The other steveb - Steve Banks on SBS, EBS, WMS, and other Small Business Technology Topics

Poor performance when you enable RemoteFX in Hyper-V on a Windows Server 2012-based computer that uses AMD processors

2013-01-11T18:37:00Z

Working with Hyper-V on Windows Server 2012? Check out this KB article if you have AMD proc's in your server(s) for a hotfix:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2770440/en-us?sd=rss&spid=16526

Windows 8 Mail requires 3rd party SSL certificate for Exchange

2012-11-16T17:11:00Z

If you have a Windows 8 Mail client that won't connect to an Exchange account, check to see if you have a self-assigned SSL certificate installed on your Exchange Server. A "3rd party" certificate (GeoTrust, Thawte, VeriSign, Go Daddy for example) will take care of your problem. You can confirm if this is in fact the case by running the Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer, testing Exchange ActiveSync (https://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com/).

No PSSBS Meeting for November, 2012

2012-11-15T19:58:00Z

For those who are not members of the PSSBS Yahoo Group, or in case you haven't seen the announcement in our PSSBS Yahoo Group, there is NO NOVEMBER MEETING. I am in Las Colinas, Texas at an MVP "Deep Dive" in Server 2012 Essentials and Multipoint. We will be meeting in December, with a presentation by CRU-DataPort.

Exchange 2007 updates week of 10/7/2012 - Exchange down on reboot.

2012-10-14T18:54:00Z

Small Business Server 2008 (Exchange 2007) updates from this past week's patch Tuesday are causing an interaction that is causing Microsoft Exchange System Attendant and Microsoft Exchange Information Store to not fire up. Hearing that two reboots may get you there. You can also fire them up manually in the Services MMC.

If you see the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant "starting," then you'll need to kill the mad.exe process from the Task Manager in order to get the services to start.

Looking for Server 2003 and XP files you can remove / delete from the C drive?

2012-09-04T21:10:00Z

If you have aging Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 machines that have filled up their C: drives, here's a Microsoft KB with documented safe files you can remove:

KB 956324 - How to reclaim disk space on Windows XP and Windows Server 2003-based computers.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/956324

To cut to the chase on which Windows Update files you can delete (there are other directions in the KB as well, but these are what most server admins will be looking for) are below (taken from the KB as of 9/4/2012):

Delete Windows update files

Warning If you delete the folder for each update, the corresponding Windows update cannot be uninstalled. Consider the effect that this will have on the computer before you delete the Windows update files.

To delete Windows update files, follow these steps:

Delete only those %Windir%/$NtUninstallKB number$ folders that were created more than a month ago as backup files for Windows updates. Do not delete those that were created within the last 30 days.
To delete the download cache for Windows updates, delete all the folders in the %Windir%\SoftwareDistribution\download folder that were created more than 10 days ago.
Delete the following log files in the %Windir% folder:
- kb*.log
- setup*.log
- setup*.old
- setuplog.txt
- winnt32.log
- set*.tmp

Delete Windows XP service pack files

Warning If you delete the backup folders for each Windows XP service pack, you will be unable to uninstall Windows XP service packs.

If you delete the folder for the installation files and the cache for the Windows XP service pack, you will be unable to restore corrupted Windows XP service pack files or to install additional Windows XP features that are not installed by default. You may want to keep a copy of these files in another location. For more information about how to keep a copy of these files, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

271484

(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/271484/ )

Files and folders are added to your system after service pack is installed

Consider the effect that this will have on your computer before you delete these files.

To delete Windows XP service pack files, follow these steps:

Delete the %Windir%\$NtServicePackUninstall$ folder to delete the backup folders for the Windows XP service packs.
Delete the %Windir%\ServicePackFiles folder to delete installation files and cache folders for the Windows XP service packs.

Windows 8 for Microsoft Partner Action Pack Subscribers

2012-08-17T21:55:00Z

I checked today with the Microsoft Action Pack Regional Service Center for the Unites States on what the availability of Windows 8 will be for US Partners who have current Action Pack subscriptions. We will be getting usage rights for 10 licenses of Windows 8 Professional. Available August 20, 2012.

