Service RunAs Accounts in System Center Essentials
Posted by Mark Raborn in WIGITAL on 2010/03/01
RunAs Accounts in SCE 2007
Service Accounts in System Center Essentials are added to Active Directory Users and Computers as Domain User accounts (and sometimes Local Accounts). This precept is similar to other Server Applications or Line of Business Applications where dedicated accounts are required to perform services and tasks across a network. The privileges for these accounts vary by role and the type of deployment topology chosen for System Center.
System Center Essentials uses the following two topology categories:
- Local – Single Server
- Distrbuted – Multiple Servers for Management, SQL Database Instance, SQL Reporting Services, and SCE Console
In System Center Essentials, Service Accounts are referred to as RunAs Accounts and are defined in the System Center Administration Console.
- Launch System Center Essentials
- Select Go | Administration
- In the Navigation Pane, under Administration, open the Security node, and click RunAs Accounts
- In the details pane on the right, you can view the RunAs Accounts (which are the Service Accounts) for System Center Essentials
The default RunAs Accounts ( Service Accounts ) in System Center Essentials are as follows:
- Action Account
- This is the user account under which all rules run by default on the agent. There are two Agents deployed in System Center Essentials: the Management Agent, and the Update Agent.
- Data Warehouse Account
- If specified, this account is used to run all Data Warehouse collection and synchronization rules instead of the default action account. If this account is not overridden by the Data Warehouse SQL Server Authentication account, this account is used by collection and synchronization rules to connect to the Data Warehouse databases using Windows integrated authentication.
- Execution Account
- This account is used by SCE 2007 in accessing SQL Reporting Services.The execution account allows the report server to perform unattended operations at a very low security level. Some functionality is disabled if an account is not specified..
For a full explanation of RunAs Accounts in System Center, read
- Account Information for Operations Manager 2007
- Run As Accounts and Run As Profiles in Operations Manager 2007
- How to Change the Credentials for the Action Account in Operations Manager 2007
To learn about configuring an Execution Account in SQL Reporting Services, read
SCE 2007 in EBS 2008
System Center Essentials 2007 is also included in Essential Business Server 2008. The deployment practices of SCE 2007 on EBS 2008 are unique. To learn more about how the default Administrator Account is used in System Center Essentials on EBS 2008, please read EBS Administration Console Returns “Monitoring Data Not Available” After the Administrator Account Password is Changed or Expires. This article discusses issues in the default architecture and how to address them.
Service Pack 1 for System Center Essentials 2007
The installation of SP1 for SCE 2007 resolves a number of issues on deployment, with Agents, and so on. Install SP1 prior to assigning service RunAs accounts or beginning discovery on your network.
You can download System Center Essentials 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) as well as learn more about SP1 here.
Determining if System Center Essentials Service Pack 1 is installed
In the Help menu of most Microsoft products, there is usually a menu item indicating the version and service pack of the software installed. In System Center Essentials, this is not the case. No product number, version number, or service pack is listed in About System Center Essentials.
You must open the registry to view the exact version number of SCE 2007
- Go to Start | Run | type regedit
- Navigate to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft Operations Manager\3.0\setup
- View the KEY UIVersion. If the version number is 6.0.6278.0 then SCE Service Pack 1 is installed
Source: SCE SP1 installation error “no upgradeable SCE Product found
Thank You
Hope this helps you as well.
PayPal Plugins for Joomla
Posted by Mark Raborn in Joomla on 2010/02/17
Joomla PayPal Extensions
For those interested in Plugins using simple syntax to enable PayPal Buttons in articles, there are PayPal plugins for Joomla. Search the Joomla Extensions directory for offerings.
For WIGITAL Customers that want to take a do it yourself approach from within Joomla and do not wish to leave the Administrator backend to get PayPal functionality, there are two commonly used Joomla PayPal plugins we suggest:
Easy Paypal by HyBing
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/e-commerce/payment-systems/2651
- HyBing Website
- http://www.hybing.com/Easy-Paypal.html
Nice Paypal by TriniTronic
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/e-commerce/payment-systems/9277
- TriniTronic Website
- http://www.trinitronic.com/index.php/Downloads/downloads.html
Using the Joomla PayPal Extensions
Turn Off the TinyMCE Editor
The Joomla Document library discusses using PayPal type extensions in this post . The use of PayPal extensions require that HTML can be typed into web pages along with the specific code needed to interact with PayPal using PayPal’s API. The first consideration then, is to avoid the use of the default TinyMCE Editor in Joomla. TinyMCE strips out certain forms of HTML on save, and since the PayPal API requires custom HTML and various propriertary syntax to function, you must not use the default editor. Read this post to turn off TinyMCE.
Sign Up for Business PayPal Account
Receiving PayPal payments requires a PayPal Business Account. Sign up to “Build Your Business Online with PayPal”
For WIGITAL Customers, we suggest a dedicated PayPal email address and identitity in your environment. Whether in a Windows Domain and using Microsoft Exchange to receive notifications, or using an email service like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, etc… , having an identity dedicated to this function, “that is secure” and accessible only by Accounting and Management roles, is advisable.
- Create an account / identity dedicated to the PayPal relationship
- Sign up with PayPal Business
Easy PayPal Tutorial
http://www.hybing.com/Easy-Paypal-Tutorial.html
Nice PayPal Tutorial
http://www.trinitronic.com/index.php/Downloads/nice-paypal-button-documentation.html
Installing Joomla PayPal Extensions
Here are the steps to setup Nice PayPal ( as an example )
- If you don’t already have one, sign up for a business PayPal account.
- Install the plugin using Joomla’s Extension Manager.
