Archive for January, 2010
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