BitLocker Encrypted Drive: Unable to Unlock

We have a number of external BitLocker encrypted drives that we use to tote around our business data with.

After plugging one of the drives into our newly stood up system with Windows Server 2012 RTM being slowly configured as a desktop we hit this:

Normally, a BitLocker encrypted drive gets plugged into any Windows Vista and above operating system and a prompt happens to unlock it for full access.

Double clicking on the drive in Explorer did nothing. Nada. Zippo.

In the end we had missed installing the BitLocker components on the machine:

Note that a restart would be required once the installer routine completed.

Sure enough, after the reboot we were prompted for the pass phrase after double clicking on the drive’s icon:

With BitLocker now included in Windows 8 Pro there is no reason why organizations that do move their desktop operating system platforms over to Windows 8 should not use BitLocker to encrypt every system and external storage device by default.

In fact, for any organization that has sensitive data housed on their systems the only thing stopping the migration to Windows 8 Professional would be Line of Business applications ... maybe. One could work around that with application virtualization or RemoteApps depending on the LoB.

The tools for BitLocker management are also available in Windows Server as well as a part of the Desktop OS Software Assurance and MDOP offering.

And one more thing: With the horsepower that today’s systems offer whole disk encryption as opposed to encrypting only contents is always the best option. BitLocker Content Only Encryption is a new feature in Windows 8.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
www.thirdtier.net/enterprise-solutions-for-small-business/

Windows Live Writer

Xbox Music Error: Can’t Play 0xc00d11cd (0x80004002)

This is pretty strange.

One of our workbench systems is tied into our Xbox Music Pass and happily sends tunes into the shop while working.

Wanting to start some tunes while remotely connected from the front office via RDP produced the following error:

Can’t play.

Please try again. If the problem continues, visit www.xbox.com/support to check for guidance.

0xc00d11cd (0x80004002)

Okay, tunes were working just fine yesterday evening while working in the shop so what gives?

We logged into the physical machine and attempted to play the tunes again. Sure enough, after logging in and hitting play on one of our playlists we heard tunes.

We now have 500 watts of THX certified sound happening! :D

Have finicky ears? Then check out the Logitech Speaker System Z906 THX certified speakers. They sound absolutely phenomenal.

The moral of the story? Xbox Music will _not_ work when connected via RDP session.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Chef de partie in the SMBKitchen
Find out more at
www.thirdtier.net/enterprise-solutions-for-small-business/

Windows Live Writer

Windows 8: Share Desktop Backgrounds Across PCs/Laptops

We have a number of systems with one sign-on that is tied into our Microsoft ID (Live ID).

Besides the ability to keep our Metro UI experience relatively seamless across those systems we can also share the desktop backgrounds across them.

The path for the pictures is:

• C:\Users\%Username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\RoamedThemeFiles\DesktopBackground\

1. First, right click on the desktop and click Personalize.
2. Make sure Synced Theme is chosen.
• 
3. Click on Desktop Background.
• 
4. Open Windows Explorer
5. Open the picture’s location.
6. One can either copy and paste from here or open a second Windows Explorer window.
7. Copy and paste the above path into the Address Bar and hit [Enter].
8. Copy picture content into the DesktopBackground folder.

Our preference is to set the images to Fit instead of stretch.

Once this process has been completed the desktop backgrounds on all Windows 8 machines tied in with that Microsoft ID will show the same.

NOTE: Once this process has completed Windows 8 under Personalization may show “Unsaved Theme” as being selected. Change the setting back to Synced Theme.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Windows Live Writer

Windows Server 2012 Essentials – Add Computer Wizard

For those of us that have been working with Small Business Server Standard 2011 the following is a welcome message:

We will no longer need to either cart around the .NET redistributable file or have it available somewhere on the network.

This is certainly a small thing but for those of us that manage our client’s systems we just had a small slice of our lifetime given back to us! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Windows Live Writer

Windows 8 Client and Hyper-V Are Better Together

There are so many reasons why the new Windows 8 client is a game changer.

• The Metro (Modern UI) provides the best at-a-glance experience hands-down.
• Hyper-V on the client will give legacy apps a place to go.
• Hyper-V on the client will give us a built-in lab environment.
• Windows 8 To Go is perfect for companies that require secure portability of the user environment while being device agnostic.

Now, that brings us to the desktop, workstation, and laptop hardware that will need to be in place for the more power hungry users as well as those endpoints where Hyper-V will provide legacy app access:

Yeah, that says 32GB of RAM installed on this machine. We started with 16GB but hit the RAM wall when we needed to fire up another VM for our Windows Server 2012 Essentials quick lab we are building.

We have gone from needing several machines for our lab environments to needing just one that can handle 32GB or 64GB of RAM with an SSD or two to eliminate any I/O bottlenecks.

Without a doubt, Hyper-V on the client OS is a game changer for both businesses and IT Solutions providers.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Windows Live Writer

Windows 8 Mail Error: You can’t connect this account to any more devices.

The exact error is this:

• You can’t connect this account to any more devices. Remove another device first with help from your system admin or Internet service provider.

Okay, so what exactly does that mean?

