Windows Vista - Network Map does not display computers running Windows XP

The network map feature in Windows Vista is available to those in a peer-to-peer setup, or on a domain network where the Group Policy setting as been enabled.

Network Mapping disabled on a domain.

From the TechNet Library: Network Map Does Not Display Computers Running Windows XP.

XP needs to have the Link-Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) protocol installed and enabled in order for the Windows Vista Network Map feature to capture an XP machine's presence.

The download: Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder (KB922120).

Note that the download is for XP SP2 automatic install only with the following instructions on how to get it into XP SP3:

1. From any Explorer window (not IE) click on "Tools" -> "Folder Options" -> "View" tab.
2. Enable the radio button labeled "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck the "Hide extensions for known file types".
3. Download the installer file from here (if you don't already have it)
4. Rename it to something like LLTD.exe (unless you really want to type out "WindowsXP-KB922120-v5-x86-ENU.exe") and put it in the root of your
   C: drive.
5. Go to Start -> Run, and type in "cmd" (without the quotes) and hit Enter.
6. When the black command prompt comes up, type in "cd c:\" (minus
   quotes) and hit Enter.
7. Now type in "LLTD.exe -x:c:\LLTD" (again, minus quotes). This will extract all the files in to a new folder called c:\LLTD.
8. Open that folder with an Explorer window, and there will be another folder inside it called "SP2QFE". Open that, find the file named "rspndr.sys", and copy it inside your c:\Windows\system32\drivers directory.
9. Also in the "SP2QFE" folder, find the "rspndr.exe" and copy it inside your c:\Windows\System32 directory.
10. Finally in the IP Folder, find the "rspndr.inf" file , and copy it inside your c:\Windows\inf directory.
11. Now back in the command prompt enter "cd C:\Windows\system32" and then enter "rspndr.exe -i". This will actually install the LLTD.
12. When it completes, you should get a notice stating that it's installed.
13. Go to your Network Interface Card and verify that you see Link Layer Topology Discovery.

The above information and XP SP3 install instructions come to us via Jon Heese of the V8SHO Mailing List.

Thanks for that Jon!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS 2008 Canuck Launch - Input needed

Constanza Zalba, our Canadian SBS/EBS product manager has requested some input from us Canucks as far as what we want to see in the SBS/EBS launch plans for Canada.

You can drop her a line at: CZalba@Microsoft.com or call her at +1-905-363-8683.

Original post: SBS 2008 Launch - Your Input Is Requested.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Caseware Working Papers 2008 - Data Store Error 0x80070035

Most of our accounting firm clients have updated to the newest version of Caseware Working Papers 2008.

Today, we were setting up the remote data/printer sharing package we put together for them and did some last minute checks.

A strange error came out of Caseware which was the critical application for their two or three week stint at their client.

This is what we saw:

Working Papers

Working Papers cannot run because the Data Store is not functioning correctly. Please contact technical support.

Information balloon: Data Store: There was an error creating the Data Store (0x80070035).

All three laptops had the same error when trying to start Caseware 2008. The error happened both before and after hooking them up to the data sharing network.

Since we did not have the install files with us, we needed to talk to Caseware support.

They emailed us the following:

@echo off

rem
rem Constants:

rem
rem Local variables:

set showhelp=n
set deltypelib=n
set batchdir=%~sdp0
set buildname=
set buildversion=
set builddir=
set regdir=

rem
rem Determine the actions to take based on the parameters specified.

:getparam

set curparam=%~1

if /i "%curparam%"=="/?" (
set showhelp=y
)

if /i "%curparam%"=="/deltypelib" (
set deltypelib=y
)

if /i "%curparam%"=="/v" (
set buildversion=%~2
shift
)

if /i "%curparam%"=="/d" (
set builddir=%~sf2
shift
)

shift
if not "%curparam%"=="" (goto getparam)

rem
rem See if we need to display the help.
if "%showhelp%"=="y" goto showhelp

rem
rem Determine the directory we will try to registry the dlls and exes in.

