Windows 8: Unknown Device Intel LPC Interface Controller - NTN0530

After installing Windows 8 Enterprise x64 on one of our shop systems with an Intel Desktop Board DH67CL we had the following:

• Hardware IDs: ACPI\VEN_NTN&DEV_0530
• NTN0530

Some searching brought us to find that the NTN0530 device is an infrared receiver of some sort.

We did a search on Intel’s site and we found:

• Intel Download Site: Infrared: Nuvoton Consumer Infrared (CIR) Driver for Windows 8
• Intel’s Download Site if the link is broken

After running the driver install routine via right click and “Run As Administrator” we no longer had the Unknown Device problem.

Folks that have been mentioning that Windows 8 will be another Windows Vista may be surprised. Much of the pain we had with Windows Vista had to do with very poor driver releases in the early days of the product post RTM.

So far, we have seen excellent driver adoption across the board for Windows 8 RTM installs that we have done to date. Hopefully this is an indicator that we will not be seeing too much of a driver pain point from mainstream hardware product vendors.

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 Security Center: Windows Security Center service can’t be started (was no longer installed)

When trying to get the Windows Security Center (WSC) started on a Windows Vista machine after cleaning a virus infection we saw:

We looked for the service in Services.MSC with it nowhere to be found:

We ran sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt:

The above did not work.

So we ran a registry Merge to try and bring it back:

• Microsoft Answers: Windows Security Center Service has been removed
• Note that we downloaded the file, Unblocked it, and opened it in NotePad to check out the contents. We then copied and pasted the content into a new NotePad window and saved that using the file name indicated above.

That did not work. The service did not reappear.

So, we followed the instructions located here:

• Microsoft Answers: Vista Home Premium Security Center Service is Missing
• Answer by Amritha was the key.

We paused the WMI service, deleted the Repository folder indicated, and rebooted. Note that the Repository folder did _not_ show up after we un-paused the WMI service. It showed up after the reboot.

We obviously still have some issues to work through but at least we have the Security Center back.

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 Vista to Windows 7 In-Place Upgrade – Data Was Gone Afterwards?!?

A client of ours did an in-place upgrade of Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows 7 Ultimate on their home system.

Everything seemed to go okay until they logged in after the upgrade process completed and they were greeted with empty Documents, Pictures, and Videos folders for all four profiles on the system.

We could not find them while coaching over the phone so they dropped the system off this morning.

As a just-in-case measure we slaved up one of the 150GB VelociRaptors (RAID 1 array with OS) and one of the 1TB Seagate ES series (RAID 1 array with data) drives to see what was happening.

What we discovered was the following folder:

• $INPLACE.~TR

There was a folder with that name on both the C: partition and the D: partition. The folder was both hidden and set as a system folder so the default search settings did not pick up its presence for our client.

When we drilled down into that folder on the D: partition we discovered the “missing” Users folder that contained the four profile’s content:

The UsersOLD folder was ours from the original system to system transfer that was done when they purchased this box.

Note that this system had all of the user’s profile folders moved over to the D:\Users folder before the in-place-upgrade was run. After the fact, it was discovered that this is not a supported setup for an in-place upgrade of a desktop OS.

To us, it looks as though the upgrade process was trying to move all of that content back into the “original” C:\Users location but could not do so because the volume of content far exceeded the storage capacity of the VelociRaptors.

In the end our client was happy that the data was there.

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 7 Enterprise Upgrade Edition

Okay, so we cannot plug in a Windows 7 Enterprise OS based flash drive and do an in-place upgrade of Windows 7 Professional.

• TechNet: Windows 7 Upgrade Paths
• Microsoft Forums: Upgrading Windows 7 Pro vs Enterprise

This is important to note when it comes to any time quoting for things like replacing spindle based hard disks with Intel X25-M SSDs and expecting to drop the OEM default recovery on the SSD and then upgrade to Windows 7 Enterprise using the client’s Software Assurance.

Windows 7 Enterprise will always have a fresh install requirement if the base OS was Windows 7 Professional.

