Scripty Ramblings and alike.

Windows Live Messenger 14.0 crashes during Launch

2010-08-13T07:59:00.001Z

Think this is worth highlighting as I was suffering from this big time but it's all fixed in this post from Microsoft.

http://windowslivehelp.com/solution.aspx?solutionid=17e5dddf-4156-4725-a1a5-f3a10a76e12f

S.

windows 7 msn messenger Error 81000306

2010-01-17T22:22:00.001Z

Lovely windows 7, after the bloat of Vista. All working fine except for MSN Messenger. Could not sign in for the life of me.. All I got was

Error 81000306

No errors reported in the troubleshooter.

I finally found a nugget in google.

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

Run that in an elevated CMD box and voila, MSN Messenger works..

Must be a combination of my hardware as I cannot see Jo Public having to do that to log into MSN Messenger.

As a courtest CMD comment, to return to normal it is

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

Legato Networker and the c:\temp saga

2009-12-09T15:46:00.003Z

We came across a strange issue recently with Legato Networker where if you initiated a backup from the Legato server itself, version 7.3 SP4, then it would back everything up except c:\temp

When we looked from the client end (, and tried a restore, we could see c:\temp but the restore contents was empty. No directives in place and no nsr.dir exclusions in place.

Went through google but nothing obvious came to light. was not a DFS mount point, NTFS security was fine, and strangely enough when we initiated a backup from the client side, then c:\temp was backed up....

After some hours searching, we applied some lateral thinking and checking several other boxes on differnet backup servers.

All the same, c:\temp was always empty.....

At which point we got EMC on the phone, the transcript is below.. All I can say is don't keep anything in c:\temp and expect to be able to restore it ! It's a known bug with no fix...

I hope google may catalogue this post so other users may find it easier to diagnose this use quicker than we did !

S.

Details
System: "Welcome to the EMC Customer Support Center."
System: "We will be with you in just a moment."
Session Started
us@us.com: "folder excluded from backups"
System: "The Service Request number for your inquiry is 3254xxx."
EMC :"Thank you for contacting EMC Customer Service. My name is "
us@us.com: "Hi "
EMC :"Hi"
us@us.com: "just a quick question about a backup of a windows client"
EMC :"sure"
us@us.com: "I can see our backups are miising c:\temp"
EMC :"ok"
us@us.com: "this appears to be intentional as all the clients are the same"
EMC :"what is the saveset mentioned"
us@us.com: "this is not done by a directive or a nsr.dir exclusion list"
us@us.com: "saveset is C:\"
EMC :"ok"
us@us.com: "client is set for filesystems = all"
EMC :"have you enabled any directive to skip"
us@us.com: "no the orginal directive was set so skip *.dbf"
EMC :"ok"
us@us.com: "I have now set an empty directive so nothing should be excluded"
EMC :"yes"
us@us.com: "but C:\temp is still missed"
us@us.com: "what causes this?"
EMC :"ok"
us@us.com: "can it be turned off>"
EMC :"one moment"
us@us.com: "thanks"
EMC :"have you tried by giving saveset C:\temp"
us@us.com: "yes, this was what i was doing in testing"
EMC :"or just open networker user"
EMC :"and than click on backup it will list all files and folders"
EMC :"whether temp folder is visible there"
EMC :"if it is not visible it will not backup"
us@us.com: "that is the really strange thing. a client initiated backup will work okay. but when you do a server initiated backup it fails AND it removes the CFI for the earlier backup"
EMC :"ok"
EMC :"normally it will skip temp folder"
us@us.com: "yes"
EMC :"have you tried client initiated backup"
EMC :"and it has backup temp folder"
us@us.com: "yes"
EMC :"ok"
us@us.com: "see comment at 14:28:08"
EMC :"when you initiate backup from server that will not take tmep folder it will skip"
us@us.com: "that's right"
EMC :"its know issue"
us@us.com: "okay"
us@us.com: "so is it missed because there is a problem, or because EMC want it to work that way??"
us@us.com: "is there a fix?"
EMC :"there is no fix for this as of now"
us@us.com: "okay. at least I know my config is good."
us@us.com: "thanks for your help"
us@us.com: "have a good day"
EMC :"yes its good"
EMC :"welcome"
EMC :"Thanks again for contacting EMC Support."
us@us.com: "thank you"
us@us.com: "bye"
Session Ended

6 LED Webcam drivers ... Finally !!

2009-04-28T14:51:00.002Z

Ah the 6 LED Webcam that I bought off ebay.. fantastic 1.3 M and really good but of course, I lost the driver CD within minutes and when I rebuilt my PC, Vista detected it as totally the wrong thing and I was left without a webcam.

With no identifying marks, I was lucky with google's help to discuver this fantastic link... It has the links tot the required drivers :-) YEE HAAH.. Downloaded, installed and ready to go ..

