Welcome to MSMVPS.COM Sign in | Join | Help

May 2005 - Posts

Well that was fast!

Microsoft has received your order, and it is being processed. Ordered From: Windows Small Business Server 2003 SP1 Order Number: 01112007580056 Order Date: May 23, 2005 Order Status: Shipped  Sure enough... I have three cdroms in my Read More
posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:53 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Planning a beach vacation in Florida? How about adding a dash of swing to that?

 The Gulf Coast SMB Partners Group will hold its second meeting on the 23rd of June at 7 PM at Univ of West Fla Bldg 71 Rm 133 with Jeff Middleton (SBSMigration.com) presenting Swing Migration and bringing a great door prize. You are cordially Read More
posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005 8:35 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Amazon...you are not coming through for me

Okay I'm bummed.  You see I have the opportunity to go to Redmond as part of my last official act as Chairman of the Technology Committee of Caliornia Society of CPAs and I just might have the opportunity to get the book “Protect Your Windows Read More
posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005 8:14 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

But that will fix it right?

When something is broken, it's wise to fix 'that' before doing a work around.  I had two examples come across my desktop today.  The first was a poster on the PatchManagement.org listserve who was having issues with Mapped drives being messed Read More
posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005 6:20 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Undelete and Volume Shadow Copy

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far.... oh wait...sorry ...wrong story... Once upon a time on my SBS 2000 box I used to have a Undelete product that would help me keep files that people stupidly deleted.  Well one day one of my drives dropped Read More
posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005 5:37 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Talking owner to owner

Got a potential customer who is on the 'edge' of buying SBS? This just might shove him or her over......Microsoft Canada is happy to host the first SBS webcast directed at end-customers. Les Connor will be presenting the SBS benefits valued by most Read More
posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005 6:43 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

When the download button 'isn't' the download button

One of the very confusing things about this service pack is when you go to download it and you blondely click the download button it blondely only downloads the last patch of the series and does not direct you to install the five parts.  And of course Read More
posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005 1:11 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

I don't think it's "that" complicated

Found a blog that said that Exchange was too complicated and while I would argue that setting up Exchange with a MX mail record just might be a little ...well... sometimes frustrating depending on your ISP...the wizard of SBS to set up email...it's not Read More
posted Tuesday, May 31, 2005 12:07 AM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

That thingy that is now in the corner of the server after you apply SP1

Someone in the newsgroup asked about that 'thingy' in the corner that is now in the system tray after the application of the Service pack.  Well for one, if you are just NOW noticing it because you never had it before...you kinda missed a critical Read More
posted Monday, May 30, 2005 11:14 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Setting expectations and better communication

If there's one thing we newsgroupers don't do sometimes is properly communicate.  One of the misunderstandings around the SBS 2003 sp1 install is that we in the newsgroup went out and said “oh you don't need Windows 2003 sp1” and then Read More
posted Monday, May 30, 2005 10:41 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

My 'mini' SMBNation event

Once every year there is a SBS love fest called “SMBNation”.  Hosted by Harry Brelsford, it is THE SBS var/vap event that gets folks from around the world together. This weekend I popped over to Texas and sort of had my own mini Read More
posted Sunday, May 29, 2005 9:15 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

I have connectivity ...but now I need juice

At the Dallas Fort Worth Airport getting ready to fly back home after a quick trip to Texas and while there is Tmobile hotspot available hear... finding a power plug in is near impossible.  What is up with these airports that think we are just going Read More
posted Sunday, May 29, 2005 9:03 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish

What's that?  It's the localised versions of SBS that are now available!  Remember SBS supports ... I think it was 17 languages and as they are done, that drop down on the download page will start offering more languages. Remember that Asia, Read More
posted Saturday, May 28, 2005 5:48 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

It's a sign

Flew into Dallas/Las Colinas Texas for a quick trip and right across the freeway exit from where my Hotel is... is a Frys Electronics store. It's a sign.  If you don't hear from me, it will be because I'm passed out from breathing in the 'new electronic Read More
posted Friday, May 27, 2005 6:27 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

So if we told you NOT to install Windows 2003 sp1.... how come we now need it on the box to install the SBS sp1?