The Windows 7 Enterprise Upgrade version will upgrade certain prior Windows Vista versions though.

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

How To Highlight, Right Click, And Print More Than 15 Files

There seems to be a certain limitation in Windows that for some can be quite the burden.

For some folks there is a need to highlight a bunch of files and have them print to a printer right away. One would assume that the process would be simple:

1. Highlight the files.
2. Right click on the group and click on Print.

Here are our right click options when 15 files are highlighted:

Note the option to print is there.

When we go ahead and highlight 16 documents we see the following menu offered:

We have lost the ability to print those documents.

The answer came from this KB article:

• MS KB2022295: Context menus are shortened when more than 15 files are selected

Resolution

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
Name : MultipleInvokePromptMinimum
Type : DWORD
Range: 1 - 16 (decimal)
Default : 15 (decimal)

For some, an actual decimal number like 128 may work where the number 16 may not actually allow for more than 15 files to be highlighted and printed.

Once we logged off and back on again we were able to highlight more than 15 documents:

 

Caution Note: In testing this out on the above Word documents we encountered a huge system stall while Word fired itself up and subsequently started to print the documents. YMMV.

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

Create A Bootable USB Flash Drive Larger Than 4 GB

With the advent of larger and larger OS installs that come on dual layer DVDs (8 GB+), we need to revise our previous post methodology for these new OS files on a bootable USB flash drive.

• Previous Blog Post: Windows Vista - Using the DiskPart Command to Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive

The methodology we have been using for USB flash drives with large OS install files has been the following (Assume [Enter] after each command line):

1. Start –> Diskpart (type in search)
2. Right click on Diskpart and Run As Administrator
3. Click Continue if prompted by UAC.
4. List Disk
5. Select Disk 3 (use whatever number in place of “3”)
6. Clean
7. Create Partition Primary
8. Select Partition 1
9. Format FS=NTFS Quick
• Make sure to have the Quick switch or it will take _a long_ time!
10. Active
11. Assign
12. Exit

Now, we can run the above commands using their abbreviations:

1. Lis Dis
2. Sel Dis 3
3. Clean
4. Cre Par Pri
5. Sel Par 1
6. Format FS=NTFS Quick
7. Act
8. Ass
9. Exit

The following is a screenshot of the above command set being used to format an 8 GB OCZ Rally2 Turbo USB flash drive:

Once done we can copy the OS files off of its ISO using Virtual-Clone Drive (SlySoft Site) to mount that ISO with a drive letter in Windows.

This method requires Windows Vista, Windows 7, or server OS with the same code base or newer.

Note that there is no requirement to edit the Boot Configuration Database at all (BCD). We have been using this method for a while now to install beta OSs in our lab here without an issue.

We sometimes drop a Drivers folder on the USB flash drive too. As a just-in-case we add the Everyone NFTS group and give it FULL permissions to the USB flash drive after running the above steps.

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

Using One USB Flash Drive To Install Different Windows OSs

We have run into a bit of a snag when we try and reuse the same USB flash drives to install the various Windows operating systems being installed on laptops, workstations, desktops, and servers.

What we were doing was keeping a copy of the OS in a folder and copying it onto the flash drive after deleting whatever was on the drive. We would rename the drive to indicate what OS was on it.

Well, we have been receiving BCD errors whenever we boot from the the reused flash drive.

So, here is what we do to make sure we get a nice clean start every time.

Software needed:

• Slysoft’s Free Virtual CloneDrive for mounting ISOs.
• ISO copies of each Windows OS being loaded onto the USB flash drive.

Now, once we have Virtual CloneDrive installed on the workstation, to keep things simple we create a series of folders with the OS’s name on our workbench system desktop.

We then copy the respective OS’s ISO file into that folder.

When we need to change the OS on the USB flash drive we delete the files on it, mount the ISO using Virtual CloneDrive, and copy that ISO’s content onto the flash drive.

This seems to work with no hassles.

