Some random thoughts...

Is there an increasing risk of cyber attacks on companies that have switched to a program of allowing employees to work from home?

2020-05-22T07:58:00.000-05:00

"Is there an increasing risk of cyber attacks on companies that have switched to a program of allowing employees to work from home?"

Yes - and here is why....

1. Most homes do not have business grade intrusion prevention devices (IPS) that are fairly standard in business environments. If employees access the internet on home or work computers - this will increase the attack surface for the company. Companies should provide better security but they may not. Employees who want to continue to work from home should make sure they have a firewall with IPS and that they follow basic security common sense - (don't open emails or click on links you do not recognize)

Here are two lists of "best devices":

https://windowsreport.com/firewall-device-for-home/

https://www.networkstraining.com/best-hardware-firewalls-for-home-small-business/

And here is Gartner's list:

https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/network-firewalls

2. If employees are working from home and using their own devices - and in some cases even company provided devices - they will have subpar endpoint protection. Protection against malware and viruses is necessary for secure operations.

In this case - I'll just link to Gartner's list:

https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/endpoint-protection-platforms

3. If employees are working from home - and the company has no way to manage the employee's compute devices - they are blind to what is really happening.

Again here is Gartner's list on MDM:

https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/unified-endpoint-management-tools

4. Companies are usually blind to the exposure due to outdated software - both on internal and external devices. They should have some sort of vulnerability assessment tool.

Here is Gartner's list: https://www.gartner.com/reviews/market/vulnerability-assessment

5. Last but not least - having security professionals to monitor and manage your environment is out of reach for many companies. Either they cannot afford or they cannot find enough professionals to monitor their company's security. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/03/06/cybersecurity-expert-shortage-may-cost-companies-hundreds-of-millions.html

In the cases where companies do have security professionals - they often suffer "alert fatigue." https://www.scmagazine.com/home/security-news/in-depth/crying-wolf-combatting-cybersecurity-alert-fatigue/

Therefore, especially in the current environment - https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/are-your-new-remote-workers-visible-to-security-operations/ - companies should consider using a managed detection and response security provider who has a proven process and staff for monitoring the security of their employees. They should be "agnostic" when it comes to input of logs, cloud sources

https://www.gartner.com/en/documents/3314023

Full disclosure - I do have a bias on which solution you should use since I work for one of them:

https://arcticwolf.com/resources/press-releases/arctic-wolf-named-as-a-representative-vendor-in-gartner-market-guide-for-endpoint-detection-and-response-solutions

Exchange 2010 SP 2 - a breeze compared to SP1

2012-02-17T13:59:00.001-06:00

When I heard about SP2 - I was worried that I would have to do a lot before I could even think about upgrading. This SP was a bit more routine...

Upgrade my BES

Although there may be concerns if I actually want to use some of the new address book features

Run a schema update and add IIS 6 WMI compatibility
Request an ES release for Unity Connection voicemail and upgrade

We went to 8.6.2ES23.21018-23

Make sure that none of my databases had any odd characters
Find a window to do the upgrade

We had a few users report some oddities - like duplicate sent emails or duplicate shared contacts - but those may not have had anything to do with the upgrade.

Call me relieved...

Exchange 2010 SP 1 Update Rollup 4 fixed (one of) my problem(s)!

2011-06-29T08:15:00.002-05:00

I was finishing up the process of migrating from Exchange 2007 to Exchange 2010 – mainly trying to get Public Folders to replicate, and while I was troubleshooting and making some minor changes, I rebooted the server and all of a sudden I was having issues with EMC and EMS. Everything else seemed to be working fine.

When I opened EMC I saw a pop up that read “MMC has detected and error in a snap-in and will unload it.” Where upon I had two options – one of which was Unload the snap-in and continue running. After selecting that option I got an error popup that hat a title of “Unhandled Exception in Managed Code Snap-in.” Then a string that began with FX: and then a statement “Directory ‘root’ does not existParameter name: root” and then a bunch of exceptions.