Also check out release dates here on the Windows Team Blog (thanks to Brandon LeBlanc):

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/08/01/windows-8-has-reached-the-rtm-milestone.aspx

People will be able get Windows 8 starting on October 26^th either by upgrading for $39.99 or on a new PC or device. And if you buy an eligible Windows 7 PC today, you will be able to purchase an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 (U.S.) through the Windows Upgrade Offer.

However, we have a number of programs that provides various audiences early access to the Windows 8 RTM code to help prepare for Windows 8 as it enters the marketplace this fall:

August 15th: Developers will be able to download the final version of Windows 8 via your MSDN subscriptions.
August 15th: IT professionals testing Windows 8 in organizations will be able to access the final version of Windows 8 through your TechNet subscriptions.
August 16th: Customers with existing Microsoft Software Assurance for Windows will be able to download Windows 8 Enterprise edition through the Volume License Service Center (VLSC), allowing you to test, pilot and begin adopting Windows 8 Enterprise within your organization.
August 16th: Microsoft Partner Network members will have access to Windows 8.
August 20th: Microsoft Action Pack Providers (MAPS) receive access to Windows 8.
September 1st: Volume License customers without Software Assurance will be able to purchase Windows 8 through Microsoft Volume License Resellers.

Please note: if a program you are in is not mentioned, please be patient as dates for Windows 8 RTM code availability for other programs will be communicated when the information becomes available.

July 19, 2012 PSSBS Meeting

2012-07-19T05:55:00Z

If you are in the greater Seattle area, join us as we discuss the recent announcements around the Small Business Specialist Community, Small Business Server 2011, and Windows Server 2012 Essentials.

http://www.pssbs.org/meetings/july-19-2012-pssbs-meeting/

HP & Microsoft Coffee Coaching Session on HP's Server offerings with SBS 2011

2012-07-17T03:28:00Z

If you are a Microsoft Partner currently working with Windows Small Business Server 2003, SBS 2008, or SBS 2011, be sure to tune in to this Wednesday morning at 8:00 AM PDT, July 18, 2012. Details are below:

During Microsoft WPC 2012 in Toronto, Microsoft announced the release of Windows Server 2012 Essentials edition beta.

On July 18th, 2012 at 8:00 am US Pacific Time join Lucy Ellis (HP) and David Fabritius (Microsoft) for a live webcast that will cover Microsoft Windows Server 2012 Essentials features and benefits, customer scenarios, HP Product portfolio and transition plans.

We’ll do a Q&A session for 20 minutes. We hope you can join us.

Here is the information for the meeting:
https://join.microsoft.com/meet/v-jatake/WY9LK1DN

Join by Phone
+14257063500
+18883203585
Conference ID: 25291428

HP Gen8 Servers - Where's the SmartStart media you ask?

2012-07-16T20:44:00Z

Where's the SmartStart disc? That's what I was asking myself when unpacking a new HP ML350 G8 destined for one of our client sites.

The answer was found in the Setup Poster PDF on the documentation CD. HP has taken the SmartStart media to a whole new level and now accomplishes the same tasks and more through their new Intelligent Provisioning. To quote from the HP PDF:

Intelligent Provisioning
Several packaging changes have taken place with HP ProLiant Gen8 servers: SmartStart CDs and the Smart
Update Firmware DVD will no longer ship with these new servers. Instead, the deployment capability is
embedded in the server as part of HP iLO Management Engine’s Intelligent Provisioning.
Intelligent Provisioning is an essential single-server deployment tool embedded in HP ProLiant Gen8 servers
that simplifies HP ProLiant server setup, providing a reliable and consistent way to deploy HP ProLiant server
configurations.
• Intelligent Provisioning assists with the OS installation process by preparing the system for installing
"off-the-shelf" versions of leading operating system software and automatically integrating optimized
HP ProLiant server support software from SPP. SPP is the installation package for operating
system-specific bundles of HP ProLiant optimized drivers, utilities, management agents, and system
firmware.
• Intelligent Provisioning provides maintenance-related tasks through Perform Maintenance features.
• Intelligent Provisioning provides installation help for Microsoft Windows, Red Hat and SUSE Linux, and
VMware. For specific OS support, see the HP Intelligent Provisioning Release Notes.
For more information on Intelligent Provisioning software, see the HP website (http://www.hp.com/go/ilo).
For more information about Intelligent Provisioning drivers, firmware, and SPP, see the HP website
(http://www.hp.com/go/spp/download).

