Chris Dalby untangles networks

Change of blog platform and address!!

2006-03-11T13:12:00.000Z

I have changed blog platform to presstopia, which is a free and Open Source .NET blog platform. I have been looking for a .NET blog platform for some time. The majority of them seem to cost money, which is not a bad thing, but presstopia offers control and the choise of Atom and RSS feeds.

My blog address is still http://www.yellowpark.net/cdalby, but the feed addresses have changed, so you'll need to update you blog alligators:

RSS: http://www.yellowpark.net/cdalby/feeds/rss.xml
Atom: http://www.yellowpark.net/cdalby/feeds/atom.xml

Its been a good but hard week

2006-03-11T00:42:00.000Z

This week has been a hard but good week. We have been very busy. But that is good. That's why we set-up in buisness - we felt we could do a good job, offer value for money and go the extra mile.

Tune in to our webcast – setting up Outlook for Hosted Exchange with Yellow Park.

2006-03-04T09:40:00.000Z

Microsoft Exchange provides integrated messaging and grants remote access to public folders for group discussions, group scheduling, shared calendars and document sharing. It offers you and your employees mobile, remote, and desktop e-mail access with state-of-the-art security and privacy. Allowing you to access your email using a wide range of options – from PC, laptop, mobile device or internet café.

Simply log on and receive access to your contacts, calendars and email completely synchronised between devices. To demonstrate the configuration settings needed, we are running a webcast on Friday 10th March at 3pm GMT. Simply email chris@yellowpark.net to register to attend this webcast. The webcast will be presented using Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2005.

Email is the new snail mail.

2006-02-24T17:54:00.000Z

Email is definately the new snailmail. I sent an email to someone the other day and appologised for the snail mail, as opposed to commenting on their blog, which is instant of course.

One day, all of us will be passively ego surfing. I don't just mean google alerts.

Email access using RPC Http

2006-02-18T17:33:00.000Z

I have spent quite a few days over the last week configuring RPC over Http. This allows users of Outlook 2003 to connect to Exchange Server 2003 simply using a HTTPs connection in order to get access to your company email, calendar, contacts etc while working away from the office. This means you longer need a VPN to access your corporate email using hosted exchange.

There are various ways to access your email. The majority of users will undoubtedly use a POP3 mailbox. This is not only the least secure method, but also means that you are missing out on loads of great functions. Hosted exchange means that you have access to a host of features like your address book, calendar, shared company address books etc. Plus, whether you check your email from your laptop, pda or office PC, you will aways have access to exactly the same content, ensuring all devices are synchronised.

Implementing RPC Http was quite a feat, and is not for the feint hearted. I'll be blogging how I did this in the next few days, as there were many steps needed to get this working and even more to troubleshoot.

Les Gites Condorcet

2006-02-18T10:32:00.000Z

Jerome has just put together a great logo for a website we are working on. Les Gites Condorcet, is a project underway by Tim Boldry. Located near Perpignan in the South of France, Les Gites Condorcet will be available for rent towards the end of 2006. Tim is currently probably up to his eyeballs in sand and cement working on completing the work. He is following the Gites de France standards which demands excellent accommodation and service.

I am really happy with this logo. To me it shouts holiday and I love the Catalan colours.

Live Meeting Quirks

2006-02-09T23:05:00.000Z

There are a few quirks that I have started noticing about Live Meeting. Predictably, firefox compatability issues. I can only hope that it was not a concious decision to build these in by design. In firefox, the meet now options seem to disappear.

There is a workaround for this. Install the IE Tab extension for firefox. Visit the firefox website to download.

Also, I can't seem to find a way of setting the administration website to work in UK date mode. Please tell me I have missed the setting, because this should be in the hands of the admin site owner.

A couple of smile raisers for Monday

2006-02-06T17:08:00.000Z

Here's a couple of links to 2 brilliant ideas. Both are video clips, wich are simple to achieve but made brilliant by the original genis idea:

Clip 1

And Brokeback to The Future:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfODSPIYwpQ

MSN Spaces is really ........................................... er.... slow.

2006-01-11T19:41:00.000Z

Come on Microsoft, MSN spaces is really slow. I kinda gave up my msn spaces last year because it was so slow. Having gone back to update it, because I am trying out Messeng 8.0 Beta, it has taken literlly hours to do a few clicks worth of work.

Can you really expect people to adopt both msn spaces and the complete integration that you are hoping for with Messenger8.0, spaces etc?

London

2006-01-09T22:58:00.000Z

This is my first blog for 2006, so i was hoping to make it a positive one.

Tonight I met a chap called Constantine. From Greece, he has lived in London for 3 years. He totally summed up how I have felt in London when I met him this evening.

When he arrived in London 3 years ago, it cost 70p for a bus ticket. Now it costs £1.50. Thats more than double in 3 years!

He went to a shop to buy some essentials, like washing powder and the checkout guy said £3.60. Constantine said "Can I have a receipt?", as he thought it expensive. So the guy typed £3.60 into the system and gave him the receipt. Well Constantine said, "Look, check the prices of the items." When the guy added up the items, he had over charged by at least £1. That doesn't sound like much, but on a low budget in London, that's alot.

If you don't watch it, they can grind you down. London is a great place.

Chateau Yellow Park

2005-12-20T22:41:00.000Z

If you read this blog and post a good comment, we'll mail you a bottle of our limited edition Chateau YellowPark Rose Wine.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Yellow Park.

By the way, this offer comes on a strictly while stocks last basis. And they are running out fast!

Orange SPV C600 Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone Review Part 1

2005-12-17T00:24:00.000Z

I have been given this phone for review, and quite honestly I don’t want to give it back.

Its got a great screen. Although kinda resembling the classic Nokia, this phone is sleeker and more stylish. With Windows Mobile 5 for Smartphone, it got a great operating system.

When you think Windows, you think nice wallpaper, icons and screensavers. Well this phone is exactly the same. The main functions of the phone are available to scroll over on the desktop. This allows you to get an instant snapshot of missed calls, text messages, outlook calendar etc. So in real terms, when synchronised with your desktop computer, this phone can tell you what your schedule is for the next day and keep you in-communicado 24/7.

Accessories in the Box

There’s nothing outstanding about the accessories in the box for the C600. Pretty standard stuff really and nothing special. Handsfree kit (wired variety), USB cable, mains charger and CD for installing the software on your PC.

There are a whole host of accessories that can be used with this device, because it has Bluetooth connectivity.

Windows Mobile 5

Initially Windows Mobile 5 was a bit clunky and hard to get used to. It has its own quirks like any OS. But after a couple of days, as usual, you find your way around. It’s a nice system, but seems a bit buggy and doesn’t always respond the way you expect it to. Roll on SP1! That said, I still think Windows Mobile 5 is the best system on a phone.

Synchronisation

Active Sync 4 is used to synchronise the majority of office documents between the phone and pc/laptop. This is great when you have 1 phone and a pc, but if you try and synchronise between a Smartphone, pda, home pc, laptop and office pc, you got a lot of synchronising going on! So plan your mobile communication policy.

Windows Mobile 5 and Messaging

When Microsoft released Service Pack 2 for Exchange 2003, they unleashed a whole host of features designed specially for Windows Mobile 5 Users. This allows easy connection to mail and security features like being able to remotely delete data if you loose your phone.

Negative Points

The most annoying thing about this phone is the centre joystick used to control scrolling around the menu functions. This has a multi-directional and click action which is about as useful as a handbrake on a canoe. I hear this is an ill advised hang-up from the C550. What this means is that when you scroll through the menu options and then try to select an option, you jump up and down the menu options randomly and can’t actually select anything that you want. This is really annoying and I can’t believe they’ve stuck with this system. Apart from that, please let me keep this phon

Live meeting 2005 is Live

2005-12-14T20:58:00.000Z

We are now actively selling Live Meeting. And wow, Live meeting just gets better and better. Especially when you start combining it with some of the other RTC elements.

For anyone that regularly needs to conduct meetings with people, for training or for special events, Live Meeting is a must.

We could simply not have done this without the help of many people along the way. Richard Abbott from Intercall has been an inspiration. I have never experienced such a structured, personal and thorough partner channel programme. He has put hours into our rollout programme and I am utterly stunned by the way they have helped us along the way - lookout McAffee, this beats a dumb 5% rebate programme!

Microsoft have also surpassed their tag as "The best Vendor Partner Programme". Again we have received personal attention from Neil Laver, Head of Sales & Marketing, Real Time Collaboration Group Microsoft UK. Its nice to know the big guys think of the little guys.

James Governor of Red Monk is a constant source of inspiration and we are lucky to have the insightful ear of one of the best analysts in the business.

If you want to exerience Live Metting, post a comment on this blog with your email, and I'll send you an invitation.

Batten down the hatches

2005-12-12T23:07:00.000Z

Yes, it's that time of year again. Prepare yourself through the rough ride that is Christmas. A great time of year and a wonderful break from work. But it always turns out to be a cash flow drought. We'll make it on the retail sales, but my sixth Christmas being my own boss is the same as the last 5.

PHP programmer neded

2005-12-05T09:58:00.000Z

We need to find a PHP programmer. If you can do PHP, drop me an email on chris@yellowpark.net. It would be handy if you know action scripting for Flash also.

Orange SPV C600 and SPV M5000 phones arrived

2005-11-30T18:41:00.000Z

SPV C600

Orange have very kindly delivered us a couple of phones to try out. We are trying out the SPV C600 pictured above and left.

They have also sent an SPV M5000, pictured below. These phones have the new Windows Mobile 5 operating system, so we will be putting both the phones and the OS through their paces over the next couple of weeks.

Watch this space as usual for the low down in the coming days.

SPV M 5000

Orange tell customers no upgrade to Windows Mobile 5

2005-11-29T21:43:00.000Z

Orange UK will not be offering existing owners of SPV devides an upgrade to the new Windows Mobile 5.

"..devices previously purchased e.g C500 cannot be s/w upgraded to Windows Mobile
Version 5."

Unfortunately, this means that anyone with an SPV phone or PDA running Windows Mobile 2003 will be unable to upgrade to WM5. Microsoft are only distributing licenses direct to hardware vendors, so it's not possible to do it yourself. You can only think that there should be an upgrade path for customers wishing to upgrade to Windows Mobile 5?

On a brighter note, this does mean that the SPV SPV C600 and SPV M5000 have now been released in the UK. And they do have Windows Mobile 5. Watch this space for a review of these devices as we put them through their paces and give you the low down on Windows Mobile 5.

For a list of vendors and devices swearing to upgrade to Windows Mobile 5, click here. This list will be updated over time. If your device can upgrade to Windows Mobile 5 and is not on the list, please leave a comment or email me at chris@yellowpark.net. Come on SPV, where are you?

Dirty Vans

2005-11-27T19:19:00.000Z

Dirty vans have always been the target of the opportunist. I must admit, I had to raise a smile the other week when I saw a white van with the following written into the dirt on the back:

No refugees left in this van overnight.

Live Meeting team monitor the blogosphere?

2005-11-24T20:57:00.000Z

I'd like to say thanks to Neil Laver of Microsoft for following up on my blog about Live Meeting. And WOW, blogging about things works. Getting a call from the Head of Sales & Marketing, Real Time Collaboration Group Microsoft UK is not bad.

And good for Neil, because Live Meeting is his train set. So if something's wrong, who better to fix it? Further more, I'm pleased to be able to provide constructive feedback for the benefit of Live Meeting and the Microsoft Partner Program in General.

This really does hammer home the power of blogging. Thanks to James Governor of Redmonk for banging on about blogs.

More importantly, I hope this means that Microsoft will simplify the delivery of Live Meeting, and make it easier to deliver to market through the existing partner structure.

Live Meeting Rocks and Sucks

2005-11-22T21:26:00.000Z

We are partners with Intercall Europe in order to deliver Live Meeting 2005 to the UK market. One point I would make, is that Microsoft in the UK have been unusually and surprisingly slow in helping us on this project. It seems to me that they have under-estimated the power of Microsoft Live Meeting and the ability of existing parners to sell this to a huge existing customer base. Hence, they have not arranged a suitable support structure for people like us on Live Meeting.

The reason I say this is because whenever I call Microsoft about resources for partners selling Live Meeting, I feel like a square peg trying to be stuffed down a round hole.

This is surprising, because I generally find Microsoft to be the best vendor in-terms of supporting partners and providing resources and collateral. While I realise that Microsoft officially only sells Live Meeting through 3 main telecoms partners in the UK, those same telecoms companies also have partner programmes for resellers selling Live Meeting and the associated telecommunications requirements. That is how we are currently selling the Microsoft Live Meeting service.

Personally, I think we are the best salespeople for this product. We are on the receiving end of technical webcasts, understand the associated technical requirements/limitations and can remove the "fear-factor" by simplifying the jargon.

Perhaps Microsoft should reconsider their approach to channel partners for this service. Dare I say, this should even be a new competency!

Microsoft will only issue a 64bit version of Exhange 12

2005-11-16T21:30:00.000Z

Microsoft will only issue a 64bit version of Exhange 12. True, and yes hard to believe. Or not, depending which side of the fence you sit on.

But indeed, it is true. At this moment, IT Directors and managers accross the globe are weeping when they add up the receipts of their now redundant Dual Xeon Exchange 2003 servers. Within 3 years of Exhange 2003 being released, not only will you need to pay more to upgrade your software, but you've also gotta complemetely change your harware architecture too.

When you consider that a Xeon power supply alone starts from £110, you know you're going to have quite a few high spec servers rendered useless within seconds. Welcome to the Cockroach Motel. You can check in, but you can't check out.

Wanadoo knocks out customer internet connections

2005-11-16T20:43:00.000Z

If there is one man under pressure in the IT industry at the moment, it is the IT manager that made the mistake of rolling out firmware updates to their customers wireless internet routers at 4.30pm last Friday afternoon.

What this meant is that customers lost their internet connection. If they rebooted their router while this was happening, this corrupted the firmware of the router, rendering the customer without internet access and requiring wanadoo to send a disk to refresh the sytem of the wireless router. Customers calling Wanadoo technical support were greeted with a recorded message saying "We are updating firmware on our wireless routers, please do not turn off your router while this is happening" - er yeah, thanks for the advance warning.

As everyone knows, if you loose your internet connection, probably the first quick fix is to reboot the router. You do not usually call the technical support line to check for recorded messages. If you were unlucky enough to reboot while the updates were happening, your router would be rendered useless, with no internet access.

I can only put this down to a "grand faux pas" on behalf of the IT guy that thought he was deploying the firmware updates to his test lab. Because if any IT Director thinks that its a good idea to carry out maintenance at 4.30 on a Friday afternoon, then they deserve the Spanish archer that is El Bow.

I can only imagine the number of customers rendered without internet access. The cost from sending out flash disks and the increased burden on technical support.

Note to vendor - I'm very, very satisfied, OK.

2005-10-27T20:06:00.000Z

It feels to me as though evey major vendor is calling me for a satisfaction survey right now. Let me categorically tell you right now, so we can save you the expense of the market reasearch agency, I am very happy, OK.

I think I'm going to start grading the day by the number of satisfaction survey calls I receive. Well, today was a number 2!

Can you please start listening to customers when you are selling to them and concentrate on getting the order correct or the subscription connected/cancelled when asked. Half hearted hollow satisfaction surveys don't achieve any reality of feedback, especially when questions are loaded.

If the same effort was spent dealing with the customer at the point of sale, we would all be alot happier and you would know about it!

Live Meeting Rocks!!!!

2005-10-24T23:26:00.000Z

I've really been getting into webcasts recently on Microsoft TechNet. These webcasts are poduced using Microsoft Live Meeting 2005. Live Meeting is a great product allowing you to deliver live training sessions or conferences direct to your customers or staff.

The meetings are live broadcasts consisting of a presenter running through a PowerPoint deck and combining this with a series of demos. Basically you can show anything on your PC : word docs, websites, audio, live vocal, images etc.

To join the meeting, delegates simply click a link contained in an email and log-on to the webcast. There is also interaction between the presenter(s) and delegates. This can be controlled as much or as little as desired.

As a delegate, you get a seating plan, so you can really feel how many people are tuned-in. You also get a feedback-to-presenter tool. This allows the delegates to vote or give opinions on topics being covered. Plus you get a Q and A tool, allowing you to submit questions to the presenter(s).

The power to be able to deliver direct to the delegate, without the need for travel and time away from the office is unbelievable. This presents an affordable and viable option for any company to give presentations direct to decision makers, without the need of a trip to Dubai.

It also presents an interesting "add-on" value when selling the product. Live Meeting can be used to transmit the message to customers, partners, sales staff, outlets, employees and internal customers.

If you can't contain yourself, and wish to view a webcast about live meeting, I have uploaded a Windows Media Player file to our sever below:
http://www.yellowpark.net/Livemeeting/downloadLMM.wmv

Bear in mind that the Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2005 client interface is far more textural and detailed than what you see in Windows Media Player.

To view a webcast, visit the Microsoft Live Meeting homepage here.

Microsoft Office Live Meeting Advert

2005-10-22T11:20:00.000Z

This a great advert for Live Meeting. Check out the advert here.

New Mobile messaging features released soon for Windows Mobile Devices

2005-10-20T23:01:00.000Z

Microsoft have released an update to their email server, Exchange 2003. “How will this affect my mobile world?” many people might be asking. Well, if you have a Windows Mobile Device and your email service provider uses an Exchange 2003 server, big changes are about to happen.

What is SP2?
The update is being rolled out in the form of Exchange 2003 Service Pack 2. SP2 boasts huge improvements in enabling mobile e-mail, antispam protection, new security features, and more. SP2 is an update that enhances the Exchange Server 2003 system by adding:

Mobile email improvements
Security improvements
Advanced mailbox improvements.

Probably the most important change, is the new seamless Direct Push Technology e-mail experience. This means that when you receive a new email, the message will be pushed down to the mailbox on your mobile device, the same way that a text message is.

This is done via a HTTP connection, maintained by the device, to push new e-mail, calendar, contact, and task notifications to the device. As Direct Push uses HTTP(s), it works over GPRS as well as WIFI networks.

There are also significant security improvements. For instance, if you loose your device, you can do a remote wipe of data by doing a reset over the Web. You can also make a setting to wipe the device after a number of failed pin attempts.

To take advantage of all these features, you need a Windows Mobile 5 device, and there is only one on the market at the time of going to press. Plus you need to have the Windows Mobile 5.0 Messaging and Security Feature Pack installed. This will be released shortly.

So while we dream of messaging eutopia without a blackberry, we continue to wait with baited breath until most of this stuff is released in November 2005.

MICROSOFT RELEASES 9 SECURITY BULLETINS

2005-10-12T22:12:00.000Z

You got off easy last month, with no security bulletins released on Patch Tuesday, but it's a different story for October.

Microsoft on Tuesday released nine security bulletins, three of them rated "critical."
http://rcpmag.com/news/article.aspx?editorialsid=6979

Service Providers - its just service based economics

2005-10-11T22:40:00.000Z

Well I think the majority of service providers have got it sewen up. We all know that direct debits are a great way of ensuring client retention is as easy as possible. It is easier for a client to remain signed up than cancel. Simple.

But it seems that the majority of service providers also have a "Good till dead" policy. Meaning that when you cancel your subscription, they "forget" to cancel the service.

As a customer and regular admin person responsible for dealing with internet connections, I can safely say that the majority of sevice providers follow this two pronged approach. Seems like a great policy and the zenith of service based economics:

If you can't keep 'em with the direct debit, forget to stop the service when the account is cancelled.

Keep up the good work boys.

google maps

2005-10-03T00:14:00.000Z

If you haven't seen http://maps.google.com yet, i would suggest taking a look. You can zoom into our office here.

Orange SPV M2000

2005-09-27T15:20:00.000Z

Orange SPV M2000
Originally uploaded by Yellow Park.

Orange SPV M2000 Windows Mobile Review

2005-09-27T15:13:00.000Z

“The SPV M2000's WiFi technology allows you to drop into a HotSpot location and communicate with your corporate network. It has a touch-sensitive screen and a built-in camera for Video and Photo Messaging.”

When I first heard about the Orange SPV M2000 phone, I simply had to get my hands on one. The specification promises big things so I was keen to actually use one properly and see for myself.

When it first arrived I was eager to get up and running. The box contained a wealth of goodies, including a spare battery, docking station for PC or mains charging, hands-free kit, leather case and spare stylus. Turning it on held the same feeling of expectation and fear that you get when you switch on a new laptop for the first time.

Connectivity on the move

The SPVM2000 is more like a laptop than a phone, with a 400Mhz Intel processor, 128Mb of memory and a whole host of programmes and accessories, making connectivity a cinch. You can connect to wireless, GPRS, Bluetooth, USB and Infra Red networks.

The device is controlled using a touch-screen and stylus, a slide-out mini keyboard and quick launch buttons for opening mail and contacts, etc. There are a few different options for typing and writing using the stylus, and they are all pretty good.