if "%builddir%"=="" (
set regdir=%batchdir%
) else (
set regdir=%builddir%\
)

rem Determine which application we are trying to register.
if exist %regdir%pa.exe (
set buildname=Time
set dlls=cwatl2 cwpproto cwp42 cvp32 foxstore
set exes=cwcs
) else (
if exist %regdir%cwin32.exe (
set buildname=Working Papers
set dlls=cwatl cwascii cwproto cw42 cwdocman foxstore cv32
set exes=cwcs
) else (
echo.
echo Could not determine which application to register in
echo %regdir%
goto fail
)
)

rem
rem Ensure that all cwcs processes are terminated before registering.
echo.
echo Terminating all running cwcs processes:
for /F "skip=3 tokens=1,2*" %%a in ('tasklist') do (
if /i "%%a"=="cwcs.exe" (
echo terminating %%a (%%b^),
taskkill /PID %%b /T /F
)
)
echo.
echo done.

rem
rem Delete the Central Data Store's registry key.
if "%deltypelib%"=="y" (
echo.
echo Deleting the Central Data Store's typelib registry key.
reg delete "HKCR\TypeLib\{D90A9BF8-9429-4124-996C-937EC05C9116}" /f
)

echo.
echo Registering %buildname% components in
echo %regdir%

for %%n in (%dlls%) do (
if not exist %regdir%%%n.dll (echo %%n.dll does not exist.) else (
echo %%n.dll,
regsvr32 /s "%regdir%%%n.dll"
)
)
for %%n in (%exes%) do (
if not exist %regdir%%%n.exe (echo %%n.exe does not exist.) else (
echo %%n.exe,
%regdir%%%n.exe /regserver
)
)

echo.
echo done.

rem
rem Set the Install Dir registry key to the application path. NOTE: The reg add /d parameter needs the backslash
rem before the closing double quote because otherwise the trailing backslash of the regdir combines with the closing
rem double quote to tell reg add to escape the double quote (so the registry key would be saved as d:\combined\run"
rem for example).
echo.
if not "%buildversion%"=="" (
echo Setting "Install Dir" for %buildname%\%buildversion% registry key to
echo %regdir%
reg add "HKLM\Software\CaseWare International\%buildname%\%buildversion%\Directories" /f /v "Install Dir" /d "%regdir%\"
) else (
echo Skipping setting "Install Dir" registry key.
)

:success
echo.
echo Registration successful.
pause
goto end

:fail
echo.
echo Registration failed.
pause
goto end

:showhelp
echo.
echo Registers the Working Papers or Time components.
echo.
echo REGSVRALL [/d path] [/v version] [/deltypelib]
echo.
echo path An absolute or relative path to a directory where either
echo Working Papers' or Time's components exist. If this parameter
echo is not supplied the current directory is assumed.
echo.
echo version The full string value of the version being registered. Used
echo for setting the Install Dir registry key. If empty the
echo registry is not modified.
echo.
echo /deltypelib Use this option to force the Central Data Store's typelib
echo registry key to be deleted.
echo.
echo.

:end

Please copy and paste the above text into a batch file called Regsvrall.bat.

Copy that batch file into the C:\Program Files\Caseware folder. You can then run the batch file via Windows Explorer and a double click or via the command line.

It is our preference to run the batch file via the command line to verify that it does what it is supposed to without a window flash then its done.

It is a good thing that we ran the batch file from the command line because one of the laptops had a DLL registration failure. That presented a bit of a pickle since we did not have the install files.

So, we copied the contents of the Caseware folder off of one of the known good laptops onto the NAS then over top of the Caseware folder on the laptop that was hiccupping. Answering Yes to All, we made sure that all of the files were copied before proceeding to the next step.

We reran the batch file in the affected laptop's Caseware folder, and this time we saw the DLL with the previous error successfully registered.

Caseware 2008 ran fine after that on all three.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Happy Labour Day

For those who have the day off, enjoy your families, friends, and just plain relaxation.

For us, it is a time to catch up on internal projects that have been sitting by the wayside while we have been focused on our client needs. Later today it will be time with the kids hauling them around in the bike trailor to burn off the seat building calories! ;)

So, while waiting for our new Server Core data storage server to reboot after joining our internal domain, have a happy Labour Day!

And to those facing down Gustav, all the best to you as you ride out the storm. Our thoughts are with you.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

A neat thing about this business ...

.... is the people we get to meet and work with.

One of our local suppliers has a great fellow working for them by the name of Dustin. He is our primary contact for sales and support.

Monique and I just returned from his wedding and reception. It was awesome!

Congratulations to Dustin and Jen on your wedding day! Marriage is ssuuuwwwwweeeeettttt!! :D

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
http://blog.mpecsinc.ca

Sent from an SBS integrated Windows Mobile Device.

