Tag: Windows

Windows Small Business Server Service Pack 1 has encountered an error

Ok, so why are we getting this error if Service Pack 1 for SBS 2003 has been out for years? Well, believe it or not some people haven’t even installed it! Why, because they aren’t technical people and their previous IT people didn’t believe in Service Packs.
 
So, it’s time to roll up the sleeves and install this sucker. Everything seemed to be goin rather well until we received the following error during the installation of the final component of the SBS 2003 service pack :
 
Windows Small Business Server Service Pack 1 has encountered an error. For more information review the most recent entry in the setup error log c:\program files\microsoft integration\windows small business server 2003\logs\setup.log. Then correct the error and run Service Pack 1 again.
 
You can then click to open the log, which we did. Inside the th log we noted the following :
 
An error occurred while installing Microsoft Office Outloook 2003 (SP1). Rerun the setup and retry installaing Outlook.
 
Ok, why is this happening. Again, after a bit of Googling and troubleshooting it appears that the previous IT people deleted the entire \Clientapps folder to create space as Exchange Server information stores increased. So without the \Clientapps\outlook2003 folder and an msi inside guess what you get an error!.
 
You probably don’t need to rerun the installation just to over come this problem if Outlook is operational on the desktops. It would also appear that this error happens if you have relocated the \clientapps directory to another drive on the machine. This can be overcome by making changes to the registry to tell SBS 2003 where each \clintapp folder is.
 
Handy hint – before running SBS 2003 SP1 check to whether the entire \clientapps directories exist and that their location in the registry is correct.

Error 0xC0070643 while installing Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2

So we comence an installation of Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2 onto an SBS 2003 system and get the following nasty error :
 
Setup failed while installing sub component Exchange Activesync with error code 0Xc0070643 please consult the installation logs for detailed decription. You can cencel the installation or try the failed step again.
 
If you press the Retry button yo u receive the same error, if you press Cancel the installation process continues and completes.
 
The issue turns out to be that the version of msxml3 installed on the system is a letre version than the one that comes with Exchange Service Pack 2 ( which I think is msxml SP5). Ther version on this system was msxml3 SP7. Why oh why Microsoft.
 
A quick Google turned up two possibilities :
 
 
This one which gets you to copy and rename files, which we found didn’t work.
 
The other solution is from Susan Bradley at :
 
 
Now when we looked at the specific registry key she mentions in her article we couldn’t locate the key. so we looked through all the entries under HKLM | Software | Classes | Installer | Products till we found one where the product key equalled ‘Microsoft XML Parser‘. We then exported the key from the registry as a backup and deleted it.
 
When we reran the Service Pack setup everything went through without an error – PHEW.
 
Once again, the Susan the Diva saves the day!

Removing a share after deleting the directory

If you have created a share and then deleted the share without first deleting the directory you leave an ‘orphaned’ share that will log an error in the System Event logs (Event ID 2511) when the system boots.
 
To remove this ‘orphaned’ share simply go to the command line and type :
 
net share /delete
 
and the share name will removed from the list of shares the server creates on startup.

Lacie ethernet storage problems

Recently been working the 2TB Lacie Ethernet Network storage device and encountered a few issues when attempting to backup or copy large files to the device.
 
The device came with V5.0 software installed and (typically) the solution is to upgrade to V6.0 software. We received this from Lacie support :
 

Version 6.0.0 of the system software has been released. It is based on Windows XPE SP2 and solves many issues. Please provide your shipping address (no PO Boxes) if you wish to try version 6.0.0. We can ship you a copy.

 

Alternatively you can download a copy from the LaCie public FTP site.

 

FTP server address: 207.189.107.141

 

File name: ED v6.0.0 ECS.iso

 

Please note that the 4 HDD must be zero’ed for the v6 restore to work.

 

However, interestingly when we looked closer at the CD’s included with the device they were V6.0 software. For some reason we received an unit with an old version of software.

 

So upgrade and things should be rosy.

Microsoft Steadystate

Sick of having all these changes made on your Windows XP machine at hom eor the office? Well Microsoft has just released a new tool called SteadyState.
Windows SteadyState, successor to the Shared Computer Toolkit, is designed to make life easier for people who set up and maintain shared computers.
     
An easy way to manage multiple users

You can manage whole groups of users as single user accounts. The new Windows SteadyState console makes it easier than ever to create and modify user profiles.
 
 
A locked-down platform for stable shared computing

Not every computer user should have access to every software capability. Your system can be more stable and consistent when you limit user access to control panel functions, network resources, and other sensitive areas.
 
     
Set it and forget it

Once you have everything set up the way you want it, you can share the computer and rest easy. Any changes a user might make to the configuration or hard disk can be undone by simply restarting the machine.
Interesting to see how well it works in an SBS environment, but if it does then it could be very handy.
For more info about SteadyState see :
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/sharedaccess/default.mspx

The most vulnerable part of your PC may not be Windows

Recent surveys have shown that the greatest number of vulnerabilities that exist on user systems these days are related to all the add on programs that are installed.
 
Applications like iTunes, Flash and Acrobat to name but a few are rarely updated once they are installed yet they continue to be used on a regular basis. The problem for most users is how do they keep up with all the updates that maybe required on their systems? Not easy.
 
Here at least is a web site that wil tell you what is not up to date :
 
 
Microsoft Windows Update is used to determine if your system is missing security updates from Microsoft.

The Secunia Software Inspector covers the most common/popular end user applications:
* Internet browsers
* Internet browser plugins
* Instant messaging clients
* Email clients
* Media players
* Operating systems

Windows Server SP2 issues

Here are some articles from Microsoft about issues that may arise once you install Windows Server Service Pack 2 onto your system :
 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936594/ You may experience network-related problems after you install Windows Server 2003 SP2 or the Scalable Networking Pack.

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939421 Best practices and known issues when you install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 on a Windows Small Business Server 2003-based computer.