Exchange 2007 Update Rollup 4 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB952580) was mistakenly released to MS Update, the MS Update Catalog, and WSUS for download.
The mistake was caught, but not before there was a possibility that the update was downloaded.
For those running SBS 2008 in Beta or RC form, verify that your servers did not pull the update because it can terminally destabilize your installs.
From the Exchange Team Blog You had me at EHLO: The case of disappearing Update Rollup 4.
We just verified our RC installs and are fortunate that none of them show the update installed or pending.
The out-of-the-box WSUS settings and manual updates for the server should protect us, but it does not hurt to verify that nothing went awry.
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.
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Vista - A New Question for Troubleshooting - iTunes 8?
It seems that Apple is surreptitiously delivering and installing software without a user's permission.
One of the components of the recent iTunes 8 "update" is a known bad driver ... GEARAspiWDM.sys ... you draw your own conclusions on that one. BSODs are also indicating usbaapl64.sys as per the forum posts linked below.
Now, when we are receiving complaints about erratic behaviours, especially lately, we need to ask if the user has iTunes 8 installed and recently updated.
If iTunes 8 is installed, we need to remove the software and reinstall it, remove any unneeded software that was installed with the so-called update, then replace the bad drivers with known good ones or use System Restore to back things off.
Links to more:
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.
One of the components of the recent iTunes 8 "update" is a known bad driver ... GEARAspiWDM.sys ... you draw your own conclusions on that one. BSODs are also indicating usbaapl64.sys as per the forum posts linked below.
Now, when we are receiving complaints about erratic behaviours, especially lately, we need to ask if the user has iTunes 8 installed and recently updated.
If iTunes 8 is installed, we need to remove the software and reinstall it, remove any unneeded software that was installed with the so-called update, then replace the bad drivers with known good ones or use System Restore to back things off.
Links to more:
- Ed Bott: An inside look at Apple’s sneaky iTunes 8 upgrade (original heads up).
- Ed Bott: Apple's sneaky iTunes 8 install pictorally.
- Apple Forums: Itunes 8 - Connecting Ipod cause Blue Screen on Vista.
- Live search for the offending driver: GEARAspiWDM.sys
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.
Labels:
Apple,
BIOS Updates,
Error,
iTunes,
Surreptitious Software Installs
Wednesday, 10 September 2008
Vista Tip: A quick way to logoff or lock your workstation
That Start Button on the keyboard is pretty handy!
Whether you use the mouse, or your keyboard, here is a really quick way to logoff your Windows Vista machine:
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
Whether you use the mouse, or your keyboard, here is a really quick way to logoff your Windows Vista machine:
- Click the Start Button or hit the Start key on your keyboard.
- Type: Logoff [Enter]
- Done.
Nice and simple eh?
Oh, need to walk away from the system? One quick way to lock your workstation is to CTRL+ALT+DEL --> [Enter].
An even quicker way:
- Hold the Start button on your keyboard and hit the L key.
Yes, this key stroke series works with Windows XP as well. :)
Philip ElderMPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.
Labels:
Keyboard Shortcuts,
Learning Vista,
Windows Vista,
Windows XP
Vista - Event ID 1511, 1515 Profile loss to TEMP
We had a strange Vista hiccup this afternoon with one of our clients: She was working in Word, opened a template to begin a project and the system literally hiccuped hiccupped her out.
When she logged back in, her profile was initialized in temporary mode with no messages at all indicating that there was a problem.
She knew there was a problem though because from there on in she was essentially answering all of the same initial questions one would get when logging onto the system for the first time.
Her profile was in C:\Users\Temp.
We tried to recover the profile by checking the settings in the registry, but they were correct.
We tried to rename her original local profile folder, but when she logged in she still received the TEMP folder as her profile location.
The errors associated:
For Exchange integrated and My Documents redirected sites the contents will essentially be the user's Desktop and Favorites folders. Keep in mind that the Offline Files feature may take time to synchronize for large profiles and Outlook may take some time to build up the OST file.
Links:
When she logged back in, her profile was initialized in temporary mode with no messages at all indicating that there was a problem.
She knew there was a problem though because from there on in she was essentially answering all of the same initial questions one would get when logging onto the system for the first time.
Her profile was in C:\Users\Temp.
We tried to recover the profile by checking the settings in the registry, but they were correct.
We tried to rename her original local profile folder, but when she logged in she still received the TEMP folder as her profile location.
