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December 2004 - Posts

Interview with Samantha, the SBS 2003 client workstation - the year in review

Today is the second part of our interview series.  We talk with Samantha, the SBS 2003 client workstation today about her year in review Q.  Good morning Samantha!  I see you are having your morning Mountain Dew! A.  Well, yes, I'm Read More
posted Friday, December 31, 2004 10:04 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Interview with Sam the SBS 2003 Server - the year in review

[tomorrow we will interview Samantha the SBS workstation, but today we sit down one on one with Sam the SBS box to ask him how his year was] Q.  So Sam, overall, how was 2004 for you? A.  Pretty good, all in all.  I've added a lot more Read More
posted Thursday, December 30, 2004 6:13 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
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Windows NT 4.0 Server 1996-2004

Windows NT 4.0 Server, operating system, died, Friday, December 31, 2004 in Redmond, Washington. Born 1996 in Redmond, Washington, he was the son of Windows NT 3.1 and Dave Cutler. Windows NT 4.0 server worked for many years in many corporate offices Read More
posted Thursday, December 30, 2004 4:28 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
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Internet Explorer - what actions to take

If you've been seeing some of the tech news, you'll know that a group overseas called Xfocus published some details of Internet Explorer vulnerabilties on the web right before Christmas.  And while the press can say [clearing their throats] “Microsoft Read More
posted Thursday, December 30, 2004 3:59 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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OH CANADA - just a reminder that 2005 will bring you a SBS event to remember!

Date: January 11, 2005 Time: 6:30 - 8:30 PM Location: Microsoft Canada - Mississauga OK Toronto and area SBSers! The first meeting of the year for the Toronto Windows Server User Group (TWSUG) - and it is all SBS. And look a the drawing cards we Read More
posted Thursday, December 30, 2004 3:14 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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Running with Scissors... uh .....I mean admin rights

When we were little kids we were told by our parents to “don't run with you have sharp objects in your hands” ... like..scissors.  So remember my rant how I don't trust any browser?  I want to revisit that a bit again tonight.  Read More
posted Thursday, December 30, 2004 1:16 AM by bradley | 5 Comments
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XP Home [s] CANNOT join a domain

To the poster in the newsgroup who said “I wish they wouldn't keep it a secret” that XP Home [s] cannot join a domain. Let's blog this up a bit so it's more googlable shall we? XP HOME platform are for “Homes, houses, condos, apartments, Read More
posted Wednesday, December 29, 2004 6:49 PM by bradley | 9 Comments
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The things you "leak"

I'm bringing out to the blog an argument I'm having with someone on IM about the private versus “private” and Ipconfig posting issue just to make a point about the risks of life in general on the Internet. I'm arguing that Read More
posted Tuesday, December 28, 2004 9:25 PM by bradley | 10 Comments
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When is something "private" not Private

Tony posts that one should santitize the Ipconfig/all posting that is done in the newsgroups and I'd like to clarify one point he's made.  He says that you should clean out the 192.168.16.x and 10.0.0.x addresses in your post and I disagree.  Read More
posted Tuesday, December 28, 2004 1:04 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
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Who's YOUR DHCP

DHCP. As it's stated here on a web site: What is DHCP? DHCP stands for "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol". What is DHCP's purpose? DHCP's purpose is to enable individual computers on an IP network to extract their configurations from a Read More
posted Tuesday, December 28, 2004 12:26 PM by bradley | 5 Comments
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Ipconfig /all

Probably the number one asked question back to posters in the newsgroup is “Please post the results from ipconfig /all at both a workstation and a server” So many issues with a SBS network are “fixed” with the right Internet Read More
posted Monday, December 27, 2004 7:30 PM by bradley | 11 Comments
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So you have this old server..now what?

If you are like me you might have a client that has an old server lying around because they just [or they will] be upgrading to SBS 2003 from SBS 4.5 because...well... THEY SHOULD!  Here are some ideas for that old server: Can you reuse it? How Read More
posted Monday, December 27, 2004 12:49 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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Hey, Directions on Microsoft? Aren't you going after the party not causing the problem?