Software Assurance time limit after OEM or Retail FPP purchase

With the looming deadline for purchasing Open Value Licenses (OVL) with Software Assurance or Open Value Software Assurance (SA) on OEM or Retail packaged product, it is very important to note this one fact:

• Software Assurance can be purchased ONLY within 90 days of the original OEM or FPP purchase.

That is, if a client purchases an OEM SBS 2003 R2 Premium today, August 30, 2008, then they have until November 30, 2008 to purchase Software Assurance.

But then, we hit another snag: OVL license and SA or OVL SA for SBS 2003 R2 Premium is available only until October 31, 2008.

Right now, SA is the best value on the planet for our clients going through hardware refreshes or new clients we are installing SBS infrastructure for.

Some links:

• Susan Bradley: Software Assurance do it now.
• Susan Bradley: Link to Power Point on SBS 2008 SA.
• Susan Bradley: How do I buy SA?
• The Official SBS Blog: SA Entitlement for SBS 2003 customers upgrading to SBS 2008.
• SBS Down Under: Why sell SBS 2003 R2 with SA?

Check it out!

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Intel X25-E SATA Solid-State Drive - Extreme Performance

Lately, solid-state drives (SSDs) have been getting some headlines.

So far, as far as third party gossip goes, we have heard both good and bad about them.

The big question for us when it comes to laptops is: Power consumption. Do the drives have a reduced power consumption requirement over standard spindle based drives? The bits and pieces we have come across have been on both sides of the fence.

No matter what the power consumption is though, this little point sure was an eye popper:

Intel SSD: Up to 250MB/s sequential read, up to 170MB/s sequential write

Wow ... wow ... wow! 8-O

Capacities are not there yet ... but they are coming up. And when they do, say bubbye to spindle based storage as a mainstream way of keeping data on the local machine.

There may still be a need for spindles in specialty applications, but there is absolutely no doubt that SSD is the future of local machine data storage.

Now, to get a set of eight 64GB Intel X25-E Extreme SATA Solid-State Drives for an absolutely killer RAID 0+1 array that would totally saturate the PCI-E bus man! :D

Just a little geeking out here ...

Links:

• The spec sheet is here: Intel X25-E SATA Solid State Drive (PDF direct link).
• Product brief here: Intel X25-E Extreme SATA Solid-State Drives Product Brief (PDF direct link).

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS 2008 Premium on Open Value Licensing - ISA considerations

This post is more to generate some creative juices in the old grey matter. ;)

Given the experiences we have had configuring ISA 2004 to work with our SBS 2008 lab setups, there look to be a couple of possible methods to make things work.

The key to it all folks: Take a very close look at your SBS 2003 SP1/R2 Premium setups with ISA 2004 installed and configured properly.

Look at how the SSL setup works and just how the Configure E-mail and Internet Connection Wizard sets the ISA SSL bridging up.

From there, it is possible to see two possible ways of configuring ISA:

1. Bridging using the SBS self-issued cert for RWW and an internal URL for RWW. ISA will bridge SSL for remote.mysbs2008.com to remote.mysbsdomain.local without the dreaded 500 errors.
2. Bridging using the split DNS setup built into SBS 2008. ISA bridge Internet remote.mysbsdomain.com calls to remote.mysbsdomain.com on the SBS 2008 box.

We have been using the second method to make everything work so far. The key factor is to make sure to import the third party SSL certificate with the Private Key in it.

But, since the current SBS 2003 SP1/R2 Premium setups with ISA 2004 use method 1, we will experiment with it to see if using the internal URL will break things on SBS 2008 ... a distinct possibility given the wizard's use of a split DNS setup.

We won't be able to do this until our lab setup has the SBS 2008 Win2K3 setup in place with ISA 2006 installed and waiting to be configured for use with the Springers' SBS 2008 network.

If the trial runs at setting up option 1 do not work, we will make sure to let you know...

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS 2008 - Some test lab considerations

One of the major questions we need to ask ourselves when we are going to test a new server OS or workstation OS product is: how?

Some criteria to consider in that how:

• Internet connection.
• Static IP with URL A for DNS, MX for mail, SSL.
• dDNS setup.
• No Internet connection at all.
• SBS 2003/8 specific: Remote Web Workplace functionality.
• Server or workstation hardware
• Virtualized OSs.
• Terminal Services
• Group Policy settings from OU structure right through to the minutest GPO and its settings.
• Workstations.
• Hardware or Virtualized.
• XP Pro and/or Vista Business/Ultimate
• Microsoft Office version
• Line of Business Applications

The above list is by no means complete. But, it does give us food for thought.

