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Track Users logon/logoff activity in Windows Domain environment (Active Directory)

2011-06-28T11:54:00.008+03:00

Sorry for bad formatting, but I'm using wordpress for bloging now and this is just copy paste without any additional work. You can view this post here for better looks: http://www.pupils.lt/?p=447

If you find yourself in need to quickly review historical logon/logoff information in your environment then following might be useful in future.

So how are we going to track user logon information?

Answer is by implementing user logon logoff scripts in Group Policy.

Steps

1) Share a directory on network where logs will be saved.

Share a folder with full access permissions for everyone, as well as full NTFS permissions for users which you want to log. It is recommended that you make a hidden share \\server\share$\. In this scenario I will use 2 folders in shared location, one for computers \\server\share$\computers\ and another for users \\server\share$\users\.

2) Create a .bat file with necessary commands for logon and logoff events.

a) Create logon.bat with the contents below and put it in the \\server\share$\logon.bat

ver >>\\server\share$\computers\%computername%.txt
echo %username% logged on %date% - %time% >>\\server\share$\computers\%computername%.txt
ipconfig /all |findstr Address >>\\server\share$\computers\%computername%.txt\\server\share$\users\%username%.txt
echo %computername% logged on %date% - %time% >>\\server\share$\users\%username%.txt
ipconfig /all |findstr Address >>\\server\share$\users\%username%.txt

First command returns OS version and writes it to computer_name.txt on your share.

Second command writes username of logged on user with the date when the script was run and writes it to computer_name.txt on your share.

Third command returns IP and Mac addresses of network connections and also writes them to computer_name.txt on your share.

Next three commands do exactly the same as above, but writes all info into user_name.txt files \\server\share$\users

b) Create logoff.bat with the contents below and put it in the \\server\share$\logoff.bat

echo %username% logged off %date% - %time% >>\\server\share$\computers\%computername%.txtecho %computername% logged off %date% - %time% >>\\server\share$\users\%username%.txt

Of course you can modify .bat files to suit your needs.

3) Enable .bat files to run on user logon and logoff via Group Policy.

Now we need to make those .bat files run every time users logon and logoff.

Open Group Policy Management, Create and Link GPO to the OU where targeted users reside. Now right click that that GPO and choose Edit. Navigate to User Configuration\Windows Settings\Scripts Logon/Logoff double click on Logon and then Add, browse for logon.bat (\\server\share$\logon.bat) and click OK two times. Now open Logoff click Add and navigate for logoff.bat (\\server\share$\logoff.bat) and click OK two times.

All set. To test it firs update group policy on a target computer with gpupdate /force command. Then logoff and logon with a test user which resides within the OU where your GPO applies.

If your test users is A.Test and computer TESTXP you should get 2 files created:

\\server\share$\computers\TESTXP.txt with the following contents:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
A.test logged on 2011.06.28 - 11:45:14,44
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-0C-60-C2-FA
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.15
A.test logged off 2011.06.28 - 11:45:50,35

and \\server\share$\users\A.test.txt with the following contents:

Microsoft Windows XP [Version 5.1.2600]
TESTXP logged on 2011.06.28 - 11:45:15,82
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 00-0C-0C-60-C2-FA
IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.15
TESTXP logged off 2011.06.28 - 11:45:50,37

Moving to wordpress

2011-06-14T19:12:00.005+03:00

For more comfortable user UI I am moving my blog to wordpress platform here: www.pupils.lt
I will continue to mirror my blog on blogger.com as well.

Enabling Remote Desktop Connection client Single Sign On (SSO) for Remote Desktop Services

2011-06-10T20:47:00.007+03:00

You probably came here for one of the following reasons:

a) having to login twice when connecting to terminal server in RD Connection Broker Farm
b) having to enter credentials for every Remote App even though you already are logged on with same credentials

To avoid (multiple) double logins you will need to enable Single Sign On functionality. For that you will make some changes on both - Server and Client.

1. Server

Connect to Remote Desktop Host Server
Start Server Manager
Expand Roles->Remote Desktop Services select RD Session Host Configuration
In the right pane in the Connections right click RDP-Tcp connection name and choose Properties
On the Log on Settings tab make sure "Alsways prompt for password" is unchecked.
On the General tab choose security layer: Negotiate or SSL (TLS 1.0)
Click OK.

2. Client

2.1 Windows Vista / Windows 7

Start Group Policy Editor (run: gpedit.msc)
Expand Computer Configuration->Administratie Templates->Credentials Delegation
Enable following settings: Allow Delegating Default Credentials and Allow Delegating Default Credentials with NTLM-only Server Authentication
Add following entries to each setting TERMSRV/server_name

server_name is the name of the RDSH server, you can use one wildcard there, for example: TERMSRV/myserver or TERMSRV/*.domain.com or TERMSRV/*

Do a "gpupdate /force" on your client and now you should be able to connect to your RDSH server without having to supply credentials. If you have saved credentials in your RDC client - delete them and you should see message "Your Windows logon credentials will be used to connect." indicating that SSO functionality is on.

2.2 Windows XP SP3

It is more tricky for windows XP as it does not have GPO setting to enable SSO, so you will need to do some registry changes.
Fortunately there is Microsoft Fix It tool which can do it for you - http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9758284

If you prefer to do it yourself read below:

Enable CredSSP

Under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
Edit the REG_MULTI_SZ value named Security Packages and add tspkg to the list.

Under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders
Edit the REG_SZ value named SecurityProviders and add ", credssp.dll" to the end (without quotation marks)

Also you will need to create the following registry entries:

Path: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation
Name: ConcatenateDefaults_AllowDefault
Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 1

Name: AllowDefaultCredentials
Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 1

Name: AllowDefCredentialsWhenNTLMOnly
Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 1

Name: ConcatenateDefaults_AllowDefNTLMOnly
Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 1

Path: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation\AllowDefaultCredentials
Name: 1
Type: REG_SZ
Data: TERMSRV/*

Path: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CredentialsDelegation\AllowDefCredentialsWhenNTLMOnly
Name: 1
Type: REG_SZ
Data: TERMSRV/*

note:
modify TERMSRV/* to your needs, if you need to specify more servers just create aditional entries with names "2" "3" and so on.

You might need to restart windows XP machine for registry changes to take effect.
In addition after all these changes you still might need a hotfix for Windows XP - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953760

Links:
Paul Adams blogpost - http://blogs.technet.com/b/mrsnrub/archive/2010/12/16/xp-clients-credssp-sso-connection-broker-and-other-animals.aspx
Technet article - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc742808.aspx
Microsoft KB article - http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951608/

Can't launch executable files from shares (domain environment)

2011-06-06T15:40:00.006+03:00

When trying to launch some .exe files from network drive (mapped share from file server) I've got the following error:

Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.

This error occurs even though I have full security permissions on the file and full share permissions and non executable files are opening as expected. This behavior is due to IE security settings, to fix it you will need:

1) Open IE and go Tools -> Internet Options

2) Click Security tab select Local intranet and click on Sites

3) Add "file://server name" (without quotes) to the Local intranet zone, click close OK and OK.

"server name" is the name of your server where the shared files reside.

