07.27.10

Password prompts with Local Profile Outlook

Posted in OS at 9:31 am by webmaster

If you are using Outlook (I was using Outlook 2007 or 2010) it did not matter in a local profile (not domain attached) to connect to a SBS 2008 server and the Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer tests pass you may need to apply the following steps.

Runas Administrator, start, run, cmd

 

cd %windir%\system32\inetsrv

.\appcmd.exe unlock config -section:system.webserver/security/authentication/windowsauthentication

.\appcmd.exe set config “SBS Web Applications/ews” -section:windowsAuthentication -useKernelMode:False /commit:apphost

.\appcmd.exe set config “SBS Web Applications/AutoDiscover” -section:windowsAuthentication -useKernelMode:False /commit:apphost

.\appcmd.exe set config “SBS Web Applications/oab” -section:windowsAuthentication -useKernelMode:False /commit:apphost

 

Open IIS manager, expand Messaging server -> Site -> SBS Web Applications -> RPC. On the /RPC Home, double click Authentication.

check if “Windows Authentication” is Enabled. If so, refer to the following steps:

Disable (Uncheck) “Enable Kernel-mode Authentication”.

 

You will have to perform an iisreset but for some reason my iis would not stop at that point and I had to reboot the server

Click Start, right click on “Command Prompt”, click “Run as Administrator”, input: iisreset /noforce

 

Not sure yet why kernal mode auth was enabled nor if that is a desireable setting.

 

Please note in my case domain connected Outlook clients worked fine and the Exchange Remote Connectivity Analyzer tests passwd.

 

06.24.10

Office 2010 End User Resources

Posted in OS at 11:16 am by webmaster

 

Embarking on a project to upgrade Office can seem intimating to some users.  The following are great end-user resources that should elivate some of that concearn.


  

 

Office 2010 Details
 

The biggest change for users when moving from Pre-Office 2007 to Office 2010 is getting used to the ribbon.  

 

Introduction to Word 2010 and the Ribbon
Introduction to Excel 2010 and the Ribbon
 

 

 

I am also including two links (included below) that you can use for further resources.   The first link provides you with both interactive guides and Excel workbooks that define what the command mappings are between the old and the new version.  The second link is a more formal online training session on Office 2010.
 

 

Additional Resources
 

Interactive Guides                                                                           à Interactively shows you the new way of performing old tasks using your web browser
Office 2010 commands and buttons printable list              à Download Excel “Workbook” that maps old commands to new
 

Microsoft Office 2010 Online training
 

06.22.10

Blackberry Enterprise Server Express Services Shutdown/Startup order

Posted in OS at 4:22 pm by webmaster

Sometimes it’s helpful to shutdown the Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) services in order to assist in troubleshooting.

Shutdown

router
dispatcher
controller

others
Startup

controller
dispatcher
router
others

04.19.10

Creating files of specific size in Windows XP and above

Posted in OS, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 at 2:49 pm by webmaster

If you ever need to create a file of specific size for testing purposes siimply use the built-in fsutil command (XP and later)

The following command will create a 1 MByte file.

fsutil file createnew c:\temp\1mbfile.txt 1000000

Can also be used with a checksum generator/checker to verify the integrity of files.

02.10.10

GodMode in Windows 7

Posted in OS at 12:16 pm by webmaster

All Control Panel Items in one folder on Windows 7.

Create a desktop folder with GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

Kudos to Sean Daniel

09.25.09

Cool Utility

Posted in Exchange at 2:22 pm by webmaster

posted a cool online utility useful in parsing email headers..

http://mxtoolbox.com/EmailHeaders.aspx
 

08.13.09

Troubleshooting Group Policy in Windows 7

Posted in OS at 6:08 pm by webmaster

In Windows 7 RTM  gpresult no longer reports the policy for Computer Objects.  The RSAT tools were recently released that allow you to perform a group policy results but that does not tell you what really made it down to the PC. 

So how do you do this in Windows 7? 

Browse to Applications and Services / Microsoft / Windows / GroupPolicy / Operational

Here you will find the events related to Group Policy Processing. You will find the Group Policies applied in a event with event id 5212

Don’t forget you can also use rsop.msc on Windows 7 in logging mode to see what gpo is currently applied.

07.28.09

Restarting Exchange 2007 Services

Posted in OS at 12:31 pm by webmaster

There are now 16 services shipped in a 1 server install of Exchange 2007 SP1 on Windows 2008 SP2.

 Exchange 2007 SP1 Default Services

By default 13 of those are running.

 

This site has a good introduction on understanding the various Exchange service dependencies.

 

07.13.09

Second ActiveX/Vulnerability

Posted in OS at 6:01 pm by webmaster

There is a new security vulnerability that exists in ActiveX (Microsoft Office Web Components) that is actively being exploited.   This advisory was first made available on July 13.  This is the second of two exploits in ActiveX so far for the month of July.  This vulnerability can affect Windows XP users with Office 2003 installed.  Vista/Windows 7 and Office 2007 are not known to be affected in tyheir default install configurations

What makes this vulnerability/exploit important is that the users PC can be infected by simply clicking on a link in an email, messenger or on a web page (dependent on ActiveX settings in the browser.)  This can allow a unauthorized user to use your PC for uses that you do not authorize (remote code execution)

  • There is a “workaround” that you may want to install to prevent the exploit from occurring
    • Please note it removes browser functionality but as far as I know most users do not use this functionality.  This will have to be taken on a case by case basis.
    • If you are interested in deploying the workaround there is one listed in the “workaround” section http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973472  Click Enable Workaround - Fix Me
  • No permanent fix is available at this time
  • Computerworld, Microsoft Security Blog

ActiveX Vulnerability/Exploit

Posted in OS, Vulnerability at 5:33 pm by webmaster

There is a security vulnerability that exists in ActiveX that is actively being exploited.   This advisory was first made avaialble in early July.  This is the first of two exploits in ActiveX so far for the month of July.

What makes this vulnerability/exploit important is that the users PC can be infected by simply clicking on a link in an email or on a web page (dependent on ActiveX settings in the browser.)  This can allow a unauthorized user to use your PC for uses that you do not authorize (remote code execution)

  • There is a “workaround” that you may want to install to prevent the exploit from occurring
    • Please note it removes browser functionality but as far as I know most users do not use this functionality.  This will have to be taken on a case by case basis.
    • If you are interested in deploying the workaround there is one listed in the “workaround” section http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/972890.mspx
  • A fix was released for this vulnerability on Tuesday July 14, 2009
  • Symantec had this in their sinatures since July 5. Sonicwall also included IPS signatures around that time.

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