For us, the imperative when looking to test a beta product, SBS 2008 for example, is to make sure that we have a setup that is close to what a real production environment would be like.

This imperative becomes all the more important as we began to realize just how much SBS 2008 has changed over SBS 2003. We absolutely needed an Internet connection with at least a dDNS setup or, in our case, a dedicated static IP with the proper DNS settings in place.

As an example, we wanted to run through setting up SSL with a third party certificate for Remote Web Workplace because the new Getting Started Tasks contained a wizard just for that purpose. With that cert in place, the next step was figuring out how to make ISA 2004/6 work with the SBS 2008 RWW setup and so on.

When it comes to our client specific setups, we create a lab environment that mirrors their production environment. It is then critical for us to provide the necessary infrastructure to facilitate the mirror. To some extent, virtualization can help a lot here, but not completely.

In the case of SBS 2008, as mentioned in previous posts, we have a couple of lab setups in the shop. The critical one for us right now is the Springer Spaniels SBS 2008 setup that is a part of the book that I am co-authoring with Harry Brelsford.

It is the Springers' lab setup that needs to be stable and properly configured as our other lab setup is the one we like to blow up by doing silly things like enabling the Intel ProSet NIC Teaming settings and then running the wizards ... can you say reinstall anyone? ;)

This is an overview of the Springers' lab:

• Intel X3070 Xeon Dual Core CPU on an Intel S3000AHLX server board, 8GB Kingston ECC Intel approved RAM, Intel SRCSASRB RAID controller in RAID 0+1 with 4x 320GB Seagate ES series hard drives for a total of 640GB of storage.
• SBS 2008 RC1 is installed and in the process of being configured.
• 4x workstations configured as follows:
• Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, Intel DQ965GF or Intel DQ35JO motherboard , 6-8GB Kingston RAM, 2x 320GB Seagate ES or AS series hard drive in RAID 1 via on board RAID controller all tucked into an Antec Minute 300 or 350 for space saving.
• Windows Vista Ultimate x64.
• Workstation VM setup:
• Station 1: 4x Windows XP Pro VMs using our TechNet Plus for licensing (lab).
• Station 2: 4x Windows XP Pro VMs using our TechNet Plus for licensing (lab).
• Station 3: 2x Windows XP Pro, 2x Windows Vista Ultimate VMs using TechNet Plus (lab).
• Station 4: Server 2003 R2 Std for ISA (TechNet in lieu of Open Lic.), Server 2008 Std x64 (SBS 08 RC1 Premium).
• Network Setup:
• Internet static IP bound to our own ISA 2004 (on SBS R2 Premium) with DNS A, MX, SPF records in place for springersltd.com.
• The Springers' SBS 2008 box sits behind a D-Link DI-604 consumer router with a publishing rule on our ISA 2004 to allow it out only.
• D-Link internal Springers' IP range: 192.168.99.0/24
• D-Link WAN port IP: 192.168.125.210 (reservation on our internal SBS DHCP setup)
• Our ISA 2004 has the Springers' SSL certificate bound a publishing rule set to allow HTTPS and SharePoint 987 to forward to the D-Link's internal IP. The D-Link forwards those to the Springers' SBS 2008 box.
• Our ISA 2004 also has VPN and SMTP for the springersltd.com forwarded to the D-Link then on to the Springers' SBS 2008 box.

We have limited the number of virtual workstations to 4 per physical workstation as we plan on stress testing the setup by having a number of people logging in at the same time as the Springers' users. They will do things like run Outlook to create and send e-mail, Word documentation, SharePoint, and the like.

Yes, the workstation grade hardware hosting the VMs will not necessarily provide the "real world" experience like having those desktops on a Hyper-V enabled server with a high performance RAID array setup and a couple of cores assigned to each would provide, however, it will give us some indications as to how the Xeon 3070 will hold up under 10 users with a number of the server services in use simultaneously.

Note that the D-Link is a temporary measure until we reach the stage where we are installing the Windows Server 2008 x64 Standard server that is a part of the SBS 2008 Premium setup. When we have reached that stage, then, we will look at setting up ISA on Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard either as a VM, or if we have a spare box kicking around, a dedicated hardware solution.

There is a significant cost in time and equipment in the lab setups we have. It only makes sense that if we want to provide the best possible product knowledge to facilitate our ability to provide our clients with the best solutions for their needs, then we need to invest time and money.