I thought – no problem – the GUI is dead – PowerShell will save the day – well maybe not…

When I opened EMS I saw all sorts of error like the following

Exception calling "TryLoadExchangeTypes" with "2" argument(s): "Directory 'root' does not exist

Parameter name: root"

At %Exchange install path% \bin\RemoteExchange.ps1:75 char:92

+ $typeLoadResult = [Microsoft.Exchange.Configuration.Tasks.TaskHelper]::TryLoadExchangeTypes <<<< ($ManagementPath, $t

ypeListToCheck)

+ CategoryInfo : NotSpecified: (:) [], MethodInvocationException

+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : DotNetMethodException

The Exchange types file wasn't loaded because not all of the required files could be found.

Update-TypeData : The following error occurred while loading the extended type data file:

Microsoft.PowerShell, %Exchange install path% \bin\Exchange.partial.Types.ps1xml(80) : Error in type "Deserialized.Microsoft.Exchang

e.Management.SystemConfigurationTasks.ExchangeCertificate": Cannot convert note "TargetTypeForDeserialization":"Cannot

convert the "Microsoft.Exchange.Management.SystemConfigurationTasks.ExchangeCertificate" value of type "System.String"

to type "System.Type".".

At %Exchange install path% \bin\RemoteExchange.ps1:104 char:16

+ Update-TypeData <<<< -PrependPath $partialTypeFile

+ CategoryInfo : InvalidOperation: (:) [Update-TypeData], RuntimeException

+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : TypesXmlUpdateException,Microsoft.PowerShell.Commands.UpdateTypeDataCommand

And I could do nothing – nothing at all! Logging on to another profile, installing the tools on another machine – none of that worked. Installing a MBX server on another box did finally give me some visibility but I didn’t really want to introduce another migration into the mix – especially since I was concerned there might be deeper issues.

I looked high and low for any of this on the Internet - and couldn’t find anything. I went through all of the PowerShell command referenced, and any of the files I could find that I remotely thought might be referenced. And I still couldn’t find anything.

So I decided to call Microsoft Support - I spent several days on the phone with them, and went through many things I had come across and had rejected as not applying – nothing seemed to work, and worse – the one suggestion I got to remove the Exchange Server from AD and then re-add it, killed everything – the server hung on restart. I hate to say it but Microsoft Support sucks badly – at least at the lower levels. The guys did try hard – and if you read this I don’t blame you, I blame the system.

We were able to get it up in running in safe mode – disabled all the automatic Exchange services, reboot, and then enabled and restarted the services. When the Exchange MS support guy saw a netlogon error, he turned me over to an AD guy – who found a null value in HKLM/Sys/CCS/services/lanmanserver/parameter in the Null SessionPipes key – apparently there is an internal doc on that problem – the values he added were NETLOGON, LSARPC, BROWSER, SAMR

That got me back to my EMC and EMS problem – oh boy!

Then my boss forwarded an email late yesterday he had about someone having problems with Exchange 2010 SP 1 Update Rollup 4 – and I thought – that must be a typo – I hadn’t seen anything about Rollup 4, I had Rollup 3 which was the latest available when I built the box. I thought – surely MS support would have suggested it…. riiiiight.

So I decided to go look – Microsoft Update didn’t find it, so I did a search found the download and ran the install. Be warned – it doesn’t run quickly. When I saw that it was extracting .net related changes – I had some hope that it would fix the problem – and sure enough it did - without a reboot (but it does stop and start all the Exchange services)

Now back to my original public folder problems….

Exchange 2010 SP1 Checklist

2011-04-19T19:35:00.002-05:00

I compiled this list in anticipation of doing an Exchange 2010 SP1 upgrade

Preliminary considerations:

· General Checks

o Ensure one of your domains is marked as default

§ Get-AcceptedDomain | fl

o Ensure that domains do not have a space in the name

o If servers were deployed from some sort of golden master and sysprep did not work (or wasn’t used) use Sysinternal psgetsid.exe to check the SID’s for your DC and Exchange servers ensure they do not match.