I'm reading Directions on Microsoft's Top 10 issues that Microsoft has for challenges in 2005 and I'm pulling one paragraph out that in particular [I think] needs clarification.  In the Directions on Microsoft article they state: “Security Read More
posted Sunday, December 26, 2004 3:42 PM by bradley | 9 Comments
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What are your top ten issues for 2005?

Directions on Microsoft released it's “Top 10 Issues that Microsoft has to overcome for 2005” and included in there were a couple that caught my eye in Silicon's version: • Better security - "despite laudable efforts by Microsoft, such Read More
posted Sunday, December 26, 2004 3:22 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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My favorite things

It's Christmas evening and Julie Andrews is singing about her favorite things and I thought I'd take this time to talk about my “favorite things” [at least related to technology and SBS]. The communities of Small Business Server - more Read More
posted Saturday, December 25, 2004 11:26 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Merry Christmas to all!

And here's to a happy new year.  So far we haven't blown anything up for the day's events.. but the day is young.  :-)  To everyone, to all of yours, here's hoping you have a very happy holiday season. Stay safe, stay secure, use IE in Read More
posted Saturday, December 25, 2004 1:30 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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If POP3 is not snap, crackle and pop-ing

Was in the newsgroup and was finding this KB for a person with POP issues and thought I'd post it to the blog: How to troubleshoot the POP3 Connector in Windows Small Business Server 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;885685 Read More
posted Friday, December 24, 2004 12:39 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Backup backup backup backup backup backup backup oh and I did I say how about checking the backup?

So there you are backing up every night and it's going beautifully. Uh.. one thing. Have you checked that backup?  Gordon blogs about the lovely “case of the missing backup”.  Can't we all relate to that tale.  What you thought Read More
posted Friday, December 24, 2004 9:11 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
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A new year.... a new firewall

Just around the corner, we're getting ready for ISA 2004 on our SBS boxes, and in January, there's a whole week of ISA 2004 webcasts to whet our appetite. ISA Server 2004: Maximize Application Security and Performance: http://www.microsoft.com/seminar/events/series/isaserversecurity.mspx Read More
posted Thursday, December 23, 2004 7:02 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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If you are any where NEAR CANADA you need to be here

Remember how I said earlier that if you were in Australia you were in luck because you had not one, not two but three MVPs presenting down under?  Oh, Canada, can you say TEN?  Book your plans in January, if you are ANYWHERE near Toronto, get Read More
posted Thursday, December 23, 2004 5:11 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
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Use Firefox/Mozilla for a safer system

Eweek today has an article that says for “me” to be safer I need to use an alternative browser.  But today I'm giving myself my Christmas present early.  I'm wacking my registry via group policy to run in User mode[a].  And Read More
posted Thursday, December 23, 2004 1:53 PM by bradley | 12 Comments
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Troubleshooting the Outlook over HTTP

Troubleshooting the Outlook over HTTP [stealing this from a post by Woody Guo - Mothership Shanghai - thanks Woody!] 1. Is the certificate you are using created by the CEICW?2. Is URLScan installed on the SBS server? Do a search for urlscan.ini and see Read More
posted Thursday, December 23, 2004 1:15 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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I challenge 2005 to be the year of SBS

Wayne and I were chatting earlier that he had a benchmark goal in mind for the number of SBS servers he wanted installed by June of 2005.  Do you have a goal in mind for your year?  Get out a piece of paper.  Put on it the number of SBS Read More
posted Wednesday, December 22, 2004 10:51 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Download center now has official email notifications

I kinda feel a bit bad.  Microsoft comes through with something I've been asking for a long time and I”m ungratiously saying “That's nice ...but I want RSS feeds as well!”  They've finally started offering email notifications Read More
posted Wednesday, December 22, 2004 1:04 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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Nice Timing - how about trying to do THAT with XP Homes Mr. Dell!

So last night I posted [okay, so more like ranted] that Dell shouldn't be selling to SMBs...well one always puts a bit more “heat” into a headline at 11:00 p.m than one does at noon.  What I really should have said is that Dell should Read More
posted Wednesday, December 22, 2004 12:34 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Michael Dell of Dell Computers -- would you STOP selling to SMBs?