- Go to Extensions>>Plugin Manager and click into the plugin “Content – Nice PayPal Button.”
- Enable the plugin.
- Add your PayPal account email to the parameters on the right.
- Optionally add your sandbox sellers account email if you plan to do testing.
- Optionally set the test mode to on or off – the default is off.
- Optionally enter your PayPal supported 3 letter currency code – default is USD.
- Optionally, Enter your 2 digit country code to set the language used on the PayPal payment page. PayPal uses a two-character country code (ISO 3166). Some examples are United States: US, Great Britain: GB, France: FR, Spain: ES, Poland: PL, German: DE. If you don’t know your country code, or you can Google PayPal Country Codes.
- Optionally, set your button language code. PayPal uses a 5 character code to designate language it’s buttons. For example, United States English is designated with en_US. Enter the 5 character code for the desired button language. Other code examples are Great Britain English: en_GB, French: fr_FR, Spanish: es_ES, Polish: pl_PL, German: de_DE. If you don’t know the code for your desired language, log into PayPal use the button creator and search the resulting HTML code for this https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_buynow_LG.gif. Notice the en_US in the URL, it’s the language code for the button.
- Save your changes.
- Important – Email Cloaking is a default feature of Joomla. Unless you have specifically disabled it, it is enabled on your site. If this is the case then, in the Plugin Manager, you will need to change the order of the Nice PayPal Button plugin so that it appears below the Email Cloaking plugin in the plugin list. Otherwise, the PayPal buttons that the Nice PayPal plugin creates won’t work properly.
- Add the tag code {nicepaypal:button type|price|item name} to your article where you want the PayPal button to show up.
Place the Nice PayPal Button tag in your article content.
A PayPal button replaces the Nice PayPal button tag.
The PayPal Developers Site
For those interested in the DIY “Do It Yourself” approach that requires a little more investment than point-and-click in the Joomla back end, PayPal provides their API, development practices, documentation, sample apps, etc… at the PayPal Developers Network
An extraordinary amount of functionality can be achieved, integrated, and customized into your website using PayPal’s online tools. These tools require no knowledge of coding and can broaden website functionality with PayPal using simple cut and paste of code that PayPal generates on your behalf as you use their online resources.
In addition, you can go further as a developer.
Here are some important links ( and suggested reading )
- PayPal Merchant Setup and Administration Guide
- read – Co-Branding the PayPal Checkout Pages
- read – Prompting Buyers for Marketing Messages
- read – Asking Buyers a Survey Question
- PayPal Website Payments Standard Overview
- PayPal HTML Variables for Website Payments Standard
- PayPal HTML Buy Now Buttons
- read – Step 1 – Specifying Basic Features of Your Buy Now Button
- PayPal Documentation
- PayPal Developer Community Forums
Google Calendar in Joomla
Posted by Mark Raborn in Joomla on 2010/02/15
Google Calendar in Joomla
The Joomla GCalendar is a Google Calendar bridge to Joomla. The project is hosted at code.google.com where you can find code, project announcements, and their support links.
Support for GCalendar is in
The following setup excerpts are from their DocuWiki at http://g4j.laoneo.net
Prerequisites for GCalendar
The prerequisites for GCalendar is a Google account and the Google calendar service initialized.
Getting started with GCalendar
http://g4j.laoneo.net/content/docu/doku.php/id,docu;gcalendar;version_2.1.x;getting_started/
- Install the component
- Import your calendars
- Share the Calendar with the public (OR) us the magic cookie (which makes Private Calendars accessible through Joomla). More at Google’s Calendar API . A video is available on magic cookie at YouTube
- Create menu entries
- Install the modules ( and enable them )
- GCalendar suite contains
- mod_gcalendar.zip
- mod_gcalendar_next.zip
- mod_gcalendar_upcoming.zip
- Install the plugins ( and enable them)
- plg_gcalendar_next.zip
- plg_gcalendar_search.zip
- Enjoy
Sharing the Google Calendar with the Public
To share your Google Calendar with the public ( and for use in Joomla )
- Go to http://www.google.com/calendar
- Log in using the appropriate credentials for this “shared calendar”
- Click the Settings link
- Under Calendar Settings, click the Calendars tab
- Locate your calendar under My Calendars, click Share this calendar
- Check the box [ ] Make this calendar public, click the Save button at bottom of page
- Now, click on the link to YourCalendar
- The available options for YourCalendar will have changed. Scroll to the bottom. In the section named Calendar Address, click the HTML button, copy the html text and paste into your browser to view your shared public Calendar as it appears on the internet.
- NOTE: This is the Calendar information that will be shared with GCalendar in Joomla.
Sharing the PRIVATE Google Calendar with Joomla
To share your “private” Google Calendar with the Joomla CMS
- Go to http://www.google.com/calendar
- Log in using the appropriate credentials for this “calendar”
- Select the drop down arrow next to your Calendar, then click the Calendar Settings link
- Scroll to the bottom. In the section named Private Address, click the HTML button, copy the html text.
- Go to the Components, GCalendar, GCalendars in Joomla
- Select the appropriate Calendar by clicking it’s link
- in the Magic Cookie filed, past the HTML path copied from above.
- Now DELETE the entire path from “http://-in-the-beginning-to-pvttk=“
- Leave everthing after pvttk= in your GCalendar Magic Cookie settings, and Save
- NOTE: This is the PRIVATE Calendar information that will be shared with GCalendar in Joomla.
See the magic cookie at YouTube video walk-through.