To prep a flash drive for booting on a Vista or 7 machine:

1. Start –> cmd –> right click and Run As Administrator.
2. Click through the UAC.
3. Diskpart [Enter]
4. List Disk [Enter]
• A list of disks in the system will appear. The USB flash drive should be pretty obvious due to its small size.
5. Select Disk x [Enter]
• Again, select the USB flash drive listed above by number.
6. Clean [Enter]
7. Create Partition Primary [Enter]
8. Select Partition 1 [Enter]
9. Active [Enter]
10. Format fs=fat32 quick [Enter]
11. Assign [Enter]
12. Exit [Enter]

The autorun dialogue should pop up after completing the above procedure with the list of options available for a newly inserted USB flash drive.

At some point we might actually get into Windows Deployment Services . . . but that will not happen until we actually have some time! 8)

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

Drivers From WSUS or Windows Update

While the drivers we downloaded from Windows Update (WU) for the Toshiba Tecra running Windows 7 Ultimate x64 (previous blog post) worked quite well, we had an HP laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium that did not.

We allowed the drivers for the HP’s Conexant audio device to download and install and sure enough, on the next reboot there was no longer any sound being produced by the speakers.

It took running the HP Update Assistant to verify all of the drivers on the laptop and subsequently the download and install of the HP specific drivers for that laptop to bring the sound back.

We disable driver checking and downloading in WSUS by default due to past experiences like this.

We also tend to avoid drivers offered by WU, but this time we took the risk and lost. So, we will again avoid drivers offered up by WU unless there is a very specific need for them.

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Vista RTM to SP2 – Note SP1 Required First

A client’s laptop came back from the repair facility with a reloaded hard drive. We took an image of the drive before it left, so no worries on the data, but we now have to update the laptop.

Wanting to jump right up to Vista SP2 we ended up with:

The prerequisites for Service Pack 2:

• Notable Changes in Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2

So, we have SP1 on its way down right now, it will be installed then after the final reboot we will be installing Vista SP2.

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

HP TouchSmart iQ800 Series Desktop PC – Wall Mounting

We are outfitting one of our client business owner’s home with equipment that will tie into the home automation equipment supplied by 360 Theatre Systems based out of Edmonton.

One of the products that we are supplying is the HP TouchSmart iQ800 series desktop PC.

One of the PCs will be wall mounted at a desk near the laundry room that has limited desktop space.

HP has an excellent instruction set that includes a video for getting the custom VESA bracket mounted to the PC:

• HP TouchSmart IQ800 Series Desktop PC  -  Installing a Wall Mount Adapter for a VESA Wall Mount

The process is actually quite in-depth requiring us to remove the back panel, third leg, and the front two peg legs before mounting the base bracket under the back cover.

The install on-site for the units will not be until early next month. So, we will be testing one of them with Windows 7 Ultimate RTM to see how the new OS integrates with the PC’s features as well as how the OS will interact with HP’s drivers .

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 Breaks Lacerte 2008?

When starting Lacerte 2008 this morning, this is what the user would see:

Now, this particular network is a homogeneous SBS 2008 and Windows Vista network.

Since we deliver a restricted domain user account to all of the Windows Vista workstation’s local Administrators Group by Group Policy Preferences, we are able to use Run As Administrator on the shortcut for Lacerte 2008 while logged in as a Standard User.

When we do, we received the following error:

Click on the OK button, and try and navigate to the UNC:

 

When we tried that either running as the user account or via the Run As Administrator account we would receive the same error.

Logging for dropped packets is enabled on all workstations for all three firewall profiles. The Windows Firewall with Advanced Security log showed no dropped packets when trying to run Lacerte 2008.

Since every user was experiencing the same thing, either one of three things has happened:

1. A change was made at the server since all of their Lacerte data resides on it.
2. A change was made at the workstation.
3. A change was made in the program itself.

Since we manage this particular server, we know that there were no changes made between yesterday and today as Lacerte 2008 ran fine yesterday.

When asked about whether Lacerte 2008 took any updates yesterday, the users indicated that none were applied.

That left the workstation:

The Windows Vista Service Pack 2 was installed via WSUS delivery last night.