· Download all files to local disk(s) or fast connected network shares

· The functional level of the forest needs to be at least Windows Server 2003

· While it isn’t explicitly necessary the Exchange 2003 environment should be completely removed and functionality tested before the SP1 install. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee332348.aspx

· http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb288905(EXCHG.80).aspx

· If you haven't yet prepared the schema for Exchange 2010 SP1, the account you use to upgrade the server must be a member of the Schema Admins group and the Enterprise Admins group and you need to update the schema before installing the upgrade. See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb125224.aspx

o setup /PrepareAD

· Minimum Blackberry Enterprise Server level is 5.0.2 which should be upgraded before the Exchange 2010 SP1 upgrade

o http://www.shudnow.net/2010/08/24/exchange-2010-sp1-and-blackberry-enterprise-server/

o Verify Throttling Policy and RCA parameters for BESAdmin

o Increase maximum connections to Address Book Service (after SP1??)

o Review details at http://paulslager.com/?p=1004

· You can only install on computers running 2008 SP2 & 2008R2

o There are specific hotfixes that must be installed before SP1 – depending on the OS ( see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354.aspx and http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2010/09/01/3410888.aspx for which of the below must be installed on which box) – Note: Windows 2008 R2 SP1 includes all the required hotfixes

§ 979744

§ 983440

§ 977624

§ 979917

§ 973136

§ 977592

§ 979099

§ 982867

§ 977020

o There is no reason why these patches couldn’t be applied before the actual SP1 install outage

§ WSUS can be used to install hotfix http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc708583(WS.10).aspx

· The account used for the update must be a member of the Delegated Setup management role group or the Organization Management role group and must be a member of the local Administrators group on that computer

Actual Install

· You should upgrade your Exchange 2010 in the following order:

o Client Access / Hub Transport Servers

§ If you use a load-balanced array of Client Access servers, you must upgrade all Client Access servers in that array to Exchange 2010 SP1 at the same time. Exchange 2010 RTM and Exchange 2010 SP1 can't coexist within the same load balanced array.

o Unified Messaging

§ Detailed Checklist @ http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff630921.aspx

§ Simple checklist below

· Disable call answering on the UM server

o Disable unified messaging

o Remove UM Server from a Dial Plan

· Ensure prerequisites are met (see doc)

· Remove E2k10 UM language packs

· Run e2k10 sp1

· Re-add any required language packs

· Add the UM server to a UM dial plan

o Mailbox Servers

§ Upgrade DAG – details are here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb629560.aspx

· Quick overview is:

o Upgrade only passive servers

o Place server in maintenance mode

o Stop any processes that might interfere with the upgrade

o Verify the DAG is healthy

o Be aware of other implications of the upgrade

§ (Basically you can’t failover a SP1 member to a RTM member)

Post-Install

· When the installation is finished, complete the following tasks

· Start the Services MMC snap-in, and then verify that all the Exchange-related services are started successfully.

· Log on to Outlook Web App to verify that it's running correctly.

· Send test emails internally and externally

o Test using MS tool @ https://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com/

· Test from a variety of clients (Outlook, Mobile / Blackberry, etc)

· Verify UM integrations are working

· Check Queues to make sure mail is routing properly

· Test posting to public folders, GAL update, etc

Other items to consider:

· A longer potential window for the upgrade would be better – these installs can take longer than expected and this is not a minor update – better to say it will take 8 hours and only use 4 than the other way around.