Joe Wilcox comes through again with another SMB post that is SO SPOT ON it isn't funny. Mr. Dell...would you please realize that every single time you make a “deal” for us SMB's, those of us in the Small Business Server world have to clean Read More
posted Wednesday, December 22, 2004 12:14 AM by bradley | 8 Comments
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SBS Knowledge base articles this week

A bit of a slow week for KB articles this week: Exchange queues fill with many non-delivery reports from the postmaster account in Small Business Server 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=886208 Just a SBS KB that was re-released [knowledge base], Read More
posted Tuesday, December 21, 2004 7:38 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Can Browsers be trusted?

Last night I'm reading the blogs and I like to read the Michael Howard one [he's a coder dude, but he's security so it's always kinda interesting] and he links off to Peter Torr's post on whether you can “trust Firefox” because of the fact Read More
posted Tuesday, December 21, 2004 6:49 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
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Outlook and getting it to talk to Exchange

There are times that Outlook and Exchange just do not want to be the intertwined collaborative tools that they should be and refuse to talk to one another.  [Must be something to do with the holiday season and inlaws or something.]  Cal was Read More
posted Tuesday, December 21, 2004 12:56 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Exchange's 16 gig limit - technology issue or a people issue?

There's an application that's a bit out of date on our boxes.  No, I'm not talking about patching, I'm talking about an app that still thinks we're in the year 1999. Exchange.  You know what I”m talking about .... the 16 gig limit maximum Read More
posted Monday, December 20, 2004 6:08 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
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Time Syncing

One important thing in a DC setting is to make sure everyone is on the same “watch”, timeclock, in sync and happy.  For those running SBS 2003 Premium, just a reminder that the packet filter automagically built by the wizard is set to Read More
posted Monday, December 20, 2004 1:05 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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Is having "cached credentials" enabled a security risk?

Just to bring up to the top of the blog a comment about having “cached credentials” turned on in your network that I referred to in the prior post.  A recent post to Russ Cooper's Ntbugtraq questioned the “security“ of having Read More
posted Monday, December 20, 2004 7:42 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
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Planning for the worst

The big server land folks thing we're crazy.  They have redundant domain controllers, backup this and that, fallover, you name it.  Heck most of the “big server” folks that even try SBS say that the would never set up one without Read More
posted Sunday, December 19, 2004 6:47 PM by bradley | 18 Comments
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Securing Microsoft Small Business Server 2000

So I'm up really late...um early today because I wanted to get my GSEC renewal out of the way.  6 binders are laid out in front of me as I took the online exam.  And I just finished up ...yeah... I recertified!  Yeah!  I had to laugh... Read More
posted Sunday, December 19, 2004 2:36 AM by bradley | 7 Comments
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He posts, he SharePoints, he Blogs... I think he doesn't sleep!

One of the most tireless people I know is Eric Ligman who is the Small Business Manager out of the US Central Region.  Tonight I got an email saying that they've opened up a MSSMALLBIZ blog.   Kewl!     We are happy to announce Read More
posted Saturday, December 18, 2004 11:55 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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What if?

What if your worse nightmare came true?  What if your client called you up in a panic that something really bad happened to his office?  Would you be prepared?  Would he?  The other day on a listserve someone asked about Business Continuity Read More
posted Saturday, December 18, 2004 11:27 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Where's your dataflow diagram?

My what? You know what I mean don't you?  How are all the ways that data can get into your network?  Does “little Johnny's” use of the boss's home computer impact that firm's network and it's security?  You bet it does.  Read More
posted Saturday, December 18, 2004 1:10 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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I was going to say something about Lycra and Tights ...but maybe not

Anyone in the Toronto area on January 11th is in for a treat.  While it's SMBnation day in Toronto, it's turning into an unofficial get together for Canadian and northern USA SBS MVPs and SBS Family members.  If you happen to be anywhere Read More
posted Friday, December 17, 2004 7:07 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Dual Monitors the "Cheap Way"

As you go to Paperless [um... how about we all just call it a less paper] office, you find that one of the things you need is MORE MONITORS.  Yes, count them, not one, not two but I've got a guy here in the office with three monitors.  He can Read More
posted Friday, December 17, 2004 6:56 PM by bradley | 10 Comments
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It's just not a Bradley family holiday without some event

[warning off topic blog post] It's just not a Bradley holiday season without an “event” occuring.  You know... an event.  When I was much younger one year the event occurred when I was attempting to do recreate “Chestnuts Read More
posted Thursday, December 16, 2004 11:20 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
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So lets all switch to Firefox and solve all our problems, right?