Google Email Replies through GCalendar for Joomla
Setting up a global address to receive email related to Calendar Events in Joomla is a consideration when using GCalendar. Individual events in GCalendar can be accessed invoking the mailto: links to the Google Calendar recipient. Having a global email address such as ( info@yoursite.com ) or ( calendar@yoursite.com ) may be advisable. A Google account and Calendar could be established for just this purpose.
Google Calendar Support Topics for Microsoft Outlook
Another significant question ( for Exchange and Outlook users ) who may want to push Outlook generated content into Google Calendar is the ability to Sync Google Calendar to Microsoft Outlook.
Here is the Google Calendar Support Link
Introduction to Google Calendar sync with Microsoft Outlook
Check out the Introduction to Google Calendar Synchronization
Get Started
If you’re setting up Google Calendar Sync for the first time, you’ll need to:
- Check your compatibility.
- Download Google Calendar Sync.
- Agree to the Terms of Service and finish installation.
- Select the appropriate Sync Option and time interval.
Details for each Sync Option can be found here.
Sync options with Google Calendar Sync
Setup Sync Options between Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook
2-way sync
All events in your primary Google Calendar and your default Microsoft Outlook calendar are synced together. Once you’ve selected this option, any changes you make to events in either Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook Calendar will be reflected in both applications.
If you modify the same event multiple times in both applications, the most recent update will sync between Microsoft Outlook Calendar and Google Calendar. Additionally, if you delete an event in Microsoft Outlook Calendar or Google Calendar, this event also will be deleted when viewing the other application.
Please note that Google Calendar Sync syncs all of the events in both your default Microsoft Outlook calendar and your primary Google Calendar. Currently, there is no way to sync events within a specific time frame in your calendar.
1-way: Google Calendar to Microsoft Outlook calendar
All events in your primary Google Calendar are added to your default Microsoft Outlook calendar. During subsequent sync cycles, any updates made to events in Google Calendar will be reflected in Microsoft Outlook Calendar as well. Keep in mind that any events created or modified in Microsoft Outlook Calendar won’t be reflected in Google Calendar.
1-way: Microsoft Outlook calendar to Google Calendar
All events in your default Microsoft Outlook calendar are added to your primary Google Calendar. During subsequent sync cycles, any updates made to events in Microsoft Outlook Calendar will be reflected in Google Calendar. Keep in mind that any events created or modified in Google Calendar won’t be reflected in Microsoft Outlook Calendar.
Mark Raborn’s Favorite WordPress Plugins
| CATEGORY | NAME | DESCRIPTION | URL |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAPTCHA | - | - | - |
| Really Simple Captcha | Really Simple CAPTCHA is a CAPTCHA module intended to be called from other plugins. It is originally created for my Contact Form 7 plugin. By Takayuki Miyoshi. | http://ideasilo.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/really-simple-captcha/ | |
| FORMS | - | - | - |
| Contact Form 7 | Just another contact form plugin. Simple but flexible. By Takayuki Miyoshi. | http://contactform7.com/ | |
| NOTIFICATIONS | - | - | - |
| Post Notification | Sends an email to all subscribers. See Readme2.txt or instructions for details. By Moritz Strübe. | http://pn.strübe.de/ | |
| RSS FEED INPUT | - | - | - |
| TBD | TBD | TBD | |
| SITEMAP | - | - | - |
| Google XML Sitemaps | This plugin will generate a special XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and Ask.com to better index your blog. By Arne Brachhold. | http://www.arnebrachhold.de/redir/sitemap-home/ | |
| SOCIAL | - | - | - |
| Facebook Dashboard Widget | Display your friends latest status updates, posted items and/or notifications on your WordPress dashboard or blog sidebar (check your widgets page). Make sure you enter your feed details on the options page. By Chris Chrisostomou. | http://mou.me.uk/projects/wordpress/plugins/facebook-dashboard-widget/ | |
| FlickrRSS | Allows you to integrate the photos from a flickr rss feed into your site. By Dave Kellam and Stefano Verna. | http://eightface.com/wordpress/flickrrss/ | |
| LinkedIn hResume | LinkedIn hResume grabs the Microformated hResume block from your LinkedIn public profile page allowing you to add it to any page and apply your own styles to it. By Brad Touesnard. | http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/linkedin-hresume/ | |
| Twitter for Wordpress | Displays your public Twitter messages for all to read. Based on Pownce for Wordpress by Cavemonkey50. By Ricardo González. | http://rick.jinlabs.com/code/twitter | |
| SPAM | - | - | - |
| Akismet | Akismet checks your comments against the Akismet web service to see if they look like spam or not. You need a WordPress.com API key to use it. You can review the spam it catches under “Comments.” To show off your Akismet stats just put <?php akismet_counter(); ?> in your template. See also: WP Stats plugin. By Matt Mullenweg. |
http://akismet.com/ | |
| WP-SpamFree | An extremely powerful anti-spam plugin that virtually eliminates comment spam. Finally, you can enjoy a spam-free WordPress blog! Includes spam-free contact form feature as well. By WP-SpamFree. | http://www.polepositionmarketing.com/library/wp-spamfree/ | |
| STATISTICS | - | - | - |
| Wordpress.com Stats | Description:Tracks views, post/page views, referrers, and clicks. Requires a WordPress.com API key. By Andy Skelton. | http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/stats/ |
Searching Adobe pdf documents in SharePoint WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007
Posted by Mark Raborn in SharePoint on 2010/02/07
UPDATED: Was doing a SharePoint installation today and realized I really needed to clean this article up!. I originally wrote it a few years ago. Some more information on 64bit platforms has been added and as well as Adobe specific pdf walkthroughs for SharePoint 2007, SQL, and Exchange.