The errors associated:
It was a bit of a strange puzzle, but a bit of searching turned up the cure:Log Name: Application
and
Source: User Profile Service
Date: 9/9/2008 2:45:06 PM
Event ID: 1511
Task Category: None
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: domain\UserName
Computer: MyComputer
Description: Windows cannot find the local profile and is logging you on with a temporary profile. Changes you make to this profile will be lost when you log off.
Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-Windows-User Profiles Service
Date: 9/9/2008 2:45:06 PM
Event ID: 1515
Task Category: None
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: domain\UserName
Computer: MyComputer
Description: Windows has backed up this user profile. Windows will automatically try to use the backup profile the next time this user logs on.
- Reboot
- Log on as a local admin other than the user with the profile problem.
- Copy the old C:\Users\%UserName% contents to a network location.
- Delete the C:\Users\%UserName% directory
- Delete
Deltethe C:\Users\TEMP directory - Regedit
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
- Find the SID for the user with the corrupted profile and delete it (profile directory will be C:\Users\%UserName%.
- Reboot.
- Logon with the affected user's account.
For Exchange integrated and My Documents redirected sites the contents will essentially be the user's Desktop and Favorites folders. Keep in mind that the Offline Files feature may take time to synchronize for large profiles and Outlook may take some time to build up the OST file.
Links:
- Fix tip: Vistax64.com Forums: Vista - User Profile was not loaded correctly (Samir ~2/3 way down).
- Microsoft KB947215: Error message when you log on to a Windows Vista-based computer by using a temporary profile: "The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded".
Note that no message was displayed to the user.
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.
Tuesday, 9 September 2008
***WARNING*** Open Value License Costs Up Oct. 1
Please verify your SBS 2008 R2 pricing with your distribution contacts.
We received a note this afternoon indicating that Open Value licensing costs for SBS 2K3 versions and CALs will be rising October 1, 2008.
From what we can see, the SBS 2K3 R2 Premium first year payment on an Open Value Spread Payment Agreement will increase by approximately $450 after October 1, 2008. Your numbers will vary by locale.
Once you have contacted your licensing contact at your favourite distributor to confirm, make sure to keep the pricing change in mind when quoting.
Folks, this is another great reason to sell OVL before October first!
Please comment on what you find out from your distribution contacts. We would appreciate the feedback ... even if the info we have received is bunk! :)
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.
We received a note this afternoon indicating that Open Value licensing costs for SBS 2K3 versions and CALs will be rising October 1, 2008.
From what we can see, the SBS 2K3 R2 Premium first year payment on an Open Value Spread Payment Agreement will increase by approximately $450 after October 1, 2008. Your numbers will vary by locale.
Once you have contacted your licensing contact at your favourite distributor to confirm, make sure to keep the pricing change in mind when quoting.
Folks, this is another great reason to sell OVL before October first!
Please comment on what you find out from your distribution contacts. We would appreciate the feedback ... even if the info we have received is bunk! :)
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.
Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000
I am participating in a LiveMeeting Webinar on SBS 2008 in about 5 minutes.
I am personally very green to the LiveMeeting stuff as the last and only one I have facilitated in the past was for the Fresno User Group (Susan Bradley) and that one was a phone in setup.
This one requires a headset, and we don't have any around!
I had to run down to the local multi-drug-computer-grocery store to grab one.
The Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 USB headset looked to be what I like in a headset: Good sized ear muffs for comfort and a decent sized head band.
Being a n00b at this stuff, it was a pleasant experience to plug in the disk to install the driver into Windows Vista, then plug in the headset and everything just worked!
*Phew* since it was a last minute jump to grab the headset! :)
Well ... the Webinar is starting! You can register here!
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.
I am personally very green to the LiveMeeting stuff as the last and only one I have facilitated in the past was for the Fresno User Group (Susan Bradley) and that one was a phone in setup.
This one requires a headset, and we don't have any around!
I had to run down to the local multi-drug-computer-grocery store to grab one.
The Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 USB headset looked to be what I like in a headset: Good sized ear muffs for comfort and a decent sized head band.
Being a n00b at this stuff, it was a pleasant experience to plug in the disk to install the driver into Windows Vista, then plug in the headset and everything just worked!
*Phew* since it was a last minute jump to grab the headset! :)
Well ... the Webinar is starting! You can register here!
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.
Labels:
SBS 2008 All Editions,
SMB Nation,
Windows Vista
Monday, 8 September 2008
Security and SBS 2008 Webinar with Untangle
I will be a part of the upcoming Webinar presented by Untangle.