Not so fast.  Read this first. Rule of Susan:  If it browses, don't trust it.  If you think that switching to another browser of your choice will solve all of our problems, I have news for you.  It wont.  Heck, spammers are even Read More
posted Thursday, December 16, 2004 7:19 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
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So I have a SBS and I'm supposed to download Windows Server 2003 SP1 right?

WRONG. First off, it's still a beta - it's only a release candidate so DON'T PUT IT ON YOUR PRODUCTION NETWORK. Next off, while the “normal” rule is that any patch that is “normal” server is okay for us, we're going to Read More
posted Thursday, December 16, 2004 6:33 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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It's that time of year

No, not Christmastime or Hanukkah or anything like that, I'm talking about the season of the year that is the Social Engineers best time of the year. Social Engineer... you know someone devious who takes information about a company and with the bits of Read More
posted Thursday, December 16, 2004 6:20 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Microsoft acquires anti-spyware company

Today, Microsoft announced that we have acquired GIANT Company Software Inc., a New York-based company that develops anti-spyware and Internet security products. The goal of this strategic investment is to help our customers keep spyware off of their Read More
posted Thursday, December 16, 2004 8:28 AM by bradley | 3 Comments
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RAY-ISM: Can't see your member server/Terminal Server in the "Connect to my Application Server" Box?

If you logon as a regular user (with user, mobile user, or power user), you should see the option. If not, verify HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SmallBusinessServer\RemoteUserPortal\KWLinks\AppTS is set to 1.[stick all that together btw] Ray FongMicrosoft Read More
posted Wednesday, December 15, 2004 8:46 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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My favorite blonde patch tool is coming out with a beta

You've heard me rant on and on about this before but MY FAVORITE blonde patch tool is opening up a beta probably next week.  A new version of HfnetchkPro is going to be released into public beta next week. Sign up with a username on the Shavlik Read More
posted Wednesday, December 15, 2004 8:01 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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SBS KB's of interest

The Configure E-Mail and Internet Connection Wizard may not run successfully, or you may receive a "0xc0000409" error message in Windows Small Business Server 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=888817Group Policy processing fails with Events 1058 Read More
posted Wednesday, December 15, 2004 5:27 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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A note from Handy Andy - Chat tonight!

Hi Gang, Today or tonight depending on your time zone is the SBS Chat at www.mcpmag.com/chats 7:00pm est 4:00pm pst and if I did it right midnight gmt Hope to see you there, Andy Goodman, SBS-MVP, MCP, DownHome Computers A.K.A HandyAndy Read More
posted Wednesday, December 15, 2004 2:18 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Two more patches you might need

There are two other patches that came out today... one is a re-release of the GDI+ patch that affects Visual Basic, .NET framework and Windows Messenger.  The other is a patch for the XP sp2 firewall and is available on Windows Update.  Since Read More
posted Tuesday, December 14, 2004 8:49 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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HELLO OUT THERE PEOPLE!!! WE EXIST!