Enable Adobe .pdf Portable Document Format Search in SharePoint
SharePoint Services 3.0 does not index .pdf files by default when Search is first enabled in SharePoint. The question of course then is “How do I enable Search for Adobe .pdf documents in Windows SharePoint Services?
Here is a walk-through:
Download Adobe iFilter and pdf Icons
32 bit platforms – download the following:
64 bit platforms – download the following:
Enable Microsoft Indexing Service
In Windows Server 2003 and Server 2003 R2: enable Microsoft Indexing Service (if it is not already enabled)
This quote from Adobe explains: “Adobe PDF IFilter is a free downloadable Dynamic Link Library (DLL) file that provides a bridge between a Microsoft Indexing Client and a library of Adobe PDF files.”
Copy the Adobe .pdf Icon to the IMAGES directory
- Copy .pdf image to SharePoint images store
- Download Adobe icons (link above)
- Save to -OR- copy to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\IMAGES
- NOTE: the name of the icons file as you are copying and write it/them down
- the default names from Adobe are pdficon_small.gif AND pdficon_large.gif
- Open this folder: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\XML\
- Open/Edit the document DOCICON.XML in Notepad or XML Editor of your choice
- As you read, note the syntax of the <Mapping> elements and KEY and VALUE attributes
- Inside the <ByExtension> tags; make entry as follows: <Mapping Key=”pdf” Value=”pdficon_small.gif” />
- Additional entries may be made while your here if you want to copy other icons and have them associated with file extensions in SharePoint
- Save file and exit
- Add an entry for the .pdf icon in the DOCICON.XML file for SharePoint
Install Adobe iFilter 32 bit or iFilter 9.0 64 bit
- Stop IIS admin service
- Go to Start > Run > type cmd > press enter
- TYPE iisreset /stop
- Install Adobe iFilter (latest version)
- Download Adobe IFilter (link above) and install following defaults
- Reset IIS:
- Go to Start > Run > type cmd > press enter
- TYPE iisreset /start > press enter
If installing on MOSS 2007, please also restart Office SharePoint Server Search
- Type the following at the prompt: “net stop osearch”. Wait for success message.
- Type the following at the prompt: “net start osearch”. Wait for success message.
When installing on WSS 3.0, Confirm ExtensionList REG_SZ Registry Value = 38
- Go to Start > Run > type REGEDIT
- Locate the following registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\12.0\Search\Applications\{some GUID here}\Gather\Search\Extensions\ExtensionList
- Confirm there is a REG_SZ named “38″ (without the quotes) and the the string value is “pdf” (without the quotes)
- IF THE STRING VALUE IS NOT THERE:
- Right-click the ExtensionList key | select New | select String Value
- Name the String Value 38 (or higher if there is already a 38)
- Double-click the String to open it
- in the Value data field, enter: pdf
- Exit REGEDIT
When installing on WSS 3.0, Confirm Extension Multi-String Value (shown as follows)
Verify that PDF has the correct Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 specific settings in the registry location.
- Go to Start | Run | type regedit
- within the left-side tree, browse to: \\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server Extensions\12.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.pdf
- Verify the following values. If values are not as shown, edit them.
- <REG_MULTI_SZ> Default = {E8978DA6-047F-4E3D-9C78-CDBE46041603}
Note that in my case today, I found a “mistaken value” here of: {4C904448-74A9-11D0-AF6E-00C04FD8DC02}
When installing on MOSS 2007, add pdf to the Search Settings File Types
This achieves the same result as the manual regedit that adds REG_SZ value of 38 (above), but does so directly from MOSS Central Administration.
- Open the MOSS Central Administration Site
- Go to the Share Service Administration Site running the search service
- Select “Search Settings”
- Select “File Types”
- Select “Add New File Type”
- Enter “pdf” click OK
- Go to Start | Run | type cmd
- At the command prompt, type the following command: “net stop osearch”. Wait for success message.
When installing on MOSS 2007, Confirm Extension Multi-String Value (shown as follows)
Verify that PDF has the correct Office SharePoint Server specific settings in the registry location.
- Go to Start | Run | type regedit
- within the left-side tree, browse to: \\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office Server\12.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.pdf
- Verify the following values. If values are not as shown, edit them.
- <REG_MULTI_SZ> Default = {E8978DA6-047F-4E3D-9C78-CDBE46041603}
Additional Steps to Enable SharePoint pdf Search in 64 bit Windows Server with 64 bit Adobe iFilter
There are some additional considerations when on the 64bit Windows platform:
- FIRST!! Be certain you are installing the “64 bit version” of iFilter 9 – download from Adobe
- Be sure to add the bin folder of the iFilter installation to the PATH of the SharePoint Server that is assigned the Indexing Role, and any backend SQL Server(s) providing database storage to SharePoint.
Quoting the iFilter 9 Installation Instructions
1. Download and extract the contents of “PDFiFilter64installer.zip” to your local drive.
2. Double click “PDFFilter64installer.msi” to launch the installer.
3. Follow the instructions in the installer wizard to complete the installation.
After installing the PDF iFilter, it is recommended that you set your system PATH environment variable to the “bin” folder of the “Ifilter” installation. For example, from the “Control Panel\System\Advanced\Environment Variables” tab, append to PATH “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe PDF iFilter 9 for 64-bit platforms\bin\” and then restart the computer.
Refer to the following documents to configure PDF iFilter to work with any of these applications:
- Configuring PDF iFilter for MS Exchange Server 2007.pdf
- Configuring PDF iFilter for MS Sharepoint 2007.pdf
- Configuring PDF iFilter for MS SQL Server 2005.pdf
For more information, read the “comments” section of the iFilter release notes on Adobe’s blog (see the comments by Aman).