Double login to Terminal Servers with RD Connection Broker

2011-06-06T13:19:00.006+03:00

If your users are frustrated by the double login prompt while attempting to connect to terminal server (2008 R2 in my case) in RD Connection Broker far,, you may try few things.

1) Make sure users are entering their credentials on the RDP client and not when they are already connected to the server.

2) Enable Credssp on windows XP SP3

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then press ENTER.
In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
In the details pane, right-click Security Packages, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type tspkg. Leave any data that is specific to other SSPs, and then click OK.
In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders
In the details pane, right-click SecurityProviders, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type credssp.dll. Leave any data that is specific to other SSPs, and then click OK.

3) Create RDP shortcut and edit it with notepad, add the following lines:

prompt for credentials on client:i:1

enablecredsspsupport:i:1

Links: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/winserverTS/thread/53cdb3ee-7c73-4cda-aff9-afffec4b94f3

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951608

Remote Desktop does not work to TMG (ISA) server

2011-05-03T09:06:00.005+03:00

If all rules are in place for RDP, but you still can't connect to your TMG (ISA) server, following steps might help you:

This is for Windows Server 2008 R2

Connect to TMG locally and go Administrative Tools -> Remote Desktop Services -> Remote Desktop Session Host Configuration

In connections table right click RDP-Tcp and select Properties then select Network Adapters tab and choose Network Adapter: for which you want to enable RDP.

Links: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/Forefrontedgegeneral/thread/ef37e149-27ce-4da9-8739-cc58fdba46dc

Windows Server 2008 R2 console freezes when viewing form vSphere client

2011-05-02T11:36:00.005+03:00

If you experience you console freezing from time to time when viewing from VMware vSphere client try to change video adapter drivers to VMware SVGA 3D (Microsoft Corporation - WDDM).

Step by step:

1. Shut down your VM and edit it's video card settings to use at least 8MB (32MB recommended) of total video RAM.

2. Boot up VM login to the machine and open Device Manager. Expand Display Adapters and right click your video adapter (should be "VMware SVGA II") select "Update Driver Software".

3. Choose "Browse my computer for driver software" and navigate to C:\Program files\Common files\VMware\drivers\wdda_video. Complete the wizard and restart VM when promted.

If you can not find wdda_video folder in your VMware\drivers folder that probably means you are using VMware tools version below 4.1 if that is the case you can download 4.1 tools from here: http://packages.vmware.com/tools/esx/4.1latest/windows/x64/index.html

install it on some test machine and then share "wdda_video" folder to access it from 2008 R2 machine. I don't know what effect it will have running video driver from 4.1 tools package on ESX server below version 4.1 so try it on your own risk.

Links: http://sysadmin-talk.org/2010/06/windows-server-2008-r2-console-freezes-when-viewed-from-vcenter-client/comment-page-1/#comment-2516

http://communities.vmware.com/thread/307584

Change location of WSUS update files

2011-04-27T11:02:00.004+03:00

If you ever need to change the location where WSUS stores updates you can do the following:

Win+R

type: cmd and hit Enter

at the command prompt navigate to the directory containing wsusutil.exe

(default: C:\Program files\Microsoft Windows Server Update Services\Tools)

and run command:

wsusutil.exe movecontent "D:\WSUS Update Packages" D:\logfile.log

this assumes you want to move update files to "D:\Wsus Update Packages" (you must create folder prior moving contents) and D:\logfile.log is where logs for this operation go.

If you do not want to copy all content to the new location add -skipcopy flag to the end of command wsusutil.exe movecontent "D:\WSUS Update Packages" D:\logfile.log -skipcopy

Links: http://blogs.technet.com/b/sus/archive/2008/05/19/wsus-how-to-change-the-location-where-wsus-stores-updates-locally.aspx

Running Apache 2.2.x PHP 4.4.x and MySQL 5.1.x under Windows Server 2003

2010-11-24T11:16:00.019+02:00

These are steps I took to successfully launch old PHP 4 website on windows 2003 using following software:

Apache 2.2.17

MySQL 5.1.53

PHP 4.4.9

1. Download and install PHP 4.4.9

You can download PHP 4.4.9 from here

After download is finished just extract it to C:\php

2. Download, install and configure Apache 2.2.17

Download windows installer from here

Installation should go without any problems so I will jump to the Apache configuration for PHP:

Open Apache configuration file (default location C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\conf\Httpd.conf) with any text editor.

To enable Apache processing of PHP pages find a line similar to this:

DirectoryIndex index.html

and edit it to something like this:

DirectoryIndex index.php index.html

You’ll also need to permit the use of .htaccess files in any directory, so search for an AllowOverride setting and change it from None to All

Copy all dlls from C:\Php\dlls to the Windows system directory (default C:\windows\system32). Look for the section of Apache’s configuration file that contains AddType commands, and add this one:

AddType application/x-httpd-php .php

Copy C:\Php\Php.ini-recommended to your Windows\system32 directory, rename it to Php.ini, and open it in a text editor. Edit the lines that set doc_root, extension_dir, and session.save_path so they look like the following:

doc_root = "C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs"

extension_dir = "c:\php\extensions"

session.save_path = "c:\temp"

You’ll need to create C:\Temp if it doesn’t already exist.

The next two steps are to enable Apache to run PHP programs as modules.

First, copy C:\Php\Php4ts.dll to your Windows\system32 folder.

Download php4apache2.dll file from here

(note that the default file php4apache2.dll which comes in the php package won't work with apache 2.2 so you will have to download the file in the link above, if the link is no longer valid - contact me I still might have a copy).

Look for the LoadModule section in Httpd.conf and add this line:

LoadModule php4_module modules/php4apache2.dll

3. Downloading, installing and configuring MySQL

Download MySQL 5.1.53 from here

After installing it, open configuration file (default location C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\my.ini) and add the following line:

old-passwords

when you change the server to use old-passwords, any existing accounts need to have their password changed to the old password format. Example:

mysql> SET PASSWORD FOR 'username'@'hostname' = OLD_PASSWORD('mypassword');

Where 'username'@'hostname' is the account and client host you use, and 'mypassword' is the password you want to use for that account.

You need that last step to enable a PHP4 application to connect to a MySQL 4.1 or later, else you will probably see the following message: "Client does not support authentication protocol"

4. Testing

First of all after saving all previous changes restart the Apache server.

Now to see if we set everything correctly navigate to the htdocs folder (default location: C:\Program Files\Apache Software Foundation\Apache2.2\htdocs) and create 2 php files there.

First one to test php - name it index.php and add following line to it:

<? phpinfo(); ?>

Save the file and navigate to http://localhost on you broswer, if you see PHP information - congrats PHP and Apache are setup correctly.

Name second file testsql.php and add following code to it:

<? $db_link = mysql_connect ("localhost", "root", "mypassword") or die ("Connection Failed!"); if($db_link) { echo "<b>Connection to MySQL server initiated successfully!</b>"; } mysql_close(); ?>

Save it and navigate to http://localhost/testsql.php on your browser to see if connection is successful.