Today on a comment posting, I noticed a blog link and followed it. And there on the page I found this post: Tools people should be using but apparently aren't aware of.:http://jamesatuncw.com/blog/archive/2004/12/11/220.aspx "I'm getting a little confused, Read More
posted Tuesday, December 14, 2004 8:19 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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In reply: An open letter to Steve Ballmer

First of all, I want to thank you for your comments regarding your high level of satisfaction with Windows Small Business Server and our support services. We value the hard work and contributions of our MVPs and customers, and strive to live up to their Read More
posted Tuesday, December 14, 2004 2:45 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
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Security Bulletins today

Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-041 Vulnerability in WordPad Could Allow Code Execution (885836) http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS04-041.mspx Severity: Important Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-042 Vulnerability in DHCP Could Read More
posted Tuesday, December 14, 2004 10:19 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
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When last they were seen, they were on their way to the airport

Last Friday at Lunchtime... um.. I mean in the afternoon... um... I mean in the evening... two guys flew down.... um...well drove down....in the fog no less to video tape some “sound bytes” for a Mike Nash [Mr. Blue shirt and nothin' but blue Read More
posted Monday, December 13, 2004 7:36 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Tomorrow is Tuesday

As Cory points out rightfully so... tomorrow is Patch Tuesday: * Tune in tomorrow for the chills, spills and thrills of no less than *FIVE* security bulletins!* Recoil in horror as you realize one or more of these bulletins will be *IMPORTANT* in severity!* Read More
posted Monday, December 13, 2004 6:58 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese):

For your reading pleasure during this holiday season . . . :) MERRY CHRISTMAS (In Legalese): Please accept without obligation, express or implied, these best wishes for an environmentally safe, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, and gender-neutral Read More
posted Monday, December 13, 2004 12:23 PM by bradley | 34 Comments
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Having the right tool

Today we fixed the Christmas lights by using a special Christmas light bulb tester.  Without using that tester tool, we probably would not have found the 14 burnt out light bulbs in the string of lights. A friend of mine got a IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL Read More
posted Sunday, December 12, 2004 7:23 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
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Would ya stop reinstalling and start crash dumping?

Blue Screen of Death and a dump file.  We've all seen them at least once in our lifetimes right?  And so many times in SBSland our reaction to just about any issue is to reinstall.  Well, stop doing that.  We don't need to.  Read More
posted Sunday, December 12, 2004 10:09 AM by bradley | 3 Comments
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An open letter to the Security Community:

Stop surfing, browsing and using any sort of Internet viewing software. Seriously.  Right now there are several unpatched browser vulnerabilities and one “blast through the POPup blocker”.  The sky is definitely falling. And why Read More
posted Sunday, December 12, 2004 2:14 AM by bradley | 14 Comments
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Google desktop is slightly freaking me out

Google desktop is slightly freaking me out....and that's a bit of an understatement.  I'm trying it out here at home just to see what it does and ...well... for me... it's not.  I guess I have an active system because abut 28 hours later, it's Read More
posted Sunday, December 12, 2004 1:00 AM by bradley | 5 Comments
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This week in the communities

The headlines this week for the communities of SBS: SmallbizIT [the business of SBS listserve] is discussing flat rate versus hourly billing.  Which works for you and your clientele? And then chatting about Harry's upcoming SBS Advanced book. Mssmallbiz Read More
posted Saturday, December 11, 2004 11:40 AM by bradley | 2 Comments
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It too started out as a Small Business

I was watching “People in the news” on CNN this morning and it reminded me of a story I love about the start of a small business.  It was a small, rag tag bunch of folks that were Street performers in Montreal.  The realized they Read More
posted Saturday, December 11, 2004 10:06 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
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How do I remove a computer from being listed in the Remote Web Workplace?

 Add this regkey to exclude certain workstations from showing up on the RWW.hklm\software\microsoft\SmallBusinessServer\RemoteUserPortal\ExcludeListThe regkey is a string and it consists of a comma delimited list ofcomputers you want excluded.Example:joecomp1,janecomp1,jackcomp1 Read More
posted Friday, December 10, 2004 8:37 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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Jargon anyone?

Sometimes you forget the jargon that you use in a certain industry.  I was talking to someone that SBS 2003 from the install disks is about a year old as it RTM'd in September/October.  RTM... you know... RTM?  Release to Manufacturing.  Read More
posted Friday, December 10, 2004 6:15 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Well, we at least have 5 more minutes now

Dean posted in an article that quoted Orlando Ayala in an article “The Small Business Server is a case in point. "That product has been on the market for six, seven years," he said, "and we finally got it right. It is successful now because we Read More
posted Friday, December 10, 2004 12:54 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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Wonder how many people read that manual?