This is critical: The closer and closer we get to the Cloud and its opportunities and pitfalls, the more our knowledge and experience will be the key to us and our I.T. company moving forward successfully.

Take careful note: The "we" and "our" in the above sentence means every single employee and contractor that works with us under this umbrella we call MPECS Inc. It also means our clients and their feedback, the vendor contacts we work with, our peers in the local I.T. industry, and you our blog readers that provide excellent feedback for us to build on.

Ultimately, it will be our teamwork that carries us through this transition period.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Product consistency is good for business

One of the key points to selling something, and continuing to sell that something, is based on the product's consistency.

Take for example, Oreo cookies. A little off-topic perhaps, but I am an absolute Oreo fanatic. They are the source of my radio and online handles: Oreo Man and MunCHeeZz.

Why pick on Oreo cookies though? Because, for you Americans, if you have never had a Canadian version of the cookie, you are missing out.

A friend brought a bag of US made Oreo cookies and I could not finish it. They did not taste near what their Canadian counterparts did, nor did they taste near as good.

The psychology behind product loyalty is deep and complex as any marketing campaign can point out to us ... or it can be outright simple as some product marketing schemes go.

When it comes to consistency, the look of our workstation is key:

• We are not marketing to end users and thus do not need flashy coloured skins on our boxes. The exterior look of the box should be relatively plain and functional with a taste of elegance. In our case, our chassis of choice is either the Antec Sonata II or Minuet 350 depending on the form factor needed.
• Our component setup within the box is consistently the same across many different orders.

For many of our clients, what is inside the box is not important. We can try and convince them that the larger manufacturers will give them any manner of component inside the same looking boxes, but they, for the most part, will not pay attention.

What they do pay attention to are the costs associated with those hardware setups. And, that is where we, a smaller I.T. shop, can have the advantage over the larger system manufacturers.

Over the two year period during which our larger clients run through their hardware refreshes, we will implement the same system configuration across the board down to the hard drives, motherboards, RAM, and other components used.

How does this save our client's money? Homogeneity. That is: Sameness.

Troubleshooting issues on all manners of hardware configuration in one office can be grief stricken, never mind the nightmare for our client audit notes. Then there is the RMA process and loss of productivity. These things cost money across the long run ... in many cases more than the money "saved" purchasing from tier 1 or 2.

In the case of our larger clients, imaging becomes a factor and having the same hardware configuration across the board makes OS image configuration, updating, and longevity a factor in the cost of supporting that hardware.

We do not build workstations here in our shop. Having people tied up building systems is not an equitable proposition. There is one exception to that rule: Our training labs, our own workstations, and any special order high performance boxes.

The exception to that rule gives us hands on experience with the systems we support at client sites. It gives us the ability to formulate new configurations based on new hardware coming down the pipe. And, we are able to learn the hardware and software products through and through to make sure we are knowledgeable in their inner workings ... or not workings.

Intel, by the way, has a two year product cycle commitment for their corporate class components.

We have a very reputable OEM System Builder in Edmonton that we turn to for our client workstations. They are also the location we can take any warranty related issues to and have them addressed in very short order. We have been working with them close to ten years now.

Some food for thought for the smaller I.T. shops out there.

Our default Corporate Class configuration:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E8300 2.83GHz.
• Intel DQ35JO motherboard.
• 3GB Kingston Value RAM.
• Seagate Barracuda hard drives.
• Antec Chassis.
• Lite-On for optical drives.

Besides that Sameness, the above system configuration is stable, relatively quick, and provides the Intel AMT support for remote firmware/BIOS level support.

Oh, and the configuration comes with an awesome support mechanism via our OEM and Intel.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Vista - Stop 0x0000004e - PFN List Corrupt

We were putting together a new Vista x64 box for some VMs to run on Virtual PC.

We went to install Vista Ultimate SP1 x64 and received a strange BSOD:

Stop 0x0000004e PFN_List_Corrupt

Now, this box has been used once or twice in the past couple of months. However, it was behaving quite strange. So, yesterday we put in a new set of drives for the RAID 1 array and went to reinstall the OS.

Thinking that the problem may have been with having too much RAM, even though SP1 is not supposed to have that problem, we pulled the two 2GB sticks leaving 2GB in the machine.

Sure enough, the OS installed.

After a shutdown and reinstall of the 2GB sticks we started seeing the system behave strangely to the point where it would not function at all.

