Problems installing and using Exchange 2007

I'm upgrading my Exchange 2003 organisation to Exchange 2007 this weekend, as a reinforced learning experience for when I begin to deploy Exchange 2007 for a major customer.

I had a couple of problems:

1. A setup error occured: "[ERROR] Access to the path 'D:\Setup\ServerRoles\Common\64' is denied"
2. When I re-ran setup, it installed, but there were no routing group connectors between the old routing group "First Administrative Group\First Routing Group" and the new routing group "Exchange Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)\Exchange Routing Group (DWBGZMFD01QNBJR)".
3. I created the routing group connectors, and moved a mailbox, but mail would not flow. Kept getting 5.7.1 Relay Denied errors from the new organisation.

I found a few references:

Setup error:
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2746265&SiteID=17
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943507/en-us

How to install Exchange 2007 into an Exchange 2003 organisation:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124350(EXCHG.80).aspx

How to remove Exchange 2007 roles:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb124115(EXCHG.80).aspx

For some reason, my new Action Pack came with Exchange 2007 SP0 and not SP1.
I've downloaded Exchange 2007 SP1 and will reinstall this when I have removed Exchange 2007 from the server.

Exchange 2007 SP1:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=44C66AD6-F185-4A1D-A9AB-473C1188954C&displaylang=en

Exchange 2007 SP1 Release Notes:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=5770BD59-376E-42EC-B940-BE6225CD97FF&displaylang=en


NB:Just what does FYDIBOHF23SPDLT and DWBGZMFD01QNBJR mean?They are shifts of "EXCHANGE12ROCKS". First one, add 1 to each character, second one, deduct 1 from each character.

Server 2008 Hyper-V Service vmss failing to start

With the latest RC1 refresh, you have to install Server 2008 with the default language settings in order for the vmss service to start properly.

Details here:
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2585027&SiteID=17

Running Windows Server 2008 under Xen on OpenSuse 10.3

I've just bought a 2xQuad Core Zeon, Dell Poweredge 1900, with 16GB RAM. This is for some heavy duty Hyper-V testing in Windows Server 2008 but I thought it'd be fun to run it under OpenSuse 10.3 first.

The result:

Click the above image for a full size one.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Core - Demos

The are some nice core demos over at Keth Coombs' blog.

Catch them here:
http://blogs.technet.com/keithcombs/archive/2007/11/04/windows-server-2008-core-screencast-series-watch-all-eight-parts-here.aspx

How-To Create an Outlook Profile Automatically

We need a way of creating users Outlook profiles automatically. They can run this the first time they login, or at any other time to recreate thier profile.

First download the files here.

The files are stored in a shared directory.
We created a directory in SYSVOL so that all users could access them.
The path would be something like \\YourDomainName\SYSVOL\YourDomainName\Scripts\OutlookFirstRun.
They could be stored in a standard shared folder if you prefer, just edit the path in the scripts.

OutlookFirstRun.au3:
This is an AutoIT script that you need to edit and compile to an .EXE using Auto IT (Freeware).
It can be found at http://www.autoitscript.com/

Outlook.ico:
The outlook icon for compiling OutlookFirstRun.exe.
We used this so that the program looked the same as Outlook.

DisplayName.vbs:
This is a VB script that writes the users display name to a file.
We write it to F:\Display.txt, as F:\ is the users home directory.
Again, you can change this.

Outlook.prf:
This is a file that contains settings to be imported into outlook.
It sets up the users profile for them.

Functional description:
Instead of launching Outlook.exe, the user launches OutlookFirstRun.exe. You have to arrange for this to happen. We use Ericom to publish this as a terminal server application but you could create an MSI or use the RunOnce registry key. The program could be included in your build Ghost image for example.
OutlookFirstRun.exe calls DisplayName.VBS.
DisplayName.vbs reads the users display name from AD and creates as an Environment Variable %DISPLAYNAME%.
OutlookFirstRun then launches Outlook.exe and imports Outlook.prf.
Outlook.prf must be edited to contain your Exchange server name and any additional changes.
We don’t use cached PSTs for example, as we’re running in a terminal server farm environment.

Feel free to use these files - Distributed under GPL-v3.

Event ID 1058 and 1030

On several AD installations with multiple domain controllers I have seen servers continuosly logging event 1058 and 1030.

Running "dfsutil /PurgeMupCache" followed by "gpupdate /Force" always seems to fix it.

You obtain DFSUTIL from the support tools (SUPTOOLS.MSI) from the server installation CD located in \Support\Tools I think

How to enable hibernate in Windows Vista

Apparently, Windows Vista prefers to use a bastardisation of standby and hibernate as a default, storing memory contents to disk as well as low powered state in RAM.

It doesn't help much if you want to power down your machine to transport it to another location though!

To re-enable hibernate use the following command as an administrator:
    powercfg -h on

See this KB article for more information.

Moving Windows Sharepoint Services Databases in SQL 2005

I was migrating an old WSS 2.0 site on SQL 2000, to WSS 3.0 on SQL 2005, and didn't like where the default databases were being created.

I detached the databases, moved them to thier new location, and re-attached them.
This changed the owner from "NT Authority\Network Service" to my account.

I used the following SQL code to change the owner back:
  USE whichever_database
  EXEC sp_changedbowner 'NT Authority\Network Service'

Thanks to Kalen Delaney for that!

Printing to Canon MP530 from Eee PC 701

I bought a lttle Eee PC 701 machine but had problems configuring it to print to my Canon MP530.

I decided to try the Turboprint.de driver and had some success.

Download the Turboprint debian package from http://www.turboprint.info/

Start a terminal by pressing "Ctrl+Alt+T"

Become root by typing "su -" and entering your user password

Add the following to /etc/apt/sources/list
deb http://xnv4.xandros.com/4.0/pkg xandros4.0-xn main contrib nonfree

Update the apt sources by typing "apt-get update"

Install the required libraries by typing "apt-get install libgtk1.2-common libgtk1.2 libglib1.2"

Install Turboprint by changing to the directory you downloaded it to (such as "cd /home/user") and the using the dpg command to install "dpg -i turboprint_1.96-3_i386.deb".

I then commented out the Xandros4 source from /etc/apt/sources.list and ran the "apt-get update" command again.

Now add the printer using the "Canon Turboprint" drivers. I added mine from my shared windows PC with no problem.

Ubuntu on Dell Inspiron 5100 Problems solved

I've managed to improve my video by switching from the Vesa driver (enabled by default) to the Radeon driver.

The Radeon driver would not work properly without adding the line Option '"LVDSBiosNativeMode" "FALSE"' to /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Thanks to Ricky Cambell for that.

I also found some useful help regarding boot up speed and temperature control from this thread at the Ubuntu forum. 

Ubuntu 7.10 on Dell Inspiron 5100

Well - I've been running Vista on my new laptop for sometime so decided to play with the new Ubuntu release on my old Dell Inspiron 5100. It was a very easy install!

I had to start from the CD in safe graphics mode but when the install was complete, Ubuntu offered to install the softmodem and wireless card automatically.

I pointed the wireless installer at the driver reccomended by the Ubuntu Wifi docs site and everything worked first time.

Nice! All I need to do now is find a way to improve how the fonts look in Firefox. 

Problems with Nero 7 in Windows Vista Ultimate x64

I have had a number of issues in getting my favourite burning program, Nero 7, working in Windows Vista Ultimate x64. These are:


1. Every time I login I receive a message "Nero Home Has Stopped Responding". When I click to end this process, it obviously starts again because the message keeps repeating forever.
I have opened a support call with Nero about this but no progress so far. My work round is to kill the processes "WerFault.exe *32" and "NMBgMonitor.exe" in Task Manager. I have further used MSConfig to disable Nero Home on the Startup tab.


2. In Media Centre, selecting the Nero plug-in causes an "Invalid Application Error".
I have also passed this to Nero, but again no response as yet. I am using MCEBuddy to automatically convert Media Centre recordings to WMV files and then burning using standard DVD creation programs. This saves me disk space and gives me more control anyway so I am not that bothered.


3. When trying to burn a DVD or CD with Nero Burning ROM, I get a message saying "The Server is Busy. This action cannot be completed.....".
I believe that this is related to problem 1 above. I killed all the NM* processes in task manager and Nero was able to open the burning dialog OK. The processes did keep restarting, so I have used Computer Management to disable the NMIndexingService service. I may have to kill these NM* processes manually again next time but at least I can get Nero to work.


At the moment, I have the latest version of Nero 7 available from the Nero website: 7.10.1.0


Update: Ahead came up with a patched DLL but this has not fixed the problem for me.


Update 2: Just had an email from Ahead to confirm that this is a known and fixed issue that is fixed in the next release. Unfortunately, they could not give me the date for the next release. :(

Extracting WMV from MCE

I initially tried playing with DVRMSToolbox, but it had some significant issues wwth Vista 64. (Would not convert to WMV and Commercial skipping not working in Media Centre).

I found another tool called MCE Buddy. This is not as flexible as DVRMSToolbox but it just works!

You can find it here:
http://www.mcebuddy.com/

How to Enable Versbose Startup\Shutodown\Logon\Logoff Messages in Windows XP

Create HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System\verbosestatus
It needs to be Dword with a value of 0x1.

BBC iPlayer on Windows Vista

I had worked out sometime ago how to install Sky Anytime onto my Laptop (useful for those stays away), but I wanted to install the BBC iPlayer back onto my desktop after an upgrade to Windows Vista (I have no need for 4OD as it is delivered through my Virgin Media cable).

It turns out that all you have to do is to change the user agent (UA) strings to fool the BBC website into letting you download the iPlayer.

I found details on how to do it here:
http://community.plus.net/comms/2007/08/02/how-to-install-the-bbc-iplayer-on-windows-vista/

You can download the UA registry changes from here:
http://www.fiddlertool.com/useragent.aspx


Update:
You can only play the DRM files if you have administrative rights.


Update2:
I've found the download from Microsoft called "User Agent String Utility" to be a better long-term choice. This allows you to open a copy of IE7 configured to react like IE6. You can then use this to access the BBC iPlayer site. Get it here.

Update to CS 2.1 SP3

Please let me know of any problems.

I am actually a couple of versions behind because CS 2007 SP2 is out.

Synchronise Media from Media Centre to External Storage on XDA Orbit

Since installing Windows Vista Ultimate and a TV card on my desktop PC, I have been playing with Media Centre. Everything was working great except synchronising content to my Windows Mobile 5.0 device (an O2 XDA Orbit).

I was only being offered the change to synchronise to the internal storage of the device. The XDA Orbit has just 64MB of internal storage, of which I only have 14MB free. You can't fit much on there!

It turns out that this is a bug with Media Centre not resolving device names correctly. The fix isn't currently delivered by Windows\Microsoft update, but once I had identified and installed it, everything worked fine.

I've not yet worked out how to synch individual programs from MCE so I still have issues with running out of storage on my 1GB card. I've seen reports that 2GB is the max I can use although some claim 4GB - I see a trip to ebay in my future! I also feel I get more control with Nero recode so I guess it would be great if you could extract WMV files from MCE, anyone know how?

I found the bug described here:
http://www.tabletquestions.com/windows-vista/9396-windows-mobile-device-center-media-center-pocket-pc-sync.html

I found the KB931621 fix here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931621/en-us


Update:
Nero can process the dvr-ms files directly (at least with the Vista codec pack I have installed). You find them in C:\Users\Publix\Recorded TV.

Greylisting on Exchange 2003

A massive increase in Spam, particularly PDF attached stock scams, has happened here recently.

I decided to look for something different and found this free Greylisting product for Exchange 2000\2003.

VMWare Server v1.0.3 unable to bridge to wireless network on Vista

I've been trying to test some printing configurations on SLES 10 SP1 but I couldn't get my laptop running Windows Vista Ultimate and VMWare Server v1.0.3 to successfully bridge onto the wireless adaptor.

I could use NAT but then it was difficult to test connectivity to the server.

Having hunted around a bit I found this useful post: Abstract path:VMWare, Wireless Network Adapter and Bridging

This pointed to a VMWare article which allows the Vista adaptor bridging feature to be enabled between the onboard wireless card and the virtual adaptor created by VMware.

Before this fix I could only contact the host wireless IP address, now I can connect to everything but! If anyone knows how to get the VMWare native bridging feature to work, please get in touch.

N.B. The only step missing from the above articles was that you must create a VMware virtual adaptor (I used adapator #2) and delete the DHCP scope for it. Fail to do the and you will leak DHCP onto your wireless network!

SkyAnywhere on Vista?

SkyAnywhere has been running well on my laptop for sometime. I had to flag it to run as an administrator but everything worked.

Today it insisted on downloading an update when I fancied watching a film, but then refused to run it because my machine wasn't running XP.

After a search I found this thread which allowed me to run it again!