The impression that some are getting is that the only patch they need is the last download called SBS 2003 sp1.  That's an incorrect view. You remember back in school geometry classes when you had sets and subsets?  Okay SBS 2003 sp1 is a glob Read More
posted Thursday, May 26, 2005 8:39 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

SBS 2003 with ISA 2004 and running a Member server that does Terminal Services?

Then you'll need a patch for that main server to fix and issue where Outlook 2003 running on Windows Server 2003 sp1 [a terminal server box] cannot connect back through that SBS 2003 SP1 box running ISA 2004 and pick up new messages. RPC data may be Read More
posted Thursday, May 26, 2005 6:58 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under: ,

The eggshell

There are times when us SBSers are like cockroaches...we are just EVERYWHERE.  So I'm listening to geek webcasts  which are way more useful than talk radio anyway and someone in the audience chides Steve Riley [and SBS for that matter] for default Read More
posted Thursday, May 26, 2005 5:43 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Entourage anyone?

Now that SBS 2003 sp1 is out, you can also get the Mac Outlook client called Entourage by calling 1-800-360-7561 in the US/Canada [5 a.m. to 7 p.m. pst] and ask for part number Q56-00005.  I just checked with that number and that's all you need to Read More
posted Thursday, May 26, 2005 1:00 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

If I need Premium/ISA 2004 should I install the rest of the service pack now?

A question from the blog comments that I want to bring up front... If you have SBS 2003 premium edition, you will GET ISA 2004 merely by ordering the service pack on CDrom and choosing the “Premium” drop down.  You don't need to “buy” Read More
posted Thursday, May 26, 2005 12:55 PM by bradley | 5 Comments
Filed Under:

Savez-vous quand SBS 2003 sp1 sera disponible en France?

Savez-vous quand SBS 2003 sp1 sera disponible en France? ...which if Google Translation did it right...means “Do you know when SBS 2003 sp will be available in France?” If you notice on the SBS 2003 order page there are two ways to order... Read More
posted Thursday, May 26, 2005 12:32 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Do I really need to order SBS 2003 sp1 media for every client I have?

One of the questions coming up in the newsgroups is 'do we really need to order a cdrom media kit for every client I have? The order form does not allow me to order multiple copies and charging $5 fees for every transaction may put my credit card company Read More
posted Thursday, May 26, 2005 12:08 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

One for Mei

To Mei: I never knew you, only knew of your Dad via emails and postings on an MVP listserve, but I want to thank you.   You've reminded me that life is precious and in this fast paced world we live in, we shouldn't be in such a hurry.  Read More
posted Wednesday, May 25, 2005 12:02 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

Password for Money?

On Tim Mintner's blog he talks about a novel way of getting folks to choose better passwords in light of the headline about “Writing down your Passwords“ PAY THEM. That's right, you heard him, you set up a contest to make sure your Read More
posted Tuesday, May 24, 2005 7:45 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

SBS 2003 sp1 Chat on RIGHT NOW

Join the Small Business Server product team on May 24th, 2005 at 3:00 PM PST to find out what Windows Small Business Server 2003 SP1 is all about and get your questions answered! Chat room: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/community/chats/chatroom.aspx Read More
posted Tuesday, May 24, 2005 2:56 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Dear ZDnet:

Dear ZDnet ..when posting a headline could you include the words "known PATCHED flaw"... just a FYI.  You make the headline sound like this flaw is NEW and it's something that's not been patched, but it's been fixed since like LAST JULY. Hello Read More
posted Tuesday, May 24, 2005 1:09 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

So why wait for SBS 2003 premium cdroms?

