running firmware 1.0.21.9, and I wanted to share a post about the settings needed to get that working. First, you’ll need to use two network cables to the
- [DISM Examples](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/06/dism-examples/): I seem to always have to go hunting for the syntax to run DISM /restorehealth, so here are a few quick examples.The basic command for online cleanup: dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth If it complains about not finding sources, you can mount the installation ISO (right click, Mount), then use it as a drive. Let's assume
- [Prey Project Causes Repeated OpenWith Errors on Server 2025](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/04/prey-project-causes-repeated-openwith-errors-on-server-2025/): Since upgrading a server to Server 2025, I’ve been getting multiple OpenWith Application errors every day. “OpenWith” is supposed to be what is called when you right-click on a file and choose to open it with some program. That’s strange as no one is logged on to the server when this occurs. I decided to
- [Multiple AVHDX Files in Hyper-V after Synology Active Backup](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/11/multiple-avhdx-files-in-hyper-v-after-synology-active-backup/): I’m running Hyper-V on a Windows Server 2022 host. I recently discovered that my largest virtual machine was in “differencing” mode, i.e. only writing changes to checkpoint AVHDX files, also known as snapshots. Each day when Synology Active Backup ran, one snapshot stopped and the next began.That left me with 15 snapshots of two VHDX
- [Low Disk Space? Uninstall Adobe Acrobat Reader](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/10/low-disk-space-uninstall-adobe-acrobat-reader/): On a Windows 11 24H2 computer, I used TreeSize Free to check what was using so much disk space.C:\Windows\Installer consumed 76.5GB.I opened that folder, sorted descending by size, and right-clicked to look at the Properties of the largest .msp files. Almost all were signed by Adobe. File size steadily increased from 369MB last year to
- [Can’t Start VM with Virtual TPM on HPE MicroServer](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/10/cant-start-vm-with-virtual-tpm-on-hpe-microserver/): I manage several HPE Gen10 Plus v2 MicroServers set up as Hyper-V hosts, running a mixture of Server 2022 and Server 2025. HPE BIOS is currently at v2.40. I discovered a few months ago that although I could enable the Trusted Platform Module for a virtual machine (vTPM), the machine would fail to start.Here is
- [The Way We Were, 1977 to 1984](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/10/the-way-we-were-1977-to-1984/): Today as I was pondering some modern architectural paradigms, I got to thinking about my procedural programming roots, which led me down memory lane to my early computing days. Basement Computing Back at university, my computer science classes taught me about bubble sorts and data structures like linked lists and b-trees. We learned to write
- [Entra Cloud Sync and the Phantom Certificate](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/10/entra-cloud-sync-and-the-phantom-certificate/): I posted this in a Microsoft forum but wanted to repeat it here for future reference. The Issue I installed Entra Cloud Sync on a Server 2025 Domain Controller. The Entra dashboard shows the status is "Healthy". However the certificate issued to HISConnectorRegistrationCA.his.msappproxy.net expired on 9/21/2025 [three days before I posted in the forum]. Shouldn't
- [Network Backup Causes VSS Error 8194](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/07/network-backup-causes-vss-error-8194/): After setting up a new Windows 10 desktop in an Essentials 2012R2 domain, every day when the Essentials backup runs, backing up the machine across the network, I see this error:Log Name: Application Source: VSS Event ID: 8194 Level: Error Description: Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error querying for the IVssWriterCallback interface. hr =
- [INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/10/inaccessible-boot-device/): It seems that more often than not, when I restore a computer, I encounter stop code 7B or worse, just a white-on-black message that no OS was found.The internet is full of advice on how to handle this. I wanted to post a couple of the more helpful links with comments. One thing to keep
- [Fix the EFI Boot Record on a Lenovo Outlet ThinkPad](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/08/fix-the-efi-boot-record-on-a-lenovo-outlet-thinkpad/): I purchased a Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen 5 laptop from the Lenovo Outlet last week. As part of the setup, I upgraded the BIOS from 1.14 to 1.15. I started getting the message “System has self-healed by restoring BIOS from backup” on every boot.For some reason, turning Boot Mode from Quick to Diagnostics, then back
- [Sentinel One Missing from Installed Apps](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/08/sentinel-one-missing-from-installed-apps/): I installed SentinelOne 25.1.3.334 on three Windows computers yesterday. On one of them, it was missing from the list of Installed Apps, even though it appeared in the taskbar and in the S1 dashboard.I figured the solution was to re-install the program.I tried installing the same version on top of itself but it said I
- [A Domain Controller Can Boot into Safe Mode without DSRM](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/08/a-domain-controller-can-boot-into-safe-mode-without-dsrm/): For some reason, maybe because this was the way things were many years ago, I was under the impression that booting a domain controller into safe mode (e.g. to uninstall an anti-virus program) always meant using Directory Services Repair Mode (DSRM). Wrong.You can get into “normal” safe mode on a DC. Active Directory starts and
- [Batch Convert PDF to PDF/A - 2018 Edition](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/10/batch-convert-pdf-to-pdf-a-2018-edition/): This is a major revision of an article that I wrote in 2013. I’m developing a paperless workflow for my home and office. I want to save all my documents in PDF/A-1b PDF/A-2b archival format so I will be able to open them for years to come. The PDFs should be searchable, meaning they contain
- [Use CutePDF to Print to PDF/A for Free - 2018 Edition](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/10/use-cutepdf-to-print-to-pdf-a-for-free-2018-edition/): This is a major revision of an article that I wrote in 2013. My paperless workflow creating PDF/A files was doing fine until about a year ago. I was using a modified CutePDF to print browser documents and emails to PDF/A-1b format. But it seems that browsers especially are increasingly using semi-transparent fonts. Since PDF/A-1b
- [Fix a Broken Camera Config in Surveillance Station](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/07/fix-broken-camera-config-in-surveillance-station/): I have an old Hikvision DS-2CD2332-I camera mounted sideways to take in a hallway. It is configured with rotation enabled in the camera’s web interface:Synology Surveillance Station was fine with this until March 2025, when the update to version 9.2.3-11755 caused the camera to get “squashed”—it was no longer displayed with black “letterboxes” left and
- [Visual Studio 2010 Shell Required by VB6](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/03/visual-studio-2010-shell-required-by-vb6/): Although they haven’t changed in years, I’m still responsible for a couple Visual Basic 6 apps. My development environment worked great under Windows 8.1, but now that 8.1 is out of support, I decided it was time to upgrade to Windows 10 22H2.Most things on the machine seem to have survived the upgrade without issues,
- [QuickBooks Support Scam](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/03/quickbooks-support-scam/): One of my clients received a voicemail advising them they were having issues with their QuickBooks “communications link”:The caller had an Indian accent, and made several grammatical errors when he left this message: Hi, this is Jay, and I'm calling from Support for QuickBooks, . Well, this call is regarding for your QuickBooks accounting software,
- [QuickBooks Desktop Scheduled Backup Fails](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/03/quickbooks-desktop-scheduled-backup-fails/): I spent several hours over the weekend upgrading a client’s QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise software to the latest version 24. The software is hosted on a Server 2022 computer. The upgrade process has several pitfalls, including leaving behind the service, firewall rules, Active Directory user, and scheduled backup task from the previous version. Perhaps the biggest
- [Network Location Awareness Doesn’t Identify Domain](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/03/network-location-awareness-doesnt-identify-domain/): One small client has a Server 2012 R2 Essentials domain controller and a few Windows 7 desktops. It’s a wired, mostly gigabit network. Some desktops, especially those that have are behind a couple switches, often have problems confirming that they are on the domain, so they come up on the Public network, which messes up
- [Server 2025 Domain Controller Not on Domain](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/03/server-2025-domain-controller-not-on-domain/): As reported here and here, a Server 2025 domain controller does not properly detect that it is on the domain. The Server 2022 workaround, with registry entries like AlwaysExpectDomainController that I blogged here, no longer works. The workaround is to restart the Public network adapter(s) after each server boot.I used Gemini to write a PowerShell
- [Move Shadow Storage from One Volume to Another](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/03/move-shadow-storage-from-one-volume-to-another/): I have Shadow Copies turned off on a Hyper-V server but VSS is still used for backups and by SentinelOne. On one server, somehow the shadow storage for C: wound up on D:Might be okay but I was getting VSS errors, so I wanted to move it back to the default C:. First I tried
- [List Windows Drive IDs and Drive Letters](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/09/list-windows-drive-ids-and-drive-letters/): I sometimes forget this seldom-used but invaluable command for listing volume mount points under Windows: mountvol There are several parameters, but when when run without parameters, the end of the output shows the mount points (drive IDs or drive SIDs) with their drive letters, if any:
- [Index Microsoft Office Files for Windows Search on Server 2012](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/12/index-microsoft-office-files-for-windows-search-on-server-2012/): After setting up Server 2012 Essentials, I discovered that the native Windows Search indexes .doc, .docx, .ppt, and .xls files, but not .pptx or .xlsx files.Manually adding Office extensions would treat them as text files, i.e. it would not handle file formats intelligently. For example, I believe it would index the XML tags as well
- [Microsoft 365: Block User License Requests and Purchases](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/03/microsoft-365-block-user-license-requests-and-purchases/): Microsoft 365 by default allows end users to request new licenses and, currently in 27 cases, to purchase licenses with their own credit cards, sometimes with a trial first. As an admin, I prefer to manage licenses directly and not have users wasting their time and even their own money playing with random, potentially expensive
- [HPE Intelligent Provisioning, Server 2025, and VROC](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/02/hpe-intelligent-provisioning-server-2025-and-vroc/): I’m setting up a new HPE MicroServer Gen10 Plus v2. I’ve purchased an HPE Server 2025 Essentials Reseller Option Kit (ROK) to install. I thought this time, I’d use the Intelligent Provisioning method for the install. I’m not sure it was worth it.Getting Intelligent Provisioning to Load the ROK I discovered that I was unable
- [Get Rid of the Aptos Font in Outlook’s Reading Pane](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2025/01/get-rid-of-the-aptos-font-in-outlooks-reading-pane/): I have Microsoft 365 (aka Office) set to update on the semi-annual channel as described here, so it was just this weekend that it upgraded itself from Version 2402 (Build 17328.20670) to Version 2408 (Build 17928.20392). Suddenly I was confronted with the new Aptos font. Ugh. I mean, the font is not terrible, but its
- [Get BitLocker Keys Using PowerShell](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/12/get-bitlocker-keys-using-powershell/): Microsoft is increasingly pushing BitLocker encryption onto new devices. Do you know your BitLocker recovery passwords (keys)? I’m deploying the following script to to run daily in my RMM tool on all customer computers. It’s just two lines in PowerShell, but it could literally save the day if an encrypted disk needs to be unlocked
- [Can’t Email Essentials Health Report Since Daylight Savings Time](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/11/cant-email-essentials-health-report-since-daylight-savings-time/): In the U.S., daylight savings time ended on November 2 at 2:00am. Which means that at 2:00am, it was suddenly 1:00am. At that moment, Essentials lost its ability to send email.I maintain multiple Server 2012 R2 Essentials machines. (See notes below re. 2016 Essentials as well.) Each one emails its health report at 6am. On
- [An A.I. Test](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/10/an-a-i-test/): After reading a New York Times article about how Artificial Intelligence degenerates when it gets its input from A.I., I posted some thoughts in a private forum. A colleague replied that “AI is not ‘perfect’ (if it ever will be)….” Well I thought of something A.I. should be perfect for: creating a simple graph of
- [MicroSIP Rejects Call if Headset in Cradle](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/08/microsip-rejects-call-if-headset-in-cradle/): I’ve been testing the MicroSIP softphone version 3.21.4 on a Windows 10 computer. I could not figure out why MicroSIP would ring for half a second, then hang up (Decline) the incoming call, I confirmed that DND was not enabled.I could see in a Wireshark trace that MicroSIP was rejecting the call with “486 Busy
- [The older version of Google Chrome cannot be removed - Error 1612](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/03/the-older-version-of-google-chrome-cannot-be-removed-error-1612/): One workstation was missing the MSI for the previous version of Chrome, so Chrome update (through Ninite) was failing. This message was logged to the Application Event log: Log Name: Application Source: MsiInstaller Date: 3/26/2022 11:43:14 AM Event ID: 11714 Level: Error Description: Product: Google Chrome -- Error 1714. The older version of Google Chrome
- [Run Ninite Pro with Nice Logs from MAXfocus](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/12/run-ninite-pro-with-nice-logs-from-maxfocus/): I’ve deployed Ninite Pro to update non-Windows applications on computers that I manage. I’m running it in silent mode but I wanted some decent logging so I can review what it did. This is especially useful when run from the SolarWindows RMM dashboard as a Scheduled Task: the output is visible from the dashboard. The
- [Ninite Could Not Verify Installation of Zoom 1603 - 3620](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/08/ninite-could-not-verify-installation-of-zoom-1603-3620/): Occasionally, Ninite Pro and/or the Windows Installer gets confused and cannot update a program. In this case, the message was “Zoom : Install failed - Could not verify installation (2), 1603 – 3620”.Part of the problem may be that Windows 11 23H2 thinks that Zoom 6.1.1.41705 is installed, but Ninite thinks it needs to update
- [Windows 11 Start Menu Error](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/07/windows-11-start-menu-error/): I upgraded several machines from Windows 11 22H2 to 23H2 using an RMM tool. On most machines, after I log as an admin, I see this a blue popup:"Critical Error - Your start menu isn't working. We'll try to fix it the next time you sign in." The only option is "Sign out now", but
- [Reset DNS Server to DHCP from the Command Line](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/09/reset-dns-server-to-dhcp-from-the-command-line/): If a user can’t access the internet because their DNS is static, you can’t connect remotely but you may be able to walk threm through entering a couple of commands (though you’ll need to provide an Adminstrator-level password). Thanks to this StackOverflow article for ideas. Note: changing DNS can cause a computer to lose network
- [Disabling CoPilot on Windows 11](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/07/disabling-copilot-on-windows-11/): After updating Window 11 Pro to 23H2 on some domain-joined computers, I I found that a CoPilot Preview suddenly started appearing in the lower right corner:First of all, these are work computers with paid licenses to Microsoft Windows. I certainly would not expect my customers to beta-test preview software for Microsoft. Why would that ever
- [Wave for Windows Desktop Requires H.264 to Receive Voice Calls](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/07/wave-for-windows-desktop-requires-h-264-to-receive-voice-calls/): It’s not uncommon when debugging VoIP phone systems to simplify as much as possible to eliminate possible incompatibilities, as well as to reduce TCP packet size. Especially having too many codecs can cause issues; in the U.S., the default codec that is assumed to always work is PCMU, also known as G711u. However I’ve just
- [KB5041054 Install on Server 2022 Failed, Repair Not Possible](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/06/kb5041054-install-on-server-2022-failed-repair-not-possible/): On June 21, I told N-able Patch Management to install the out-of-band KB5041054 on a Server 2022 Hyper-V host. Here’s the Microsoft details on that patch: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/june-20-2024-kb5041054-os-build-20348-2529-out-of-band-b746ffbd-934e-42ac-9c66-ed0636edf7f1 Patch installation failed at some point and the server rebooted into the Repair mode console (Windows PE): Alas, as explained in the patch article, this is a combined
- [Load Custom VROC Drivers for Veeam Disaster Recovery](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/06/load-custom-vroc-drivers-for-veeam-disaster-recovery/): After a failed Microsoft patch that could not be uninstalled (blogged here), I recently had a do a bare-metal restore of the system drive of an HPE ProLiant MicroServer. The server is configured with four SSD hard drives, two in RAID 1 for the system partition and two in RAID 1 for the data partition.
- [Inbound Calls Failing with 488 Not Acceptable Here](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/06/inbound-calls-failing-with-488-not-acceptable-here/): This morning one of my customers could not receive inbound calls. They are running a Grandstream UCM6302 PBX with a Telnyx SIP trunk. The trunk uses registration, UDP for SIP, and the G722 and G711u (PCMU) codecs.The Telnyx debugging report showed that they were receiving a “488 Not Acceptable Here” message from the PBX. A
- [Inspect Disk Space Used on a Synology NAS](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/05/inspect-disk-space-used-on-a-synology-nas/): This has come up a couple times for different reasons, so I want to document some procedures.For all its sophistication and flexibility, DSM 7.1.1 on a Synology NAS does not seem to offer a comprehensive way to review disk space used.Storage ManagerThe first view of data used is in Storage Manger. Here you can see
- [Server 2022 Doesn’t Offer Optional Updates](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/04/server-2022-doesnt-offer-optional-updates/): I’ve been puzzling over this for a while so I thought I’d create a post at least to document the question.On a domain-joined Server 2022 21H2 virtual machine, I know there is an optional update waiting from running a PowerShell script. For example, this one-liner: shows that this update is pending: SQL Server 2019 RTM
- [Chrome and Google Sync Install Nightmare Solved](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/04/chrome-uninstall-nightmare/): After upgrading from 32-bit to 64-bit Microsoft Office, I needed to get Google Workspace Sync for Outlook re-installed on a Windows 10 computer. I probably spent five hours going in circles before finding a solution.SymptomsOld Google Apps Sync uninstalled successfully. Small Google Workspace Sync installer (googleappssyncsetup.exe) started, displayed a message briefly and stopped. I believe
- [Save BitLocker Keys in Active Directory](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/09/save-bitlocker-keys-in-active-directory/): One of the risks of activating encryption on a hard drive is that you’ll lose the password. It turns out to be pretty simple to save and view BitLocker passwords in Active Directory. I’m working with Server 2012 R2 Essentials and two Windows 7 laptops. Turn on Group Policies With help from this article, I
- [QuickBooks Upgrades Leave Old Users, Shuts Down Computer](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/04/quickbooks-upgrades-leave-old-users-shuts-down-computer/): An interesting issue arose in this evening’s I.T. group meeting. One member reported that a client’s server shuts down every Sunday because QuickBooks upgrades add a new user every year. Another noted that this can happen with Windows Server Essentials, which is limited to 25 users. There should be a notice in the event log
- [3CX and GoldLink Plans](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/01/3cx-and-goldlink-plans/): As we start a new year, I want to let you know about some changes coming in 3CX that affect MCB GoldLink to 3CX. Note Be sure to scroll to the bottom to see updates to this article after its initial publication. GoldLink depends on the Windows version of the 3CXPhone client to link 3CX
- [Packet Tracing from a Synology NAS](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/03/packet-tracing-from-a-synology-nas/): I have several network cameras on a separate VLAN. They are managed from a Synology DS1520+ NAS. A while back, I was troubleshooting some other network issue and I noticed packets going to hikvision.com, presumably from cameras “phoning home” to their vendors.I made a note to add firewall rules to block the cameras from the
- [Restore Server Test – 2024 Edition](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/01/restore-server-test-2024-edition/): Over the years, I’ve published multiple articles about testing a server restore at a client site. The idea is to confirm that if the server went down, I could quickly restore to one of the customer’s computer as a temporary solution while the server is repaired or replaced. Previous tests are blogged in 2011, 2012,
- [Windows 10 Home and User Privileges](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2024/01/windows-10-home-and-user-privileges/): Working on a Windows 10 Home installation recently, I noticed that the primary user was an administrator. For best security, I prefer to have users work as non-admins, then have a second admin user for use when necessary.(I’m writing this up from memory, but I think this is the sequence of events.) I added a
- [Using OpenLiteSpeed Behind Cloudflare](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/12/using-openlitespeed-behind-cloudflare/): After switching to Cloudflare for DNS and caching (CDN), we’ve discovered that Cloudflare sometimes requests connections so fast that OpenLiteSpeed servers (versions 1.7.17 and 1.7.18) block them. The Cloudflare IPs are whitelisted since OLS 1.7.13, but when Use Client IP in Header is set to Trusted IP Only, OLS passes through the original IP and
- [Azure is Expensive for Synology Hyper Backup Storage](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/12/azure-is-expensive-for-synology-hyper-backup-storage/): I posted earlier about using Azure blob storage for Hyper Backup. I initially set it up with Cool tier storage. After several months, I checked the costs by exporting one month’s Azure usage as CSV and creating a pivot table. Here is usage for the 30 days of September 2023:Wow, $178 to store 2.1TB of
- [Azure Tiers and Synology Hyper Backup](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/04/azure-tiers-and-synology-hyper-backup/): I’m testing using Hyper Backup on a Synology NAS to back up to Azure storage. There are tons of articles about this online, but no one seems to be addressing how backup rotation affects storage. I’m posting this as a comment on this post but wanted to put it out there as its own post.
- [Remote Desktop Fails to Connect to Gateway 0xC000035B](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/12/remote-desktop-fails-to-connect-to-gateway-0xc000035b/): A new Windows 10 Pro 1803 computer could not establish a connection through a Server 2016 machine running Remote Desktop Gateway. The Win10 machine showed this error: Update November 27, 2021 Had an almost identical error with a new laptop running Windows 10 21H!. The message was slightly different: Also in 2021 (and maybe in
- [Old Microsoft Syndication Site Hosts Redirect Malware](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/11/old-microsoft-syndication-site-hosts-redirect-malware/): I have some earlier versions of mcbsys.com online more or less for fun and as historical archives. Today I discovered that when you visit one of them, it redirects to various random sites. Not good!Long story short, I discovered that an old Microsoft Syndication link now hijacks the browser and redirects it to a malicious
- [Synology Shared Folder Permissions Grayed Out](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/11/synology-shared-folder-permissions-grayed-out/): Recently, a backup target on my Synology NAS went offline. I was afraid that the folder had been corrupted and deleted. It was not visible in File Manger. It was still showing in Shared Folders, but the permissions tabs were grayed out:I enabled SSH and viewed the folder in PuTTY and WinSCP. The folder was
- [sqlcmd No credentials, cannot generate SSPI context](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/11/sqlcmd-no-credentials-cannot-generate-sspi-context/): I recently set up SQL 2022 Express and needed to connect to it over the LAN using sqlcmd. I thought enabling TCP/IP in SQL Server 2022 Configuration Manger and opening the firewall on port 1433 would be enough, but I was still getting these errors when I tried to connect with Windows authentication (sqlcmd –S
- [Use Batch Jobs and Scheduled Tasks to Copy Backups](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/10/use-batch-jobs-and-scheduled-tasks-to-copy-backups/): I use a lot of batch jobs to copy backup data between Windows and NAS devices. I run the jobs as scheduled tasks. Getting this working smoothly is always a fairly tedious part of setting up a new computer. Here are some tips on setting up the tasks and credentials. Execute the scheduled task as
- [Moving Liberum Help Desk to SQL 2005 Express](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/moving-liberum-help-desk-to-sql-2005-express/): For the last several years, I’ve been running Liberum Help Desk on SQL 2000 under IIS 6. With my recent upgrade to Small Business Server 2008, I needed to move the Help Desk to SQL 2005 Express and IIS 7. Here are my notes on the process. Update November 26, 2012: today I upgraded from
- [HPE iLO Not Allowing Web Login](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/09/hpe-ilo-not-allowing-web-login/): I manage a few HPE MicroServer Gen10 v2 servers with the iLO Enablement Package installed. Once while setting up a new server, I was suddenly no longer able to log in to the iLO’s web UI. It took the login request, blanked out the username and password, disabled the Log In button, and froze. However,
- [Get System Memory Details from a Command Prompt](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/09/get-system-memory-details-from-a-command-prompt/): Wow, learn something new every day. Need to match memory to what is already installed on your system? This article lists wmic commands for getting details from an administrative command prompt.This covers most of what you might want to know: wmic memorychip get devicelocator, manufacturer, partnumber, serialnumber, capacity, speed, memorytype, formfactor To get all the
- [Unlock an Account from the MaxRM Remote Command Line](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/05/unlock-an-account-from-the-maxrm-remote-command-line/): The MaxRM Remote Command Line presumably operates in the context of the MaxRM agent service’s logon, which by default is SYSTEM. It’s unlikely (or perhaps not possible) to lock out the SYSTEM account. If you can open the MaxRM Remote Command Line on a domain controller (or maybe another domain-joined machine), you can check the
- [Restart 3CX 18 Services from Debian Command Line](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/08/restart-3cx-18-services-from-debian-command-line/): I have a 3CX server running on a small Azure B1ls virtual machine, 1 vCPU, 0.5 GiB RAM. This has been working fine for years. I recently did an apt update/apt upgrade on the machine. That in turn upgraded 3CX to v18 Update 8 (Build 917), which I had not intended to do. The latest
- [N-able N-Sight Patch Management Does Not Fully Uninstall](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/08/n-able-n-sight-patch-management-does-not-fully-uninstall/): I use N-able N-sight (formerly Hounddog, GFI, LogicNow, and Solarwinds) to monitor and patch Windows computers. One server was repeatedly failing to scan for patches. The solution is supposed to be to uninstall and re-install Patch Management.N-able Support even supplied a temporary PowerShell script to completely remove the feature, but when trying to re-install, the
- [Windows Server Backup UI Fails to Start](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/01/windows-server-backup-ui-fails-to-start/): I’ve encountered this a couple times now with new Server 2016 installations. Some time after configuring backups, I try to start the Server Backup UI and get this: A fatal error occurred during a Windows Server Backup snap-in (Wbadmin.msc) operation. Error details: The server threw an exception. Close Wbadmin.msc and then restart it. This is
- [Event ID 7, The device, \Device\Harddisk1\DR1, has a bad block](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/06/event-id-7-the-device-deviceharddisk1dr1-has-a-bad-block/): This 2016 article by snorble is so helpful about how to decode that message that I want to create a permanent link to it:https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/1950013-event-id-7-the-device-device-harddisk1-dr1-has-a-bad-blockIt’s based on Microsoft KB159865, “How to Distinguish a Physical Disk Device from an Event Message,” no longer available from Microsoft (is it no longer accurate?), but available at the KB archive
- [Veeam 6 Fails to Restore to Hyper-V Gen 2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/05/veeam-6-fails-to-restore-to-hyper-v-gen-2/): Recently I had a Windows Server 2022 machine installed on bare metal, backed up with Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows 6.0.2.1090 – Free Edition. I decided to virtualize this machine and wanted to restore it to a virtual machine under Hyper-V, also under Windows Server 2022.I had created the Veeam recovery media as an ISO.
- [Hardening LDAP in Server 2016 Essentials](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/07/hardening-ldap-in-server-2016-essentials/): If you run a fully patched Windows Server Essentials 2016, you’ve probably been seeing this event in your daily Health Report since around March 2020: Log Name: Directory Service Source: Microsoft-Windows-ActiveDirectory_DomainService Event ID: 3041 Task Category: LDAP Interface Level: Warning Description: The security of this directory server can be significantly enhanced by configuring the server
- [Basic Windows Time Service Setup](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/08/basic-windows-time-service-setup/): I’ve blogged about checking Windows Time Settings and how sometimes Windows Time Stops Even When Set to Start Automatically. But what if you just need a basic setup for a domain controller or for a computer that is not joined to a domain? Here are the commands I use (from an administrative command prompt) for
- [VSS CreateTimeout and the Persistence of a Typo](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/05/vss-createtimeout-and-the-persistence-of-a-typo/): I’ve got a recurring VSS warning 8229 on a Server 2016 machine: “A VSS writer has rejected an event with error 0x800423f2, The writer's timeout expired between the Freeze and Thaw events.”Google has taken me to several articles (1 2 3 4) recommending that I increase the VSS timeout by setting a registry key.The earliest
- [Unbox a ROK](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/04/unbox-a-rok/): Windows Server 2022 Essentials is sold only as a Reseller Option Kit (ROK). While I understand that this is a kind of vendor-specific OEM product, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I ordered the Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) version, part number P46172-DN1.Here’s what it looks like (serial and order numbers obfuscated):Inside, there is a
- [Server Essentials 2022 Not Available as Volume License](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/04/server-essentials-2022-not-available-as-volume-license/): In a development that still has me scratching my head, I learned today that the current version of Windows Server Essentials 2022 is not available from the Volume License Service Center (VLSC). Unfortunately, TechSoup’s catalog entry didn’t mention that tidbit when I purchased WSE for a nonprofit customer. In fact, TechSoup’s Current Versions of Microsoft
- [Error 1327 Invalid Drive Installing GoldMine on Workstation](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/08/error-1327-invalid-drive-installing-goldmine-on-workstation/): I installed GoldMine 9.2 on an SBS 2008 server with no problem. But when I tried to do a workstation install on a Windows 7 virtual machine, the installer could not see the mapped drive to the server’s GoldMine installation. After the server install, I shared the folder C:\ProgramData\GoldMine, then I mapped drive K: to
- [PowerShell Script to Check and Disable SMBv1](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/05/powershell-script-to-check-and-disable-smbv1/): SMBv1 is an old network protocol targeted by the now-infamous WannaCry virus. Although the issue exploited by WannaCry was patched in March 2017, SMBv1 was left enabled by default, leaving open a security hole for the next possibly unpatched vulnerability. It is therefore considered best practice to stop using SMBv1 on all Windows machines. Before
- [Revive a Dead UniFi USG](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/03/revive-a-dead-unifi-usg/): You’re streaming a movie and your Internet dies. You dink around until you’ve confirm that it’s not the fiber modem; it’s the trusty UniFi USG: there are some lights flashing around the network ports but no square blue light on top, and if you cycle power, no flashing white light on top.TL;DRFirst try replacing the
- [VoIP.ms DDoS Outage: What You Can Do](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/09/voip-ms-ddos-outage-what-you-can-do/): Internet Telephony provider VoIP.ms has been the subject of a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack for several days. The attack has knocked most of their services offline, including phone, SMS, and their management portal. The company has been posting updates on Twitter (@voipms). The grief and pain this incident is inflicting on the company,
- [Windows Image Restore Woes](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/02/windows-image-restore-woes/): Man it is hard to restore a computer backup from a Windows Backup image. Especially if you are trying to restore to a new Hyper-V virtual machine. Here are a few of the hurdles to overcome. Allow Accessing the Backup Select the Properties of the WindowsImageBackup folder, Advanced, take ownership (with the logged-in user, for
- [Mariadb apt update Fails on jaleco.com Repository](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/12/mariadb-apt-update-fails-on-jaleco-com-repository/): Today I decided to check for updates on an Ubuntu 20.04 server. sudo apt update failed with these messages: Fortunately someone posted the identical issue and a solution here: https://forum.virtualmin.com/t/cant-upgrade-packages-at-all/118021/4 I had a mirror for MariaDB that was broken, mirror.jaleco.com which now points to mirror.download.it I have replaced it with MariaDB’s official mirrors by commenting
- [Careful: LastPass Remembers Generated Passwords Forever](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/05/careful-lastpass-remembers-generated-passwords-forever/): I use LastPass Premium for storing hundreds of online passwords. However I don’t trust it with my most important banking passwords. For those, I use LastPass only to generate a complex password, then I encrypt the password and store it locally. I was therefore not happy this morning to discover that LastPass was offering multiple
- [NAT Problem with AT&T u-Verse Modem](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/09/nat-problem-with-att-u-verse-modem/): I have u-Verse through a Pace 5031NV-030 modem. Sometimes I swap out routers to test one function or another. This always means that I have to log in to the Pace at 192.168.1.254 and set the new router as the DMZ (Settings > Firewall > Applications, Pinholes and DMZ). (Tip: connect a separate computer directly
- [Set Up Group Policy Admin Templates](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/11/set-up-group-policy-admin-templates/): Here are brief instructions on setting up Group Policy Administrative Templates on a single Server 2012 R2 or 2016 domain controller. More detailed instructions, as well as the latest Windows 10 policy downloads, can be found in KB3087759. 1. Download the latest policy templates from the links in KB3087759. For Windows 10 22H1 v2: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/104042.