Links:

http://www.builderau.com.au/strategy/architecture/soa/Get-Apache-2-and-PHP-4-working-together-in-Windows/0,339028264,320273988,00.htm

http://forge.mysql.com/wiki/PHP_FAQ

Errors encountered:

httpd.exe: Syntax error Cannot load php4apache2.dll into server: The specified module could not be found. - Solved by replacing php4apache2.dll to one downloaded

Warning: mysql_connect() [function.mysql-connect]: Client does not support authentication protocol requested by server; consider upgrading MySQL client - Solved by adding "old-passwords" line to MySQL configuration file my.ini

Upgrade Windows 7 RC to Windows 7 RTM

2010-03-15T12:53:00.005+02:00

It's pretty simple, if you have bootable flash just navigate to folder "sources" open file cversion.ini and change "MinClient" value to 7000.

You can also do this with ISO image before burning it to dvd.

Just tested - works with Server 2008 R2 RC to Server 2008 R2 RTM.

One more thing, upgrade from windows, don't boot from usb or dvd it will ask you to boot up you windows and launch setup then.

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2009-11-16T10:21:00.002+02:00

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Screen Capture Software

Move databases from SQL 2005 to SQL 2008

2009-11-13T00:24:00.016+02:00

I am awfully new at SQL server and this was a real headache for me. So I decided to document this experience so I never have to go through all those google pages again :)

Contents:
Step 1 - Making a backup of database.
Step 2 - Restoring databases.
Step 3 - Transfer of logins and passwords

Source: Server A - SQL 2005
Destination: Server B - SQL 2008

Step 1 - Making a backup of database.

On the source server: Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

method a) (preferable when backuping a single database)

expand ServerA -> Databases
right click on the database you want to backup and choose Tasks -> Back Up
Backup type: Full
Backup component: Database
now choose where you want to put your backup file - click Add and enter path and file name (you can enter share location as well for example \\Server_B\backups\database1.bak)
Click OK.

method b) (when backuping few, lots or all databases)

expand ServerA -> Management
right click Maintenance Plans and choose Maintenance Plan Wizard
on the first page of the wizard click Next
on the second page enter name for your backup plan, choose "Single schedule for the entire plan or no schedule", enter schedule setings or leave it on demand if you want to run it manualy, and click Next.
third page select "Back Up Database (Full)" and click Next
fourth page - Next
fifth page - choose which databases you want to backup, select "Create a backup file for every database" and select a location for backups (preferably share on the destination server \\Server_B\backups\)
sixth page - Next
and at last - Finish
after wizard finishes to create your maintenance plan - click Close
Now expand Maintenante Plans and you will see your maintenance plan listed there. Right click it and Execute.

Step 2 - Restoring databases.

On the destination server: Open Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio
expand ServerB, right click Databases and choose Restore Database
enter the name of database you are going to restore
To database: database1
then choose "From device" and browse for you database backup file
once you add it select it and press OK

Step 3 - Transfer of logins and passwords (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918992/)

3.1 On source Server A open New Query in the Microsoft SQL Management Studio
paste and execute the following code:

USE master
GO
IF OBJECT_ID ('sp_hexadecimal') IS NOT NULL
DROP PROCEDURE sp_hexadecimal
GO
CREATE PROCEDURE sp_hexadecimal
@binvalue varbinary(256),
@hexvalue varchar (514) OUTPUT
AS
DECLARE @charvalue varchar (514)
DECLARE @i int
DECLARE @length int
DECLARE @hexstring char(16)
SELECT @charvalue = '0x'
SELECT @i = 1
SELECT @length = DATALENGTH (@binvalue)
SELECT @hexstring = '0123456789ABCDEF'
WHILE (@i <= @length) BEGIN DECLARE @tempint int DECLARE @firstint int DECLARE @secondint int SELECT @tempint = CONVERT(int, SUBSTRING(@binvalue,@i,1)) SELECT @firstint = FLOOR(@tempint/16) SELECT @secondint = @tempint - (@firstint*16) SELECT @charvalue = @charvalue + SUBSTRING(@hexstring, @firstint+1, 1) + SUBSTRING(@hexstring, @secondint+1, 1) SELECT @i = @i + 1 END SELECT @hexvalue = @charvalue GO IF OBJECT_ID ('sp_help_revlogin') IS NOT NULL DROP PROCEDURE sp_help_revlogin GO CREATE PROCEDURE sp_help_revlogin @login_name sysname = NULL AS DECLARE @name sysname DECLARE @type varchar (1) DECLARE @hasaccess int DECLARE @denylogin int DECLARE @is_disabled int DECLARE @PWD_varbinary varbinary (256) DECLARE @PWD_string varchar (514) DECLARE @SID_varbinary varbinary (85) DECLARE @SID_string varchar (514) DECLARE @tmpstr varchar (1024) DECLARE @is_policy_checked varchar (3) DECLARE @is_expiration_checked varchar (3) DECLARE @defaultdb sysname IF (@login_name IS NULL) DECLARE login_curs CURSOR FOR SELECT p.sid, p.name, p.type, p.is_disabled, p.default_database_name, l.hasaccess, l.denylogin FROM sys.server_principals p LEFT JOIN sys.syslogins l ON ( l.name = p.name ) WHERE p.type IN ( 'S', 'G', 'U' ) AND p.name <> 'sa'
ELSE
DECLARE login_curs CURSOR FOR

SELECT p.sid, p.name, p.type, p.is_disabled, p.default_database_name, l.hasaccess, l.denylogin FROM
sys.server_principals p LEFT JOIN sys.syslogins l
ON ( l.name = p.name ) WHERE p.type IN ( 'S', 'G', 'U' ) AND p.name = @login_name
OPEN login_curs

FETCH NEXT FROM login_curs INTO @SID_varbinary, @name, @type, @is_disabled, @defaultdb, @hasaccess, @denylogin
IF (@@fetch_status = -1)
BEGIN
PRINT 'No login(s) found.'
CLOSE login_curs
DEALLOCATE login_curs
RETURN -1
END
SET @tmpstr = '/* sp_help_revlogin script '
PRINT @tmpstr
SET @tmpstr = '** Generated ' + CONVERT (varchar, GETDATE()) + ' on ' + @@SERVERNAME + ' */'
PRINT @tmpstr
PRINT ''
WHILE (@@fetch_status <> -1)
BEGIN
IF (@@fetch_status <> -2)
BEGIN
PRINT ''
SET @tmpstr = '-- Login: ' + @name
PRINT @tmpstr
IF (@type IN ( 'G', 'U'))
BEGIN -- NT authenticated account/group

SET @tmpstr = 'CREATE LOGIN ' + QUOTENAME( @name ) + ' FROM WINDOWS WITH DEFAULT_DATABASE = [' + @defaultdb + ']'
END
ELSE BEGIN -- SQL Server authentication
-- obtain password and sid
SET @PWD_varbinary = CAST( LOGINPROPERTY( @name, 'PasswordHash' ) AS varbinary (256) )
EXEC sp_hexadecimal @PWD_varbinary, @PWD_string OUT
EXEC sp_hexadecimal @SID_varbinary,@SID_string OUT

-- obtain password policy state
SELECT @is_policy_checked = CASE is_policy_checked WHEN 1 THEN 'ON' WHEN 0 THEN 'OFF' ELSE NULL END FROM sys.sql_logins WHERE name = @name
SELECT @is_expiration_checked = CASE is_expiration_checked WHEN 1 THEN 'ON' WHEN 0 THEN 'OFF' ELSE NULL END FROM sys.sql_logins WHERE name = @name