Did everyone find it fitting that the end to this year also meant the end to something else.  The business press has been reporting that IBM has sold it's PC business. I still remember my sister's second computer [notice I said second, not first].  Read More
posted Thursday, December 09, 2004 11:22 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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So "that's" what he looks like!

I trust people that I've never met.  Weird statement isn't it?  But it's true.  Life on the internet is funny.  There are people that you have email and IM conversations with and have never met before.  Dana Epp is one of Read More
posted Thursday, December 09, 2004 8:40 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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Uh..Walt..nice but tell me how to run "my" business apps on that APPLE will ya?

The Microsoft monitor blog today points to the Wall Mossberg article where he takes Microsoft to task for not making computers more secure and easy to secure.  While he has some valid points, the fact that he recommends an APPLE MAC is a bit obvious Read More
posted Thursday, December 09, 2004 8:18 PM by bradley | 5 Comments
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5 Security bulletins next Tuesday with a Max rating of Important

 Title: December 2004 Microsoft Security Response Center Bulletin       Notification Issued: December 09, 2004> Summary ======= As part of the monthly security bulletin release cycle, Microsoft provides advance Read More
posted Thursday, December 09, 2004 12:30 PM by bradley | 0 Comments

SBS KBs of Interest

E-mail messages that contain a virus remain in the SMTP local delivery queue after you configure Intelligent Message Filter in Exchange Server 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=883522You receive an error message in Outlook Web Access when you try Read More
posted Wednesday, December 08, 2004 10:41 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Trend Micro, and the HOT FIX for our SBS 2003 POP issue

Thanks Anne from Trend Micro for getting us our hotfix link that us SBSers need for the issue we've been having with the POP3 connector: http://kb.trendmicro.com/solutions/search/main/search/SolutionDetail.asp?SolutionID=23065 +1 (888) 608-1009  Read More
posted Wednesday, December 08, 2004 10:03 PM by bradley | 7 Comments
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Life without Microsoft

The other part of last night's Tech user group meeting was a presentation on the topic of “Life without Microsoft”.  The presentation was very interesting but there was one comment that always puzzles me. ”It's free” Well, Read More
posted Wednesday, December 08, 2004 9:37 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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So my Sharepoint hired a few employees

I got Live Communications server 2003 set up in my office and noticed that when I opened Sharepoint that it had “hired” a few people.  I had “Admin template”, “Mobile user template”, and “Power users template” Read More
posted Wednesday, December 08, 2004 9:02 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
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Upcoming Webcasts for December

I was reading the MSDN webcast blog and they have a monthly calendar of webcasts. Kewl!  I'll be checking out both the Small Business one and [of course] the Security ones.  I normally throw them up on my second monitor and listen to them Read More
posted Wednesday, December 08, 2004 8:38 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Ray-Ism: Are you getting prompted for username and password when you connect to http://localhost/backup and http://localhost/remote?

Are you getting prompt for username and password when you connect to http://localhost/backup and http://localhost/remote?   This one may help   Add Local Service and Network Service account Read & Execute, List Folder Contents,  Read More
posted Wednesday, December 08, 2004 5:59 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Ray-Ism: Default permissions for User Folders in Small Business Server 2003

So screwed up the default permissions in your user folders?  Here's the defaults:   Users Shared Folders:   Folder Name: Users Shared Folders Share Name: Users Sharing Permissions Domain Admins - Full Control Domain Read More
posted Wednesday, December 08, 2004 5:57 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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He's just about to come right side up again

 Well you guys missed it.  The “Down Unda” Lycra Tour of Wayne Small, Dean Calvert and Jeff Middleton is coming to an end and Jeff is getting on a plane tomorrow to arrive tomorrow [you see Australia is a day ahead and you get on Read More
posted Wednesday, December 08, 2004 5:44 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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So I went to a Computer "user" group meeting last night

Last night I went to a Fresno user group meeting.  I couldn't make last months as I was up in Redmond for the Security MVP summit, so this was my first meeting.  The event had a vendor sponsor, Xiotech Corp which had an interesting presentation Read More
posted Wednesday, December 08, 2004 12:28 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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Understanding Small Business Licensing for Microsoft Customers