You can register here.
Untangle will be presenting on Security in an SBS 2008 World tying in their Untangle firewall security product.
For those looking for alternatives to ISA or SonicWall, Untangle may present one, though we have not had a chance to evaluate their product yet.
We will be diving into the Untangle product along with others as we look for an alternative to SBS 2003 R2 Premium once SBS 2008 SKUs go live. Once we do, we will be sure to share the results here.
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.
You can register here.
Untangle will be presenting on Security in an SBS 2008 World tying in their Untangle firewall security product.
For those looking for alternatives to ISA or SonicWall, Untangle may present one, though we have not had a chance to evaluate their product yet.
We will be diving into the Untangle product along with others as we look for an alternative to SBS 2003 R2 Premium once SBS 2008 SKUs go live. Once we do, we will be sure to share the results here.
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.
Saturday, 6 September 2008
SBS 2008 - Use Outlook Anywhere (RPC/HTTPS)? RDC may need the same login format...
When we train our users to use their Outlook while connected to the Internet at a hotel or anywhere outside of the office, we make sure they login using the following format:
That need will arise if the desktop OS they are running on the remote machine they are connecting with is Windows XP from what we have seen so far.
The other username format: FirstLast@Domain.
This situation is something to keep in mind when it comes time to train our client users after an SBS 2008 implementation.
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.
If our clients do not use Outlook Anywhere (Outlook connected via RPC over HTTPS), then they may struggle a bit at first with the need to use the above format to logon to their desktop via the SBS 2008 Remote Web Workplace.Username: domain\firstlast
Password: Give me that passphrase!
That need will arise if the desktop OS they are running on the remote machine they are connecting with is Windows XP from what we have seen so far.
The other username format: FirstLast@Domain.
This situation is something to keep in mind when it comes time to train our client users after an SBS 2008 implementation.
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.
Friday, 5 September 2008
WD 300GB VelociRaptor - Wow
The new WD VelociRaptor sure are fast ... especially relative to their older sibling the Raptor.
We just finished doing a bit of tweaking and upgrading to one of our client's personal system.
The setup:
So, we are looking to configure a set of four in a RAID 0+1 setup to see how much of an increase in performance there will be. We would bet that the performance increase is significant over the RAID 1 VelociRaptor setup, and substantial over the Raptor RAID 0+1 setup given our experience with them this afternoon.
Western Digital is definitely one to watch in the spindle based performance category ... though with the advent of Solid-State Drives (previous blog post), WD has to hope that their significant investment in high performance spindle based drives pays off in the long run.
For now, WD VelociRaptor definitely makes performance to value sense!
From Western Digital's description:
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.
We just finished doing a bit of tweaking and upgrading to one of our client's personal system.
The setup:
- Intel QX6700 Quad Core Extreme
- ASUS Maximus Formula
- 4GB Ballistix DDR2
- Sapphire HD 4870 512MB PCI-E Video
- 2x 300GB WD VelociRaptor in RAID 1
- Antec Nine Hundred case
- Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit
Once we had the system together and the OS installed, the subsequent boot ups and reboots for driver updates were pretty stunning.
Off the top, the two VelociRaptors come close to performing as well as the 4 Raptors configured in a RAID 0+1 setup!
The new 300GB drives even come in a 3.5" hot swap backplane ready model too.So, we are looking to configure a set of four in a RAID 0+1 setup to see how much of an increase in performance there will be. We would bet that the performance increase is significant over the RAID 1 VelociRaptor setup, and substantial over the Raptor RAID 0+1 setup given our experience with them this afternoon.
Western Digital is definitely one to watch in the spindle based performance category ... though with the advent of Solid-State Drives (previous blog post), WD has to hope that their significant investment in high performance spindle based drives pays off in the long run.
For now, WD VelociRaptor definitely makes performance to value sense!
From Western Digital's description:
Double the capacity - State-of-the-art technology packs twice the capacity per disk compared to its older brother WD Raptor resulting in 300 GB of high-performance storage space in this enterprise-class 2.5-inch drive. (Not compatible with notebook computers)Note the lack of laptop support.
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.
Server Core - installing and enabling Access-Based Enumeration
For us and our clients, we absolutely require Access-Based Enumeration (ABE) to be installed on every file sharing server and enabled on every network shared folder.
It is mission critical because ABE hides any folders a user does not have permission to access no matter what method they use to access the file sharing server.