After troubleshooting the setup on an available workstation, we rebooted the workstation to make sure that any changes made by the service pack were not causing any problems.

Once the workstation came back up, Lacerte 2008 started up just fine.

Something in the WSUS delivered Windows Vista Service Pack 2 did not take properly, or the system did not reboot itself as necessary once the update was applied.

We have a batch file on the server’s desktop with the following content for each workstation on the domain:

• shutdown –r –t 90 –f –m \\MI-Workstation01
• shutdown –r –t 90 –f –m \\MI-Workstation02
• etc…

We made sure to warn them ahead of time via a phone call to the office administrator that we were initiating a reboot of all workstations on the domain.

Once all of the workstations had rebooted, they all had their Lacerte 2008 back.

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

XP Pro to Vista Enterprise In-Place Upgrade Error – Workstation Reboots

We are in the process of concluding a project for one of our non-profit clients upgrading their Windows XP Professional workstations to Windows Vista Enterprise with Service Pack 1.

One of the workstations refused to come back up on the reboot that takes us into the user name, password if any, computer name, and network type. It kept getting into the Windows Vista boot cycle to the point where the screen would go black just prior to the first question screen.

After watching the system do this for a couple of cycles, the one thing that seemed to be happening all the time was the optical drive light coming on solid just before the spontaneous reboot. The Windows Vista Enterprise DVD in the drive would not spin up though.

So, after trying to get into Safe Mode and being told that the install routine could not run in Safe Mode, we pulled the DVD just before the point where the light would come on.

The install routine kept happily humming along and eventually got to the requisite questions.

Here we are a number of hours later running the first round of WSUS delegated updates:

The troublesome workstation is not shown in this screenshot as it has seemingly started the update installs when we put it into a forced reboot cycle.

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Windows 7 UAC is Broken?

By default, we enable UAC to prompt for credentials on our SBS 2003 and SBS 2008 networks.

A while back we heard about the possibility of Windows 7 breaking UAC (User Account Control) due to the effects of the UAC Slider that allows for changing the how/when a user would receive the UAC prompt.

The default Windows 7 UAC Slider position is one stop below the “ON” position, “ON” being UAC turned on in Windows Vista, that allows certain types of elevation to pass by without user consent or notification that the elevation has happened.

Apparently, there may indeed be a vulnerability in the new UAC Slider:

• i started something: UAC in Windows 7 still broken, Microsoft won’t/can’t fix code-injection vulnerability

Tied into the above Group Policy mandatory UAC elevation settings is user training.

Putting a lock on the door does not stop the person inside from opening the lock and subsequently the door to someone or something on the outside.

Training involves letting the user know the how and why a UAC will prompt. Keeping it simple is the best way:

• If you are not installing a known software product, then Cancel.
• If browsing the Internet and a UAC prompt happens, then Cancel and close the browser window.
• If browsing the Internet and an AntiVirus message happens, save and close any work then Log Off. Do not go back to that site after logging back in.

By keeping the training simple and tying it into everyday analogies like the locked door above, users will get a pretty good idea of what is good and what is bad. We call that “Internet Street Smarts”.

Long’s article reaffirms to us that UAC needs to be enabled and set to “ON” by default, elevate with credentials required (we push a local admin account out to all domain enabled systems – Step 26 Part 3 – SBS 2008 Setup Checklist), and make sure that the elevation happens on the Secure Desktop.

Having a good lock on the door is a good start to tightening up SBS network security.

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Intel On-Board RAID 1 Failed Array Member Replacement Method

A system we have on our bench has some serious gremlins working in it.

We have since replaced the original 150GB Raptors with 150GB VelociRaptors, we replaced the RAM, and we replaced the motherboard.

The replacement of the Raptors and then a subsequent OS install served to really stabilize the system. There were no more spontaneous reboots happening every couple or three random hours.

But, the system would still spontaneously reboot every two or three days. We have had the full Season 2 of 24 run through the box alternating with a local radio station for good measure. All multimedia runs through Windows Media Center on Windows Vista Ultimate with a Hauppauge PCI-E multimedia card providing the radio and a Radeon HD3870 providing the DVD decoding. A SoundBlaster X-Fi rounds out the configuration.