SET @tmpstr = 'CREATE LOGIN ' + QUOTENAME( @name ) + ' WITH PASSWORD = ' + @PWD_string + ' HASHED, SID = ' + @SID_string + ', DEFAULT_DATABASE = [' + @defaultdb + ']'

IF ( @is_policy_checked IS NOT NULL )
BEGIN
SET @tmpstr = @tmpstr + ', CHECK_POLICY = ' + @is_policy_checked
END
IF ( @is_expiration_checked IS NOT NULL )
BEGIN
SET @tmpstr = @tmpstr + ', CHECK_EXPIRATION = ' + @is_expiration_checked
END
END
IF (@denylogin = 1)
BEGIN -- login is denied access
SET @tmpstr = @tmpstr + '; DENY CONNECT SQL TO ' + QUOTENAME( @name )
END
ELSE IF (@hasaccess = 0)
BEGIN -- login exists but does not have access
SET @tmpstr = @tmpstr + '; REVOKE CONNECT SQL TO ' + QUOTENAME( @name )
END
IF (@is_disabled = 1)
BEGIN -- login is disabled
SET @tmpstr = @tmpstr + '; ALTER LOGIN ' + QUOTENAME( @name ) + ' DISABLE'
END
PRINT @tmpstr
END

FETCH NEXT FROM login_curs INTO @SID_varbinary, @name, @type, @is_disabled, @defaultdb, @hasaccess, @denylogin
END
CLOSE login_curs
DEALLOCATE login_curs
RETURN 0
GO

this creates a stored procedure named sp_help_revlogin in ServerA/Databases/System Databases/Master/Programmability/Stored Procedures

3.2 Open New Query window again and run this code:

EXEC sp_help_revlogin

3.3 copy the outcome of the step 3.2 and paste it in the New Query window on destination Server B, execute it.

Enable Remote Desktop remotely via Group Policy

2009-11-07T18:57:00.003+02:00

Have you been in a situation where you need to remotely connect to some workplace and do some administrator stuff, but can not because Remote Desktop is not enabled and the user who is near that PC has no admin rights to enable Remote Desktop?

So here is what you do (Windows Server 2008 R2 in this case):
Connect to your domain controller -> Open Group Policy Management Editor
navigate to:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Connections
Enable: Allow users to connect remotely using Remote Desktop Services

Also you might need to add an exception to Windows Firewall, to do this via Group Policy navigate to:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > Network Connections > Windows Firewall > Domain Profile
Enable: Windows Firewall: Allow inbound Remote Desktop exceptions

Links: http://www.twistedethics.com/2009/01/06/how-to-enable-remote-desktop-via-group-policy/comment-page-1/

Can't uninstall Exchange 2010 RC, must remove public folder replicas first.

2009-10-02T15:33:00.007+03:00

When trying to uninstall Exchange 2010 RC I ecounter this situation

Mailbox Role Prerequisites

Failed

Error:

Uninstall cannot continue. Database 'Public Folder Database 1166479595': The public folder database "Public Folder Database 1166479595" contains folder replicas. Before deleting the public folder database, remove the folders or move the replicas to another public folder database. For detailed instructions about how to remove a public folder database, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=81409&clcid=0x409.Recommended Action: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=30939&l=en&v=ExBPA.4&id=b6e3b32a-8848-46cb-9567-72288ac15f60

When trying to use cmdlet to remove public folder replicas
Get-PublicFolder -Server "\Non_Ipm_Subtree" -Recurse -ResultSize:Unlimited Remove-PublicFolder -Server -Recurse -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue

I get the error:
"Multiple MAPI public folder trees were found".

What I did was opened ADSI Edit and went to
Configuration [.contoso.com]
CN=Configuration,DC=contoso,DC=com
CN=Services
CN=Microsoft Exchange

then in the details pane right clicked "CN=Public Folders" and changed parameter of "msExchPFTreeType" from "1" to "<not set>" (by choosing Edit and clicking Clear).

Then restarted Microsoft Exchange Information Store service and rerun cmdlets:

Get-PublicFolder -Server "\" -Recurse -ResultSize:Unlimited Remove-PublicFolder -Server -Recurse -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue
and
Get-PublicFolder -Server "\Non_Ipm_Subtree" -Recurse -ResultSize:Unlimited Remove-PublicFolder -Server -Recurse -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue

Ttried to uninstall Exchange server again. This time prerequisites passed and I uninstalled successfully.

Links: http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2007/07/09/445967.aspx

How to custom schedule Windows Server Backup on Windows Server 2008 R2

2009-10-01T12:37:00.004+03:00

I was kinda pissed that Windows Server 2008 R2 Backup GUI had so little scheduling options,
you have to choose a "Once a day" bakcup or "More than once a day".

So to customize a shcedule to suite ones needs, simply create a backup with "Once a day" option, then in the Administrative Tools open Task Scheduler and navigate to:
Task Scheduler Library/Microsoft/Windows/Backup
there you should find your backup job, right click it and select Properties.
Go to Triggers tab, select trigger Daily and press Edit. Here you have more options for scheduling. Good luck.

Outlook cannot connect to Exchange Server 2010 RC using POP3

2009-09-26T18:59:00.002+03:00

Just installed Exchange Server 2010 RC and when trying to test it with my outlook in POP3 configuration I received this error:

"Task 'user@domain.com - Receiving' reported error (0x800CCC0F) : 'The connection to the server was interrupted. If this problem continues, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).'"

The problem was that for some reason after installing Exchange Server 2010 RC, service Microsoft Exchange POP3 did not start automatically, so I had to open services.msc (via "run"), and start this service manually, also changed its startup type to Automatic for future. This solved the problem.

Outlook cannot connect to Exchange Server 2010 RC using IMAP

2009-09-26T18:50:00.003+03:00

Just installed Exchange Server 2010 RC and when trying to test it with my outlook in IMAP configuration I received this error:

"Task 'Synchronizing subscribed folders for user@domain.com.' reported error (0x8004DF0B) : 'Outlook cannot synchronize subscribed folders for user@domain.com. Error: The connection to the server is unavailable. Outlook must be online or connected to complete this action. If you continue to receive this message, contact your server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).'"

The problem was that for some reason after installing Exchange Server 2010 RC, service Microsoft Exchange IMAP4 did not start automatically, so I had to open services.msc (via "run"), and start this service manually, also changed its startup type to Automatic for future. This solved the problem.

Uninstalling Exchange Server 2010 RC, Mailbox role prerequisites error:

2009-09-26T14:13:00.004+03:00

Tried to uninstall Exchange 2010 RC and encountered this error:
"Uninstall cannot continue. Database 'Mailbox Database 0186314254': This mailbox database contains one or more mailboxes or arbitration mailboxes. To get a list of all mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database . To get a list of all arbitration mailboxes in this database, run the command Get-Mailbox -Database -Arbitration. Before you can remove this mailbox database, you must disable, move, or remove user mailboxes and move arbitration mailboxes. "

So I removed the user maibloxes, but had no idea how to remove arbitration mailboxes, after some googling here is what I did:
in Exchange Management Shell
Get-Mailbox -Arbitration | Remove-Mailbox -Arbitration -RemoveLastArbitrationMailboxAllowed
this should remove all arbitration mailboxes.