Start a Full Crawl on the SharePoint Indexing Server Role
Use the STSADM command line to start a full crawl of your SharePoint Services data
- Go to Start | Run | type cmd
- At a command prompt, change the directory to the following:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN
- Type the STSADM command to start a full crawl : Stsadm -o spsearch -action fullcrawlstart
Visit TechNet to learn more about the STSADM command line
Possible Errors: Icons are not displayed for Adobe PDF in Search Results
If the “icons” displayed in SharePoint search results do not disply the Adobe pdf icon, try these articles:
SUPPORTING COMMUNITY INFORMATION: http://bloggingabout.net/blogs/harold/archive/2008/10/02/index-pdf-documents-on-sharepoint-using-adobe-pdf-ifilter-9.aspx
Additional Info: Working with SharePoint Search ( after installation )
This article by S.S. Aman can help you understand how to “tweek” search a little in SharePoint
http://vspug.com/ssa/2007/01/19/working-with-sharepoint-search-part-2/
Hope this helps you as well.
Mark Raborn’s Favorite Software Applications Download List
Posted by Mark Raborn in Downloads on 2010/01/31
Apple Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows operating systems have great software freely available to download. This article ( with links to software downloads ) is dedicated to the applications I personally use.
An active “mostly Free” Software Download List
I have thought of keeping an “up to date” resource of software downloads for some time now. Although not all this software is free, the vast majority is! I have listed my favorites in the context that these seem to be installed on the computers I use. The software includes freeware, open source, and commercial programs for Apple OSX, Ubuntu, and Windows. Thanks for checking it out. Enjoy 
btw… personal laptop is a MacBook Pro with the Big 3 OS’s and the stuff below.
To Be Continued…
I’ll check back in to update the links as often as possible.
Thanks for reading
Mark Raborn
WIGITAL
Adobe Flash Crashes Windows 7 Internet Browsers
Posted by Mark Raborn in Windows 7 on 2010/01/26
Bug reports that Adobe Flash can crash internet browsers of all types in Windows 7 is true and accurate. The “Adobe Flash Crash” affects all browsers in Windows 7 and, when it does occurs, is not browser specific ( meaning it affects every type of browser ). Affected browsers include:
- Chrome
- Firefox
- Internet Explorer
- Safari
- and others…
The Flash Crash bug does not affect all Windows 7 installations ( 64 bit Windows is completely unsupported by Adobe ) but the crash is occurring frequently enough on 32 bit installs to warrant attention across then net ( blogged yesterday on ZDnet.com as example ). Ultimately, patching the code will be the responsibility of Adobe as the Flash Crash can occur in every browser.
The obvious solution to repair Adobe Flash on Win7 is to first uninstall and reinstall Flash.
According to Adobe: Due to recent enhancements to the Adobe Flash Player installers, you can now remove the player only by using the Adobe Flash Player uninstaller.
To remove Flash Player, simply download and run the appropriate uninstaller for your system. Use the following link to acquire Flash unintaller.
Uninstall and Reinstall Flash
Download and run the Adobe Flash Uninstaller here http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/141/tn_14157.html
Read the Adobe FAQs and Troubleshooting for specifics relating to your system
- Flash Player Support FAQ
- Adobe Flash Player Help and Support
- Troubleshooting Flash Player crash or freeze for developers and end users (Windows XP and Vista)
Beyond the Basics – Repairing Adobe Flash Installations in Windows 7
Solving Adobe Flash Crash issues in Windows 7 under more complex circumstances is best approached in process of steps elevating the solution(s) in order of Severity.
- Obtain an Adobe Flash Crash Log
- Uninstall Adobe Flash using Flash Player Uninstaller
- Check your Security Anti-Virus software and confirm Adobe Flash is NOT blocked
- Disable Hardware Acceleration in Adobe Flash
- Reset your Internet Browser
Severity 1 – Uninstall and ReInstall Flash
As mentioned above, the first step is generally to Uninstall and Re-install Adobe Flash as described above using the approved Flash Uninstaller. Attempt this most simple fix first.
The Adobe Flash Player Uninstaller Setup will execute
Output folder: C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Temp
Extract: FlashUtil.exe
Execute: "C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\uninstall_plugin.exe"
Execute: "C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\uninstall_activeX.exe"
Unregistering: C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\Flash10d.ocx
Execute: "C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Temp\FlashUtil.exe" -uninstallUnlock
Delete file: C:\Users\Home\AppData\Local\Temp\FlashUtil.exe
Delete on reboot: C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\NPSWF32.dll
Delete file: C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\Flash10d.ocx
Delete on reboot: C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\FlashUtil10d.exe
Delete file: C:\Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash\uninstall_activeX.exe
Completed
If uninstalling and reinstalling does not work, move on to Severity 2…
Severity 2 – Uninstall and Reinstall Flash, CHECK SECURITY AND ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE FOR BLOCKING OF YOUR ADOBE FLASH VERSION
Today’s security software is more highly tuned then ever to fight malware ( malicious software ) on your system. The virus signatures used today normally identify the version number of software as an identifiable trait. If the latest release of Adobe Flash ( or any program for that matter ) has a version number that is not recognized by your Security Anti-Virus software ) then it may be BLOCKED from running properly. Check and Confirm that Adobe Flash is NOT BLOCKED
- Uninstall Adobe Flash
- Restart your computer
- Re-Install Adobe Flash
- Your Security Ant-Virus software may prompt you to ALLOW the program, if so, click ALLOW
- If it does not or you are unsure about the setting, launch the Control Panel for your Security Ant-Virus software settings to check to see if Flash has been blocked
Severity 3 – Uninstall and Reinstall Flash, DISABLE HARDWARE ACCELERATION
With the release of Flash Player 10.1, Adobe has added support for hardware-accelerated H.264 decoding to further the experience of watching video online. Unfortunately, this hardware acceleration can break the very thing it’s supposed to enhance ( i.e. Flash itself ). This is especially true when Flash is installed on certain hardware that comes in combination with driver suites and utilities that run their own hardware acceleration. When requests to hardware for acceleration are being made by drivers and software other than Adobe’s (such as the latest Blu-Ray video suites, Roxio Media Suites, CyberLink Power DVD Suites for Blu-Ray, etc… ) then the result is that Adobe’s method of implementing hardware acceleration gets shut down. The additional STEP of disabling hardware accelaration may be necessary.