So, there you have it. Hope this saves you some time digging around for it. I haven't looked at a setup poster for an HP server for quite some time because of the number of HP servers I've dealt with over the years. Outside of the sheet inside the chassis for RAM placement, there isn't normally a lot that changes... I thought. :-)

Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 and KB2524478

2012-04-17T17:47:00Z

There is now a version 2 of the hotfix that was originally available under Microsoft KB 2524478 (The network location profile changes from "Domain" to "Public" in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2). If you had installed the first version of it as we did on our production WMS Servers, then you'll want to first uninstall the original Windows6.1-KB2524478-x64 before installing the new Windows6.1-KB2524478-v2-x64 "v2" version of it.

If you are wondering why you should install it in the first place, here's your answer. Yes. Install it. If you have any Ethernet or RDP/RDS clients using the Windows MultiPoint Server and they are experiencing momentary lapses in their connectivity, then this is why. If you have any of the following versions of Windows, look at applying it as well if you are seeing a yellow "bang" ! on your network connection icon in the system tray, or if you are running Remote Desktop Services in a non-WMS environment, but experiencing the same issues. Applies to:

Windows 7

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (SP1)

Corey Nachreiner will be presenting at tomorrow's PSSBS meeting in Bellevue, WA!

2012-03-14T22:24:00Z

2012 Security Predictions- Corey Nachreiner, Director Security Strategy, CISSP

2011 proved to be a memorable year for information security. The security analysts at WatchGuard cannot remember a year with such newsworthy security incidents and discoveries as 2011 delivered. With disastrous breaches, like those suffered by Epsilon, RSA, and Sony, to amazingly advanced malware, like TDL-4 and Duqu, 2011 was an unforgettable year for security practitioners - one that we hope to never see the likes of again.

Join Corey Nachreiner, Director Security Strategy, CISSP, as he revels the next threats and how you can prepare yourself for 2012!! Corey, once again provides a peak into the future of network and information security with the top 10 areas of concern for 2012. In this year's predictions, some are new and some are a carryover from 2011. No matter though, they are all very serious.

Meeting will be 6 PM Thursday March 15, 2012, at our normal location in Microsoft’s Lincoln Square offices in Bellevue, WA. Pizza and beverages will be sponsored by the Microsoft SBS team thanks to Jim H., so be sure to thank him when you see him at the meeting!

Our meetings are the third Thursday of the month and are held at Microsoft’s Lincoln Square offices in downtown Bellevue (700 Bellevue Way NE - Lincoln Square, Bellevue, WA 98004).

Park in the Lincoln Square garage and meet at the elevators on the first floor by 6 PM to head up to the meeting (take a ticket when you enter the garage, but parking will be free for the evening).

Meeting times are 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM.

For information about the group, email Steve Banks. Address is steve @ banksnw.com.

New Lower Prices for Office 365

2012-03-14T19:50:00Z

Microsoft has announced price drops for their Office 365 accounts ranging from 11-24% (and 92% drop in price per GB of SharePoint storage).

Check out the blog post at http://blogs.office.com/b/microsoft_office_365_blog/archive/2012/03/14/new-lower-prices-for-office-365.aspx

According to Justin Bowers with Microsoft, key things to know are:

· This is go forward pricing for new customers. Customers that are under contract will still pay the same rate that their contract states. Upon renewal, the new rates will go into effect.

· If a current customer purchases additional seats, the new seats will be subject to the new pricing.

Actiontec PK5000 inbound VPN and RDP/TS fail

2011-09-06T01:57:00Z

If your inbound PPTP VPN and Remote Desktop / Terminal Services are failing recently, if you are a Qwest/CenturyLink DSL customer, check the firmware version of your device.