In case you or your Small Business customers have not registered for this yet and are interested in attending, the session is THURSDAY Thursday December 9th at 11:30 am Central Time U.S. (Chicago, Illinois time as reference). You and your customers Read More
posted Tuesday, December 07, 2004 10:44 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Patience...all good things come to those who wait

Windows 2003 sp1 just hit release candidate status which means we are getting closer to our SBS 2003 sp1 bundle.  Remember, SBS 2003 sp1 WILL include ISA 2004 for the Premium folks with our SBS wizards specially tuned just for us.  Read More
posted Tuesday, December 07, 2004 1:08 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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An open letter to Steve Ballmer:

Mr. Ballmer:    My name is Susan Bradley and I'm a Small Business Server MVP.   This is my open letter to you:   A while back in the blogosphere there was a blog post that [per reports], made a lot of impact on Microsoft.  Read More
posted Monday, December 06, 2004 5:12 PM by bradley | 23 Comments
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Dear USA Today...now the story is even better

Follow up to our lovely USA today article about the “finagle vulnerability”...you remember they did a honeypot and "To hijack the Windows Small Business Server, the attacker finagled his way into a function of the Windows operating system Read More
posted Monday, December 06, 2004 12:15 AM by bradley | 6 Comments
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No you don't always need to reinstall!!

Folks, just a reminder but when there's issues with OWA or issues with Sharepoint.. don't knee jerk think that reinstalling is the way to fix things. OWA issues with images?  GZIP patch folks -- 831464 - FIX: IIS 6.0 Gzip Compression Corruption Read More
posted Sunday, December 05, 2004 11:41 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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The BTDT credential

We have a saying in SBS land... BTDT.  It stands for “been there, done that”.  It's the highest credential anyone can have in fact.  It means you have first hand experience of “fill in the blank”.  You read Read More
posted Sunday, December 05, 2004 9:20 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Ray-Ism: An error occurred while creating distribution groups

Problem: I Continually get this error after attempted install. "An error occurred while creating distribution groups. Open Active Directory Users and Computers, and manually create a test distribution group to verify that Active Directory is running. Read More
posted Saturday, December 04, 2004 11:03 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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Ray-Isms

I've added a new blog post category I'm calling “Ray-Isms”. Not that all the Microsoft SBS techy's aren't superb but normally if there's a “you screwed up Sharepoint and here's how to fix it” post... it's a Ray Fong google Read More
posted Saturday, December 04, 2004 11:00 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
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So I'm all done, right?

Got my new member server set up. Live communication server 2003 working and I'm all done, right? Uh... patching?  Did we forget patching? Running the Shavlik now to patch up that member server.  Was chatting earlier with someone who was Read More
posted Saturday, December 04, 2004 9:20 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Domain naming revisited

Just for the record, I named my server .lan....not .local....not .com...but .lan.  Why?  Because on the far far far remote chance that some other device or computer has a .local reservation [MACs in particular] I can connect anything.  Read More
posted Saturday, December 04, 2004 7:55 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
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When troubleshooting setting up anything new....

Word of advice... don't forget to turn off the firewall on a XP sp2 machine when troublshooting stuff.  Isn't it funny how the minute you talk to a nice calm person you can suddenly have brillance you didn't have before.  Called up one of the Read More
posted Saturday, December 04, 2004 7:35 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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Ever notice geeks have lousy way of placing things in documentation?

So I'm looking for the Live communcation server documentation and keep findng all the LCS 2005 stuff...well I don't have LCS 2k5, I have LCS 2k3 [actually have to work on seeing if I can Software Assurance Live Communication Server 2003 but I may have Read More
posted Saturday, December 04, 2004 6:07 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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When adding a member server

Just a reminder that you want to choose When you install a new Windows 2000 Server-based computer on an SBS 2000 or a Windows Small Business Server 2003 network, select the Per Seat licensing mode. To do this, click Per seat on the Licensing Modes Read More
posted Saturday, December 04, 2004 4:21 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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If you are running the Exchange IMF you'll want this