I posted the links here as well

http://www.azzx.org/drivers/vimicro-usb-webcam-driver/

http://www.azzx.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/vimicro-pc-camera-301x.zip

Vista : Enough is enough..

2008-12-22T21:44:00.002Z

Right, For the Love of God.. Can I do anything without being told I need permission to do it..

Vista is being blow away and XP being put back on.

Microsoft, I F*cking hate you releasing this OS.. Just bite the bullet, admit it's a big a disaster as Windows ME and refund everyone who bought this pile of poo.

Egypt

2008-11-05T23:57:00.001Z

I am off to Egypt on Sunday...

Adieu..

VISTA...Could you get any worse ?

2008-11-01T20:59:00.001Z

Let me just say that I am an MCP in Exchange 2003, I am employed by a very well know 2 letter burger sauce company as a 3rd line level engineer, and I've a good knowledge of Microsoft OS systems and not just some plank.

F*ck me, could things get any worse.. can I delete something from c:\program files ? Can I fick ?

Find was SO nice in XP, easy and simple.. For the love of god, what is Vista's effort about ? It relies on indexing for speed, and winges when something isn't.. I really don't mind waiting a bit longer to get the results i want, not an avalanche of false positives from like temp files. outlook sessions, network drives.. i want to look on the C drive for a file called vistaispony.txt, any easy way to do that ? is there furk ~? more to the point, can i save a text file called vistaispony.txt in any remotely useful location, can I fonk ?

I cannot stand Vista.. I hate it so much I am going to write another blog soon on which feature annoys me more.. will be pushed to beat the pony search function though.

i copyright the use of the vowel U in any 4 letter work with the other letters FCK that descibe MS products :-) Yeah, do I fick ;-)

S.

How much do I still hate Vista...

2008-10-12T09:34:00.002Z

It's not grown on me in the slightest.

My latest pet hate to add to the endless amount. Try to recursively delete a directory with the GUI.

So you select your directory, right click Delete and get this

You click continue... You get the next permissions box where you click continue

Then without fail, it comes back to Access Denied.. And the process repeats.

I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT STAND VISTA... It's the worst operating system I have ever used bar Windows ME of course...

I can't be the only one who finds it impossible to delete stuff without having to resort to what I tend to now which is fall back to a CMD box and use del /r /s...

Oh and let us not mention trying to copy something from a network drive to like c:\program files\.. .Oh no.. you can drag to about 1 or 2 places and then you have to move it from there.

Oh XP.. I love you...

SD-270EKB2 Region Code Unlock

2008-10-07T19:37:00.002Z

OK, I managed to finally find the right page for unlocking a SD-270EKB2 DVD player.. It's so simple... This is not before I'd burnt a CD with supposed upgraded firmware, tried some various combinations all to no avail.

The route is simply this :

The Hack Procedure:
- Power On
- Open Tray
- Press 9879 0 (0 stands for Multiregion, you may press buttons 1 to 6 to choose a specific region)
- A Message appears stating that "The Reg.No was changed to: [insert whatever region (0-6) you selected here]"

Uninstall Symantec Antivirus 10.x Corporate

2008-04-15T21:04:00.002Z

Sorry, this is just really useful.. Lines and lines of instructions from symantec however, change one registry key and you can uninstall without the password.

NICE..

Originally Symantec gave me the opportunity to uninstall it but it required a password which I didn't know. The default password was symantec but it would not work. There is a way to remove the password so that you can uninstall Symantec but you need to do some registry editing.

The path is HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\INTEL\LANDesk\VirusProtect6\CurrentVersion\AdministratorOnly\Security

Double click in the right pane on UseVPUninstallPassword and change the value from 1 to 0. You will now be able to unistall Symantec without having to enter a password.

Thanks to GINKY4 who first highlighted this.

My World book software rather intrusive..

2008-04-08T23:21:00.002Z

I bought, dare I say it from TV advertising but the need for more srdf backup, a pc world 1 GB My world SAN disk and am very happy with it I have to say. Even on ebay, price was about the same,.

What I am peeved with is it is coupled with s/w foooling you into registering and spending... Fuck Off..

It annoys me as much as the PC World Tech Guys, who although are just doing their job, are worse than a double glazing caller.

IMG00231.JPG-live.messenger Infection

2008-03-26T21:19:00.001Z

Have you had a message via MSN :

tell me is this really you ? http://photogallery.gigacities.net/viewimage.php?

It's a virus which seems to be not detected and spreading very rapidly.. anyway to remove it.

close down messenger to stop any more distributions... Then

Go to start --> run -->
regedit
press return
navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Look for either an entry that has a data value of 'msn.com'

delete that entry.

reboot laptop /pc

once back in windows

go to start --> run
cmd
press return
cd \windows
attrib -r -h -s msn.com
del msn.com

exit

GONE

Nero Support is Crap...

