Aaron Tiensivu's Blog

Unfortunately, SBS has always been a bit of a special case in the server environment. Anyone that has dealt with service packs and SBS knows this very well. Check out the list of known issues and workarounds for service pack 2 here.

Read about it and download it here.

It contains all the fixes from update rollup 1 and 2, plus:

KB 931328 - An integer is added to the end of the legacyExchangeDN attribute of a newly created mailbox in Exchange 2007

KB 930468 - The attachment is not displayed when you use Outlook 2003 to open an e-mail message that contains an attachment

KB 931842 - Error message when the sender or the receiver of a meeting request has a double-byte character set (DBCS) display name in Exchange Server 2007: "The requested property was not found"

KB 932207 - Error message when a user tries to open a forwarded message to accept or to deny a resource request in Exchange Server 2007: "Cannot open the free/busy information"

KB 932515 - You receive a 5.2.0 non-delivery report (NDR) message when you send an e-mail message to an Exchange 2007 server that is running the Isinteg.exe tool in a dismounted mailbox store

KB 934887 - DBCS characters are converted into two question marks in a forwarded e-mail message in Exchange 2007

One of my biggest pet peeve of programs and even some drivers is that they will add useless or barely functional context-menus to your 'right click' menu without asking.

ShellExView is a nice program to view, manage, enable and disable these context-menus.

I'm not affiliated with the program or the author. I just like the program and the fact that it exists.

Infrarecorder is a lot like the older versions of Nero Burning Rom, and best of all, it is free! Not only that, it runs on Win9x all the way up to Windows Vista. Plus, it supports 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

It basically does everything I need a burning program to do, without any extra fluff. Small install footprint and very flexible. I like it.

I have seen videos that had VMRCPlus used to control Virtual Server VMs and had always wanted to grab a copy because I have always found VS's IIS web interface very clunky at best.

I spotted over here that they have finally released a 32-bit and 64-bit version for the public to use, sans support, but that is OK in my book.

Feature list
Direct control of local or remote instances of the Virtual Server service. IIS and IE browser are no longer required!
Tabbed interface to quickly jump between Virtual Server hosts and guest VMRC sessions.
Reusable saved states: this feature allows users to preserve a particular saved state and return to that state at any time.
Multiple guest selection supported for startup/shutdown/save/display.
Browse button navigation for media, hard disk images, ISO images, .VMC files, etc.
Drag and Drop support for .VMC files, ISOs images, VHD and VFD files.
Resizable desktop support for guests running Virtual Machine Additions (maximize VMRC window supported).
Limited cut and paste of text from host to guest (only).
A built-in utility to take JPG screenshots of running guests. Useful when filing bugs.
Built-in error notification with Virtual Server eventlog viewer.
A Virtual Networks Manager and Virtual Disks Manager that cover all features.
Keyboard shortcuts (e.g. Ctrl-S to save state a guest).
Create multiple guests at once.
Create guest from parent (or multiple guests)!
Automatic reconnect to a designated Virtual Server host.
Toolbars in both Guest and Console Manager for quick access.
Unlimited number of guests.
Maximum of 32 Virtual Server hosts.
Sorting on columns of guests so you can sort based on status and multi-select.
Automatic detection of Virtual Machine Additions and notification.
Detection of Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1.

I’ve been onsite at a client all month so my time to scoot out and take advantage of these expiring vouchers has been limited. It was either find a place that would test after 5pm (only found a VUE center in town), or take the test during my lunch break. I ran out today to grab a bite to eat, went to the Prometric site that was down the block, took the test in under 45 minutes and was back before lunch ended. Passed it, almost 800 – need 700 to pass. I’ve done a lot of LCS 2005 in the past so I was hoping I wasn’t overconfident. The test was not easy, I don’t think. It was downright tricky in spots.

This might seem like a bit of a teaser but it really is true. The best content I've found for studying for this exam is right here.

What is it you might ask? Live Communications Server 2005 with SP1: All Technical Documents
28 MBs of pure knowledge.

That typically is the best way to learn anyway, along with real world experience and hands on use.