· A static Address Book Service Port may cause issues – see http://paulslager.com/?p=1004

· .NET 4 may or may not cause issues

· There are a variety of bugs and problems documented here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2010/09/01/3410888.aspx

o You should consider also applying the Update Rollups (1, 2 and 3) which fix some of these bugs – (for example)

§ http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=a371fa96-e85b-4a4f-8242-15d56595d0ec&displaylang=en

§ http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=0059546F-F43D-4C7E-8367-81C6D5642BF3

§ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2425179

§ http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2011/03/08/3412103.aspx

· There could be phone integration issues – I am not familiar with all phone systems so each system should be investigated to check for any known issues with Exchange 2010 SP1

· Install the Office 2010 Filter Packs if they aren’t already installed

Document References:

· http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb629560.aspx

· http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb691354.aspx

· http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee332348.aspx

· http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff728620.aspx

· http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff459257.aspx

· http://us.blackberry.com/support/software/server_exchange_ver_oct_22_10.pdf

· http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2010/09/01/3410888.aspx

· http://blogs.kraftkennedy.com/index.php/2010/09/03/exchange-2010-sp1-upgrade-notes/

· http://paulslager.com/?p=1004

· http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb288905(EXCHG.80).aspx

· http://www.shudnow.net/2010/08/24/exchange-2010-sp1-and-blackberry-enterprise-server/

Decommissioning Old 2003 Domain Controllers

2011-04-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

Recently I had to help move some services off of a few old 2003 domain controllers. I compiled the following list to help me remember all of the things I needed to check

Moving NTP

· Old DC

o w32tm /config /syncfromflags:domhier /reliable:no /update

o net stop w32time && net start w32time

· New DC

o w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:time.windows.com /syncfromflags:manual /reliable:yes /update

o net stop w32time && net start w32time

Moving DHCP

· http://support.microsoft.com/kb/962355

o Export from 2003

§ Netsh

§ DHCP

§ server <\\Name or IP Address>

§ export c:\w2k3DHCPdb all

o Import to 2008

§ Copy the exported DHCP database file to the local hard disk of the Windows Server 2008-based computer.

§ Install the DHCP Role on the server.

§ net stop DHCPserver

§ Delete the DHCP.mdb file under c:\windows\system32\DHCP folder.

§ Start the DHCP server service.

§ Netsh

§ DHCP

§ server <\\Name or IP Address>

§ import c:\w2k3DHCPdb

§ Restart DHCP and verify the database has moved over properly.

View the current operations master role holders

Transfer the schema master

Transfer the domain naming master

Transfer the domain-level operations master roles

Determine whether a domain controller is a global catalog server

· Open Active Directory Sites and Services.

o expand the Sites container

o expand the site of the domain controller you want to check

o expand the Servers container

o expand the Server object.

§ Right-click the NTDS Settings object, and then click Properties

§ On the General tab, if the Global Catalog box is selected, the domain controller is designated as a global catalog server.

Verify DNS registration and functionality

· netdiag /test:dns /v (2003)

· move DNS – point all servers to one primary DNS

Verify communication with other domain controllers

· netdiag /test:dsgetdc /v (2003)

· nltest /dclist:

Verify the availability of the operations masters

· dcdiag /s: domaincontroller /test:knowsofroleholders /verbose

· dcdiag /s: domaincontroller /test:fsmocheck

If the domain controller hosts encrypted documents,

· perform the following procedure before you remove Active Directory to ensure that the encrypted files can be recovered after Active Directory is removed: Export a certificate with the private key http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=20039

Uninstall Active Directory

· dcpromo

If the domain controller hosts encrypted documents

· and you backed up the certificate and private key before you remove Active Directory, perform the following procedure to re-import the certificate to the server: Import a certificate http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=20040

Determine whether a Server object has child objects

· Open Active Directory Sites and Services.

· Expand the Sites container and expand the site of the Server object.

· Expand the Servers container, and then expand the Server object to view any Child objects

Delete a Server object from a site

· Open Active Directory Sites and Services.

· Expand the Sites container, and then expand the site from which you want to delete a Server object.

· If no Child objects appear below the Server object, right-click the Server object, and then clickDelete.

McAfee Windows Kill Fix

2010-04-21T15:24:00.006-05:00

**updated again**

Been hit by the McAfee issue?