2008-03-12T21:37:00.001Z

I actually bought Nero 8 but it won't work with my PC.. I eventually got a rather generic reply back to the tune of :

Dear Mr. Bennett,

thank you for your e-mail.

We were able to reproduce the problem and it will be fixed with one of our future updates of Nero 8. The message in the event history log does not have any effect on the functionality of your Nero software. Please be patient a little while until this update is available and kindly excuse any inconvenience.

The Power Calibration Error has nothing to do with this.

Power Calibration is controlled by the recorder. Before any write operation, all recorders must do a 15 step power test to determine the optimum power for writing to the CD; this is called "Optimum Power Calibration"(OPC). And during the write, it continues to do this test to get the best write throughout the whole CD; this is called "Running Optimum Power Calibration" (ROPC). This whole process is controlled by the recorder, though initiated by programs such as Nero. There is an area on the inner part of the CD for the test and test data info to be stored. You can use this area up to 999 times.
So, when you receive the "Power Calibration Error" or "Power Calibration Area full" error message, then the cause will be either poor media, poor Power, or a defective Recorder.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS:

1)
Update the firmware of your recorder drive:
Please contact the manufacturer of the recorder in order to get the latest firmware for your recorder.
An old firmware can cause compatibility problems as well as burn failures.
Firmware upgrades for your recorder are provided only by the Manufacturer of your recorder. All firmware upgrades and support for upgrading your recorder’s firmware must be provided by either the recorder manufacturer or the OEM you purchased your recorder bundle from. We can not assist you in this, sorry.
Legal disclaimer:
"Nero AG is not liable for firmware updates as these updates are not offered by Nero AG. All updates are performed at one’s own risk. Nero AG will not be liable for the legality of the firmware."

2)
Try another brand of recordables:
Try recordables from different manufacturers, such as TDK, Verbatim, Imation, Yamaha, HP,...
Also contact the manufacturer of your recorder drive and ask for tested and recommended recordables for your recorder drive.

3)
Check power connector:
Also try different power connectors, and for recorders, do not share power with other devices. It needs its own power connector. If this occurs with an external recorder drive, the power source in the chassis should be checked. Take the recorder out of the external chassis, and connect it internal, as a test.

4)
Try different configurations:
Take the CD-/DVD-ROM to the Primary IDE bus as Slave, and have only the recorder connected to the Secondary IDE bus as Master.

5)
Send the recorder in for service:
The optical head of the recorder may have to be cleaned or serviced. Other possible causes are open coils and/or blown diodes/resistors. The only solution here is to send the recorder to the manufacturer for inspection.

Should you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Best Regards,

Jonathan Peuker
Nero Support

Yeah right -- Stroke My P...

Enterprise Vault PST Log file Parser

2007-11-21T11:58:00.000Z

OK, I could not find anything that would check through a EVPM.exe log file and produce a report that lists success / failures of a scripted ingestion of PSTS. So this snippet, basic that it is, does just that.. Lists the PST and whether it was ingested ok.. Doesn't get any more simple than that.

' Processes the _imp.ini file for results
' S.B. Temp Workaround
' 21st November 2007

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
source="log.txt"
noofargs=Wscript.Arguments.Count
if noofargs>0 Then
source = Wscript.Arguments(0)
end if
Set f = fso.OpenTextFile(source, 1, True)
Do While not f.AtEndofStream

decodeline=f.ReadLine
if instr(decodeline,"Processing PST")<>0 Then
decodeline=trim(decodeline)
dec=split(decodeline,":")
decoded=trim(dec(3))
for inl=0 to 18
ignore=f.readline
next
result=f.readline
if instr(result,"success")<>0 Then
result = "Success"
else
result = "Failed"
end if
wscript.echo decoded & " : " & result
end if
loop

BBC - In the Night Garden

2007-10-07T17:27:00.000Z

In The Night Garden.. I have to confess my 20 month son is transfixed by this every night. He cries when it finishes every night.

But what on earth is it all about ? The weirdest collection of creatures and names all piled together into one program ?

Why it works I have no idea but my son loves it, my friends children love it, there's no other program on TV like it.

PSP Video output to your Monitor (RemoteJoy)

2007-05-22T04:50:00.000Z

This is very cool I have to say.

http://www.psp-hacks.com/2007/05/17/remotejoy-psp-video-out-via-usb/

And as proof of concept, I have got it working absolutely fine as you can see with a video from my PSP being shown ful screen on my monitor at work. :

Vista is Pony...

2007-02-20T11:08:00.000Z

I confess I actually paid for Windows Vista Ultimate but am beginning to wish I hadn't..

It's all very well making it look nice but it keeps crashing and I really don't have that much installed on it.

My main grip is Frontpage 2003 which will crash at the same point every time.

Windows is looking for a solution to the problem. yeah right... Never comes up with anything and the problems remain.

The incessant security dialogues that pop up are beyond a joke, you can crash it every time when trying to manipulate big files.. try writing a 2GB file to a live filesystem DVD over a wireless network.. Just sits there for ever getting itself into a twist.