We rebooted, hit the F8 key to get into the boot selection key, then it ESC to get to the Memory Diagnostic Tool.

This is what we were greeted with:

Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool

Yes, we have a hardware problem. At least it is now confirmed.

Once the system had rebooted as indicated it would when the test was finished we saw:

Bad Memory

Too bad the DQ35JO doesn't light up the slot the bad memory is in like the server systems do.

After a little bit of troubleshooting, we had the culprit and put in to Kingston for an RMA.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Further to NAP - Win2K8 Server Security Guide Available

Further to this morning's post on NAP is in SBS, Rodney of the CanITPro blog posted a comment about some videos:

• Heroes Happen {In Your Lab}

He points to this PDF document: Heroes Happen {Here} Lab Guide (PDF Document)

The links to the needed VHDs and the like are active in the PDF. Check it out, because there is a huge amount of reading condensed and organized according to the proper flow of things.

Also, just in time for the long weekend too, some reading on Windows Server 2008 Security:

• TechNet: Windows Server 2008 Security Guide
• Microsoft Download Center: Windows Server 2008 Security Guide

There are three download links on the Microsoft Download Site.

Since we are focused on SMB, there is a real need for us to keep abreast on the hows and whys of proper security configuration for the network infrastructure as well as the hardening of our servers to reduce the attack surface.

Security is one of the principle reasons why Server Core is such an awesome option for specific network infrastructure needs.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

Some signs that we have a hard drive problem

Whether we are talking about a server, a workstation, or particularly a laptop, there are a number of surefire indications that we are at the beginning stages of a hard drive problem:

• The OS takes an inordinately long time to boot up.
• A particular application like Office or a Line of Business App takes a long time to fire up.
• Random lock ups with no respite but a reset.
• Seemingly mysterious data corruption.
• More likely on a RAID array member degrading.
• Mysterious RAID 1 mirror breaks.
• Server: Event ID 55s.

The clincher, in about 95% of the cases we come across is the boot time for the OS. Occasionally we get a call because of a missing file like NTLDR.sys or the like. But, those occasions come few and far between.

One thing to keep in mind: The user may never clue into the long boot times until they are asked during an on-site visit if anything peculiar is up ... or if the OS finally throws an error and they no longer have a workstation/laptop to work on.

One of the benefits to our clients that we provide bi-weekly backup rotations for is our regular visits. In some cases, we now expect to spend anywhere from an hour or more answering the various questions users have gathered up over the previous couple of weeks.

That in-person presence is really valued by our clients.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

TechNet Plus: SQL 2008 RTM bits available for download

A little behind the gun on this one:

TechNet Plus: SQL 2008 Downloads

With our being on the SBS 2008 beta, a couple of test runs at installing the product were done in the blind ... meaning no reads.

Needless to say, we did not get very far. :)

Things have changed a bit on the install and configuration front between SQL 2005 and SQL 2008. Time to do some reading.

Some related links:

• SQL 2008 search on Microsoft's download site.
• SQL Server 2008 Release Notes.
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Feature Pack, August 2008.
• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies

That last one could be very important for us SBSers in relation to SBS 2008 Premium Edition with SQL 2008 included.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.

SBS 2008 - We have NAP!

One of the killer new security structures in Windows Server 2008 is Network Access Protection (NAP).

Essentially, NAP gives us the ability to delimit who can or cannot access a given network in any way by the status of the updates, antivirus, and other software components of the system the user is trying to connect with.

It was a question that up till now, was not clear as far as SBS 2008: Will we, or won't we have NAP on SBS?

This aught to clear that question up:

Network Access Protection

Now, who was paying attention when the many different Microsofties over many different "Longhorn" presentations over many different conferences over many different years, prior to Microsoft Windows Server 2008 was released, demoed NAP?!?

In our case, while the ears were definitely perked during the product explanations, demos, and some configuration demos, there is definitely lots room to learn the ins and outs of configuring NAP.

Microsoft Press has a book on the topic too: Windows Server 2008 Networking and Network Access Protection (NAP).

NAP will be very high on the To Do list for configuring and figuring out on both of our SBS 2008 test beds RPQ (Right Properly Quick).

We have a number of clients who are anticipating SBS 2008 for this fall ... so we need to be prepared as some of them are particularly conscious of any foreign system plugging into their networks.

And, we are really gearing up ourselves with internal changes in anticipation of SBS 2008 deployment in the next month or so.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

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