Well, it turns out that an e-mail showed up in the corresponding Inbox to explain things a bit further:

• Microsoft Outlook:
• Error with your new cell phone partnership.
• You have 10 phone partnerships out of the allowed maximum 10 partnerships. Once you reach the maximum, no more partnerships may be created until you delete partnerships from your account. To do so, please log into your Outlook Web Application account cell options and remove unused partnerships.

And, sure enough, under Options –> See All Options –> Phone the following was found:

Oops. It looks like we will need to be mindful of our client’s ongoing device connectivity habits especially if they change devices on a frequent basis.

For those that have not looked into Exchange 2013 yet this situation and the BYOD question are addressed quite nicely via the new Exchange Admin Center (EAC).

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Windows Live Writer

Windows 8: How to Find An Artist, Song, Album, And More in XBox Music and Add To A PlayList!

Okay, so one opens the Music App on the new UI (formerly known as Metro).

Right click anywhere and there is no Search to be found when wanting to look up something.

Thanks to fellow MVP Susan Bradley the somewhat counter-intuitive process for finding music has come to light.

1. Hit the Start button on the keyboard to bring up Metro (can’t remember what its called at the moment).
2. Start typing the name of the artist/song/album:
• 
3. Click on the Music tile/icon in the list of available search locations below.
4. And, voila:
• 
5. In the Search Results scroll down for the song we are looking for and click on it.
• 
6. Click the Add to my music button.
7. Click the Left Arrow beside “Results for” near the top left corner of the screen.
8. Click my music
9. Sort by date added
10. Right Click on the newly added song and click Add to playlist.
• 

Wow, isn’t that easy?!? :P

We may just stick with the Zune App that can be installed on Windows 8 for now as we have a Windows Phone as well as a Zune HD to sync.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

Windows Live Writer

Quick Software Installed Poll to Text Command

Hat Tip: Fellow MVP David Nickason

Here is a command to run in an elevated command prompt to get a comprehensive list of installed software products on a machine:

• wmic /output:WMIInstall.txt product get name,version

Here is a sample output from our Windows 8 client:

Name                                                              Version        
Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendee                                      4.0.7577.4098  
Microsoft Application Error Reporting                             12.0.6015.5000 
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010                           14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office OneNote MUI (English) 2010                       14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office InfoPath MUI (English) 2010                      14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Access MUI (English) 2010                        14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Shared Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2010         14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Excel MUI (English) 2010                         14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Shared 64-bit Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2010  14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Access Setup Metadata MUI (English) 2010         14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office PowerPoint MUI (English) 2010                    14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Publisher MUI (English) 2010                     14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Outlook MUI (English) 2010                       14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Office 64-bit Components 2010                    14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Shared 64-bit MUI (English) 2010                 14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Groove MUI (English) 2010                        14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Word MUI (English) 2010                          14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Proofing (English) 2010                          14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Shared MUI (English) 2010                        14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Proof (English) 2010                             14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Proof (Spanish) 2010                             14.0.6029.1000 
Microsoft Office Proof (French) 2010                              14.0.6029.1000 
Windows Live Essentials                                           15.4.3502.0922 
Windows Live Writer                                               15.4.3502.0922 
Zune Language Pack (NLD)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Intel(R) Processor ID Utility                                     4.50.0000      
Zune Language Pack (PTG)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (PLK)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (FRA)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (KOR)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Cisco AnyConnect VPN Client                                       2.5.2014       
Windows Live SOXE Definitions                                     15.4.3502.0922 
Windows Live Communications Platform                              15.4.3502.0922 
Zune Language Pack (FIN)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Windows Live UX Platform Language Pack                            15.4.3508.1109 
LogMeIn Rescue Technician Console                                 7.0.1148       
Java(TM) 6 Update 33                                              6.0.330        
Java(TM) 6 Update 31 (64-bit)                                     6.0.310        
Java(TM) 7 Update 5 (64-bit)                                      7.0.50         
Windows Live Writer                                               15.4.3502.0922 
Zune Language Pack (RUS)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (HUN)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (NOR)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Windows Live PIMT Platform                                        15.4.3508.1109 
D3DX10                                                            15.4.2368.0902 
Zune Language Pack (DAN)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (PTB)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (CHT)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (CHS)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (ELL)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (JPN)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (IND)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Microsoft IntelliPoint 8.2                                        8.20.468.0     
MSVCRT                                                            15.4.2862.0708 
Zune Language Pack (DEU)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (ITA)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (CSY)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (MSL)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune                                                              04.08.2345.00  
Windows Live Language Selector                                    15.4.3555.0308 
Microsoft IntelliType Pro 8.2                                     8.20.469.0     
Windows Mobile Device Updater Component                           04.08.2345.00  
Windows Live Writer                                               15.4.3502.0922 
Microsoft Silverlight                                             5.1.10411.0    
Zune Language Pack (SVE)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Zune Language Pack (ESP)                                          04.08.2345.00  
Windows Live UX Platform                                          15.4.3502.0922 
Windows Live Writer Resources                                     15.4.3502.0922 
Windows Live Installer                                            15.4.3502.0922 
Windows Live SOXE                                                 15.4.3502.0922 
Java Auto Updater                                                 2.0.7.1        

This is one to get familiar with!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Windows Live Messenger Emoticon Differences in Windows 7 and Windows 8

This is a bit on the funky side:

The emoticons were generated on the Windows 8 client machine's built-in Messenger.