Steer clear.. My own fault for jumping on the wagon too soon... maybe when SP1 arrives, it''ll be better.

S.

How to fix a failed HP Network Configuration Utility Upgrade

2007-01-19T10:43:00.000Z

This has been bugging me for ages and I finally have a step by step guide which actually works.

You need a RILO board or to be standing in front of the HP server of course.

NCU upgrade / fix to 8.1 (version 2)

All of this needs to be done from the RILO board.

1. Stop and Disable Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service
2. Load a CMD prompt
3. Type “ipconfig /all >c:\ips.txt” to record the current IP info.
- if gigabit and emea, record static route settings.
4. Type "set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1"
5. cd\winnt\System32
6. start devmgmt.msc
7. Remove any Network Adapters that show up in the Device Manager
- The system will ask you to reboot after each one.. click NO.
8. Go to C:\CPQSYSTEM\pnpdrvs and delete any files beginning with n100, n1000,
cpqnet, cpqteam, q57
9. Go to C:\Winnt\inf and delete any files beginning with n100, n1000, cpqnet,
cpqteam, q57
10. Delete oem*.* from c:\winnt\inf
11. Enable verbose Setupapi logging by creating and populating the following registry value
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup
Value Name: LogLevel
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: FFFF
12. Rename the current setupapi.log
13. Reboot and allow PnP detection to detect and attempt to install the device using Microsoft in the box driver.
14. Assign the right IP address to the primary NIC (onboard).
15. RUN full HP SSD to update\install the NIC drivers & NCU utility from the Build3 directory.. (D:\server build\hp\ssd)
15.5 Reboot and relogin via the RILO.
16. Configure the NIC teaming according to WI (CITWI-0187) and Assign the production IP address to the Team ( recorded in c:\ips.txt)
- 100 / Full duplex, fault tolerant etc.
17. Reconfigure Gigabit card if present (recorded in c:\ips.txt)
- reset metrics as per standard
- reset routing and remote access
17.5 Rename all NICS as per the build 3 document.
17.7 Do an ipconfig /registerdns and nbtstat –RR to flush the dhcp settings and register correct settings.
18. Set Microsoft Exchange system Attendant to automatic
19. Reset Setupapi logging by creating and populating the following registry value
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup
Value Name: LogLevel
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0

20. Reboot
21. Login via mstsc /console and check all is ok.

Exchange 2003 SP2 move mailbox issue (Guid-ReplID Caching) Part 2

2006-08-15T10:53:00.000Z

This little script will do all the work for you.. Some of our servers have nine stores so this takes a second to run as opposed to minutes doing it manually.

const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002
If (Wscript.Arguments.Count)<>2 Then
WScript.Echo ("Usage : cscript guidstore.vbs -s ")
WScript.Quit(1)
End If
If lcase(WScript.Arguments(0))="-s" Then
strcomputer=WScript.Arguments(1)
End If

Set StdOut = WScript.StdOut

Set oReg=GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" &_
strComputer & "\root\default:StdRegProv")
strKeyPath = "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\" & strcomputer
oReg.EnumKey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, strKeyPath, arrSubKeys
For Each subkey In arrSubKeys
StdOut.WriteLine subkey
SubKeys = "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\" & strcomputer & "\" & subkey
strValueName = "Guid-Replid Caching"
dwValue = 0
oReg.SetDWORDValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,SubKeys,strValueName,dwValue
Next

Exchange 2003 SP2 move mailbox issue (Guid-ReplID Caching)

2006-08-07T12:56:00.000Z

Summary
After moving mailboxes to an Exchange 2003 SP2 server, Outlook users may experience a crash when changing folders. The crash is a stack overflow caused by corruption in the GUID/Replid Mapping (GRM) cache on the target server. Remounting the mailbox store or restarting the Information Store service will resolve the crashing for affected users. Some users that have experienced the crashing problem may also experience problems with duplicate folders, delegate issues, and Free/Busy information. These problems persist after the restart and must be manually corrected.

More Information
In Exchange 2003 SP1, the GRM cache is disabled by default. In Exchange 2003 SP2, it is enabled by default. Enabling the GRM cache can lead to problems during mailbox moves to a target SP2 store. Its purpose is to handle lock contention that can affect performance during the move mailbox operation. The odds of the perf hit being severe are very low, but there is a slight chance. In most scenarios, a chance of slow is better than the alternative so we are working on a post-SP2 hotfix to disable it by default. In the meantime, you can disable the GRM cache on a per-database basis with the following registry value:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSExchangeIS\[server name]\Private-[store guid]
Value Name: Guid-Replid Caching
Value Type: DWORD
Value Data: 0

Notes
- For the registry change to take effect, remount the affected mailbox stores.
- The hotfix is still under investigation. There is no ETA at this time for its release.
- Disabling the cache will not affect users that have already experienced the problem, it only prevents mailboxes from getting into the problem state while moving them.