Or you can do the following
get-mailbox -arbitration | fl name, identity

After you get the ID of those mailboxes you can remove them one by one with the following command:
remove-mailbox -identity "domain.com/Users/SystemMailbox{1f05a927-563f-4671-8a1b-487764400889}" -arbitration -RemoveLastArbitrationMailboxAllowed

If all went smooth you can try uninstalling Exchange Server.

Links: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exchange2010/thread/d058717e-bf70-4449-91c2-fa00b47d415f

Microsoft File Transfer Manager queue keeps on restoring when you relaunch FTM

2009-09-11T09:38:00.003+03:00

If you can't get rid of files in FTM queue try navigating to C:\Users\you_username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\File Transfer Manager
and delete file "ftmTransferList.txt". Next time you launch FTM they should not reappear.

Can't uninstall Exchange 2007 SP1 Mailbox role from Server 2008 R2

2009-09-11T09:28:00.003+03:00

If you are getting error:
"An error occurred. The error code was 3221685466. The message was The service is already registered.."
while trying to uninstall Exchange 2007 SP1 Mailbox role from Server 2008 R2 (RC in my case)
try changing registry key value from "Uninstall" to "Install" located at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Exchange\v8.0\Mailbox\
after that try uninstalling again.

Cannot install printer, because Print Spooler service does not work.

2009-07-23T11:36:00.007+03:00

When trying to add a printer you receive error message:
"Operation could not be completed. The Print Spooler service is not running"

Start->Run (Win+R)
type: services.msc
in the list find Print Spooler service, check for Startup Type (should be automatic) right click and choose Start.
If the service starts successfully you can try adding printer again.

If after a short time you receive error message similar to this:
"Spooler subsystem app has encountered a problem and needs to close."

Download FixPrintSpooler.msi from Microsoft, run it and follow the instructions.

More info here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324757

Cannot add Outlook Data File - Maximum file size exceeded.

2009-07-23T11:09:00.004+03:00

If you're trying to add .pst data file to your outlook profile and get the following error

"The file "drive:/path_to_your_.pst/outlook.pst" has reached its maximum size. To reduce
the amount of data in the file, select some items that you no longer need and
then permanently delete them by pressing SHIFT + DELETE".

Obviously you can not delete any messages because you can't add the data file itself. This case should be only for Outlook 2003 without sp2 because it limits .pst file size to somewhat 2GB, however I encountered a situation where this message was generated by Outlook 2007.

Fastest workaround for this is to share the .pst file and add it to outlook 2007 on another computer in you local area network and delete some messages to lower the size of .pst file. That is if you have a network and another PC with outlook installed.

The other way is to download microsoft tool for shrinking .pst files, then fix the file with SCANPST.EXE ) (if you have outlook 2007 it will be located in "drive:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\OFFICE12") and then try adding the Data File again.

Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window.

2009-07-23T11:02:00.002+03:00

When launching Microsoft Outlook 2007 you get the following error message:
"Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window."

This might help:
Start->Run (or Win+R)
then type the following: Outlook.exe /resetnavpane

If this does not fix your problem, you can always try System Restore.

Unable to Import-Mailbox from .pst file to newly created mailbox on Exchange Server 2007 SP1

2009-06-23T00:00:00.002+03:00

If you're unable to import .pst file to newly created mailbox using "Import-Mailbox" cmdlet check if the mailbox appeared in the Store. If it won't appear for a long time simply send an email for that mailbox and try importing again.

Error when trying to Export-Mailbox to .pst file (or import-mailbox) on Exchange Server 2007 SP1

2009-06-22T22:47:00.005+03:00

When trying to export mailbox to .pst file in Exchange Server 2007 SP1 using Exchange Management Shell command "Export-Mailbox" I have encountered an error:
"Failed to copy messages to the destination mailbox store with error: MAPI or an unspecified service provider. ID no: 00000000-0000-00000000.."

To solve this run this command in Exchange Management Shell
"Get-Mailbox Add-MailboxPermission -User "" -AccessRights FullAccess"
and try exporting again.

Cannot install maiblox role on Exchange Server 2007 SP1: An error occurred. The error code was 3221684229. The message was Access is denied

2009-06-22T21:50:00.003+03:00

If you're trying to install Exchange Server 2007 SP1 on Windows Server 2008 R2 RC as did I and get the following results for Mailbox Role:

"Mailbox Role
Failed

Error:
An error occurred. The error code was 3221684229. The message was Access is denied.."

try running Setup.exe in Vista SP2 compatibility mode and it should be ok.

Cannot install Exchange Server 2007 SP1: The system cannot find the file specified

2009-06-22T20:43:00.005+03:00

If you are getting this error when trying to install Exchange Server 2007 SP1
Error:
The system cannot find the file specified

"Warning:
An unexpected error has occurred and debug information is being generated: The system cannot find the file specified"

you may want to check C:\ExchangeSetupLogs\ExchangeSetup.log for errors.
If the missing file is Ldifde.exe you should install ADDS.
For Windows Server 2008 R2 open Server Manager go to Roles, click Add Roles and install Active Directory Domain Services.
If you're installing Exchange 2007 Management Tools on Windows 7, simply copy the file ldifde.exe from your server to C:\windows\system32\ folder.

Clean System Installation v0.6

2009-06-09T14:14:00.032+03:00

List of most useful free programs for freshly installed OS.

Antivirus:
Microsoft Security Essentials (recommended)
Avast Home
Avira Personal

File archiver:
7zip 32-bit
7zip x64

Browser:
Firefox
Chrome
Opera
Safari

Flash Player:
IE
non IE

.pdf Reader:
Adobe Reader
Foxit Reader

Java plug-in:
Java

Silverlight:
Silverlight

Burner:
ImgBurn

Imaging:
Photo Gallery
Picasa
Irfan View
FastStone

Codeck Pack:
cccp
K-Lite Codec Pack

Video:
VLC

Audio:
Winamp (recommended)
aimp2
Songbird

Malware Removal:
Malicious Software Removal Tool 32-bit
Malicious Software Removal Tool x64

Messaging:
Google Talk
Skype
Windows Live Messenger

Torrents:
Micro Torrent

Virtual Drive:
VirtualClone Drive

Mail:
Windows Live Mail
Thunderbird
Zimbra

Mail Spam Filters:
Spamihilator (works with Outlook 2000/XP/2003/Express, Eudora, Mozilla Thunderbird, IncrediMail, Pegasus Mail, Phoenix Mail, Opera, etc…)
Cactus Spam Filter (this spam stopper integrates seamlessly with all e-mail clients that use POP3)

System Maintenance:
CCleaner (uninstaller, registry cleaner, temp files cleaner and more)
Revo Uninstaller

HDD Maintenance:
Smart Defrag

Recover lost data (deleted files, formatted data)
Recuva

Calculate HDD Input Outputs per second (IOps)

2009-01-27T14:08:00.002+02:00

If you're looking to buy HDD and you need to know what IOps it can sustain, here is a formula you could use:
IOps = 1000[msec] / (Average seek time [msec] + Average Latency [msec])

For example let's calculate IOps for this IBM SAS HDD
1000 / 4.7 + 3 = 129.87 IOps

Links:
http://blogs.smugmug.com/don/2007/10/08/hdd-iops-limiting-factor-seek-or-rpm/
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb897498.aspx

Install process randomly crashes when trying to install anything that uses an MSI based installer on Windows 7 beta

2009-01-24T00:40:00.006+02:00

Solution taken from Windows 7 Action Center

Solve a problem with Windows 7 beta

An issue with the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) client in Windows 7 beta is causing Explorer and some MSI-based installers to stop working properly.