I was/am researching a problem right now in various search engines and my own website keeps coming up in the links related to what I am searching for. On one hand, that's a very cool thing, and on the other hand, it doesn't help me with my problem.

One of my favorite PocketPC / Smartphone applications has just been updated to support Windows Mobile 6 phones (such as Sprint Mogul/PPC 6800) and lastest Cingular 8525 ROM.

Download the PDANet 1.80 pre-release version from here.

What does PDANet do exactly? PdaNet will make your Smartphone your high speed wireless Internet Service for your laptop/desktop computer instantly - no extra hardware or setup necessary, no need to kill ActiveSync or perform any tricky hacking to your device, and no $15/month tethering charge from Verizon.

You can read about the changes, fixes, and updates here, when the web caches catch up.

You can download the update here, again, when the web caches catch up.

You can read the announcement from the CRM blog here, right now!

You don't need two machines to do some kernel debugging anymore.
Read how here.

SYMPTOMS

After you configure Internet Connection Sharing in Windows Vista, you may find that, although the network connection works correctly at first, the network connection stops working after one-to-two hours. For example, you may be unable to connect to the Internet, to other computers on the local area network (LAN), or to network resources on the LAN.

CAUSE

This problem occurs because of a bug in the WinSock bind() function.

A little backstory

I have a long and sordid history with this bug. I don't remember encountering it with the pre-RTM Vista builds but I also didn't push my systems like I do now.

When I am at a customer site, just as a good policy, I keep my work laptop off their network unless I specifically need access, with approval of course. I will use my Motorola Q as my data connection to the internet through Bluetooth on my Thinkpad. I am a bit of a virtual machine junkie, so I will fire up various virtual machines in either VMWare or Virtual PC.

I have always used the Loopback network device to give my internet access to my virtual machines. I typically will enable ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) on whatever device has the internet connection and assign the sharing to the Loopback adapter. I know there are many other ways to do this, but this always works well for me.

I have a script that I run that connects to an SSH server in a loop, in case the connection drops. I could use something like AutoSSH but my simple script works just as well for what I need.

Typically after 15 minutes to 4 hours, I know this bug has triggered because most pre-existing network connections are still active and working, but any new network connection errors out with a very puzzling "Permission denied".

At that point, my SSH script will go into an infinite loop. The only decent way to get rid of the error, before this hotfix, was to reboot the laptop.

With this patch installed, I can stay connected al day until I have to go home.

A quick sidenote: You can easily add the Loopback adapter in Vista by right clicking the computer name and selecting Add legacy hardware in Device Manager.

A particularly ominous hotfix has been released that seems to only affect packages that have used the method of Embedding the Digital Signature as a Resource.

SYMPTOMS
Consider the following scenario. You install a security package on a Windows Vista-based computer. Then, you restart the computer. In this scenario, the computer restarts repeatedly. Specifically, after you restart the computer, the Windows Vista startup screen appears. However, the computer then restarts instead of finishing the startup process.

Note: The security package that causes this problem may be offered by a third-party cryptographic service provider. A security package is a software implementation of a security protocol.

What caught my eye about this issue is this:

RESOLUTION
Generally, you cannot recover the Windows Vista-based system after this problem occurs. The following hotfix only prevents this problem. You must install this hotfix before you install the security package.

If this problem has already occurred, you must run a repair installation of Windows Vista.

I wish I knew what 3rd party cryptographic security package is now known as a Vista installation killer.

I wish I had more information on this bug in the microcode of some of the Core 2 Duo chips. A few months ago Lenovo released a critical BIOS update for their Core Duo/Core 2 Duo laptops and workstations that included the newer microcode.

Now the update is available for Windows XP, 2003, and Vista for those OEMs and other BIOS providers that have not or will not release an update. I suspect it must be a pretty serious bug for Microsoft to update their microcode subsystem in Windows. These types of updates are not very common.

You can read about it more here and download the various versions for various operating systems at the same location.

This is big news in my book, and well hidden on the Microsoft website.
You can request non-public hotfixes here.

That's pretty cool!