One additional (and highly severe step) may be to disable hardware acceleration in the Operating System all together. Do this only as a last resort.
Severity 4 – Uninstall and Reinstall Flash, Disable Hardware Acceleration, RESET YOUR INTERNET BROWSER
Under more challenging circumstances it may be necessary to Reset Your Internet Browser. Browsers use Add Ons of various types to extend functionality and what the browser is able to do. This added benefit of allowing third party software to be able to “plug in” to the browser, it’s settings, code, and or registry ( in the case of Windows ) also creates a circumstance in which the browser can be adversly affected by it’s effort to support these Add Ons. Sometimes these problems are severe enough to justify a complete RESET of the internet browser.
Be advised, performing a full Browser Reset will wipe out all settings for Add Ons currently installed in the browser. In addition, many tyipcal convience settings specified in your browser up to this point in time will also be reset. In short, once reset, your browser starts over.
Uninstall
Reset Your Browser
- CHROME – Reset Google Chrome
- FIREFOX – Firefox Add Ons Install Problems
- FIREFOX – Reset Firefox Preferences
- FIREFOX – Mozine article – Resetting Firefox Preferences
- IE – Reset Interent Explorer
- SAFARI – Reset Apple Safari
Reinstall
- Re-Install Adobe Flash
- Disable Hardware Accelleration in Adobe Flash ( if necessary )
Reports, forum posts, and other articles
Various posts around the internet are confirming the issue with Adobe Flash crashing Windows 7. Here are a few for reference….
- http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproappcompat/thread/070507da-428a-4807-84dc-c8c2d6774689
- http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itproperf/thread/f096af5f-d2cc-4b8d-9dd1-c1f8c0b4bb3a
- http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/32396-flash-player-related-application-crashes-windows-7-a.html
- http://thewinforums.com/topic/59261-windows-7-crashes-when-watching-flash-videos-on-the-internet/
- http://www.w7forums.com/adobe-flash-player-crashes-ie8-t2053.html
Please note that on most installations, Adobe Flash functions perfectly. The scenario in which the Adobe Flash Crash occurs will vary based on hardware, drivers, other software installed which also uses hardware acceleration, potentially conflicting audio drivers, and the user of the latest multi-media gaming and home entertainment Media PC’s that use a variety of high end DVD and Blu-Ray media suites that also accelerate hardware in Windows 7.
Please contact us for further details and help if you require.
thank you…
WIGITAL Computing Pros serves computing and network infrastructure needs in Southern California.
Mark Raborn
WIGITAL
SBS 2008 Installing Exchange 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 9
Posted by Mark Raborn in SBS on 2010/01/11
SBS 2008 Outlook Pop Ups and Continuous Logon Prompts
Recently, many of WIGITAL’s Small Business Server 2008 based clients have experienced issues with Microsoft Outlook pop ups that ask network users repeatedly to authenticate / login to Microsoft Exchange. Apparently (on these particular SBS08 Servers ) Exchange seems to have forgotten how to agree with Active Directory and recognize the users and computers are already logged on.
After a review of Event Logs on a few SBS08 servers, nothing definitive (or even vaguely suggestive) has appeared to help us discern the exact cause. We are however able to coalesce that in all cases, Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Updates from 2009-12 and 2009-11 have recently been installed onto these servers.
CAUSE RELATED UPDATE ( 2010-02-16 ): Security Updates from December 2009 cause an IIS 7.0 issue where a mix of User Mode and Kernel Mode authentication “do not” work together. See the Official SBS Blog for details as of 2010-02-16
SYMPTOM: for client workstations, when Outlook is launched, all users are continuously prompted for logon credentials in order to authenticate with Exchange even though they are properly authenticated on the domain. Authentication is in the Intranet Zone. Active Directory is fully functional and integrated with Exchange.
Exchange 2007 SP 1 Update Rollup 9
The resolution to restoring Exchange authentication communication with SBS 2008 Active Directory has been, in all cases, to download and install Exchange 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 9
Here are issues we’re aware of when installing the Update Rollup 9 for Exchange.
- When installing Exchange 2007 Sp1 Update Rollup 9 on Small Business Server 2008 it is advisable to open the command prompt and install the update using RunAs and Administrator credentials. Update Rollup 9 has failed on SBS Installations WIGITAL has attempted unless initially launched in this manner. Navigating to the path where the update package is, and launching the installer using RunAs from the command line seems to solve some UAC (User Account Control) issues.
- You may see the following Event IDs when installing this Update Rollup: Event ID 1024, Event ID 1603, Event ID 11321. Details follow….
Log Name: Application
Source: MsiInstaller
Date: 1/11/2010 1:22:21 PM
Event ID: 1024
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: DOMAIN\administrator
Computer: SBS2008-SERVER.DOMAIN.local
Description:
Product: Microsoft Exchange Server - Update 'Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (KB970162) 8.1.393.1' could not be installed. Error code 1603. Windows Installer can create logs to help troubleshoot issues with installing software packages. Use the following link for instructions on turning on logging support: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=23127
Log Name: Application
Source: MsiInstaller
Date: 1/11/2010 1:13:04 PM
Event ID: 11321
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: DOMAIN\Administrator
Computer: SBS2008-SERVER.DOMAIN.local
Description:
Product: Microsoft Exchange Server -- Error 1321. The Installer has insufficient privileges to modify this file: C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\RelNotes.htm.
NOTE: For more information about errors, Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 9 creates a log file here:
C:\Users\Administrator.DOMAIN\AppData\Local\Temp\3\MSIec215.LOG
Review the LOG to determine a course of action if you experience errors during your install.
Resolving the RelNotes.htm Error in Exchange 2007 Update Rollup 9
To remedy the 11321 error ( which we’ve seen every time we’ve installed Update Rollup 9 ):
- Open Explorer
- Go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\RelNotes.htm
- Change the permissions on this file to allow the current Administrator FULL CONTROL
- Apply the changes
- Restart Update Rollup 9 using RunAs from the Command Line
Oddly enough, the installers permissible access to RelNotes.htm has ended more than one installation prematurely.
Further Reading on Exchange 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 9
Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 has been released
Description of Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
Forum Posts on SBS 2008, Outlook pop ups, and Installing Exchange 2007 SP1 Update Rollup 9
SBS2008, Outlook keeps popping up network login and will not accept in Small Business Server
Exchange Update Rollup Installation. It is not Nightmare!!!
SBS 2008: Update Rollup 9 for Exchange Server 2007 SP1 doesn’t update version number in Help
Exchange Server 2007 Rollup Update 9 installed question
Update: Regarding Exchange Service Pack 2 on SBS 2008
UPDATE TO THIS POST
Exchange Service Pack 2 will also resolve the Outlook continuous pop-up issue but please be advised, that Exchange SP 2 ” cannot” be installed on SBS 2008 without the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP2 Installation Tool for Windows SBS 2008. Use this tool (along with SP2 for Exchange) to achieve a successful upgrade to SP2 functionality.
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP2 Installation Tool for Windows SBS 2008
Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2
Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 2 (KB971534)
Thank you.
Mark Raborn
WIGITAL
Reinstall EBS 2008 Management Server
Posted by Mark Raborn in EBS on 2010/01/06
WIGITAL recently had a RAID 1 array in an Essential Business Server fail. This array was the System Volume on the Management Server. Parity could not be restored… system down! Numerous sectors on both mirrored disks ultimately verified to have called it quits. This server was out to pasture and this time, no happy cows. Mooo!
So… how to restore Essential Business Server from the Installation Wizards ??? In considering EBS restoration, think data first. In the Management Server, there’s plenty of it. The data to be restored in EBS includes the following:
MANAGEMENT SERVER
- Active Directory Domain Services logs
- Active Directory Domain Services database (NTDS.dit)
- Active Directory Domain Services SYSVOL file
- Microsoft SQL Server® database for System Center Essentials
- SQL Server database for Windows Server Update Services
- SQL Server database for Administration Console
For reference, the messaging and security servers include…
MESSAGING SERVER
- Microsoft Exchange Server database
SECURITY SERVER
- SQL Server database for Forefront TMG
NOTE: Reinstalling the Management Server into Essential Business Server is about a 4-5 hour affair if things go well. Assuring the health of the second Domain Controller ( the Messaging Server ) is an advisable first step.
Replace a Server in Windows Essential Business Server
For walkthroughs on restoring EBS, the best article in my opinion is on TechNet ( currently as of 2010-01-06 ) . It walks through every step needed to start restoration of the servers .
TECHNET – Replace a Server in Windows Essential Business Server
Please follow the steps carefully and pay attention to the details. Not every aspect of restoring an EBS management server is covered but the article gets the ball rolling. Additional guidance may be necessary as you go deeper into the EBS Installation Wizards themselves during re-install. In this particular case, the wizards worked very well with one exception… The Wizard Restore for the Management Server will eventually go looking for an authoritative time source in the domain, and because we’re restoring the Management Server, it will not find one. We discuss this through the rest of this post as a help to other pros working on this platform.
EBS Links to be aware of relating to restoration:
Change Installation Settings for Server Replacement
How to repair Windows Essential Business Server components using MMS.msi
Windows Essential Business Server Backup and Restore
How to Reinstall Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server in Essential Business Server
Update Rollup 1 for EBS 2008 and Updated Preparation and Planning Wizards are Released
EBS 2008 Management Restoration – the PDC Emulator Operations Master and Authoritative Time Source
The Essential Business Server Installation Wizard is designed to look for a Domain Controller holding the PDC Emulator Operations Master role and then look to it as the authoritative time source in the EBS domain. Unfortunately during our “RESTORATION” , the PDC Operations Master is literally the server we are restoring. Therefore… the wizards insistence on locating an authoritative time source cannot be met (yet).
The PDC Operations Master ( in Windows 2008 ) emulates the functions of a Primary Domain Controller PDC for pre-Windows 2000 client. Only one server in the domain performs this role and in an EBS environment, that server is the Management Server “by design”
Since during the restoration of the Management Server their is no PDC remaining (it has failed in our case), there are two errors that will occur while running the Restoration Wizards.
- in the stage where the Management Server is re-joined to the domain, the EBS Installation Wizard will fail when “Synchronizing time with domain”. Time synchronization fails because the authoritative time source is no longer there (… only true when restoring an EBS Management Server)
- when the PDC is eventually found (by making some changes to the second domain controller), the Messaging Server will become the PDC but will still not be seen as an Authoritative Time Source until the necessary changes are made to it’s registry. This sets W32time “on that system” as authoritative and ”Synchronizing time with domain” can then be accomplished.