Yes? No guarantees but the following methods have worked for us:

First try the local cached file option:

* Click start / run / type in cmd
* Click OK

On the command line:
a. copy c:\windows\ServicePackFiles\i386\svchost.exe c:\windows\system32
b. hit /enter/
c. net start “windows installer”
d. hit /enter/

OR
Find someone with the same working version and service pack of Windows - copy the svchost.exe file from their Windows\System32 folder to a usb stick

Then to copy it to the affected system you may have to use the command prompt

Where 'u:' equals the usb drive letter

* Click start / run / type in cmd
* Click OK

On the command line:
a. copy u:\svchost.exe c:\windows\system32\
b. hit /enter/
c. net start “windows installer”
d. hit /enter/

---off the command line----

Go to control panel and add remove programs
Uninstall Mcafee
Reboot if prompted

---

Windows won't boot?

Go here for helpful directions and options

Not affected? Just say no to McAfee anyway - uninstall it and switch to Microsoft Security Essentials

*Written on a Mac*
*I don't own any shares in or work for any of the companies mentioned*

RSS: Make Your Desktop Come Alive with GeekTool

2010-04-20T19:57:00.001-05:00

If you are running a Mac and you monitor anything at all - you *need* to get Geek Tool, this is a helpful article on it...

Make Your Desktop Come Alive with GeekTool

GeekTool is a really neat preference panel that allows widget-like functionality on a highly customizable level.

Unfortunately, if you aren't particularly geeky, this app can be a bit confusing to get up and running. Luckily enough, here at AppStorm there's definitely no shortage of geeks such as myself to help you out! I'll take you step by step through finding and installing scripts to make your desktop the envy of the office.

Read more at Make Your Desktop Come Alive with GeekTool

Don't change your password - learn what you are doing, or get off of your computer

2010-04-13T10:11:00.000-05:00

This article is about those "irritating security measures" which "are a waste of time."

It really isn't saying anything new, the problem is complexity and systems not designed to be secure. People do not update their computers and click on things without thinking.

Changing a password frequently won't cure the problem, however the way some will take the advice is what troubles me. Like people who refuse to have their kids immunized because they have never seen anyone get the disease the immunization is for.

Merely doing a crude cost analysis (it costs me 'x' hours to be secure) misses the point - because people are ignorant - they waste more time than they would save by not changing passwords. If they actually took time to learn what to do, they could be more productive overall and maybe less systems would be burdened by their bad decision, increasing everyone's productivity

90 percent of Windows 7 flaws fixed by removing admin rights

2010-03-31T08:26:00.000-05:00

Still the same old concerns with Windows - why do some apps still need admin by default?

90 percent of Windows 7 flaws fixed by removing admin rights

Removing Viruses from a PC That Won't Boot

2010-03-30T13:58:00.001-05:00

Removing Viruses from a PC That Won't Boot

Good info on virus rescue CD's

Enable writing with Apple's built-in NTFS driver

2010-03-18T08:57:00.002-05:00

I am linking to this so I don't forget

"Compatibility with Microsoft's NTFS filesystem is sometimes necessary for people who use either separate PCs or Boot Camp. While Apple offers a driver to read NTFS volumes, by default it will not write to them. To overcome this, there are several third-party NTFS drivers available, but in Snow Leopard you can also set Apple's built-in driver to write to NTFS as well."

Virtual PC Vulnerability

2010-03-17T14:00:00.000-05:00

For those thinking that Windows 7 plus XP mode was going to offer additional security - guess again. Apparently some applications that are not vulnerable, are *made vulnerable by Virtual PC. Check out this article.

XP slow? Another list of things to try

2010-03-16T22:32:00.000-05:00

When your XP or 2000 computer gets slow a rebuild may not be needed.

First as I have mentioned before it is a good idea to eliminate hardware as the reason for the computer slowness.

Is the hard drive full? A full or nearly full drive will affect performance. If you have less than about 20% free space on the hard drive you may need a new drive or to delete files to free up space.