The green faces on the right showed up in the Messenger thread on a Windows 7 Enterprise that hosts the working desktop (just-in-case system). All Messenger, Twitter, E-mail, and other essential services are running side-by-side at this point.

Looks like the age-old emoticon in Windows Messenger is getting a face lift! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Windows 8: Remote Desktop Connection Inbound Not Working - Fix

We had a bit of a puzzle with setting Windows 8 up on a couple of SBS 2011 networks. It was a puzzle because on the SBS 2008 network where we configured a Windows 8 VM we had no RDP issues once we force enabled RDP inbound via GPO.

But, on SBS 2011 networks we have had no success at it.

There is a new predefined Inbound rule on the Win8 VM:

• Remote Desktop – User Mode (TCP-In)
• Programs and Services: %SystemRoot%\system32\svchost.exe
• Protocols and Ports: TCP #6 at port 3389

In our SBS 2011 GPO for managing our clients and servers we have:

No such thing.

So, we go on to create it:

1. Add the program path:
• 
2. Answer Yes:
• 
3. Set the port structure:
• 
4. Allow all IPs:
• 
5. Set the connection to Allow:
• 
6. We permit the rule for all connection types:
• 
7. Name the rule: Remote Desktop – User Mode (TCP-In)
• Description: Inbound rule for the Remote Desktop service to allow RDP traffic. (TCP 3389).
8. GPUpdate /force on the DC/SBS.
9. GPUpdate /force on the Windows 8 machine/VM.

Once the policy takes the rule will show up:

When we bring up the properties of the GPO delivered rule:

We are now able to RDP into the Windows 8 desktop OS. We have yet to stand up a Windows 8 Server however it is likely that RDP on the server OS will require the same rule.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Server Core and UAC

We have just finished replacing our file server that was running on Windows 2008 Standard Core.

Replacing that server was not high on the priority list until after our migration to SBS 2011 RTM when we had a Group Policy setting that enabled UAC for the OU that contained our Core and Hyper-V Server installs. We restructured our GP scopes and OUs to eliminate UAC on our Core based servers.

By default, UAC is disabled on Server Core. All of our Core, Hyper-V Server, and cluster node servers took the settings changes that disabled UAC without an issue. But, the file server for whatever reason decided to ignore the GP settings and keep UAC enabled.

Try as we might we ended up with a Group Policy Tattoo for UAC thus rendering the server in a bad state.

We decided to cut and run so we reloaded it with Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard Full.

The benefits of having the full install are huge. We now have access to the Windows Search service which allowed us to key in all of the shares on the file server into the Windows 7 Libraries feature and thus local search results.

We were able to mount the original server’s backup and attach the backup VHD to recover the needed folder share data.

It also allowed us to gain access to the File Resources management features which will help us to clean up our file stores:

The above screenshot was from a folder specific to Windows 95 . . . yeah, I actually said “Windows 95”! :)

The utility is the Enhanced Print Troubleshooter developed by the Decision Theory Group at Microsoft Research and Microsoft Product Support Services (PSS).

From the ReadMe.txt:

The Enhanced Print Troubleshooter is a diagnostic tool developed by
the Decision Theory Group at Microsoft Research and Microsoft
Product Support Services.  The Enhanced Print Troubleshooter uses
probabilities and costs associated with different faults to generate
a list of recommended troubleshooting steps.  When you run the
Enhanced Print Troubleshooter, the list of recommendations is
regenerated after each question is answered, based on what the
system knows about the problem you are having and the printing
configuration.

We will now be able to create and run reports that will allow us to see the big picture on all of those dormant files as well as other files and their usage on the server. Since we have well over a Terabyte of data to sift through we are anticipating freeing up a lot of storage space!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer

Windows Phone 7 Killer Feature – SharePoint Integration with Office 2010

We had a few calls this morning with clients having problems with their machines due to Windows 7 Service Pack 1.

While working from a client location we sometimes need access to the audit notes that we keep on all of our clients. Those notes reside in a secure SharePoint Foundation site. It can take time to fire up the Tega v2 or the Tecra laptop to get into our SharePoint libraries.

Two feature discoveries were made this morning that made the payback on the HTC HD7’s purchase readily apparent.

1. SharePoint integration is seamless with the ability to pin the site to the Start Menu.
1. Quick access is really important when working on something critical.
2. Microsoft Office documents have quick access features like Outline View.
1. Tap the Outlook View button in Word after opening the document and navigate to the needed information quickly.

This is a screenshot of the Word 2010 Navigation Bar:

When the document is opened on the HD7 the Outline view looks just like that. We can then tap on the required heading and be brought to that point in the document just as we do within Word 2010.

This one feature set, that is the ability to quickly access a SharePoint site, open a Word document, and navigate to the needed information is going to save us a lot of time over the life of the phone. Payback on a risk is sweet! :)

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.

Windows Live Writer