Out of sight, out of mind ... to a degree. ;)
Now, for some of our clients, and for ourselves, we are migrating our file servers to Windows Server 2008 Standard x64 Server Core installations. Performance improvements over Win2K3 Standard GUI install for older hardware with a hard drive refresh is impressive.
Running the install is pretty straight forward:
It is mission critical because ABE hides any folders a user does not have permission to access no matter what method they use to access the file sharing server.
Out of sight, out of mind ... to a degree. ;)
Now, for some of our clients, and for ourselves, we are migrating our file servers to Windows Server 2008 Standard x64 Server Core installations. Performance improvements over Win2K3 Standard GUI install for older hardware with a hard drive refresh is impressive.
Running the install is pretty straight forward:
As we are running through the install routine, something to keep in mind: We have no direct GUI on the Server Core box to bring up the folder's properties and manually enable ABE:Access Based Enumeration Install on Server Core
As a result, when we are running through the ABE install on Server Core, we need to do the following:Win2K3 Full - ABE Folder Properties
ABE Installation - Enable Access-based Enumeration by default
Once the ABE install is complete, create your file shares, set permissions either via the command line on the Server Core box, another Win2K8 box, or via RSAT enabled Vista SP1.
More on ABE:
- Windows Server 2003 Access-based Enumeration (download page for Word doc)
- Access-based Enumeration on TechNet
- TechNet Magazine: Utility Spotlight: Access-based Enumeration
Note that SBS 2008 has ABE installed by default with permissions managed from within the SBS 2008 consoles!
Server Core Rocks! :D
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.
Thursday, 4 September 2008
Hay Canucks - The MS TechNet Align IT Tour is coming!
The Microsoft TechNet Align IT Tour is coming to various Canadian cities October 1 to November 13, 2008.
The site: Microsoft TechNet Align IT Tour.
The city is a map link and the Register now link should carry you forward to the correct page:
If the registration links do not work, then click on the page link above please.
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.
The site: Microsoft TechNet Align IT Tour.
The city is a map link and the Register now link should carry you forward to the correct page:
- Wed Oct 01 Mississauga Register now
- Tues Oct 07 Calgary Register now
- Thurs Oct 09 Edmonton Register now
- Thurs Oct 09 Quebec City Register now
- Wed Oct 15 Halifax Register now
- Wed Oct 15 Vancouver Register now
- Tues Oct 21 Montreal Register now
- Wed Oct 22 Toronto Register now
- Wed Nov 12 Winnipeg Register now
- Thurs Nov 13 Ottawa Register now
If the registration links do not work, then click on the page link above please.
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.
Labels:
Conferences,
Microsoft,
TechNet
Trend Micro Worry Free Security is not so worry free?
Folks, please keep in mind that this post is coming out of a ongoing frustration with a couple of situations we are having with Trend's WFBS ... this being the key one:
One of our clients, going on ten years in our business relationship, has been entirely virus free. To date, we were running Symantec's Enterprise A/V product through its various versions up to 10.2 which is just prior to their new EndPoint product.
We may have our beefs with Symantec as a business and with its business practices, but at least the product worked.
With our client's recent hardware and software refresh, we opted for Trend Micro's SMB product which is now Worry Free Business Security.
We have all seen the plethora of ZIP files attached to emails about air flight plans and the like that have been filling our Spam or Junk folders.
Well, one of the principles of said client absentmindedly clicked on one of those zip files because they just happened to have made their flight plans with the Subject's airline.
Now, in the past, Symantec's A/V would have popped up a window stating that there was a virus embedded in the ZIP file, blocked access, and deleted or quarantined the file.
For whatever reason, the Trend product did not do this. So, after essentially 10 years of being virus free, we now have a laptop that we needed to quarantine, pull off the network, and rebuild after pulling essential data off of it. We do not like Trojans - all infected systems get flattened.
We checked, and double checked the Trend Management Console on the server and it clearly indicated that it was directing the clients to scan ZIP archives. In fact, we went through all of the settings in the console to make sure that things were as they should be for client settings and they were.
On the infected client, we tested a number of different scenarios and the Trend A/V client never even considered there to be a problem.
And yes, our server and clients were up to date with the current A/V definitions.
This situation has left a very sour taste in our mouth. For now, we will be holding off any further Trend installs.
BTW, this situation was the impetus for us to sign up with Vlad and OWN to begin looking at implementing Exchange Defender at our client sites.
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.
One of our clients, going on ten years in our business relationship, has been entirely virus free. To date, we were running Symantec's Enterprise A/V product through its various versions up to 10.2 which is just prior to their new EndPoint product.
