Windows Vista

No matter how good your network diagrams are, sometimes you need to verify the port your server/desktop is in. Cisco Discovery Protocol is a great tool for network admins when you need to quickly map routers and switches, and if you’ve got an ESX server connected you’ll see that it picks up CDP info too – but the vast majority of my managed systems are Windows. Here’s how to use TCPDUMP by Micro Olap to extend that functionality to your Windows boxes.

We have a folder redirection policy in place for all of our users in combination with a roaming profile policy - this policy is applied to the OU that contains our users. Unfortunately this policy was accidently linked to the root of our domain too, causing our Domain Admin users to be redirected too - something we do not want. When the mistake was discovered, the policy was unlinked, but the redirection remained (despite being set to revert when users fall out of scope).

If you’re getting a error on your LAN connection it’s possible that your network connection is attempting 802.11 authentication on your wired network. Unfortunately, it seems that Vista/Server 2008 both attempt it before reverting. As far as I can see, it’s not causing any issues, other than irritating me with a “failed” and a red question mark. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to fix! The authentication is handled by the Wired AutoConfig service, so it’s just a case of disabling it.

I recently tried to use Microsoft reader on my iMate K-Jam mobile, it’s Windows Mobile 5 powered, so according to Microsoft it’s fully supported. However, when I tried to activate, I got the following error: “You have an older version of Pocket PC which does not support Activation” Not true I cried, and after a lot of Google-ing and trying various different fixes that are posted on the net, I found the only one that actually worked for me!

For a little while now I’ve had an irritating problem with my Vista laptop. Whenever I insert a DVD, CD of any kind, pops up the message asking me to prepare a blank disk: It’s impossible to access the files on the disc and I don’t want Vista trying to “prepare” my data disc. Quite irritating, but not irritating enough to fix right away. Microsoft have a KB article about it, which has worked in some cases, but not in most.

I needed to use PowerShell for something today on my Vista laptop, but was unable to install the file. I had the normal UAC permission required when I ran it, but then it failed with this error Installer encountered an error: 0x80070422 The service cannot be started, either because it is disabled or because it has no enabled devices associated with it. It turns out that you need to enable the Windows Update service in order to use an MSU file.

We have a Bonded ADSL solution for our servers to provide the necessary upstream transfer speeds for the applications we host. We have bonded ADSL because our exchange still doesn’t support SDSL, and a leased line is overkill. Theoretically, we should have 28.1 Mbps download and 3.2Mbps upload - what I am actually seeing is about 1.7Mbps down and 1.9Mbps up. I have tested this on various servers, over various times and file sizes, there is no doubt that the performance is POOR.

Outlook Web access is a fantastic tool for our company, providing on-the-go access to people’s mailboxes - which is of course secured by SSL and uses Forms Based Authentication. Internally, we have an intranet portal that allows us to access the various systems - one of which is OWA. One of the stipulations for this internal portal is that it is all Single Sign On using NTLM authentication integrated authentication. This is where the problem lies because enabling OWA with Forms Based Authentication over SSL disables Integrated Authentication.

I noticed a post over at David Overton’s blog today that highlights a new release of Windows Search. Normally not that exciting, but it is if you’re using Outlook to open up another users mailbox. I have quite a few mailboxes that are opened for historical reasons, people leave a company and I need access to their email. I don’t want to bloat my mailbox with all their email, it’s hard enough to find my own emails!

Had an interesting one yesterday, my bosses Vista laptop booted as per normal, making all the right pictures until just before the log in prompt popped up, then a black screen in what looked to be VGA graphics with the white default arrow cursor. Corrupted graphics drivers, I thought. A quick boot into safe mode…but no, the same black screen and over-sized pointer. No problem, Last Known Good Configuration will save my day…except that LKGC points are set when the OS manages a successful boot, and Vista had, in it’s own opinion, successfully booted.