When restoring a Management Server in EBS 2008, be prepared to make a few changes in advance.
in two steps:
1.) ”forcefully” transfer the PDC Operations Master role to the Messaging Server ( the EBS environments second domain controller)
2.) make the Messaging Server authoritative as the domains time source.
Forcefully Transfer PDC Operations Master Role to Messaging Server
The following knowledge base article ( Microsoft KB324801) describes How to view and transfer FSMO roles in Windows Server 2003 . While this article accurately describes the transfer of roles, it does not touch on some of the language used when the transfer is “forceful”. Since there is no Management Server acting as PDC , there is no PDC to respond to the transfer request, and therefore, a forceful transfer will be necessary. NOTE: A forceful transfer occurs when the Domain Controller requesting the transfer of the role ( in our case, the PDC Operations Master role ) cannot find the Domain Controller to which that role has been assigned .
So in preparation for understanding this in Restoration terms… when the EBS Installation Wizard of a Management Server reaches the following stage ( it will fail ):
- Management Server Installation (title bar)
- Progress of joining the domain (heading)
- Please wait while the Management server joins the domain (caption)
- Synchronizing time with domain (STAGE of Overall progress)
To accomplish transfer of the PDC Operations Master role from the Management Server to the Messaging Server, use the above proceedure ( How to view and transfer FSMO roles in Windows Server 2003 ). The language of the pop-up windows in a “forceful” transfer will be similar to the following (and I’m paraphrasing)
POP-UP WINDOWS
- “Are you sure you want to change the Operations Master?” [ OK ]
- “This computer is a non-replication partner. Do you want to continue with the transfer?” [ OK ]
POP-UP WINDOWS – AFTER FAILING TO MAKE CONTACT WITH THE PDC ROLE (because it’s not there to respond)
- “Under some circumstances a forced transfer can be achieved. Do you want to attempt a forced transfer?” [ OK ]
- “The operations master role was successfully transferred.” [ OK ]
Make the Messaging Server Authortative for Time Synchronization
To satisfy the Installation Wizard Time Synchronization request, the next step is to make the Messaging Server authoritative for W32time in the windows domain. Check out these two articles on how to do that.
Configuring the Windows Time Service by the veteran Mitch Tulloch
and TechNet – AD DS: The PDC emulator master in this forest should be configured to correctly synchronize time from a valid time source
Complete the Essential Business Server Installation Wizard and Restore the Management Server
Now that the Messaging Server can respond to the EBS Installation Wizard “Time Synchronization Request”, we click retry and the process moves forward. To finish installing the EBS 2008 Management Server, please follow the TechNet articles at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc512500(WS.10).aspx . This is the lengthiest part of the restoration and may require 3 or more hours with Updates. It is a good time to read up on the restoration of the Management Server data that will be restored once the EBS Management Server is up and running again.
Reversing the PDC and Authoritative Time Source Changes and Establishing the EBS 2008 Management Server as Authoritative
To return the EBS environment to it’s default state, it’s necesarry to return the PDC Operations Master role to the Management Server. You will note that this is not done automatically by the EBS Restpration process when restoring a management server to EBS. This must be manually achieved when once the Management Server is restored to an existing EBS domain.
Log on to the EBS 2008 Management Server
- GO TO Start | Run | type dsa.msc
- Right Click on Active Directory Users and Computers ( the top node in the navigation pane ) | navigate to All Tasks and click Operations Master
- Select that tab [ PDC ]
- Under the field that titled Operations master: observe the language – “To transfer the operations master role to the following computer, click Change.” and note the filed list the EBSMGMT.domain.local server.
- click the Change button
- at the “Are you sure you want to transfer the operations master role?” prompt, click Yes
- “The operations master role was successfully transfered.”
- note that you will see the EBSMGMT.domain.local server listed as the PDC Operations master
Log on to the EBS 2008 Messaging Server
- GO TO Start | Run | type dsa.msc
- Navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters\Type
- Double click the REG_SZ object Type and change the value to NT5DS
- Navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\AnnounceFlags
- Double click the REG_DWORD object AnnounceFlags and change the value to A
- ** change back any additional time setting adjustments you may have made
- GO TO Start | Run | type cmd
- at the command prompt type net stop w32time && net start w32time
- close your editors
Log on to the EBS 2008 Management Server
- GO TO Start | Run | type dsa.msc
- Navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Parameters\Type
- Double click the REG_SZ object Type and change the value to NTP
- Navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time\Config\AnnounceFlags
- Double click the REG_DWORD object AnnounceFlags and change the value to 5
- GO TO Start | Run | type cmd
- at the command prompt type net stop w32time && net start w32time
- close your editors
Begin the process of restoring your Management Server data from BACKUPS.
MANAGEMENT SERVER data to be restored
- Active Directory Domain Services logs
- Active Directory Domain Services database (NTDS.dit)
- Active Directory Domain Services SYSVOL file
- Microsoft SQL Server® database for System Center Essentials
- SQL Server database for Windows Server Update Services
- SQL Server database for Administration Console
EBS 2008 Backup and Restore Links
Good articles to be aware of in backing up and restoring EBS
Back Up Using Windows Essential Business Server Tools
Moving Data Files for Windows Essential Business Server
Solving AD Replication issues with EBS 2008 Planning and Preperation Wizard
Essential Business Server 2008 Blog
thank you…
WIGITAL Computing Pros serves computing and network infrastructure needs in Southern California. Thank you for reading.
Mark Raborn
WIGITAL