We may have our beefs with Symantec as a business and with its business practices, but at least the product worked.
With our client's recent hardware and software refresh, we opted for Trend Micro's SMB product which is now Worry Free Business Security.
We have all seen the plethora of ZIP files attached to emails about air flight plans and the like that have been filling our Spam or Junk folders.
Well, one of the principles of said client absentmindedly clicked on one of those zip files because they just happened to have made their flight plans with the Subject's airline.
Now, in the past, Symantec's A/V would have popped up a window stating that there was a virus embedded in the ZIP file, blocked access, and deleted or quarantined the file.
For whatever reason, the Trend product did not do this. So, after essentially 10 years of being virus free, we now have a laptop that we needed to quarantine, pull off the network, and rebuild after pulling essential data off of it. We do not like Trojans - all infected systems get flattened.
We checked, and double checked the Trend Management Console on the server and it clearly indicated that it was directing the clients to scan ZIP archives. In fact, we went through all of the settings in the console to make sure that things were as they should be for client settings and they were.
On the infected client, we tested a number of different scenarios and the Trend A/V client never even considered there to be a problem.
And yes, our server and clients were up to date with the current A/V definitions.
This situation has left a very sour taste in our mouth. For now, we will be holding off any further Trend installs.
BTW, this situation was the impetus for us to sign up with Vlad and OWN to begin looking at implementing Exchange Defender at our client sites.
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 AMT - Active Management Technology and vPro gives us the edge
Having the ability to work with servers, workstations, and now laptops at a level where the machine's current power state is irrelevant can give us the edge when it comes to managing our client's networks.
Intel's AMT, or Active Management Technology, gives us that edge.
Using a simple tool like Intel's System Defense Utility, we are able to power cycle a system, redirect the boot source to a network based image, and more.
All of Intel's Q series Executive desktop boards and any of the new Centrino vPro series laptops have AMT built in.
Out of the box, we need to enable it in the system's BIOS, setup a new password (default out of the box: admin), and configure AMT for either an Enterprise environment where management servers will exist, or Small Business which essentially means it is stand alone.
Add a product like Microsoft's System Center Essentials to the mix along with Intel's AMT management pack, and we have an excellent foundation for our Managed Services solution.
While problems with the AMT setup are rare, they do happen.
We had a new Acer 6592G series laptop hiccup after the AMT was initialized and we had finished setting up the client's apps. On a reboot, a red flash went by where the AMT messages should have been. It took a number of tries to get to the message: AMT Error was all it said.
A call to Acer's support line, and subsequently into their top tier support people, and we needed to RMA the laptop. There was no simple way to reset the BIOS, TPM, and AMT.
Some AMT links:
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's AMT, or Active Management Technology, gives us that edge.
Using a simple tool like Intel's System Defense Utility, we are able to power cycle a system, redirect the boot source to a network based image, and more.
All of Intel's Q series Executive desktop boards and any of the new Centrino vPro series laptops have AMT built in.
Out of the box, we need to enable it in the system's BIOS, setup a new password (default out of the box: admin), and configure AMT for either an Enterprise environment where management servers will exist, or Small Business which essentially means it is stand alone.
Add a product like Microsoft's System Center Essentials to the mix along with Intel's AMT management pack, and we have an excellent foundation for our Managed Services solution.
While problems with the AMT setup are rare, they do happen.
We had a new Acer 6592G series laptop hiccup after the AMT was initialized and we had finished setting up the client's apps. On a reboot, a red flash went by where the AMT messages should have been. It took a number of tries to get to the message: AMT Error was all it said.
A call to Acer's support line, and subsequently into their top tier support people, and we needed to RMA the laptop. There was no simple way to reset the BIOS, TPM, and AMT.
Some AMT links:
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.
Server Core and the NetSH command - Error: Only the enable parameter can be used to update rules specified by a group
We just finished doing some updates to the Server Core - From Scratch to Hyper-V Production posts because some of the steps were not working as expected.
The critical hit was this command: netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="remote desktop" new enable=Yes profile=domain [Enter]
We could not get port 3389 opened on the domain no matter how hard we tried.
The error:
But, this KB article says we should do the above: KB 947709: How to use the "netsh advfirewall firewall" context instead of the "netsh firewall" context to control Windows Firewall behavior in Windows Server 2008 and in Windows Vista.
Philip asked! ;)
Thank you very much to Ned on the Ask blog for promptly replying and helping us to see the light! :)
Essentially, we got straightened out as far as the syntax of the NetSH command on Server Core to allow only certain protocols inbound when connected to the domain.
This is how the above command should read: netsh advfirewall firewall set rule name="remote desktop (tcp-in)" new enable=Yes profile=domain [Enter]
Some NetSH links:
The critical hit was this command: netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="remote desktop" new enable=Yes profile=domain [Enter]
We could not get port 3389 opened on the domain no matter how hard we tried.
The error:
Only the enable parameter can be used to update rules specified by a group.Yikes! And try to search for that one folks. :(
But, this KB article says we should do the above: KB 947709: How to use the "netsh advfirewall firewall" context instead of the "netsh firewall" context to control Windows Firewall behavior in Windows Server 2008 and in Windows Vista.
After no amount of struggling to figure it out, including asking other specialists, we finally hit upon the answer via another blog: Ask the Directory Services Team: How to Enable Remote Administration of Server Core via MMC using NETSH in the comments thread.MS KB 947709
Philip asked! ;)
Thank you very much to Ned on the Ask blog for promptly replying and helping us to see the light! :)
Essentially, we got straightened out as far as the syntax of the NetSH command on Server Core to allow only certain protocols inbound when connected to the domain.
This is how the above command should read: netsh advfirewall firewall set rule name="remote desktop (tcp-in)" new enable=Yes profile=domain [Enter]
Some NetSH links:
- Windows Server® 2008 Network Shell (Netsh) Technical Reference (download)
- Netsh Commands for Windows Firewall with Advanced Security on TechNet
- Sorry folks, the above is a real brain twister.
- Network Shell (Netsh) Technical Reference on TechNet
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.
Labels:
Error,
Error Fix,
Server Core,
Windows Server 2008
Wednesday, 3 September 2008
Credit Cards and Online Transaction Renewals - Beware!
A while back, we posted about our experience with Symantec automatically debiting our credit card (CC) for a subscription we had picked up for a client ... even after the original card had expired.
Apparently, the practice of "automatically" renewing a subscription is quite common: Sunbelt Blog: Have You Been a Victim of Unethical Software Company Practices?
There is nothing more frustrating than having someone tell you that you agreed to something with no proof in the pudding.
Going back to the original transaction email shows that there was no indication that the subscription would be automatically charged on its subsequent annual anniversary.
This practice means that we need to be extra careful where we use our CC number.
It is mentioned in the blog post that some CC companies are now offering a temporary CC number generation service for their clients to use with online transactions. Once the numbers expire, that's all folks!
We say, "Bring it on!" Providing the temporary numbers only makes business sense to us. How much time and effort is wasted by both the CC company and the CC holder trying to get not so ethical companies to reverse the charges? Probably lots given our own experiences with the practice.
We look forward to the day the Canadian CC companies offer this service as we would be using it all of the time.
In the meantime, we are considering to reduce to one year from two years the frequency we roll our CC numbers over.
It is a bit of a hassle, but in the long run it saves us from unethical companies that do the automatic renewal stuff as well as those companies that refuse to publicize network breaches that would place our numbers in the wild.
Some further links:
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.
Apparently, the practice of "automatically" renewing a subscription is quite common: Sunbelt Blog: Have You Been a Victim of Unethical Software Company Practices?
There is nothing more frustrating than having someone tell you that you agreed to something with no proof in the pudding.
Going back to the original transaction email shows that there was no indication that the subscription would be automatically charged on its subsequent annual anniversary.
This practice means that we need to be extra careful where we use our CC number.
It is mentioned in the blog post that some CC companies are now offering a temporary CC number generation service for their clients to use with online transactions. Once the numbers expire, that's all folks!
We say, "Bring it on!" Providing the temporary numbers only makes business sense to us. How much time and effort is wasted by both the CC company and the CC holder trying to get not so ethical companies to reverse the charges? Probably lots given our own experiences with the practice.
We look forward to the day the Canadian CC companies offer this service as we would be using it all of the time.
In the meantime, we are considering to reduce to one year from two years the frequency we roll our CC numbers over.
It is a bit of a hassle, but in the long run it saves us from unethical companies that do the automatic renewal stuff as well as those companies that refuse to publicize network breaches that would place our numbers in the wild.
Some further links:
- SunBelt Software SunPoll: Some security software companies automatically charge your credit card after 12 months for a new year of software subscription. What is your opinion about that practice? (Poll is bottom right hand side)
- PcTools Complaints - Termination of subscription
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.
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