Model Number: PK5000
Firmware Version: QAP002-3.60.3.0.9.9-PK5000

According to the conversation I had with CenturyLink support this evening, a recent firmware update (the version listed above) is breaking PPTP VPN, and in my case, also our inbound TS sessions. CenturyLink is currently working with Actiontec to resolve. The workaround in the interim is to replace the Actiontec with a different model, a Zyxel model using the PK5000z model number.

If you are having trouble, check your DSL modem firmware and then contact CenturyLink support.

September 17, 2011 SMB MVP Community Roadshow

2011-08-20T21:51:00Z

Join us at Microsoft’s Redmond headquarters for the “home-field” event of the SMB MVP Worldwide Roadshow. This is one you will not want to miss!

We’ve joined forces with our friends to the south in Portland, The Technology Wizards (www.technologywizards.com), to bring in nine Microsoft MVPs for two power-packed days, Friday in Portland, and Saturday in Redmond. For the Redmond event, arrive at 9 AM for coffee and pastries and a chance to mingle with the MVPs before our 10 AM event start time. If you’re feeling the need for travel, sign up for Portland and Redmond’s events and join us for the train ride Friday evening back to Seattle!

Presentations will cover:
SBS 2011 Essentials
SBS 2011 Standard & Premium Add-on
Windows MultiPoint Server 2011
Windows Storage Server 2008 R2
Migrations (Jeff Middleton is in the house!)
HP Servers & PCs
Expanded discussion and Q&A time!

Continental breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snacks will be provided. The Redmond event is sponsored by PSSBS, HP, Microsoft, and SBS Migration. Admission is free. Registration is limited to 125, so register today!

http://www.smbmvptour.com/register

Scheduled to present:
Steve Banks
Susan Bradley
Dana Epp
Cliff Galiher
Andy Goodman
Russ Grover
Jeff Middleton
Kevin Royalty
Charlie Russel

The event will be at Microsoft’s Redmond Campus - Redwest Building E Emerald Auditorium - 5600 148th Avenue N.E.REDMOND, WA 98052. This is the same building we were at for Mark Russinovich’s Zero Day Malware Cleaning with the Sysinternals Tools event in July.

We will have a person at the main entrance of Redwest E to direct you to the Emerald Auditorium. For Bing directions to Redwest E Building, use the following link: http://binged.it/olOevZ

This event replaces our September 15th meeting.

No PSSBS Meeting this month (June 16, 2011)

2011-06-16T04:13:00Z

NO MEETING THIS MONTH (June 16, 2011). I'm going to be up in Vancouver, BC for the SMB MVP Roadshow . We will be back to Lincoln Square July 21st with Spamsoap and a Saas Security presentation by them.

Redmond's SMB MVP Roadshow is going to be a larger one day event on Saturday, September 17, 2011. Will have details and registration information for that event soon.

Thanks,
Steve

Milestone XProtect Smart Client and Calyptix Firewalls

2011-05-09T18:54:00Z

Having trouble viewing your security cameras using Milestone XProtect Smart Client software (www.milestonesys.com) from behind your Calyptix AccessEnforcer (www.calyptix.com)? Add the public IP address of your camera system to the Web Filter Exemptions list in the AccessEnforcer and you should be set.

DO NOT install Windows 7 SP1 using WSUS until Microsoft figures out where it is going wrong!

2011-03-16T04:11:00Z

In my opinion, save yourself the pain and agony so many of us have gone through, and do not install Windows 7 SP1 via WSUS until Microsoft figures out what is causing it to hang on deployments. At this point, I would not recommend installing it from anything but a DVD or ISO of the full Service Pack. That has been successful for me; if the machine wasn't already messed up by a WSUS deployment attempt of SP1, in which case it still fails.

See the following posts for the pain. And the word from Microsoft is to not modify your pending.xml. You may cause yourself more harm down the road if you do.

Error 0xC0000034 during Service Pack 1 installations for Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2

Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 installation fails with error code c0000034

Why you don’t want to edit your pending.xml to resolve 0xC0000034 issues

If you are seeing a Fatal error C0000034

February 16, 2011 PSSBS Meeting

2011-02-17T05:14:00Z

Thursday, February 17th, the Puget Sound Small Business Server User Group welcomes Marlon Hines, the West Coast Channel Manager for Kerio Technologies, Inc. Kerio provides Internet messaging and firewall products designed for the SMB market. Join us for a technical look at their product line, including their Kerio Connect messaging solution, Kerio Control unified threat management offering, Kerio Operator IP PBX system, and Kerio Workspace.