So why are we saying to order the premium CDroms and wait for them before installing SBS 2003 sp1?  First off, you can't just use any old ISA lying around, you need the SBS-wrapped version.  This patch will ensure your ISA 2000 rules are retained Read More
posted Tuesday, May 24, 2005 1:03 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Any good installs of SBS 2003 sp1, the newsgrouper asked?

In the newsgroup today came the post “SP1 - any good installs?” and I had to laugh a bit.  First off, I'd say most sane folks are ordering the cdroms and waiting for the media, but keep in mind, the newsgroup is after all..for tech support Read More
posted Monday, May 23, 2005 11:30 PM by bradley | 12 Comments
Filed Under:

Australia and New Zealand - if you want your SBS media, here's your phone numbers

Thanks to Dean Calvert and the Microsoft gang for tracking this down.... For Australia the phone number to call for the SBS meida is 132058, after you dial the number, customers must select Option 3, followed by Option 4. For New Zealand, Read More
posted Monday, May 23, 2005 11:01 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Geographically challenged

If you are from Australia or New Zealand and want to order the SBS 2003 cdrom [remember you need to order one per each client/customer you have] your information on how to order is on the “For customers in Asia and Latin America” link. Okay Read More
posted Monday, May 23, 2005 12:40 PM by bradley | 5 Comments
Filed Under:

The FRESNO version of SBS is obviously still alive

If you are like me and are digging out your product key to order your SBS 2003 sp1 cdroms, you will probably wonder...what the heck is that other SBS version on the order form drop down menu... What is “Windows Server 2003 for Small Business Server“?  Read More
posted Monday, May 23, 2005 12:25 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

x64 and ISA server and SecureNAT

Leave it to SBSers to be on the cutting edge...we already have one asking about getting an 64bit OS working behind SBS and ISA Server.  Well the good news is that you can using SecureNAT, the bad news is you can't using the ISA firewall client.  In Read More
posted Sunday, May 22, 2005 11:55 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Allocated memory alert ... one more time

Alert on DOMAIN at 5/13/2005 8:29:05 PMA large amount of memory is committed to applications and processes.Consistently high memory usage can cause performance problems.To determine which processes and applications are using the most memory, useTask Manager. Read More
posted Sunday, May 22, 2005 11:10 PM by bradley | 6 Comments
Filed Under:

Star Wars to Bill Gates to finding the balance

You know the story of Star Wars ....that Anakin was destined to bring 'balance to the force', and the phrase 'bring balance' is something that even Bill Gates is talking about.  As I'm blogging from the train, around me are folks on cell phones, Read More
posted Sunday, May 22, 2005 7:13 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Can't they have secure computers a long time ago?

Back from the Star Wars movie and it seems like that even a long time ago in a galaxy far away we still can't have secure systems.  At one point in time the security code for the secret Jedi transmission was broken for a certain reason.... one that Read More
posted Saturday, May 21, 2005 11:44 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Broadcasting from the 7:00 line for Star Wars

On the aircard broadcasting from the 7:00 p.m. line for the Star Wars Movie [yes it's only 4 p.m.] and us die hards are here in our chairs in front of the theater.  I'm not the only one with a Yoda doll in line.  So far no sightings of folks Read More
posted Saturday, May 21, 2005 3:52 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

"I want to see the code"

I was uploading some stuff to a website earlier today and the 10 year old son of my best friends says “oooh let me look at the code”.  You see I was using Front page and while I was happy as a clam to be using the GUI interface and posting Read More
posted Friday, May 20, 2005 11:42 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

So which processor should I get?

Went to Fry's tonight.. you know..the geek version of Disneyland ...and was looking to upgrade my poor home workstation that's getting a bit ancient.  So looking at the processors there we were looking at AMD versus Intel and it was sort of a toss Read More
posted Friday, May 20, 2005 11:32 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

SeanDaniel.com on Channel 9!!!