The onboard Intel Matrix Storage BIOS would not let us replace the defective hard drive no matter what methodology we tried.

A call into Intel support provided the guidance we needed to get things working as they should.

We had to delete the RAID 1 set the last good array member was on. From there, we booted into Windows Vista and needed to start the Intel Matrix Storage Console.

In the Console, we needed to switch to advanced mode, then select Create RAID Volume from Existing Hard Drive.

We chose to create a RAID 1 array.

The next step, which is choosing the source drive for the array, is critical. Since the failed drive was on Port 0, we knew that the drive on Port 1 need to be the source drive.

Once we selected the source and destination drives we let the Migration process run. It took about 45 minutes for it to complete. We then did a reboot to make sure that the OS was still good to go.

Hopefully the flaky behaviour we have seen so far will disappear now that one of the array members has outright failed … hopefully!

We will run Season 3 of 24 through the machine, balancing that with some local radio station tunes to make sure. :)

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Hyper-V Error – Access Denied. Unable to establish communication between Hyper-V and Client

While setting up a Hyper-V server for Wayne and Justin to work with some VMs to troubleshoot the SBS 2003 to 2008 replication error, we ran into a roadblock with getting the Hyper-V Manager connected to the Hyper-V Server 2008 box:

Virtual Machines

Access denied. Unable to establish communication between ‘Hyper-V Server’ and ‘Hyper-V Manager’.

This is puzzling since the workstation has been connected to this particular Hyper-V server many times using other network profiles. The profile we created for the Microsoft folks was seemingly giving us the connection issue.

The fix took a bit of searching to find and needed to be accomplished on the Windows Vista system where the Hyper-V Manager was installed:

1. Close the Hyper-V Manager
2. Click Start and type: %windir% [Enter].
• A Windows Explorer window will open to the Windows directory.
3. Type: dcomcnfg in the Search Windows field at the top right hand of the Explorer window.
• You will see the following in your search results:
4. Right click on dcomcnfg and Run As Administrator.
• Authenticate with the local admin credentials if UAC prompts for credentials, or Continue if it does not.
5. Open the Component Services node, then the Computers node, then right click on My Computer and click on Properties.
6. Click on the COM Security tab.
• You will see the following:
7. Click the Edit Limits button under Access Permissions.
8. Enable Remote Access for Anonymous Logon
• Before and after shot:
9. Click Apply and OK.
10. Close the Component Services console and the Windows Explorer window.
11. Start the Hyper-V Manager and continue through the UAC.

The virtual machines, if any, will show up in the Hyper-V Manager console after that.

Thanks to Augusto Alvarez for the clearest and exact explanation for the fix:

• Augusto Alvarez: Hyper-V Server: Installing, configuring and troubleshooting (about half way down).

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Group Policy Client Side Extensions for Vista Service Pack 2 will follow …

Okay, so we know that despite all indications, CSEs are not included in the OS install via Windows Vista Service Pack 2 OS installation disks.

• Vista Service Pack 2 Not Applying Group Policy Preferences

Apparently the Client Side Extensions for Windows Vista Service Pack 2 slipstreamed media will be released sometime later this month or early next month.

So, make sure that any fresh OS install using Windows Vista SP2 media that needs Group Policy Preferences applied gets the above “hack” to enable GP Preferences to function as expected.

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Vista Service Pack 2 Not Applying Group Policy Preferences

We are collaborating on an SBS 2008 and Windows Server 2008 Core Hyper-V fresh installation.

The Hyper-V server will host 8 Windows Vista desktops for the organization that has users that are out of the office more than 85% of the time.

This solution keeps their data organized and protected as well as enables them to run a Line of Business application that is not Terminal Services friendly.

The Vista software is provided by a base retail OS purchase with Open Value Vista Upgrade + SA added.

The media that was downloaded for the VMs:

A fresh Windows Vista Service Pack 2 OS.

Well, we have discovered that the slipstreamed version of the OS does not have the Client Side Extensions functioning properly.