E-mail messages that contain a virus remain in the SMTP local delivery queue after you configure Intelligent Message Filter in Exchange Server 2003: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;883522 Download details: Update for Exchange Read More
posted Saturday, December 04, 2004 2:09 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Update on the WINS security issue

[First a disclosure - I'm still not freaking out, probably won't install this, but just an update] The WINS security issue that I posted about the other day has had it's knowledge base article updated.  First off they indicate as I stated that SBS Read More
posted Friday, December 03, 2004 11:09 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Tomorrow I'm killing off SBS 2000 and news about the IE patch

It's been a good week on SBS 2003 and tomorrow I'll be in the office to start the last transition.  Taking my old server and making it into a member server with Windows 2003.  Bye Bye Windows 2000 and we're closing a chapter on that operating system. Read More
posted Friday, December 03, 2004 7:42 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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Webcast on SBS 2k3 and Mobility now online

 The SBS 2k3 and Smart phones and other mobility stuff webcast done by SeanDaniel.com is now online and included besides the smartphone stuff is a discussion of SBS2k3 sp1 [hint - due 1st quarter of 2005] Classic line used in webcast by SeanDaniel.com Read More
posted Friday, December 03, 2004 12:18 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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SBS2003/Exchange/Messages stuck in pending submission issue with Trend Micro

Finally got the resolution on an issue that's been hanging around the SBS community since before September's SMBNation.  I think it was around the 04-025 IE patch time frame that we started seeing issues with stuck mail with SBS boxes and Trend. Read More
posted Thursday, December 02, 2004 11:04 PM by bradley | 12 Comments
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Oh Canada -- way to go guys!

  You know my attitude towards Terminal server in application mode being taken OFF our SBS 2003 boxes.  I FIRMLY and SINCERELY agree that it is the right thing to remove this because it's so totally insecure.  It was totally the right thing Read More
posted Thursday, December 02, 2004 12:55 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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Check out the new Microsoft Small Business Center

 Recently Microsoft has opened up a new resource for Small Businesses!  Frederic de Wulf, SB web director will be showing Small Business customers and partners how to access information relevant to their business, such as technical support Read More
posted Thursday, December 02, 2004 12:39 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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SBS KBs of interest

No event is logged on the Back-End Database server when all servers in a pool become unavailable in Live Communications Server 2005: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=889442A new server that you connect to your domain does not receive the static IP address Read More
posted Wednesday, December 01, 2004 11:58 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
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We may have WINS but we don't have an issue

You may have heard of a security issue with WINS and the original bulletin forgot that we install WINS on our SBS boxes.  Remember though the previous post about how “if the port is open” ...well the vulnerability ONLY exists if port Read More
posted Wednesday, December 01, 2004 8:21 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
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So like how many #$%# firewalls do we need?

The question was asked again in the newsgroup today -- “Do I need the XP sp2 firewall enabled on the workstations inside my network when I have a firewall on the outside?” First off some background.  In your computer, in any computer Read More
posted Wednesday, December 01, 2004 7:30 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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SBS 2003 and Mobility Webcast

Windows Small Business Server 2003 and Mobile Devices Hey Mir! You didn't say that SeanDaniel.com was giving the presentation!Kewl! Date and Time: 12/2/20049:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)  Description: Learn all about connecting Read More
posted Wednesday, December 01, 2004 5:29 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
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SECURITY PATCH FOR INTERNET EXPLORER - OUT OF BAND PATCH

Internet Explorer OUT OF BAND PATCH http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/200412_windows.mspx If you are running XP sp2 you do NOT need this.  This is the patch for the IFrame attacks that occurred on systems not on XP sp2. PATCH FOLKS! Read More
posted Wednesday, December 01, 2004 11:56 AM by bradley | 11 Comments
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Dear USA Today - followup - what our SBS box got "hit" with

I found out how the SBS 2003 got ”Finagled” into.... it was weak password That's what the “hijack the Windows Small Business Server, the attacker finagled his way into a function of the Windows operating system that allows file sharing Read More
posted Wednesday, December 01, 2004 12:20 AM by bradley | 4 Comments
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