SeanDaniel.com, Mr. SBS Mobility to the world, is on Microsoft's Channel 9: Hmmm... wonder if I can get a media file autographed the next time we see him at SMBnation?  Mr. Daniel?  Can we have your autograph please? Read More
posted Friday, May 20, 2005 9:42 AM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

The business process of your client

I'll probably insult every SBS consultant around...but here goes.... I don't think you are doing enough for your client.  Hear me out..... every day I walk into businesses.... I walk into my OWN business and the processes we use for our daily business Read More
posted Thursday, May 19, 2005 9:16 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

The difference between vanilla ice cream and rocky road

I like ice cream.  Ice cream without nuts.  My favorite is homemade vanilla ice cream.  A smidge of orange flavoring and it's clean, crisp taste doesn't even need any topping at all. I hate Rocky Road icecream.  Nuts... ugh... hate Read More
posted Thursday, May 19, 2005 8:57 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Just a reminder... READ... I MEAN READ

The release notes  and install notes for the SBS 2003 sp1 is hitting the download site, which must mean that the service pack is about ready to be declared “done”.  Take this time to READ THEM. And yes, there it is... http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/downloads/sp1/default.mspx Read More
posted Thursday, May 19, 2005 12:30 PM by bradley | 6 Comments
Filed Under:

In case you need a little assistance for tomorrow

The gang forwarded this to me.  For those seeing the Star Wars movie it might help you out tomorrow. I'm thinking about packing my talking Yoda and taking him with me to Big Newport theater. um....really I'm harmless....well....most of the time anyway..... Read More
posted Wednesday, May 18, 2005 5:25 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Microsoft security advisory for TCP/IP

This alert is to notify you of the release of Microsoft Security Advisory (899480). Microsoft is aware of a new vulnerability report affecting TCP/IP, a network component of Microsoft Windows. Microsoft is not aware of any attacks attempting to use the Read More
posted Wednesday, May 18, 2005 12:30 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Matching T Shirts? -check- Watched IV? -check- Tickets? -check-

Unlike Dana who informed me he's going to Star Wars tonight at midnight, NO I'm not going until this weekend.  We have this ritual that we go down and visit close friends in Los Angeles so on Saturday night, I'll be at the Big Newport Theater watching Read More
posted Wednesday, May 18, 2005 12:28 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

We may be AWEsome but we don't use AWE

On the SQL server sp4 page it lists a warning about patching if you have AWE: Warning: Microsoft has found an issue with the final build of SP4 that impacts customers who run SQL Server with Address Windowing Extensions (AWE) support enabled. This issue Read More
posted Wednesday, May 18, 2005 12:15 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Can't be at TechEd? Got an Internet connection?

Kewlamundo!!!!  While I can't be at TechEd in Orlando this year, I do have the ability to see some of the sessions right from my own computer! Let's see there's Dr. Jesper Johansson and the Security Configuration Wizard...there's Steve Read More
posted Tuesday, May 17, 2005 6:13 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Handy Andy - SBS Web chat at 4:00 p.m. PST

Handy Andy will be presenting his monthly SBS web chat in less than 10 minutes.. BE THERE! Today at 4:00pm pst 7:00pm est is the SBS Chat at www.mcpmag.com/chatsHope to see you there! Read More
posted Tuesday, May 17, 2005 3:41 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

The worst thing about blogs are

The worst thing about blogs are they are a diary so postings I make on one day are updated later IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE TREND PATCH TO FIX THE SCAN MAIL, I CAN'T SEND IT TO YOU BUT IT'S RIGHT HERE: http://kb.trendmicro.com/solutions/search/main/search/SolutionDetail.asp?SolutionID=23065 Read More
posted Monday, May 16, 2005 8:26 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Security Configuration Wizard is cool...but...

Amy reminds us that the SCW is really cool, but SBS is pretty tweaked as it is all by itself, so you really don't want to run it on your system. What you CAN do to harden your system is to KILL OFF ANY REMAINING WINDOWS 98 YOU MAY HAVE ON THE FACE OF Read More
posted Monday, May 16, 2005 8:20 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Feng Shui? Fwengmon? Say what?