- [SentinelOne Can’t Connect from Server 2012R2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/09/sentinelone-cant-connect-from-server-2012r2/): I recently deployed SentinelOne on a couple Server 2012R2 machines. On the one where I had run Nartec’s IIS Crypto tool to set Best Practices cipher suites, SentinelOne was not able to connect to the management host. Too Long, Didn’t Read The solution was to open IIS Crypto, enable these two cipher suites, and
- [Windows Search Shows Plain Results on Entire Network](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/08/windows-search-shows-plain-results-on-entire-network/): I have a small Server 2016 domain network, I frequently use search to find files on the server, which indexes not only file names but file contents. Recently, though, I started seeing strange search results: For example, if I searched my software download folder for “Nirsoft”, I only got a list of files. No file
- [Deciphering Lenovo BIOS Versions](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/08/deciphering-lenovo-bios-versions/): Lenovo servers have a maddening format for BIOS versions. Given this nine-character BIOS version from MSINFO32:and this undated history of 3-character BIOS versions from the latest BIOS release:Where is the correlation? Where is FBKTD7AUS in the list of versions? Does the “AUS” suffix mean that I have an Australian BIOS?wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion is no
- [Change the Public IP of your PBX at Telnyx](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/08/change-the-public-ip-of-your-pbx-at-telnyx/): If you’ve configured your Telnyx numbers to use IP authentication (as opposed to registration), and you need to change your IP address (e.g. because you purchased a static IP), here are the places to update that in the Telnyx dashboard. SIP Connections > choose connection > edit IP address Note: you can also add the
- [Use PsExec and Netsh to Change DNS Server on Remote Computer](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/07/use-psexec-and-netsh-to-change-dns-server-on-remote-computer/): The other day, one of my scripts changed the DNS server on a desktop to an incorrect server. It killed that computer’s Internet access so I lost control through my RMM tool. However I was able to ping the computer from another computer on the network. I know how to change DNS with PowerShell, but
- [Handling SentinelOne Behavioral False Positives](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/06/handling-sentinelone-behavioral-false-positives/): I’ve been testing SentinelOne as an advanced anti-virus system (EDR). Currently it’s only in Detect mode while I see how it behaves in my environment.There were several false positives detected by file scans that were easily handled. However when I installed the Synology Active Backup for Business (ABB) Agent, that was flagged as malicious not
- [Synology Active Backup for Business: the Missing Features](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/06/synology-active-backup-for-business-the-missing-features/): Reliable backups are an essential part of computer management. I’ve used many, many backup tools over the years: Windows Backup, Veritas/Symantec Backup Exec, ShadowProtect, Server Essentials Client Backup. Azure Backup, Veeam Backup, Code42 CrashPlan Backup, EaseUs Todo Backup. I’ve been looking for a tool to consolidate backups with local storage and either cloud or external
- [Remove IMG_ Prefix from Photo Names](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/10/remove-img_-prefix-from-photo-names/): My Android phone prepends every photo file with “IMG_”. After copying the files to my computer, I use this simple Windows command to remove the prefix on all files in the folder: rename "IMG_*.jpg" "////*.jpg" Credit: this SuperUser answer. To remove "VID_" from mp4 files: rename "VID_*.mp4" "////*.mp4" Update June 18, 2022 After upgrading my
- [See S.M.A.R.T. Results on a Synology NAS](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/06/see-s-m-a-r-t-results-on-a-synology-nas/): Yesterday, a drive “unplugged” on my Synology DS-1520+, as blogged here. I ran the recommended S.M.A.R.T. Extended Test, which it told me would take 32 hours. Today I went in to check the results.The S.M.A.R.T. results are not where you might expect them, under HDD/SDD > Logs. Rather, you need to select HDD/SSD > HDD/SSD,
- [Synology Drive Crash and Recovery](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/06/synology-drive-crash-and-recovery/): Today I arrived in my office to hear my new Synology DS-1520+ NAS beeping softly. Checking email confirmed my suspicion that a drive had failed—the storage pool was in a “degraded” state. (Be sure you have alerts working, especially if your NAS is in a location where the beeping might not be heard.) I thought
- [Use a Gmail Account for Customer Alerts](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/01/use-a-gmail-account-for-customer-alerts/): An important part of being a Managed Service Provider is getting alerts from customer software and devices. I’ve been streamlining this lately and like this approach. Besides allowing you to send alerts, it also allows you to receive emails on behalf of the customer, e.g. if you need to set up an account for them
- [Downloading Files with PowerShell](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/05/downloading-files-with-powershell/): I’ve been working on PowerShell scripts lately that download executable files and run them in an RMM. The challenge is often how to download from various online sources. This article will summarize some of the key “tricks.”The PowerShell code to download a file is pretty simple. Given parameters for the URL, local folder name, and
- [Can’t Connect to Essentials 2016 from New Windows 10 Machine](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/05/cant-connect-to-essentials-2016-from-new-windows-10-machine/): I purchased a new Windows 10 21H2 computer for a client and upgraded it from Pro to Enterprise. After connecting it to the customer’s network and downloading the Essentials connector from http:///connect, I was unable to get it to connect.It repeatedly says “The server is not available. Try connecting this computer again.”I had already
- [Secure AD CD on Essentials 2016](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/05/secure-ad-cd-on-essentials-2016/): This month, Microsoft is re-fixing an NTLM Relay Attack vulnerability and recommending additional mitigations on some servers. I checked how Server 2016 with Essentials is affected.This article describes additional mitigations:KB5005413: Mitigating NTLM Relay Attacks on Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS)You are potentially vulnerable to this attack if you are using Active Directory Certificate Services
- [Debugging remotewebaccess.com](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/05/debugging-remotewebaccess-com/): Microsoft’s remotewebaccess.com service has been a cornerstone of Windows Server Essentials going back at least to 2012 R2. It’s a free dynamic DNS service hosted by Microsoft that facilitates finding and accessing Essentials server from the Internet. Unfortunately, the remotewebaccess.com dynamic DNS updates have recently started failing again, as documented in this thread, meaning that
- [Factory Reset a Cisco 2960-XR Switch](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/05/factory-reset-a-cisco-2960-xr-switch/): A client no longer needed their three Cisco switches. I wanted to do a factory reset before putting them up for sale.There are lots of articles about how to do this, but there seem to be various impediments depending on the switch. (These had been configured as a stack, which may be part of the
- [Navigating the Mysteries of AT&T IP Flexible Reach](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/02/navigating-the-mysteries-of-att-ip-flexible-reach/): I’ve recently completed setting up AT&T IP Flexible Reach service for use with an on-premises installation of the 3CX phone system. The AT&T process is quite opaque, so I wanted to document a few things for future reference. My customer ordered the service and had lots of trouble getting the fiber pulled and approved to
- [Synology NVR Setup:  Segmenting the Camera Network](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/03/synology-nvr-setup-segmenting-the-camera-network/): I’ve recently set up a Synology DS1520+ Network Attached Storage (NAS) device at a client site. It’s being used as a Network Video Recorder (NVR) running Synology Surveillance Station, recording 12 cameras. It will also be used for general business backups. The NAS has four gigabit network ports. At this site, cameras are isolated on
- [Ninite Fails to Update Chrome:  Could Not Verify Installation](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/03/ninite-fails-to-update-chrome-could-not-verify-installation/): One user’s Windows 10 computer keeps returning this error when Ninite Pro tries to update Chrome (whether interactively or from the command line): Chrome : Install failed - Could not verify installation (1) – 3623 When I opened Chrome, it said “Error” in the upper right corner. Clicking on that took me to a warning
- [Create a Secure-Bootable UEFI USB Drive](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/10/bootable-uefi-usb-for-server-2016-installation/): The installation ISO for Server 2016 is about 5.8GB, so it won’t fit on a a standard DVD. I needed to create a USB drive that would boot with the BIOS in UEFI mode. I created the initial USB thumb drive using Rufus and the default GPT/UEFI/NTFS options: Unfortunately when booting from this drive, I
- [Re-Enable 3CX Backup Success Notifications](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2022/01/re-enable-3cx-backup-success-notifications/): 3CX has a nice backup scheduler that lets you create daily backups. In version 16, you would get an email every day confirming that the backup is successful. If you upgrade to version 18, the success emails stop.I know a lot of people were clamoring for no more success emails. I prefer to have the
- [Block User Folder Executables](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/10/block-user-folder-executables/): One suggestion for blocking the Cryptolocker ransomware virus is to prevent execution of *.exe files in the %AppData% folder and its subfolders. I wanted to make the restriction a little more generic (to cover mutations of this virus and others) and discovered these issues under Windows 7: If roaming profiles are in use, the %AppData%
- [Re-Install OmniPage Ultimate 19](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/re-install-omnipage-ultimate-19/): I recently re-installed Windows 10 Pro and needed to get my OmniPage Ultimate 19 software working like it was before. I had a file system backup but had not otherwise saved or exported settings. I use OmniPage with a Brother MFC-8810DW printer/scanner—see notes on that install here. Here are the notes on how I re-installed
- [Re-Install a Brother MFC-8810DW MFC](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/re-install-a-brother-mfc-8810dw-mfc/): I recently re-installed Windows 10 Pro and needed to get my Brother all-in-one Brother MFC-8810DW working like it was before. I had a file system backup but had not otherwise saved or exported settings. I use it with Nuance OmniPage 19 (notes on that install are here). Here are the notes on what I did
- [Windows 10 Update Error Code -1047526904](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/09/windows-10-update-error-code-1047526904/): n-Able Patch Management is failing to install the Windows 10 21H1 feature upgrade. The only reason it gives is “Process exited with code –1047526904.” This page from ManageEngine suggests that the issue is a program incompatibility. Tracking back through setup logs: 1. The n-Able Patch Management Engine (PME) log, C:\ProgramData\MspPlatform\PME\log\ActionManager.log, repeats the error, but helpfully
- [Certify the Web on Server 2016 with Essentials](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/05/certify-the-web-on-server-2016-with-essentials/): I’ve been testing Certify the Web on my Windows Server 2016 computer with the Essentials role. This sets up a Let’s Encrypt certificate for use as the server’s public certificate. Setup was pretty easy thanks to this great article on the Server Essentials site.Yesterday, two months after setup, the certificate renewed automatically. Awesome! But what
- [It’s a Match! MCB GoldLink and 3CX Version 18](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/09/its-a-match-mcb-goldlink-and-3cx-version-18/): 3CX has released version 18 of its namesake telephony server and I’m happy to report that it is compatible with MCB GoldLink to 3CX.3CX version 18 includes a new desktop app written in Electron. The Electron app does not support the API used by GoldLink. The good news is that 3CX continues to provide the
- [Office 16 Licensing Error after Upgrade to E3](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/05/office-16-licensing-error-after-upgrade-to-e3/): A user upgraded from Microsoft 365 Business Standard to Office 365 E3. Some months later, Office 16 started raising subscription errors (event 2011): Log Name: Application Source: Microsoft Office 16 Date: 5/20/2021 11:40:21 AM Event ID: 2011 Task Category: None Level: Error Description: Office Subscription licensing exception: Error Code: 0x80070057; CorrelationId: {65E73695-691B-474D-9A81-98AA7231490B} When I ran
- [Failure Compacting the Virtual Hard Disk on the Backup Location](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/05/failure-compacting-the-virtual-hard-disk-on-the-backup-location/): Windows Server 2016 backups are completing with the warning "There was a failure compacting the virtual hard disk on the backup location. Detailed error: A device attached to the system is not functioning." I have this on one virtual machine and one physical machine. In both cases, the backups target a local Windows partition
- [Test Synology DS Cam Android App](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/08/test-synology-ds-cam-android-app/): I’m testing Synology Surveillance Station on an older DS214se running DSM 6.2.4-255556. I wanted to see how the remote view app works on Android. The documentation is thin but I think with the help of a tcpdump packet trace (run as SSH with sudo against the NAS), I’m finally getting an idea what is going
- [Zoom Blocked by Non-Existent Proxy](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/07/zoom-blocked-by-non-existent-proxy/): A user was unable to connect to a Zoom call. It would spin trying to connect for quite a while, then finally display a certificate error:Some googling finally led me to check for a proxy. In Internet Explorer 11 Options, click the Connections tab, then LAN settings. Sure enough, a proxy was configured, if I
- [List Volume GUIDs by Disk](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/07/list-volume-guids-by-disk/): Windows Server 2016 Backup says it wants to back up a volume that has no letter. What volume is it? What disk(s) is that volume on? Mountvol lists GUIDs of mounted volumes and their drive letters, but that doesn’t help identify the disk it’s on if the volume doesn't have a letter. This PowerShell command,
- [PowerShell Can’t Write Event after Creating Custom Source](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/06/powershell-cant-write-event-after-creating-custom-source/): On Server 2016, if you use create a new event log source as follows, with Application unquoted as shown in the official documentation here: New-EventLog –LogName Application –Source "IT Script" and then try to write an event, you’ll get this error: and you’ll see this in the registry. The Problem I misunderstood this error at
- [Http 500.19 Error after Removing WSUS](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/06/http-500-19-error-after-removing-wsus/): Today I removed WSUS from a 2016 Essentials server. The RWW web site and the Remote Desktop Gateway stopped working. Hours later, I finally found this article with the explanation and solution. WSUS adds a custom compression module to IIS but does not remove it when you remove the WSUS role. The %WINDIR%\system32\inetsrv\config\applicationhost.config includes a
- [Eeny Meeny Miney Mouse](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/01/eeny-meeny-miney-mouse/): Mice can be a pain. In particular, a computer mouse can cause repetitive stress injury to your hand, wrist, and arm. Logitech M705 Marathon Mouse I was starting to experience pain in my forearm from using the $50 wireless Logitech M705 Marathon mouse pictured far left. Logitech Trackman Marble So I dug my old $30
- [Can’t Uninstall SentinelOne EDR from SolarWinds RMM](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/02/cant-uninstall-sentinelone-edr-from-solarwinds-rmm/): I’ve been running a trial of SentinelOne EDR as integrated into SolarWinds (now N-central) RMM. It’s very easy to install—just set up a policy in the EDR dashboard, turn on EDR in the RMM’s Device dialog, and up it comes. However, I found the integrated UI to be awkward and the machine seemed slower overall,
- [Shared Printer Not Found by Zebra Browser Print](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/04/shared-printer-not-found-by-zebra-browser-print/): A customer has a Zebra GX420T printer connected via USB to a desktop computer. On that computer, the Browser Print application lets them print from their custom app. After sharing that printer, another desktop computer can see and print a test page to the shared printer, but Zebra Browser Print Settings report “No Zebra Devices
- [Windows Essentials Client Restore Errors 10060, 0x8007003B](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/04/windows-essentials-client-restore-errors-10060-0x8007003b/): In testing an Essentials Client Restore under Hyper-V, the restore kept failing. It would show the server name, prompt for the username and password, but then it would fail with these messages:BackupProtocol: WSAConnectByNameWfailed with error code 10060ERROR: ConnectionCompletedHandler::Completed failed, HR=0x8007003BHere is the full WindowsServerPCRestore_Update log:It sounded like a network connection issue, but then how was
- [Server 2016 Hyper-V Restore Test](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/03/server-2016-hyper-v-restore-test/): This is arguably the most boring post I’ve ever written. No graphics, lots of references to my own unique environment. But this is the real world of backup and recovery and I thought I’d share my experience. When was your last multi-machine recovery test?No matter how over-the-top you are about creating backups, if you can’t
- [Set Up Client Restore on Server 2012 R2 Essentials](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/01/set-up-client-restore-on-server-2012-r2-essentials/): A few months back, I migrated to Server 2012 R2 Essentials. I read how the client restore service works: just start the service on the server and boot the client from the network—no restore DVD needed! I learned the hard way that it is not that simple: a setup involving a 3GB download is required.
- [Restore Server to Desktop - 2021 Edition](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/03/restore-server-to-desktop-2021-edition/): Once a year, I test restoring a server to a desktop. The server is backed up with standard Windows Backup. The idea is to confirm that if the server went down, I could quickly restore to one of the customer’s desktops as a temporary solution while the server is repaired or replaced. This is also
- [Veeam O365 Modern Auth Requires Legacy Auth](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/07/veeam-o365-modern-auth-requires-legacy-auth/): I’m in the process of implementing Microsoft recommendations for Office 365 partners, specifically the four Azure AD Conditional Access baseline policies: After enabling those policies and setting up 2FA on all admin users, I found that my Veeam O365 backups started failing with authentication errors. I needed to install Veeam Backup for Office 365 (VBO)
- [Veeam O365 Backup Skips Mailbox after v5 Upgrade](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/03/veeam-o365-backup-skips-mailbox-after-v5-upgrade/): In February 2020, I had to stop using Veeam O365 Backup version 4 because I implemented Active Directory Security Defaults, which disabled the legacy authentication that Veeam O365 still relied on.Veeam O365 Backup version 5 no longer requires legacy authentication, though you lose a small subset of options without legacy auth. Yesterday, I upgraded to
- [Restore Server - 2020 Edition](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/03/restore-server-2020-edition/): I try to do a server restore test once a year. Previous tests are blogged in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017 (which includes 2018). This year I tried something new: I used Veeam instead of Windows Server Backup, and I restored what is now a Dell PowerEdge T30 to an off-site Lenovo
- [Use Certutil to Get File Hash](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/03/use-certutil-to-get-file-hash/): I have been happily using the tiny Bullzip MD5 Calculator to quickly get an MD5 hash directly from the context menu in Windows Explorer. But what if you need a hash on a where Bullzip isn’t installed? Or a different hash? Enter certutil, a command-line tool built into Windows. Certutil has many functions, mostly related
- [Azure Blob Upload Failed - StatusCode 400](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/02/azure-blob-upload-failed-statuscode-400/): I use Azure blob storage to host a static web site. Today, as I do every week, I tried to upload an MP3 file using Azure Storage Explorer. The upload and a retry failed. So I attempted the upload from the Azure web portal. This failed with the message, “Upload block blob to blob store
- [Uninstall and Hide Windows Updates](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/11/uninstall-and-hide-windows-updates/): Sometimes Microsoft releases a bad update via Windows Update. It might be 3035583 that has been released multitple times to to push Windows 10 nag prompts to users. Or 3097877 that causes Outlook to crash repeatedly. Here is a PowerShell script that uses wusa.exe to uninstall an update, then PowerShell to hide that same update.
- [Brother PowerENGAGE Causes MsiInstaller 1706 Errors](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/08/brother-powerengage-causes-msiinstaller-1706-errors/): A customer purchased a Brother MFC-8900CDW laser printer. I installed the full software for it on their Windows 10 Pro systems. Now, every few hours, the following error is logged in the Application event log: Log Name: Application Source: MsiInstaller Event ID: 11706 Task Category: None Level: Error Keywords: Classic Description: Product: PowerENGAGE -- Error
- [Open Live Writer as a Window App](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/01/open-live-writer-as-a-window-app/): I explained in this post that I was forced to switch from Windows Live Writer to Open Live Writer to be able to connect to my OpenLiteSpeed web server. I wanted to post a couple notes on Open Live Writer setup. Connecting to the server was easy with Open Live Writer, but plugin setup is
- [Windows Live Writer Fails—Use Open Live Writer](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/01/windows-live-writer-fails-use-open-live-writer/): I’ve recently moved this blog to an OpenLiteSpeed server, currently running version 1.6.19. I could not get my trusty Windows Live Writer to connect and upload a blog post—even after allowing XMLRPC from my IP address.Every time I tried to publish a post, I got this stack trace in %LocalAppData%\Windows Live Writer\Windows Live Writer.log: The
- [Zero Free Space on Linux Ubuntu under Hyper-V](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/01/zero-free-space-on-linux-ubuntu-under-hyper-v/): Linux is hard. Stuff that is simple in Windows takes forever to figure out. In this case, I wanted to archive a Hyper-V virtual machine (export it and zip it up) that is running Ubuntu 18.04 LTS server. Compression is much more efficient if you can write zeros to the unused portion of the disk
- [Download Azure Windows VM to On-Premise Hyper-V](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/01/download-azure-windows-vm-to-on-premise-hyper-v/): I had been running a Windows 2012 R2 demo server on Azure. I’m no longer using it but want to keep an on-premises copy for reference. I tried and failed several ways to download it before finding one that worked. I had already deleted the Azure VM, keeping the VHD as a blob file. It
- [Essentials 2012 R2 Dashboard Fails with .NET 4.6 and 4.7](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/02/essentials-2012-r2-dashboard-fails-with-net-4-6-and-4-7/): On an Essentials 2012 R2 machine, I have a dashboard alert that I need to ignore. But when I try to ignore the alert, the green bar just runs from left to right for minutes or longer and the alert is never ignored. Also, the dashboard crashes sometimes with these errors: .NET Issue See the
- [Check and Change PHP Version in Azure WordPress on Linux](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/11/check-and-change-php-version-in-azure-wordpress-on-linux/): I’ve been testing setting up WordPress on Linux as an Azure Web App. Checking and setting the PHP version has been quite a challenge. Here’s how I finally got it working. I first set up a WordPress on Linux app in West US 2 using a P1v2 app service plan and a Basic database: You’re
- [The Four Parts of Managing Your Domain](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2021/01/the-four-parts-of-managing-your-domain/): Many small businesses buy all-in-one domain service from a single company. While that can be an easy solution, it’s important to understand that there are actually four separate services involved. Sometimes it makes sense to purchase those services from different companies. Here’s a quick primer on the four components of domain management.Domain Name Registrar Hosting
- [Remove Extra DNS Listener Added by RRAS](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/12/remove-extra-dns-listener-added-by-rras/): On a Server 2016 Essentials computer, with a static address pool defined as explained in this post, the Routing and Remote Access service adds a second IP address to the server’s DNS. In DNS Manager, the Forward Lookup Zones show two IP addresses for the server: This means that computers on the network sometimes resolve
- [Set a Static IP Address Pool for Your 2016 VPN](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/08/set-a-static-ip-address-pool-for-your-2016-vpn/): I’m in the process of migrating from Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials to Windows Server 2016 Standard with the Essentials role. It is astonishing and somewhat concerning how poorly documented the 2016 version is and how difficult it can be to find solutions. Part of my normal procedure for setting up 2012 R2 Essentials was
- [OpenLiteSpeed for WordPress on Azure Pre-Configured with Extra User](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/12/openlitespeed-for-wordpress-on-azure-pre-configured-with-extra-user/): OpenLiteSpeed looks like a nice WordPress environment and I’ve been working on deploying the image found in the Azure marketplace. However I discovered that the image comes pre-configured with a user named Eric who has sudo privileges on the machine. This creates a back door for Eric to log in to any password-protected machine on
- [Leaving SiteGround after 17 Days](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/12/leaving-siteground-after-17-days/): I was excited to get Black Friday deals on two SiteGround accounts so I could finally get away from the hassles of managing my own Linux Virtual Private Server (VPS) for WordPress and other web sites. Unfortunately, the experience with SiteGround is more negative than positive. After less than a month, I’m moving off SiteGround
- [QuickBooks Desktop Forces Upgrade Days Before Year End](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/12/quickbooks-desktop-forces-upgrade-days-before-year-end/): Today, a customer could not get in to QuickBooks Desktop 2019 because it requires her to apply an upgrade first. As a security best practice, the end user does not have administrative privileges on the computer, so they had to contact their I.T. provider, MCB Systems, to immediately update QuickBooks. And when I started QuickBooks
- [Outlook 2016 Repeatedly Prompts for Gmail Password](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/11/outlook-2016-repeatedly-prompts-for-gmail-password/): Lately, Outlook 2016 has been prompting me to log in to Google Workspace (G Suite) Gmail, sometimes every morning. It pops up a big browser-like window, I enter my password, confirm the 2FA prompt on my phone, grant Outlook all permissions on Gmail, and I’m good for a day. Next day, repeat. Today I did
- [Errors after Server Essentials Local Certificate Renewal](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/11/errors-after-server-essentials-local-certificate-renewal/): Last week, I got an email from my monitoring system that a certificate on a Server 2012 R2 Essentials machine was about to expire. I tracked it down to the computer’s local certificate, issued by the local Certification Authority (CA) almost 5 years ago. Since it hadn’t expired yet, it was a fairly simple matter
- [M365 External Forwarding to Ticketing etc. Requires New Setting](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/11/m365-external-forwarding-to-ticketing-etc-requires-new-setting/): Until recently, you could set up an inbox rule in Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) that would automatically forward emails e.g., to a ticketing system or to a cell phone. Sometime in the last few weeks, that stopped working. The bounced message includes this line:550 5.7.520 Access denied, Your organization does not allow external forwarding.
- [File Validation Add-In for Office 2007](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/10/file-validation-add-in-for-office-2007/): I’m installing Office 2007 on a Windows 10 virtual machine in the hopes of opening some old Word 5.x files. Windows Update installed quite a few security updates, but the Microsoft Office File Validation Add-in failed with Download error 0x80240023. The first hit when I googled that error code was someone else with the same
- [Read Registry from Restored Backup](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/01/read-registry-from-restored-backup/): I mentioned this in an earlier thread but wanted to put it in its own short article. Sometimes you need to get data from an earlier version of the registry. For HKEY_CURRENT_USER, that means restoring and reading C:\Users\\ntuser.dat. Note that ntuser.dat is an operating system file. To be able to see it, in File Explorer,
- [Remote Desktop Can’t Connect after Update to 2004](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/09/remote-desktop-cant-connect-after-update-to-2004/): Today I applied the 2004 update to several Windows 10 Enterprise computers in a small domain. Although I did the updates mostly over RDP, soon a user reported that he could not RDP into any computer. He was getting the error, “Your Remote Desktop Services session has ended, possibly for one of the following reasons:
- [Un-Brick a Jabra 9470 Headset After a Failed Firmware Update](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/09/un-brick-a-jabra-9470-headset-after-a-failed-firmware-update/): Updating my 9470’s firmware to 4.7.0 yesterday via Jabra Direct failed. The 9470 screen was white and the 9470 was not listed in Device Manager under "Sound, video and game controllers." The Jabra support document How to recover a Jabra PRO or GO touch screen after a failed firmware update.pdf instructs to download the firmware
- [Set the Default Communications Device in Windows 10 1803](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/09/set-default-communications-device-in-windows-10-1803/): If you use a headset for VoIP calls through your PC, you want the headset speaker to be active for VoIP applications and your normal speakers to work for other applications. After updating Windows 10 Pro from 1709 to 1803, on the first VoIP call, I had the other’s person speaking through the desktop speakers.
- [Upgrade UniFi Controller Running as a Service](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/12/upgrade-unifi-controller-running-as-a-service/): Ubiquiti provides instructions here for running the UniFi Controller as a service. What they don’t tell you is that when you try to upgrade the controller, you can’t, because the service is still running. Here are the instructions for that: 1. Back up your config from Settings > Maintenance > Download Backup. If you get
- [Write Cache Warnings on Hyper-V Guest after KB2853952](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/10/write-cache-warnings-on-hyper-v-guest-after-kb2853952/): Starting in September 2013, Windows Server 2012 R2 machines running as Hyper-V guests started issuing these warnings on reboot [8/18/2020: see comments—applies to 2012 but not R2]: Log Name: System Source: Disk Event ID: 32 Level: Warning Description: The driver detected that the device \Device\Harddisk0\DR0 has its write cache enabled. Data corruption may occur. Log
- [Force Windows Update Scan on Windows 10 or 2016](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/07/force-windows-update-scan-on-windows-10-or-2016/): You’ll notice that the Check for Updates button goes away in Windows 10 or 2016 once an update is pending. To manually retry seeking for updates, forcing Windows to check for updates again (e.g. because you’re hoping to get an update that fixes a broken update), run this from an administrative command line prompt: usoclient
- [Print Detailed Windows Update Information](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/11/print-detailed-windows-update-info/): Earlier this year, I wrote about how to show and change Windows Update settings on a machine using PowerShell. But sometimes you need to know more about a Windows update than you can see in those scripts or in the Windows user interface, for example the UpdateID. This PowerShell script will print key information about
- [Structure of COM Error Codes](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/08/structure-of-com-error-codes/): A 2013 comment on this StackOverflow question was enlightening: by converting a long decimal error (in this case 2147942667) to hex (0x8007010B), you can break out the actual error code from the last four bytes (010B), convert it back to decimal (267), and search here for the meaning (“The directory name is invalid”).Now another commenter
- [3CX and the Secret DND Feature](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/07/3cx-and-the-secret-dnd-feature/): With a 3CX 16 SP5 installation, all calls to a user were being diverted to voicemail. Verbose logging showed that the system thought the extension had DND enabled, but the Yealink T42S phone did not have DND on. The PBX acted like DND was enabled when it wasn’t.Long story short, 3CX seems to have a
- [When Does a Windows 10 Deferral Period Start?](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/08/when-does-a-windows-10-deferral-period-start/): I have non-WSUS Windows 10 Pro machines set to defer feature upgrades for 120 days. So when does the 120-day counter start? According to this post on the AskWoody forum, “Deferral days are from release date to channel of each version.” By “release date to channel,” the user means the date that the version changed
- [Format a Sharp MX-3570N Hard Disk](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/07/format-a-sharp-mx-3570n-hard-disk/): Many copiers have hard disks, which over the years may accumulate confidential information, which may or may not get wiped on deletion. When a Sharp MX-3570N was about to be picked up at a client site after 4+ years of use, I went looking for a way to wipe its drive.Caveat: I am not a
- [Windows Defender 99% CPU at Logon](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/07/windows-defender-99-cpu-at-logon/): Just logged on to a Windows Server 2016 Essentials machine for the first time in a couple days. Windows Defender immediately kicked off a Full Scan, basically bringing the server to its knees with 99% CPU usage.Why does Defender need that much CPU for what should be a lazy stroll through the files? And why
- [UniFi Server Reject after Moving Switch](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/07/unifi-server-reject-after-moving-switch/): A customer was consolidating two offices into one. Both were on the same UniFi controller. Each office had its own USG and its own range of IP addresses. I needed to move a switch to the new, consolidated site but wound up with a “Server Reject” adoption loop. Here are the steps that led to
- [Hyper-V Virtual Machine Failed to Start after Copying VHD](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/10/hyper-v-virtual-machine-failed-to-start-after-copying-vhd/): On Windows Server 2008 R2 running Hyper-V, I copied a VHD to an external drive using Windows Explorer. After compacting the drive, I copied the VHD back to its original location and tried to start the virtual machine. I got a long message telling me that the virtual machine failed to start due to an
- [Some WSUS Maintenance](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/06/some-wsus-maintenance/): I use WSUS at a small-ish site (14 clients). The WSUS server runs on the same machine as Server 2016 Essentials. For quite a while, the server has not been reporting to itself; it keeps getting updates directly from Microsoft. Lately, WSUS has been increasingly unresponsive, often giving up with the familiar “Database Error”: Extend
- [Generating PDF Thumbnails with Bitnami WordPress](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/06/generating-pdf-thumbnails-with-bitnami-wordpress/): I’m running Bitnami’s WordPress on a Microsoft Azure Ubuntu machine. It seems the default setup does not support the WordPress 4.7 feature to automatically generate PDF thumbnails on upload.This page explains that you need ImageMagick, Imagick, and Ghostscript and suggests the following to install on Ubuntu: sudo apt-get updatesudo apt-get php7.0-imagick Another site, maybe this
- [Managing Windows 10 Updates Using Group Policy](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/02/managing-windows-10-updates-using-group-policy/): I am still pretty early in my journey of learning how to manage Windows 10 Pro updates, but I am a little encouraged to find that there are several setting in Group Policy that are not available in the UI. If it works as expected (and documented), at least with build 1709, you have these
- [Change Microsoft Office to Semi-Annual Channel](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/02/change-microsoft-office-to-semi-annual-channel/): I installed Office 2016 from an MSI installer, but the updates apparently still happen via a Click-to-Run process. Susan Bradley has a nice tip here on changing from monthly to semi-annual updates (which should be more stable but still get security updates). This Microsoft blog post has a bit more detail. Before the update, in
- [USPS Informed Delivery Phishing Email](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/05/usps-informed-delivery-phishing-email/): I find USPS Informed Delivery very helpful for letting me know about mail and packages I should receive. So when I saw a USPS Informed Delivery email in my Junk folder, I figured it must be a mistake so I moved it to my Inbox. It said I had missed a package. I received a
- [GoldLink Not Working after 3CXPhone Update](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/04/goldlink-not-working-after-3cxphone-update/): 3CX phone system updates sometimes include updates to the 3CXPhone desktop client software. For example, after installing 3CX v16 SP5, released April 22, 2020, users running 3CXPhone will be prompted to update their 3CXPhone client to version 16.3.0111. This update causes the integration with MCB GoldLink to 3CX to stop working. Dialing from GoldMine will
- [Microsoft Defender SmartScreen Warning Installing GoldLink](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/04/microsoft-defender-smartscreen-warning-installing-goldlink/): You may get a Microsoft Defender SmartScreen warning when you install MCB GoldLink to 3CX. The GoldLink installer is digitally signed, but SmartScreen warnings for this kind of signing certificate are based on reputation. All we need are a few thousand more GoldLInk installations! In the meantime, in the SmartScreen warning, click More info to
- [PowerShell to List Files That Don’t Inherit Permissions or Whose Paths Are Too Long](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/04/powershell-to-list-files-that-dont-inherit-permissions-or-whose-paths-are-too-long/): Ever update permissions in Windows Explorer only to get repeated errors about updates that were blocked, probably because you didn’t have Owner privileges on the file? In the aftermath (or in advance, if you think of it), it can be helpful to know which files in a folder don’t inherit permissions so you can go
- [AWS invalid literal for int() with base 8: '493'](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/06/aws-invalid-literal-for-int-with-base-8-493/): Working on an AWS Elastic Beanstalk deployment, I’m using a .config file in my project’s .ebextensions folder to create and upload a file (see the Development Duide). The deployment fails with this message: Error occurred during build: invalid literal for int() with base 8: '493' I pulled a more complete error trace from /var/log/cfn-init.log: The
- [Restore Server to Desktop - 2017 Edition](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/03/restore-server-to-desktop-2017-edition/): Once a year, I test restoring a server to a desktop. The server is backed up with standard Windows Backup. The idea is to confirm that if the server went down, I could quickly restore to one of the customer’s desktops as a temporary solution while the server is repaired or replaced. This is also
- [Connect to Postgres on EC2 using pgAdmin](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/05/connect-to-postgres-on-ec2-using-pgadmin/): A few quick notes on connecting to a Postgres database running on an Amazon EC2 instance using pgAdmin with its built-in SSH tunneling option. 1. If you want to connect as the postgres admin user, add a password to that user: sudo su postgres psql template1 alter user postgres with password 'BvcbWZV6cGOh7iUn'; Caution From now
- [Change Network Profile to Private Using PowerShell](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/03/change-network-profile-to-private-using-powershell/): If you’re fighting with Network Level Authentication (see this post) and need to quickly change a workstation from Public to Private, this should work in PowerShell: Get-NetConnectionProfile Note the InterfaceIndex of the adapter you want to change, e.g. 13. Set-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceIndex 13 -NetworkCategory Private Credit to this post.
- [Set Owner and Reset Permissions on User Folder](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/03/set-owner-and-reset-permissions-on-user-folder/): After joining a Server 2012 R2 domain, a user was unable to access some of the files in their C:\Users\User\Documents folder, getting an “Access is denied” error. It seems these files (In this case, Quattro Pro spreadsheets) had NTFS permissions inheritance disabled. Resetting file permissions to inherit from the top-level folder didn’t work, because the
- [Windows 7 Support Has Ended](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/02/windows-7-support-has-ended/): As of January 14, 2020, Windows 7 is no longer receiving security and software updates. Users will be warned with this popup: Continuing to run Windows 7 without updates puts you at increased risk of getting hit by a virus. While it is possible to buy extended support for Windows 7, in most cases, the
- [Essentials Server Folders Missing](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/02/essentials-server-folders-missing/): Windows Server Essentials 2016 sometimes reports that most or all server folders have gone missing, even though they haven’t and all shares are accessible. The critical warning in the Essentials Dashboard corresponds to event 1280 in the Microsoft-Windows-ServerEssentials/Admin event log: Log Name: Microsoft-Windows-ServerEssentials/AdminSource: Microsoft-Windows-Windows ServerDate: 2/11/2020 8:02:29 AMEvent ID: 1280Task Category: NoneLevel: ErrorKeywords: User: SYSTEMComputer:
- [Move a Hyper-V Virtual Machine](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/01/move-a-hyper-v-virtual-machine/): I’m doing some housekeeping today on a Hyper-V server. Wanted to move some virtual machine configuration files from one drive to another. Most articles I found talk about stopping services, updating symlinks in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Hyper-V\Virtual Machines, moving files, then using icacls to update permissions so Hyper-V will be able to access the files again. Ugh. Fortunately,
- [Connect to Windows Server from Ubuntu under Hyper-V on Windows 10](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/02/connect-to-windows-server-from-ubuntu-under-hyper-v-on-windows-10/): I’m testing the “Hyper-V Quick Create” version of Ubuntu 18.04 under Windows 10 Pro joined to a Windows domain. Had some difficulty at first connecting to a share on a Windows 2016 server. A few notes:On Windows 10, the Hyper-V Default Virtual Switch is set up as an Internal Network, meaning it will have a
- [SMBClient 30803 and Non-Existent Machine](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/01/smbclient-30803-and-non-existent-machine/): On a Server 2012R2 virtual machine, I’ve been getting SMBClient/Connectivity error 30803 every hour for well over a year. The error references an attempt to connect to a machine that does not exist on my network, though it has an internal IP address. The machine name looks the a random name assigned by Windows Setup.
- [Using ChronoBooks to Migrate QuickBooks Online](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/08/using-chronobooks-to-migrate-quickbooks-online/): I just finished helping a customer migrate a QuickBooks Online Plus account to Advanced using ChronoBooks. A direct upgrade was not possible because they were changing to the nonprofit platform available through TechSoup. ChronoBooks is a pretty slick program that allows copying QuickBooks Online data to a new company. After the new company is set
- [XProtect Database Errors after System Crash](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/01/xprotect-database-errors-after-system-crash/): I’m running Milestone XProtect Essential+ 2019 R2 in a Windows 10 virtual machine. The Hyper-V host is having some issues and crashing periodically, which of course causes the XProtect guest to crash.There are two disks attached to the VM, a 1TB live database and a 4TB archive. My disk monitoring tools warned me that free
- [3CX Modifies Windows Hosts File](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/08/3cx-modifies-windows-hosts-file/): A Windows Server 2012R2 Essentials machine was returning strange results when I did a DNS query from PowerShell. I traced it back to modifications that 3CX version 14 had made to the Windows hosts file. Background One standard setup for Essentials is to have a “remote.mydomain.com” address registered with a public DNS server. That address
- [Windows Backup Fails after Renaming User](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/01/windows-backup-fails-after-renaming-user/): If you rename a user under Windows 10 following a procedure like this, your Windows 7 backup may start failing, unable to find files from the previous username. In the log file, you’ll see messages like “Backup encountered a problem while backing up file C:\Users\\Pictures\Saved Pictures. Error:(STATUS_WAIT_3 (0x80070003)).” I have not been able to figure
- [GoldMine Named Pipes Provider Error](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2020/01/goldmine-named-pipes-provider-error/): In an environment running GoldMine on client PCs and SQL on a separate server, I recently started getting this error when starting GoldMine: “Named Pipes Provider: Could not open a connection to SQL server [53]’. Rebooting the client usually fixed the error.If you Google this error, you’ll find advice about making sure your firewall is
- [WID Service Master Key Could Not Be Force Regenerated](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/12/wid-service-master-key-could-not-be-force-regenerated/): Started getting this error on Server 2012 R2, after installing the Remote Desktop Gateway service (part of Windows Server Essentials). I believe this is the first app to use the Windows Internal Database. No WSUS on this server.Log Name: ApplicationSource: MSSQL$MICROSOFT##WIDDate: 12/21/2019 10:39:06 AMEvent ID: 5601Task Category: ServerLevel: ErrorKeywords: ClassicUser: N/ADescription:The service master key could
- [Windows 2016 Can’t Find Control Panel Items](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/01/windows-2016-cant-find-control-panel-items/): On a new Server 2016 build 1607 install, after activating the BitLocker feature, when I typed “Manage BitLocker” in the Start menu, nothing was found. Following this article, I started checking for causes. The %LocalAppData%\Packages\windows.immersivecontrolpanel_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState\Indexed\Settings folder is empty, though it was already enabled for indexing. I started Control Panel and searched for Indexing Options. It
- [Recurring VSS 8193 and VSS 8228 errors](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/11/recurring-vss-8193-and-vss-8228-errors/): After migrating a Windows 10 desktop to a new domain, it was throwing multiple VSS errors every day during the Veeam backup:Log Name: ApplicationSource: VSSDate: 10/29/2019 1:30:54 AMEvent ID: 8193Task Category: NoneLevel: ErrorKeywords: ClassicUser: N/AComputer: DESKTOP01.internal.custdomain.comDescription:Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error calling routine CreateVssExamineWriterMetadata. hr = 0x80042311, The given XML document is invalid. It
- [Veeam Free Causes SQL Error 3041](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/11/veeam-free-causes-sql-error-3041/): I’m running Veeam Free 3.0.1.1039 on a Server 2016 running SQL Server 2016. Every time the backup runs, I see MSSQLSERVER event ID 3041 in the Application event log: “BACKUP failed to complete the command BACKUP LOG model. Check the backup application log for detailed messages.” The error occurs on each database. The same error
- [Script to List File Space by Date](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/02/script-to-list-file-space-by-date/): After setting up a Network Video Recorder recently (using Milestone XProtect Essentials software), I needed a way to add up and compare how much disk space is being used for each day of recordings. Without this information, there is no easy way to see what effect various settings have on disk space (e.g. frames per
- [Dell PowerEdge T30 Notes](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/10/dell-poweredge-t30-notes/): I recently bought a Dell PowerEdge T30 for a small customer. I can’t guarantee yours will arrive the same way, but here are a some notes on what it did and did not have. Has It came with 8GB of Hynix DDR4-2666 ECC memory, part number HMA81GU7CJR8N-VK. I added a 16GB Hynix HMA82GU7CJR8N-VK module that
- [Decrypt Error Adopting UniFi Switch](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/10/decrypt-error-adopting-unifi-switch/): I thought it was a bit odd that a brand new UniFi US-8-60W switch, purchased on Amazon, had some scotch tape holding the outer box to the inner box. I ran adoption from Chrome but it never completed. I SSH’d into the switch. The fact that I was able to get in with the default
- [SolarWinds Backup Tips and Tricks](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/10/solarwinds-backup-tips-and-tricks/): I’m using SolarWinds backup at a client site. A few notes:When specifying the username of a remote share, even if it is a non-Windows NAS device, you must specify the device name, e.g. MY-NAS\BackupUser. On the computer being backed up, open Backup Manager by browsing to http://localhost:5000. To view the logs, browse to http://localhost:5000/logs/app. In
- [Configure CTI with Cloud-Based 3CX](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/10/configure-cti-with-cloud-based-3cx/): I’m running 3CX v.16 in the cloud. I have a local Yealink T54W desk phone and the 3CX Windows client. After getting a new desk phone, I was having an issue with the 3CX client’s Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) mode.With my old Yealink T42G phone, when I dialed from my GoldMine CRM using MCB GoldLink
- [Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/10/office-365-advanced-threat-protection/): I recently enabled Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) on my Office 365 account. ATP includes several extra features to detect and block threats that arrive by email (or through other Office 365 avenues like OneDrive).Today I saw this in action. A vendor sent me an invoice as a PDF attachment to an email. I opened the
- [Get WordPress to Sort by Date Only without Title](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/09/get-wordpress-to-sort-by-date-only-without-title/): This is my 560th post since I started blogging in June 2007, Sometimes those old posts have useful information, but I want search results to show the newest posts first. Supposedly that is the WordPress default, but I noticed that searches were first displaying posts with the search term in the title, then sorting by
- [The End of Windows Server Essentials](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/10/the-end-of-windows-server-essentials/): You may have heard that Microsoft has removed the Essentials role from Server 2019 Standard/Datacenter but is still offering a Server 2019 Essentials SKU. But did you know that the Essentials SKU will not include the Essentials Experience role either? https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/windowsserver/2018/09/05/windows-server-2019-essentials-update/ Robert Pearman lays out the implications here: Gone is the Remote Web Access feature.
- [Fix COM Error 10016](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/08/fix-com-error-10016/): After upgrading or migrating to Server 2016, I was getting errors about Distributed COM not being able to activate certain certain AppIDs from either the SYSTEM account or from a custom account that I use for running batch jobs. This mostly happened on the RuntimeBroker but I had it on another AppID that didn’t have
- [MeshCommander Remote Desktop During BIOS Update](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/08/mesh-commander-remote-desktop-during-bios-update/): Whenever possible, I install Intel-based machines with AMT vPro, then configure the free MeshCommander to access the machine. AMT started including full out-of-band remote desktop capabilities in 2013 or before. It sure is nice to be able to check on the status of a BIOS update happening many miles away! What about that Windows 10
- [Adding a Target Volume Using Wbadmin](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/03/adding-a-target-volume-using-wbadmin/): Option 3 of Microsoft KB 2009365 describes how to add a disk to Windows Server backup when other disks are offsite: you have to use the wbadmin command line tool. But the article does not explain how to add a volume, not a disk, as a target. If you follow the KB article and answer
- [August 2019 Windows Updates Could Affect GoldLink](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/08/august-2019-windows-updates-could-affect-goldlink/): The Windows security updates released by Microsoft on August 13, 2019 all contain a bug that can cause Visual Basic 6 (VB6) programs to stop working. As MCB GoldLink to 3CX is written in VB6, it is potentially affected. Microsoft has added this note to all August 13 updates: After installing this update, applications that
- [Windows 10 Installation Has Failed](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/08/windows-10-installation-has-failed/): Today, trying to upgrade my Windows 10 Pro machine to 1903 from a USB drive, I received this most unhelpful message: “Windows 10 Installation has failed”: No error code, no indication where to look for log files, no “sorry,” nothing. If you get that, check this file for the error codes and messages: C:\$WINDOWS.~BT\Sources\Panther\setuperr.log In
- [StorDiag Errors after Windows 10 Upgrade](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/08/stordiag-errors-after-windows-10-upgrade/): I upgraded from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro a couple weeks ago. I’ve had ongoing issues with briefly losing connection to my local network. Updating the network card and turning off power management wasn’t enough. Eventually I noticed that I was getting hundreds of StorDiag errors. They were clumped in groups of about
- [Log Off from MaxRM Remote Background](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/03/log-off-from-maxrm-remote-background/): If you need to log a user off of a PC but don’t have remote desktop access to the machine, you can do this from a MaxRM Remote Background window: query user logoff query user Tip For details that include non-interactive sessions, use query session instead of query user. If you don't have
- [BitLocker Failure with Hyper-V after May 2019 Updates](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/05/bitlocker-failure-with-hyper-v-after-may-2019-updates/): A week ago, on my Server 2016 Hyper-V host, after installing the May 14, 2019 Cumulative Update (KB4494440) and restarting, I got BitLocker error 0xc0210000, “A required file couldn’t be accessed because your BitLocker key wasn’t loaded correctly.” I was able to enter the key manually and the machine proceeded to boot. Today, after installing
- [Could you Pass a Secret Phishing Test?](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/07/could-you-pass-a-secret-phishing-test/): I decided to try Duo Security’s phishing test and sent myself a fake phishing email. The mail can be customized and sent to any number of employees: When I clicked on the link, Google Chrome warned me that the domain was known for phishing: Of course, a real campaign would probably start with a clean
- [Spam Popups in Windows 10 Notifications](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/07/spam-popups-in-windows-10-notifications/): A user reported that weird popups appear at random times in the lower right corner of her Windows 10 Enterprise desktop. Malwarebytes found no infection. From her browsing history, I see that she visited config.hdocumentconverters.com, then “Documents Converter” in the Chrome Web Store, but there are no related plugins installed in Chrome. So where are
- [When DISM Won’t RestoreHealth](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/when-dism-wont-restorehealth/): I’ve been having trouble installing the Windows 10 cumulative update for November 2016. DISM is supposed to scan or restore your Windows image, as explained in this Technet article. But when I tried DISM /RestoreHealth with both online and local sources, it kept telling me that it couldn’t find sources. I decided to start from
- [Setting Up a Polycom IP 430 Phone with FreePBX](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/11/setting-up-a-polycom-ip-430-phone-with-freepbx/): I want to use a true SIP phone for my office phone. I was initially attracted to the Polycom SoundPoint IP 430 because of its support for electronic hookflash with my Jabra GN9350 wireless headset. By using a special adapter cable, I can answer the phone from the wireless headset without the need for a
- [Convert Jing SWF Files to MP4](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/07/convert-jing-swf-files-to-mp4/): Jing is a free program from TechSmith for creating short screen-share videos with audio. It works great BUT it only outputs SWF files. SWF files require that Adobe Flash be installed on machine where you want to play them. Because it is a constant source of security problems, and because there are good options now
- [How to Attach a Wall Mount to a Yealink T42S Phone](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/06/how-to-attach-a-wall-mount-to-a-yealink-t42s-phone/): The Yealink T42S SIP phone is can be mounted on a wall with the custom wall mount bracket (sold separately). Here's how to attach the bracket to the phone: https://youtu.be/rkC3y0aTpz4
- [Algo 8186 SIP Horn Speaker Demo](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/06/algo-8186-sip-horn-speaker-demo/): I recently had the chance to set up an Algo 8186 SIP Horn Speaker for a client. The speaker can act as a loud ringer for a phone extension and/or as a paging speaker. I connected the speaker to a 3CX phone system and demonstrate both functions in this video:
- [Run UniFi Controller As a Service on AdoptOpenJDK](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/04/run-unifi-controller-on-adoptopenjdk/): Oracle Java is no longer free for commercial use so I needed to change the Java version on Windows 2008R2 machine to AdoptOpenJDK (as suggested in this article). Took a lot of fumbling around to get it to work. I later confirmed the problem and this workaround on a Server 2016 install. These instructions assume
- [Essentials 2016 Dashboard Fails with .NET 4.7.1](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/06/essentials-2016-dashboard-fails-with-net-4-7-1/): I blogged in October 2016 and February 2018 about incompatibilities between the Essentials 2012 R2 dashboard and .NET 4.6 and 4.7. I’ve now confirmed that under Server 2016 Standard with the Essentials role, the dashboard is incompatible with .NET 4.7.1. Once .NET 4.7.1 is installed (by installing the May 8, 2018 rollup KB4103723 or a
- [Diagnosing High Memory Usage](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/05/diagnosing-high-memory-usage/): A Windows 10 desktop is suddenly running high virtual memory until it stops responding altogether. Some commands I’m using to figure out what is chewing up the memory: Tasks filtered for those using over 100,000KB (100MB) of memory: tasklist /FI "MEMUSAGE ge 100000" Services associated with the above: tasklist /FI "MEMUSAGE ge 100000" /SVC List
- [DevNodeClean:  Deleting Unused Devices](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/05/devnodeclean-deleting-unused-devices/): Recently a Microsoft support agent used a tool that I wasn’t familiar with: DevNodeClean. Basically Windows creates a device in registry for every new device that is connected—even if it’s just a shadow copy created during a Windows backup. To see these, in Device Manager, check View > Show Hidden Devices, then look under Storage
- [Find the Largest Files on a Linux Machine](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/04/find-the-largest-files-on-a-linux-machine/): The PBX in a Flash machine at a client site sends me a daily Logwatch email (setup described here). At the bottom of that email are a few lines telling me how much disk space is in use. I also SNMP to monitor disk usage (described here). Both of these tell me that disk usage
- [A Good Phish Is Bad to Find](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/04/a-good-phish-is-bad-to-find/): Today, in my Microsoft-hosted email account, I received an email telling me that my Office 365 account needs validation and has been temporarily suspended. I know that’s baloney because I administer that account, but if you are not the admin for your Office 365 account, it might not be so obvious.The email was well written.
- [Samsung Magician Causes Error 10 on USB Drives](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/04/samsung-magician-causes-error-10-on-usb-drives/): A customer recently upgraded from a Samsung SSD from a 250GB to a 500GB version to get more space. The upgrade with Samsung Migration software went smoothly and everything was working fine—except external USB drives. Keyboard and mouse were working fine, but any external USB devices attached (whether an extension cable, a hub, or a
- [UniFi VPN Fails after Edit](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/04/unifi-vpn-fails-after-edit/): Yesterday, on my UniFI USG configuration, I made a small change to a site-to-site IPSec VPN. It broke—I could no longer connect to the remote site. I reverted the change. It was still broken.At one point I noticed that the site name had changed. Is the controller unable to even keep the site name? Finally
- [Manually Delete Pending Printer Documents](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/02/manually-delete-pending-printer-documents/): Sometimes when a document is “stuck” waiting to print and Microsoft’s cancel/restart approach doesn’t help, you need a way to delete it manually. These commands, run from an administrative command prompt, should do it: net stop spooler del %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\*.shd del %systemroot%\system32\spool\printers\*.spl net start spooler For instructions on doing this from the Windows GUI, see this
- [StorDiag Errors on Server 2016 with Samsung 970 EVO](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/04/stordiag-errors-on-server-2016-with-samsung-970-evo/): A few months ago, I added a blazing-fast Samsung 970 EVO NVMe drive to my old Lenovo TS140 server. It’s been performing well, but I noticed that I’m getting thousands of these events every day: The event log is only 1MB. It stores about 2000 messages and takes about 90 minutes to fill. So I’m
- [Misleading Errors and Win10 Event Log Crashes](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/03/misleading-errors-and-win10-event-log-crashes/): I set up a couple Windows 10 1803 Enterprise machines a few months ago and have had ongoing issues with the EventLog service crashing, often daily. The problem stopped on one machine for a couple months, but now it’s back. I opened a support ticket with Microsoft but they let the case languish for several
- [Microsoft Kills Key Support Resource Eight Years Early](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/03/microsoft-kills-key-support-resource-eight-years-early/): According to the Microsoft Lifecycle Policy, Server 2016 Essentials should have support through January 12, 2027: Even SBS 2011 Standard, based on Server 2008 R2 SP1, is supposed to be supported through January 14, 2020. The SharePoint 2010 SP2 component is supported through October 13, 2020. However in the last few days, Microsoft has taken
- [Set Up a GL.iNet XL-750 Spitz Cellular Router](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/03/set-up-a-gl-inet-xl-750-spitz-cellular-router/): I recently acquired a GL.iNet XL-750 “Spitz” router to test. It’s an interesting device: it has Ethernet and cellular for WAN and Ethernet and Wi-Fi for LAN. (In fact, using the built-in open-source OpenWrt firmware, you could probably even configure Wi-Fi as WAN.) I ordered the version with the EP06-A 4G CAT6 modem for North
- [Essentials Certificates Re-Issued Every Two Days, VPN Fails](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/11/essentials-certificates-re-issued-every-two-days-vpn-fails/): I installed Server 2016 Standard with the Essentials role about three months ago. I set up mydomain.remotewebaccess.com in the Anywhere Access Wizard. It automatically revoked a certificate with the same name issued to my previous 2012 R2 Essentials server. Now I see that it is installing a new certificate every one or two days: Others
- [More Essentials Certificate Woes](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/03/more-essentials-certificate-woes/): I wrote in November 2017 about Windows Server Essentials certificates getting renewed every two days. That problem suddenly stopped. The only change I had made was replacing a router. Now, I face a new and more serious issue: when trying to use Remote Web Access recently, I discovered that the certificate had been revoked but
- [Migrate Sharp Copier to New Server](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/03/migrate-sharp-copier-to-new-server/): A client uses a Sharp MX-3570N Copier. There are a couple “gotchas” when moving that printer to a new server.Configure the Printer When you set up the 64-bit PCL6 print driver, it does not automatically detect the printer’s capabilities. You need to open the printer’s Properties on the new server, click the Configuration tab, and
- [One Network Printer Not Listed](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/03/one-network-printer-not-listed/): Strange problem this morning. After migrating to a new server and deploying two printers with Print Management, a non-admin user was only seeing one of the two printers on a Win10 client machine.I spent literally hours fiddling with registry entries, trying to copy printer entries from a working user to a non-working user. I even
- [Multiple Windows 10 machines stuck downloading updates, "hit a transient error"](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/02/multiple-windows-10-machines-stuck-downloading-updates-hit-a-transient-error/): I have a small domain with multiple Win10 Enterprise machines and one Win10 Pro machine. WSUS is running on the single domain controller and distributes most updates, but I've set group policy to tell the clients to get Windows Defender updates first from Microsoft, then from WSUS. Several (not all) Win10 machines get into a
- [Server Install and Recovery Woes](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/02/server-install-and-recovery-woes/): I have a fully-functional Server 2016 Standard installation with the Essentials role, on bare metal. OS drive C: (120GB) and Data drive D: (150GB) are on the same Samsung SSD. For licensing reasons, I need to migrate that to Server 2016 Essentials. As a first step, I restored the server to a virtual machine. That
- [QuickBooks Desktop Won’t Add Payment Link to Email](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/01/quickbooks-desktop-wont-add-payment-link-to-email/): I subscribe to QuickBooks Payments. I spent hours today trying to get QuickBooks Pro 2018 to add a View and Pay Now link to the bottom of an emailed invoice. The steps in the official helpdesk article didn’t help. Emailing invoices to other customers worked fine. When the invoice failed to email, the Windows Application
- [Use PowerShell to Diagnose an Almost Hung System](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/02/use-powershell-to-diagnose-an-almost-hung-system/): I just did a Veeam bare metal restore of a small Server 2016 machine and it is almost completely unresponsive. Why? 1. Log on to the machine. Yes, this could take half an hour. 2. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del and start Task Manager. This gives you slightly elevated priority. 3. In Task Manager, select File > Run
- [Windows 10 Freezes with storahci 129 Errors](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/windows-10-freezes-with-storahci-129-errors/): On a new install of Windows 10 Pro 1607, with a Crucial/Micron M500 SSD, the machine would frequently freeze for several seconds. This corresponded to dozens of storahci 129 warnings in the System event log: With big thanks to this article [dead link: http://www.nxhut.com/2015/01/storahci-id-129-reset-to-device.html], the solution was to enable visibility of a couple of arcane
- [Office 365 Autodiscover Issues after Domain Migration](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/02/office-365-autodiscover-issues-after-domain-migration/): I’m helping a customer move a domain with a few mailboxes from one Office 365 tenant to another. After setting up the domain in the new Office 365 account, we got email flowing immediately (verified by logging in with OWA), but we were unable to set up Outlook pointing to the new tenant. If you
- [Use PowerShell to Find and Display a Certificate](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/02/use-powershell-to-find-and-display-a-certificate/): Need to get information on a certificate from the command line? This article has some great info on doing that with PowerShell. Here are couple that I’ve adapted: List details on a certificate by thumbprint: dir cert: -Recurse | Where-Object { $_.Thumbprint -like "*0563B8630D62D75ABBC8AB1E4B*" } | fl * List certificates that will expire between now
- [Windows Server Backup Expects 40% Free Space](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/02/windows-server-backup-expects-40-free-space/): On a Small Business Server 2011 machine (that’s Server 2008 R2 base), I’m getting warning event 51 from Microsoft-Windows-Backup: “The backup storage location is running low on free space. Future backup operations that store backups on this location may fail because of not enough space.”The 2TB destination disk has 15% free space. That’s after deducting
- [How to Recognize a Phishing Email](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/02/how-to-recognize-a-phishing-email/): “Phishing” emails are trying to get you to click on a link and enter your username and password. They may use this approach to steal your credentials for a bank, a credit card, or an online account. Some are better than others, but there are some things to look out for.I received this phishing email
- [Lenovo ThinkPad or ThinkCentre Stuck on Boot Screen](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/01/lenovo-thinkpad-or-thinkcentre-stuck-on-boot-screen/): Does your Lenovo get stuck on the black Lenovo screen when it reboots? One thing to check: if you have a USB drive or thumb drive plugged in, it may be trying (and failing) to boot from that first. During boot, press F1 to get into the BIOS. On the Startup tab, under Primary Boot
- [Adopt a UniFi USG Router to a Remote Controller](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/08/adopt-a-unifi-usg-router-to-a-remote-controller/): My customer has a UniFi controller running on their Windows server. They’re ready to add a USG router, which I want to configure in my office before going on site. This qualifies as a “remote adoption” or “L3 adoption.” I’ve spent several frustrating hours over a period of many days trying to get this to
- [Firefox and Intermediate Certificates](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/01/firefox-and-intermediate-certificates/): Recently I was trying to get a Snom D785 phone to connect to a server that uses an SSL certificate issued by COMODO (now rebranded as Sectigo). Snom uses the Mozilla certificate list. So why does Firefox load the web site fine, but the phone fails with a certificate error?Unlike Chrome and Internet Explorer, which
- [Update to GoldMine 2018.2 Causes Failures](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/01/update-to-goldmine-2018-2-causes-failures/): If you update from GoldMine 2018.1 to 2018.2 using the default installation options, you will likely fail to get into GoldMine after the update. Maybe you didn’t have time to read the 78-page installation guide or the 8-page, 50-item readme before you updated GoldMine to 2018.2. Here are a couple errors you’re likely to run
- [BitLocker Wizard Initialization Has Failed](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2019/01/bitlocker-wizard-initialization-has-failed/): After installing Server 2016 updates and rebooting a couple days ago, BitLocker came up in a suspended state for drive C:. When I clicked on Resume protection, I got this popup: “Wizard initialization has failed. The path specified in the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) for a BitLocker Drive Encryption integrity-protected application is incorrect. please verify
- [Back Up IIS configuration](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/04/back-up-iis-configuration/): I’m always looking for this info so I’ll post it here. To back up, list, and restore the configuration of IIS 7, IIS 7.5, IIS 8.0, or IIS 8.5, use appcmd as described in MSKB 954872. In brief: cd %Windir%\system32\inetsrv appcmd list backup appcmd add backup "yyyy.mm.dd backupName" appcmd list backup appcmd /? The custom
- [UniFi Switch Command to Show Cable Lengths](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/12/unifi-switch-command-to-show-cable-lengths/): From this thread, a command to show cable length and status. Run in the CLI of a UniFi switch: swctrl -d cable show Gives some odd results sometimes and not always accurate, but better than nothing.
- [Cat Support](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/12/cat-support/): One of my customers sent me this photo of the scene during a remote support session: We were all wondering how long the System Restore was going to take. The customer assured me that the felines were not given access to the machine’s fingerprint (paw) logon!
- [Microsoft Support Sites Report Access Denied in Chrome](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/12/microsoft-support-sites-report-access-denied-in-chrome/): This week, when I tried to open a Microsoft support ticket at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/assistedsupportproducts using Chrome 71, I got an Access Denied error: I finally called in to open a case. Then while working on a case, I needed to open https://support.microsoft.com/help to allow Microsoft support to start a remote session. Again, Access Denied: This time,
- [Use Enhanced DSS Keys on a Yealink T42G](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/11/use-enhanced-dss-keys-on-a-yealink-t42g/): With the help of tim942’s post in this thread, I was able to get my Yealink T42G phone, running firmware 36.83.0.55, to automatically retrieve voicemail from an Asterisk server. 1. Enable Enhanced DSS Keys (EDK) in your config file: features.enhanced_dss_keys.enable = 1 2. In the phone’s web UI, on the Dsskey tab, set a DSS
- [Azure Automation Fails to Start Machine](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/06/azure-automation-fails-to-start-machine/): I have an Azure virtual machine running Server 2012 R2. I use Azure Automation to start the machine weekdays at 6am and shut it down at 10pm. I just realized the machine hasn’t started all week. When I logged in to the Azure dashboard, no warnings were displayed. I clicked on my Automation account and
- [VoIP Phone Unregistered after Disabling SIP ALG](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/08/voip-phone-unregistered-after-disabling-sip-alg/): Last week I disabled SIP ALG (or "SIP Conntrack") on my UniFi USG router: Today I noticed that one of the accounts on my Yealink T42G phone was unregistered. My telephony provider (voip.ms) did a trace and let me know that the Contact line of my REGISTER packets included the internal IP address of the
- [Microsoft Launches $5000 Azure Credit for Nonprofits](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/08/microsoft-launches-5000-azure-credit-for-nonprofits/): If you assist nonprofits with their I.T. needs, you may have noticed a flurry of announcements made in January about Microsoft’s plans to donate “$1 billion of cloud computing resources over the next 3 years to serve the public good” (from this official blog post). I’ve been watching the Microsoft philanthropies home page for a
- [Windows 10 Repeatedly Disconnects Network Drives](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/08/windows-10-repeatedly-disconnects-network-drives/): A few weeks ago, I upgraded from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro. The most frustrating problem has been that mapped drives on my server frequently disconnect. One of my database programs relies on a mapped drive and keeps crashing. If I had File Explorer open, it loses its location: The outages were very
- [Deploying PowerShell Scripts to GFI MAX](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/02/deploying-powershell-scripts-to-gfi-max/): I’ve been working on some PowerShell scripts that I want to deploy to GFI MAX Remote Management, a monitoring tool I use in the MSP side of the business. I’m still working out the kinks, but here are some tips I’ll want to remember later. Maybe they’ll help you too. Enable PowerShell Scripts on the
- [Migrate an Azure Recovery Services Agent](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/10/migrate-an-azure-recovery-services-agent/): You can’t. Migrate, that is. If you’ve moved all your on-premises data from one server to another, your only option is to install the MARS agent on the new server, manually configure the new server, and re-upload all the (same) data again. Then change the schedule on the old server to stop new backups but
- [Run Downloaded PowerShell Scripts](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/02/run-downloaded-powershell-scripts/): If you downloaded a PowerShell scripts, for example as part of a .zip file, you may see the message [Script name] is not digitally signed. The script will not execute on the system. For more information, see about_Execution_Policies at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170. This happens even if you follow the suggestion in my earlier post to Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned
- [Set Up a Lenovo TS140 with an eDrive SSD](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/07/set-up-a-lenovo-ts140-with-an-edrive/): Here’s how I set up a new Lenovo TS140 Server with eDrive enabled on a Samsung 840 EVO SSD. eDrive will be managed by BitLocker under Server 2012 R2. Note This article looks long but it’s mostly screen shots! Prepare the Server 1. Update to the latest BIOS (currently 82A) using the DOS method. 2.
- [Changing Office 365 Deleted Items Retention](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/10/changing-office-365-deleted-items-retention/): I had a lot of difficulty changing the deleted items retention in Office 365 Exchange from the default 14 days to 30. I would change it but it still showed as 14 days. Finally at the suggestion of Microsoft Office 365 Support, I removed the retention, then re-added it. Finally it showed the correct value.Here
- [Batch Convert PDF to PDF/A](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/04/batch-convert-pdf-to-pdfa/): Note This post is outdated . See the 2018 version here. I’m developing a paperless workflow for my home and office. I want to save all my documents in PDF/A-1b archival format so I will be able to open them for years to come. The PDFs should be searchable, meaning they contain not only images of documents,
- [Use CutePDF to Print to PDF/A for Free](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/04/use-cutepdf-to-print-to-pdfa-for-free/): Note This post is outdated . See the 2018 version here. I’ve been working on developing a paperless workflow. I want to save my digital files in PDF/A format, specially designed for archiving. (In particular, I want to create PDF/A-1b documents.) An important part of this workflow is the ability to print documents and emails to
- [Malwarebytes Premium Trial Blocks MSP Anywhere](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/09/malwarebytes-premium-trial-blocks-msp-anywhere/): I use Solarwinds MSP Anywhere to connect to client computers. Yesterday from one of my Windows 10 Pro machines, I couldn’t connect to any of them. I’d get a brief “Loading” message, then nothing. The MSP Anywhere viewer wouldn’t load.The symptoms were consistent with this article, but the registry entries mentioned in the article were
- [Configure the Windows Firewall for MediaShout Remote](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/08/configure-the-windows-firewall-for-mediashout-remote/): Update September 12, 2018 This article has been re-written based on a (hopefully) better understanding of how MediaShout interacts with the Windows Firewall. MediaShout offers instructions here for setting up MediaShout to allow remote control from their iOS app. There are some additional technical details here. Unfortunately, there is a situation where Windows may create
- [MCB GoldLink, 3CX, and Call Transfers](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/07/mcb-goldlink-3cx-and-call-transfers/): One of the features of MCB GoldLink to 3CX is to “pop” the GoldMine record of an inbound call received through 3CX. However, users sometimes find that this doesn’t work as expected. Why not? The short answer is, GoldLink can only find the GoldMine record when 3CX provides the external CallerID. You can see what
- [Where Is Smart Queue Now?](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/09/where-is-smart-queue-now/): As of controller 5.8.28 and probably earlier, UniFi has moved some key USG settings off of the device and into the main section of the controller. Unfortunately, the latest Enterprise System Controller User Guide, version 5.6.2, still shows the old user interface locations. (This link to the V5 User Guide may be updated in the
- [USG-to-USG VPN Fails with AT&T U-verse](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/08/usg-to-usg-vpn-fails-with-att-u-verse/): I have two separate UniFi controllers, both version 5.8.24. There's one USG at each location running 4.4.22. I've configured a manual IPSec VPN at each location with dynamic routing enabled. I cannot ping from behind the first USG A to a host behind the second USG B. USG A is behind an AT&T U-verse modem
- [Check Windows Time Settings](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/05/check-windows-time-settings/): In a small Windows 2003 R2 domain environment, I had the following error in the System event log on a Windows XP Pro client: W32Time, Warning, Event ID 36: The time service has not been able to synchronize the system time for 49152 seconds because none of the time providers has been able to provide
- [Set Up and Download Scripts and Helpers](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/12/set-up-and-download-scripts-and-helpers/): Scripting is great, but if you manage a bunch of computers, how do you get those scripts and their helper programs onto the computers in the first place? I wrote a script for that! This PowerShell script (SetUpScripts.ps1) is more than just a script to download files. It fulfills four functions: Set up a Scripts
- [Convert a Cisco 1130AG Access Point from LWAPP to Autonomous Mode](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/convert-a-cisco-1130ag-access-point-from-lwapp-to-autonomous-mode/): A Cisco 1130AG access point died. Model AIR-LAP1131AG-A-K9. Bought a replacement on eBay. The eBay one was running the Lightweight Access Protocol (LWAPP). Here’s how I got it back to Autonomous Mode so I could configure it. Get IOS Firmware from Another Access Point Cisco only provides firmware images to customers with contracts. However you
- [Control Inter-VLAN Communication with the UniFi USG Firewall](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/11/control-inter-vlan-communication-with-the-unifi-usg-firewall/): You have a UniFi Security Gateway (USG). You want to allow your LAN to talk to all VLANs, but VLANs cannot talk to the LAN or to other VLANs. How do you configure the USG firewall? First: define your networks as Corporate. I tried adding firewall exceptions to a Guest network and never got it
- [Can’t Remove Essentials Computer](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/10/cant-remove-essentials-computer/): I was having trouble removing a computer from the Essentials 2012 R2 dashboard. Can’t recall the error but I do recall the entire dashboard crashing. I found this thread on the dashboard crashing. Which led to this TechNet article on uninstalling update KB3102467 to get rid of .NET 4.6.1. The article was written due to
- [Install Windows 10 Remotely Using AMT vPro](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/07/install-windows-10-remotely-using-amt-vpro/): This is just cool. Because AMT vPro gives me out-of-band control of a machine, I can boot from Windows installation media, wipe a disk partition, and install Windows 10 from scratch. In fact, in this case, I didn’t have a local DVD with the installer, so I downloaded the ISO to another computer on the
- [Move the Users Share in SBS 2011](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/07/move-the-users-share-in-sbs-2011/): For some reason, SBS 2011 set up the UserShares under C:\Users\Share. I wanted it to be with all the other shared folders under C:\Data. The wizard only allows moving the share to a different drive. Here’s what worked to move it to a different folder on the same drive.1. In the SBS console, under Shared
- [June Update Causes EventLog Error 30](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/06/june-update-causes-eventlog-error-30/): I’ve now seen this on two machines running Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials: after installing the June 2018 Windows updates, the server suddenly raises Microsoft-Windows-Eventlog event ID 30 regarding the ShimEngine.Log Name: SystemSource: Microsoft-Windows-EventlogEvent ID: 30Task Category: Service startupLevel: ErrorKeywords: Service availabilityUser: LOCAL SERVICEDescription:The event logging service encountered an error (5) while enabling publisher {0bf2fb94-7b60-4b4d-9766-e82f658df540}
- [Windows 10 Unexpectedly Updated to 1803](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/06/windows-10-unexpectedly-updated-to-1803/): A Windows 10 Pro machine unexpectedly updated from 1709 to 1803, even though it is on a domain with group policy to defer updates. The Microsoft product team reviewed logs and informed me that 1803 was offered on May 12 but the machine didn’t get the deferral policy until May 15. What happened?This machine is
- [SqlServerWriter VSS 8229 error 0x800423f4](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/12/sqlserverwriter-vss-8229-error-0x800423f4/): I recently installed XProtect Essential+ 2017 R3 on a Windows 7 x64 Pro machine. XProtect installed SQL 2014. The machine is backed up daily by a Server 2012 R2 Essentials process. The backup seems to finish, but it raises VSS event 8229 as it is shutting down: Log Name: Application Source: VSS Date: 12/26/2017 7:25:45
- [Mesh Commander and the Two Green Arrows](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/05/mesh-commander-and-the-two-green-arrows/): This weekend, I was glad to have Intel vPro set up on some remote client machines. Windows had lost network connection (a DHCP issue) but fortunately vPro still had the most recent IP. I was able to use MeshCommander 0.6.3 to access the vPro Remote Desktop functionality. However, I thought I was going to have
- [Leave Everything to Us](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/05/leave-everything-to-us/): If you’ve recently upgraded your Windows 10 PC, you may have seen Microsoft telling you during the upgrade to “Leave everything to us”: Kind of reminiscent of the way people used to think about doctors: “just leave everything to them, they know what’s best.” My recommendation: ignore that. Do not leave everything to Microsoft. Be
- [Action Pack Now Has 10 Support Incidents](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/11/action-pack-now-has-10-support-incidents/): Not sure if this is news to anyone else, but Microsoft Action Pack now includes 10 support incidents for any supported product—see the Core benefits page. To confirm, I called Partner support at (800)676-7658 and asked for Technical Support. A Partner Technical Router (that’s a human being, not a network device) pointed me to support.microsoft.com/oas/
- [Updating the CredSSP Group Policy](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/03/updating-the-credssp-group-policy/): “Patch Lady” Susan Bradley has some helpful explanations on AskWoody about Microsoft KB4093942, “CredSSP updates for CVE-2018-0886.” She mentions that you can prepare for the updates by setting group policy before they are installed. However, I found that the group policy settings is not available on a domain controller if the update is not installed.
- [UniFi Site-to-Site IPsec VPN with Two Controllers](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/11/unifi-site-to-site-ipsec-vpn-with-two-controllers/): I have two UniFi USGs, each on its own local controller, and I wanted to set up a site-to-site IPsec VPN. Here’s what worked. From my research, you can’t use Auto configuration when you have two controllers, so I used manual, mostly following advice in this thread. IPsec only allows entering IP addresses, not hostnames,
- [USG to ER-X IPSec VPN: Turn Off Dynamic Routing](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/04/usg-to-er-x-ipsec-vpn-turn-off-dynamic-routing/): I’ve had two Unifi USGs connected via IPSec VPN with no issue. I decided to replace the USG on one side with an EdgeRouter ER-X. I’ve spent many hours over a period of several days trying to get the VPN working. The VPN gets established but will not pass packets to the remote LAN. I
- [Script to Check Current Firewall Profile](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/09/script-to-check-current-firewall-profile/): As mentioned in this post, I recently had a server unexpectedly show up with a Public firewall profile, which caused database connection issues. I decided to write a little script to confirm that the server has a Domain Profile. All that the script does is execute this command: netsh advfirewall monitor show currentprofile then check
- [SBS 2008 Attempts Multiple Simultaneous Backups](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/11/sbs-2008-attempts-multiple-simultaneous-backups/): I first had this issue in July 2010. SBS 2008 would attempt to run two identical backups for each one that was scheduled. The duplicate backup would fail with Microsoft-Windows-Backup event 518, “Backup started at '[date and time]' failed as another backup or recovery is in progress. Please re-run backup.” But the original backup completed
- [Windows 10 Cannot Connect to Remote Desktop Gateway](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/01/windows-10-cannot-connect-to-remote-desktop-gateway/): I’m setting up a new Windows 10 computer, currently at 1709 Build 16299.192. It is unable to connect to a Server 2012R2 machine running Remote Desktop Gateway. One long thread said the culprit was likely the QuickBooks ABS printer: However after removing that printer, the problem persisted. A much shorter thread suggested adding a REG_DWORD
- [Install SQL 2016 with Data on a Separate Drive](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/07/install-sql-2016-with-data-on-a-separate-drive/): I’m setting up SQL 2016 Standard for low-volume use. All I want is to put the programs on the C: drive and all data (including error logs, system and user databases and logs) on the D: drive. I missed some things during the first installation and had to start over. Twice. This time I made
- [Move Seiko Smart Label Software to a New Computer](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/02/move-seiko-smart-label-software-to-a-new-computer/): If you install Seiko’s Smart Label Printer for Windows software on a new computer, you’ll want to copy the label library from your old computer. It’s stored in this file: C:\Users\Public\Public Documents\Smart Label Printer\labels.sll (Thanks to the anonymous comment on June 22, 2017 in this thread.) Or just use the Label > Library > Export
- [Updated PowerShell Script to Show Windows Update Settings](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/03/updated-powershell-script-to-show-windows-update-settings/): Last year in this article, I posted a PowerShell script to display Windows Update settings. I’ve enhanced that script to show two additional values and to optionally list all pending updates.By default, the script will now list pending updates. Updates considered Optional (e.g. Silverlight, hardware drivers, etc.) are excluded. If you want to list pending
- [Omi.keytab Errors Suddenly Start on Azure Server](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/01/omi-keytab-errors-suddenly-start-on-azure-server/): At 10:17pm last night, an Azure web server (Bitnami WordPress stack) started generating one error per minute, each one sending an identical email, 600+ emails by morning. Email Subject Cron root@HOSTNAME [ ( ! -f /etc/opt/omi/creds/omi.keytab ) -o ( /etc/krb5.keytab -nt /etc/opt/omi/creds/omi.keytab ) ] && /opt/omi/bin/support/ktstrip /etc/krb5.keytab Email Body src kt = /etc/krb5.keytab File /etc/krb5.keytab
- [Windows 10 Forces Early Upgrade, Behaves Like a Virus](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/02/windows-10-forces-early-upgrade-behaves-like-a-virus/): I have an older machine running Windows 10 1607. I tried 1703 but had problems so restored to 1607. Last week when I booted the machine, I was treated with this message covering most of the screen: “Your device needs the latest security updates.” Note If you have a fast Internet connection, the upgrade may
- [DISM Fails with 0x800F0906 if WSUS Is Installed](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/02/dism-fails-with-0x800f0906-if-wsus-is-installed/): I ran the following command on a Server 2012 R2 running WSUS: DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth It failed with error 0x800F0906 Various posts online tell you that the solution for that error is to rename C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and C:\Windows\System32\catroot2 then reboot. When I did that, I broke my WSUS installation and started getting errors like these:
- [X1 Tablet 2nd Gen with USB-C and USB 3.0 Pro Docks](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/02/x1-tablet-2nd-gen-with-usb-c-and-usb-3-0-pro-docks/): A Lenovo X1 Tablet is a marvel of engineering in terms of packing a lot into a small space. But it’s so small, there are very few external connectors: one USB-C which also functions as a power supply port, one USB 3.0, and one mini DisplayPort. To use this machine as a desktop replacement, you
- [Reset File History after Copying Profile to New Computer](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/02/reset-file-history-after-copying-profile-to-new-computer/): I find the ForensIT User Profile Wizard to be an invaluable tool when I need to copy a user’s profile from an old to a new computer. However I was having trouble with File History after copying a profile from one Windows 10 machine to a new Windows 10 machine with a new computer name:
- [Re-Install Windows Live Writer 2012](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2018/01/re-install-windows-live-writer-2012/): I’m setting up a new (Windows 10) PC and needed to install Windows Live Writer 2012. Unfortunately, per this page, it has been retired and is no longer available for download: I appreciate that Microsoft open-sourced the code and that a team of volunteers has released Open Live Writer. Unfortunately, I encountered several issues in
- [GoldMine Web Sign In Issue](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/07/goldmine-web-sign-in-issue/): I’m running GoldMine 2017.1 on Server 2016 with the Essentials role installed. I installed GoldMine Connect 2017.1 but could not sign in, even though my user has a password: The log file on the server (C:\Program Files (x86)\GoldMine Connect\Logs\GMConnect.log) showed the error System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Cannot find .ini file by D:\ServerFolders\Apps\GoldMine\gm.ini so I suspected a permissions issue.
- [Determine SQL 2014 Version](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/12/determine-sql-2014-version/): Milestone XProtect Essentials+ 2017 R3 installed a version of SQL 2014. SQL Management Studio is not installed. I need to download the SQL Express installer so I can do a repair install. But which version of SQL do I have exactly? At a command prompt: cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server0\Tools\Binn osql -E select @@version go
- [Cron Failed to Fork and DB Update Failed](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/12/cron-failed-to-fork-and-db-update-failed/): I got this in a cron email from a Bitnami Linux machine hosted on Azure: /etc/cron.daily/apt: FATAL -> Failed to fork. following by this one for a few days once a day: /etc/cron.daily/apt: DB Update failed, database locked Then it cleared up for a few days on its own, then it came back. There are
- [DNS Unresponsive on Essentials VPN](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/11/dns-unresponsive-on-essentials-vpn/): On my new-ish Server 2016 with the Essentials role, I set up the Anywhere Access VPN with a static address pool (described here). When I connected via VPN from a Windows 10 Home machine, everything worked great: I could see the Shared Folders, Internet browsing was fine, etc. But when I connected from a Windows
- [List Users and Their SIDs](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/12/list-users-and-their-sids/): An incredibly useful one-liner: wmic useraccount get disabled,domain,name,sid Run that from an administrative command prompt while logged in as a domain admin to list all the users and their SIDs. Very handy when trying to decode security events, file permissions, etc. Credit goes to this article. The Disabled column tells you whether the account is
- [Help! My Yahoo / Hotmail / Facebook Was Hacked!](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/09/help-my-yahoo-hotmail-facebook-was-hacked/): In the last few weeks the personal accounts of at least four of my acquaintances have been hacked. As you may have experienced, when your friend’s account is hacked, you start getting emails that appear to be from them, but which actually contain some kind of spam. How Did They Hack Me? If email is
- [Outlook 2016 Cannot Add to Dictionary](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/09/outlook-2016-cannot-add-to-dictionary/): Recently I added a non-admin user to my computer and migrated my user profile with the excellent Profile Wizard 3.12 from ForensIT. Almost everything came over flawlessly, but one idiosyncrasy was that I could no longer add words to a my custom dictionary in Outlook or other Office programs.The Add to Dictionary button was grayed
- [WordPress Update Shrunk SQL DB](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/08/wordpress-update-shrunk-sql-db/): I do a daily backup of my WordPress SQL database and was concerned when, after a recent auto-update to WordPress 4.7.5, the size of my SQL backup file shrank from 10MB to 7MB. That’s a lot of data that’s gone missing. What changed?To see the changes: 1. Open both SQL backup files in Notepad++. 2.
- [CrashPlan Causes Windows Server Backup to Fail on System State](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/08/crashplan-causes-windows-server-backup-to-fail-on-system-state/): I recently migrated to Server 2016 with the Essentials role. The server runs as a Hyper-V virtual machine. Windows Backup writes to a drive hosted on a VHDX file. Almost from the beginning, I had problems with Windows Backup failing while trying to back up System State.Here is the Event Log error message with a
- [Kerberos Event 19 after Server Migration](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/08/kerberos-event-19-after-server-migration/): I recently migrated from Server Essentials 2012 R2 to Server 2016 Standard with the Essentials role. Both of these machines run a self-signed Certification Authority (CA). The old machine has been demoted and decommissioned. On the new machine, I’ve occasionally been getting the following error about a missing certificate: Log Name: SystemSource: Microsoft-Windows-Kerberos-Key-Distribution-CenterDate: 8/17/2017 10:23:10
- [Windows 10 Won’t Search from Start Menu](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/08/windows-10-wont-search-from-start-menu/): I’ve frequently had an issue with Windows 10, even after the most recent 1703 update, that when I open the Start menu and start typing to do a search, nothing happens. Usually if I open the Start menu five or six times, it will eventually start accepting keystrokes and searching.This behavior is accompanied by the
- [Filter the System Log by Correlation ActivityID](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/08/filter-the-system-log-by-correlation-activityid/): I’m trying to figure out why my new Server 2016 with the Essentials role is getting System events 36874. In particular, if this is a certificate issue between a client and the server, which client are we talking about? Note the highlighted line in the event’s XML: Log Name: System Source: Schannel Event ID: 36874
- [Fix Bad Drivers in Windows 10 1703 ADK](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/08/fix-bad-drivers-in-windows-10-1703-adk/): I blogged in 2014 about setting up client restore service on Server 2012 R2 Essentials. I wanted to do the same thing for Server 2016 with the Essentials role. I wasn’t surprised that I needed to use an updated Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK). I was surprised when I discovered that the latest ADK, designed
- [Fix SQL Database SIDs After Moving Database](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/07/fix-sql-database-sids-after-moving-database/): After moving my GoldMine databases to a new SQL server, I was getting thousands of these events in the Application event log as well as in the SQL ERRORLOG: Log Name: ApplicationSource: MSSQLSERVERDate: 7/29/2017 3:20:03 PMEvent ID: 9724Level: InformationDescription:The activated proc '[dbo].[SqlQueryNotificationStoredProcedure-817cf99e-e144-4730-b3e9-f0918a297507]' running on queue 'GoldMine_Test.dbo.SqlQueryNotificationService-817cf99e-e144-4730-b3e9-f0918a297507' output the following: 'Cannot execute as the database principal
- [Template Persistent Cache Error with Classic ASP under IIS 7](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/template-persistent-cache-error-with-classic-asp-under-iis-7/): I installed a classic ASP application on my SBS 2008 server (see Moving Liberum Help Desk to SQL 2005 Express). When accessing the application from a browser, the following message is generated in the server’s Application event log: Log Name: Application Source: Active Server Pages Event ID: 5 Level: Error Description: Error: The Template Persistent
- [Moving a GoldMine Database to a New SQL Server](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/07/moving-a-goldmine-database-to-a-new-sql-server/): Today I moved my GoldMine databases from a SQL 2012 Express instance on one server to a SQL 2016 Standard instance on another server. I wanted to jot down a few notes. This is not a detailed procedure, but if you are familiar with SQL and GoldMine, you may find it useful. I’m currently on
- [Windows Time Stops Even When Set to Start Automatically](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/09/windows-time-stops-even-when-set-to-start-automatically/): I’m running Windows Server 2008 R2 as a Hyper-V host. The domain controller runs as a guest. Following Microsoft's recommendation, the host is not joined to the domain; it is a stand-alone workgroup client. Even if you set Windows Time service to Automatic start, it stops within a few seconds. Why? How do you set
- [Juno SpeedBand Forces Bad Proxy](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/05/juno-speedband-forces-bad-proxy/): If you use locally-installed Juno for your email, you may have their “SpeedBand” technology that supposedly speeds up Internet browsing. Apparently it’s doing this with some kind of local cache accessed by forcing the computer to use a proxy. Recently, that proxy was redirecting www.google.com to Google India www.google.co.in. Other sites were failing altogether. If
- [Sophos on Mac: Infinite Loop Brings Machine to a Crawl](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/07/sophos-on-mac-infinite-loop-brings-machine-to-a-crawl/): A late-2012 Mac Mini had been behaving oddly for a while, with disk space on the 250GB SSD often nearing capacity. By the time I got my hands on it, the SSD had died. Once replaced and restored (slowly) from TimeMachine, the system seemed very slow.Using Activity Monitor, I discovered that Sophos was by far
- [Advanced Wireshark SIP filters](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/06/advanced-wireshark-sip-filters/): When looking for SIP traffic in Wireshark, you can start with the Display Filter sip. Here are a couple more specific filters. To find a specific type of SIP packet: sip.CSeq.method==REGISTER Sometimes you need to match registration traffic on the server and client (two Wireshark sessions). To see matching traffic, in a SIP Message Header,
- [Replace CMOS Battery in Gateway ZX4300](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/06/replace-cmos-battery-in-gateway-zx4300/): Yesterday I needed to replace a dead CMOS battery in a Gateway ZX4300 All-in-One. This YouTube video shows how to get the outer case off but doesn’t show how the motherboard or how to remove it. This Fixya article says the CMOS battery is between the motherboard and the screen, which is correct. Here are
- [Moving from BlogEngine.NET to WordPress](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/moving-from-blogengine-net-to-wordpress/): I've been hosting this blog on my own Windows server since 2007 using BlogEngine.NET. Although I’ve been fairly happy with BlogEngine, I wanted to move my web sites to a hosted solution. The new provider hosts on Linux, so BlogEngine isn’t an option. It didn’t take me long to discover WordPress, and I decided to
- [Add a Lookup Menu to GoldMine 9.2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/12/add-a-lookup-menu-to-goldmine-9-2/): I’m in the process of upgrading from GoldMine 6.5 to 9.2.1.92. I really don’t want to give up the super-fast keyboard access to the search function. For example, in GoldMine 6.5, to search for a contact by last name, I press Alt+L, L (open the Lookup menu and search by Last name). Three keystrokes and
- [Set up BLF on Yealink Phone with Grandstream UCM](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/05/set-up-blf-on-yealink-phone-with-grandstream-ucm/): Yealink phones can have basic BLF functionality in conjuction with a Grandstream UCM server. In this case, I’m using a Yealink T41P and a Grandstream UCM6102.We’re not using the BLF List functionality here, just simple dialog BLF where the phones communicate directly with each other. In this case, Betty on x.101 wants to see the
- [How to Revert a 3CXPhone Update in the 3CX Dashboard](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/05/how-to-revert-a-3cxphone-update-in-the-3cx-dashboard/): When you approve an update to 3CXPhone for Windows in the 3CX v15 server dashboard, the server will start pushing out the update the next time the users start 3CXPhone. But what if you didn’t mean to approve the update, e.g. you didn’t realize until too late that it is a beta version? Once the
- [Windows Server Backup: Swapping Target Drives](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/09/windows-server-backup-swapping-target-drives/): I’m running Window Server Backup on Windows Server 2008 R2. Like a good admin, I swap out destination drives, rotating one drive off site each week. Can’t Add Second Drive Using the Windows Server Backup GUI, I set up a backup schedule to do backups to the G: drive and ran backups for a few
- [Set Up VLANs with Tomato and a Cisco Small Business Switch](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/01/set-up-vlans-with-tomato-and-a-cisco-small-business-switch/): I blogged five years ago about setting up guest wireless with Tomato. For that, I just plugged a separate switch into a router port dedicated to the wireless VLAN. Worked great. But now I need separate VLANs for access points, phones, and cameras connected one 24-port PoE switch, i.e. one router port must pass traffic
- [Re-Install WordPress](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/05/re-install-wordpress/): Let’s say you have a test install of WordPress 4.7.4 and you accidentally delete the database. Let’s say you have created an empty test database. Let’s say all your WordPress files are still there. wp-config.php already points to your empty test database. Let’s say your DNS and virtual host still point to test.mysite.com. Let’s say
- [April 2017 Monthly Rollup Breaks VB6 App](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/04/april-2017-monthly-rollup-breaks-vb6-app/): I maintain a client-server database app written in VB6 that uses ADO and COM+/DCOM. After installing the “April, 2017 Security Monthly Quality Rollup,” the VB6 app crashes in msado15.dll and ntdll.dll when trying to write to to the database. Uninstalling the update restores full write functionality. This is verified on Windows 7 x86 and Windows
- [Analyze a Windows Error Code](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/05/analyze-a-windows-error-code/): This is one of those things that I easily forget by the time I need it. Maybe putting it in a blog post will help. Assume you see error 2147942667 in the Task Scheduler event log. As explained in Hans Passant’s comment on this StackOverflow question, you can determine its meaning as follows:1. Use the
- [Distinctive Ringing for Internal Extensions with 3CX and Yealink](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/04/distinctive-ringing-for-internal-extensions-with-3cx-and-yealink/): A customer using 3CX v.15 with Yealink T42S phones would like calls from internal extensions to have a distinctive ring. As explained in this thread, it turns out that internal calls already have a distinctive ring, but it sounds so similar to external calls that it is hard to distinguish. Here is how and where
- [WordPress Notify Author on Comment](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/04/wordpress-notify-author-on-comment/): By default, WordPress does not notify the post author when they comment on their own post. They also don't get notified after approving someone else's comment on their post.Apparently this lack of notification was introduced in 3.1. The Notify Me! plugin solved the problem for me for many years, but does not seem to work
- [3CX SBC Invalid signature received: 0x10317](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/02/3cx-sbc-invalid-signature-received-0x10317/): I'm using 3CX Session Border Controller (SBC) 15.0.56341 to connect to a 3CX v15 SP4 server running on Server 2012 R2 in the cloud. Usually it works fine. A couple days ago, though, even after re-starting the SBC, I was getting the error "Invalid signature received: 0x10317". Troubleshooting On the device where the SBC is
- [Malwarebytes 3 Upgrade Starts Premium Trial](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/12/malwarebytes-3-upgrade-starts-premium-trial/): If you’ve been using the free version of Malwarebytes 2 as an on-demand anti-virus scanner and you upgrade to version 3, you may be surprised by warnings that real-time protection is turned off: It seems that Malwarebytes has discontinued the free-only version and now always starts with a 14-day trial of the Premium version. As
- [Database Server Backup to Hybrid Onsite/Cloud FAIL](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/database-server-backup-to-hybrid-onsitecloud-fail/): This is a very instructive nightmare: Environment with fancy new VSS-aware hybrid local and cloud backup gets hit by crypto malware. Turns out backups are based on timestamps, which Pervasive/PSQL often doesn't change. Only possibility is to go back to last server backup, five weeks prior. Backup was too big to save that long locally.
- [Restore Server 2012 R2 to a ThinkCentre M93p Desktop, Take 2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/02/restore-server-2012-r2-to-a-thinkcentre-m93p-desktop-take-2/): Time for my annual test of restoring a server to a desktop. This year is almost identical to last year, but I want to have one list of steps, so I’ll repeat much of that text. I’m restoring Server 2012 R2 Essentials (installed on a Lenovo TS140 with legacy BIOS) to a Lenovo M93p desktop.
- [Restore Server 2012 R2 to a ThinkCentre M93p Desktop, Take 3](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/02/restore-server-2012-r2-to-a-thinkcentre-m93p-desktop-take-3/): Once a year, I test restoring a server to a desktop. The server is backed up with standard Windows Backup. The idea is to confirm that if the server went down, I could quickly restore to one of the customer’s desktops as a temporary solution while the server is repaired or replaced. This is also
- [Disable SIP ALG on Tomato Shibby](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/03/disable-sip-alg-on-tomato-shibby/): A PBX vendor like 3CX may tell you to disable SIP ALG on your router. I’m running Tomato on my router, specifically Tomato Firmware 1.28.0000 MIPSR2-132 K26 Max. With the help of this thread, I checked and disabled SIP ALG.Under Advanced > Conntrack/Netfilter, in the Tracking/NAT Helpers section, if SIP is checked, SIP ALG is
- [WSUS Kills Itself with KB3159706](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/03/wsus-kills-itself-with-kb3159706/): After deploying WSUS on a Server 2012 R2 Essentials machine, I allowed WSUS to update itself with KB3159706. This upgrades WSUS to supply Windows 10 upgrades (not in use at this location) but the more obvious effect is that it kills WSUS: WSUS service stops and cannot start WSUS console does not connect Several articles
- [Cloned PCs Disappear in WSUS](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/03/cloned-pcs-disappear-in-wsus/): Just set up WSUS in an environment with a few cloned PCs. One PC would show up in WSUS, then it would disappear when a cloned PC showed up. The issue is a duplicate registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\SusClientID A quick search found multiple scripts to fix the issue. I’m going to use this one from Microsoft
- [Azure Backup Agent Points to Wrong Update](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/02/azure-backup-agent-points-to-wrong-update/): When the Azure Backup Agent program says an update is ready, it will provide a link. Today, the link points to http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=229525, which redirects to KB3196148, which is the October 2016 update that we are already running. To find the correct update, search for "Azure Backup Update for Microsoft Azure Recovery Services Agent" and look
- [Find Comodo Root and Intermediate Certificates](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/02/find-comodo-root-and-intermediate-certificates/): Finding Comodo root and intermediate certificates can be a challenge. If you start with Google, you might find a promising knowledge base article with a direct link, but then be unable to find the certificates behind your certificate. It seems the trick is to start with this “master page” of Root & Intermediate(s): https://support.comodo.com/index.php?/Default/Knowledgebase/List/Index/71 Unless
- [Zoiper’s Missing User Interface Labels](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/01/zoipers-missing-user-interface-labels/): I have been trying to set some advanced options in a Zoiper Biz 3.13 account but I could not find four options that are described in the Help (Use DTMF, Transport, SRTP, and STUN).Finally I realized that these are unlabeled drop-downs. Although the UI design makes it look like the four checkboxes on the left
- [XProtect Essential Event Names Issue](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/01/xprotect-essential-event-names-issue/): In XProtect Essential 2016 R3, I’m configuring a six-camera system. I want to use the cameras’ built-in motion detection, but after setting that up on the first camera, I could not get XProtect to accept any further event definitions. I kept getting the useless message, “One or more settings are invalid.” The problem, as it
- [3CX 15 Tunnel Not Listening](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2017/01/3cx-15-tunnel-not-listening/): TL;DR If your 3CXPhone app and/or your desktop phone are not able to connect to a remote 3CX server, test connectivity to the server on 3CX tunnel port 5090. If there’s no connection, on the server, check if anything is listening on that port. If not, restart the 3CX SIP/RTP Tunneling Service.My 3CXPhone client connects
- [GoldMine Pending Tab Preview Won’t Stay Hidden](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/12/goldmine-pending-tab-preview-wont-stay-hidden/): In GoldMine 2015.2.0.208, I was having trouble getting the Preview Pane to stay hidden on the Pending tab. Also, the column widths kept reverting to some default and the Filter kept showing as active although I wasn’t filtering for anything.After much fumbling about, I think this is the quickest way to fix that: Close GoldMine.
- [Care and Feeding of your RapidSSL Certificate on AWS](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/06/care-and-feeding-of-your-rapidssl-certificate-on-aws/): I purchased a GeoTrust RapidSSL certificate from Namecheap to install on an Amazon Web Services Elastic Load Balancer. I won’t go into all the details of deploying SSL on AWS here, but I do want to document something about the certificate chain. (Update December 12, 2016: apparently Namecheap and their SSLs subsidiary no longer sell
- [Windows 7 Slow Updating](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/12/windows-7-slow-updating/): Windows 7 updating will take forever on a fresh install or if you haven’t updated in a while. This is covered in many online articles but I’m needing it often enough that I wanted to make a couple notes for future reference. The basic trick is to turn off Windows Updates then manually apply one
- [NTFS 55 Errors after BootIT NG Repartition](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/03/ntfs-55-errors-after-bootit-ng-repartition/): A client has a Windows Server 2003 R2. Its primary disk (actually a RAID 0 array) has two partitions, C: and D:. The D: partition is 180GB, of which about 45GB is in use. In preparation for virtualizing the server, to make room for the hypervisor, I decided to shrink the D: partition using my
- [Windows 10 Post-Install Tasks](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/windows-10-post-install-tasks/): Due to problems installing a cumulative update, I decided to delete my Windows partition and install Windows 10 Pro x64 1607 from scratch. Windows 10 does an amazing job of finding and installing hardware drivers—usually the first thing you have to do after an OS install. I was able to skip that, but there are
- [Windows 10 Re-Installs Cumulative Update](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/windows-10-re-installs-cumulative-update/): After finally getting the November 2016 cumulative update to install into Windows 10 (by installng Windows 10 from scratch, twice), I was a bit dismayed today to see that Windows wanted to re-download and re-install the 800MB cumulative update.I let it go ahead and do that, and the update finished without even asking for a
- [Windows 10 Can’t Install November Cumulative Update](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/windows-10-cant-install-november-cumulative-update/): Windows 10 Pro 1511 failed repeatedly to install the November 2016 Cumulative Update (KB3198586). So I deleted the partition and installed Windows 10 Pro 1607 from scratch. It also cannot install the update (KB3200970), even if downloaded from the Update Catalog and installed manually. After converting the Windows update log to text in PowerShell (Get-WindowsUpdateLog),
- [Update Essentials Connector before Upgrading Windows 10](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/update-essentials-connector-before-upgrading-windows-10/): Almost a year ago, I wrote about how the Windows 10 Update Breaks 2012 R2 Essentials Connector. I thought that was fixed if you install KB3172614 on your server as MS blogged here. That’s not enough.Recently a Windows 10 Home machine applied the 1607 anniversary update. The Essentials connector was gone again. The short answer:
- [Windows 10 Update Breaks 2012 R2 Essentials Connector](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/11/windows-10-update-breaks-2012-r2-essentials-connector/): If you have a Windows 10 machine connected to an Essentials 2012 R2 server and you apply the Windows 10 November update (1511), all Essentials connections will be lost. The machine is still joined to the domain, but the Essentials connection is completely removed. Essentials Tray app: gone. Backups: stopped. DNS management, i.e. pointing the
- [3CX 15 Upgrade Notes and Gotchas](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/10/3cx-15-upgrade-notes-and-gotchas/): I’m doing a test upgrade on a local Windows 2008 R2 server from 3CX 14 to 3CX 15. A few notes and gotchas for future reference. Read these before uninstalling 3CX 14! There are several bits of information, including the 3CX 14 configuration backup, that will be lost if you follow 3CX’s instructions. Perhaps these
- [Generate an SSL Certificate Request without IIS](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/11/generate-an-ssl-certificate-request-without-iis/): I’m planning to installed 3CX 15 on a Windows 2012 R2 server. I want to use a new SSL certificate. The machine does not have IIS installed. How do I create a Certificate Signing Request (CSR)?This University of Washington page has concise instructions. The main “trick” is to use the Certificate Manager for the computer
- [Set Up Intel AMT for Remote KVM](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/12/set-up-intel-amt-for-remote-kvm/): I want to be able to make out-of-band KVM connections to computers running Intel AMT 9 (vPro). I initially thought this would require the $99 VNC Viewer Plus from RealVNC, but it seems to work fine with the free UltraVNC Viewer in combination with the free Manageability Commander Tool. The RealVNC approach requires that you
- [Set Up TLS on a Grandstream UCM Device Using a Public SSL Certificate](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/09/set-up-tls-on-a-grandstream-ucm-device-using-a-public-ssl-certificate/): I wanted to get TLS connections working between remote Grandstream phones connected over the Internet to a Grandstream UCM6102 PBX. This location already has an SSL certificate for its web site issued by a public Certification Authority. Here’s how to set up TLS with that kind of certificate.You can use the same SSL certificate that
- [Test and Fix SQL Connectivity](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/09/test-and-fix-sql-connectivity/): After server and workstation reboots, a database application that I use every day would not start. It displayed this message: SQL Server does not exist or access deniedTest the Connection This brief post has a brilliant suggestion for confirming SQL connectivity: create a text file, rename it to have a .UDL extension (e.g. SQLTest.udl), then
- [Use a Netgear WGT624v3 as a Bridge](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/03/use-a-netgear-wgt624v3-as-a-bridge/): There are several articles and lots of confusion on this topic out there. Here is what worked for me. First, let’s clarify terms. You can set up the WGT624v3 in several modes: Client: basically just an external network card for a device. Apparently limited to one device. This is the mode documented here. Bridge: allows
- [Azure Backup Client Fails with 0x07EF8](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/08/azure-backup-client-fails-with-0x07ef8/): I’m testing Azure Backup client on a Server 2012 R2 Essentials machine. On this machine, I had two options: an Essentials plugin and the standard agent. I tried the Essentials plugin but it uses the “old” (classic) Azure portal, plus the retention options were limited to 1-30 days, no weeks or months. So I removed
- [ServerCeipAssistant Task Incorrectly Formatted XML](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/08/serverceipassistant-task-incorrectly-formatted-xml/): On my Server 2012R2 Essentials machine, I wasn’t participating in the Customer Experience Improvement Program, but there is a scheduled task for it anyway—one that suddenly started throwing an error every time I opened the Task Scheduler. The task no longer appeared where it should: However the task definition was still stored in an XML
- [Cox Removed Ancient Trap–Internet Fixed?](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/07/cox-removed-ancient-trap-internet-fixed/): When I switched back to Cox for Internet in January 2016, the contract installer ran a new drop from the pole to my house, all the way to the jack where my cable modem is plugged in. I’ve been having ongoing, intermittent connectivity issues ever since. The main symptom is that the connection would become
- [Windows 10 Does Not Show or Install Optional Updates](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/08/windows-10-does-not-show-or-install-optional-updates/): Remember all those optional updates in Windows 7? Often you could ignore them, but sometimes you might actually want to update all your hardware drivers at once, or even install Silverlight. In Windows 10, the optional updates are there, but you’ll never see them without PowerShell or an add-on module, and you can only install
- [Use Process Monitor to Find Event 4625](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/10/use-process-monitor-to-find-event-4625/): A Server 2012 R2 Essentials machine recently started generating logon error 4625 four times every five minutes. I realized that the times matched the times that my monitoring software checks in, but exactly which component is causing the error? Here is the error: It’s interesting that the Source Network Address is the Link-local IPv6 address.
- [Outbound Calls Busy through 3CX Session Border Controller](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/07/outbound-calls-busy-through-3cx-session-border-controller/): I am running 3CX 14 stand-alone on a cloud-based server with a fixed IP. At my location, I have installed the Session Border Controller (SBC), also v14, on a local server. When I dial out from a local phone, sometimes I just get a busy signal, even if I am dialing ext. 99 for voicemail.
- [3CX Custom Provisioning Templates](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/06/3cx-custom-provisioning-templates/): If you want to provision unsupported phones to use with 3CX, you may come across this article on the 3CX web site: Provisioning unsupported IP phones. It looks quite helpful but it’s out of date in an important area: the location of the templates.The original (or master?) default templates are still here, as described in
- [Hyper-V Certificate Will Expire within 30 Days](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/hyper-v-certificate-will-expire-within-30-days/): It may be a bit sensationalistic to call it a time bomb, but apparently Hyper-V will only run for a year before the self-signed certificate that allows remote access to the machines expires. Supposedly it will auto-renew (unless you’re on Server 2008 and need this hotfix), but according to MSKB 2413735, you may still be
- [MaxFocus Script to Check for CryptoWall Infection](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/11/maxfocus-script-to-check-for-cryptowall-infection/): The CryptoWall ransomware virus is getting a lot of attention lately but this is one angle I haven’t seen covered: how to get an alert in the MaxFocus (formerly GFI) dashboard if a machine is infected. The sooner you know, the sooner you can work on restoring a current backup. Here’s a standalone PowerShell script
- [Tomato Shibby Ports Backward on E2000](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/04/tomato-shibby-ports-backward-on-e2000/): Today I converted from a Toastman build of Tomato router firmware to the latest Shibby build (136) on the Linksys E2000. I used a spare E2000 device so I could copy configuration values (mostly manually). Then I carefully unplugged one cable at a time from the Toastman router and plugged them in to the same
- [Testing EaseUS Todo Restore](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/05/testing-easeus-todo-restore/): I usually use Windows’ built-in disk imaging software, but I’ve been testing EaseUS Todo Backup Free 9.1 as an alternative. I backed up a Windows 7 x64 Ultimate machine to an external USB drive, first doing a full backup, then a differential. I created an EaseUS Todo emergency disk on a thumb drive (WinPE version).
- [Intel RSTe Confusing Views of a Disconnected Hard Drive](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/04/intel-rste-confused-about-disconnected-hard-drive/): I have a Lenovo TS140 server running Intel Rapid Storage Technology enterprise version 4.3.1.1152. Due to an intermittent error telling me that a drive was offline then immediately back online, I opened the server an re-seated all the hard drive cables. When I got back to my office, I had an email from RSTe telling
- [Delete Old Windows Server Backups](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/11/delete-old-windows-server-backups/): A client uses Windows Server Backup to back up a small Hyper-V server running Windows Server 2008 R2. Today free space on the backup drive F: dropped below 100GB of 698GB, triggering a 15% monitoring threshold. Some quick notes on what I did. Research Review this Microsoft blog post: Backup Version and Space Management in
- [Install GFI MAX Agent via Startup Script](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/10/install-gfi-max-agent-via-startup-script/): GFI MAX RemoteManagement has instructions on using Group Policy Software Settings to deploy the Advanced Monitoring Agent. However, this note warned me off: Please note: to avoid configuration issues we suggest that any updates to the Agent are deployed from the Software Distribution Point folder. I don’t want to use Software Settings for agent updates;
- [GoldMine: Remove NULL String after Rehost](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/04/goldmine-remove-null-string-after-rehost/): When rehosting GoldMine from version 6.7 to 9.0.0.102 (a required intermediate step on the way to a later version), the rehost process inserts the string “NULL” into the Notes of history and calendar records that should be empty: This fairly minor issue can be corrected with some SQL search and replace commands.Important Notes Using SQL
- [GoldMine Web: Search by Last Name](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/04/goldmine-web-search-by-last-name/): I just installed GoldMine 2015 and I must say I’m liking GoldMine Web. The ability to access GoldMine records from any browser, including a smartphone? Awesome. I was a little lost, though, when I couldn’t find a way to adjust the contact search: it always does a “Begins with” search by Contact and Company. Can’t
- [Track IP History and Alert on Change](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/03/track-ip-history-and-alert-on-change/): I wanted to know how often dynamic IP addresses change, and be alerted when they do. In fact, some colleagues have reported that even “static” IPs are sometimes changed without warning, so this script would address that as well. The script saves two files, an .xml file with the latest public IP address, and a
- [Extracting Certificate and Private Key Files from a .pfx File](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/03/extracting-certificate-and-private-key-files-from-a-pfx-file/): Today I wanted to give an Abyss web server the same certificate in use by IIS. Abyss only allows entering keys as blocks of text, so I needed to extract a private key and certificate from a Windows-based pfx file. This University of Washington article gave me exactly the information I needed to do that
- [Windows 8.1 Update Scheduling](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/02/windows-8-1-update-scheduling/): Windows Update on Windows 8/8.1/2012/2012R2 has some confusing behavior. I’m assuming you’ve installed the 2013 patch 2885694 to get more control over the updates. You’ll probably want to read the WSUS blog article about that patch. But still you may be wondering how updates work without and with group policy.This is the Group Policy Object
- [The Noisy Virus](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/02/the-noisy-virus/): Mom called. She had done an Internet search using Internet Explorer 11 and wound up with this in her browser: This is another fake anti-virus screen, usually trying to get the user to click something to allow downloading a real virus. The unique thing was that it was accompanied by an annoying computer-generated voice playing
- [MCB GoldLink to 3CX Now Compatible with 3CX 14](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/02/mcb-goldlink-to-3cx-now-compatible-with-3cx-14/): MCB Systems is pleased to announced that its CRM telephony integration product, MCB GoldLink to 3CX, is now compatible with the latest 3CX version 14. 3CX 14 uses a new version of 3CXPhone for Windows as both a softphone and to provide presence information, call logs, and other feature formerly provided by 3CX MyPhone. MCB
- [The Next Scam:  Tech Support Calls You](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/05/the-next-scam-tech-support-calls-you/): A user contacted me yesterday telling me, “I just got a weird call from someone with an Indian accent saying his company had been getting error messages and they wanted me to go on the computer and have a technician walk me thru steps.” She did exactly the right thing: “I refused and hung up.”
- [PowerShell: Get-WinEvent vs. Get-EventLog](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/04/powershell-get-winevent-vs-get-eventlog/): I’ve been working to write a flexible PowerShell script to retrieve and email warning and error events from computers in a small network. The computers variously run XP, Windows 7, Server 2003, SBS 2008, and Server 2008 R2. I wanted to include the new Applications and Services logs for Vista/2008 and beyond, so for those
- [Using Path in Local System Context](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/03/using-path-in-local-system-context/): I’m using GFI MAX Remote Management to deploy some PowerShell scripts to servers. The scripts need access to a new directory I set up, C:\Scripts\PowerShell, so I used a PowerShell command to add that path to the Path environment variable in the machine scope. $ScriptsPath = 'C:\Scripts\PowerShell\' $CurrentMachinePath = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("Path", ` [System.EnvironmentVariableTarget]::Machine) [Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable( "Path", $CurrentMachinePath
- [PowerShell Script to Change Windows Update Settings](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/03/powershell-script-to-change-windows-update-settings/): I’ve already posted a script to show Windows Update settings. What if you want to change the settings? In particular, I needed to be able to use MAXfocus Site Automated Tasks to change the NotificationLevel so I could control when downloads and updates happen. The script requires one numeric parameter for NotificationLevel: 1 - Never
- [HitmanPro.Alert Slows Software Protection Service](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2016/01/hitmanpro-alert-slows-software-protection-service/): On one Windows Server 2012R2 Essentials machine, the Software Protection Service, which runs once an hour or so to verify licenses, was usually failing to start within 30 seconds, raising a Service Control Manager 7000 error in the System event log.Log Name: System Source: Service Control Manager Event ID: 7009 Level: Error Description: A timeout
- [HitmanPro.Alert Crashes Windows 10 Upgrade](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/08/hitmanpro-alert-crashes-windows-10-upgrade/): I was running HitmanPro.Alert 2.6.5.77 on a domain-joined Windows 8.1 Pro laptop. When I tried to upgrade to Windows 10 (using the online update or a USB key), it repeatedly hung (crashed) with a PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA error: After reverting to Windows 8.1, it showed this message: 0xC1900101-0x4000D - The installation failed in the SECOND_BOOT phase with
- [HitmanPro.Alert Blocks .NET 3.5 Install](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/02/hitmanpro-alert-blocks-net-3-5-install/): On a Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials machine, I wanted to install .NET 3.5, but it kept failing with “Access Denied” whether I did it from the Server Manager or using a dism command. With the server install source on the I: drive, this is the command I was running (all on one line): dism
- [Update TeamViewer ID in MaxFocus Remote Management](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/12/update-teamviewer-id-in-maxfocus-remote-management/): On one machine running TeamViewer (not Take Control), the TeamViewer ID changed. Not sure why but it may have to do with having installed a new network card in the machine.The MaxFocus Remote Management dashboard was still trying to connect to the old TeamViewer ID. You can check this by saving the tvcontrol.tvc file that
- [Script Timing Out in MaxFocus Remote Management](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/12/script-timing-out-in-maxfocus-remote-management/): Sometimes a script times out because it really is trying to do more than is possible in the time allowed. But what if a script runs fine in the command shell, finishing in just a few seconds, but it times out in MaxFocus even when given five or fifteen minutes? Checking for the Error Buffer
- [Debugging Scripts in MaxFocus Remote Management](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/12/debugging-scripts-in-maxfocus-remote-management/): Sometimes a script is failing or timing out when run from the MaxFocus dashboard and you need to duplicate dashboard behavior manually from a command prompt. Here’s how: 1. In C:\Program Files (x86)\Advanced Monitoring Agent\scripts, find the script that is not working, e.g. 92068.cmd. 2. Open C:\Program Files (x86)\Advanced Monitoring Agent\debug.log. Search for the last
- [Replace Fan in APC Back-UPS XS 900 (BX900R)](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/12/replace-fan-in-apc-back-ups-xs-900-bx900r/): The Young Lin DFB401024H fan that comes in the Back-UPS XS 900 VA (BX900R) uninterruptible power supply is rated for 50,000 hours or 5.7 years. At some point the bearings will fail and it will start screeching. Here’s how I replaced the fan.The first challenge is finding an equivalent 24-volt brushless fan. Last time I
- [Manually Determine User’s Profile Path](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/12/manually-determine-users-profile-path/): If you can log on as a user, you can run echo %UserProfile% to get the correct profile path. But if you are logged on as another user, or even across the network, here is the down-and-dirty way to get the same info. 1. List domain users and their SIDS, from an administrative command prompt:
- [Using Office 365 in an SBS 2008 Environment, Take 2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/08/using-office-365-in-an-sbs-2008-environment-take-2/): After working with a very helpful Microsoft Support manager, here are some updated suggestions to the problems identified in the first version of this article. Getting Mail to Leave SBS The support manager reminded me that Office 365 offers an email alias in the mydomain.onmicrosoft.com domain. If my primary email is myuser@mydomain.com, Office 365 lets
- [Can’t RDP to Lenovo Windows 7 Machine](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/11/cant-rdp-to-lenovo-windows-7-machine/): I was setting up a new Lenovo M93p desktop using the OEM install of Windows 7 Pro x64. After joining the computer to a domain, as soon as I tried to connect to it via Remote Desktop, before even getting to the logon screen, I got the popup message: This computer can't connect to the
- [Important Microsoft Update Not Auto-Installed](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/11/important-microsoft-update-not-auto-installed/): At one client, Server 2012 R2 Essentials is telling me every day that important updates should be installed on client computers. But automatic updates are enabled for several hours during the night; why aren’t the updates being installed automatically?The update in question is KB3101488, an important update to Office 2013. As you can see, it
- [Outlook 2013 Slow Autodiscover with Office 365](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/11/outlook-2013-slow-autodiscover-with-office-365/): I’m using Outlook 2013 to connect to my Office 356 account. DNS is set up correctly, with autodiscover.mydomain.com pointing to autodiscover.outlook.com. I recently had to re-create my account and it took 20+ minutes to find the Office 365 server.I right-clicked on the Outlook icon in the system tray and choose Test E-mail AutoConfiguration…. There I
- [Delete Orphaned VSS Task](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/02/delete-orphaned-vss-task/): I recently removed a volume from my SBS 2008 server, but I forgot to turn off shadow copies beforehand. Now I’m getting VSS EventID 7001 in the Application event log: “VssAdmin: Unable to create a shadow copy: Either the specified volume was not found or it is not a local volume.” Apparently VSS is still
- [Essentials 2012 R2 Anywhere Access VPN Failure](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/11/essentials-2012-r2-anywhere-access-vpn-failure/): I’ve set up Anywhere Access on my Essentials 2012 R2 server including the VPN option. However, when I try to connect, the connection fails and I get error 20253 on the server:Log Name: System Source: RemoteAccess Event ID: 20253 Task Category: None Level: Error Keywords: Classic Description: RoutingDomainID- {00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000}: CoId={6EB7B9C7-1DA5-4CA9-BF23-2C7880052E31}: The user mydomain\myuser connected to
- [Free Up Memory for Hyper-V Guests](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/11/free-up-memory-for-hyper-v-guests/): I run a small Server 2012 R2 machine that functions primarily as a Hyper-V server. It has 12 GB of RAM. The guests do not use dynamic RAM. Today I had four guests running, consuming a total of 7.5GB of RAM. I wanted to start a fifth guest that would use an extra 1 GB.
- [WinInit.exe Stealing Port 5000](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/10/wininit-exe-stealing-port-5000/): On a Server 2012 R2 machine, I couldn’t figure out why WiniInit.exe, which loads at Windows startup, was using port 5000, which I wanted to use for an application. My understanding, e.g. from this thread, was that WinInit was supposed to use the first dynamic port. And this machine has the standard dynamic range starting
- [3CX 11 Fails to Start after Build 30295 Update](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/10/3cx-11-fails-to-start-after-build-30295-update/): Today I installed 3CX version 11 with SP4 on a new, virtualized Windows Server 2008 R2 x64. The installer downloaded and installed the Visual C++ 2010 SP1 x64 redistributable. The 3CX services started fine. I applied Build 30295 to fix the Heartbleed vulnerability, and most 3CX services would no longer start: Instead, this SideBySide error
- [Monitor Dell DRAC 5 Using SNMP](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/03/monitor-dell-drac-5-using-snmp/): I want to use the SNMP checks in GFI MAX Remote Management to monitor my Dell Remote Access Controller (DRAC), version 5. The Dell™ OpenManage™ Server Administrator Version 6.2 SNMP Reference Guide (PDF) is the main reference on Dell SNMP. For the DRAC, the Dell RAC Out-of-Band Group section lists lots of stuff
- [Remote Desktop with Custom Port from Surface RT](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/09/remote-desktop-with-custom-port-from-surface-rt/): Today I was helping a customer connect from an original Microsoft Surface tablet running Surface RT to a remote Windows 7 desktop computer. The desktop uses a custom RDP listening port (e.g. 34111). We encountered a problem with the standard Remote Desktop Connection application. According to the customer, when she typed “remote.domain.org:34111” as the Computer
- [Synology: More than a NAS](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/09/synology-more-than-a-nas/): I recently had the opportunity to attend a seminar showcasing Synology’s lineup of network-attached storage (NAS) devices. Their offering is truly impressive, with everything from two-disk home units up to massive enterprise devices that can expand up to 180 disks and over a petabyte (1000 terabytes) of storage. Of course lots of companies make NAS
- [Windows Update Operation 4913 of 11629](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/09/windows-update-operation-4913-of-11629/): Usually Windows Updates shows you a percentage complete as the machine is rebooting. Yesterday for some reason, on one Windows 7 machine, I got a count of the “operations”: The “operations” completed fairly quickly and the machine seemed fine. I just thought it was interesting to see how much was going on.
- [Aspire R11 R3-131T and the 32GB Limit](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/09/aspire-r11-r3-131t-and-the-32gb-limit/): Recently I purchased an Acer Aspire R3-131T-C28S from Walmart. I wanted to see how far I could get with a $199 computer. The answer? Pretty far, but not far enough. Specs: 2GB memory, 11.6” HD touchscreen (1366x768), 32GB “internal storage,” Intel Celeron N3050 dual-core processor, Windows 8.1 Standard, 3.1 pounds. I really like the size
- [GFI Script to Show Who Is Logged in Locally](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/10/gfi-script-to-show-who-is-logged-in-locally/): GFI workstations only check in every 30-60 minutes, but it would still be helpful to see if anyone was logged on to a workstation at the most recent check-in. If it’s 8pm and no one was logged in at 7:30pm, probably they are gone for the evening and I can log in to the machine
- [Open Word 5 File in Word 2013](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/08/open-word-5-file-in-word-2013/): I have some Microsoft Word 5 files from 1990 that were not opening properly in Word 2013. I could see some text but not all, and the formatting was wrong. This tip by Allen Wyatt helped me solve the problem. Unfortunately, the WDSUPCNV.EXE file is no longer available on the FTP site linked in that
- [Changing the Passenger Standalone Log Level](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/06/changing-the-passenger-standalone-log-level/): I’m trying to debug an issue with Passenger Standalone 4.0.53 and had a hard time figuring out how to increase the log level. It turns out you have to create a custom Nginx configuration file, then reference it when you start Passenger. This refers to running Passenger Standalone under Amazon Web Services’ Elastic Beanstalk. My
- [Gigabit Switch Spanning Tree Causes Slow Logon](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/02/gigabit-switch-spanning-tree-causes-slow-logon/): I recently installed a Dell PowerConnect 2824 switch, my first foray into managed switches and gigabit networking. I blogged earlier about how to set it up and how to use it for bandwidth monitoring. The client where I installed the switch reported that an XP workstation (a Dell OptiPlex 755 with a gigabit NIC) was
- [Configure WordPress on OpenShift without Git: Part 2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/05/configure-wordpress-on-openshift-without-git-part-2/): In the Part 1 of this article, I explained how to set up an “empty” PHP app on OpenShift and how to connect to it using Putty, WinSCP, and FileZilla. In this part, we’ll focus on actually setting up WordPress. As mentioned in Part 1, I’m moving a WordPress site from a shared host, so
- [Configure WordPress on OpenShift without Git: Part 1](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/05/configure-wordpress-on-openshift-without-git-part-1/): I wanted to move a WordPress site from a shared host to a OpenShift, the PaaS offering from RedHat. This should be a faster setup since the OpenShift gears will be dedicated to just this one site. However, OpenShift is focused on developers and by default expects you to install command-line tools and git version
- [PowerShell Command to List Users and Password Expiration Dates](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/03/powershell-command-to-list-users-and-password-expiration-dates/): Here from TechNet is a quick PowerShell script to list enabled Active Directory Accounts and their password expiration dates:
- [Manage delayed_job on Elastic Beanstalk](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/03/manage-delayed_job-on-elastic-beanstalk/): With huge thanks to this post by Daniel Viklund, I want to share some notes and code about how I am managing delayed_job on a Rails 3.2.16 app deployed on AWS Elastic Beanstalk. I’m currently using the 64bit Amazon Linux 2014.09 v1.1.0 running Ruby 2.0 (Passenger Standalone). The “2014.09” is significant as that generation of
- [Slow File Transfer over Cisco VPN with Tomato QoS](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/03/slow-file-transfer-over-cisco-vpn-with-tomato-qos/): I recently upgraded my Linksys E2000 router to Tomato Firmware v1.28.7507 MIPSR2Toastman-RT K26 VLAN-VPN. This includes quite a few default QoS rules. Today I connected to a customer network using Cisco AnyConnect VPN software, then used Windows Explorer to copy an 40MB file over the VPN. The transfer was extremely slow, averaging under 8 KB/second,
- [Isolate a Svchost.exe Process in Task Manager](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/01/isolate-a-svchost-exe-process-in-task-manager/): On my Windows 7 SP1 x64 workstation, I had a svchost.exe process that kept growing in size. In Task Manager its Commit Size was up to 2.5GB before I rebooted. I was shopping for additional RAM but then decided to see if I figure out if it was a software issue. The problem with svchost.exe
- [Increasing the WP-Mail-SMTP Timeout](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/01/increasing-the-wp-mail-smtp-timeout/): WP-Mail-SMTP is a popular WordPress plugin that lets you configure your site to send email through an external SMTP host rather than directly from WordPress. It does this by sending special parameters to WordPress’s built-in version of PHPMailer. The problem was, I was only getting mail part of the time. Using WP-Mail-SMTP’s helpful test function,
- [Install MAXfocus Agent over Network with PsExec](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/01/install-maxfocus-agent-over-network-with-psexec/): I blogged earlier about how to Install GFI MAX Agent via Startup Script. But what if you want to quickly deploy the agent without rebooting the machine? And someone is logged on to the machine so you can’t access its desktop? This assumes that the machine is in a domain environment and that the proper
- [NTFS 55 Errors on VolumeShadowCopy](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2015/01/ntfs-55-errors-on-volumeshadowcopy/): A Windows 7 x64 workstation logged the following error at least once a day, apparently whenever a Volume Shadow Copy was requested, e.g. for a backup: Log Name: System Source: Ntfs Event ID: 55 Task Category: (2) Level: Error Keywords: Classic Description: The file system structure on the disk is corrupt and unusable. Please run
- [Change Service Logon Across Network](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/12/change-service-logon-across-network/): I needed to change the Advanced Monitoring Agent service to log on as a domain user rather than as LOCAL SYSTEM. Besides changing the service logon, the domain user must be granted Log On As a Service rights, which you can do in a batch file with the ntrights.exe program, available in the Windows 2003
- [TeamViewer Silent Uninstall and Re-Install](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/12/teamviewer-silent-uninstall-and-reinstall/): I approved an upgrade to TeamViewer 10 and lost TeamViewer access to a machine from the MAXfocus dashboard. I need to downgrade TeamViewer from 10 to 9 to re-gain compatibility with MAXfocus. I only have command-line access to the machine via the MAXfocus Remote Background prompt.Posts here and here explain that the /S switch (must
- [Testing an Outbound Port from Your Web Host](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/12/testing-an-outbound-port-from-your-web-host/): Recently I decided to install the WP Mail SMTP plugin into a WordPress blog to get around the shared server being blacklisted. The idea is to get WordPress to send emails through an external mail server after authenticating. However on one server, the test mail was failing: I was getting a timeout error.After a little
- [Windows 8.1 Post-Install Tasks](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/11/windows-8-1-post-install-tasks/): I made these notes almost a year ago after upgrading a Windows XP Home machine to Windows 8.1. Some still apply today. Note that this is about a non-domain install and assumes you want to run a daily image backup, and to get the UI back to a point where a computer novice who knows
- [Crypto Viruses: the Online Stickup](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/11/crypto-viruses-the-online-stickup/): You may have heard of a resurgence of the CyptoLocker/CryptoWall ransmomware viruses. These make me nervous because they can actually encrypt the files on your drive, making them unreadable and unusable. The crooks then demand that you pay $500 - $1500 to recover your files. If you see a screen like this, your computer has
- [PowerShell Script to Run a Program Once](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/11/powershell-script-to-run-a-program-once/): I want to deploy CryptoPrevent Portable using the MaxFocus RMM tool. CryptoPrevent sets up software restriction policies to keep programs from running in certain locations. However, it doesn’t actually install a program or service, so it’s hard to know if it’s already been set up. (Thanks to Jake Paternoster for confirming that in a comment
- [List Listening Ports](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/11/list-listening-ports/): I need this so often and always have to go looking for it. To list local listening ports with the owning process ID: netstat -ano | find /i "listening" And my go-to summary of commands from the Petri IT Knowledgebase: Quickly Find Local Open Ports
- [Register PC on Brother Scanner](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/11/register-pc-on-brother-scanner/): A client reported that his PC was disappearing from the Scan to PC list on his Brother 7065 multi-function device every day, apparently after logging off. When he logged on again, if he would do a manual scan from his PC, the computer would be listed again. Brother support said that the scanner looks for
- [Invoke PowerShell from the Command Line with Parameters](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/11/invoke-powershell-from-the-command-line-with-parameters/): There don’t seem to be too many examples of invoking PowerShell from the command line when the PowerShell command itself has parameters. Here’s one that should work (with a line break to fit it to the column width here): powershell.exe -NoLogo -NoProfile -NonInteractive .\'MCB.Save Params.ps1' -Param1 '192.168.1.1' -Param2 'Router' This should be run in the
- [GFI Script to Show Windows Update Settings](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/10/gfi-script-to-show-windows-update-settings/): I wanted to be able to quickly check the Windows Update settings for a bunch of workstations using the GFI MAX RemoteManagement dashboard. I didn’t want to change the Windows Update settings (I’m using Group Policy for that), just check them.I found a Fixit script that did something similar, and adapted it for my needs.
- [Monitor a Cisco RV320 Using SNMP](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/10/monitor-a-cisco-rv320-using-snmp/): So far I haven’t been able to find documentation or a MIB file for the Cisco RV320. However using GetIf and the RV0XX MIB, I managed to dig out some useful OIDs. Update December 2, 2014 I did get a MIB collection for the RV320 from Cisco support but I was unable to find anything
- [SMTP Smarthost to Office 365 and Gmail](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/10/smtp-smarthost-to-office-365-and-gmail/): I use the Windows SMTP service to relay some mail to Office 365 and, from another site, to Google Apps Gmail. Here are some notes and links on both.SMTP General The default outbound message size limit is 2MB. If you’re sending larger messages, increase that on the Messages tab: Set up shortcuts to the
- [Windows SMTP Service Not Sending Messages](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/10/windows-smtp-service-not-sending-messages/): On a Server 2012 R2 Essentials machine, I set up the SMTP service with a smart host to relay messages. The setup was identical to a working setup at another location. I could see in the SMTP logs that the server was accepting the messages, and they were accumulating in the Queue folder, but the
- [DHCP Reservations on a Cisco RV320](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/10/dhcp-reservations-on-a-cisco-rv320/): The Cisco RV320 router lets you bind a MAC address to an IP address. Normally you would think that would reserve the address for assignment via DHCP, but the documentation states very clearly on p. 49, “Binding does not assign an IP address to a device.” The documentation is wrong.A determined support rep tested and
- [Embedded Image Shows Red X in Outlook](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/10/embedded-image-shows-red-x-in-outlook/): I wanted to use the PayPal Payment Request Wizard in QuickBooks 2014 to add a payment button to an email. But when the email opened in Outlook 2010, there as a red X where the Pay Now button should have been.Thanks to this article, I found a solution that I never would have thought of:
- [SQL 2000 Management from Windows 8.1](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/09/sql-2000-management-from-windows-8-1/): I maintain a legacy application running on SQL 2000 under Server 2003. I’m migrating my VB6 development environment from XP to 64-bin Windows 8.1. I wanted to continue using SQL Management Utilities from the new dev machine.Actually, SQL 2000 isn't supported on Vista or above (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/sqlreleaseservices/archive/2009/10/23/sql-server-on-windows-7-and-windows-server-2008-r2.aspx), but why should that stop me? Management Utilities Setup
- [Can’t Connect to Essentials 2012 R2 with RWA](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/09/cant-connect-to-essentials-2012-r2-with-rwa/): I usually use straight RDP to connect to my Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials machine, but I wanted to try Remote Web Access. I had no problem logging in to the RWA web page, but when I clicked on the sever and tried to open the RDP session through the gateway, it failed with no
- [Microsoft EULAs and Price Lists](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/08/microsoft-eulas-and-price-lists/): The decision about how to acquire Microsoft licenses usually comes down to license terms and price. Here are some shortcuts to finding the relevant information on the Microsoft web site.Open License Product Use Rights (PUR) www.microsoft.com/licensing/about-licensing/product-licensing.aspx Or create a customized document: pur.microsoft.com/products.aspx OEM and Retail End-User License Agreements (EULAs) www.microsoft.com/useterms Open License Price Spreadsheet Search
- [AWS Elastic Beanstalk Initializes App Every 24 Hours](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/07/aws-elastic-beanstalk-initializes-app-every-24-hours/): My Elastic Beanstalk deployment was loading my app but returning an error: [Instance: i-4e74d545 Module: AWSEBAutoScalingGroup ConfigSet: null] Command failed on instance. Return code: 1 Output: Error occurred during build: Command hooks failed . Script /opt/elasticbeanstalk/hooks/appdeploy/post/ 05_revert_bundle_install_local.sh failed with returncode 1 Then I noticed something odd in the logs: the app was trying to reload
- [Find and Block a Rogue WiFi Device](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/07/find-and-block-a-rogue-wifi-device/): I manage a small network that uses a router running Tomato firmware to host a guest wireless network on separate VLAN (setup guide). The modest 3000/512 DSL connection is easy to overload but after a recent speed complaint, I started noticing some odd traffic.On Tomato’s QoS > View Details page, I could see that there
- [Using Google Apps for E-mail Filtering Only](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/05/using-google-apps-for-e-mail-filtering-only/): I have a small client with an in-house mail server. Their cloud-based spam filter just wasn’t keeping up—too much spam was making it through. I wanted to try Google Apps Gmail as a spam filter but let them keep their in-house server for now. An additional requirement is that two named in-house users should receive
- [BitLocker on Windows 8.1 Standard](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/03/bitlocker-on-windows-8-1-standard/): My new Asus Transformer Book T100 running Windows 8.1 (Standard, not Pro), authenticating with my Microsoft account, has Device Encryption (BitLocker) enabled. Nice! Check out these articles on HowToGeek and Ars Technica. Recovery If you need to access the recovery key stored in your Microsoft account, go here: https://onedrive.live.com/recoverykey. And here’s a Microsoft FAQ. manage-bde
- [MCB Systems Celebrates 25 Years!](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/01/mcb-systems-celebrates-25-years/): Way back in January 1989, fresh off the plane from Germany, I moved to Oceanside, California and hung out my shingle on the ground floor of a rented vacation condo. I’ve never had a better view from my office door! If I have any doubt that it’s been 25 years, I only have to compare
- [Restore Server 2012 R2 to a ThinkCentre M93p Desktop](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2014/01/restore-server-2012-r2-to-a-thinkcentre-m93p-desktop/): There are several differences since the last time I did a disaster recovery restore test. The server is now a Lenovo ThinkServer TS140 running Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials on “bare metal,” i.e. no Hyper-V is involved. The target machine is a ThinkCentre M93p. Server 2012 backups are done using the standard Windows Backup program
- [Skype Password Token Is Not Recognized](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/04/skype-password-token-is-not-recognized/): So you’ve gotten rid of Microsoft Messenger and switched to Skype. But you forgot your password, and now Skype has you in an infinite loop of “Sorry that password token is not recognized.” What to do?The Skype community is full of reports of this error. One post gave me the clue I needed: “I am
- [Yes You Can Shred a Hard Drive](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/12/yes-you-can-shred-a-hard-drive/): Normally when I decommission a computer, I use Darik’s Boot and Nuke to wipe the hard drive to Department of Defense standards. However, if the hard drive has crashed, you can’t wipe it but it probably still contains recoverable data, so for security it must be destroyed. Also, shredding is probably the only safe disposal
- [HP MediaSmart LX195 Server Recovery](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/12/hp-mediasmart-lx195-server-recovery/): I’m preparing to sell a LX195 that is no longer needed. I put in a blank hard drive and tried to do a server recovery so I could get to the Factory Reset option. But it kept failing during step 3 of 4. I’m using a Windows 7 Ultimate laptop to host the restore. Things
- [Temporary Internet Files Missing Under IE 11](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/12/temporary-internet-files-missing-under-ie-11/): This was a strange one. Symptoms: In Word 2010 and Publisher 2010, clip art does not show preview images. Cutting and pasting an image from a web page fails. IE 11 keeps no browsing history, not even during the current session. Trying to download a file fails to display the Open / Save choices. Issues
- [Remote Desktop Gateway Causes ESENT 490 Errors on Server 2012 R2 Essentials](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/12/remote-desktop-gateway-causes-esent-490-errors-on-server-2012-r2-essentials/): On every restart of a new Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials machine, I get several instances of the following errors in the Application event log:Log Name: Application Source: ESENT Event ID: 490 Level: Error Description: svchost (3536) An attempt to open the file "C:\Windows\system32\LogFiles\Sum\Api.chk" for read / write access failed with system error 5 (0x00000005):
- [Run a .NET 2.0 App under IIS 8 on Server 2012 R2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/11/run-a-net-2-0-app-under-iis-8-on-server-2012-r2/): When you first set up Server Essentials 2012 R2 with Anywhere Access, IIS 8 is configured with .NET v4.5 only. If you try to run a .NET 2.0 application, you may get a message like this: Compilation error BC30456: 'rows' is not a member of 'MyDataSetTableAdapters.myTableAdapter'You’re a clever chap, so thinking that a compilation error
- [Server 2012 R2 not Replicating SYSVOL from Server 2012](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/11/server-2012-r2-not-replicating-sysvol-from-server-2012/): I recently added a Windows Server 2012 R2 machine to my domain and moved the FSMO roles to it from the old Server 2012 machine. However, when I opened Group Policy Management on the destination, it kept throwing up an error. I eventually ran dcdiag, and saw this complaint about “advertising”:Testing server: Default-First-Site-Name\MARS Starting test:
- [Thousands of WMI Event ID 10 Errors after Server 2012 R2 Upgrade](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/11/thousands-of-wmi-event-id-10-errors-after-server-2012-r2-upgrade/): I recently upgraded my Hyper-V host from Server 2008 R2 to 2012 R2. It’s not domain-joined, and I did an in-place upgrade. Every 11 seconds, I was getting the following error in the Application event log: Log Name: Application Source: Microsoft-Windows-WMI Event ID: 10 Level: Error User: SYSTEM Description: Event filter with query "SELECT *
- [Reset the Windows 7 System Tray Icons](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/11/reset-the-windows-7-system-tray-icons/): Every so often, my system tray icons lose their pictures, usually because the server that they point to was offline for a while. Then I have to go hunting for the solution, even the one I posted on SuperUser. Here it is for future reference. Open Windows Explorer, go to %userprofile%\AppData\Local, delete IconCache.db. Open Task
- [Server 2012 R2 Post-Upgrade Tasks](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/11/server-2012-r2-post-upgrade-tasks/): A couple days ago, I upgraded my Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V host to Server 2012 R2. I had to remove an old eSATA card that doesn’t have 2012 drivers, but other than that, the upgrade went pretty smoothly and I was able to start my Hyper-V guests. However, a few things were not working
- [Windows Update High CPU](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/10/windows-update-high-cpu/): I’ve had a couple of Windows XP virtual machines get hung trying to do Windows Updates this month. CPU usage approaches 100% and if I do a manual update check through Internet Explorer, the green bar just keeps sliding back and forth for half an hour or more: I thought that the answer in this
- [Woohoo! 2000 Points on StackOverflow](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/09/woohoo-2000-points-on-stackoverflow/): I post most of my development questions and answers on StackOverflow, where you get points if people like your posts. Woohoo, I just hit 2000 points! All this means is that I am now allowed to edit other people’s posts. You’d think they would send me a T-shirt or something, haha.
- [Have You Heard Yet of CD-ROM?](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/07/have-you-heard-yet-of-cd-rom/): I recently came across a letter that I wrote to a theologian friend in November 1987 about a business idea. Reading it was a fun reminder of how far technology has come. Here’s an excerpt: Have you heard yet of CD-ROM? You’ve seen the audio CD’s that reproduce sound perfectly because they record it digitally.
- [TurboTax Fails to Print Supporting Details](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/07/turbotax-fails-to-print-supporting-details/): I want to raise awareness about a TurboTax bug that may affect your ability to defend yourself in the case of an IRS audit. I use the TurboTax Supporting Details feature extensively to add information about where my numbers come from. But starting with tax year 2011, TurboTax does not print many supporting details. If
- [Office 365 SMTP Relay: What KB2600912 Doesn’t Tell You](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/06/office-365-smtp-relay-what-kb2600912-doesnt-tell-you/): Yesterday I was trying to set up Office 365 to relay email messages from Line-of-Business applications. I was following the smart-host method described in Microsoft KB2600912: How to set up an SMTP relay in Office 365. However that article was missing some key pieces of information. Credit: This article pointed out the certificate requirement. It
- [Lenovo System Update UNCServer.exe](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/06/lenovo-system-update-uncserver-exe/): I had a moment of panic this morning when I discovered UNCServer.exe running on my Windows 7 workstation. I thought it was a VNC server, which could allow external control of my PC. Do I have a virus? I immediately unplugged my network cable and started researching. I first noticed this when using Alt+Tab to
- [Event 7026:  Boot-Start Device SBRE Failed to Load](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/05/event-7026-boot-start-device-sbre-failed-to-load/): I was getting this message when rebooting a Windows operating system: Log Name: System Source: Service Control Manager Event ID: 7026 Level: Error Description: The following boot-start or system-start driver(s) failed to load: SBREIn my case, the SBRE “device” is left over from a previously-uninstalled VIPRE Business Agent. The manual uninstall instructions for VIPRE say
- [Scoped Snapshots vmicvss Error 13 on Server 2012, Windows 8](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/05/scoped-snapshots-vmicvss-error-13-on-server-2012-windows-8/): I’m running Server 2012 Essentials running in a Hyper-V machine under Windows Server 2008 R2. The Hyper-V host does a daily Windows backup at 9pm. The backup is configured to capture Bare Metal Recovery, System State, System Reserved, and the C: drive. It does not back up the E: drive where the VHDs of the
- [Mom Dodges a Fake Antivirus Bullet](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/04/mom-dodges-a-fake-antivirus-bullet/): Tonight my mom was browsing her local utility’s web site when she got a popup “Message from webpage” that Microsoft Antivirus had found critical activity A “Microsoft Security Essentials Alert” was behind that. My smart mom put down the mouse, picked up the phone, and called me. When I connected remotely, I found this screen:
- [Access Point Won’t Stay Up with POE](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/04/access-point-wont-stay-up-with-poe/): I’m working on installing four Cisco 1131AG access points at a client’s location. We want to use Power Over Ethernet (POE) to provide power, and purchased a Cisco SG200-08P switch, which has four POE ports, to provide power. Strange Behavior We found that one access point (AP) would not stay up. It would come online,
- [Secure Email Signatures in Outlook 2010](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/04/secure-email-signatures-in-outlook-2010/): I don’t come across Secure MIME (S/MIME) signed emails very often so I thought it might be interesting to post a few screenshots of what happens when you receive a signed email. If a signed email comes in but you have not yet trusted the signing Certification Authority, you’ll see this in the email header
- [Restore a Hyper-V Server to an Optiplex 960, Take 3](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/04/restore-a-hyper-v-server-to-an-optiplex-960-take-3/): This is the third in the series of almost annual articles about my experiences testing a Hyper-V restore. I’ve done this successfully in 2011 and 2012. Why repeat? To make sure disaster recovery is still possible, and to try a new approach. To recap, I have a Hyper-V server (Dell PowerEdge 1900) running one Hyper-V
- [Server 2012 Essentials Client Backup Cleanup Not Running](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/03/server-2012-essentials-client-backup-cleanup-not-running/): Windows Server 2012 Essentials is raising the following warning every 30 minutes: Warning Alert: CleanupOverdue is raised at SVR2012E. A scheduled cleanup task for Client Computer Backup did not finish successfully. A scheduled cleanup task for Client Computer Backup did not succeed on 3/9/2013 11:59:02 PM. The task has not succeeded in 15
- [Plugable UD-160-A Display Issues](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/03/plugable-ud-160-a-display-issues/): I recently purchased a Plugable UD-160-A Universal Docking Station so I could add a third display in addition to my laptop’s display and my primary monitor. I was experiencing some odd transparency/overlap issues with some apps on the monitor connected to the UD-160, and (easier to duplicate), Windows Aero Peek was not working—I was only
- [Failed to Surface VHD for Windows Server Backup](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/03/failed-to-surface-vhd-for-windows-server-backup/): Yes, though “failed to surface” sounds like a problem for a whale or a submarine, it applies to Virtual Hard Disks as well. I have a Windows Server 2008R2 Hyper-V host running a 2008R2 guest. The guest uses Windows Server Backup, targeting a VHD on the host. Yesterday I swapped the removable physical drive on
- [The RPCHD Service](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/03/the-rpchd-service/): I’ve been testing IDrive as an online backup option. Yesterday a chat support rep asked needed to look at my system, and at his request I downloaded and installed “RemoteSupportHost_317082.exe”, apparently provided by remotepc.net. I was not particularly surprised to find that this started a UNC server. I was a little surprised to find that
- [SkyDrive vs. Google Drive for PDFs](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/03/skydrive-vs-google-drive-for-pdfs/): A few notes as I test SkyDrive and Google Drive for storing some PDF documents. Google Drive The “drive” is a special folder on your PC. You can even put it on a mapped network drive. Nice if you are connected to a server. Google Drive displays PDFs as fairly large thumbnails (shown original size
- [Registry Permissions after Domain Change](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/03/registry-permissions-after-domain-change/): A couple months ago, as part of migrating to Server 2012 Essentials, I created a new Windows domain for my network with the same name as the old domain. I used the ForensIT User Profile Wizard to migrate user profiles. Overall that worked great, but there have been a couple of issues. I blogged about
- [2012 Essentials Internet Connection Errors](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/02/2012-essentials-internet-connection-errors/): On my Server 2012 Essentials virtual machine, I was getting five or six messages every day telling me that the server is not connected to the Internet, even though it is. The messages appeared in a balloon alert in my system tray (from the 2012 Essentials Launchpad) as well as in the event log: Log
- [DFSR event 2213 during Windows Server Backup](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/02/dfsr-event-2213-during-windows-server-backup/): On Server 2012 Essentials, I run the native Windows Server Backup two times per day. I get the warning message below one time during each backup. The message appears 32 seconds after the backup starts. Log Name: DFS Replication Source: DFSR Event ID: 2213 Level: Warning Description: The DFS Replication service stopped replication on volume
- [Red X’s on Network Shares, UAC Prompts](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/01/red-xs-on-network-shares-uac-prompts/): My Windows 7 desktop was showing red X’s next to each mapped network drive. Clicking on the drive let me browse the files, but the Red X remained. When I try to run Microsoft programs like regedit.exe, a UAC prompt told me the Publisher was Unknown: When I tried to run programs stored on the
- [Find Changes in GoldMine Data](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/01/find-changes-in-goldmine-data/): The GoldMine CRM system has a powerful synchronization capability sends changed data to remote sites. But what if you need to review changes on your local machine? You can list changes to individual records using Sync Spy. On recent versions, go to the record you are interested in, then go to Tools > Synchronization >
- [GoldMine 9 Truncates Long Detail Names](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/01/goldmine-9-truncates-long-detail-names/): In the process of upgrading from GoldMine 6.7 to 9.2, I discovered that Detail names longer than 20 characters were cut off. The UI seems to be inserting the comment delimiter (//) in Detail headers. For example, I have a profile named “Airborne Account Number”. The Profile Choices list shows it with two slashes inserted
- [GoldMine Filter Syncs Too Many Records](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2013/01/goldmine-filter-syncs-too-many-records/): Recently I upgraded from GoldMine 6.7 to 9.2.1.92. I have a filter defined that I use when syncing to Outlook. The filter count shows 1184 records, but it actually syncs 1544 records. What gives? This is the SQL filter that returns a count of 1184: But the sync log shows 1544 contacts created (and that
- [Connect to SQL Server 2012 Express Over the Network](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/12/connect-to-sql-server-2012-express-over-the-network/): I’ve recently installed SQL Server 2012 Express SP1 under Windows Server 2012 Essentials. I’m using it to host GoldMine CRM databases. There is so much information about network and firewall access, I wanted to write down what worked for me. Important Background SQL Server Express is by default installed as a named instance. That’s the
- [GoldMine 9 Zip Code Refresh](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/12/goldmine-9-zip-code-refresh/): I’ve been using GoldMine for CRM since 1992, starting with version 3.2 for DOS. Sometime early on, I obtained and imported a Zip Code database. Very handy: just type in a 5-digit Zip, and GoldMine fills in the City and State. I figure after 15+ years, maybe it’s time to refresh the Zip list so
- [FilterManager Event ID 3 During Backups](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/12/filtermanager-event-id-3-during-backups/): I have a 2-week-old installation of Server 2012 Essentials. Windows Server Backup runs twice per day. Every time the backup runs, I get about five of these errors in the System event log: Log Name: System Source: Microsoft-Windows-FilterManager Event ID: 3 Level: Error User: SYSTEM Description: Filter Manager failed to attach to volume '\Device\HarddiskVolume27'. This
- [Fake Facebook Notifications](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/12/fake-facebook-notifications/): It seems that fake notification emails from social networking sites are the #1 way that spammers and virus writers try to lure you to their sites. Here’s an example of a fake Facebook notification email and how to tell:
- [Can’t Sign Code after Changing Windows Domain](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/12/cant-sign-code-after-changing-windows-domain/): I recently created a new Windows domain for my network with the same name as the old domain. I migrated the profile on my XP development machine using the very handy ForensIT User Profile Wizard. Today I needed to sign some code using my VeriSign code signing certificate. But signtool.exe kept giving me this error:
- [MS DTC Can’t Connect after Server 2012 Transition](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/11/ms-dtc-cant-connect-after-server-2012-transition/): I recently transitioned from SBS 2008 to a clean install of Server 2012 Essentials. Most things went smoothly, but one issue took a lot of work to resolve: on an XP development machine, I could read from but not write to the SQL 2000 server running on Server 2003. I narrowed this down to an
- [Convert a Select Drop-Down Box to an Autocomplete in Rails](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/10/convert-a-select-drop-down-box-to-an-autocomplete-in-rails/): I created a nice select drop-down box in Ruby on Rails 3.2.8 using SimpleForm 2.0.2 and Twitter Bootstrap 2.0.3, with authentication from CanCan 1.6.8. Since there are quite a few values in the selection list, I thought it would be nice if the user could make a selection using an autocomplete field instead. Since it’s
- [Announcing MCB GoldLink to 3CX](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/07/announcing-mcb-goldlink-to-3cx/): MCB Systems is pleased to announce the availability of MCB GoldLink to 3CX. GoldLink to 3CX links your GoldMine CRM software with your 3CX phone system. You can auto-dial outbound calls, find GoldMine records of callers based on CallerID, add history items for each each inbound and outbound call, and even add links to recordings
- [SSD Testing](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/10/ssd-testing/): I was surprised today after installing a Kingston V+200 SSD that the Vista disk benchmark only improved from 5.2 with the spindle disk to 5.9 with the SSD. Called Kingston support and they referred me to this tool (registration required, free download): www.attotech.com/products/product.php?sku=Disk_Benchmark At larger file sizes, the Kingston SSD in fact performed about four
- [Converting Go Daddy DNS Records for DNS Made Easy](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/09/converting-go-daddy-dns-records-for-dns-made-easy/): When you export a DNS zone from Go Daddy, there is some unusual formatting. IF you don’t fix it before importing it into DNS Made Easy (and probably other hosts), you may find that DNS queries are not resolving as expected. In my case, that meant email was not getting through. Here are a few
- [Use DNS Made Easy with BuddyNS as Secondary](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/09/use-dns-made-easy-with-buddyns-as-secondary/): After the Go Daddy DNS meltdown earlier this month, and since they do not allow secondary DNS unless you pay them, I’m experimenting with using DNS Made Easy for my primary DNS and BuddyNS for my secondary DNS. (At $30 yearly, a 10-domain DNS Made Easy account is less expensive than adding Go Daddy’s Premium
- [Postgres Error: Trigger is a System Trigger](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/09/postgres-error-trigger-is-a-system-trigger/): All I wanted to do was test a little JavaScript. I’m working on my Ruby on Rails app: Rails 3.2.8, Rspec 2.11.0, Capybara 1.1.2, and Postgres 8.4. I added an Rspec/Capybara test that required JavaScript. I added the necessary :js => true to the test’s define header. But when the web page opened in Firefox
- [Go Daddy: Secondary DNS Should be Free](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/09/go-daddy-secondary-dns-should-be-free/): Today's Go Daddy outage has made it clear that I need to configure secondary DNS servers for the domains I manage. Not only are Go Daddy's servers vulnerable to hacking, they are not geographically distributed. What is secondary DNS? It’s basically a backup DNS server (or several servers) that will continue to answer that all
- [vPro Can’t Turn On Machine](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/08/vpro-cant-turn-on-machine/): I recently acquired two Lenovo M58p desktops and set up vPro in Small Business mode. It worked fine when the computers were on, but once turned off, I could no longer access vPro by browsing to http://:16992. What gives? The main thing I need vPro for is accessing machines that are powered off! Turns out
- [Phony AT&T Bill](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/08/phony-att-bill/): Got a pretty realistic-looking AT&T billing notice this morning. So how to tell it’s phony? Well beside the fact that I’ve never had a $634 phone bill, all you have to do (if you’re using Outlook) is hover the mouse over various links in the email and you’ll see that they do not point to
- [Windows Server Backup Version and Space Management](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/07/windows-server-backup-version-and-space-management/): Just came across this 2009 article from The Storage Team at Microsoft: Backup Version and Space Management in Windows Server Backup There is some good, concise info here including one use of the handy diskshadow.exe utility.
- [3CX Loses License Activation](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/07/3cx-loses-license-activation/): A client running 3CX version 10 mentioned that no one was seeing voicemail indicators or getting voicemail notifications via email. I recalled that these are “paid” version features. Sure enough, his license was no longer activated. After re-activating the license, voicemail notification started working again. But why did the license become unregistered? I did a
- [Set Optiplex vPro Manageability Option](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/07/set-optiplex-vpro-manageability-option/): Almost four years ago, I blogged about how to buy an OptiPlex with vPro from the Dell Outlet. Unfortunately the last time I checked, Dell no longer publishes the detailed system information before you purchase, though you might be able to get the info from a salesperson. I mentioned then that an Optiplex 755 came
- [Getting through Malware Monday](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/07/getting-through-malware-monday/): A government-supported workaround to the 2007 DNSChanger virus will expire on Monday, July 9, 2012. To see if your computer is infected, visit www.dns-ok.us. If you are infected, run a removal tool. There is a list here: www.dcwg.org/fix. To read more about DNSChanger, see this PCWorld article.
- [Free MCB GoldPop Program Loads GoldMine Record from 3CX CallerID](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/09/free-mcb-goldpop-program-loads-goldmine-record-from-3cx-callerid/): I've recently changed my in-house PBX from Linux-based PBX in a Flash to Windows-based 3CX. One of the cool things about 3CX is the included 3CX Assistant, a call manager that runs on each user's PC. Not only does it show who is on a call, it has built-in functionality to pop up the caller’s
- [Dell PERC 5/i Battery Needs Replacing](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/06/dell-perc-5i-battery-needs-replacing/): On a Dell PowerEdge 1900, I was noticing in the OpenManage Alert log that the disk cache policy kept “bouncing” between Write Through and Write Back. The key events are Storage Service 2188 and 2189: 2188 The controller write policy has been changed to Write Through. 2189 The controller write policy has been changed to
- [Exchange 2007 SMTP TLS Error Oddly Resolves Itself](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/06/exchange-2007-smtp-tls-error-oddly-resolves-itself/): I noticed that my SBS 2008 Server was generating 70 or 80 of these errors every day since May 30: Log Name: Application Source: MSExchangeTransport Date: 6/11/2012 10:15:04 AM Event ID: 11005 Task Category: MessageSecurity Level: Error Keywords: Classic User: N/A Description: Unable to validate the TLS certificate of the smart host for the connector
- [Installing Ruby 1.9.3 under Ubuntu 10.04 LTS using RVM](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/04/installing-ruby-1-9-3-under-ubuntu-10-04-lts-using-rvm/): Today when I tried to use rvm to install Ruby 1.9.3, I got errors referring me to make.log and make.install.log: [~]$ rvm install ruby-1.9.3 Installing Ruby from source to: /home/myuser/.rvm/rubies/ruby-1.9.3-p0, this may take a while depending on your cpu(s)... ruby-1.9.3-p0 - #fetching ruby-1.9.3-p0 - #extracted to /home/myuser/.rvm/src/ruby-1.9.3-p0 (already extracted) Fetching yaml-0.1.4.tar.gz to /home/myuser/.rvm/archives Extracting yaml-0.1.4.tar.gz
- [New USPS Shipment Virus Email](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/04/new-usps-shipment-virus-email/): Here’s a new variation on the airline ticket virus email that I reported on last November. An email supposedly from the United States Postal Service says that I have a parcel waiting in Kansas City, and tells me to open the attached file: Don’t open the attachment! It’s a virus. Virus Confirmation There are several
- [Configure a WDS Bridge on a Tomato Guest VLAN](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/03/configure-a-wds-bridge-on-a-tomato-guest-vlan/): I’ve been happily using my Tomato router with a guest wireless VLAN isolated from my main wired LAN. I described the setup here. Now, I want to bridge a second router using the Wireless Distribution System (WDS). Setting up a Netgear WGT624v3 as the bridged router was a challenge in itself, so I wrote that
- [Formatting Time Zones and Datetime in Rails 3](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/03/formatting-time-zones-and-datetime-in-rails-3/): Here is my current approach for formatting time zone and date/time values. I’m using Rails 3.1.3, SimpleForm 2.0.1, and Twitter Bootstrap 2.0.1. I had some trouble finding examples of how to do this so maybe this will help someone. Time Zone config/locales/datetime.yml en: time_zone: priority: US|Hawaii|Alaska|Arizona|Indiana app/views/_user_fields.html.erb true, :priority =>
- [Urgent: New Remote Desktop Vulnerability](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/03/urgent-new-remote-desktop-vulnerability/): Remote Desktop is used by most IT service firms to do remote computer maintenance. It’s also a great tool for allowing people to work from home. This week, Microsoft disclosed a vulnerability in Remote Desktop that could allow anyone to remotely connect to your computer and run programs. According to Microsoft, “…due to the attractiveness
- [Restore a Hyper-V Server to an Optiplex 960, Take 2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/03/restore-a-hyper-v-server-to-an-optiplex-960-take-2/): In January 2011, I wrote about my experience restoring a Hyper-V Server to an Optiplex 960. That article is exhaustive (and exhausting). I’ve done the same test again and wanted to write up a somewhat shorter procedure. If you get stuck in this procedure, refer to the original article for details. Environment and Backups I’m
- [Install Exchange 2007 SP3 Rollup 6 on SBS 2008](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/02/install-exchange-2007-sp3-rollup-6-on-sbs-2008/): After successfully installing Exchange 2007 SP3 Rollup 5 on SBS 2008 a couple days ago, I decided to be brave and try Rollup 6 when it appeared on WSUS today. I’ve heard repeatedly that it’s best to download these updates and install them manually, so that’s what I did. The download is here. This will
- [Windows 7 Issues after 3CX Assistant Uninstalled](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/02/windows-7-issues-after-3cx-assistant-uninstalled/): I uninstalled 3CX Assistant 9 from a Windows 7 SP1 Professional machine a couple months ago. Suddenly this past weekend, the "3CXPSTAPI.tsp_unloaded" module started crashing TAPI (error at bottom of post), and whenever it crashed, it brought down the following services: Cryptographic Services DNS client Workstation Network Location Awareness Telephony Remote Desktop Service Even though
- [Monitor Asterisk with Logwatch](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/02/monitor-asterisk-with-logwatch/): How can I be notified when Asterisk reports issues in its logs, e.g. if a connection is lagged? One way is to include the Asterisk logs in the logs that are monitored by Linux’s daily logwatch. Setting up a logwatch on a new log can be a lot of work. Fortunately, Sebastian Szary has done
- [Manage and Monitor Dell PERC RAID under Linux](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/02/manage-and-monitor-dell-perc-raid-under-linux/): I’ve repurposed an old Dell PowerEdge 1500SC with a PERC 3/SC RAID card for use as a Linux phone server running Asterisk. Unfortunately, the only version of Dell OpenManage that works for the 1500SC (OpenManage 4.5 docs and download) is only supported under Redhat 7.1. I’m using CentOS 5.2, so I’m out of luck. I
- [Fake LinkedIn Emails](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/02/fake-linkedin-emails/): Today’s suspicious emails supposedly come from LinkedIn. They look authentic, but the links actually take you away to bogus and potentially malicious web sites. How to tell? Without clicking, hover your mouse over the link. A little popup should show you where the link really points to, i.e. what web site would open if you
- [New FedEx Virus Email](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/01/new-fedex-virus-email/): Back in November, I wrote about an airline ticket virus email. Now it’s FedEx: today I received this email supposedly from FedEx with a zip file attachment: If you open the zip file to see the “invoice,” you’ll see what looks like a a PDF file: However if you go to Windows Explorer and uncheck
- [Reduce US Bank Fraud with Check Card Alerts](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/01/reduce-us-bank-fraud-with-check-card-alerts/): On December 24, I received an email from US Bank informing me that a purchase had been made the previous day about two thousand miles away using my VISA debit card. I logged on to my online banking account and saw that two more fraudulent transactions were pending. I immediately called US Bank’s fraud department
- [Office 365 Lync vs. Live Messenger for Small Business](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2012/01/office-365-lync-vs-live-messenger-for-small-business/): I’ve used Windows Messenger for years to exchange instant messages with clients, friends, and family. The current iteration of Microsoft’s free IM client, Live Messenger, has been commercialized (displays ads) and doesn’t “feel” very business-like. Since Lync is included with Office 365, I decided to give that a try. Lync Setup Lync requires some updates
- [New Airline Ticket Virus Email](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/11/new-airline-ticket-virus-email/): Today I received an email supposedly from American Airlines with an Zip file attachment: If you open the zip file, you’ll see what looks like a Word document: However if you go to Windows Explorer and uncheck “Hide extensions of known file types,” you’ll see that it is actually an executable file: Don’t run it!
- [Machine Online but Programs Can’t Connect](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/12/machine-online-but-programs-cant-connect/): I maintain a remote Windows XP Pro workstation that’s three or four years old. Today I had a strange situation: I could reach the machine using vPro and see that it was powered on, but it did not come up in LogMeIn. I eventually managed to connect to it using Remote Desktop and started diagnosing
- [Got Backup?](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/09/got-backup/): Computer backup is an insurance plan for your data. Like any other insurance, it’s hard to think about when everything is going great, but you sure are glad it’s there when you need it. Also like insurance, there are lots of factors to consider and lots of potential solutions. So why do you need backup,
- [Use Postini with Office 365](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/12/use-postini-with-office-365/): The hosted Exchange part of Office 365 has been performing pretty well once I got it configured. However, I continue to have issues with Forefront, a separate-but-integrated piece that sits in front of hosted Exchange. Compared to the Google Postini service I used previously, Forefront has given me more spam, false positives, a 3-day wait
- [Free Laptop Anti-Theft Tracking](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/09/free-laptop-anti-theft-tracking/): This is pretty cool: preyproject.com. You install a small piece of software on your laptop or phone. If you lose the device, log in to the Prey web site and change the device's status to Missing. The software will capture a screen shot, webcam shot, geographical location (using GPS or WiFi triangulation), and a bunch
- [Web-Enable Your Custom Software Application](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/01/web-enable-your-custom-software-application/): Are you using custom software to run your business? Perhaps an older Access or FoxPro application? Or maybe some Excel spreadsheets with custom macros? Ever wonder about converting that to an application that could be accessed as a web site, but still look like a local application? Or maybe you have data that so far
- [Linksys SPA942 Busy Lamp Field with PiaF](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/11/linksys-spa942-busy-lamp-field-with-piaf/): A client has an old PBX in a Flash 1.3 installation running Asterisk 1.4.21.2. I’ve upgraded their Linksys SPA942 phones to the latest firmware, version 6.1.5(a). Can we get Busy Lamp Field (BLF) functionality to work on the empty line keys? This post has a concise guide to SPA942 BLF configuration: How to configure BLF
- [Set Up VLAN and Site-to-Site VPN with Tomato](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/11/set-up-vlan-and-site-to-site-vpn-with-tomato/): I wrote recently about setting up guest wireless with the Tomato router firmware. I also needed to be able to use site-to-site OpenVPN between two routers running Tomato. I’m using a “Toastman” build that includes both VLAN and VPN functionality, but how can I use them at the same time? This is the main article
- [Can’t Ping Server after Changing Router](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/11/cant-ping-server-after-changing-router/): After installing a new router, I was no longer able to ping my Hyper-V server. Why not? The router sits at the edge of the network—how could it affect pinging on the local LAN? Often failed pings are related to the firewall on the target machine. For example, the Windows Firewall setup on my Server
- [Get Asterisk to Use the G.729a Codec](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/11/get-asterisk-to-use-the-g-729a-codec/): I’m using Asterisk 1.8.5 under FreePBX 2.8.1.4. My endpoints (Polycom IP430 phone, SPA3102 ATA) and my ITSP all support the G.729a codec. I wanted to test audio quality using this compressed codec. G.729a requires that you purchase a license if you are converting (transcoding) the audio to another codec. Although the licenses are inexpensive, I
- [Set Up Guest Wireless with Tomato](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/11/set-up-guest-wireless-with-tomato/): I’ve been learning Tomato router firmware. This open-source firmware can enhance a low-end wireless router with some pretty advanced features. One of my goals was to set up my wireless for guest-only access, i.e. not connected to my internal LAN (which are all hard-wired connections). Here’s one way to do that. Basically we need a
- [Set Up PostgreSQL for Rails 3.1](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/10/set-up-postgresql-for-rails-3-1/): Heroku requires PostgreSQL for production and recommends it for development. Here is the process I worked out for installing PostgreSQL 8.4 and setting up a Rails 3.1 project. I’m working in Ubuntu 10.04. Install PostgreSQL 1. Install PostgreSQL locally. See Local PostgreSQL Installation on the Heroku site. sudo apt-get install postgresql As of this writing,
- [Install Rails 3.1 for the Rails Tutorial](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/09/install-rails-3-1-for-the-rails-tutorial/): I’ve been working through Michael Hartl’s Ruby on Rails Tutorial. I had some trouble in chapter 13 installing the released version of Rails 3.1.0, so I thought I would post what worked for me. When I tried to follow section 13.1.1 Installing and configuring Rails 3.1, I got errors about an older Ruby version, then
- [APC “Battery Disconnected” May Mean Overheating](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/09/apc-battery-disconnected-may-mean-overheating/): I got an email from APC PowerChute Business Edition that said simply “Battery Disconnected.” The connected UPS is an APC SmartUPS 1500 model DLA1500 (the Dell equivalent of an SUA1500). Of course the battery is not disconnected; the connection inside the unit is a very secure clip that can’t just wiggle loose. Once I got
- [“We Are Going to Sue You” Virus Spam](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/09/we-are-going-to-sue-you-virus-spam/): A new spam email warns that you will be sued—for sending spam! Don’t worry about being sued, but do worry about opening the attachment that purports to be a scanned document. It’s actually a known virus. The email contains at least one language error, but it’s one that is easy to miss. More info on
- [“We Are Going to Sue You” Virus Spam](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/09/we-are-going-to-sue-you-virus-spam-2/): A new spam email warns that you will be sued—for sending spam! Don’t worry about being sued, but do worry about opening the attachment that purports to be a scanned document. It’s actually a known virus. The email contains at least one language error, but it’s one that is easy to miss. More info on
- [Office 365, Safe Senders List and You](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/09/office-365-safe-senders-list-and-you/): Since moving to Office 365, I’ve been having trouble getting Outlook to treat mail from my own address as safe. Mail sent from my own address (e.g. from server monitoring scripts) keeps landing in my Junk E-Mail folder. The obvious solution would seem to be adding the sending email address to the Safe Senders list
- [Windows Phone 7 Clobbers Office 365 Safe Senders](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/09/windows-phone-7-clobbers-office-365-safe-senders/): I set up Safe Senders with Office 365 by uploading a list through Outlook 2010. A few days later, I uploaded an expanded list. But then within 10-20 minutes, the list reverted to my old list? What the heck? Finally a Tier 3 support guy asked, “Do you have a smart phone on that account?
- [PGP Desktop Corrupts Outlook 2010 Recover Deleted Items](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/09/pgp-desktop-corrupts-outlook-2010-recover-deleted-items/): This one has driven me mad for weeks. Finally tracked it down to PGP Desktop. Here are the symptoms and a workaround. Symptoms On my primary Windows 7 machine, I use PGP Desktop 10.1.2 solely for manually encrypting and decrypting files and blocks of text. In Options, I have unchecked Secure Email. The log shows
- [Cyberheist Not the Bank’s Problem](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/cyberheist-not-the-banks-problem/): I’ve recently become aware of a legal case where a company lost a huge amount of money due to a computer virus. Hackers used the virus to steal the company’s online banking password, then proceeded to transfer out over half a million dollars. When the account was empty, the bank advanced over $200K of the
- [Anatomy of a Hacked Web Site](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/anatomy-of-a-hacked-web-site/): Today I visited www.dmachoice.org, the web site of the Direct Marketing Association, intending to update my opt-out preferences. I was surprised when one of the pages took me off their site to a third-party page. When it happened a second time, I started looking for signs that the site had been hacked. Clue #1: Random
- [DSL Extreme vs. Cox High-Speed Internet](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/08/dsl-extreme-vs-cox-high-speed-internet/): I’ve moved from DSL Extreme 6000/768 service to Cox High-Speed Internet Preferred 12000/1500. Here are some comparison stats. These tests are from speedtest.net and Visualware’s VoIP test. Unless noted, I used Los Angeles servers, and all tests route through a local Cisco gigabit switch and a Netgear FVS318v1 firewall/router. DSL Extreme Pretty good for a
- [Office 365 Service Request Error](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/08/office-365-service-request-error/): Office 365 allows creating service requests through the online portal. Yesterday, after typing in all the details on my issue, when I clicked to Submit the service request, I got this error: “There was a problem processing your request.” Ironically the only solution offered is to create a Service Request. As I was talking to
- [Forefront Login Errors](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/08/forefront-login-errors/): As I was setting up Office 365, when I clicked on the link to load the Forefront Online Protection admin panel, I sometimes got this error: “We apologize for the inconvenience but we have encountered an error” The first two links on the page also give errors. Apparently the Forefront site uses ActiveX or other
- [Using Office 365 in an SBS 2008 Environment](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/08/using-office-365-in-an-sbs-2008-environment/): Here are a couple gotchas that I discovered as I migrated Exchange 2007 under SBS 2008 to Office 365, and how I got around them. Update August 26, 2011 There is now an updated version of this article: Using Office 365 in an SBS 2008 Environment, Take 2 Getting Mail to Leave SBS As long
- [Send Mail from SBS 2008 When Port 25 Blocked](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/08/send-mail-from-sbs-2008-when-port-25-blocked/): All of my email is now delivered to the cloud (Office 365). But my SBS 2008 still sends a daily report, and other services (like the APC PowerChute UPS agent) sometimes use SBS as the server for outbound mail. So how can I get this mail delivered even if my new ISP blocks outbound port
- [Office 365:  Is Exchange Migration Active?](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/08/office-365-is-exchange-migration-active/): Are you migrating Exchange to Office 365? Are you waiting on your mailboxes to show up in Office 365 but it seems like nothing is happening? Support suggested a PowerShell command to check status. But you can also check the status through the web interface if you know what to look for. Note Before you
- [SNMP ssCPUIdle Incorrect on CentOS 5.2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/07/snmp-sscpuidle-incorrect-on-centos-5-2/): I use SNMP to monitor ssCPUIdle on CentOS 5.2. Today, after 248 days of uptime, it started returning 0% idle: $snmpwalk -v 1 localhost –c public .1.3.6.1.4.1.2021.11.11 UCD-SNMP-MIB::ssCpuIdle.0 = INTEGER: 0 I logged in to the CentOS command line and ran top and vmstat 5 (credit). Both showed id (idle) of 97% or more, so
- [SNMPUtil on Server 2008 R2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/07/snmputil-on-server-2008-r2/): Yes, SNMPUtil from the Server 2000 Resource Kit, available here, works on Server 2008 R2. The package also includes the handy SNMPUtilG with a graphical interface. Check the ssCPUIdle of a remote Linux machine using SNMPUtilG: Same thing using SNMPUtil from a command line: For some Linux OIDs to monitor, and how to test them
- [Where’s the Date, Man?](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/07/wheres-the-date-man/): Enough with the calculated time spans already. It seems like more and more blogs and discussion posts are going towards the format “Written x days/weeks/years ago” rather than specifying an actual date. My question is: why? Yes, date stamps on posts are supposed to give an idea of how fresh the post is. But they
- [Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Resolves Network Dropouts](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/windows-7-service-pack-1-resolves-network-dropouts/): A few months back, I purchased a Lenovo ThinkPad Edge running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. From the beginning, I had frequent issues with applications crashing due to lost connections to the server. This happened with “legacy” database applications like GoldMine 6.5, but also with newer applications that are supposed to support 64-bit Windows 7 like
- [Force WSUS Check-In from Client](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/force-wsus-check-in-from-client/): To get a Windows client to check in with its Automatic Update server: wuauclt.exe /detectnow To see what Automatic updates has been doing on a client: notepad %WinDir%\WindowsUpdate.log Search for “server URL” to see where automatic updates are coming from. More at the WSUS Client FAQ on the WSUS Wiki.
- [Copy an IIS7 Application Pool](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/copy-an-iis7-application-pool/): Today I needed to create a .NET v4.0 version of an existing application pool. The old app pool was installed by a vendor install and uses a custom identity that gives it access to the vendor’s application. I don’t know the password to the custom identity, so I couldn’t create a new app pool from
- [Tricky PDF Virus Evades Virus Scanners](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/04/tricky-pdf-virus-evades-virus-scanners/): On April 27, multiple users at a San Diego client site received emails purporting to come from the "operator" of the email server. The text of the email was written to try to get the recipient to open the attached PDF file. Opening the PDF file and clicking on a couple of confirmations would install
- [Welcome to the New MCB Systems Web Site!](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/welcome-to-the-new-mcb-systems-web-site/): MCB Systems is proud to welcome you to its new web site at www.mcbsys.com. The site features new information about our premier I.T. services, MCB Proactive Watch and MCB Proactive Care. There’s also a new Blog especially for San Diego computer users where I’ll post news, tips and tricks, safe computing practices, and more. The
- [Phony Facebook Email](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/phony-facebook-email/): Recently I received a very legitimate-looking email supposedly from Facebook. It wanted me to click on a link to read a message. Even though the visible link text shows the link going to facebook.com, the actual link would have taken me to a Romanian web site. The trick: in Outlook 2007, hover over (do not
- [Facebook:  Scam Central](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/facebook-scam-central/): In the last 24 hours I received two invitations from different Facebook friends to sign up for “events.” Both emails actually came from Facebook, and both included the first and last name of my friend as the person extending the invitation. The first promised me a $1000 Best Buy gift certificate: The second was “only”
- [Remove a Contact from an Outlook 2007 Distribution List](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/delete-a-contact-from-an-outlook-2007-distribution-list/): You may have learned the hard way that if you open a distribution list in Outlook 2007, highlight one contact, and click on Delete, the entire distribution list is deleted! The trick is to click on Remove instead of Delete in the distribution list ribbon bar: Tip: if you do accidentally delete the entire distribution
- [Web Site Grader Rates Your Web Site](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/09/web-site-grader-rates-your-web-site/): A colleague referred me to this cool tool for rating web sites: www.websitegrader.com. The tool evaluates your site on the basis of of several criteria: blog, links, metadata, domain age, traffic rank, etc. MCB Systems’ site, created in-house using WordPress, rates 95 as of this writing. How does your web site rate?
- [MCB Now Certified in SBS 2008](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/mcb-now-certified-in-sbs-2008/): I've been a Microsoft Certified Professional for several years. Recently I invested the time to prepare for and take Microsoft exam 70-653. With that successfully behind me, I’m now a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist with a certification in Windows Small Business Server 2008: Working with Small Business Server 2008 Certification aside, it’s great to be
- [Change Background of a Single PowerPoint 2007 Slide](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/change-background-of-a-single-powerpoint-2007-slide/): It’s infuriating when something you’ve done for years in Office 2003 suddenly seems impossible in Office 2007. Case in point: changing the background of a single PowerPoint slide. It seems logical that you could go to the Design tab in the ribbon bar and choose a different Background Style. But that changes the whole presentation!
- [A RARe Virus Delivery Method](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/a-rare-virus-delivery-method/): Yesterday I received the following email from someone I don’t know: The unusual thing is the attachment of type .rar. RAR is an archive format not as common as .zip in the Windows world. I had an old copy of the freeware UnRAR on my machine so I had a look at the file contents.
- [Identifying and Avoiding Fake Anti-Virus Programs](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/12/identifying-and-avoiding-fake-anti-virus-programs/): One of the biggest threats to your computer comes when you land on a web site containing a fake anti-virus warning. These sites try to trick you into installing a program that is actually a virus. Sometimes these programs will encrypt files on your system, then charge you money to unlock them. But what does
- [Prevent Outside Parties from Scheduling Your Calendar](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/01/prevent-outside-parties-from-scheduling-your-calendar/): Ever receive an email with an Outlook calendar item attached, then find that the item appeared in your calendar without your permission? It turns out that by default, Outlook lets anybody in the world add items to your calendar as “tentative” appointments, whether you agree or not. I got instructions from Microsoft support on how
- [Consolidate Multiple Accounts in Outlook 2010](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/04/consolidate-multiple-accounts-in-outlook-2010/): Outlook 2010 allows adding multiple Exchange accounts. But what if you want to save all mail in a primary account, but still send mail from secondary accounts? With some help from Microsoft Partner Support, here is a workaround. You can consolidate mail from multiple accounts into one primary account with a few Outlook rules. Note
- [Invoices Reformatted by QuickBooks 2010 R11 Patch](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/04/invoices-reformatted-by-quickbooks-2010-r11-patch/): When you install the R11 update in QuickBooks 2010 Pro, you may find that all your custom invoices suddenly have an extra, blank box at the bottom. This is because Intuit, without your consent, reformats all your invoices so it can display a link to its Intuit Payment Network: Here’s how to turn that off.
- [Copy Outlook Signatures to New Computer](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/04/copy-outlook-signatures-to-new-computer/): Need to copy your Outlook signatures from one computer to another? Just copy the contents of this folder: %appdata%\Microsoft\Signatures That %appdata% code will expand to the correct name for XP, Vista, or Windows 7. Another way to get to that folder from Outlook is to go to Options > Mail Format Ctrl-click on the Signature
- [Rework](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/rework/): Just finished a great little book called REWORK. About 100 pages of nuggets on how to run a small business, especially a small software company. Many of the suggestions are about keeping the product and the company lean, minimizing distractions, and getting work done. I was inspired to suggest a paragraph for the section on
- [KVM Extender “Cannot Display This Video Mode”](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/kvm-extender-cannot-display-this-video-mode/): My Belkin F1D084 ver. 2 Cat5 KVM Extender was working pretty well until I upgraded to Category 6 for the in-wall cables. I was still using Category 5 for the patch cables between the wall and the devices. But now the remote Dell E172FPb monitor was displaying “Cannot Display This Video Mode.” Huh? Is the
- [Broadcom BCM5708C NIC Offline After Driver Update](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/broadcom-bcm5708c-nic-offline-after-driver-update/): My Dell PowerEdge 2900 has two Broadcom BCM5708C NICs. They’ve been running okay on a fairly old Windows driver, but after some connectivity issues with a new ThinkPad Edge laptop, I decided to update the driver. First I updated the firmware to 6.2.14 using the Windows install package from the Dell site. That went fine.
- [Can’t Connect to DRAC 5 after Firmware Update](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/cant-connect-to-drac-5-after-firmware-update/): I have a DRAC 5 in a Dell PowerEdge 2900. It was working fine on firmware version 1.51, but I was doing some other server updates so decided to update the DRAC firmware as well. I downloaded the Windows install package for DRAC firmware version 1.60. The first install failed (because I had an open
- [How DSL Works](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/how-dsl-works/): I've been working with my ISP and local telco trying to resolve DSL speed issues. In so doing, I'm researching terms like DSLAM, ATM, Redback, etc. Best explanation so far: The theory is simple. Acronyms flow down the phone line from the phone company toward your computah. Monthly contributions of currency flows in the other
- [Setting Up QoS for 3CX under Windows 7](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/06/setting-up-qos-for-3cx-under-windows-7/): As mentioned in the previous post, getting endpoints to apply QoS tagging is only half the battle. We also need the PBX to apply tagging on outbound packets. My current PBX is 3CX version 9, running in a Windows 7 virtual machine. I initially planned to use 3CX’s native DSCP tagging capability to apply tags.
- [Basic QoS Setup on a Cisco SG 200 Switch](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/05/basic-qos-setup-on-a-cisco-sg-200-switch/): I recently purchased a Cisco SG 200-26 gigabit switch to upgrade the office infrastructure. This is a “lightly-managed” switch with a web interface. Here’s what I’ve learned so far about setting up basic Quality of Service (QoS) for Voice over IP (VoIP). First, this is a small business environment with a simple router. Since there
- [Network Cabling and the Not-So-Proverbial Rat’s Nest](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/05/network-cabling-and-the-not-so-proverbial-rats-nest/): I decided to upgrade the in-wall cables in my home office from Category 5 to Category 6. Not a big deal since the conduit is already there, right? Well I wasn’t counting on this. Last fall I successfully eradicated a mouse infestation in the garage, or so I thought. Turns out the mice had been
- [Holding Off on Exchange 2007 SP3 Rollup Update 3-v2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/05/holding-off-on-exchange-2007-sp3-rollup-update-3-v2/): Today my SBS 2008 box offered to install this optional update: “Update Rollup 3-v2 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 3 (KB2530488)”. After some research, I’ve decided to decline this update. I was curious why this rollup is in Version 2 (I hadn’t seen Version 1). That is explained in the Exchange Team Blog post:
- [Outlook 2010 Can’t Send Email to Explicit Address](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/04/outlook-2010-cant-send-email-to-explicit-address/): This Outlook 2010 issue has me stumped so far. Looking for feedback/suggestions. I have a contact in Outlook that has two names, e.g. John Doe and Jane Smith. Only John’s email is in the contact record: Can’t Email Just Jane If I send an email to Jane, explicitly typing her email address: Outlook immediately converts
- [Is This Driver Legitimate?](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/04/is-this-driver-legitimate/): A user running Windows 7 Enterprise received this UAC prompt at logon about a driver installation. But she hadn’t attached any devices, so why is a driver trying to install? And what device is it for? Is some new kind of virus using the driver install process to request UAC approval? I can see the
- [Configure Security Auditing by Subcategory Using Group Policy](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/04/configure-security-auditing-by-subcategory-using-group-policy/): I like to be able to review the Windows Security log to see who has logged on to a computer, among other things. This means that I need to audit Success as well as Failure events. However, with Windows 7 and 2008 R2, my old auditing policies are generating so many events that it takes
- [Connect to DRAC II from Windows 7](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/04/connect-to-drac-ii-from-windows-7/): If you’re still managing an old Dell server that has a DRAC II card, you may have some trouble connecting to it from Windows 7. However it does work, from both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 running Internet Explorer 8. Here are the basic instructions. 1. Download the Server Agents file DOMNWA00.EXE (about
- [Connecting to Microsoft Internal Database SSEE](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/04/connecting-to-microsoft-internal-database-ssee/): Under SBS 2008, the SharePoint installation uses the Microsoft Internal Database (SSEE) as its SQL store. If you ever need to work on this SQL instance, you’ll need to use SQL Server Management Studio Express to connect (using a named pipe) to \.\pipe\MSSQL$MICROSOFT##SSEE\sql\query. But what if you get a “Login failed” message when you try
- [Remote WMI to a Workgroup Server 2008 R2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/03/remote-wmi-to-a-workgroup-server-2008-r2/): So you’re trying to do a simple PowerShell WMI query from a domain-joined computer to a non-domain-joined (workgroup) Server 2008 R2 computer on the same network, e.g. to check the version of the server’s operating system: Get-WmiObject -ComputerName "WGSERVER01" -namespace "root\CIMV2" ` -Class win32_OperatingSystem -Property "Version" But you keep getting nasty messages: Get-WmiObject : Access
- [Outlook Does Not Finish Send and Receive of OAB](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/03/outlook-does-not-finish-send-and-receive-of-oab/): This week, the Send and Receive task in Outlook 2007 SP2 and Outlook 2010 started hanging while trying to download from Exchange Server 2007 SP3 on SBS 2008. If I highlighted the stuck process, I could see that it wasn’t able to get the Offline Address Book: Some articles point to Autodiscover as the problem.
- [Outlook 2010 Repeated Logon Prompts](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/03/outlook-2010-repeated-logon-prompts/): I've been using Outlook 2010 under Window 7 for a few months, connected to Exchange 2007 SP3 running under SBS 2008. I have three Exchange accounts set up in my Outlook profile. Suddenly this week I couldn't get email: I got one credential prompt after another, no matter how many times I entered the password.
- [PowerShell: Remove Blank Lines from Command Output](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/03/powershell-remove-blank-lines-from-command-output/): For some reason, when you run some shell commands in a PowerShell script, the output has an extra blank line after each line. It doesn’t seem to affect commands run in the console, but it is evident using the command line in the PowerGUI Script Editor. Examples are ipconfig and tracert. The thing to keep
- [Windows Phone 7:  The First Week](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/02/windows-phone-7-the-first-week/): My LG Quantum arrived five days ago and I’ve been trying to get used to Windows Phone 7 after saying good-bye to Android 2.1 update 1 on the Samsung Captivate. The Good I like some stuff about this phone: Physical keyboard can be handy. Active tiles on home screen are cool and sometimes useful. Easy
- [Good-Bye Android](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/02/good-bye-android/): I bought an AT&T Samsung Captivate in November 2010 and used it for almost three months. I finally gave up on Samsung and Android and returned the phone yesterday. Some things about Android and the Captivate are great. The turn-by-turn voice navigation is very good; it even pops up a picture of the destination as
- [WordPress at HostGator Faster than Go Daddy](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/01/wordpress-at-hostgator-faster-than-go-daddy/): Back when I first converted this site from BlogEngine.NET, I posted this comparison: WordPress at Go Daddy Slow Compared to BlogEngine.NET. It showed that Google’s crawler was often taking 1000ms and more to read each page from Go Daddy. I finally got tired of the poor (and sometimes hung) performance of the Go Daddy server
- [GoldMine Time Bomb Triggered in 2011](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/01/goldmine-time-bomb-triggered-in-2011/): When I started GoldMine 6.5 for the first time in 2011, I was greeted with a rather unwelcome message: “Please note that your computer’s system date is erroneously set to 1/1/2011. GoldMine’s synchronization may not function properly unless the system date is set correct. Would you like to correct the system’s date now?” If you
- [Restore a Hyper-V Server to an Optiplex 960](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2011/01/restore-a-hyper-v-server-to-an-optiplex-960/): Recently I upgraded a small server to run Windows Server 2008 R2 as a Hyper-V host, with Server 2008 R2 as a guest as well. I’ve read that Windows Server Backup can restore to dissimilar hardware. That could be especially helpful in a small environment where no other servers are available. Can I restore the
- [Android Certificates](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/12/android-certificates/): I’m enjoying my new Samsung Captivate, still running Android 2.1 (c’mon, AT&T, let’s see 2.2!). But I’ve found that Android doesn’t trust the SSL certificate I installed from StartSSL. No problem, I just need to add that to the list of trusted certificates, right? Not so fast. It seems that Android has gotten to version
- [Set up Windows Authentication in IE8](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/12/set-up-windows-authentication-in-ie8/): If you have a web site that requires logging on with Windows Authentication, you can set Internet Explorer 8 to pass through your current credentials, thus bypassing the logon prompt. Vernon gives short and sweet instructions on how to set your Internet Options in this thread: On the Security tab, make sure the site is
- [GoldMine Sync ERROR 00000024](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/12/goldmine-sync-error-00000024/): Sometimes the most difficult problems have the simplest solutions. I'm using GoldMine 6.50.40704. For years I was able to sync with Outlook using the built-in wizard. Since upgrading from Exchange 2003 to Exchange 2007, I could no longer sync. The transfer set was created successfully, but then I got two ERROR 00000024 messages, and the
- [Accessing a Button in a Visual WebGui ListView](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/12/accessing-a-button-in-a-visual-webgui-listview/): I’ve developed a Visual WebGui 6.4 RC1 form that uses a ListView control with a button in each row. The button opens a custom control when pressed. It’s very similar to the “Custom ListView with control” demo in the CompanionKit. At one point I need to be able to change the text of the button
- [How to Repair the SBSMonitoring Database](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/11/how-to-repair-the-sbsmonitoring-database/): My daily report from SBS 2008 told me that MSSQL$SBSMONITORING had raised error event 8646 "Unable to find index entry in index ID 6, of table 357576312, in database 'SBSMonitoring'. The indicated index is corrupt or there is a problem with the current update plan. Run DBCC CHECKDB or DBCC CHECKTABLE.” Run as Administrator I
- [Where to Find CHKDSK Results](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/11/where-to-find-chkdsk-results/): In Server 2008 R2 (and probably other OS’s), when you do a chkdsk /f or chkdsk /r, you’ll probably have to reboot your system let chkdsk have exclusive access to the drive. But where are the results stored? In the Application event log, filter for Wininit event 1001. This article talks about using PowerShell, but
- [VSS Errors While Formatting Drive](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/11/vss-errors-while-formatting-drive/): In Server 2008 R2, I started a full (not quick) format on an external USB drive. While that was running, I wanted to check the shadow copy setup on some other drives. I right-clicked on a drive in Explorer and selected Configure Shadow Copies…. I got a message telling me it couldn’t display the shadow
- [PowerEdge 1500SC: Bogus Memory and Linux Errors](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/11/poweredge-1500sc-bogus-memory-and-linux-errors/): Sometimes the trickiest errors are the ones you should ignore. I’m running PBX in a Flash, based on CentOS 5.2, on a Dell PowerEdge 1500SC. Back in February, I got a segmentation fault error and after some discussion on the PBX in a Flash forum, concluded that I needed to replace the hardware or at
- [Activate Windows 7 Enterprise with a MAK Key – GUI Method](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/10/activate-windows-7-enterprise-with-a-mak-key-gui-method/): In spite of what it says in MSKB article 929826, and in spite of what I wrote in a previous blog article, it is possible to activate Windows 7 Enterprise through the GUI. In fact it’s quick and simple. The problem is, when you first install Windows Enterprise, it doesn’t prompt for a product key.
- [Windows 7 UAC Blocks DRAC II Web Console](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/10/windows-7-uac-blocks-drac-ii-web-console/): You have an old Dell server with a DRAC II remote access card. You just installed Windows 7 and you want to control the DRAC II from that desktop. You’ve installed the Dell Management Station and Client Web Console on the Windows 7 machine. When you run the DRAC II Client Web Console, the ActiveX
- [Hyper-V Failed to Compact VHD](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/10/hyper-v-failed-to-compact-vhd/): On Windows Server 2008 R2 running Hyper-V, I'm trying to compact a (dynamically expanding) VHD on an external hard drive (USB drive, NTFS format). The drive is 59GB and there is 103GB free on the drive. I keep getting the message, "The system failed to compact .VHD. Error code: The requested operation could not be
- [How to Duplicate Administrator Permissions on Server 2008 R2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/10/how-to-duplicate-administrator-permissions-on-server-2008-r2/): When administering Windows servers, I prefer not to use the built-in Administrator account especially when working through Remote Desktop, So I always copy the account to a new account, e.g. MyAdmin, and use that for server admin. That worked great on Server 2003, but in Server 2008 R2, I was encountering all kinds of permissions
- [Reset Roaming Profile and Folder Redirection Permissions](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/10/reset-roaming-profile-and-folder-redirection-permissions/): One of the biggest challenges of working with roaming profiles and folder redirection is setting permissions on the shared objects. I recently migrated a Server 2003 domain controller to Server 2008 R2. In spite of following the Microsoft migration guide, Migrate Server Roles to Windows Server 2008 R2, users were unable to access their roaming
- [Wmiprvse.exe Hangs During File Services Migration](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/09/wmiprvse-exe-hangs-during-file-services-migration/): I’m migrating file services from a 32-bit Windows Server 2003 R2 machine to a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine. Following Microsoft Technet guide File Services Migration Guide, I installed the Windows Server Migration Tools on the source and destination servers, and I am attempting to use Send-SmigServerData to transfer folders. Unfortunately, after I provide the
- [A Required CD/DVD Drive Device Driver is Missing](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/09/a-required-cddvd-drive-device-driver-is-missing/): I downloaded a Windows Server 2008 R2 ISO from Microsoft licensing. I inserted the ISO into a a Hyper-V virtual machine and started the installation. Very soon this message appeared in a window: “A required CD/DVD drive device driver is missing. If you have a driver floppy disk, CD, DVD, or USB flash drive, please
- [Windows Server Backup: VSS Failure Backing Up Guest VM](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/09/windows-server-backup-vss-failure-backing-up-guest-vm/): I’m setting up Windows Server Backup on a Hyper-V host (Windows Server 2008 R2). I want to do an online backup of the guest virtual machine (Windows Server 2003 R2). I’ve already registered the Hyper-V VSS writer per MSKB 958662. So why are my backups failing? The Errors Here’s the error in the Application event
- [Prevent Administrator from Remote Logon to Workgroup Server](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/09/prevent-administrator-from-remote-logon-to-workgroup-server/): When I set up a server for management via Remote Desktop, I prefer to change the RDP listening port to a non-default value (MSKB 306759) and to use a custom admin account for the logon. These simple obfuscations may not defeat a determined hacker, but they do reduce attacks from automated bots. Of course, it’s
- [W32Time Errors in a Hyper-V Virtual Environment](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/08/w32time-errors-in-a-hyper-v-virtual-environment/): I am running Small Business Server 2008 SP2 under Hyper-V. On a Server 2003 member server, also running under Hyper-V, I was getting frequent W32Time warnings errors in the System event log (Event IDs 38, 24, and 29 in that order). Here are the event details. Note that the first one is recorded as an
- [SBS 2008 Post-Install Tasks](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/08/sbs-2008-post-install-tasks/): I recently installed Small Business Server 2008 Standard in a Hyper-V virtual machine hosted by Windows Server 2008 R2. For SBS 2008, I used the media that has Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 pre-applied. Here I list several additional updates and fixes that I applied after the install. In general I’m trying to follow
- [Re-enable BitLocker Auto-Unlock after System Volume Restore](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/08/re-enable-bitlocker-auto-unlock-after-system-volume-restore/): Today I did a disaster recovery test on my Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V host. I used Windows Backup to do a bare metal restore of only the system volume. As expected, after the restore, the system volume was no longer encrypted. But even after re-encrypting the system volume, I was unable to set the
- [How Secure are TrueCrypt and BitLocker?](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/08/how-secure-are-truecrypt-and-bitlocker/): I’ve been using TrueCrypt for a while, and have recently switched to BitLocker. My main purpose is to encrypt backup disks that are taken off site, though I plan to use BitLocker for an internal data volume as well. Recently a colleague noticed that a $495 program called Passware Kit Enterprise is claiming “Instant decryption
- [Run 16-Bit Program Across Network](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/08/run-16-bit-program-across-network/): Okay I’ll admit it. I have a hard time upgrading programs when the old version is working well. I have a 1995-era time tracking program from KMR Consulting called Timeclock that I still use. I run it across the network from my Windows XP SP3 and 32-bit Windows 7 machines. However after changing the host
- [Setting Up Email Connectors in SBS 2008](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/setting-up-email-connectors-in-sbs-2008/): My SBS 2008 environment needs to accommodate a couple of non-standard email requirements: I use cloud-based email filtering, and I only want to allow incoming email from the IP addresses of those service providers. My PBX in a Flash machine is set up to send email through the SBS server. Rather than figure out how
- [SBS 2008 Antivirus Exclusions](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/sbs-2008-antivirus-exclusions/): SBS does so many things that there are lots of antivirus exclusions to make. Starting from my old SBS 2003 list, and working through the extensive research in this post, I came up with the following list for my SBS 2008 exclusions. C:\pagefile.sys C:\inetpub\temp\IIS Temporary Compressed Files\ C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data\ C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft
- [SBS 2008 Slow Startup and Shutdown](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/sbs-2008-slow-startup-and-shutdown/): In my initial RAID 10 tests, SBS 2008 booted in 1 minute 43 seconds and shut down in 4 minutes 10 seconds. Now that I’ve been running for a couple weeks, the shutdown time has remained constant, but the boot time has increased dramatically: a good boot is 3 minutes 10 seconds; the next test
- [Run-time Error 48 Loading DLL](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/run-time-error-48-loading-dll/): I maintain a Visual Basic 6 application that connects to the server using ADO. Recently a Windows XP SP3 computer started throwing this error when first connecting to the server component: Run-time error 48: Error in loading DLL This was cause for much head-scratching and googling. Eventually I ran Sysinternals’ Process Monitor on the “bad”
- [Server Backup and BitLocker](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/server-backup-and-bitlocker/): A lot of attention has been given to encrypting laptops because they are often stolen and their drives may contain sensitive company information. Another popular topic is the need to store backup data off site so you can recover in case of disaster. In the small business arena, this is often accomplished by saving the
- [eSATA Drives Offline Because of Policy Set by an Administrator](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/esata-drives-offline-because-of-policy-set-by-an-administrator/): I'm using eSATA drives so I can do server backup with BitLocker. I attached a couple of eSATA drives to a Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise machine. After booting the machine, the drives appeared in Disk Management as Offline: “The disk is offline because of policy set by an administrator”: Huh? I didn't set no
- [Remote Boot Bitlocker without a TPM](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/remote-boot-bitlocker-without-a-tpm/): One of the challenges of implementing full-disk encryption is how to provide the key to unlock the drive when the system boots. This is especially important with servers, which may be at a remote location. Microsoft’s Bitlocker can use a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) on the motherboard to provide a unified start-up experience, even unlocking
- [Back Up SQL 2005 without Full-Text Index](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/back-up-sql-2005-without-full-text-index/): This script was supposed to be a download from the previous post, Moving Liberum Help Desk to SQL 2005 Express. However, WordPress won’t let me set up a SQL script or a zip file as a download, so I’m putting this out there as a plain old post. I’ll use a tag so it
- [Error Installing Exchange 2007 SP3 on SBS 2008](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/error-installing-exchange-2007-sp3-on-sbs-2008/): Today I wanted to install Exchange Service Pack 3 on my SBS 2008 box. MSKB 982423 says the only thing to worry about is Forefront, which I’m not using. I ran setup.exe as an Administrator. The Readiness checks passed fine. However within a few seconds of starting the upgrade, I got this error: Unable to
- [Copy Windows 7 User Profile](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/copy-windows-7-user-profile/): I had a Windows 7 laptop joined to an old domain that I needed to join to a new SBS 2008 domain. Following the advice in the MS Press book, Configuring Windows Small Business Server 2008, I planned to move the profile to a local user account, disjoin the domain, then use Connect Computer to
- [Can’t Install Exchange 2007 Management Tools on XP](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/cant-install-exchange-2007-management-tools-on-xp/): The only supported way to import .pst files into Exchange 2007 is to use Exchange Management Tools installed on a 32-bit machine running Outlook 2003 or 2007: Exchange Team Blog. However if you download the SP3 version of the 32-bit Exchange Management Tools and try to install them under Windows XP SP3, you get that
- [Best RAID and Cluster Size for a Small Server](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/best-raid-and-cluster-size-for-a-small-server/): What’s the best disk setup on a small business server? I recently got to play around with some options as I set up a Hyper-V host on a Dell PowerEdge 2900 with a PERC 5/i RAID controller. Here are some things I learned along the way. RAID 10 Beats RAID 5 - By a Lot
- [ShadowProtect Fails Reading Hyper-V Pass-Through Disk](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/shadowprotect-fails-reading-hyper-v-pass-through-disk/): I decided to use ShadowProtect to do a physical-to-virtual (P2V) move of an SBS 2003 machine. I booted the SBS 2003 machine from a ShadowProtect 3.5 CD and created offline images of the SBS 2003 partitions. I stored the ShadowProtect images on a simple USB drive formatted with NTFS and a 16KB cluster size. I
- [Re-Create Dell Utility Partition after Windows Server 2008 Bare Metal Restore](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/re-create-dell-utility-partition-after-windows-server-2008-bare-metal-restore/): So you’ve used Windows Server 2008 bare metal restore and it wiped out your Dell Utility Partition. What to do? Background: I’m setting up a Windows Server 2008 R2 machine as a Hyper-V host on a Dell PowerEdge 2900. I originally configured two RAID arrays (0 and 5). Starting with the Dell Systems Build and
- [Diskpart Does Not See Volumes on OEM Partitions](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/07/diskpart-does-not-see-volumes-on-oem-partitions/): As I worked today on recreating a Dell Utility Partition, I encountered this factoid: Diskpart, when run inside Windows, does not see volumes on OEM partitions. If you run diskpart under windows and ask for details on the Dell Utility Partition, you will get this message: “There is no volume associated with this partition”: So
- [Custom Format Drive During Server 2008 Install](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/custom-format-drive-during-server-2008-install/): I’m installing SBS 2008 in a Hyper-V VM. I want the system partition to be formatted with 16KB allocation unit (cluster) size. Whether that turns out to be a good idea or not is another discussion. The question here is, how do I even do that during the SBS 2008 installation? The standard “Format” button
- [WordPress at Go Daddy Slow Compared to BlogEngine.NET](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/wordpress-at-go-daddy-slow-compared-to-blogengine-net/): Through the end of May, this blog was run on BlogEngine.NET and hosted on a Small Business Server through a DSL connection with a maximum 768 kbps upload speed. On June 1, the converted site went live on WordPress at a Go Daddy shared Linux host. I thought that performance would be at least as
- [Hyper-V Core Configurator Does Not Show Paused VMs](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/hyper-v-core-configurator-does-not-show-paused-vms/): I’ve been running PBX in a Flash under the free version of Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 for several months (blogged earlier). This week, I’ve added a couple test machines to the Hyper-V server. Today I came in to see monitoring emails telling me that PBX had gone off- and online several times overnight. Sure
- [Linux Daily Delete Job with Logwatch](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/linux-daily-delete-job-with-logwatch/): I have PBX in a Flash set up to create a daily backup and FTP the file to a Windows server. But how do I get rid of the old backups on the Linux machine, which is running CentOS 5.2? A cron job can do the deletes, but I also want a list of the
- [Using Gzip in a Cron Job at Go Daddy](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/06/using-gzip-in-a-cron-job-at-go-daddy/): I wanted to copy my web site and subwebs from Go Daddy to my local machine. My trusty old WS_FTP32 client kept disconnecting partway through the (large) download. I installed FileZilla, and while that got further, it ultimately disconnected as well. I figured if I could compress the larger folders using gzip, I could just
- [Careful with Image-Based Backup of Exchange and Active Directory](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/05/careful-with-image-based-backup-of-exchange-and-active-directory/): Any image-based snapshot tool requires extra setup if Exchange or Active Directory is involved. Exchange Backup For Exchange, you have to enable the Exchange VSS writer (disabled by default on SBS 2003). That and other tips in this post in the StorageCraft ShadowProtect forum. Active Directory Backup And this little surprise is buried deep within
- [Use Group Policy to Enhance Adobe Security](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/05/use-group-policy-to-enhance-adobe-security/): Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat have become two of the biggest security holes on Windows computers. It’s important to keep them patched. There are also a couple of registry changes that can help by disabling JavaScript and disabling the ability to launch external programs. After barely dodging this /Launch attack a few days ago, I
- [Disable Right-Click Context Menus](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/03/disable-right-click-context-menus/): I love Windows' right-click functionality and use it constantly. However for someone with limited dexterity, it's too easy to press the right mouse button instead of the left. For some reason Microsoft does not include the ability to disable the right mouse button in its Accessibility settings. Fortunately I was able to find two registry
- [Fixing DRAC 5 Error: Remote Access Controller initialization failure](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/03/fixing-drac-5-error-remote-access-controller-initialization-failure/): I recently got a good eBay deal on a DRAC 5 remote access card for my Dell PowerEdge 2900 server. Well it seemed like a good deal until I installed the card and got this message on bootup: Remote Access Controller detected !!*** Error: Remote Access Controller initialization failure*** RAC virtual USB devices may not
- [IE8 No such interface supported](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/03/ie8-no-such-interface-supported/): I hate it when this happens. Under Windows 7, Internet Explorer 8 was giving consistent messages when JavaScript tried to open a new window: "No such interface supported." Debugging mode shows that this is happening when trying to open a window: Google has many suggestions, mostly about using regsvr32 to re-register actxprxy.dll (which works) and
- [PBX in a Flash as a Virtual Machine, Take 2: Hyper-V](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/02/pbx-in-a-flash-as-a-virtual-machine-take-2-hyper-v/): Back in November 2008, I blogged about Setting Up PBX in a Flash, Part 1: Configuring a Virtual Machine. That article discussed running PBX in a Flash (PiaF) under Microsoft Virtual PC or Virtual Server 2005. Within a couple weeks, I abandoned the virtual machine approach and published Moving PBX in a Flash from a
- [Windows Remote Desktop Printing](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/01/windows-remote-desktop-printing/): Often home users connecting to a remote computer would like to print to their local printer. It is possible, at least sometimes, depending on the printer. The basic idea is that the host computer needs a driver for the guest computer's printer, then it needs to be able to map that driver to the printer
- [Optiplex 960 Network Card Dropouts and Slow Speed](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/01/optiplex-960-network-card-dropouts-and-slow-speed/): Recently installed a new Dell Optiplex 960 running 32-bit Windows 7 Enterprise. The system board includes an Intel 82567LM-3 network adapter. With the latest Intel driver from Dell, version 11.5.4.0, the card would frequently lose connectivity for two seconds (e1kexpress events in System event log). When it reconnected, it would often be at 10Mbps instead
- [Computing Interrupted:  The Windows 7 Remote Desktop Experience](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/01/computing-interrupted-the-windows-7-remote-desktop-experience/): The Remote Desktop experience in Window 7 computer has changed significantly since the Windows XP days. Here's a brief overview. If you use Remote Desktop to try to log on to a Windows 7 computer and someone is already logged on, you will see a message like this: Unlike Windows XP, Windows 7 does not
- [Monitor Bandwidth with PRTG and a PowerConnect 2824 Switch](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2010/01/monitor-bandwidth-with-prtg-and-a-powerconnect-2824-switch/): The previous post described basic setup of the Dell PowerConnect 2824 switch. One of the reasons I bought this switch is its ability to "mirror" a port. This allows a properly-configured computer to sniff all the packets going through the mirrored port. If you mirror the port that goes to your external router, you should
- [Setting Up a Dell PowerConnect 2824 Switch](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/12/setting-up-a-dell-powerconnect-2824-switch/): I recently purchased a Dell PowerConnect 2824 switch for use at a client site. The switch has some great features for the price, but the setup instructions are very wrong. I finally gave up and called Dell Support. As soon as the technician saw the 28xx model number, he knew why I was calling; he
- [Windows 7 Causes 675 0x19 Security Errors in Windows 2003 Domain](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/12/windows-7-causes-675-0x19-security-errors-in-windows-2003-domain/): I had this issue with Vista and now it has returned with Windows 7. I got some good advice in the Microsoft Partner Newsgroup and wanted to pass it along. After adding a Windows 7 machine to a Windows Server 2003 R2 domain, I started getting lots of 675 errors in the server's Security Event
- [Group Policy in a Mixed Windows XP - Windows 7 Environment](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/12/group-policy-in-a-mixed-windows-xp-windows-7-environment/): I've recently added a Windows 7 Enterprise computer to a network that is mostly running Windows XP SP3 with a Windows Server 2003 R2 server. One of the main challenges is to get Group Policy to work properly in the mixed Windows XP - Windows 7 environment. For now, the goal isn't to take advantage
- [Activate Windows 7 Enterprise with a MAK Key](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/12/activate-windows-7-enterprise-with-a-mak-key/): Update 10/25/2010: This article is superseded by Activate Windows 7 Enterprise with a MAK Key – GUI Method. A small customer purchased Software Assurance (SA) on their Windows desktop licenses. One SA benefit is the right to install Windows 7 Enterprise. The size of the site does not warrant a KMS server. I was able
- [Go Daddy Email Too Smart for the Cloud](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/12/go-daddy-email-too-smart-for-the-cloud/): A small customer has an in-house mail server. After some recent DSL connection woes, I'm getting nervous about this single point of failure for their email service. The customer's Go Daddy domain and hosting accounts include free email addresses and forwarders. Could we move the email to Go Daddy's servers to get a more robust,
- [Thin Client vs. Desktop in the Small Business](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/12/thin-client-vs-desktop-in-the-small-business/): A non-profit customer has an underutilized server and a desktop due and budgeted for replacement. Would it make sense to replace the desktop with a thin client, and run the needed programs in a virtual instance on the server? I blogged earlier about Microsoft Desktop Virtualization Licensing for the SMB. Mostly for licensing reasons, it
- [Deploying Printers With Group Policy in Windows Server 2003 R2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/11/deploying-printers-with-group-policy-in-windows-server-2003-r2/): I recently added a printer connection to a Windows Server 2003 R2 machine. In the past, this has meant re-training each user on how to connect to a network printer. Surely this connection can be defined centrally for all users and/or computers? It didn't take me long to find Mitch Tulloch's excellent article, Deploying Printers
- [Setting Up Dell OpenManage on Hyper-V Server 2008 R2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/11/setting-up-dell-openmanage-on-hyper-v-server-2008-r2/): One of my misconceptions about the Microsoft virtualization options was that if I wanted to have access to server management tools, I would need to run "regular" (paid) Window Server 2008 so I could install those tools, then enable the Hyper-V role for the virtual clients. It turns out that that is not the case.
- [Setting Up Windows Server Backup on Hyper-V Server 2008 R2](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/11/setting-up-windows-server-backup-on-hyper-v-server-2008-r2/): Part of my testing of Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 will be the built-in backup solution. But although Windows Server Backup it is a built-in feature, it is not enabled by default. Here's how to activate it and to register the VSS writer so it will tell your virtual machines to do a snapshot for
- [Managing Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 from Windows 7](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/11/managing-hyper-v-server-2008-r2-from-windows-7/): I'm testing Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 as a virtualization platform. This is the free version that only includes the Hyper-V role and a command-line interface. Here are a few notes I made on setting things up so I can manage the server from Windows 7 (Professional, Ultimate, or Enterprise only): On the Windows 7
- [Microsoft Desktop Virtualization Licensing for the SMB](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/11/microsoft-desktop-virtualization-licensing-for-the-smb/): I've been thinking about virtualizing a couple of desktops at a small non-profit customer site. The desktops are five years old, due and budgeted for replacement. There's an under-utilized server available. Why not run Windows XP or Windows 7 as virtual desktops on the server, and replace the desktops with thin clients? Technical Options There
- [Kon-Boot vs. Windows 7 BitLocker](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/10/kon-boot-vs-windows-7-bitlocker/): I've been running Windows 7 with BitLocker for a couple months and am quite pleased with it. BitLocker encrypts the hard drive so that if my laptop is lost or stolen, it should not be possible to access the data on the drive even if you remove the drive and attach it as a second
- [NOD32 Error Downloading File from Update Server - retval 0x1105](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/10/nod32-error-downloading-file-from-update-server-retval-0x1105/): I'm running ESET Remote Administrator (ERA) 3.0.105 as an update mirror on a Win2003 R2 server. There are six NOD32 3.0.684.0 clients that connect to that server (including one client on the server itself). The setup has been working fine for months. This morning I had alerts that all clients failed to update. When I
- [Hallmark Sound Card Yields CMOS Battery!](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/09/hallmark-sound-card-yields-cmos-battery/): Feeling proud of myself today in a McGiver-ish kind of way ;). You know those semi-fun, semi-annoying Hallmark birthday cards with sound? The ones that make you wonder whether it's worth spending five bucks on a birthday card? Well I was about to toss one today when I thought, hmm, I live in California, I'm
- [Ping Request Could Not Find Host](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/09/ping-request-could-not-find-host/): Occasionally on my Windows XP Pro SP3 machine, Outlook 2007 SP2 will tell me that it has had an error receiving POP mail from my SBS 2003 server, which resides on the same network. I started a command prompt and typed "ping myserver.mydomain.local". Sure enough, I get back the message "Ping request could not find
- [Creating Passwords and a Cracking Test](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/09/creating-passwords-and-a-cracking-test/): Years ago, I learned to follow a simple procedure for creating secure passwords: 1. Think of a sentence with at least eight words. Include capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and punctuation. 2. Use the fist character from each word, along with the numbers and punctuation, as the password. For example, "More people are driving Toyota
- [Airport Out of Virtual Memory](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/09/airport-out-of-virtual-memory/): Racing through the Colorado Springs (COS) airport yesterday, I just had to stop and snap this picture of the Arrivals screen: Sure enough, a common Windows error: Fortunately I was not trying to check the 4:10pm arrivals! Another blogger caught this error and an actual BSOD in Bangkok: Airport Digital Advertising Does The Media
- [Connecting Windows 7 to SBS 2003](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/08/connecting-windows-7-to-sbs-2003/): I recently installed Windows 7 Enterprise (32-bit RTM) on a laptop that had previously run Vista. While I'm liking Windows 7 much better than Vista, it was quite a challenge using /connectcomputer to get it into my SBS 2003 domain. The Official SBS Blog has a brief post advising one to install hotfix 926505, which
- [Patching Adobe Reader](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/08/patching-adobe-reader/): I never used to worry too much about keeping Adobe Reader up to date. Then a couple months ago, I got my first-ever computer virus infection, delivered courtesy of a PDF vulnerability. I decided I'd better get my computers and those of my clients updated with the latest Adobe patches. The Easy Part: Patching to
- [Deploy Microsoft Zero-Day Patch with a Zenith Job](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/07/deploy-microsoft-zero-day-patch-with-a-zenith-job/): Yesterday, Microsoft released this security advisory:Vulnerability in Microsoft Video ActiveX control could allow remote code execution That article includes a "Fix it" link that users can click on to disable the exploited ActiveX objects in Internet Explorer. The link downloads a small installer file which users can only execute if they are logged on as
- [Excluding HTTP Sites from NOD32 Version 3.0](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/06/excluding-http-sites-from-nod32-version-3-0/): I'm running NOD32 Antivirus Business Edition version 3.0.684.0. Zenith Infotech monitoring sometimes downloads files that trip NOD32's HTTP filter (e.g. SpyBot and BitDefender executables). Zenith recommends excluding "update.itsupport247.net" from antivirus scanning. It's not hard to do in NOD32, but it is hard to find someone who knows how to do it! Here's the basic procedure:
- [Deploy Software with a Custom Zenith Job](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/05/deploy-software-with-a-custom-zenith-job/): The Zenith Infotech SAAZ platform includes a Job functionality that can be used to create custom software deployment jobs. This function is simpler, and thus less powerful, than A.S.E. scripting, but it can be useful for deploying software to multiple computers at a site, for example. Zenith provides a decent Job Management Training Guide in
- [Run CMD as LOCAL SYSTEM User](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/05/run-cmd-as-local-system-user/): Zenith Infotech's SAAZ platform allow you to set up jobs to run on client machine, e.g. for installing software. The jobs run as user LOCAL SYSTEM. Deploying a SAAZ job can take 15-30 minutes, which is too long to wait between test runs. So how does one open a command prompt as user LOCAL SYSTEM
- [Zenith A.S.E. Scripting Tips and Tricks](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/05/zenith-a-s-e-scripting-tips-and-tricks/): The Zenith Infotech Advanced Scripting Engine (A.S.E.) provides a framework for deploying scripts written in Zenith's OEM version of Automise 3 Professional. Scripts can be deployed once on demand or, using templates, on a recurring schedule. A.S.E. scripting is still fairly new in the Zenith offering, and definitely takes some getting used to. Here are
- [Monitoring CentOS Linux with Kaseya](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/04/monitoring-centos-linux-with-kaseya/): I'm doing a trial of Kaseya 2008 hosted by the good folks at Virtual Administrator. I want to monitor my PBX in a Flash (PiaF) server, which runs under CentOS 5.2. Although Kaseya doesn't yet have a native Linux agent, it does allow monitoring of Linux boxes via SNMP. This article documents my first attempt
- [Using an APC UPS with PBX in a Flash](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/03/using-an-apc-ups-with-pbx-in-a-flash/): Today a client had a power outage. Although the PBX in a Flash (PiaF) server was on an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), the outage lasted long enough that the PiaF server crashed. Twice. Time to brave the waters of installing UPS monitoring software under Linux. The version of PiaF that I'm using is based on
- [Keeping Asterisk Traffic Inside the VPN](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2009/01/keeping-asterisk-traffic-inside-the-vpn/): No DTMF I'm setting up a new PBX in a Flash (PiaF) machine running Asterisk 1.4.21.2. I'm testing it by calling in with SJPhone across a VPN (the PiaF machine is at a client site). When I dial 7777, I get my top-level IVR, but when I press a number, nothing happens. If I dial
- [Buying an OptiPlex with vPro from Dell Outlet](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/12/buying-an-optiplex-with-vpro-from-dell-outlet/): About a year ago, I bought a Dell OptiPlex 755 for a client. The machine came with Intel Advanced Management Technology (iAMT) with vPro. I soon discovered that has a killer feature: it has a little web server built into the hardware that allows me to remotely power the machine off and on. That's right,
- [Moving PBX in a Flash from a Virtual to a Physical Machine](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/11/moving-pbx-in-a-flash-from-a-virtual-to-a-physical-machine/): After running PBX in a Flash (PiaF) in a virtual machine for a few days, I had a couple issues: The system would generate an occasional message "TSC appears to be running slowly. Marking it as unstable." This issue did not keep the PBX from running. Voice quality was sometimes jittery. In a call, it
- [Getting Asterisk to Bridge Audio](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/11/getting-asterisk-to-bridge-audio/): In my original PBX in a Flash setup, Asterisk is set to "listen in" on calls. One advantage of this is that it can then respond to commands sent from a phone keypad during the call, e.g. to transfer or record the call. However, it does add processing overhead. If your devices support it, you
- [Setting Up PBX in a Flash, Part 4: Configuring a Linksys SPA3102](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/11/setting-up-pbx-in-a-flash-part-4-configuring-a-linksys-spa3102/): I've just posted a series of articles on selecting a VoIP PBX and setting it up under Microsoft Virtual Server. To read the series from the beginning, see Getting Into VoIP. Setting up an Analog Terminal Adapter (ATA) for a VoIP system is normally something you do while configuring the PBX. However, since it is
- [Setting Up PBX in a Flash, Part 3: Configuring FreePBX](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/11/setting-up-pbx-in-a-flash-part-3-configuring-freepbx/): If you've been following along through the introduction, part 1, and part 2, you now have a PBX in a Flash (PiaF) setup running under Microsoft Virtual Server. It's keeping time, it knows who it is and can send out mail. Now it is finally time to configure the PBX itself! Setting up the PBX involves
- [Setting Up PBX in a Flash, Part 2: Before Running FreePBX](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/11/setting-up-pbx-in-a-flash-part-2-before-running-freepbx/): The first article in this series, Getting Into VoIP, gave an overview of VoIP systems that I tested and why I chose to implement PBX in a Flash (PiaF). The next post, Setting Up PBX in a Flash, Part 1: Configuring a Virtual Machine talked about setting up PiaF under Microsoft Virtual Server. In this
- [Setting Up PBX in a Flash, Part 1: Configuring a Virtual Machine](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/11/setting-up-pbx-in-a-flash-part-1-configuring-a-virtual-machine/): The introduction to this series, Getting Into VoIP, explained some of the requirements and testing that went into choosing a VoIP environment and application. One really-want (if not must-have) requirement is getting it to run in a virtual machine. There are so many advantages to virtualization: easy backups and moving VMs to different hosts, to
- [Getting Into VoIP](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/11/getting-into-voip/): It all started with my new Magicjack. Plug this little gizmo into your PC and you get unlimited domestic calling, $40 for the first year and $20/year thereafter. That's hard to pass up. But it also means that I now have three phone lines coming into the home office. So I either needed to get
- [Testing sipXecs](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/10/testing-sipxecs/): I've been playing with a few software-based VoIP PBXs lately. I accidentally came across SIPFoundry's sipXecs (commonly abbreviated SipX). Their Wiki home page gives some compelling reasons to try them out, so I did. Environment At least for test purposes, I want to run SipX in a virtual machine. I'm most familiar with Microsoft Virtual
- [Fixing Outlook 2007 Rules after Backup Exec Mailbox Restore](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/07/fixing-outlook-2007-rules-after-backup-exec-mailbox-restore/): I'm using Outlook 2007 to connect to Exchange 2003 under SBS 2003. All of my rules are server-side. The rules are still in Outlook 2003 format, though I'm not sure if that matters for this issue. Recently I used a third-party program to restore a backup to my aging MPx220 SmartPhone. Upon connecting with ActiveSync,
- [Remote Desktop /console Switch Removed by XP SP3 Upgrade](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/07/remote-desktop-console-switch-removed-by-xp-sp3-upgrade/): I recently upgraded my XP desktop to Service Pack 3, which includes an update to Remote Desktop Client 6.1. Today I locked a Windows Server 2003 console session at a client site, then tried later to access the console session by typing "mstsc.exe /console" from the command line. Instead of connecting to the console, I
- [Multiple Controllers Found with the Name 'HomeController'](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/07/multiple-controllers-found-with-the-name-homecontroller/): I've been playing with Billy McCafferty's S#arpArchitecture. I decided to strip the Northwind references out of the sample so I could try the framework on my own project. After removing the Northwind-specific files and renaming the remaining files and namespaces to "MyProject," I kept getting this error when I started the application: "Multiple controllers found
- [Virtualization, Source Control, and Bug Tracking](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/06/virtualization-source-control-and-bug-tracking/): I attended the San Diego .NET Developer Group on Tuesday. Nick Pearce gave a great presentation on how to use virtual machines as a developer. I jotted down a few notes on topics he and others mentioned. Virtualization Some random notes: Nick is moving from Virutal PC to VMWare for the dual-monitor support. Remember to
- [Getting Exchange 2003 to Accept Mail for a Secondary Domain](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/05/getting-exchange-2003-to-accept-mail-for-a-secondary-domain/): I had a customer some time ago who always spelled out my full company name when sending me email. I finally registered mcbsystems.com so I could receive her emails. Since then I've implemented Exchange 2003 (under SBS 2003), but apparently I never tested the domain alias until I was setting up Postini. It turns out
- [Upgrading from BlogEngine.NET 1.1 to 1.3](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/05/upgrading-from-blogengine-net-1-1-to-1-3/): Time to Move On I've been pretty happy with BlogEngine.NET 1.1 for the last ten months, but I don't want to get too far behind, so I decided today to update to the current release, BlogEngine.NET 1.3.1. This procedure is specific to my installation, but it may give you some guidance on how to upgrade
- [Outlook 2007 Crashes on Exit Due to WinFax Module dccmsp32.dll](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/05/outlook-2007-crashes-on-exit-due-to-winfax-module-dccmsp32-dll/): Problem I have a workstation running Windows XP SP2 on an SBS 2003 domain with Exchange. Yesterday I upgraded it from Office 2003 SP3 to Office 2007 SP1. All security patches have been applied. When logged on to this machine as an administrative user, Outlook crashes 100% consistently whenever I exit Outlook. Starting as
- [Fix NETBIOS Over TCP/IP Between VPN-Connected Networks](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/04/fix-netbios-over-tcpip-between-vpn-connected-networks/): Environment Two small networks connected via a hardware VPN that is established by two identical Netgear FVS318 routers. Problem User has always been able PING remote machines from XP and Vista machines using the remote machine names. Pinging from the XP machine stopped working, although pinging from Vista still works. Pinging the IP address still
- [Remove Phantom Antivirus from Vista WMI Repository](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/04/remove-phantom-antivirus-from-vista-wmi-repository/): Problem In testing Spiceworks today, I discovered that a Vista machine was reporting that it had two antivirus products installed. Even after following the instructions Manually uninstalling the Client/Server Security Agent from a computer running Windows Vista, Spiceworks was still reporting Trend as installed as well as NOD32 (which really is installed). I downloaded and
- [ESET Remote Administrator (ERA) Event ID 502:  Update Failed](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/04/eset-remote-administrator-era-event-id-502-update-failed/): Symptom I'm running running ESET Remote Administrator 2.0.56. After upgrading from the trial to the purchased version, I started receiving the event below in my Application Event Log. Source: ERA Event ID: 502 Type: Error Description: The description for Event ID ( 502 ) in Source ( ERA ) cannot be found. The local computer
- [Getting Past VSS Error 80042316 from DriveImage XML](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/03/getting-past-vss-error-80042316-from-driveimage-xml/): I'm using Runtime Software's free DriveImage XML to back up several XP machines over a network to Windows 2003 server. Scheduled tasks run DriveImage XML in command-line mode and are set to try VSS before drive locking. Another scheduled task collects logs and emails them to me. Today I noticed that one of the backups
- [Comparing NOD32 2.7 to Trend Client-Server 3.6](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/03/comparing-nod32-2-7-to-trend-client-server-3-6/): A response to my previous blog post asked a fair question: what sets NOD32 apart or even on par with Trend Client-Server Messaging? I decided that I would do some testing with Trend. Since I am using NOD32 without the Exchange component, I tested Trend Client-Server without the Messaging component. KeyFinder Problems I've been building
- [Comparing NOD32 Version 2.7 to Version 3.0](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/03/comparing-nod32-version-2-7-to-version-3-0/): Version 2.7: The Fine Print As I mentioned in the updates to my previous blog post, after encountering some issues with NOD32 version 3.0, and on the advice of experienced NOD32 system admins, I downgraded to version 2.7. What I didn't realize is that by doing so, I would be giving up the ability to exclude files
- [Setting Up ESET NOD32 Antivirus 3.0 Business Edition on SBS 2003](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/02/setting-up-eset-nod32-antivirus-3-0-business-edition-on-sbs-2003/): Yet Another Antivirus Program The time had come to renew my antivirus program. I decided instead to try one that I've been reading good things about on some Yahoo forums: ESET's NOD32. The main attraction is the promise of a fast, lightweight, and accurate scan engine. As warned, the setup of the server components is
- [Resolving BackupExecAgentBrowser Event ID 57414](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2008/01/resolving-backupexecagentbrowser-event-id-57414/): Wow is this an exciting topic or what? This falls squarely in the category of "write it down in case you need to find it in the future." Environment Windows Server 2003 R2 on a Dell PowerEdge 1900. Services for Macintosh is installed to support the one Mac user in the office. Veritas Backup Exec
- [BartPE and UBCD4Win Tips and Tricks](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/11/bartpe-and-ubcd4win-tips-and-tricks/): I've been working with Bart Lagerweij's BartPE (Preinstalled Environment) lately to see if I could get a reliable method for restoring partition images created by Runtime Software's free DriveImage XML. Most of the issues I've encountered have been resolved by adding drivers for network and disk hardware. This article describes the changes I've made in
- [Hotfix Lets W32time Sync with Very High Precision NTP Servers](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/11/hotfix-lets-w32time-sync-with-very-high-precision-ntp-servers/): Time Server Upgrades Expose W32Time Bug Some time ago, I set up two NTP time sources for my Windows 2003 / SBS 2003 domain controllers: time-nw.nist.gov in Redmond, Washington, and time-a.nist.gov in Gaithersburg, Maryland. I noticed that the machines don't ever seem to sync with time-nw.nist.gov. I keep getting W32Time errors: Event ID: 38 "The
- [Server Replacement Using Hardware Independent Imaging](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/10/server-replacement-using-hardware-independent-imaging/): In the last year or so, hardware-independent imaging has received increasing attention. The idea is that you can create an image of a live server and restore it to another machine, updating device information in the process. This promises to be much simpler and faster than having to build a new machine from scratch, add
- [Storming the Castle](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/10/storming-the-castle/): I've been learning about so many development strategies in the last few months that my head is spinning! My journey has taken me in two main directions: Learning about concepts like object-oriented programming (OOP), design patterns, test-driven development, and agile development. Learning about tools that support #1. This article makes no attempt to be comprehensive
- [Changing DNS Root Hint for b.root-servers.net](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/09/changing-dns-root-hint-for-b-root-servers-net/): The Only Thing Constant is Change On January 29, 2004, the the IP address for the DNS root hint for b.root-servers.net changed to 192.228.79.201: New IPv4 address for b.root-servers.net Copy from Server Doesn't Always Copy from Server I was testing the DNS configuration on two Windows Server 2003 machines. One is R2 SP2; the other
- [NetDiag Warns about NetBT Errors Because Messenger Service Not Running](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/09/netdiag-warns-about-netbt-errors-because-messenger-service-not-running/): System and Configuration I manage a server running Windows 2003 R2. This is a single-server network. The server acts as an Active Directory controller and as a DNS server. There is one NIC with a fixed IP. The NIC is connected to a switch, which is connected to a router for Internet access. The Workstation
- [Testing SMTP Using Telnet](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/08/testing-smtp-using-telnet/): I'm trying out a hosted anti-spam solution. This service works by becoming my public-facing mail server (DNS MX record), and relaying non-spam mail to the mail server in my office. Due to a configuration error, I lost about 15 hours of email--the host wasn't relaying for my domain. Email was bouncing with the message "553
- [Windows Media Services and a Change of IP Address](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/08/windows-media-services-and-a-change-of-ip-address/): A short while ago I changed the IP address configuration on my Small Business Server 2003 SP2 machine. The main reason for the change was to choose an oddball local LAN address that would not conflict when I establish a VPN connection from an external network (e.g. a wireless network). I also took the opportunity
- [Exchange IMF and Custom Weight Lists](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/08/exchange-imf-and-custom-weight-lists/): One of the features built in to Exchange 2003 SP2 is Intelligent Message Filtering. While this is a major step forward in blocking incoming spam, IMF does have its limitations. The limitation that I have encountered most frequently is the misclassification of some email as spam, and the inability to "whitelist" certain senders without implementing
- [SoCal Code Camp Rocks!](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/07/socal-code-camp-rocks/): This past weekend I attended the SoCal Rock & Roll Code Camp, held at the UCSD Extension campus. This really is a cool idea--let anybody who wants to give a talk, get a few corporate sponsors to pay for dinner and a band, then offer the whole weekend free to anyone. Thanks for all the
- [DNS Root Hints and Forwarders](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/07/dns-root-hints-and-forwarders/): A post in the Yahoo group mssmallbiz asked an interesting question: when DNS Forwarders are configured under SBS 2003, is there a way to get the secondary nameserver to automatically take over when the primary is unavailable? Don't Use Forwarders The answer was simple: don't use forwarders. Go to Start > Administrative Tools > DNS,
- [Excuse Me, Your SCSI Is Slipping](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/06/excuse-me-your-scsi-is-slipping/): So you've got a hot-swap SCSI RAID array and you figure you are covered, even if a disk fails. Well, that is usually true. Kinda. Here is a long story with a few short conclusions about what to do when SCSI drives start failing. Environment Five-year-old Dell PowerEdge 1500SC with Perc 3/SC RAID controller. Four 18GB
- [Certificate Authority on SBS 2003](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/06/certificate-authority-on-sbs-2003/): The June/July 2007 issue of SMB Partner Community magazine has a nice article by Mikael Nystr
- [Seagate FreeAgent Pro eSATA and Bad Block Errors](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/06/seagate-freeagent-pro-esata-and-bad-block-errors/): Background I was looking for an external hard drive for a Windows 2003 Server. The drive will be used mostly for backups. My long-range plan is to be able to save workstation backup images to the drive via the network, but to be able to attach the drive directly to a workstation, if necessary, to restore an
- [Configuring Services for Macintosh under Windows Server 2003](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/06/configuring-services-for-macintosh-under-windows-server-2003/): I recently uninstalled and re-installed network drivers on a Windows 2003 system. This clobbered the Services for Macintosh (SFM) configuration made about five years ago, and it took quite a while to figure out how to set up SFM again. This is a small network with one server, a few Windows PCs, and one Macintosh.
- [Welcome to Mark's Small Business Developer Blog](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/06/welcome-to-marks-small-business-developer-blog/): Finally bloggin... I'm old school, I guess. I love gadgets, but I still think of computers mostly as tools for work. I don't play video games. I don't listen to digital music. I rarely IM and I never text. And until today, I've never blogged. So why start? Details. I've been finding it increasingly difficult
- [Recover native zip folder functionality under SBS 2003](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2007/06/recover-native-zip-folder-functionality-under-sbs-2003/): My .zip files were not appearing as folders under SBS 2003. I assume that is because I uninstalled WinZip. Finally found some instructions on fixing that under XP that also worked under SBS 2003. Go to a command prompt and type: REGSVR32 ZIPFLDR.DLL REGSVR32 CABVIEW.DLL
- [First Attempt at using ChatGPT for Batch Scripting](https://www.mcbsys.com/blog/2023/06/first-attempt-at-using-chatgpt-for-batch-scripting/): Today I needed a quick Windows batch script to check the percentage free space on drive E: and write an event to the event log if it was below 15%. I had just created a ChatGPT account and thought I would try it. I said, “write a batch script to put a warning in event

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