Dinner will be provided by Kerio, and the meeting space and beverages graciously provided by Microsoft.

We will meet at our usual location, at Microsoft’s Lincoln Square offices in downtown Bellevue (700 Bellevue Way NE - Lincoln Square, Bellevue, WA 98004).

Park in the Lincoln Square garage and meet at the elevators on the first floor by 6 PM to head up to the meeting (take a ticket when you enter the garage, but parking will be free for the evening).

Meeting will be from 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM.

MVP Nation 2011 - March 3rd and 4th in Seattle Washington

2011-02-16T20:24:00Z

Steve here. Time to take a second to help out Harry over at SMB Nation with a quick commercial service announcement for his conference, and to help you by recommending some great training and association. Check out the agenda for the inaugural MVP Nation, to be held March 3rd and 4th, 2011, up here in Seattle, and seriously consider signing up and attending, and do it today. Harry has great technical content and speakers lined up, and the cost is low. If you are in the Seattle area, you could skip the hotel, stay at home, and get a great conference in without traveling out of the area. For those flying in, you could make a 4-day weekend out of it, or extend your stay if you are already in town for Microsoft's MVP Summit, and enjoy some of the sites around Seattle and the Puget Sound. Or drop in for Thursday & Friday, and be back home ready to work by Monday. Whatever you decide, you should decide to attend. This is the first conference of its type. Be part of the history being made by getting yourself there, and not wishing you had after it is over.

http://www.smbnationevents.com/Agenda.aspx

Thursday March 3, 2011	7:00AM - 8:00AM	Registration and Continental Breakfast
	8:00AM - 9:00AM	Keynote Presentation
	9:15AM - 10:15AM	HOLHP: Virtual SAN Appliance for Hyper-V	Christopher Viamonte
	9:15AM - 10:15AM	HT4: How To Start A Thriving User Group/Peer Group	Andy Goodman, Dave Sanders, Robert Crane, Robert Nitrio, Steven Banks
	9:15AM - 10:15AM	HT5: How To Start A Successful Business	Amy Babinchak, Dana Epp, Jeff Middleton
	9:15AM - 10:15AM	SB1: A New Pragmatic Approach To Following Product Roadmaps	Microsoft Directors, Others
	9:15AM - 10:15AM	SB2: Small Business Server 2011 DEEP Dive!	Small Business Server MVPs
	10:15AM - 11:30AM	Exibit Hall and AM Break
	10:20AM - 10:50AM	CS1: Methodologies & Tools to Help You Sell Your Managed Services	Mike Byrne
	11:00AM - 11:30AM	CS2: A simple and reliable approach to disaster recovery, data protection and system migration in the cloud.	Lee Bender
	11:30AM - 12:30PM	CSG1: Evolving Threats, Strategies, and Solutions	Matt Allen
	11:30AM - 12:30PM	HOLHP: Virtual SAN Appliance for Hyper-V	Christopher Viamonte
	11:30AM - 12:30PM	HT2: How To Be A Speaker/Trainer Who Excites Audiences And Exceeds Expectations	Kevin Royalty, Matt Makowicz, Wayne Small
	11:30AM - 12:30PM	SB5: Service Pack 1 Under the Hood! Hyper-V, Remote FX and much more!	Dave Sobel
	12:30PM - 2:00PM	Lunch and Exhibit Hall
	12:40PM - 1:10PM	CS3: It's All About Recovery	Austin McChord
	1:20PM - 1:50PM	CS4: The New SMB Back-Office Infrastructure Simplified with Kerio	Karen Miller
	2:00PM - 3:00PM	HOLHP: Virtual SAN Appliance for Hyper-V	Christopher Viamonte
	2:00PM - 3:00PM	HT7: How to Blog and SEO
	2:00PM - 3:00PM	SB6: Hydra Monster: Multi-Point Server	Dean Paron, Steven Banks
	3:15PM - 4:15PM	HT6: How To Work With Vendors, OEMs, ISVs!	Amy Babinchak, Andy Goodman, Greg Starks, Julian Waits, Wayne Small
	3:15PM - 4:15PM	HT8: How To Start A Community Site	Tom Poole
	3:15PM - 4:15PM	SB8: The 8 Rules of Information Security	Dana Epp
	3:15PM - 4:15PM	SB9: What's So Cool About CRM 2011?	Julie Yack, Larry Lentz
	4:15PM - 6:30PM	Exhibit Hall Pub Crawl
	5:00PM - 5:30PM	CS5: Providing a Solution that Recovers a Terabyte Sized Server in Five Minutes!	Joseph Hand, Peter Opere
	5:45PM - 6:15PM	CS6: Hyper-V Virtualization to the Max from the Punk Rock CTO	Dominic Foster
	7:00PM - 9:00PM	MVP Nation Party Sponsored by cBeyond
Friday March 4, 2011	9:00AM - 11:00AM	Continental Breakfast and Exhibit Hall
	11:00AM - 12:00PM	HT9: How to Work With Other MVP Product Groups	Wayne Small
	11:00AM - 12:00PM	SB4: Introducing Azure - Microsoft's Cloud Platform	Nuno Filipe Godinho
	12:15PM - 1:15PM	Keynote Lunch
	1:20PM - 2:20PM	HT3: How To Write & Publish A Book People Want To Read!	Eriq Neale, Harry Brelsford, Rolly Perreaux
	1:20PM - 2:20PM	HT6: How to Work With Vendors, OEMs, ISVs!	Amy Babinchak, Andy Goodman, Greg Starks, Julian Waits, Wayne Small
	1:20PM - 2:20PM	SB9: What's So Cool About CRM 2011?	Larry Lentz
	2:30PM - 3:30PM	HT5: How to Start a Successful Business	Amy Babinchak, Dana Epp, Jeff Middleton
	2:30PM - 3:30PM	SB2: Small Business Server 2011 DEEP Dive!	Small Business Server MVPs
	3:30PM - 3:45PM	PM Break
	3:45PM - 4:45PM	HT1: How To Volunteer at a School And Make A Difference	Roger Otterson
	3:45PM - 4:45PM	SB7: Office 365 – a Technical Primer!	Chad Mosman
	4:45PM - 5:45PM	Town Hall Meeting