Tristan talks about a new tool we SBSers with Premium had better get used to ... I just know I'm going to end up calling it Feng Shui rather than FWEngMon which means it's the Firewall Kernel Mode tool.  It looks like our old friend netstat -ano Read More
posted Monday, May 16, 2005 8:15 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Sprechen Sie Deutsches?

Wenn Sie eine Menge deutsche email heute erhalten haben, nicht sicher, wenn sie am Sober.Q liegt, das varient ist, oder nicht aber geben Sie acht.  Vor einige Plätze blockieren Reißverschlußakten [ mich habe einer langen Zeit ] Which Read More
posted Monday, May 16, 2005 12:39 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Restricting Remote Web Workplace

Want a little extra security for Remote Web Workplace?  From the mailbag today comes the question ”Can you please advise whether there is any way of blocking access to certain SBS 2003 Users for RWW?“ and the answer is... sure... what Read More
posted Sunday, May 15, 2005 10:23 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

SBS on the front lines....

The question typically comes up in SBSland ...or those just entering it.... “What if the server goes down?  How do we deal with that?” Easy.  You deal with it. First off, understand that the majority of my issues on downtime with Read More
posted Sunday, May 15, 2005 9:29 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Shavlik made me vaklempt

Got an email saying that Shavlik updated their XML for patches on Friday and buried in the updates are.... sniff..sniff... SBS ones are included now...  I just pinged Shavlik to update from the version 4 to version 5... kewlamundo!   Read More
posted Sunday, May 15, 2005 12:00 AM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Okay ...let's have at it.... how do you partition?

Since I know the last blog post will probably bring up this question ....let's have at it. How do YOU partition your servers?  As you can see from my blog post, I do indeed have one for the OS [and it's a pretty healthy sized one since I leave Read More
posted Saturday, May 14, 2005 10:59 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

Learn something new every day

I was messin' around with my computer at the office and realized that the Virtual memory on it was at a maximum range of 4096.  Huh? I have 4 gigs of physical RAM [uh yeah... I overbuy] and shouldn't the virtual page file be automagically 1.5 Read More
posted Saturday, May 14, 2005 10:56 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

The password is......

True Story. Private school recently implemented/installed new computers and gave them passwords for security so only those authorized Teachers could get into the computers.  In the Auditorium/Cafeteria there is a computer attached to a projector Read More
posted Friday, May 13, 2005 8:50 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Top 25...do you agree?

CNN came out with a listing of top 25 technology innovations....they are:     TOP INNOVATIONS 1. The Internet 2. Cell phone 3. Personal computers 4. Fiber optics 5. E-mail 6. Commercialized GPS 7. Portable computers 8. Memory storage discs Read More
posted Friday, May 13, 2005 8:24 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

You know you do a little too much beta testing when.....

You know you are one wacko beta tester when... Every computer and server you have at home practically permanently has “For Testing purposes only. Build blah blah” burned into the screen in the bottom corner You keep old beta cdroms marked Read More
posted Thursday, May 12, 2005 7:55 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Law # 4.... only let in ....what you trust

Law #4: If you allow a bad guy to upload programs to your website, it's not your website any more This is basically Law #1 in reverse. In that scenario, the bad guy tricks his victim into downloading a harmful program onto his computer and running Read More
posted Thursday, May 12, 2005 5:51 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Geek web casts -- what more can a gal want?

Just received word that the ITshowcase has gone live!  This is really cool and really educational. Click and view the web cast.. they are really cool! Dr. Jesper Johansson and Steve Riley [who will be coming out with a book very soon] are both Read More
posted Thursday, May 12, 2005 12:50 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Unscientific survey underway - so how much email does your clients keep and for how long?