Correcting SIP Addresses

2006-07-27T13:38:00.000Z

If a user changes his email address then he may well not be able to log into LCS anymore due to that not matching his logon.

This script cycles AD and checks for mismatches. If you specify /commit it will write the changes back to AD.

'==========================================================================
'
'
'
' NAME: SIPFix.vbs
'
' AUTHOR: Stuart Bennett
' DATE : 26-05-2006
'
' Usage: sipfix.vbs
' e.g. sipfix.vbs out.csv /write
'
' COMMENT: Update all those pesky sip addresses to primary SMTP.
'
'==========================================================================

On Error Resume Next
' Change the xx throughout to your domain name..
OUMasterPath = "LDAP://OU=User,OU=Accounts,DC=emea,DC=xx,DC=com
Dim filename : filename = LCase(Trim(WScript.Arguments(0)))
Dim commit : commit = LCase(Trim(WScript.Arguments(1)))
Dim oFS : Set oFS = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Dim fout : set fout = oFS.OpenTextFile(filename, 2, True, -2)
On Error GoTo 0

Set objTOPOU = GetObject(OUMasterPath)
For Each objOU In objTOPOU
wscript.echo("Processing Site : " & objOU.name)
Call SubOU(objOU.Name)
Next
fout.Close

Sub SubOU(theOU)
strOUPath = "LDAP://" & theOU & ",OU=User,OU=Accounts,DC=emea,DC=xx,DC=com"
Set objTestOU = GetObject(strOUPath)
For Each objUser in objTestOU
GetSIPContact fout, objUser
Next
End Sub

Sub GetSIPContact(fout, objUser)
On Error Resume Next
objUser.Get("msRTCSIP-PrimaryUserAddress")
if (Err.Number = 0) Then
SIPName=LCase(objUser.Get("msRTCSIP-PrimaryUserAddress"))
PrEmail=lcase(objuser.mail)
SIPName=Replace(sipname,"sip:","")
If trim(SIPNAME) <> trim(PrEmail) Then
wscript.echo(objUser.DisplayName & ";" & SIPName & ";" & prEmail)
fout.WriteLine(objUser.DisplayName & ";" & SIPName & ";" & prEmail)
If lcase(commit)="/write" Then
realSIP="sip:" & prEmail
wscript.echo ("Changing " & objuser.name)
objuser.PUT "msRTCSIP-PrimaryUserAddress",realSIP
objuser.setinfo
End If
End If
Else
Err.Clear
End If
On Error Goto 0
end Sub

Mounting an exchange 2003 database on a different server.

2006-04-06T12:58:00.002Z

I had always assumed that to recover a a mailbox when the original MsExchangeGUID attached to the AD account was lost would require a replica AD and Exchange 2003 server to be built.
This is just not the case and I've already restored several mailboxes by relinking them to different AD accounts in entirely seperate forests.

the key to it is LegacyDN.exe,a super tool which can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/exchange. Don't ever run it in your production environment though..
Once in possesion of this, all you need is the .edb and .stm files.

I have an entire Virtual Server 2005 environment now for this. Create a new AD (call it whatever you want), extend it and install Exchage 2003. Call the Exchange org whatever you want, and the server itself can be whatever.

Once all is installed, I'd copy the VS2005 disks so you always have a ready environment for re-testing.

Running legacyDN.exe, you can then alter, the Orgname, the AG name, and the all importany LegacyDN name to match where the original DB came from. Once done, create a new store, but don't start it. Place the origianl DB's files in the location of the new store. Start it, run mailbox cleanup agent, then relink to any AD account you've created in your new directory.
Export with exmerge and job done.

I know RSG's save us in almost all cases, but exmerge will not see data when the msExchangeGUID cannot be matched to a AD account.

With the Virtual Server disk images in place, I can recover any mailbox in about 10 minutes these days.

Long live the illusion of identical environments for restores required, NOT ! If you want the full step by step guide, drop me an email.

Mounting an exchange 2003 database on a different server.

2006-04-06T12:58:00.001Z

I had always assumed that to recover a a mailbox when the original MsExchangeGUID attached to the AD account was lost would require a replica AD and Exchange 2003 server to be built.
This is just not the case and I've already restored several mailboxes by relinking them to different AD accounts in entirely seperate forests.
the key to it is LegacyDN.exe,a super tool which can be downloaded from www.microsoft.com/exchange. Don't ever run it in your production environment though..
Once in possesion of this, all you need is the .edb and .stm files.
I have an entire Virtual Server 2005 environment now for this. Create a new AD (call it whatever you want), extend it and install Exchage 2003. Call the Exchange org whatever you want, and the server itself can be whatever.
Once all is installed, I'd copy the VS2005 disks so you always have a ready environment for re-testing.
Running legacyDN.exe, you can then alter, the Orgname, the AG name, and the all importany LegacyDN name to match where the original DB came from. Once done, create a new store, but don't start it. Place the origianl DB's files in the location of the new store. Start it, run mailbox cleanup agent, then relink to any AD account you've created in your new directory.
Export with exmerge and job done.
I know RSG's save us in almost all cases, but exmerge will not see data when the msExchangeGUID cannot be matched to a AD account.
With the Virtual Server disk images in place, I can recover any mailbox in about 10 minutes these days.
Long live the illusion of identical environments for restores required, NOT !