I'll see you at MVP Nation 2011

2011-02-09T16:10:00Z

I'll be presenting at the inaugural MVP Nation this year in Seattle on a couple different panels. If you're going to be there, make sure you find me and say hi. Below are the session descriptions provided by MVP Nation. Dates of the event are March 3rd and 4th, 2011. You can find more information on it at http://www.mvpnation.org.

HT4: How To Start A Thriving User Group/Peer Group
Especially during changing times, the need for in-person affiliation remains stronger than ever. While the web supports on-line bonding amongst “friends,” professionals also realize that the need for the give-and-take of live user group and peer group meetings remains very strong. Explore the mechanics of creating a user group or peer group from experienced MVPs and others who have done exactly that. You will leave with a checklist on how to start such groups back in your community. ADDED BONUS: You will see the SMB Nation “world premier” of a different type of presentation – definitely not your typical PowerPoint. It will be something that you can use with your group and in your business. Don’t miss it!
Andy Goodman | Dave Sanders | Robert Crane | Robert Nitrio | Steven Banks

SB6: Hydra Monster: MultiPoint Server
Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 is Microsoft’s newest solution for turnkey thin-client computing. While WMS 2010 focused exclusively on the education market, the WMS 2011 release is expanding in both features and licensing options to make it relevant to the SMB. In this session we’re going to explore WMS 2011: how it works, what the configuration options are, and how you can integrate it into your environment. Joining on stage is Steven Banks, long-time SBS MVP and member of the WMS 2011 Technology Adoption Program
Dean Paron | Steven Banks

SB2: Small Business Server 2011 DEEP Dive!
One of the most exciting events in 2011 is the updating of the well-respected Windows small Business Server solution. This is a chance to everyone to enjoy a rich technical lecture on Small Business Server 2011 and have your questions answered! Easily the most popular session at recent technical conferences.
Small Business Server MVPs