On a listserve I'm on, the comment came up that a firm was archiving about a gig of email a month using their spam gateway to do this and keeping it at hand for about 2 years and in archive storage for seven.  Man... a gig a month...that's a lot Read More
posted Wednesday, May 11, 2005 6:43 PM by bradley | 6 Comments
Filed Under:

What a diff a day makes.... 05-019 will be re-released in June

Well just yesterday I was saying Microsoft released a patch of a security patch and today they announce that they will re-release 05-019 entirely. This Alert is to notify you of revisions that have been made to Microsoft Security Bulletin MS05-019. Read More
posted Wednesday, May 11, 2005 3:06 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

New update to 898060 [tcp/ip and vpn issues anyone?]

This Alert is to notify you of the availability of an updated hotfix for Microsoft Knowledge Base article 898060 and provide information around this updated hotfix. The alert is also to provide you with information and answers to a number of questions Read More
posted Tuesday, May 10, 2005 8:47 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Those new Security Advisories

Security Advisories Updated or Released Today==============================================* Security Advisory (892313)   - Title:    Default Setting in Windows Media Player               Read More
posted Tuesday, May 10, 2005 12:46 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

I got Security Alerts! Do you?

Today as my IM window popped up saying I got a Microsoft security alert, I got one on my cell phone as well. Cool!  Huh!  I can now be immediately paranoid!  You can sign up for these here!  All of the ways you can get informed Read More
posted Tuesday, May 10, 2005 12:22 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

Today's Security Bulletin - only Windows 2000

Today's Security bulletin only affects Windows 2000 machines and is fixing the previously unpatched vulnerability that was disclosed by Greymagic. Since I'm reading Japanese security bulletins from now on, let's again revisit the page and see if we get Read More
posted Tuesday, May 10, 2005 12:13 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

New York, Boston and Washington DC Are you Ready for the dynamic duo?

Anne Stanton and Jeff Middleton, that dynamic duo is at it again, May 17-19th, 2005.  Each of these events will be at the local Microsoft offices and in support of local user groups in each area.  Make sure you are there a bit earlier to catch Read More
posted Monday, May 09, 2005 9:15 PM by bradley | 2 Comments
Filed Under:

I'm in search of a "Secure Me Now" button, got one?

So many times, especially with our small offices we look for a checklist, a secure me now button, and quite frankly just isn't such a cookie cutter thing you can do these days. What you really should be doing instead is identifying what the 'really bad Read More
posted Monday, May 09, 2005 6:58 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Words that a network admin would like to see banned

Most of the time I'm a patient person, and then there are those days when a few words sprinkled here and there just kinda annoy me..... “It always takes ten minutes to open my Outlook.“ I'll get a stop watch.. I'll bet you It's not ten Read More
posted Monday, May 09, 2005 6:22 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Just have to share this

A bit of a really off topic post tonight... we celebrated Mother's day with my Dad's favorite food, homemade ice cream.  [Yeah ... Mom's day and we're making Dad's favorite... don't quite know how that one worked out myself] Here's the ingredients Read More
posted Sunday, May 08, 2005 11:51 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

As long as the battery holds out, I'm good to go

Testing a new toy at the office that I think we're going to ... okay.. I'm going to use the most and the rest of the gang is going to borrow it when they need it.  It's a Cingular wireless PCMCIA card that allows any laptop that gets cell phone connectivity Read More
posted Sunday, May 08, 2005 11:41 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

The "paranoid" backup

One thing I should make crystal clear about my last blog post is that “SystemState” backups as well as data and Exchange backups are automagically done with the SBS backup wizard.  I only do that extra system state and burn it to Read More
posted Sunday, May 08, 2005 9:59 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

So what's a SystemState backup anyway?

One of the steps that is a “must do” before applying something big like a service pack is to have a good backup of your server AND all data and one of the major parts of that is a “SystemState backup”.  But like...what Read More
posted Sunday, May 08, 2005 12:27 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

README really means Read this...and SQL SP hits the streets

Marina [one of the Magical M&M's from Smallbizserver.net has a favorite saying “READ!” and it's really true that we don't spend the time to READ.  The ReadMe file that's on every install cd [and especially service packs] is meant Read More
posted Friday, May 06, 2005 12:08 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Wanna do something cool with Internet Explorer?

