Tech Tricks and Tips

Exchange Bounce Messages SOLVED

2011-06-06T12:10:00.000-07:00

This works for deleted mailboxes, contact to mailbox promotion, etc...

Before deleting, or changing an email account (or contact) in any way, issue the following command from the exchange PS console:

‘get-mailbox username | fl LegacyExchangeDN’
(or for contacts: ‘get-mailuser username | fl LegacyExchangeDN’)

Take Note of the LegacyExchangeDN

Example LegacyExchangeDN :
/o=First Organization/ou=First Administrative Group/cn=Recipients/cn=username

(LegacyExchangeDN looks simple for contacts, but contains a GUI for mailboxes.)

DISABLE (not REMOVE) contacts. REMOVE also removed the AD user account. Deleting a mailbox without deleting the AD account is possible but more tricky.)

Create the new mailbox (or contact) as you normally would for a NEW user. (i.e. Still specify ‘existing user’ and get the AD account linked, etc..)

Messages will fail to be delievered if anyone has the old contact cached at this point.

Edit the user account, and go to email addresses and add a ‘custom’ address. Use the LegacyExchangeDN as the address and specify type X500. (This X500 address could also be attached to somone else’s mailbox instead – I discoved that in my test case because I assigned the LegacyExchangeDN as an X500 address on MY mailbox instead of the test mailbox.)

It works!

(
you might receive this message is this is not done:

The recipient's e-mail address was not found in the recipient's e-mail system. Microsoft Exchange will not try to redeliver this message for you. Please check the e-mail address and try resending this message, or provide the following diagnostic text to your system administrator.

Diagnostic information for administrators:

Generating server: domain.com

IMCEAEX-_O=FIRST+20ORGANIZATION_OU=First+20Administrative+20Group_cn=Recipients_cn=username@domain.local
#550 5.1.1 RESOLVER.ADR.ExRecipNotFound; not found ##

DSQUERY For Active Users Dial-In Permission

2011-02-18T10:12:00.001-08:00

(all one line)

dsquery * domainroot -filter "(&(objectCategory=Person)(objectClass=User)(msNPAllowDialin=TRUE)(!useraccountcontrol:1.2.840.113556.1.4.803:=2))" -attr CN -limit 0

WSS Hostheader Issues

2010-09-30T08:54:00.000-07:00

Issues with SharePoint alternate Host Header?

I tried created a second SharePoint instance on my existing server.

It seems very straight forward.

Go to your SharePoint Central Administrator. Go to Application Management.

Under “SharePoint Web Application Management”, click “create or extend a web application”, click “create a new web application”.

Under “Create a New Web Application”, you can even specify the host header and URL… Simple… or not…

Fill that out and then, create site collection.

I kept being prompted for a username and password when hitting the new site. “You are not authorized to view this page”….

Then I found this:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
Right-click Lsa, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
Type DisableLoopbackCheck, and then press ENTER.
Right-click DisableLoopbackCheck, and then click Modify.
In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

REBOOT!

Bingo – it works.

Cisco Debugging / TCP DUMP

2010-09-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

access-list 1 permit 144.1.0.0 0.0.255.255
debug ip packet 1 detail
Will only show ip traffic sourced from the 144.1.0.0 network

If using telnet session, issue "term mon" command

Don't Reveal Your Local Hostname or IP Addresses with IIS

2010-09-10T17:08:00.001-07:00

Option 1: Set the UseHostName property

To set the UseHostName property, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK to open a command prompt.

2. Change to the folder where the Adsutil.vbs tool is located. By default, this folder is the following:

%SYSTEMROOT%\Inetpub\AdminScripts

3. Type the following command, where x is your site identifier:

cscript adsutil.vbs set w3svc/x/UseHostName true

Option 2: Set the SetHostName property

To set the SetHostName property, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK to open a command prompt.

2. Change to the folder where the Adsutil.vbs tool is located. By default, this folder is the following:

%SYSTEMROOT%\Inetpub\AdminScripts

3. Type the following command, where x is your site identifier and hostname is the alternate host name that you want to use:

cscript adsutil.vbs set w3svc/x/SetHostName hostname

From: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/834141/

Error "The VPN client driver has encountered an error"

2010-09-09T21:04:00.001-07:00

Complete these steps in order to resolve the problem:

1. Open a command prompt as an Administrator on the PC (elevated prompt on Vista).

2. Run net stop CryptSvc.

3. Run esentutl /p %systemroot%\System32\catroot2\{F750E6C3-38EE-11D1-85E5-00C04FC295EE}\catdb.

4. When prompted, choose OK to attempt the repair.

5. Exit the command prompt.

6. Reboot.

If the repair fails, complete these steps:

1. Open a command prompt as an Administrator on the PC (elevated prompt on Vista).

2. Run net stop CryptSvc.

3. Rename the %WINDIR%\system32\catroot2 to catroot2_old directory.

4. Exit the command prompt.

5. Reboot

Wireless Logitech Keyboard and Mouse

2010-08-27T05:28:00.000-07:00

BJs has Logitech Keyboard and mouse for $29. Wireless…

ESX Intermittent Ping Results

2010-08-26T08:17:00.000-07:00

An VMs on an ESX server in my DMZ had intermittent ping results… ping success for several minutes, then no connection for several minutes.

Checking the ARP tables on my VMs, I found that during down times the ARP table contained the ESX physical MAC for the VMs, not the virtual MAC.

My Cisco firewall was providing invalid ARP responses on behalf of the VMs. To correct this, I issued the following command on the Cisco:

sysopt noproxyarp DMZ

Copy to an SMB share

2010-06-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

Here is how to copy a file from a MAC machine to a remote Windows share without mounting. It uses the smbclient:

smbclient '\\host\share' password -D 'the/directory' \
-U username -c 'put myfile.txt'

List All User Accounts on a MAC

2010-06-30T07:08:00.000-07:00

dscacheutil -q group

Changing ESX (Linux) IP Address

2010-06-29T13:27:00.000-07:00

esxcfg-vswif -d vswif0

esxcfg-vswif -a vswif0 -p Service\ Console -i NEW.IP.ADDRESS.HERE -n NEW.IP.NETMASK.HERE -b NEW.IP.BROADCAST.ADDRESS

Reinstall You EEE PC, Other Netbook or Any PC From Flash Disk

2010-05-08T04:38:00.001-07:00

Russian based Novicorp has released “Win-to-Flash”: http://wintoflash.com/home/en/

To prep a flash disk as a Windows installation disk, other methods require you to fdisk / diskpart, partition, format – using tools from lots of sources. “Win-to-Flash” is the easy way to go:

Install “Win-To-Flash”.

Insert your USB Flash Disk.

Insert you Windows Install CD.

Run “Win-To-Flash”.

Pick the source and destination disks.

Let it finish.

It’s that easy. I tested from Window 7, prepping a Windows XP install stick.

I’m 1/2 way through the Windows install on my EEE PC 900 Netbook.

Backup and Restore Shares

2010-05-03T10:36:00.001-07:00

Petri to the rescue!

http://www.petri.co.il/save_share_settings_and_permissions.htm

Video Screen Capture

2010-05-01T06:27:00.001-07:00

CamStudio
http://camstudio.org/

Capture a video of your on-screen action – great for presentations, instructions, etc…

(I just tested on Windows 7 and it works great!)

THANKS KYLE!

WSS vs. MOSS

2010-03-01T13:54:00.001-08:00

A vendor pointed me to this great comparison of “Windows SharePoint Services”(WSS) and “Microsoft Office SharePoint Services”(MOSS):

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointtechnology/fx101758691033.aspx?mode=print&ofcresset=1

One area that isn’t covered is cost: WSS is free with your Windows CALs, MOSS requires a SharePoint CAL. (Microsoft should call is a MOSS CAL !).

SharePoint Reinstall Road Blocks

2010-02-23T11:09:00.001-08:00

Here is how I resolved the problem.

Check out this KB first 925976 ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925976 ) .

This might fix the problem that I saw when I ran KB929665. I did not find this until later and I resolved the problem using the "brut force" method. Not graceful but successful.

Here were my steps:

1. Uninstall WSS 3.0

2. Uninstall .NET 3

3. Uninstall Windows Internal Database: (http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/f8abcf6e-b6ef-4872-bf51-1b89994700d51033.mspx?mfr=true)

4. Cleaned Registry as per 925976. I only found two keys: SQLGroup and FTSGroup)

5. Install AD

6. Install .NET 3

7. Install WSS 3.0

8. Restored Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 by using Central Administrator. I had previously setup scheduled tasks for Full and differential back-ups with a cmd line script using stsadm.exe

KB 929665 left out some key info. Here are the 2 cmd line that worked for me. I had to cd to the directory first. Putting the full path into the msiexec line did not work for me.

CD C:\Program Files\MSECache\wssv3\database

Msiexec /i SSEE_10.msi CALLERID=OCSetup.exe REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=omus /qn REBOOT=ReallySupress /l*v C:\sqlfix.log

SharePoint Server Name Change Then 404

2010-02-22T10:49:00.001-08:00

Change to this directory:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\BIN>

Issue this command:

stsadm -o setconfigdb -databaseserver YOUR_NEW_SERVER_NAME –farmuser YOUR_NEW_SERVER_NAME\administrator -farmpassword YOUR_ADMIN_PASSWORD

Google Appliance

2010-02-19T08:36:00.001-08:00

Windows Shortcuts

2010-02-18T11:58:00.001-08:00

Get To Know Your Windows Logo Key
The Windows Logo Key is quite possibly the least used key but you may find it quite useful.
	Display or Hide the Start Menu
+ BREAK	Display The System Properties Dialog Box
+ D	Toggle between minimizing all Windows to show the Desktop and Restoring all Windows
+ M	Minimize all Windows
+SHIFT+M	Restore all Minimized Windows
+E	Open MY COMPUTER
+F1	Display Help
+R	Open The Run Dialog Box

Microsoft Internet Explorer - TIP
+	To have the www. and the .com placed in the address automatically... Type in your address without the www. and the .com then hit the <CTRL> and <ENTER> keys together. The www. and the .com will be added to you address and then your browser will be redirected to that page.
+ D	Go Directly To The Address Bar

Windows - TIP
"NO to All"
During an application install, Windows may encounter a file already on the system. It will ask you to overwite it. There is an option to say "Yes To All" so it won't keep asking the question. You can also choose "No To All" Hold down the Shift Key when you click "No."
+ NO	No To All

Install Windows 2003 From USB

2010-02-09T09:04:00.001-08:00

http://www.eeeguides.com/2007/11/installing-windows-xp-from-usb-thumb.html

Nice SharePoint Walk Through

2009-12-11T07:30:00.001-08:00

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb530302.aspx

Performance Testing For SQL Server - Free

2009-12-03T11:31:00.001-08:00

SQLIOSim utility

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=231619

SQLIO Disk Subsystem Benchmark Tool

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9A8B005B-84E4-4F24-8D65-CB53442D9E19&displaylang=en

Save The Day With NTFSRESIZE

2009-11-24T18:12:00.001-08:00

If you have an NTFS partition you’d like to shrink or grow, then ‘ntfsresize’ can help. I won’t write a how to – there’s plenty out there, including the man page.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ntfsresize

It’s on the default ubuntu bootable CD – download that and you have everything you need, including the the unix style fdisk for adjusting the partition table after you’ve resized the file system.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

Don't Get Pounded by the #

2009-10-12T10:47:00.001-07:00

It’s the # in your username! : : http://blogs.msdn.com/astebner/archive/2009/03/06/9463700.aspx

Event Type: Error

Event Source: MsiInstaller

Event Category: None

Event ID: 11406

Date: 10/12/2009

Time: 1:32:38 PM

User: BKST\#aanthony

Computer: DEMANDDEVSRVR

Description:

Product: Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 -- Error 1406.Could not write value InstalledBy to key \SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Updates\Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1\KB953595. System error . Verify that you have sufficient access to that key, or contact your support personnel.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Data:

0000: 7b 43 45 32 43 44 44 36 {CE2CDD6

0008: 32 2d 30 31 32 34 2d 33 2-0124-3

0010: 36 43 41 2d 38 34 44 33 6CA-84D3

0018: 2d 39 46 34 44 43 46 35 -9F4DCF5

0020: 43 35 42 44 39 7d C5BD9}

Tomorrow

2009-10-06T12:24:00.001-07:00

set yy=%DATE:~10,4%

set mm=%DATE:~4,2%

set dd=%DATE:~7,2%

set /a "yy=10000%yy% %%10000,mm=100%mm% %% 100,dd=100%dd% %% 100"

if %yy% LSS 100 set /a yy+=2000 &rem Adds 2000 to two digit years

set /a JD=dd-32075+1461*(yy+4800+(mm-14)/12)/4+367*(mm-2-(mm-14)/12*12)/12-3*((yy+4900+(mm-14)/12)/100)/4

set /a JD=%JD%+1

set /a L= %JD%+68569, N= 4*L/146097, L= L-(146097*N+3)/4, I= 4000*(L+1)/1461001

set /a L= L-1461*I/4+31, J= 80*L/2447, K= L-2447*J/80, L= J/11

set /a J= J+2-12*L, I= 100*(N-49)+I+L

set /a YYYY= I, MM=100+J, DD=100+K

set MM=%MM:~-2%

set DD=%DD:~-2%

set TOMORROW=%MM%/%DD%/%YYYY%

echo %TOMORROW%

Network Access Protection

2009-09-03T06:11:00.001-07:00

Eggsulent…

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Introduction-Network-Access-Protection-Part1.html

Access Corrupt or Damaged Windows Event Log Files

2009-08-25T12:13:00.001-07:00

Microsoft’s tools failed where FSPRO’s Event Log Explorer succeeded!

Thanks!

http://www.eventlogxp.com/

Install the Latest Adobe 9 Reader By GPO

2009-08-12T13:14:00.001-07:00

It is not as easy as it sounds…

Go to http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404146.html - it gives you some of the information you need.

Follow the link there to sign up and agree to the distribution agreement.

Adobe will send you an email to confirm you are who you say you are.

Then, they send you an email with links to ‘special’ copies of the software. Their site says this can take up to 3 days, but it took 10 minutes for me.

When you get the email with the links to the software, scroll down to the “updates” link.

From the “updates” page, select “Adobe Reader – Windows” from the drop down, and click “Go”. (Adobe Reader For – Macintosh is the default – pahsssss)

Download the following:

Adobe Reader 9.1 - multiple languages

Adobe Reader 9.1.3 update - Multiple Languages

Adobe Reader 9.1.2 Update - Multiple Languages

Adobe Reader 9.1.1 Update - Multiple Languages

+ any other updates that are available when you read this

(The updates are incremental)

Follow the instructions at http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/404/kb404146.html to get the MSI and CAB files.

Put the MSI, CAB and the three MSPs (or as many as were available) in a directory together. Important: make sure the user group ‘everyone’ has full security rights on that directory.

Go to the command line, and change to that directory. Execute the following commands – accept all defaults for the GUIs that pop up:

C:\someDirectory>msiexec /a AcroRead.msi /p AdbeRdrUpd911_all_incr.msp

C:\someDirectory >msiexec /a AcroRead.msi /p AdbeRdrUpd912_all_incr.msp

C:\someDirectory >msiexec /a AcroRead.msi /p AdbeRdrUpd913_all_incr.msp

You will notice that the timestamp on the MSI will change with each command.

The resulting MSI + the original CAB file is your fully patch / fully up to date Adobe Reader package, and is GPO deployable.

SQL Mail With SQL 2000

2009-07-23T11:41:00.001-07:00

SQL Mail with SQL 2000 requires Outlook 2000, SP3 – but keep reading…

To patch Outlook 2000 to SP3, you must first update to Outlook 2000-SR1.

Microsoft no longer provides a stand-alone Office 2000 SR1 patch (that works). But, you can get the admin pack and patch your install source with this command:

msiexec /A "D:\YOUR_OFFICE2KCD1_SRC\DATA1.MSI" /p "D:\YOUR_SR1_ADMIN_PATCH_SRC\DATA1.MSP" SHORTFILENAMES=1

Then you can patch your actual installation from your patched source.

msiexec /i "D:\YOUR_OFFICE2KCD1_SRC\DATA1.MSI" REINSTALL=ALL REINSTALLMODE=vomus

Oh, but wait… there’s more…

The MSSQLSERVER and SQLSERVERAGENT services must be running as an actual user (not SYSTEM). You must login (to windows) as that user and create an Outlook (MAPI) mail profile from the user’s session.

AND… Outlook must be configured in the “Corporate or Workgroup” mode, or the message will end up in your inbox until Outlook is started. Yea, they’ll just sit there. Why do they go to your inbox? I don’t know. (this was my final stumbling block!)

AND… Make sure you have a real mail account – you can’t just push mail on your POP server, because outlook will attempt to send AND RECEIVE and will get hung up on the receive.

You can test your SQL Mail configuration with the following command (fill in your email address).

exec master.dbo.xp_sendmail @recipients='nobody@nowhere.com', @subject='Nothing…', @message='Oh, nevermind!'

Before your write to Microsoft and complain about all this, remember – you’re working with software from 10 years ago!

Autologon Trouble After GPO Change

2009-07-02T10:06:00.001-07:00

Auto logon (autologon, autologin, auto login) unexpectedly didn’t work on about 400 machines overnight. Ouch! No changes were made to the systems that related to login rights, and the autologon values were unchanged in the registry.

It was other changes, namely computer policies, delayed the boot process. The delay was enough to allow the screen saver to come on during the application of computer settings. Having the screen saver up before auto logon seems to prevent it.

You can reproduce the problem by setting HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\"ScreenSaveTimeOut"="60" (1 minute) and linking in a long computer startup script.

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\ applies to the console session pre-login.

To prevent the Screen Saver from interfering with your autologon settings, make the following Registry Changes:

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop]

"ScreenSaverIsSecure"="0"

"ScreenSaveTimeOut"="0"

"ScreenSaveActive"="0"

You may also want to turn off screen savers for all other users. That can be done with simple built in GPO settings.

Connect With VNC Quickly

2009-07-02T09:48:00.001-07:00

If you need to connect many machines with VNC, write a batch file with the following command.

start c:\PATH_TO_VNC\vncviewer.exe /shared /password VNCPASSWORD /scale 1/2 192.168.1.1

( /scale 1/2 make the window 1/2 size)

(THANKS K.M.)

How To Fix It

2009-07-02T06:37:00.001-07:00

…reboot.

Install Windows Vista or Windows 7 From USB

2009-06-28T09:14:00.000-07:00

Here’s a step-by-step:

http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/

I haven’t tried booting the USB stick yet, but I’m on the final step – copying from DVD to USB. The only gotcha that I hit was that my work station is Vista 32, and my Windows 7 source was 64; BOOTSECT.EXE was not compatible.

Test SYSTEM User Account

2009-06-17T09:31:00.002-07:00

If you want to do some test runs as the built-in SYSTEM user, you can get a command prompt to run under the system context by using the AT scheduler.

at 12:03 /interactive “cmd.exe”

(the cmd.exe window, running in the SYSTEM user context, will appear on the console of the target machine at the time specified)

RUNAS Without a Password

2009-06-17T09:31:00.001-07:00

runas /savecred /USER:DOMAIN\username "cmd.exe 1"

/savedcred – first run attempt as user will prompt for password, but saves the password. Subsequent attempts use stored password.

You can check what passwords are saved in your current login context with the command:

rundll32.exe keymgr.dll, KRShowKeyMgr

How to Tell What SQL Version You're Running

2009-05-28T11:16:00.001-07:00

http://www.sqlteam.com/article/sql-server-versions

Convert an Index.dat File to Text

2009-05-28T10:23:00.001-07:00

If you want to export your index.dat file to text for analysis, try “pasco” from the ODESSA project.

There are a lot of index.dat browsers out there, but this is the only tool I could find that lets you convert the index.dat file to a TXT file. All from the command line too.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/odessa

PSEXEC Won't Run as SYSTEM

2009-05-26T12:39:00.001-07:00

The problem is, psexec requires you to accept a license / eula. If you run it as a regular user, you get a pop-up. You can also accept the license using the /accepteula parameter. I got the SYSTEM user to accept the eula by scheduling a task with the AT command:

at 05:00 /interactive /every:m,t,w,th,f,s,su "c:\yourdirectory\psexec.exe" /accepteula

After that, I went to the task scheduler, right-clicked the new task and selected run. PSEXEC can then be run by the system user.

(I deleted the temporary task after that)

Transaction Logs Are Too Big To Backup

2009-05-22T08:38:00.001-07:00

Oh no, you forgot to backup your transaction logs and now you don’t have enough space to do it. No worries, just execute this query:

dbcc shrinkfile(YOURDATABASE_log,1)

BACKUP LOG YOURDATABASE WITH TRUNCATE_ONLY

DBCC SHRINKFILE(YOURDATABASE_log, 1)

(Thanks Rick B.)

How to Move Event Viewer Log Files to Another Location

2009-05-20T08:37:00.001-07:00

To move Event Viewer log files to another location on the hard disk, follow these steps:

Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
Locate and click the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog

Click the subkey that represents the event log that you want to move, for example, click Application.
In the right pane, double-click File.
Type the complete path to the new location (including the log file name) in the Value data box, and then click OK.

For example, if you want to move the application log (Appevent.evt) to the Eventlogs folder on the E drive, type e:\eventlogs\appevent.evt.
Repeat steps 4 through 6 for each log file that you want to move.
Click Exit on the Registry menu.
Restart the computer.

(From http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315417)

WSE032: There was an error loading the microsoft.web.services2 configuration section

2009-05-19T15:30:00.001-07:00

Oh no – you’re getting “WSE032: There was an error loading the microsoft.web.services2 configuration section”!!!

No worries. Just install “Web Services Enhancements (WSE) 2.0 SP2 for Microsoft .NET”

Download it here:

http://www.microsoft.com/DownLoads/thankyou.aspx?familyId=fc5f06c5-821f-41d3-a4fe-6c7b56423841&displayLang=en

I’ve also seen that adding the local host name to the host file works. I can’t see how, but this is what I read was suggested:

Before:

127.0.0.1 localhost

After:

127.0.0.1 localhost actuallocalhostname

See How Fast the Internet Is Today

2009-05-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

Pretty cool…

http://ipnetwork.bgtmo.ip.att.net/pws/network_delay.html

Folders Open In New Window - XP

2009-04-23T08:25:00.001-07:00

From an XP Explorer window, if you double click a file folder, the default behavior is that the folder will open in the current window.

From Tools-> Options, General Tab you can change this behavior.

However, I was having the non-default behavior even though the General Tab setting was set to “Open each folder in the same window”.

My problem related to the file type actions associated with file folders. I could not correct the behavior from the GUI.

The cure was setting the registry value “(Default)” to “none” under "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell".

Hot Imaging with "DriveImage XML"

2009-04-16T13:58:00.001-07:00

“DriveImage XML” is made by a company called Runtime Software. DriveImage XML uses Microsoft’s Volume Shadow Services (VSS) to capture copies of files, even if they are locked by another process. I have found it is easy to use, and I have found it to be non-impacting on in-service machines.

Compression: In one of my tests, I compared the size of two images of the same disk – one with no compression and one with ‘fast’ compression, and found that the compression ratio is around 20%. Of course, the compression is highly dependant on the nature of the data on the volume.

Only Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista are supported. This is because VSS support in not available in NT/2000.

By default, DriveImageXML breaks the image into files that will fix on CD ROM.

Symantec Ghost does have a hot/live imaging feature, but from what I had read, it is used to maintain the images – not initially create them.

Get it here: http://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm

Live Imaging / Hot Imaging / Ghost Alternative

DOS Command Line Date Math

2009-04-09T13:28:00.001-07:00

There are no built in commands to do date math in DOS. But, it can be done with a series of built in commands. I used the snippets below to calculate the difference, in days, between the current date and another date. To do that, I had to first convert the current date to a Julian date. Once the dates are converted to Julian date, the math is easy – simple integer subtraction.

(the Gregorian Calendar is the one you probably use, Julian calendar is based on the number of days since 1/1/4713BC)

:: :: Split Current Date

FOR /F "TOKENS=2-4 DELIMS=/ " %%A IN ('ECHO.%DATE%') DO (

SET YY=%%C

SET MM=%%A

SET DD=%%B

)

:: :: Convert Current Date from Gregorian to Julian

IF 1%MM% LSS 110 SET MM=%MM:~1%

IF 1%DD% LSS 110 SET DD=%DD:~1%

SET /A Month1 = ( %MM% - 14 ) / 12

SET /A Year1 = %YY% + 4800

SET /A JDate1 = 1461 * ( %Year1% + %Month1% ) / 4 + 367 * ( %MM% - 2 -12 * %Month1% ) / 12 - ( 3 * ( ( %Year1% + %Month1% + 100 ) / 100 ) ) / 4 + %DD% - 32075

The difference in “JDate1” and the other Julian date is the absolute number of days difference in the dates.

Cloning Machines or Copying Virtual Machines

2009-03-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

You need this:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897418.aspx

"Unable To Load Client Print Control" from Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services

2009-03-11T07:37:00.001-07:00

I searched high and low for a solution to the “Unable To Load Client Print Control” error message when trying to print from Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services. The easiest and quickest fix I found, and that actually WORKED, was to make a really simple registry change on the client side.

(Backup your registry first maybe??? Then,) set “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{FA91DF8D-53AB-455D-AB20-F2F023E498D3}\Compatibility Flags” to 0 on your CLIENT machine(s).

Restart IE on the CLIENT machines. Attempt to print from the CLIENT machines. The ActiveX control should install, and you’ll be able to print.

I found that I could roll the registry change back to what it was after the ActiveX install succeeded, and the printing would continue to work on SOME machines. Others would immediately have the “Unable To Load Client Print Control” error message again after the registry was set back.

Patching (and rebooting) the server was not an immediate option for me. I read that was a global fix for some (not all).

Time On a Remote Computer

2009-03-06T12:06:00.000-08:00

What time is it according to computer “SERVER”?

Now you know:

wmic /NODE:SERVER path win32_operatingsystem get LocalDateTime, CurrentTimeZone /FORMAT:CSV

Time On a Remote Computer

Time of a remote computer

Query remote time

Manage Printers From the Command Line

2009-03-03T10:54:00.001-08:00

To Delete a Printer:

wmic printer Where PortName="PRINTER_NAME" delete

To Add a Printer:

rundll32.exe printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n "\\SERVER_NAME\PRINTER_NAME"

To Set a Printer as default

rundll32.exe printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /y /n "\\SERVER_NAME\PRINTER_NAME"

Boot.Ini Switches

2009-02-24T10:04:00.001-08:00

Windows NT, 2000 and XP use a configuration file called BOOT.INI to control how the operating system is booted and any startup options. By modifying the startup switches you can manage the boot process including booting Windows in Safe mode, creating a log file, or disabling the splash screen.

Open you the root partition of your hard drive (normally C:\) and find the file called "BOOT.INI". You may need to enable hidden files under Folder > Options.

Right-click on the file, select Properties and uncheck "Read-only" then click OK. You may like to make a backup of the file at this point to allow you to restore if you experience problems.

Open the file in Notepad and under the [operating systems] section you will find a list of all the installed operating systems. For example:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect

To enable or disable startup options simply change or add any of the switches listed below to the default command-line. For example you could add "/SOS" to the command-line above to display the splash screen and view the drivers being loaded.

· /3GB - New to Service Pack 3. This causes the split between user and system portions of the Windows NT map to become 3GB for user applications, 1GB for System. To take advantage of this the system must be part of the NT Enterprise suite and the application must be flagged as a 3GB aware application.

· /BASEVIDEO - The computer starts up using the standard VGA video driver. Use this if you have installed a graphics driver that is not working.

· /BAUDRATE - Specifies the baud rate to be used for debugging. If you do not set the baud rate, the default baud rate is 9600 if a modem is attached, and 19200 for a null-modem cable.

· /BOOTLOG - Makes 2000 write a log of the boot to the file %SystemRoot%\NTBTLOG.TXT Windows 2000/XP Only.

· /BURNMEMORY=x - Makes NT forget about the given amount of memory in MB. If /burnmemory=64 was given then 64MB of memory would be unavailable.

· /CRASHDEBUG - The debugger is loaded when you start Windows NT, but remains inactive unless a Kernel error occurs. This mode is useful if you are experiencing random, unpredictable Kernel errors.

· /DEBUG - The debugger is loaded when you start Windows NT, and can be activated at any time by a host debugger connected to the computer. This is the mode to use when you are debugging problems that are regularly reproducible.

· /DEBUGPORT=comx - Specifies the com port to use for debugging, where x is the communications port that you want to use.

· /FASTDETECT - Specifying FASTDETECT causes NTDETECT to skip parallel and serial device enumeration for a boot into Win2K, whereas omitting the switch has NTDETECT perform enumeration for a boot into NT 4.0. Win2K setup automatically recognizes dual-boot configurations and sets this switch for BOOT.INI lines that specify a Win2K boot. Windows 2000/XP Only.

· /HAL=<hal> - Allows you to override the HAL used, for example using a checked version.

· /INTAFFINITY - Sets the multiprocessor HAL (HALMPS.DLL) to set interrupt affinities such that only the highest numbered processor in an SMP will receive interrupts. Without the switch the HAL defaults to its normal behavior of letting all processors receive interrupts. Windows 2000/XP Only.

· /KERNEL=<kernel> - Same as above but for the kernel.

· /MAXMEM:n - Specifies the maximum amount of RAM that Windows NT can use. This switch is useful if you suspect a memory chip is bad.

· /NODEBUG - No debugging information is being used.

· /NOGUIBOOT - When this option is specified the VGA video driver responsible for presenting bit mapped graphics during Win2K's boot process is not initialized. The driver is used to display boot progress information, as well as to print the Blue Screen crash screen, so disabling it will disable Win2K's ability to do those things as well. Windows 2000/XP only.

· /NOSERIALMICE=[COMx | COMx,y,z...] - Disables serial mouse detection of the specified COM port(s). Use this switch if you have a component other than a mouse attached to a serial port during the startup sequence. If you use /NOSERIALMICE without specifying a COM port, serial mouse detection is disabled on all COM ports.

· /NUMPROC=n - Only enables the first n processors on a multiple processor system.

· /ONECPU - Only use the first CPU in a multiple processor system.

· /PCILOCK - Stops Windows NT from dynamically assigning IO/IRQ resources to PCI devices and leaves the devices configured by the BIOS.

· /SAFEBOOT - This is an automatic switch which NTLDR should complete for you when you use the F8 menu to perform a safe boot. Following the colon in the option you must specify one of three additional switches: MINIMAL, NETWORK, or DSREPAIR. The MINIMAL and NETWORK flags correspond to safe boot with no network and safe boot with network support. The safe boot is a boot where Windows 2000/XP only loads drivers and services that are specified by name or group in the Minimal or Network Registry keys under HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot. The DSREPAIR (Directory Services Repair) switch causes NT to boot into a mode where it restores the Active Directory from a backup medium you present. An additional option that you can append is "(ALTERNATESHELL)". This tells NT to use the program specified by HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\SafeBoot\AlternateShell as the graphical shell, rather than to use the default which is Explorer. Windows 2000/XP only.

· /SOS - Displays the driver names while they are being loaded. Use this switch if Windows NT won’t start up and you think a driver is missing. This option is configured by default on the [VGA] option on the boot menu.

· /WIN95 - This switch is only pertinent on a triple-boot system that has DOS, Win9x and Windows NT installed. Specifying the /WIN95 switch directs NTLDR to boot the Win9x boot sector stored in BOOTSECT.W40. See Microsoft KB Article Q157992 for more information.

· /WIN95DOS - This switch is only pertinent on a triple-boot system that has DOS, Win9x and Windows NT installed. Specifying the /WIN95DOS switch directs NTLDR to boot the DOS boot sector stored in BOOTSECT.DOS. See Microsoft KB Article Q157992 for more information.

· /YEAR= - Specifying this value causes NT/Windows 2000 core time function to ignore the year that the computer's real-time clock reports and instead use the one indicated. Thus, the year used in the switch affects every piece of software on the system, including the NT kernel. Example: /YEAR=2005. Note: this option is only available on NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 and Windows 2000/XP.

Save the file and restart Windows for the change to take effect.

Open "Dangerous" Attachments In Outlook

2009-02-23T09:14:00.001-08:00

Follow these steps to modify the registry and change Outlook's attachment security behavior.

Exit Outlook if it is running.
Click Start, and then click Run. Copy and paste (or type) the following command in the Open box, and then press ENTER:

regedit

Verify that the following registry key for your version of Outlook exists.

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security

Microsoft Outlook 2002

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Security

Microsoft Outlook 2000

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\9.0\Outlook\Security

If the registry key exists, go to step 5.

If the registry key does not exist, follow these steps to create it:

a. Locate, and then click the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft

b. Under Edit, click New, and then click Key.

c. Type Office, and then press ENTER.

d. Under Edit, click New, and then click Key.

e. For Outlook 2007, type 12.0, and then press ENTER.
For Outlook 2003, type 11.0, and then press ENTER.
For Outlook 2002, type 10.0, and then press ENTER.
For Outlook 2000, type 9.0, and then press ENTER.

f. Under Edit, click New, and then click Key.

g. Type Outlook, and then press ENTER.

h. Under Edit, click New, and then click Key.

i. Type Security, and then press ENTER.

Under Edit, click New, and then click String Value.
Copy and paste (or type) the following name for the new value:

Level1Remove

Press ENTER.
Right-click the new string value name, and then click Modify.
Type the file name extension of the file type that you want to open in Outlook. For example:

.exe

To specify multiple file types, use the following format:

.exe;.com

Click OK.
Exit Registry Editor.
Restart your computer.

Control Those Firefox Users With FirefoxADM

2009-02-19T07:22:00.001-08:00

FirefoxADM is a way of allowing centrally managed locked and/or default settings in Firefox via Group Policy and Administrative Templates in Active Directory

Latest news about FirefoxADM at http://ick2.wordpress.com

Download from http://sourceforge.net/projects/firefoxadm/

Google Sketchup Rocks

2009-02-15T09:14:00.000-08:00

Check Out Google Sketchup - you can create 3D objects, with ease - easier than I remember AutoCAD to be.

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/

Destination Host Unavailable.

2009-02-09T10:42:00.001-08:00

If you try to ping a Windows 2003 machine (or any other TCP/IP host) and receive:

Destination Host Unavailable.

…this means that you’re Physical and Datalink layers are healthy, but your Network layer is failing.

Physical and Datalink layers are healthy because your Datalink layer, namely ARP, is working. Issue an ARP –a from the command line, and you’ll see that you have a layer 2 (MAC) address associated with the layer 3 (IP) address you’re trying to ping. If ARP was not working, you would receive a “Request timed out.” response.

In my case, I found, after much digging, that the IPSEC service on the “unavailable” host was crashing. (Check your event log.) IPSEC could also be set to specifically prohibit (i.e. firewall) the machine from responding to certain IP protocols (like ICMP, the protocol that manages pings / echo requests.) Another possibility is that your TCP/IP stack is corrupt.

Hope this saves you a few hours!

-Adam

Get OS Version and Service Pack Information with WMI

2009-01-30T08:47:00.001-08:00

You can quickly get the OS Version and Service Pack of a remote Windows Machine with WMI:

wmic /node:%%a OS get servicepackmajorversion,caption

Get and log the OS Version, Service Pack and Name of Machines with a quick one-liner:

for /f %%a in (serverList.txt) do wmic /node:%%a OS get servicepackmajorversion,caption,csname >> wmic.log

How to Change User Password at Command Prompt

2009-01-22T12:33:00.001-08:00

To change a user's password at the command prompt, log on as an administrator and type:
net user user_name * /domain
When you are prompted to type a password for the user, type the new password, not the existing password. After you type the new password, the system prompts you to retype the password to confirm. The password is now changed.

Alternatively, you can type the following command:
net user user_name new_password
When you do so, the password changes without prompting you again. This command also enables you to change passwords in a batch file.

Non-administrators receive a "System error 5 has occurred. Access is denied" error message when they attempt to change the password.

(From: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/149427)

Get the OS Version As A DOS Variable

2009-01-20T08:30:00.001-08:00

If you need to detect the OS Version in a script / DOS batch, here's a one-liner:

for /f "tokens=*" %a in ('ver') do set osversion=%a

I know this works in XP and 2000. There are many VBS scripts and other commands out there, but they don't work consistently on different machine types.

-Adam

Get Your Windows System Uptime

2009-01-20T07:22:00.001-08:00

Getting the "uptime" for your windows server or workstation is easy... type "net stats srv" and look for the line that begins with "Statistics Since". That's the date your computer last booted up.

Windows Button

2009-01-19T18:21:00.003-08:00

If you don't have a Windows Button - no worries - just hit "control-esc".