THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS DIVA

Someone in the office bought a new HP mini and wanted windows 7.  This model can be upgraded to 3 gigs, but was running XP.

HP Mini 311 1000NR 11 6 Widescreen Netbook Computer With Intel Atom Processor N270 by Office Depot:
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/329022/HP-Mini-311-1000NR-11-6/

So not a problem as when you install Win7 (even cleanly) all, (and I mean ALL) of the drivers are available on the HP web site.

Select software and drivers HP Mini 311-1000NR PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English):
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=4062&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=4041554

You end up with a screen that is clearer than the XP system, quite peppy and looks very nice.  I had picked up some Win7 Home premiums from that early buy bundle and I'm using these to upgrade these Mini machines as people buy them for their travel/home needs.  Installing Microsoft security essentials on them (as they are home machines not business) and they are a nice Xmas present (and much better than the XP looking tired old desktop they shipped with).  Not to mention with all of the OEM shipped stuff off the box they actually run faster than when they were XP.

EDIT:  If you are still locked out of the site/having issues, can you post your info to the comment section of the blog referenced and linked to below regarding your issues, and what you need help with:

Microsoft SMB Community Blog : Latest update on Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC):
http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2010/01/11/latest-update-on-microsoft-volume-licensing-service-center-vlsc.aspx

----------------------

So today is Tuesday and I've been locked out of the eOpen/VLSC/MVLS web site since Friday.

You have entered incorrect information and have been locked out of registration as a security measure. Please contact support

When you call  866-230-0560 , the recorded message tells you that due to heavy call volume to call back.  If you do hold (and to be fair so far I've not been able to hold for the 45 minutes to hour that seems to be the magical number) those that are calling appear to be getting some help. 

http://twitter.com/#search?q=vlsc

Some people can get in, some can't.  Some like Steve Wright http://www.bmsnet.co.uk/blog/?p=244 are saying that "and this time was told that the only way to add agreements was by telephoning the VLSC help line and they would add the agreements. When I questioned this they said it was for “security reasons”."

So how's the eOpen/MVLS/VSLC site working for you?   (or not?)

Check out two possibilties:

http://www.astrasync.com/ The first is used not only by SBSers but used by folks with the Kerio (www.kerio.com ) mail platform to wirelessly over the air sync calendar/contact info.  Another solutions is http://www.notifycorp.com/products/notifysync/index.htm Notifysync. 

Blackberry may be belly up today in the USA as far as sending email and receiving them, you probably still have SBSers that love their blackberries.  If you don't want to stand up a server just to run one or two Blackberries, check out those alternatives.

http://www.w7forums.com/howto-setup-group-policy-sbs-2008-win7-clients-t3061.html

On a forum someone asked about how to set the group policy setting for Windows 7 clients on a SBS 2008 because they weren't allowing remote desktop or connecting to wsus.  My first question would be back to that poster... did you join the computers using http://connect ?  Or if this is a migrated box, run the www.sbsbpa.com and ensure that the SBS users are in the Mybusiness organizational unit.  By default SBS 2008 has everything it needs to control/patch/allow remote control to Windows 7.

To edit or add group policies (in particular to the firewall settings) it's the Vista firewall policies that control those Windows 7 workstations.

A past post about the default group policy http://www.channelprosmb.com/blog/entry/2580/Group-policy-Defaults-for-SBS-2008/ showcases that it's under the hood and ready to go.

If you have clients that remote from a large screen Vista or Win7 to a large screen Vista or Win7 bookmark these two KBs:

Remote Web Workplace connect to client computer feature may display black bars:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2011825/en-us
Remote Web Workplace connect to computer feature may be slow to redraw the screen:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2011807/en-us

Had a situation where links on a web page would not launch to a new window or new tab.  They would just sit there like a bump on a log.  Tried IE no add ons and no go.  It would work with IE 64bit so we knew it wasn't that the page wouldn't support it and it would work fine in Chrome.   It was only in IE 32 bit (IE 8 on Windows 7) where it would do nothing.  I found this post and this script below did the trick:

Links in will not open a new window or tab in Windows 7 IE8:
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/InternetExplorer/thread/e312e580-1cbc-496b-8c6b-b69b8535a7bb

For Win 7 64 bits :

1 - Create a new notepad document and paste this text :

@echo off
echo.
echo IEREREG Version 1.07 for IE8 27.03.2009
echo by Kai Schaetzl http://iefaq.info
echo installs and registers (if suitable) all DLLs known to be used by IE8.
echo should only take a few seconds, but please be patient
echo.
REM ******************************
echo registering IE files
REM IE files (= part of setup)
regsvr32 /s /i browseui.dll
REM regsvr32 /s /i browseui.dll,NI (unnecessary)
regsvr32 /s corpol.dll
regsvr32 /s dxtmsft.dll
regsvr32 /s dxtrans.dll
REM simple HTML Mail API
regsvr32 /s "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\internet explorer\hmmapi.dll"
REM group policy snap-in
regsvr32 /s ieaksie.dll
REM smart screen
regsvr32 /s ieapfltr.dll
REM ieak branding
regsvr32 /s iedkcs32.dll
REM dev tools
regsvr32 /s "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\internet explorer\iedvtool.dll"
regsvr32 /s iepeers.dll
REM Symptom: IE8 closes immediately on launch, missing from IE7
regsvr32 /s "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\internet explorer\ieproxy.dll"
REM no install point anymore
REM regsvr32 /s /i iesetup.dll
REM no reg point anymore
REM regsvr32 /s imgutil.dll
regsvr32 /s /i /n inetcpl.cpl
REM no install point anymore
REM regsvr32 /s /i inseng.dll
regsvr32 /s jscript.dll
REM license manager
regsvr32 /s licmgr10.dll
REM regsvr32 /s msapsspc.dll
REM regsvr32 /s mshta.exe
REM VS debugger
regsvr32 /s msdbg2.dll
REM no install point anymore
REM regsvr32 /s /i mshtml.dll
regsvr32 /s mshtmled.dll
regsvr32 /s msident.dll
REM no reg point anymore
REM regsvr32 /s msrating.dll
REM multimedia timer
regsvr32 /s mstime.dll
REM no install point anymore
REM regsvr32 /s /i occache.dll
REM process debug manager
regsvr32 /s "%ProgramFiles(x86)%\internet explorer\pdm.dll"
REM no reg point anymore
REM regsvr32 /s pngfilt.dll
REM regsvr32 /s /i setupwbv.dll (not there anymore!)
regsvr32 /s tdc.ocx
regsvr32 /s /i urlmon.dll
REM regsvr32 /s /i urlmon.dll,NI,HKLM
regsvr32 /s vbscript.dll
REM VML renderer
regsvr32 /s "%CommonProgramFiles%\microsoft shared\vgx\vgx.dll"
REM no install point anymore
REM regsvr32 /s /i webcheck.dll
regsvr32 /s /i /n wininet.dll
REM ******************************
echo registering system files
REM additional system dlls known to be used by IE
REM added 11.05.2006 Symptom: Add-Ons-Manager menu entry is present but nothing happens
regsvr32 /s extmgr.dll
REM added 12.05.2006 Symptom: Javascript links don't work (Robin Walker) .NET hub file
regsvr32 /s mscoree.dll
REM added 23.03.2009 Symptom: Find on this page is blank
regsvr32 /s oleacc.dll
REM added 24.03.2009 Symptom: Printing problems, open in new window
regsvr32 /s ole32.dll
REM mscorier.dll
REM mscories.dll
REM Symptom: open in new tab/window not working
regsvr32 /s actxprxy.dll
regsvr32 /s asctrls.ocx
regsvr32 /s cdfview.dll
regsvr32 /s comcat.dll
regsvr32 /s /i /n comctl32.dll
regsvr32 /s cryptdlg.dll
regsvr32 /s /i /n digest.dll
regsvr32 /s dispex.dll
regsvr32 /s hlink.dll
regsvr32 /s mlang.dll
regsvr32 /s mobsync.dll
regsvr32 /s /i msieftp.dll
REM regsvr32 /s msnsspc.dll #no entry point
regsvr32 /s msr2c.dll
regsvr32 /s msxml.dll
regsvr32 /s oleaut32.dll
REM regsvr32 /s plugin.ocx #no entry point
regsvr32 /s proctexe.ocx
REM plus DllRegisterServerEx ExA ExW ... ?
regsvr32 /s /i scrobj.dll
REM shdocvw.dll hasn't been updated for IE7 and IE8, it still registers itself for the Windows Internet Controls
regsvr32 /s /i shdocvw.dll
regsvr32 /s sendmail.dll
REM ******************************
REM PKI/crypto functionality
REM initpki can take very long to run and is rarely a problem
REM if there are problems with crypto, SSL, certificates
REM remove the three following REMs from the lines
REM echo We are almost done except one crypto file
REM echo but this will take very long, be patient!
REM regsvr32 /s /i:A initpki.dll
REM ******************************
REM tabbed browser, do at the end, why originally with /n ?
regsvr32 /s /i ieframe.dll
REM ******************************
echo correcting bugs in the registry
REM do some corrective work
REM Symptom: new tabs page cannot display content because it cannot access the controls (added 27. 3.2009)
REM This is a result of a bug in shdocvw.dll (see above), probably only on Windows XP
reg add "HKCR\TypeLib\{EAB22AC0-30C1-11CF-A7EB-0000C05BAE0B}\1.1\0\win32" /ve /t REG_SZ /d %systemroot%\system32\ieframe.dll /f
REM ******************************
echo all tasks have been finished
echo.
pause

2 - Close all your IE windows and processes.
3 - Save your document on your Desktop by example, with the .bat extension. Right-click on it, and select "Run as administrator".
4 - Test if this tip resolved your issue by opening IE. If you use a Windows 32 bits version, please replace %ProgramFiles(x86)% by %ProgramFiles% in your .bat file.

In case you need this for the upcoming "fix my friends relatives and inlaws computers at Christmas time weekend" that is coming up.

Download details: How to Enable Windows SBS Users to Map Drives Using Remote Web Workplace:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=e004c074-356f-4af7-abce-3663eafc45bc&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MicrosoftDownloadCenter+%28Microsoft+Download+Center%29#tm

This document written by Microsoft Support Engineer Edwin Joseph describes the process that you should follow to successfully configure Windows Small Business Server 2008 to enable users to use Remote Web Workplace to map drives, print, and use the clipboard.

Was swapping out a new harddrive to my HyperV test server at home and I noticed when the system first installed it did not see the 1.5 terrabyte terabyte drive, it only saw it as approx 500 gigs.  It wasn't until the system was fully built that you can see that the system could see the entire drive, but obviously couldn't be built with it from the get go like that:

Now it will allow you to extend it once it's like that so that now I have the full 1.5 terrabytes terabytes out there (less the 100 MB system reserve there)

It obviously sees it, it just can't see it booting up raw from it.

The Welcome screen may be displayed for 30 seconds during the logon process after you set a solid color as the desktop background in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;977346
WFP drivers may cause a failure to disconnect the RDP connection to a multiprocessor computer that is running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;976759
No private key is associated with a certificate after you successfully install the certificate on a computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;977222
Windows 7 displays "Windows is not Genuine" with error code of 0x80070005:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;2008385
Unable to print large page documents from Windows 7:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;2011767

(courtesy of Dean Peters)

7200 laptop pata, great deals on Computers Networking on eBay!:
http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trksid=p3907.m38.l1313&_nkw=7200+laptop+pata&_sacat=See-All-Categories
Newegg.com - laptop drive:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=laptop+drive

An interesting factoid I didn't realize that it's downright impossible to get 7200 rpm PATA or IDE laptop hard drives.  One can find SATA drives but not IDE in the 7200 rpm speed.  One can find them fortunately on ebay.  Ensuring that a laptop is on the fastest speed you can buy/afford/upgrade to is the difference between night and day on a laptop.  Some have upgraded laptops to solid state drives.

But it's funny how it's harder to find some versions of the drives these days.

It's also impossible for me in California to buy/order silver dragees as well, but that's another story several years old -- http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/12/23/MNGS03SUEM1.DTL

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=69a2c15c-ac7a-4aab-b470-c51254ec9ff6&displaylang=en

This is the 'baking' weekend where I make some of the traditional treats of the season.

Mind you some of those "traditional" treats get a new twist or interpretation than how we've traditionally done it.

http://www.minibee62.com/MINI-Cutters-p/cutters.htm
http://ubermini.com/32501.html?*session*id*key*=*session*id*val*

Doesn't everyone make Gingerbread cookies in the shape of Mini Coopers?

And I even found a new cookie cutter that we ordered tonight.  This one is in the shape of a convertible:

http://www.minibee62.com/PhotoGallery.asp?ProductCode=Cutters

We didn't have that one so we just ordered it tonight so that next year my Sister will have a cookie specifically shaped like her car.

The just happened to someone -- http://www.tech-archive.net/Archive/Windows/microsoft.public.windows.server.sbs/2009-03/msg01633.html

You have a SBS 2008. You go to change the update settings in the console on the box and the console crashes.  Why is it doing this? 

There should be three specific groups in the WSUS console to deal with the updates.  If you remove one, it will make the console crash.

Russ - SBITS.Biz wrote:

FYI: Do not delete Computer Groups SBS2008 WSUS 3.0
Windows SBS Console Crashes when running reports
(And Daily Weekly Reports have Stopped)

I ran into This last week and I though I'd post it.
Running a report I get a Crash/Error

With Error
Problem Signature 09: N3CTRYE2KN3C34SGL4ZQYRBFTE4M13NB
In log
C:\Program Files\Windows Small Business Server\Logs\console.log
there is a "NullReferenceException"

The problem was I deleted a computer group in WSUS 3.0
I deleted the Group "Update Service Excluded Computers"

(Since I felt it didn't matter since there were no computers in that group.)
Well WRONG it does matter Make sure you have all Groups.

Unassigned Computers
Update Service Excluded Computers
Update Services Client Computers
Update Services Server Computers

Note "Update Service Excluded computer" and it should NOT be "Update
Services Excluded computer" which 'Services' is plural

If any groups are not in the list or the names are not exact same, the report will crash.

Russ

So I was asked in the comments...

I just got this email.  Too funny.  After the mess of the MVLS site from 12/7 to now, this is just very funny and very ironic.

Well...that's one part of the MVLS web site experience that is working well.  The part that says "pay up".  :-)

Dear Susan Bradley,

Thank you for choosing Open Value. The purpose of this letter is to inform you that your Agreement 7804041 will reach its anniversary date on 02-1.

You have elected to spread your payments over the term of your agreement. This is a reminder notification informing you to place your anniversary order by 02-1 with your reseller Software One, Inc., so that you can receive an invoice to make your next payment. To help with your record keeping, we ask that you keep all Microsoft notices received during the term of your agreement.

Continued use of Microsoft software licensed under this agreement is dependent on the receipt of this order. If you have already submitted your order to your reseller Software One, Inc., we advise you to follow up to ensure that they submit this information to us on your behalf. Receipt of this order by Microsoft will ensure that you continue to receive the benefits of this program and maintain the right to use your deployed software and your Software Assurance benefits.

Anniversary orders are based on the number and type of licenses ordered at the start of your agreement as well as any additional software you have deployed since signing.

Please take the time to carefully read the information below to evaluate your software use report and complete the next important steps:

1. Carefully check the current number of desktops in your company.
2. Complete your Open Value anniversary order.
3. Submit your completed anniversary order details to your reseller Software One, Inc. by the anniversary date.

To facilitate the ordering process, your agreement details and your software use are outlined on the following page.

We thank you for your purchase(s) and hope that you continue to realize the benefits of this program.

Yours sincerely,
Microsoft Licensing, GP

@Microsoft_VLSC I login then enter my biz email. No email shows up. Wait & try again. Now I am locked out of registration. How nice.

VLSC (Microsoft_VLSC) on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Microsoft_VLSC

For those in the same boat as I, it takes a REALLLLLLY long time for that business email confirmation to be sent.  In the meantime you have put in other emails and have locked yourself out.

So put in the email address you think it is and then be REALLY really really really patient.

Otherwise you will get your account locked and then need to wait for someone to unlock it.

In the continuing saga of "how to generate warm fuzzy thoughts about make people question cloud computing all at the same time"

Microsoft SMB Community Blog : All Microsoft Volume Licensing business systems are back online! Yes, including VLSC!:
http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2009/12/18/all-microsoft-volume-licensing-business-systems-are-back-online-yes-including-vlsc.aspx

The site is back online... kinda

Microsoft SMB Community Blog : How to retrieve license information when you forgot the email address linked to eOpen?:
http://blogs.msdn.com/mssmallbiz/archive/2009/12/18/how-to-retrieve-license-information-when-you-forgot-the-email-address-linked-to-eopen.aspx

So either I forgot the business email I had linked, or it's still messed up a bit.  Sigh.  Oh well, next time I'll print out my Software Assurance code numbers for support because I didn't.

Microsoft Volume Licensing — What It Is and How It Applies to Your Donation:
http://www.techsoup.org/stock/microsoft/volume_licensing.asp

There's a bit more on the change out there.

Exchange Server 2007 idiocy | Real World Computing | PC Pro:
http://www.pcpro.co.uk/realworld/354142/exchange-server-2007-idiocy

Jon Honeyball despairs with Exchange Server 2007's failure to play nicely with other key parts of the Microsoft Server family

Dear Mr. Honeyball.  I read your article and there's some clarifications that need to be made.  First regarding the concern that the instructions for applying Exchange 2007 sp2 on SBS 2008 appears ... well... a bit much.  Yes the SBS team tested that Exchange Service pack.  Which is why there's a block in place in the first place.  The block is there because there is a SP2 'wrapper' that is currently in beta that bangs Forefront over the head (as you so aptly put it), installs the SP2, reruns the fix my network wizard in the background and turns back on Forefront.  There is no registry key to do with this wrapper because the wrapper will do it for you.  To be clear there's really no rush for this service pack in the first place as we already have the Exchange aware backup in SBS and they've already released an update rollup 1 that fixes issues with the SP2.  That said it will be out shortly.  If someone has not applied rollups to their Exchange 2007 on SBS 2008 they really and truly should do so and NOT wait for this Service pack if they were waiting for it.  If you've installed those Extended authentication (security advisory) updates from December, if you do not have Update rollup 9 on the box in fact your Outlook clients will get prompted over and over again for credentials.  So don't wait for service packs in this update rollup era of Exchange.  Evaluate them as they come out and install after a good backup.

The Official SBS Blog : Microsoft Exchange 2007 SP2 installation is blocked on Windows SBS 2008:
http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2009/07/30/microsoft-exchange-2007-sp2-installation-is-blocked-on-windows-sbs-2008.aspx

Microsoft Windows SBS team is working on a Microsoft Exchange 2007 SP2 installation tool on Windows SBS 2008. The tool will automate the Exchange 2007 SP2 installation with a better user experience. With this tool released, users can download the tool to the Exchange 2007 SP2 setup folder and launch the SP2 setup from the tool. The tool will remove the prompt, stop the FSE services, launch Exchange 2007 setup UI, and then perform post-setup cleanup after SP2 installation is successfully completed.

For users who want to deploy Exchange 2007 SP2 on their Windows SBS machines urgently, manual steps are provided in KB 973862. However, we strongly recommend users to leverage our upcoming installation tool for a successful SP2 installation. We will inform you via this blog when this tool is available.

Now as to Exchange on Windows 2008 r2, there's news on that front as well.  You'll need to wait for Exchange 2007 sp3 which will allow it to be installed on Windows 2008 r2.

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2009/11/30/453327.aspx 

Granted there are times I question the sanity of the Exchange development team but rest assured that both issues are being addressed.  It actually was a bit interesting to say that first they weren't going to support Exchange 2007 on Win2k8 R2 and then very publically change their minds, again in public.  Granted the 'duhhh' event here was that I wouldn't have put my foot down publically first and say that Exchange 2007 wasn't to be supported on Win2k8 R2, I would have asked around if this was an important scenerio to do and apply resources as I really get annoyed by what I call "blogging" events where someone has to have a near hissy fit on a blog, gather like minded voices and storm the castle demanding that the King change his mind (as I'll admit doing and contemplating around this blog site a time or two).  It's more professional to me to ask for feedback rather than get the blog storm effect.  But obviously I don't run the Exchange team or make decisions for them.

Now then as to your SBS is aimed at the small business sector where there is no IT on site... I would challenge that statement.  If there was no IT on site (like in my case) or they did not HIRE a var/vap there would be no SBS in that firm.  This has long not been NOT a DIY box.  The idea that someone with no tech expertise can run it... now that's the idiocy at play here.  It's a complicated beast and those partners that support it should pat themselves on the back for doing so. 

So in conclusion, there's a specific SBSized wrapper for Exchange 2007 sp2.  Yes, we've given feedback that we hope when SP3 comes out that the experience will be a lot more satisfying, and yes, that is the version you'll need to wait for on Windows 2008 r2 to support Exchange 2007 on it.

So where to Ch ch ch chia pets go when it's not Christmas time?

Just a random thought for the evening after seeing the umpteen commercial on TV tonight.

Joseph Enterprises - Home of the Chia Pet, Chia Herb Garden, The Clapper, Ove Glove, CSL, Ignite-O and Classic Pen Set | Joseph Enterprises:
http://www.chiapet.com/
Chia Pet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chia_Pet
Chia Pet Planting | Josh Madison:
http://joshmadison.com/article/chia-pet-planting/