Does the machine feel hot to the touch? Is it faster for a short period of time after it has been shut down for a time? Can you hear or feel the fans putting out air? If you open task manager and the CPU usage is low, but the machine is hot and running slowly, either the fan is not working or perhaps there is something clogging the vent. If this is the case, unless the machine is taken apart and cleaned you won't be able to fix the problem.

Running the quick diagnostics and looking for errors is a good idea. On newer Dell systems, with the computer powered off hold the key while pressing the power button, let go of both buttons when the computer powers up. On older Dell systems, when you see that Dell BIOS splash screen hit Ctrl-Alt-D. Let it run the diagnostics, all we are looking for errors to see if any of them are related to the performance issue.

If none of the above applies, start looking at software problems.

Uninstall any unused programs, the less you have, the less problems you will have. Make sure you are only running one anti-virus/anti-spyware program, while you are at it switch to Microsoft Security Essentials.

Make sure all of your Microsoft Updates are applied, just in case there is an unresolved bug causing the problem. You could also look for driver updates for the hardware when you are running the Microsoft Updates.

Clean up the 'crud' that accumulates in your system. Use CCleaner to to clean out temporary internet files, disable startup items, and to clean up the registry. When you install it, make sure to pay attention and don't install the tool bar.

Defragment the hard drive. You can start with the built-in defragmenter, and if that doesn't help you can try Defraggler.

This should give you enough to try for now, of course you could buy a SSD drive...

Can ping but can't browse - a reminder to think the problem through before acting

2010-03-16T09:25:00.002-05:00

The computer in question was Windows XP SP3 with IE8 and McAfee. Since the user in question (like most people) hasn't used a wired connection for so long the problem initially presented itself as a wireless issue. This remote user described the problem to me as he could not connect to wireless - 1st error - unless you can see they are describing the problem correctly never assume the user knows what they are talking about. It ended up being some sort of driver/software conflict

There are so many different variables that I can't assume (and neither should you) that blindly following a list will get you a result. You need to understand what it usually means if you cannot ping by name but you can ping by IP. With that caveat here are some suggestions to try, let me know if I left something out or if I should order them differently.

Verify they are connected to the correct wireless network - if this fails...

verify type of network, SSID, encryption and key, etc

You can often connect to a network but get nowhere if you have the right key but the wrong type of encryption

Verify the device is enabled and has no errors in the device manager
Verify (if possible) that others can connect to wireless and the internet

if this fails... you need to deal with the router
if this succeeds try a wired connection to the router

Verify IP address, DNS, default gateway (cmd - then ipconfig/all) - if this fails...

ipconfig /release and then ipconfig / renew
verify properties of the connection

Is it set to use DHCP or manual - whichever is correct in your situation

usually the former

correct driver?
Power settings on adapter?

Scroll down to Brian's answer on this website

TCP/IP installed and checked?

Verify they can ping - systematically (either outside in or inside out)

Outside in would be something like

ping remote address by name - if this fails...
ping remote address by IP - if this fails...
ping default gateway by IP - if this fails...
ping local address by IP - if this fails...
ping localhost by IP (127.0.0.1) if this fails..

Are you sure the card is enable and the drivers are correctly installed?
Did you check the properties of the adapter to verify that TCP/IP is installed and enabled
You can try running netsh int ip reset to repair the IP stack

Verify that you can connect wired or wireless by booting into safe mode with networking

If so, you probably have a conflict with hardware or software

Can you can for spyware?
Check your list of software for security and or antivirus programs that may be causing conflicts
Try a system restore (if enabled)

if this fails you may have to rebuild the system

If not, and with the assumption that you double check all of the above, the system is probably beyond repair

Let me know what you think, and if you have anything to add...

Close Unexpected Pop-ups with ALT-F4

2010-03-15T10:58:00.003-05:00

Many malicious programs are using various techniques to try infect your computer. While we are actively pursuing new ways to defend your computer, an inadvertent mouse click may be all that stands between you and a major problem.

Consider the graphic. If you were to click the red ‘X’ to close the window, you would have ended up installing the virus instead of closing it, clicking anywhere on that window will actually cause the payload to hit – the whole thing including the title bar is a linked graphic. The mouse cursor may even change to the active link pointer, which would be a clue that there is something sneaky going on.

How can you safely close these unexpected windows without messing up your computer? By simply holding the ALT key and then pressing the F4 function key, you would safely close the window.

The key point is to train yourself to use ALT+F4 to close open windows.

Troubleshooting Outlook Performance Issues

2010-03-13T11:56:00.003-06:00

If you ever deal with complaints about Outlook speed, the first thing you need to do (apart from verifying all the latest patches are applied) is to make sure the user is following best practices when it comes to mailbox size (i.e. less than 2GB) . Of course as soon as you enforce or even suggest this you will receive complaints, once the user is shown the performance difference they may come around. This kb from Microsoft offers some additional suggestions. Hopefully this limitation will be fixed in Outlook 2010.

BSOD with Hyper-V & HP DL360 G5

2010-03-11T09:59:00.004-06:00

It appears to be a bug.
The workaround is to disable the processor C3 state (deep sleep) in the BIOS.

On DL360 G5's (P58 BIOS) that is in the BIOS under
Advanced Options -> Processor Options -> Intel Core C3 State,
change it to 'Disabled'.

After doing that, Hyper-V installs and no BSOD.

Get your Blue Screen of Death T-shirt, Large here...

Why iPad Is the 'Children's Toy of the Year'

2010-03-11T08:11:00.003-06:00

Why iPad Is the 'Children's Toy of the Year'

Which means it should be easy enough for most users....

Update: I pre-ordered my iPad yesterday!

Looks like a good free vmware tool

2010-03-11T07:54:00.003-06:00

I am always interested in finding free or low cost tools that look like they could be useful. VKernel Capacity View is a "tool that provides VMware performance and capacity diagnostics."

That reminds me - I need to study for my VCP...

System Administration tips

2009-10-09T18:42:00.006-05:00

I found these while going through stuff in my documents, I think that they are good general guidelines

Carefully research and document problems before making changes.
Don't make changes for the sake of change.
Have others sanity check your proposal before implementation, then test and retest the changes.
Explain the risks to management and IT colleagues before deployment.
Maintain good backups, and develop sound restore procedures.
Keep detailed configuration information for all systems.
Have a tested local Administrator username and password for all systems in case you lose any network connectivity.
Distribute a step-by-step procedure before rolling out significant changes.
Develop a what-if list of things that could go wrong and the appropriate fallback procedures. This list should include plans to address potential problems that might occur days later (e.g., a server failure).
Notify users well in advance of when a project will begin and end and of any planned outages.
Keep a written log of activities during the changes.
Carefully review logs to monitor system operation before and after implementing changes.
Test the results from a user's point of view. Use a non-privileged user account from a typical workstation.
Coordinate with support staff and try to anticipate any user education needs that might arise.
Document the procedures and save these files for future use.

Here are two related sysadmin books that I find helpful...

iPhones Without AT&T - Reviews by PC Magazine

2009-10-09T10:29:00.003-05:00

iPhones Without AT&T

via pcmag.com

Very interesting idea. Basically buy an iPod touch and a MiFi from Verizon and run skype

Why installing a bunch of stuff on a Windows computer is a bad idea

2009-10-09T09:40:00.003-05:00

So I get an email from someone with XP and Office 2007 that both Excel and Outlook are unable to work properly (links are messed up, unable to move email around, etc) with the error "this operation has been canceled due to restrictions in effect on this computer".

After verifying that they indeed had local admin privileges, I went to my best friend 'Google'... Google didn't help me much, so I asked the person if they had installed anything - and of course they had. When in doubt, blame the last thing you messed with.

What had they installed? Google Chrome - and not only had they installed it, they reinstalled it. When will people learn? Anyway with this new information, they changed the default browser and it works - for now anyway. Of course after that happened I found an article talking about how a corrupt registry entry at HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Classes \htmlfile\shell\open\command can cause this problem and that Chrome can break Outlook.

Moral of the story? Quit installing junk on your computer!

Regular Windows Computer maintenance

2009-10-06T12:38:00.003-05:00

The second Tuesday of each month is Microsoft Patch Tuesday - this is a good time to plan for other maintenance since you probably will already need to reboot. The updates usually don't show up until the afternoon, so you may want this maintenance to occur on the Wednesday after the second Tuesday of every month - as odd as that sounds.

Preliminaries - Has the machine had any issues with extreme slowness or other erratic behavior? Other than running a backup, I wouldn't do the other maintenance issues below until I was sure that I knew the backup was good, and had an idea of what was going on.

Backup - this of course assumes that you have a backup plan and sufficient disk space. I would run the backup manually just to make sure it is working even if it is scheduled to happen automagically.

Disk cleanup / registry scan/cleanup - I run a free tool called ccleaner. When you install it pick the minimal options to prevent it from putting a bunch of other stuff on your computer. Keep an eye on free disk space, it is easy for that to creep up on you, this tool, carefully used can manage some of that.

Microsoft Update - not just Windows update - make sure the updates are installing, even if they are scheduled to happen automatically.

Antivirus update - I've used a number of difference AV products throughout the years, and all have their pluses and minuses. The key is to pick *one* to use per machine and to only have one installed. Uninstall other products and convert to "Microsoft security essentials" for most situations a free tool is good enough.

Other software updates - it is easy to forget about other updates, but now that Microsoft patches regularly this is where the malware can sneak in and mess up your computer. Review the applications in your add/remove programs control panel (if you don't need some and you know what you are doing - remove what you aren't using) and check to see if any updates are available.

Antivirus / Malware scan - presumably your built-in tool is updating and doing this automatically. If you aren't noticing any issues, doing a manual scan after updating is probably sufficient.
I've probably forgotten a few things but this is a good start.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Or you can just buy a Mac...

Have you backed up your computer today?

2009-10-06T11:47:00.004-05:00

I know, I know - this is as much fun as being told you need to exercise, floss or eat right. That doesn't make any of them less important. Well have you backed up? If not why not? Ideally you should have several different kinds of backups - a regular local backup to a disk or NAS, and a "offsite" backup.

Funds tight? Looking for a freebie? You could just back up your most vital files with a free backup service. Usually you are limited in how much you can backup, but hey it is free. Mozy, iDrive, aDrive, boxstr, skydrive and others provide free online backup. I'm not necessarily endorsing any of them, and you have to watch out for scams, but this is a reasonable and free way to backup your Windows (and Mac) computer.

Some random thoughts...

Is there an increasing risk of cyber attacks on companies that have switched to a program of allowing employees to work from home?

Exchange 2010 SP 2 - a breeze compared to SP1

Exchange 2010 SP 1 Update Rollup 4 fixed (one of) my problem(s)!

Exchange 2010 SP1 Checklist

Decommissioning Old 2003 Domain Controllers

McAfee Windows Kill Fix

RSS: Make Your Desktop Come Alive with GeekTool

Don't change your password - learn what you are doing, or get off of your computer

90 percent of Windows 7 flaws fixed by removing admin rights

Removing Viruses from a PC That Won't Boot

Enable writing with Apple's built-in NTFS driver

Virtual PC Vulnerability

XP slow? Another list of things to try

Can ping but can't browse - a reminder to think the problem through before acting

Close Unexpected Pop-ups with ALT-F4

Troubleshooting Outlook Performance Issues

BSOD with Hyper-V & HP DL360 G5

Why iPad Is the 'Children's Toy of the Year'

Looks like a good free vmware tool

Recommended article on Exchange 2010 Disaster Recovery

System Administration tips

iPhones Without AT&T - Reviews by PC Magazine

Why installing a bunch of stuff on a Windows computer is a bad idea

Regular Windows Computer maintenance

Have you backed up your computer today?