Oliver Bennett

2006-02-21T11:22:00.000Z

I am a dad !!!

Www.oliverbennett.com

The WMF Virus Emails.

2006-01-04T11:50:00.000Z

Oooh, was I first to receive one of the emails to use the new WMF exploits. check the text, it's quite convincing. And don't click the link, though I've left it in for those more adventurous types.

From a certain Mr Gordson.

Hello,

We are very sad to say that over the New Year the Campus was subjected to
several acts of mindless vandalism. As well as bricks being thrown through
windows, several members of staff have reported their cars as being the
subject of practical jokes. Some of these cars were filled with water whilst
others had graffiti daubed across them. We have uploaded the pictures of the
graffiti here http://playtimepiano.home.comcast.net/ in the hope that someone
may recognise the culprits work. If anyone can shed any light on this unfortunate
incident could they please contact the main office as soon as they have time.

Many Thanks & Best Regards,

Professor Robert Gordens
Yale

Hide multiple AD accounts from the GAL.

2005-11-21T11:27:00.001Z

A simple script to read in a text file and hide the users from the GAL..

Naturally, to un-hide then change from TRUE to FALSE on the appropriate line.

'==========================================================================
'
' NAME: HidefromAB.vbs
'
' AUTHOR: Woosie
' DATE : 21-11-2005
'
' COMMENT: Hide a list of users from the GAL. Win 2k3, Ex 2k3.
'
'==========================================================================

If Wscript.Arguments.Count = 0 Then
Wscript.Echo "Error, required argument missing."
WScript.Echo "Include filename to read in users."
Wscript.Quit(1)
End If

Const E_ADS_PROPERTY_NOT_FOUND = &H8000500D

Dim objDSE, objADObject, objClass, i, strPropName,debug
debug=1
sourcef = Wscript.Arguments(0)

Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set f = fso.OpenTextFile(sourcef, 1, True)
While Not f.AtEndofStream
decodeline=f.ReadLine
newuser=Trim(decodeline)
If debug=1 Then
WScript.Echo ("**Looking for " & newuser)
End If
Set objDSE = GetObject("LDAP://rootDSE")
Set objADObject = GetObject("LDAP://CN=" & newuser & ",ou=Users," & _
objDSE.Get("defaultNamingContext"))
objADObject.GetInfo
objADObject.msExchHideFromAddressLists=True
objADObject.SetInfo
Wend

Hide multiple AD accounts from the GAL.

2005-11-21T11:27:00.000Z

Jet Database Errors in Exchange

2005-11-03T09:31:00.000Z

JET errors we get in Exchange, in order of excitement !

Error -1012 - JET_errOutOfDatabaseSpace

Maximum database size reached.. In 5.5/2k/2k3 standard edition, a paultry 16 Gb never went far. With the release of SP2 for Exchange 2003 though this has been ramped up to 75 Gb so we should not see this again.

Error -1018 - JET_errReadVerifyFailure

Checksum error on a database page. Rather vague but possible hardware fault in most cases.

Error -1019 - JET_errPageNotInitialized

Blank database page. There used to be data there, but not now.

Error -1020 - JET_errOutOfFileHandles

When exchange tried to use the database, windows thought it had various files open already and wouldn't give up any more. Bad windows...

Error -1022 - JET_errDiskIO

The disk IO error is rare but if it does rear its ugly head, it's very hardware'y and not exchange.

NT4 WMI Revisited gripe.

2005-10-26T14:30:00.000Z

I forgot how easy it is to crash NT4 these days..

I had run this tiny WMI Script to enumerate the installed hotfixes on an old NT4 box.

strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:\\" & strComputer & "\root\cimv2")
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery("Select * from Win32_QuickFixEngineering",,48)
For Each objItem in colItems
Wscript.Echo "HotFixID: " & objItem.HotFixID
Wscript.Echo "Name: " & objItem.Name
Wscript.Echo "Status: " & objItem.Status
Next

Leave that running and before you know it, WinMgmt.exe will have consumed all available memory (virtual and otherwise) and the server is on its knees.

the reason being is that M$ changed their naming strategy in way hotfixes install themselves into the list of hotfixes applied. WMI_Quickfix engineering enters an endless loop trying to enumerate them.

M$ refused to fix this of course.. Why fix something when you just release a new version.

Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2

2005-10-18T07:05:00.000Z

on October 19th, 2005, Microsoft will be releasing Service Pack 2 for Exchange Server 2003. This service pack is available immediately and is free to download in nine server languages here:

http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/downloads/2003/sp2/download.mspx

More QA Nightmares coming up :-(

OT : PC GTA San Andreas Plane Controls

2005-08-05T20:47:00.000Z

For landing gear, press no. 2, to raise and lower..

Took me ages to find the key and I bought the original.. :-(

Almost onto Chapter 6.. What a game :-)

Exchange 2003 -1018 Whitepage

2005-07-15T06:38:00.000Z

I thought this was worth a post.. It's actually quite interesting to read through and anyone who has come across the dreaded 1018 errors will find it useful to work out what happened.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7d6d90f2-50f8-4072-8ce9-b073069b8756&displaylang=en#overview

Rightfax 9 Dialing Rules Export

2005-06-09T06:49:00.000Z

How to export Rightfax 9 Dialing Rules from SQL into a CSV file.

I was unable to use any of the GUI's in Rightfax 9 to export the dialing rules database as since SP1, they have moved them to SQL tables.

Using SQL Manager, there are 3 tables I need as far as I can see.

dbo.DTDiallingRules : holds a list of every rule with unique Rule ID's
dbo.DTConfigurationDaillingRules : holds server GUID's plus associated Rule ID's
dbo.DTConfigurations : maps server name to server GUID's.

So it should be a matter of creating a DSN in ODBC manager to your SQL server, then exporting the 3 tables, cross referencing and job done. And so faxrules.vbs was born.

'==============================================
'
' VBScript Source File
'
' NAME: FaxRules.vbs
'
' AUTHOR: Woosie.
' DATE : 08-06-2005
'
' COMMENT: Export Rules on a daily basis to keep tabs on things.
'
'==============================================

Dim DTDR,DTCDR,DTC

' -------------------------
' Create Connection to ODBC
' -------------------------
' These lines may need changing.
DSN="rightFAXDSN"
uid="sa"
pwd="xxxxxxxx"

FullPath="c:\"
todays=FormatDateTime(Date,1)
Dim MyTime,MyHour,Myminute
MyTime=now
Myhour=hour(mytime)
myminute=minute(mytime)
times=myhour & "-" & myminute
FullPath=FullPath & "\" & todays & ".csv"
Set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set objfile = fso.OpenTextFile(fullpath, 8, True)

Dim OBJdbConnection
Set OBJdbConnection = CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
Set RS = CreateObject ("ADODB.Recordset")
Set SQLStmt = CreateObject("ADODB.Command")

' -------------------------
' Open Connection
' -------------------------
OBJdbConnection.ConnectionString = "dsn=" & DSN &";uid=" & uid & ";pwd=" & pwd &";DATABASE=RightFax;APP=ASP Script"
OBJdbConnection.Open

set rsDTCDR=createobject("adodb.recordset")
RSDTCDR.open "DTConfigurationsDialingRules",OBJdbConnection,3,3
objfile.writeline("Server,RuleID,SourceServer,Pattern,DestinationServer,Protocol,PriorityDelta,
Flags,PriorityMask,StartChannel,TimeofDayMask_0,TimeofDayMask_1,
TimeofDayMask_2,
TimeofDayMask_3,TimeofDayMask_4,TimeofDayMask_5,TimeofDayMask_6,
BeginDelete,BeginReplace,EndDelete,EndReplace,UserID,GroupID,EndChannel,
Comment,MinQueueDepth,ExtraWeight,DelayHour,
FaxSize,MLAccount,MLPassCode,MLDocAccount,DNDNotifyList,NotifySender")
DTCDR=rsDTCDR.GetRows()
DTCC=UBound(DTCDR,1)
DTCR=UBound(DTCDR,2)
For lo1=0 To DTCR
Rule=DTCDR(1,lo1)
Disabled=DTCDR(2,lo1)
If disabled = 0 Then
objfile.writeline(GUID2Server(DTCDR(0,lo1)) & ",Disabled")
Else
objfile.writeline(GUID2Server(DTCDR(0,lo1)) & "," & RuleID(rule))
End if
next
Set rsDTDR=Nothing
Set rsDTCDR=Nothing
Set rsDTTC=Nothing
Set objfile=Nothing

Function GUID2Server(target)
' -------------------------
' Return Servername from GUID
' -------------------------
set rsDTC=createobject("adodb.recordset")
RSDTC.open "DTConfigurations",OBJdbConnection,3,3
GUID2Server="Not Found"
DTC=rsDTC.GetRows()
DTCC1=UBound(DTC,1)
DTCR1=UBound(DTC,2)
For loGUID=0 To DTCR1
If target=DTC(0,loGUID) Then
GUID2Server=DTC(1,loGUID)
End if
Next
Set rsDTC=Nothing
End Function