After troubleshooting our User and Computer based GPOs that contain Preferences, the following page came up in a search:

• TechArena: Group Policy Preferences not applying on Vista with Service Pack 2.
• Full thread here: Microsoft Newsgroups on Group Policy.

Ouch … this is not a happy scene because we had to burn critical time today troubleshooting this problem instead of placing the new SBS domain into production.

• The CSE are supposed to be in Vista SP2 according to Microsoft.

Jake Paternoster in the above TechArena page gave us a good lead towards the solution, but for some reason we could not come up with quite the right process to get the CSEs to install.

But almost every combination that we could come up with would fail with:

Or, at least UAC us but still fail ... with nothing in the Event Logs to even give us a clue as to what we were running up against.

But then, wait! It gets better! After leaving the first Vista SP2 VM alone for a while then coming back to work through the processes and see if we missed anything the GPPrefs were applied! 8O

So, was it the RSAT and GPMC that was enabled that made things work? Or, was it running the GP wizards in the GPMC that got things going?

Since we have 8 VMs to play with, we started with the next one and worked our way backwards through the process to figure out which step actually worked.

Gotta love these in the middle of everything too:

Windows 7 TS Client. They have not been very frequent, but they seem to hit when they are the least welcome!

Here is the methodology for getting things working:

1. Download the CSEs (Microsoft KB site).
2. Copy the KB file to C:\KB943729
3. Open an elevated command prompt.
• It is absolutely necessary that the command prompt be elevated with the domain admin credentials.
4. Navigate to C:\KB943729
5. expand Windows6.0-KB943729-x86.msu –F: *\KB943729 [Enter]
• Note the space _ in between the –F:_*
6. Delete the original Windows6.0-KB943729-x86.MSU
7. start /w pkgmgr.exe /ip /m:C:\KB943729\Windows6.0-kb943729-x86.cab [Enter]
   • No quotes around the path.
   • Make sure the full path including the CAB is there.
   • A bunch of files and folders will show up in the directory. This indicates that the CSEs are seemingly installed.
8. GPUpdate /Force [Enter] 
9. shutdown –r –t 0 [Enter]

Note that the syntax of the PkgMgr.exe command is extremely important ...

The actual command line format is to be found in this link:

• Aaron Tiensivu’s Blog: Generic way of brute force installing a .MSU package in Vista or Server 2008.

Lesson:

• Question:
• What is the definition of insanity?
• Answer:
• Doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result! ;)

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

Windows 7 Search – Can Move Those E-mails and More!

This feature was introduced with the Windows Vista Search.

When it comes to organizing a lot of e-mail that may not fit into the sorting rules that we have, the process can be very time consuming depending on how scattered things are.

The Start –> Search feature in Windows Vista and Windows 7 makes things pretty straight forward:

The new search interface is a lot more intuitive in its layout. Features like the Preview Pane are quickly accessible along with the ability to quickly change the view from icons to details depending on the sorting needs of the moment.

The saved search feature has changed quite a bit too. It has been greatly improved:

The Windows Vista search saved as a “Search Folder”. It was located in our profile folder. With Windows 7, we get the Search Connector. It is similar in nature to the Vista saved search, but we get to have that Search Connector located in a quickly accessible location near the top left of any Windows Explorer window.

Search Connectors can be created from virtually any type of search. We need only tweak the XML code a bit to work one out. Here is a Live Search for Windows 7 Connectors.

This feature is definitely a time-saver for those folks working on projects that require searching for specific items regularly or for those times where we need to go back to something later on.

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer

BCDEdit Batch File To Reset BCD Prior to SP Vista Image

The blog post: First Successful Windows Vista ShadowProtect Restore! No Winload.exe Error!

In order to get Windows Vista to successfully restore from any imaging based backup solution, the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) needs to be reset to a generic setting before creating the image or the OS will not restore properly.

Here are the BCDEdit commands put into a batch file:

• MPECS Inc. SkyDrive: BCDEdit Batch File.

The batch file should be on every Technician’s Thumb Drive!

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

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer