THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA"

Just so you see the visual... two vhd files sitting on an external USB drive.... are powering a copy of the SBS 2008 that I built at the office.  Once you have the "server" in vhds you can just copy and move them around.

This is where a nice bitlocker to go comesin handy as well... as I just walked off with a copy of my entire server in a very portable and easily transportable package.  Now that we have such an easy way to copy around the computers we use, are we thinking about the "what ifs?" that may occur?

So at the office I've been doing a dry run of the migration and the resulting migrated SBS 2008 is sitting as two vhd files on a HyperV server.  So I went to Office Depot, bought a small usb powered 500 gig drive, turned off the SBS 2008 running in HyperV, copied it to the hard drive.  Brought it home, connected it to the HyperV at home, browsing to the external usb drive locations for the hard drives.  I then booted the box.  Mind you the box at the office has different nics, different hardware but no bsod was seen.  Now think about this.  Next time you need to test patches, think how easy it is to make a copy of that production server and test ahead of time.

So tonight I'm taking my sister's "baby laptop", the old Travelmate C110 (a match of what I have) and moving it from an older slower harddrive up to a 7200 rpm drive.

While I can't justify the pricetag of a solid state drive, I can bump up a drive to a faster speed.

http://www.apricorn.com/product_detail.php?type=family&id=41 The Apricorn kit is a very easy way to do it as well.  And then the bonus when you are done is you get a very nice caddy for your old hard drive to be put into and now have a spare external drive.  I picked up to 500 gig external usb powered drives at Office Depot today, and was surprised at some of the slower speeds of drives I saw offered in SATA drives.  5900 RPM was the fastest SATA drives I saw at Office Depot.  Granted this was office depot... not Frys or some other uber computer store, but I wasn't about to get out on the road and fight though the crowds to get to Best Buy which is about the only other major computer store we got in Fresburg (yeah I know, we live in the hood, what can I say).

So what speeds are you putting in your systems? 

Are you picking solid state? 

Why does my CSR need to be 2048 bit length? - GoDaddy Help Center, Search the GoDaddy Knowledge Base:
http://help.godaddy.com/article/5619

From the "oh now I get it" category.  I kept seeing folks say that they had to rekey their certificates when asking for a new one, and when they did they had to ensure that in the wizard they pulled down the arrow in the key cert generation screen and specifically selected 2048 or higher.

Keep that in mind when you generate that key cert that you may/will need to request one with a higher bit length.

So how do you do a dry run without buying a new server?  Look around/or build from Frys and find an overgrown desktop that can support HyperV and 64bit and stick at least 8 gigs of ram in there.  You don't need a test lab with boxes all over the place, you do need a nice enough overgrown desktop that can handle virtualization and lots of RAM.

Right now the machine I'm using for my dry run is the server I ultimately plan to migrate to.  But before that I have a box that is nothing but a virtual platform with even removable drive drays that I can slide drives and and out and make machines as I need them.

Like many things in tech, you can't just read, you have to do.  Invest in yourself here.

I'm taking a break from the Migration dry run blogging tonight because I had to do a slide show for a group of folks I'm doing a presentation for tomorrow.  My Dad's retired executives groups.  All of those years that I had to listen to Dad, I now get to give a presentation to "Dads and Moms" about computer security.  Or how to be paranoid just a little bit, without freaking yourself completely out.

Earlier this evening my Sister and I were chatting about software and she had heard that Office 2010 was coming out in beta.  And she mentioned that at her office they were just NOW starting to deploy Office 2007 and that she didn't see that they'd be upgrading soon.  There is the Microsoft upgrade cycle.  The one that hopes you'll be migrating and ripping things out every two years.  And then there's the reality of businesses, of change, of the economy.  So while Microsoft is announcing and touting Exchange 2010 and TechEd Berlin, I'm just NOW deploying Exchange 2007. 

Out here in the real world of deployment there's still a fair amount of Exchange 2003 deployed.  And the reason it is, is the very reason that it has taken me this long to deploy Exchange 2007.  There's a more sensible reason for the upgrade other than "it's got the latest cool thing".  In my case it's a hardware upgrade that is making the decision.

For all those that have asked, btw, the methodology that I'm doing it the most closely aligned to the "Microsoft Method" and yes at the end I'll put all of these blog posts in a word document you can download. But keep in mind that I'm not really using anything other that these documents:

http://blogs.msdn.com/sbsdocsteam/archive/2009/11/12/the-windows-sbs-2008-migration-guides-are-updated.aspx

And this book:

http://www.packtpub.com/small-business-server-2008-installation-migration-configuration/book

Which it too is basically taking the Microsoft method and giving me screen shots so I know where I'm supposed to be at.  Granted he does add the extras of the some scripts and things. 

At the end of the day YOU have to do a dry run and practice.  YOU have to establish a confidence in yourself.  YOU have to take WHATEVER method you chose, tweak it and make it your own for the needs of your client base.  What I've personally ended up with, isn't the Microsoft method, it's the "what Susan decided to do because she was the most comfortable with choosing it" method.

At the end of the day, that's what counts the most.  You have to be comfortable in your skills, and surround yourself with the tools that make you feel that way.

 >>>Partner Community Hot issues November 2009<<<:
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/partnerwinserver7rcthreads/thread/cf96edb8-afd7-48e2-aac9-519844f5d048

>>>Partner Community Hot issues November 2009<<<

TOP SUPPORT ISSUES
NEW & UPDATED KB ARTICLES

TOP SUPPORT ISSUES

[ISSUE 1]

Problem Description:
=============
Get intermittent network pauses on the Windows 7 computer.

Resolution:
==========
Disable auto-tunning.

Use the below command in command line on the Windows 7 computer:

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

[ISSUE 2]

Issue:

===========

You cannot change the power settings on a Win 7 ultimate client that is member of a SBS2003 domain.

Cause Analysis:

===========

If the power options are configured via group policy, the following registry key should be added to the Win7 client:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Power\PowerSettings]

We ran gpresult /v to generate a group policy results report on the problematic Win 7 client and found the GPO’s that configure the PowerSettings are:

Local Group Policy

Small Business Server - Windows Vista policy

Solution:

===========

Configure the settings under the Power Management node to Not Configured in both GPO

Remove the Vista GPO from the server and it is working now.

[ISSUE 3]

Problem

========

You have problem with inbound FTP connections from the public network if the Windows Firewall is enabled on the brand new Windows 7 Server.

Cause

========

FTP is a special case because of the way in which an FTP server establishes the data channel for an FTP file transfer. During a typical FTP user session, an FTP client initiates a control channel with an FTP server. When the FTP client transfers a file from the FTP server, the FTP server tries to establish a data channel with the FTP client by initiating communication on a TCP port different from the one used for the control channel.

Solution

========

Since you are using Windows Firewall with non-secure FTP traffic, to overcome the problem described above, Windows Firewall uses the Application Layer Gateway Service to provide dynamic port mapping for the FTP data channel, thereby facilitating the stateful filtering of FTP traffic. We can open port 21 and enable stateful FTP filtering on the Windows Firewall by using the following commands:

1. To open port 21 on the firewall, type the following syntax in a command prompt then hit ENTER:

netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="FTP (non-SSL)" action=allow protocol=TCP dir=in localport=21

2. To enable stateful FTP filtering that will dynamically open ports for data connections, type the following syntax in a command prompt then hit ENTER:

netsh advfirewall set global StatefulFtp enable

Reference

========

I have also included some articles below, just for your reference. Hope they are helpful to you.

 How Windows Firewall Works http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc755604(WS.10).aspx

How to Configure Windows Firewall for a Passive Mode FTP Server http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd421710(WS.10).aspx

Netsh Commands for Windows Firewall with Advanced Security http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc771920(WS.10).aspx

[ISSUE 4]

Issue:

===========

Step-by-step document about TS  gateway and remote app

Solution:

===========

Here is the basic sequence we should follow to deploy remote desktop service on windows server 2008 R2.

1.    Licensing server.

Deploying Remote Desktop Licensing Step-by-Step Guide

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd983943(WS.10).aspx

2.    Install Remote desktop service role.

Installing Remote Desktop Session Host Step-by-Step Guide

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd883275(WS.10).aspx

3.    Create virtual desktop pool using remote desktop web access.

Deploying Virtual Desktop Pools by Using Remote Desktop Web Access Step-by-Step Guide

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd883265(WS.10).aspx

4.    RDS(ts) gateway.

Deploying Remote Desktop Gateway Step-by-Step Guide

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd983941(WS.10).aspx

About application virtualization, this is entire solution for desktop level virtualization.

It has advantage over RDS like management, deployment and scale. However, it will remote more server and technical resource involved.

We are noticed that Application virtualization(previously called softgrid) is totally another solution. It use different protocol, different mechanism to implement application for client.

It has nothing to do with RDS(TS) anymore and client didn’t use “remote desktop” client anymore. User didn’t need to create a remote desktop session to access application running on server. It will “cache” the data on local machine and run it locally.

Here is some article for your reference.(A lot of document, really…)

Planning and Deployment Guide for the Application Virtualization System

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc843778.aspx

NEW & UPDATED KB ARTICLES

Computers that are running Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 stop responding at a black screen if a screen saver is enabled

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=976427

The "Run only allowed Windows applications" Group Policy setting displays no entries on a computer that is running Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, or Windows 7

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=976922

Best regards,

Brandon Jiang
Partner Online Technical Community
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>>> Hot Issues for November 2009 <<<:
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/partnermsgexchange/thread/debeed23-4f55-4325-9db0-c38df36c9208

>>>Partner Community Hot issues November 2009<<<:
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/partnerofficeword/thread/3c3e80b4-c1bd-49bb-b7f8-f85bbdceccb9

TOP SUPPORT ISSUES
NEW & UPDATED KB ARTICLES
NEW WEBCASTS

TOP SUPPORT ISSUES
===============
The following "hot topics" were posted and resolved during the month of October in Office and Messaging client:

<Issue 1>

Product: Office Outlook 2007

Issue Description:

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

Outlook 2007 with BCM v3 was originally installed on Windows XP machine. The user uninstalled Windows XP OS and completely installed a new Windows 7 OS. After recovering the backup file for BCM database, the customer found (2 months ago) data is missing. The user wants to know how to recover missing data.

Resolution:

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

If the user has original BCM backup files <databasename>_offline.ldf and <databasename>_offline.mdf, he can restore the BCM dataset by using scripts.

For your reference:

Restoring a BCM database from SQL .mdf and .ldf files

http://blogs.msdn.com/bcm/archive/2007/10/22/restoring-a-bcm-database-from-sql-mdf-and-ldf-files-windows-vista-or-xp.aspx

<Issue 2>

Product: Office Word 2003 and Word 2007

Issue Description:

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

Some files are slow to open in Word 2003 and Word 2007 on the network.

Cause:

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

Those files are created by a template and will always to load the template in a shared folder when they are opened.

Resolution:

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

In Word 2003, please click “Tools” > “Templates and Add-ins” and clear the template file path here.

In Word 2007, please click “Developer” tab and click “Document Template” to clear the template file path.

<Issue 3>

Product: Office Outlook 2007

Issue Description:

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

The Country/Region drop down list is empty when you edit the business phone number in Outlook 2007 with BCM

Cause:

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

The phone and modem options are not configured.

Resolution:

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

Configure the options for a new location:

1. Start / Run / Services.msc / OK.

2. Double-click the Telephony service.

3. Set the Startup type to Manual.

4. Press Apply and OK.

5. Shutdown and restart your computer.

6. Verify that the Telephony service is started.

7. Configure your New location in the Phone and Modem options.

<Issue 4>

Product: Office Outlook 2007

Issue Description:

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

Customer cannot search either your own Calendar items or shared Calendar items in Outlook 2007. Have totally reinstall Office 2007 SP2 to troubleshoot this issue.

Cause:

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

Some MAPI related files are corrupt or missing.

Resolution:

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

Run Fixmapi.exe tool and Rebuild the computer's index catalog

1. Click Start, click Run, type %windir%\system32\fixmapi.exe, and then click OK.

2. Restart the computer.

3. In Control Panel, double-click Indexing Options.

4. In the Indexing Options dialog box, click Advanced.

5. Click the Index Settings tab, and then click Rebuild.

6. Click OK when you are prompted to rebuild the indexed locations on the computer.

7. Click Close to close the Indexing Options dialog box.

<Issue 5>

Product: Office 2003

Issue description:

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

When trying to add clip art in Office 2003, we got the error “Clip Organizer cannot complete the operation - No such interface Supported error code 0x80004002”

Cause:

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

A third party software made windows use the old versions of two dll's: msdasql.dll and msdaps.dll

Resolution:

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

Register the two files msdasql.dll and msdaps.dll from %COMMONPROGRAMFILES%\system\ole db:

regsvr32 msdasql.dll

regsvr32 msdaps.dll

NEW & UPDATED KB ARTICLES

================

940726  Security warning when you start Outlook 2007 and then connect to a mailbox that is hosted on a server that is running Exchange Server 2007 or Exchange Server 2010: "The name of the security certificate is invalid or does not match the name of the site"

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;940726

942995  You are prompted unexpectedly to restart the computer after you install a 2007 Office service pack or a 2007 Office update

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;942995

924074  How to open and save Word 2007, Excel 2007, and PowerPoint 2007 files in earlier versions of Office programs

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;924074

950929  How to contact a Microsoft Product Activation Center

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;950929

NEW WEBCASTS
===================

Microsoft Office System Webcast: Extend the 2007 Microsoft Office System (Level 300)

https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032422514&EventCategory=5&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Momentum Webcast: Using Microsoft Office for Business Intelligence (Level 100)

https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032423637&EventCategory=5&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Microsoft touts the new way of media fulfillment is so much better.  We can go to the MVLS web site, put in our agreement number and immediately download the software.  Except for SBS 2008 that is.  Due to the way that SBS 2008 is licensed you have to order the physical media. 

So in my zeal for migration I thought ...cool I should be getting my media automatically from Microsoft like I have for about umpteen years now.

Wrong.  No longer do I get automatic media.  I now have to contact my software reseller and ask them to order the new media.  One problem.  There appears to be no sku out there for SBS 2008 Premium with SP2 included.  It appears to be SP1, but not SP2.

I have seen that if you order Open License that there's a button in there that allows you to order the media that does include SP2.  One problem.  Open Value doesn't have this button.  I'm supposed to go through my vendor.  The problem is that either my vendor is clueless (which I very much doubt) or Microsoft has made this process so horrifically complex that even the vendors that do this for a living can't find their way around the maze of Microsoft licesning.

On a related note, when you do get SP2 media, keep in mind that from the get go when you install it, Companyweb will not work.  That's because Windows 2008 sp2 turns on the Kerberos on Companyweb.  I'm debating with myself tonight after listening to Raymond Chen's "How Microsoft is different than School" about how I feel about bugs and "the bug bar".

I will be the first to admit that my bug bar is different than Microsoft's.  In the newsgroup someone posted in that a brand new SBS 2008 sp2 installed media had the companyweb broken and that that was unacceptable.  I think I've been dulled by the years of betas that now when Microsoft ships things in this state and thinks it's perfectly normal to use Windows/Microsoft update as a vehicle to patch the system up to full working ability, I don't fight it because that's their philosophy.  But at the same time I think that I have been dulled by this.  Shouldn't it at least be a goal that when the software ships that one doesn't have to go to Microsoft update to make the basic parts work?

Bottom line, when you start building boxes with SP2 included, make sure you get that SBS 2008 update rollup 3 on there (after you run the connect to internet and put in the domain name).  That's when companyweb will fully work as it should.  Don't panic if it doesn't before then.

For those looking for SBS 2008 SP2 media I finally found a source for it.  At least to test it anyway.

Action pack.  The download section lists 64 and then a 64/32 version. 

The 64bit one includes SP2.  I'm going to guess that the one with the label 64/32 isn't really a 32 bit version of SBS 2008 (since ...like ...duh it doesn't exist in a 32bit version) but probably the RTM build.

As of this time the trial version on the download site is still RTM.  And I can't find a volume licensing source.  There appears to be a sku for Standard, but not one for Premium through my Open Value dealer.

The way you know you have sp2 media is to open up the tools folder on the dvd.  If the sourcetool file is a .msi that's SP2.  If it's a .exe that's RTM.

If someone knows of a means to get SP2 Premium media via Open Value I would appreciate knowing how you ordered it.  Thanks in advance! 

http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2009/10/16/coming-soon-sbs-2008-with-windows-server-2008-service-pack-2-included.aspx

The new Migration Preparation Tool can be found in the same place as before, on your SBS 2008 Standard DVD (DVD 1), under the \tools folder. An important change that needs to be noted is that the new tool has an installation package (SourceTool.MSI) while the existing one is a standalone executable. This MSI package needs to be installed on the source domain controller. The new tool must be used with the new media. The new tool will work with older media, but not the other way around. Furthermore, the new Migration Preparation Tool will be made available for download for easier access and use when only older media is present.

Once a day, every afternoon, I'd get an alert from my box with this:

EVENT #    10069
EVENT LOG    System
EVENT TYPE    Warning
OPCODE    Info
SOURCE    Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Processor-Power
EVENT ID    37
USERNAME    NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM
COMPUTERNAME    
DATE / TIME      11/11/2009 6:35:34 PM
MESSAGE    The speed of processor 3 in group 0 is being limited by system firmware. The processor has been in this reduced performance state for 2 seconds since the last report.

I'd get this alert for every processer/core it had on the box.  8 alerts in a row.  So in reading up on it, I mostly saw it on laptops.  Okay so my HyperV server isn't a laptop, but the suggestions were to ensure that the system was taken off of Power management, and adjusted to use full power.  (so much for green IT 'eh?).

So I tried the normal power management settings and waited overnight and still, these events occurred.  I downloaded every bios update I could find (even though I used the August HP build media that should have pulled down the newest drivers).  No change.  Still this event.  It didn't seem to hurt anything but 8 alerts in a row was kinda annoying.  So then I went into the bios and changed the power management setting in there.

So far, no alerts have been seen since I told the bios power settings to be maximum power not balanced.  We'll see if it stays true and I've made that error go away.

Just a quick note, I don't necessarily recommend an 80 gig server here.. I just did a minimum install for purposes of the migration test.  IMHO 60 gigs is too small as the WinSXS file grows.  And I plan to move the Exchange, WSUS and data to another driver. 

I don't consider 60 gigs a good partition and I certainly don't consider 4 gigs of ram enough for SBS 2008.

http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2009/10/30/so-what-about-those-action-pack-licenses.aspx

It's been several days and I still don't have any word one way or the other about the status of those folks in the MPAN program that no longer "fit" into the new Microsoft Partner Network.

And I'm not feeling good about the fact that the gentleman from the MPN phone number 800-765-7768 hasn't called me back when he said he would the following day.  The problem with dealing with a large blob of a corporation is that it's hard to find the right person to talk to and when you call into 800 numbers you may not be in the right spot to get an authoritative answer.

First off to anyone who signed up for MPAN or who urged their clients to sign up for MPAN, especially if it was due to something I posted, I'm sorry. I'm not feeling good if you did so on my recommendation and now this occurred.  If I were even a moderately rich person, any CPA who was in this limbo state of not possibly now being licensed properly, I'd offer to buy them licenses.  But I can't afford that.  All I can do is say I'm sorry and be more wary about marketing based offers next time.

I still hope that someone in a position of power will understand the situation here and waive the licensing for these impacted folks and just let them continue to use the existing Action pack licenses and grandfather their use rights.  I only hope that someone at Microsoft understand that it's not good business to design a marketing plan for a product that entices folks into a software licensing offer that was designed to get CPAs to be interested in an accounting product, that if they can now no longer qualify for, means that it's a big chunk of change that suddenly comes due that no one was anticipating.  Especially now in this economy.

My firm is not in this category of being affected, because I kept on recommending that we buy the Software assurance via the 3 year licensing.  So maybe that makes me a bit of an ingenuous person since if I kept recommending 'normal licensing' to my firm, in the back of my mind, I guess I always had a doubt that Office Accounting would never stand a chance and that some day Microsoft would pull back on the MPAN program and folks would be left high and dry.

Some of these CPA firms do have an IT side of them, do have folks that are SBSCs, do qualify to be in a competency in the Microsoft Partner Network.  Those firms are not at risk because the qualify as a "traditional" Microsoft Partner.  Either in general IT, or in Microsoft Dynamics, they will fit.  But if they fit, it's probably because they always fit as they had an IT niche.  

But it's the folks that are only in the program because Office Accounting thought they'd go after Quickbooks that concern me.  It's these folks, a small group of people that I just can't see fitting anymore into the Microsoft Partner Network.  Their primary focus was and still is Quickbooks and not the Dynamics stack.  I can't see where they fit into the Microsoft Partner Network.  Microsoft can say 'well we separated out the Action pack, Microsoft Partner network and the MPAN program about a year ago'. 

That's all fine and good, but Microsoft, you don't treat your customers like this.  It's not their fault you took on the 80 pound Gorilla of Intuit and you lost.  It's not their fault the economy kicked in and someone decided to retrench. It's not their fault they are not caught in the downsizing, layoffs and product cutting that Microsoft is into now. 

But it is Microsoft's fault that even with the layoffs you are still so big that I can't find the answer, and we're still in limbo. 

I'm still hoping that someone in a position of power will do the right thing and grandfather folks that were in the MPAN program and allow their licenses to be in perpetuity just this one time.  I honestly don't think it's too much to ask for given the circumstances of the reason for the closing of the MPAN program.  I'm hoping that like in most instances of dealing with Microsoft, that silence I'm getting means that someone somewhere is taking action.

I hope.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ee656415.aspx

Testing this out.  Have a HP ML370G4 that has a physical install of SBS 2003 on a raid/hardware system.  Have a HyperV on an HP ML370G6.  In a test run (where I screwed up because I didn't understand that I needed to ensure I copied the VOLUME which included both an Exchange data drive and a data data drive) I booted up the resulting VHDs and they didn't BSOD with the move.

Mind you they had ghosted nics so that's to be totally expected, and easily removed from the machine and then a rerun of the CEICW and that box was basically a running system.

How to remove ghost nics on vmware machines that have been P2Ved « Ramblings of a semi sane person:
http://secadmin.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/how-to-remove-ghost-nics-on-vmware-machines-that-have-been-p2ved/

Step 1: Open up a command prompt

Step 2: Type – “SET DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES=1″ and hit

Step 3: Type – “START DEVMGMT.MSC” and hit

Step 4: Once the Device Manger opens to the “View” menu and select “Show Hidden Devices”. Expand the Network Interface portion of the device tree and you should be able to remove the phantom NIC.

I'm doing it again as I need the second volume copied, and it will want reactivation in three days because I just ripped it off the hardware it was tied to, but it appears to do a physical to virtual without causing a bsod.  I'll do a longer blog post explaining the process tomorrow.

The other thing you can use this for (assuming the proper XP movable licenses) is that you can PtoV and make a real XP that XP Mode underneath that Windows 7.  Kinda kewl huh?

So I'd always heard about this, not seen this in action... well now I did today.  Nvidia video driver and AFTER the installation of .NET family patch (that I had been holding off installing) I could no longer remote to a machine.  I would rdp and the windows would immediately come back.

When remotely connecting to the event viewer I saw this:

Mind you, nothing was actually being seen on the workstation in question, I just couldn't connect to it after the install of the .NET family update. (951847 - http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2009/11/02/net-patch-gets-offered-up-all-by-itself.aspx)

Brad Rutkowski's Blog : \SystemRoot\System32\RDPDD.dll failed to load:
http://blogs.technet.com/brad_rutkowski/archive/2008/01/04/systemroot-system32-rdpdd-dll-failed-to-load.aspx

Getting a new driver didn't help, I had the latest driver.

Only the registry fix worked:

It's a registry fix that increases the size of the session image space.  Add the following key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]

"SessionImageSize"=dword:00000020

Where 00000020 is hex for 32

Tonight to answer the door of the trick-or-treaters I'm answering the door as Danica Patrick's older, less sexy, sister that is a Mini Cooper race car driver.

Okay so it's a stretch, I'll admit, but with a Mini Cooper racing shirt and a black wig, what do you expect?

I'm also remoting back into the office and doing the annual "what icons landed up on the desktop" review of the desktops.  While most of us do remote work as a matter of ease and efficiency, sometimes the only time you see issues is looking at the actual desktop.  So I'll take my secondary admin account and log into the workstations remotely and see what icons are there.  See if there's patches that WSUS or Shavlik missed, see if the event viewer looks good.  While I have remote tools that also pull this info, sometimes actually LOOKING at the desktop is like most picture experiences, a picture is worth a thousand words.

In my case, that picture of Danica is worth way more than what I look like in my Mini Cooper get up.

Check out my pumpkin! http://halloween.cloudapp.net/pumpkin/98338f63-ccce-4ee0-a7bd-3ff27ae837d8

Well look at the bright side.  There's no icky disgusting azure and silverlight seeds to scoop out and throw away now is there?

http://blogs.msdn.com/bardak/archive/2009/10/30/happy-halloween-from-the-silverlight-team-and-archetype.aspx

>>> NEW TOOL: Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer <<<:
http://social.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/partnermsgexchange/thread/421c8eb2-7579-4806-a276-3aaeb90a10a4

Announcing the release of Exchange Server Remote Connectivity Analyzer for Exchange 2003, 2007, and 2010: https://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com/

Client connectivity and inbound email scenarios make up a significant portion of the Exchange support calls.  This tool will allow you to remotely test the following client types and services:

Exchange ActiveSync

Windows Mobile 5, 3rd party devices

Windows Mobile 6.1+ with AutoDiscover

Outlook Anywhere (aka RPC/HTTP)

Outlook 2003

Outlook 2007 with AutoDiscover

Inbound SMTP

The tool will simulate the protocol logic used by the specific client and not only tell you if the scenario was successful, but if it fails, it will tell you exactly where in the process it failed as well as try to guide you to the problem resolution.

HELPFUL LINKS:

More information https://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com/Pages/ChangeList.htm

Exchange team blog http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2009/03/25/450908.aspx.

Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer Forum: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/exrca/threads

Provide feedback to exrcafb@microsoft.com

So I got a question today as to whether or not Exchange 2007 sp2 should be installed on a SBS 2008 box.

And I said:

1. there's an icky KB you have to work through

2. it breaks the sbs sites without the kb

3. IMHO it doesn' add any value (the Exchange backup we already have)

4. You wanna keep a test box for the sp2 wrapper that they will be building out

5.  You want to wait for that sp2 wrapper that they will be offering up for SBS boxes

There is no reason limited reasons that I can see at this time to be installing SP2 for Exchange 2007 on SBS 2008.  Thus don't. consider it carefully.

EDIT - it has been pointed out that Powershell v2 is not supported on SBS without Exchange 2007 sp2.  Thus for those folks who envision themselves on a remote beach in Bora Bora, sipping fruit drinks with umbrellas on them and using remote Powershell v2 commands to administer their Exchange 2007 sp2 boxes, you "may" want to consider going through the KB and apply the service pack.

The rest of us grunts may want to wait until the wrapper comes out.