<update - for a properly aligned version of that IE settings shown below check out Steve Friedl's page> One of the things you can do with Internet Explorer that's really cool is control stuff.  You know...stuff.  Active X stuff.  Read More
posted Thursday, May 05, 2005 10:45 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Security patch [no plural] next week

 As part of the monthly security bulletin release cycle, Microsoft provides advance notification to our customers on the number of new security updates being released, the products affected, the aggregate maximum severity and information about detection Read More
posted Thursday, May 05, 2005 11:17 AM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

Thwunk!

THWUNK!  Geeze I hate that sound.  It's the sound that the subwolfer makes when the power goes back on in the house.  Everytime the power goes back on in the house I practically jump three feet. I came home tonight and tried to open Read More
posted Wednesday, May 04, 2005 9:56 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

The buzz on nothing new

I hate to be a “me too” but two of the guys in Australia who went to the Asian MVP summit came back and said a presentation on Rootkits scared them.  And while Rootkits [which is software that is no different than trojans or backdoors Read More
posted Tuesday, May 03, 2005 11:11 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Dear people at MarketingPromote.com

Thank you for your 2,334 2,435 emails you have sent over the last couple of weeks regarding your direct mailing service, offshore web hosting, or whatever else you are trying to get me to use.  You are sending these 2,435 2,522 emails to my poor Read More
posted Tuesday, May 03, 2005 10:31 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

Laptops anyone?

We started a discussion about Laptops and SBS and just today I got pinged about how best to handle laptops on and off the network... so here are a few ideas SBS 2003 Standard -- with the RRAS firewall it allows anonymous connections out so you really Read More
posted Tuesday, May 03, 2005 9:34 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

CRM and XP sp2?

I went to a NT user group meeting tonight and one of the guys sitting next to me said they hadn't yet deployed XP sp2 because Microsoft CRM didn't support it.  I knew they had already sent out a patch to fix this... so ... if you are they guy Read More
posted Tuesday, May 03, 2005 9:09 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Sometimes just a reboot at the right time is what you need

So I'm installing another server at home [rebuilding the blue glowing baby server that went to smbnation and back and I had installed 'Standard' this weekend and was kicking it up to Premium tonight to get ready to move over to this one from the poor Read More
posted Monday, May 02, 2005 11:01 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under:

Law # 3, if I have it, it's MINE

Law #3: If a bad guy has unrestricted physical access to your computer, it's not your computer anymore Oh, the things a bad guy can do if he can lay his hands on your computer! Here's a sampling, going from Stone Age to Space Age: • Read More
posted Monday, May 02, 2005 7:41 PM by bradley | 4 Comments
Filed Under:

The business of trust

I was at a client's today and ...well.. let's just say that one Quickbooks password cracking later, one quick crash course in bookkeeping later and they are a bit up and running, more so than they were at 9:00 a.m. this morning when they couldn't get Read More
posted Monday, May 02, 2005 7:14 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Another patch for the patch

So I'm installing the Insight Manager update tonight and I go back in to check the hardware and rats.... the page doesn't resolve up and says I need a new System Management home page.  Well off I go to HP and find there is a new update as of April Read More
posted Monday, May 02, 2005 6:59 PM by bradley | 0 Comments
Filed Under:

Dear Mr. Allchin and Mr. Dell:

Microsoft sharpens Longhorn for SMEs | The Register: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/29/ms_sme_os/ He said Longhorn features such as security, backup, and peer to peer networking would deliver specific benefits for SMEs. At the same time new features Read More
posted Sunday, May 01, 2005 9:04 PM by bradley | 3 Comments
Filed Under:

So do your clients just trust you?

I was a bit surprised the other day in the newsgroup when someone asked about the upcoming SBS 2003 sp1 because they had to 'sell' their bosses on the service pack.  Whoa.  I guess I'm wacko because applying a service pack doesn't have to be Read More
posted Sunday, May 01, 2005 7:26 PM by bradley | 1 Comments
Filed Under: