THE OFFICIAL BLOG OF THE SBS "DIVA" : Tools

So ya wanna control all your printers?

bradley — Wed, 30 Aug 2006 01:34:00 GMT

So here you are an IT admin and you want to control all your printers in one place.... so how do you do that remotely?

Well one way if you have a member server is to upgrade it to the R2 platform. There is a Print Management console that you can then control not only network attached printers but any locally attached printer as well.

To get this, you need to install the Windows 2003 R2 on a member server (it can't go on the SBS box) and then add the Print server role to that server. Then you can manually add all the print servers you want....and in this case "print servers" can also mean local printers on workstations. You can even print test pages remotely... this could be fun as I freak out folks at the office....

(just a reminder...this is not in SBS 2003 R2.. it only goes on normal R2 servers)

Some old fashioned guidelines about Fax

bradley — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 04:20:00 GMT

It's funny...faxing is such old fashioned technology ...but some firms just can't live without it. For my firm, we don't use centralized fax, but for others, the fax solution that SBS provides is exactly perfect. But the one thing I've noticed about faxing... is that "it's the hardware, stupid" and while this white paper can tell you the "White paper way", Danne "the LAN Man" on the SMBTN listserve has the "Been There, Done That" way:

He said....

Premium-grade EXTERNAL Modems are the RIGHT solution for SBS fax and dialup data applications, because they can be power-cycled when necessary – and it does become necessary for any modem to be cycled. You don’t want to have to boot the entire server to accomplish that. Plus, having meaningful modem status lights is VERY reassuring to you or anyone you ask to look at them for you over the phone and tell you what they see…
Multitech is a top name modem and communications gear manufacturer with US-based support services.
Multitech’s MT5600ZDX is a sure fire winner and costs about $100 wholesale. Add more for the data cable, as it isn’t included. SBS has drivers built-in for this modem; no disk needed!
For NOW, avoid the newer, cheaper MT5656ZDX-V at the lower cost of about $80 wholesale. Needs a special driver and It has caused me nothing but fits on one SBS installation. Maybe I’ll get that sorted out when time permits, but as soon as I replaced it with the recommended model, 99% of faxing issues disappeared. And maybe I won’t even bother.
In SBS FAX Wizard, set your MT5600ZDX to auto-answer on 1 ring and ALWAYS daisy-chain your dedicated FAX telco line TO, then THROUGH the fax modem, terminating it at a physical fax machine (set for 4+ rings), for those times when the server is in some kind of maintenance mode, rebooting or ???down???. Any time the client tells you they are dying because they can’t get any faxes, just have them slide the modem’s little black power switch OFF and the old fashioned fax machine will take over until the problem can be resolved. (Faxes remain important for my Mortgage Banking, Construction, Produce Distribution and Naval Manufacturing clients… they still live by faxes, but fewer and fewer need them printed on paper. SharePoint’s Incoming Fax viewer is S W E E T !

Just a final comment from me...If you want to just play a bit and see how faxing works and have never done it before on a SBS box, grab a US Robotic External V Everything off of Ebay and set it up. Brooktrouts are probably the premo...but the price tag for that 'premo' comes with that. The key is having an external modem that you can cycle on and off without rebooting the server. But it seems like when you do get decent hardware, you end up not cycling that much anyway.

In case you wanted to get a command line thrill today....

bradley — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 21:39:00 GMT

Useful RUN Commands

To Access…. - Run Command
Accessibility Controls - access.cpl
Add Hardware Wizard - hdwwiz.cpl
Add/Remove Programs - appwiz.cpl
Administrative Tools - control admintools
Automatic Updates - wuaucpl.cpl
Bluetooth Transfer Wizard - fsquirt
Calculator - calc
Certificate Manager - certmgr.msc
Character Map - charmap
Check Disk Utility - chkdsk
Clipboard Viewer - clipbrd
Command Prompt - cmd
Component Services - dcomcnfg
Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
Date and Time Properties - timedate.cpl
DDE Shares - ddeshare
Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
Direct X Control Panel (If Installed)* - directx.cpl
Direct X Troubleshooter - dxdiag
Disk Cleanup Utility - cleanmgr
Disk Defragment - dfrg.msc
Disk Management - diskmgmt.msc
Disk Partition Manager - diskpart
Display Properties - control desktop
Display Properties - desk.cpl
Display Properties (w/Appearance Tab Preselected) - control color
Dr. Watson System Troubleshooting Utility - drwtsn32
Driver Verifier Utility - verifier
Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
File Signature Verification Tool - sigverif
Findfast - findfast.cpl
Folders Properties - control folders
Fonts - control fonts
Fonts Folder - fonts
Free Cell Card Game - freecell
Game Controllers - joy.cpl
Group Policy Editor (XP Prof) - gpedit.msc
Hearts Card Game - mshearts
Iexpress Wizard - iexpress
Indexing Service - ciadv.msc
Internet Properties - inetcpl.cpl
IP Configuration (Display Connection Configuration) - ipconfig /all
IP Configuration (Display DNS Cache Contents) - ipconfig /displaydns
IP Configuration (Delete DNS Cache Contents) - ipconfig /flushdns
IP Configuration (Release All Connections) - ipconfig /release
IP Configuration (Renew All Connections) - ipconfig /renew
IP Configuration (Refreshes DHCP & Re - Registers DNS) -
ipconfig /registerdns
IP Configuration (Display DHCP Class ID) - ipconfig /showclassid
IP Configuration (Modifies DHCP Class ID) - ipconfig /setclassid
Java Control Panel (If Installed) - jpicpl32.cpl
Java Control Panel (If Installed) - javaws
Keyboard Properties - control keyboard
Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc
Logs You Out Of Windows - logoff
Microsoft Chat - winchat
Minesweeper Game - winmine
Mouse Properties - control mouse
Mouse Properties - main.cpl
Network Connections - control netconnections
Network Connections - ncpa.cpl
Network Setup Wizard - netsetup.cpl
Notepad - notepad
Nview Desktop Manager (If Installed) - nvtuicpl.cpl
Object Packager - packager
ODBC Data Source Administrator - odbccp32.cpl
On Screen Keyboard - osk
Opens AC3 Filter (If Installed) - ac3filter.cpl
Password Properties - password.cpl
Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc
Performance Monitor - perfmon
Phone and Modem Options - telephon.cpl
Power Configuration - powercfg.cpl
Printers and Faxes - control printers
Printers Folder - printers
Private Character Editor - eudcedit
Quicktime (If Installed) - QuickTime.cpl
Regional Settings - intl.cpl
Registry Editor - regedit
Registry Editor - regedt32
Remote Desktop - mstsc
Removable Storage - ntmsmgr.msc
Removable Storage Operator Requests - ntmsoprq.msc
Resultant Set of Policy (XP Prof) - rsop.msc
Scanners and Cameras - sticpl.cpl
Scheduled Tasks - control schedtasks
Security Center - wscui.cpl
Services - services.msc
Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc
Shuts Down Windows - shutdown
Sounds and Audio - mmsys.cpl
Spider Solitare Card Game - spider
SQL Client Configuration - cliconfg
System Configuration Editor - sysedit
System Configuration Utility - msconfig
System File Checker Utility (Scan Immediately) - sfc /scannow
System File Checker Utility (Scan Once At Next Boot) - sfc /scanonce
System File Checker Utility (Scan On Every Boot) - sfc /scanboot
System File Checker Utility (Return to Default Setting) - sfc /revert
System File Checker Utility (Purge File Cache) - sfc /purgecache
System File Checker Utility (Set Cache Size to size x) -
sfc /cachesize=x
System Properties - sysdm.cpl
Task Manager - taskmgr
Telnet Client - telnet
User Account Management - nusrmgr.cpl
Utility Manager - utilman
Windows Firewall - firewall.cpl
Windows Magnifier - magnify
Windows Management Infrastructure - wmimgmt.msc
Windows System Security Tool - syskey
Windows Update Launches - wupdmgr
Windows XP Tour Wizard - tourstart
Wordpad - write

So what tools do you use?

bradley — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 05:09:00 GMT

So a bit back I asked what tools that SBSers should have on hand and here are some answers...

www.sysinternals.com

www.dnsreport.com

Besides www.Eventid.net and www.Experts-Exchange.com and the others
mentioned by Susan I find having a Bart's PE Builder CD on hand with
recent antivirus and antispyware a real life saver. See
http://nu2.nu/pebuilder/. I also have on the CD GetDataBack and other
utilities from http://www.runtime.org/. The RunTime.org people have
even provided the plugins for Bart PE. If you have ever lost a volume
on a drive due to disk failure, this utility will amaze you with the
data it can recover if the drive still spins.

From Peter

1. nslookup
2. telnet
3. eseutil
4. filemon
5. regmon
6. netmon
7. pokemon (cmon, all work and no play...)
8. netstat -aon | find ":portnumber"
9. tasklist /svc
10. adsiedit.msc <<-- always install the support tools
11. www.sysinternals.com
12. www.hotmail.com <<-- testing external mailflow
13. recovery console
14. exmerge
15. treesize

Jim says...

Good start, but let's not forget:
- pathping (built-in)
- ldp (support tools & far better than adsiedit, IMHO)
- shutdown (resource kit)
- Duke Nukem (need you ask?)
- whois (resource kit)
- winsocktool (http://isatools.org/winsocktool.msi )
- portqry http://support.microsoft.com/?id=832919
http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Mastering-PortQryexe-Part1.html

http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Mastering-PortQryexe-Part2.html
- netsh -diag (built-in)
- netstat -anob (built-in)
- netdiag /fix (support tools)

Got a lab?

bradley — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 17:45:00 GMT

Got a test lab? A place to test things before you do stuff in real life?

What's the cheapest way to get a test lab?

e-Bay.

There is still a lot of good, quality hardware that can be purchased from e-bay. Yup you heard that....ebay.

What about Dell outlet?

Vmware for virtual testing?

Bottom line, if you are in the IT biz, set up a lab for testing and ...well...blowing up on. Better to learn there than in a client's office.

Okay so my drives are THIS big and Exchange needs to be THAT big, now what?

bradley — Mon, 24 Oct 2005 23:37:00 GMT

Okay so you built your server, and you partitioned off your server back when Exchange was 16 gigs..... so.... uh...now that Exchange can expand as high as 75 gigs for both the public and private stores..... uh....now what?

Repartition is the name of the game [I can just see the SBS Podcast gang possibly wincing on this one so I might ping this up to them as a question for this week's podcast -- so gang... how do you feel about repartitioning a domain controller?].

If you have a Dell system..there's a specific Partition utility you need to get... it's called the ExtPart.exe file to do this. Call Dell and they can send you this to you.

The ExtPart utility:  

Windows 2000, Windows Powered, Multi Language, Multi System, v.1.0.4, A01 
The ExtPart utility provides support for online volume expansion of NTFS
formatted basic disks in Dell PowerVault/PowerEdge
stand-alone or cluster configurations with Dell OpenManage Array Manager
installed. This is a self extracting file that will install
the extpart.exe utility. No reboot is necessary.
Before installing ExtPart and extending a volume, ensure you have a working
back up of your operating system.
This will allow you to quickly restore the previous operating system
configuration in the event you need to troubleshoot
your system. See your System Administrator's Guide for more information on
creating a system state backup. Systems
Affected: Dell PowerVault/PowerEdge stand-alone or Cluster SE400, FE300 or
FE400 configuration.
Dell PowerVault 750N, 755N, 770N & 775N Please see the extpart.txt file for
system requirements, limitations and usage instructions. 

Custom Instructions for ExtPart.exe:

Download

1. Click the "Download Now" link to download the file ExtPart.exe.
2. If the Export Compliance Disclaimer window appears, click the "I agree"
link to accept the agreement.
3. When the File Download window appears, click "Save" to save the file to
your hard drive.

Extract Files

1. Browse to the location where you downloaded the ExtPart.exe file and
double-click the file to unzip the download package.
Two files are included in this package, a text file and the utility
(extpart.txt and extpart.exe).
2. The default extract location is c:\dell\ExtPart. You can specify a
different location to unzip the files.
3. Click on the unzip button to extract files.

Before extending a volume using extpart.exe, ensure you have a working back
up of your operating system. This will allow you
to quickly restore the previous operating system configuration in the event
you need to troubleshoot your system. See your
System Administrator's Guide for more information on creating a system state
backup.

Want to search the SBS2k yahoogroups?

bradley — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 00:39:00 GMT

I hate the searchability of Yahoogroups. Okay so 'hate' is a strong word. How about I very seriously dislike the searchability of Yahoogroups? Someone once said that for a search company they make a lousy listserve search engine. Shout out to ATZ who took the SBS2k listserve and made it into a decent searchable database:

http://www.sbsarchive.com/

Very very cool!

So how do I subscribe to the blog?

bradley — Sat, 03 Sep 2005 01:11:00 GMT

I've gotten enough of these requests from the mailbag, so I decided to build a 'how to page'

What am I talking about? I freak people out with that 'login' up there. They think it means there's this secret society or something behind the login portal. Truly it's not. It's just the place that I enter a username and password so I can rant...ummm.... I mean post to the blog.

The other day someone asked something and I said “don't read the blog do ya?” and he said “No I haven't visited in a couple of days” and I realized that some folks may be 'surfing' to this blog... and that's not how blogs should be 'consumed' at all. Blogs aren't web pages... I mean yeah, if you are reading this at www.msmvps.com/bradley or www.sbsdiva.com rather than a newsreader, it kinda works on a web page, but you really shouldn't be doing it that way. You really need to have the feeds come to you....the SBSway....automagically.

So...here's what I did... I typed up a web page that shows how I 'subscribe' to a blog feed. I put it here. I hope that it will help to showcase how easy it is to get blog feeds to come TO you, so that you don't have to GO TO it.

Another way you can read blogs is by using RSS readers inside of a web page... take for example the beta of www.start.com. See those columns? Those are RSS feeds being 'sucked' into that browser. Sign up and register and you could have a 'portable' reader as well.

So...any questions? Does that help to let you know how you can “consume” feeds a lot easier than you are now doing it?

Reinstall SBS Monitoring... I mean REALLY reinstall it

bradley — Sat, 20 Aug 2005 01:13:00 GMT

Today Nick had a situation where a consultant went into add/remove and accidentally removed the SBSmonitoring... oops. So I dug this post out of the newsgroups:

1. Control Panel -> Add Remove Program -> Windows Small Business Server 2003.
Set Server Tools to Maintenance. Set Monitoring to Uninstall and continue the setup process.
2. Control Panel -> Add Remove Program -> Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (SBSMonitoring) -> Remove.
3. Rename the C:\program files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL$SBSMONITORING Folder.
4. Reboot the server.
5. Control Panel -> Add Remove Program -> Windows Small Business Server 2003.
Set Server Tools to Maintenance. Set Monitoring to Install and continue the setup process.
6. Reboot the server.
7. Start MSSQL$SBSMONITORING and SQLAgent$SBSMONITORING services.
8. In Server Management Console -> Monitoring and Reporting: run the "Set Up Monitoring Reports and Alerts wizard”

Controlling more

bradley — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 03:58:00 GMT

It's all about control isn't it? Patching. Monitoring. And whether your flavor is Level Platform or MOM.... if you aren't looking into tools to control and do... maybe you need to look into it?

Some recent postings about MOM, made me realize that in my circle of SBS buddies .. I don't know many folks running MOM.. Level Platforms, yes, but not MOM. Any SBSers out there that are MOM'ers?

I think we're all a bit chicken to be installing it when were not sure it's SBSized enough. The last thing we want to do is muck up a clients computer playing around.... so ...are you using any tools to monitor your networks?

To defrag or not defrag that is the question...

bradley — Thu, 11 Aug 2005 00:01:00 GMT

There's a direct relationship between disk fragmentation and performance: As the number of disk fragments increases, performance drops. The reasoning is simple: The more work the disk drive has to do to deliver data, the longer the rest of the system has to wait, and the slower it runs.

The solution just as simple: Defragment daily. By keeping the number of fragments low, you eliminate one of the biggest barriers to maximum system performance.

Don't know about you ...but DAILY? That's a bit much I think to be dragging those files all around your server or workstation...

Okay let's have at it... what are your thoughts on defragging.. I've not defragged a server in.... well...I've not defragged a server. And there are times with all the automagical gunk that occurs on my workstation that it will even allow me to defrag..but I'll admit lately I've been wondering if I need to find a peppier Newsgator or a bit of defragging might help as my RSS feeds are starting to drag down a bit.

... So... do you? Don't you? What's your stand?

Signing up for RSS

bradley — Tue, 09 Aug 2005 04:15:00 GMT

Looking to stay up to date on stuff like Security... stuff like Admin'ing networks?

Truly where a lot of great information lies in today is...right here.. in a blog. It's another 'been there, done that' person like yourself, saying 'hey this worked for me'.

So what is a blog? It's really nothing more than an easy way to post to a web page..but rather than G-O-I-N-G to the web page all the time, you use a newsreader to 'suck' in the posts so you can read them in a reader...now mind you... I still say that blogs work the best while you are online, because I personally know that I add links and what not and if you are stuck in an airplane without an internet connection...it's a little hard to follow a link...but anyway... so read this first... that's right...go follow the link... and when you are done..come back....

I'll just kinda hang around here until you are done...

la di dah....

Okay back? Did you go get a newsreader? You didn't?

Well go back and get one...and THEN come back here when you are ready to sign up for some blog feeds...

Good.. Okay now lets get you signed up for some RSS feeds. If you are using something like Newsgator...whenever you see an orange XML [and for the record.. I disagree with Microsoft's page where they say when you see an RSS icon you can click... they don't consistently do that and it's an XML icon anyway... geeze..what's with standards...I mean the IE7 team is getting on the bandwagon...anyway... when you see ...I guess ANY orange tag like that, right mouse click and see if you can 'subscribe in Newsgator” and voila ..that web page is now straight into a feed reader brought to you automagically so you don't have to go hunting for it....

Some of my fav's include....

The Master MVP blog - as this covers all sorts of things like Security from Donna, latest threats from Harry, X64 computing, and enough French culture from Christain to keep me entertained...
The rest of the Top Ten Useful Microsoft Blogs listed here...definitely the EHLO blog on Exchange, the MSRC blog on Security.
TechNet blogs [which are my fav over the MSDN ones..sorry] - http://blogs.technet.com/ all blogs here are more IT admin'y related
MSDN Blogs - http://blogs.msdn.com/ all the more “Dev'“ Related blogs are here
Dana's blog - http://silverstr.ufies.org/blog He and I will be presenting on SBS/hardening/security guides.. oh just paranoid stuff at SMBnation.com
SeanDaniel.com's blog - [yes poor guy is probably going to have to legally change his name to SeanDaniel.com with as much as I call him that]

Oh ... I cannot let this list go by without a major callout about this one....

http://www.thundermain.com/rss/

Go ahead and click on it... ugly isn't it? It has to be my most powerful RSS feed that I have. It has a simple job... it watches the Microsoft Download page and alerts me to new content. That's it. And yet, for a while there I had a couple of Microsoft employees wondering just how I was finding out about Security patches moments before they did up in Redmond...and it was all because of that feed. It would hit my feed reader before they were getting it in their mailbox.

You probably have to manually copy and paste it into your feed reader, but if you do no others..do that ONE right there.

I have lots and lots more ...and should probably stick the master listing [called the OPML file] somewhere for people to look at but until then.... even though I've covered this topic before and others have shared their RSS feeds... I thought I'd remind people how easy it is to keep up to date with RSS.

Cleaning house

bradley — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 00:00:00 GMT

There's one problem with my C:drive. It's too big. It's so big that I get lazy and don't clean it up.

Like... I don't throw away the Trend quarantined files, nor the junk in the bad mail. [Mind you Trend does a bit of an automagic clean up ...but still]

I leave behind all the patches even though now that I have SP1 I could get rid of the older, replaced patches.

I don't delete the XP sp1 that I could delete.

What other places do YOU regularly visit and make sure you clean up every now and then?

Looking for Macintosh Advice?

bradley — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 04:37:00 GMT

Looking for all those really good Mac postings? Look no farther than Eriq Neale [and look for him in Seattle in September at SMBnation]

Lessons Learned: Connecting a Macintosh to SBS 2003 Server via SMB:

Lessons Learned: Connecting a Macintosh to SBS using AppleTalk:

What's the best POP connector?

bradley — Tue, 05 Apr 2005 02:00:00 GMT

From the mailbag today comes the question “What is the best POP connector program?”

I'll start with an answer from the “Consultant crowd”:

SMTP instead

And I'll include my answer:

A patched one :-)

But if you'd like additional options for using a POP connector program remember both Popbeamer and GFI have a pop connector programs and both are highly recommended. And yes...they can collect faster than 15 minutes but if you want the pop program to collect every 30 seconds...like the guy in the newsgroup today....move to SMTP otherwise you will corrupt emails. The reason why the SBS Pop connector program only does it every 15 is to not overwhelm the Internet with these hits on ISPs and also to not corrupt emails as they get pulled in.

So let's just look at so pro's and con's about using a POP connector program versus SMTP

Pro: POP means that you need no ports open to go grab email. It triggers the pull and pulls the email in. There is no need to open up port 25 or 110. Thus you won't see SMTP auth attacks on your port 25 trying to nail your administrator account which ...while an acceptable risk... is still annoying nonetheless

Con: That POP connector sends out that username/password in clear text. Set up a sniffer program on that connection and voila... you'll see usernames/password go across the wire. Hopefully that's not the 'same' username password as the domain credentials of the firm.

Pro: POP is faster to implement in a formerly peer to peer firm and more 'warm fuzzy' to the consultant setting it up.

Con: Some ISPs have no clue when it comes to setting up Mail Records and what not. Javier has an excellent post that we put up a long time ago about on Smarthost versus DNS.

Pro: uh... hmmmm...not sure there is a Pro in this one as you have to rely on word filtering

Con: Can't use Exchange IMF spam filters for spam filtering or any number of other anti-spam techniques that typically have better 'catch' rates. You must have SMTP to use Exchange IMF.

Pro: Using POP your email is always safe because it only comes off the mail server when your Exchange server pulls it down.

Con: Using SMTP your email is always safe because you can use a service like TZO.com to provide a backup MX or mail delivery in case in the rare chance your SBS is offline.

Uh..... This one is a dead tie because there are ways to provide backups for that mail delivery no matter what.

Pro: Using POP I can use cheaper dynamic IP services rather than the more expensive static ones.

Con: Using SMTP I can still use the cheaper dynamic IP services rather than the more expensive ones.

Huh? Yup, this too is a dead heat because you can use port redirector services and other such tools to still host your email on a dynamic IP

So what's the best?

One that fits what your clients needs. And sometimes that even includes that annoying 15 minute patched pop connector built into SBS 2003.

How to Shutdown

bradley — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 03:00:00 GMT

Ever notice how there's like four or five ways to do the same thing?

I posted about my Remote Web Workplace experience and wanted to know if there was a way to remotely shut down. Matt posted in the comments "shutdown.exe" but there's a couple more.

Handy Andy said Start> run> “shutdown -r“

For one, once I have that Control-Alt-End which is the remote desktop equivalent of Control-Alt-Delete [the infamous three fingered salute -- no relationship to David just happen to share the same name]...bingo, I have a button there that says "shutdown".

Duh.

Then Chad and Marina said, click on Start and Windows Security and sure 'nuff in a RDP session, Windows Security...which is the shortcut to the screen that gives you task manager, shut down, log off, etc. is right there. [Which is of course the same solution pointed out to me by Dave in the post that started this whole exercise in the first place -- that once you RDP into a session either via RWW or onto a server, that the Windows Security shortcut is right there, just a mouse click away]

Learn something new every day!

See it's like this.... don't mess with "My Business"

bradley — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 02:10:00 GMT

Answering another question from the mailbag tonight. Part II actually. One about Scripts and I thought I'd also mention our other annoying 'feature' of SBS.

Let's face it SBS has a few ... well... eccentricities. One that “LanWench” from the newsgroups loves is how SBS really doesn't want you to mess with a couple of things:

Scripts [well you can but there are certain guidelines] and
Organizational units [one of our built in ones to be exact]

Heaven forbid you should rename or move SBS's main Organizational unit. You see quite a few scripts and wizards on SBS 2003 depend on that so just 'leave it alone'. It's way better to create a new organizational unit in group policy and go from there. So don't mess with the My Business OU is our first eccentricity.

Our next is our login script. The SBS_LOGIN_SCRIPT is located on the \windows\sysvol\domain\scripts subdirectory and right now, mine contains just this:

\\DOMAIN\Clients\Setup\setup.exe /s DOMAIN
\\DOMAIN\OFCSCAN\AUTOPCC

That second one is the script for Trend in case you are wondering.

Kevin has the exact how to for adding 'more things' to that script on his blog. Don't forget you can also use Con2prt.exe to connect to network printers via scripts. But don't delete it... work with it and add to it like Kevin showcases.

Work with our eccentricities and you find you'll soon learn to get at least used to them .

LimitLogin tool

bradley — Mon, 14 Mar 2005 17:46:00 GMT

Hmmm...haven't tried it but I wonder if we can use this to build a report of logons and logoffs?

Hmmm... may have to play around with this

We are happy to announce the availability of LimitLogin v1.0, an
application that adds the ability to limit concurrent interactive user
logons in an Active Directory domain. It can also keep track of all
logins information in Active Directory domains (without necessarily
enforcing logons quotas).

The challenge of limiting concurrent logons in a distributed
environment is huge, and although LimitLogin is not a "bullet proof"
solution to all the aspects of this challenge, many customers might
still find this tool helpful, as this capability has been highly
requested by different customers (banks, ISPs, libraries etc) in
numerous RFPs etc.

LimitLogin capabilities include:
- Limiting the number of logins per user from any machine in the
domain, including Terminal Server sessions.
- Displaying the logins information of any user in the domain
according to a specific criterion (e.g. all the logged-on sessions to
a specific client machine or Domain Controller, or all the machines a
certain user is currently logged on to).
- Easy management and configuration by integrating to the Active
Directory MMC snap-ins.
- Ability to delete and log off user session remotely straight from
the Active Directory Users and Computers MMC snap-in.
- Generating Login information reports in CSV (Excel) and XML formats.
Please keep in mind that this tool is Not Supported (similar to a
resource kit or support tool).

The public download location is there

How about "more" friendly HTTP error messages?

bradley — Thu, 24 Feb 2005 18:40:00 GMT

From the mailbox today comes this tip from WayneV

While I was trying to find an answer to a web based program/IIS problem I stumbled on a checkbox worth mentioning.

I was getting the error:

The page cannot be displayed

There is a problem with the page you are trying to reach and it cannot be displayed.

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

Please try the following:

Open the 12.3.45.254 home page, and then look for links to the information you want.

Click the Refresh button, or try again later.

Click Search to look for information on the Internet.

You can also see a list of related sites.

HTTP 500 - Internal server error

Internet Explorer

Which tells you practically nothing.

However, if in IE, you turn off "Friendly HTTP error messages" by choosing tools - internet options - advanced. You get the real program error message and line number of the error which makes it a hell of lot easier to solve. -Sheeeesh

Looking for Fax Documentation?

bradley — Thu, 10 Feb 2005 18:47:00 GMT

The question came up regarding Fax documentation and I thought I'd throw up a few links:

How does GFI FAXmaker compare with SBS Fax/Windows 2003 Fax?

Windows Server 2003 FAX

Fax Service Manager overview

Fax Console overview

So how many of you use the SBS Fax features?