To solve this problem, follow these steps:

Click the Start button , click All Programs, and then click Accessories.
Right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. In the User Account Control window, verify that Program name is Windows Command Processor, and then click Yes.
In the Administrator: Command Prompt window, type or paste the following text at the prompt:

reg delete HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows\DisabledSessions /va /f
Press Enter to install the solution.
If The operation completed successfully displays, close the Administrator: Command Prompt window to complete this procedure. If "ERROR: Access is denied" displays, repeat this procedure from the top, making sure you clicked Run as administrator in step two.

links:
http://chris123nt.com/2009/01/18/sqm-client-causing-crashing-in-windows-7/

Windows 7 Hotkey list

2009-01-23T00:16:00.002+02:00

General
Win+Up = Maximize
Win+Left = Snap to left
Win+Right = Snap to right
Win+Shift+Left = Jump to left monitor
Win+Shift+Right = Jump to right monitor
Win+Home = Minimize / Restore all other windows
Win+T = Focus the first taskbar entry
Pressing again will cycle through them, you can can arrow around.
Win+Shift+T = cycles backwards.
Win+Space = Peek at the desktop
Win+G = Bring gadgets to the top of the Z-order
Win+P = External display options (mirror, extend desktop, etc)
Win+X = Mobility Center (same as Vista, but still handy!)
Win+#
(# = a number key) Launches a new instance of the application in the Nth slot on the taskbar.
Example: Win+1 launches first pinned app, Win+2 launches second, etc.
Win + +
Win + -
(plus or minus key) Zoom in or out.

Explorer
Alt+P = Show/hide Preview Pane

Taskbar modifiers
Shift + Click on icon = Open a new instance
Middle click on icon = Open a new instance
Ctrl + Shift + Click on icon = Open a new instance with Admin privileges
Shift + Right-click on icon = Show window menu (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc)
Note: Normally you can just right-click on the window thumbnail to get this menu
Shift + Right-click on grouped icon = Menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All, etc.
Ctrl + Click on grouped icon = Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group

Links:
taken from http://brandonlive.com/

Remote Desktop not allowed to use saved credentials

2009-01-21T09:33:00.005+02:00

When trying to use saved credentials in Remote Desktop Connection you might receive this message:

Your credentials did not work
Your system administrator does not allow the use of saved credentials to log on to the remote computer terminal.server.com because its identity is not fully verified. Please enter new credentials.
(screenshot)

To be able to use saved credentials in this situation you need to do the following:

1. Open Group Policy Editor via cmd -> gpedit.msc (screenshot)
2. Navigate to Local Computer Policy\Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Credentials Delegation\
3.Open Setting Allow Delegating Saved Credentials with NTLM-only Server Authentication, set it to Enabled click on button Show... and in Show Contents window add Value TERMSRV/terminal.server.com. Close all windows by pressing OK. (screenshot)
4. Run cmd and enter gpupdate command to update your policy. (screenshot)

Now you should be able to use your saved credentials.

note:
these steps were performed on Windows 7 beta, but probably it will stay the same in final release and my guess is, it is the same in Vista (too lazy to check).

Huge lags in Fallout 3 on Hi-End PC

2009-01-10T14:08:00.003+02:00

If you experience huge lags in Fallout 3 from the moment you start the game and menu screen loads, try uninstalling Total Media Theater if you have installed one, worked for me.

PC specifications:
Asus HD 4870X2
Core i7 920
Creative SB X-Fi Titanium
6 GB of DDR3 at 1066 Mhz

Mouse Delay in Dead Space

2009-01-10T13:41:00.004+02:00

If you experience mouse delay in menu and game try turning off Vertical Sync. (screenshot)

Default language at Windows Vista logon screen

2008-12-20T15:37:00.001+02:00

If you are bothered by the fact that you need to change language every time you start Windows to be able to access some symbols used in your password, you can change this by adjusting some settings in control panel.

Open your Control Panel
Go to Regional and Language Options
Select Keyboards and Languages tab
Click on Change keyboards... button
Change your Default input language and keyboard layout to suit your needs.
Click OK (screenshot)
Go to Administrative tab
Click on Copy to reserved accounts...
Select the checkboxes and click OK (screenshot)

Links:
http://www.vistax64.com/vista-account-administration/133455-language-logon-screen.html

Enabling HTTP Compression in IIS 6.0

2008-12-14T15:16:00.004+02:00

To enable HTTP compression in IIS 6.0

1. Open IIS Manager.
2. Right click Web Sites node and choose Properties.
3. Select Service tab.
4. Check Compress application files to enable dynamic compression.
5. Check Compress static files to enable static compression.
6. Click Browse next to Temporary directory: field and navigate to the folder where you will keep compressed files.
7. Choose whether you will be limiting temporary files directory size or not and click OK. (screenshot)
8. Go to Web Services Extension node and click Add new Web service extension..
9. Enter Extension name for example "HTTP Compression" click Add then in the Add file window click Browse and navigate to "C:\windows\system32\intetsrv" find gzip.dll select it and click Open. Click OK and OK again.
10. In the Web Service Extension list select "HTTP Compression" you've just added change its status to Allowed by clicking Allow button found on the left. (screenshot)
11. In IIS Manager right click your server node and choose Properties.
12. Check Enable Direct Metabase Edit and click OK. (screenshot)
13. Open Explorer and navigate to "C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv" find Metabase.xml file and before modifying it make a backup copy.
14. Open Metabase.xml in text editor and find string:
Location ="/LM/W3SVC/Filters/Compression/gzip"
15. Config values to suit your needs:

HcDoDynamicCompression="TRUE" (to enable compression of dynamic content)
HcDoOnDemandCompression="TRUE" (to enable compression of static files that are not compressed yet)
HcDoStaticCompression="TRUE" (to enable compression of static content)
HcDynamicCompressionLevel="10" (level of dynamic compression. Higher level equals better compression rate, but requires more CPU resources)
HcFileExtensions="htm
html
txt"
(file types to include in static compression, one per line)
HcOnDemandCompLevel="10" (level of OnDemandCompression)
HcPriority="1"
HcScriptFileExtensions="asp
dll
aspx
cs
exe
pdf"
(file types to include in dynamic compression, one per line)

16. Save and close Metabase.xml and restart IIS server by right clicking your server node in IIS Manager and choosing All Tasks->Restart IIS... (screenshot)
17. Check if compression is working
go to http://www.seoconsultants.com/tools/compression.asp enter your URL and press the Check Compression button. If your site is compressed you'll see Compression status: Compressed (gzip). (screenshot)

Now you might want to disable compression for some sites, to do this you need to run the following command in the command prompt:

adsutil set w3svc/1690634459/DoDynamicDompression false

Or if you want to disable compression on specific folder or file in the site you would type this:

adsutil set w3svc/1690634459/root/forum/DoDynamicCompression false

Replace 1690634459 with the ID of your website which can be found in IIS Manager, Web Sites node "Identifier" column.
If you want to disable Static Compression for specific site replace "DoDynamicCompression" with "DoStaticCompression".

If you want disable compression for All sites but one, you can do this in the following way:
First disable compression for all sites by running command in the command prompt:
adsutil set w3svc/filters/compression/parameters/HcDoStaticCompression false

Then enable compression for one or multiple sites of your choice:
adsutil set w3svc/1690634459/DoStaticCompression true

Links:
http://www.dotnetjunkies.com/Article/16267D49-4C6E-4063-AB12-853761D31E66.dcik
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/502ef631-3695-4616-b268-cbe7cf1351ce.mspx?mfr=true

Windows Vista not displaying desktop icons

2008-12-14T13:52:00.004+02:00

When Windows boots there is no icons on desktop until you right click desktop and choose View->Show Desktop Icons. You have to do this every time your computer reboots.

It seems pretty illogical, but to fix this try changing you Power Options between different power plans and see if it helps.

How to disable Hibernate on Windows Vista

2008-12-14T04:22:00.004+02:00

For some space saving on your hard drive or maybe some other reason, you might want to disable hibernate functionality on your PC.
To do this:

Open cmd with administrator privileges (navigate to C:\windows\system32\ find cmd.exe, right click it and choose Run as Administrator)
Enter command "powercfg -h off" and hit Enter (screenshot)

Links:
http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/WindowsVista/AdminTips/Misc/Disablehibernation.html

Can not open SQL Server Management Studio

2008-12-09T10:14:00.007+02:00

When trying to open SQL Server Management Studio for SQL Server 2005, I get error message:
Package 'Microsoft SQL Management Studio Package' failed to load.

Fixed this by reinstalling .Net Framework 2.0.

Downloads:
.Net Framework 2.0

Links:
http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=4224101&SiteID=1&mode=1

Removing last Exchange 2007 server from your organization

2008-11-26T15:23:00.010+02:00

Had to uninstall exchange serve from SBS 2008, as it was the last Exchange server in organization I encountered number of problems trying to uninstall it.

One of those problems are that you cannot uninstall Exchange server while it contains Public Folder Replicas and you can't move them to another server because there is none.

Browsing the web I was finally able to solve this problem, for full artcile just follow the link and read the comments.
Here's summary:

1. You'll have to keep at least one mailbox with administrator rights.
2. Open Power-Shell and enter the following commands:

Get-PublicFolder -Server "\" -Recurse -ResultSize:Unlimited | Remove-PublicFolder -Server -Recurse -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue

Get-PublicFolder -Server "\Non_Ipm_Subtree" -Recurse -ResultSize:Unlimited | Remove-PublicFolder -Server -Recurse -ErrorAction:SilentlyContinue

3. Remove all mailboxes on your server.
4. Remove Exchange 2007 server from "Programs and Features" in control panel.

Links:
http://blogs.technet.com/asiasupp/archive/2007/06/26/public-folder-replicas-prevent-uninstall-exchange-2007.aspx

Cannot access folder "Access Denied"

2008-11-26T14:34:00.004+02:00

In cases when you need to access folder, but get "Access Denied" message even when you're logged on as an Administrator, you'll have to take ownership of that folder.
To do this in Windows Server 2003 open folder Properties, select Security tab and click on Advanced button, then hop on Owner tab. Now select user which will be the new owner of this folder and click OK (screenshot).

Links:
http://www.lockergnome.com/windows/2005/10/04/take-ownership-of-a-folder-in-server-2003/

When viewing shared folder contents users should be able to see only those subfolders they have access to

2008-10-28T22:10:00.004+02:00

When you have shares for multiple users, each of whom have permissions to different subfolders in that share, you might want to filter the view that the users would only see those contents which they can access.

To achieve this on Windows Server 2003 you'll need to install Access-based Enumeration.

When installed right click on the shared folder, go to the Access-based Enumeration tab and check the Enable access-based enumeration on this shared folder checkbox (screenshot).
Click Ok.

Downloads:
Windows Server 2003 Access-based Enumeration
Documentation

Shares and subfolders permissions

2008-10-28T21:18:00.005+02:00

Task:
Share a folder and make some of its subfolders available to one user group and not available to another user group which also has share permissions on the root folder.

The difficulty in this was that if I share "Folder 1" for "user group 1" with full permissions, then this "user group 1" is able to access all of "Folder 1" subfolders. It is because "Folder 1" inherits the "Security" permissions from it's root (in my case it was "Users (DOMAIN\Users)" with Read & Execute, List Folder Contents and Read permissions on "D:").
You need to remove these inheritable permissions.

To do this:
Right click the shared folder "Folder 1" and click on Properties.
Go to Security tab and click on Advanced button.
Clear the Allow inheritable permissions from the parent to propagate to this object... checkbox (screenshot).
At the prompt click Remove to remove inherited permissions (screenshot) and then specify your own.

Remote Desktop saved Credentials does not work

2008-10-25T04:03:00.006+03:00

If you are using Remote Desktop you should be aware that you can save your credentials to be able to connect without entering user name and password each time. But for some reason sometimes it does not work.
You try to connect with you saved credentials and a logon screen pops up with the message at the bottom that "The logon attempt failed". (screenshot)
This is because you entered wrong credentials first time and they were saved, so you need to delete your credentials, enter them again and choose to remember them.
However I was not able to do that, as many times as I tried to delete my credentials and then enter correct ones and save them, when reloging I always got "The logon attempt failed".
So I had to use hostname instead of IP address, when connecting, to be able to save my correct credentials and then successfully relogon without having to enter my password.

Links:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/archive/2007/01/22/vista-remote-desktop-connection-authentication-faq.aspx#_Saved_credentials_do

You might want to try this if above information does not solve your problem:
http://alinconstantin.blogspot.com/2007/08/terminal-service-client-not-using-saved.html

Disk check running everytime Windows starts

2008-10-25T03:07:00.016+03:00

Sometimes you might face a situation when disk check is running at computer boot up and it hangs (probably due to HDD problems) and can not complete successfully, so after you restart your computer the disk check is being run again, so you need to manually cancel it every time to be able to boot into Windows.
In this situation you might want to disable auto disk checking at booting.

To disable disk checking every time you turn on your PC:
Open command promt (win+R, type cmd and hit Enter)
enter command

chkntfs /X C:

(screenshot) where C: is the letter of the disk you're having problem with.

More detailed explanation and causes for this behavior might be found here:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=231103&forumid=1

OWA login requires "domain\username". How to login wit "username" only?

2008-10-25T01:22:00.003+03:00

When logging on to my exchange 2007 server OWA, I need to enter "domain\username", I want to be able to log in by using "username" alone.
So here is how I did that:
Open Exchange Management Console, expand Server Configuration and find Outlook Web Access tab in Client Access. Double click "OWA (Default Web Site)" and go to Authentication tab. Uncheck "Integrated Windows authentication" box (screenshot) and click OK.
Open your webmail and try to log in without specifying a "domain\" in your User Name.

Activesync error 0x85010001

2008-10-24T09:29:00.004+03:00

User was getting this error code on his mobile device when trying to synchronize.
Temporary solution achieved by disabling Windows Authentication (screenshot) for Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync in IIS Manager.

No "Wireless Networks" tab in "Wireless Network Connections Properties"?

2008-10-21T08:59:00.009+03:00

When you open your "Wireless Network Connection Properties" you can not find "Wireless Networks" tab. When Viewing Available Wireless Networks Windows tells you that you need to start "Wireless Zero Configuration" (WZC) service .
But when you try to do that you get an error:
Could not start the Wireless Zero Configuration service on Local Computer. Error 1068: The dependency service or group failed to start.

To solve this problem you need to modify registry.
Start->Run->type "Regedit" and hit Enter.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Ndisuio
then right click on "Start" DWORD in the right window and choose Modify. Change "Data Value" to 1, 2 or 3.
Restart your computer and check if you can start WZC service and configure your wireless connection.

Links:
http://predicatet.blogspot.com/2008/03/could-not-start-wireless-zero.html

Schedule shutdown or restart for Windows XP via cmd

2008-10-18T21:57:00.006+03:00

Sometimes you may wish to schedule your PC to turn off automatically after certain amount of time. For example when you're watching a movie in the late evening and don't know if you won't fall asleep before the movie ends :)

You can schedule your PC to turn off in the following way:

Start->Run
type: "shutdown -s -t xxxx" (for shutdown)and hit Enter
type: "shutdown -r -t xxxx" (for reboot)and hit Enter
where xxxx is amount of time in seconds.

If for some reason you changed your mind and want to cancel the scheduled shut down just run command "shutdown -a" to abort.

Example:
if you would like to shut down your computer in one hour, you would use this command:
shutdown -s -t 3600

DIsable User Account Control (UAC) in Windows Vista

2008-10-18T20:32:00.007+03:00

UAC prompts are probably the most annoying thing for those who just upgraded their OS to Windows Vista.
Here is one method of disabling it.

Start->Run (or win+R).
Type msconfig and hit Enter.
Open Tools tab, scroll down and select Disable User Account Control (requires reboot).
Hit Launch and restart computer when finished.

More methods:
http://www.petri.co.il/disable_uac_in_windows_vista.htm

Login into Windows Vista Home as Administrator by default

2008-10-15T23:48:00.012+03:00

Getting frustrated by prompts to run certain programs as Administrator even when his user account is an Administrator level, my roommate today asked me if he could login to his Vista Home laptop as Administrator by default.

I could not find Local Users and Groups in Computer Management. It appears Home edition of Windows Vista does not allow you to manage users in this way.

So if you want to login as Administrator by default without having to choose user at welcome screen, you need to enable Administrator account which is disabled by default and disable any other accounts currently on the computer.

This can be done via CMD.
1. Press win+r (or alternatively go Start->Run...).
2. Type cmd and press enter.
3. In the command window enter command:
net user administrator /active:yes

You have enabled Administrator account. Log off and login with the Administrator account. Now you need to disable or delete other users.

To disable user:
Repeat steps 1 and 2 above.
enter command:
net user username /active:no

To delete user:
Go to Control Panel->User Accounts.
Choose Manage Other Accounts.
Choose the account you want to delete and then click on Delete The Account.

Restart the computer, you should get logged in as an Administrator without any prompts.

Links:
http://en.kioskea.net/faq/sujet-300-access-the-hidden-administrator-account-in-windows-vista

Problem installing Windows Server 2003 / Windows XP

2008-10-15T21:57:00.009+03:00

Encountered a problem during install of windows server 2003. I mentioned in the title Windows XP also because when I googled for solution (which was rather simple) to this problem I've found that people had exact same problem installing windows XP.
After I've chosen partition to install to and setup begun copying files to hard disk I've got an error "setup cannot copy the file: msdart.dll" (I guess it could be any file)
pressed enter to Retry, temporary skipped/copied this file, but then I got the same error for file driver.cab.
The cause of this turns out to be as simple as unclean CD.
Opened my cd-rom, cleaned the CD, put it back in and pressed Enter to Retry and continue installation.
From this point everything went smooth.

Links:
http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/Problem-installing-Windows-XP-Pro-t36332.html

Access your website without www in front

2008-10-15T21:57:00.008+03:00

Today I had an assignment to make a site accessible without www in front of it.
As I am IT noob it was new for me so it took me some time.
So what you need to do is create a new Host (A) type DNS record which will point to your web server.

In Windows Server 2003 DNS role it is done like this:

1. Go to Administrative Tools and open DNS.
2. Navigate to Forward Lookup Zones and find the domain you want to make accessible without www.
3. Right click this domain folder and choose New Host (A).
4. Leave the Name field blank (will be the same as parent folder).
5. Enter IP address of your web server in the IP Address field and click Add Host.

If you host multiple sites on your web server you will probably need to do the following (if you host on IIS 6.0):

1. Open IIS manager on your web server.
2. Navigate to Web Sites and find your site.
3. Right click and open Properties.
4. On the Web Site tab next to IP Address click Advanced... button.
5. There you should already see "www.yourdomain.com" record, click Add and enter yourdomain.com in the Host Header value field. Click OK, close all dialogs and check if it works.

Links:
http://www.boutell.com/newfaq/creating/withoutwww.html

Users unable to send mail via outlook (550 5.7.1 Client does not have permissions to send as this sender)

2008-10-15T21:56:00.008+03:00

Had this problem on my exchange 2007 server (hub transport role) for a long time.
Some users could receive mail, but when trying to send using POP3 or IMAP outlook account they got '550 5.7.1 Client does not have permissions to send as this sender' error. They could send and receive emails fine when logged into OWA.
This problem seems to have something with SMTP authentication, the workaround I was using was letting those users to open relay on my server, but recently my server started sending spam so I was forced to look for solution to this problem once again (I've tried to resolve this problem before, but unsuccessfully).

I had configured send connector, also receive connector, but nothing seemed to work. Today browsing the web for answer I think I finally got it to work.

Following information found on the web I've opened Exchange Management Shell and ran this cmdlet:
get-receiveconnector "receive_connector_name" | add-adpermission -user AU -extendedrights ms-Exch-SMTP-Accept-Authoritative-Domain-Sender

Tried to send email again and it disappeared from the outbox.

Links:
http://www.exchangeninjas.com/TUPMServerResponses
http://forums.msexchange.org/m_1800412481/printable.htm

The purpose and idea behind the ITowns blog

2008-10-15T21:55:00.007+03:00

Hi,
my name is Aurimas and I work in small IT company in Lithuania.
I am conditionally new to IT so I encounter bigger or smaller challenges in my work everyday. To overcome them I use different methods and sources of information, but mostly of course I search the web.
Sometimes when the task I need to accomplish is really new and unknown to me I follow some (sometimes not easy to find) step by step guide on the web, but after some time I may need to repeat the same task and of course I do not always remember how I did it last time :)
So I need to spend a lot of time searching the web again (I'm lucky if I have added it to my favorites, but if not...).

So the purpose of this blog is to gather this information about my everyday challenges to a single place for further use, so I don't need to search the web again.
Also to help find solution or to give the right direction to anyone else facing similar problems.

I hope someone will find this blog useful :)

p.s. English is not my native language so feel free to correct me where needed :)