Function RuleID(target)
set rsDTDR=createobject("adodb.recordset")
RSDTDR.open "DTDialingRules",OBJdbConnection,3,3
RuleID="Not Found"
DTC=rsDTDR.GetRows()
DTCC2=UBound(DTC,1)
DTCR2=UBound(DTC,2)
For loGUID=0 To DTCR2
If target=DTC(0,loGUID) Then
RuleID=""
For add=0 To DTCC2
RuleID=RuleID & chr(34) & DTC(add,loGUID) & Chr(34) & ","
Next
End If
Next
Set rsDTDR=Nothing
End Function

KB883543 breaks OWA in Exchange 2003 UPDATE

2005-05-06T08:40:00.000Z

Good news at last. Micrsoft have released a fix to KB883543 which caused the rule not to be able to saved.. Apparantly,

This problem occurs because OWA rules ignore address type information that is enclosed in brackets. For example, OWA rules would ignore the following string:[AddressType:E-mail]
Download the hotfix from the KB article, KB875269.

KB883543 breaks OWA in Exchange 2003...

2005-04-04T14:29:00.000Z

If you have applied KB883543 onto your Exchange 2003 box, you will find that any rule you try to create in OWA that tries to forward to another user will now bring up the dialog box.

This rule cannot be saved. Wait a few minutes and try again. If the problem persists, contact your administrator.

The only option at the moment is to uninstall this hotfix which restore functionality...

I don't believe, at time of posting, there is a fix for this hotfix..

Nice..

Exchange 2003 SP1 Registry Updates.

2005-03-17T12:27:00.000Z

It transpires when you install E2k3 SP1 onto a server, the reg key

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsft\Updates\Exchange Server 2003\SP1 and subfolders is deleted to be replaced by

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsft\Updates\Exchange Server 2003\SP2

SP1 also removes the $ExchUnintstall directories in c:\winnt

Strange as that removes all trails of what hotfixes you did have installed Pre-SP1..

A pain for me as we have to audit old Hotfixes to ensure they were installed..

HP / Compaq Rib board detector

2005-03-08T18:41:00.000Z

Get asked a lot if a server the other side of the world has a rib board installed..

This little script lets me know.

' Rib board detector.
' Scans list of servers for rib boards
' (c) 2005 Woosie

const HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE = &H80000002
Const ForReading = 1, ForWriting = 2
Dim fso, MyFile, FileNam
Dim strComputer,TheLeft,TheDoctor
Set StdOut = WScript.StdOut
FileNam=InputBox ("Enter Target Server for RIB Board detection ?")
strcomputer = FileNam
Set oReg=GetObject("winmgmts:{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\" &_
strComputer & "rootdefault:StdRegProv")
strKeyPath = "SYSTEMCurrentControlSetEnumRootLEGACY_CPQRIB000"
strValueName ="DeviceDesc"
oReg.GetExpandedStringValue HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE,strKeyPath,_
strValueName,strValue
IF LEN(strValue)>4 then
msg=MsgBox("Rib board installed on " & strComputer)
else
msg=MsgBox("No rib board installed on " & strComputer)
end if

How do I query a domain local group ?

2005-03-08T18:26:00.000Z

How do I query a domain local group ? Suppose you are in Domain A and are member of a domain local group in Domain B. The Domain A DC does not know about it, nor does the GC. Only the Domain B DC knows about it. I finally came up with this solution. It is slow though as it has to query the AD tree..

'==========================================================================
'
' NAME: DomainLocalGroup.vbs
'
' AUTHOR: Woosie
' DATE : 02-03-2005
'
' COMMENT: Scan AD Tree looking for local group membership and then output
' list to screen.
'
'==========================================================================

Dim localgroups()
localgroup=0
struser = InputBox("User to assess local group membership (e.g. cn=bennnett_s) ?","Local Group Scanner")
' change next line to point to your root AD path.
Set oDomain = GetObject("[link]")
WScript.Echo("Searching Domain a.. Please wait..")
EnumOU(oDomain)

WScript.Echo (struser & " is a member of : ")
For myloop=0 To localgroup
WScript.Echo(localgroups(myloop))
next
Wscript.Quit

Function EnumOU(oContainer)
For Each oObj In oContainer
For Each sClass in oObj.ObjectClass
If LCase(sClass) = "organizationalunit" Then
WScript.echo "Searching " & oObj.AdsPath
EnumOU(oObj)
Else
If LCase(sclass) = "group" Then
WScript.Echo oobj.name & " " & oObj.AdsPAth
strPath =oObj.AdsPAth
set objGroup = GetObject(strPath)
for each objMember In objGroup.Members
splitme=split(objMember.Get("distinguishedname"),",")
if lcase(splitme(0))=lcase(struser) Then
localgroup=localgroup+1
ReDim Preserve localgroups(localgroup)
localgroups(localgroup-1)=strpath
Wscript.Echo struser & " is a member of local group : " & strpath
End if
Next
End If
End If
Next
Next
End Function