The operating system is Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition, which has the feel of Windows XP mixed with Windows 3.11. You get a feeling of déjà vu when looking around the system for the first time. Although it feels very familiar, it is somehow different. However, it is very easy to pick up, to the point where you find yourself trying to stab your laptop screen with your stylus after a couple of hours.

One of the greatest features of this phone is whenever you walk past a wireless network, the M2000 pops up a connect wizard and tries to connect to the network. What more could you ask for when looking for a hotspot?

I was generally very impressed with the internet and email available from the device. The M2000 comes preinstalled with Pocket Word, Excel, Internet Explorer and Outlook. Use Pocket Outlook to check your email using wireless or GPRS. Web browsing is made easy using Pocket Internet Explorer and there is also a flash plug-in. Although you are limited by the size of the screen, many websites have specially sized pages for people browsing on a PDA (e.g. http://www.google.com/pda) and I can only see this increasing with time

Synchronisation

Synchronisation between the M2000 and a PC can be done using the docking station or a USB cable. This is a great feature and uses a program called Microsoft ActiveSync. You can synchronise contacts, mail, calendar, appointments, tasks, etc. within seconds. All your phone numbers are synchronised with outlook, meaning you’ll never have to worry about losing your SIM card again.

Use ActiveSync to install programmes onto the M2000 from your PC. There are no limitations on installing programs apart from memory, and this can be upgraded easily using an SD card allowing for more than enough room. There are plenty of programs around, e.g. Skype, MSN Messenger, Antivirus, Command Prompt, Weather Forecasters … Check out the Windows Mobile Application Catalog for a list of approved applications. Hurry up, Firefox!

You can also customise the device easily. There are plenty of themes available for download, so you can change the look and feel of your menus and tool bars.

For Network Administrators

Whether you want to connect to your computer at home or administer a server in the office, there is no problem using the M2000, as again it is preinstalled with terminal services. For a network administrator relying on Microsoft systems, this feature alone makes the M2000 a must-have. I have been using the Terminal Services client to connect to our servers over wireless and am very impressed with the results. With GPRS it is initially slower, but the "thin client" philosophy of terminal services means it’s still pretty darn good. Sure the screen is small, but there are extra navigation buttons making it OK when you get used to it

There is also a range of tools available for administrators including a command prompt, meaning simple network diagnostics can be carried out using wireless without the need for a laptop or PC.

Things I don’t like

The device itself is powered by two batteries, a main one and a backup. The backup battery is needed to maintain data. If this runs out, you lose everything. The manual says that the backup battery lasts for 72 hours when fully charged. However, I removed the battery one evening and by morning the system had reset to factory settings when I powered up. I cannot tell you how helpless and annoyed I felt. All my settings, contacts, calendar and programs gone!

And this is the main thing I don’t like about the M2000 - you can’t turn it off. Really, you can’t turn it off – you lose everything, remember. What happens if you are running low on battery power and won’t get the chance to charge your phone the next day? Well I suppose that’s what the spare battery and charger is for, but I really don’t like the idea of sleeping with all those connectivity waves going on around me.

OK, effectively you can turn the phone off by switching to “Flight Mode”. This cuts out all connectivity and stops any calls coming in. Nice idea, but it still doesn’t save on battery power.
Having used this device for the last two weeks, I am not so sure I would want it as my only mobile phone. It has some great uses and features so I couldn’t possibly live without it now. It doesn't cost much either. But there’s something nice about having a plain old phone that turns off. Makes you wonder what will happen to the Ipaq.
Check out the orange website for more details at http://www.orange.co.uk.

The Orange SPV M2000 phone is simply stunning.

VisualStudio .NET has detected that the specified web server is not running ASP.NET version 1.1.

2005-09-26T19:24:00.000Z

When you install Visual Studio.NET for the first time and try to open a web project, you get the following error message:

VisualStudio .NET has detected that the specified web server is not running ASP.NET version 1.1. You will be unable to run ASP.NET web applications or services.

This is easily solved:-

Open the Visual Studio.NET Command Prompt.
Type "aspnet_regiis -i" and press enter.

Here is the output :-
c:\>aspnet_regiis -iStart installing ASP.NET (1.1.4322.0).
Finished installing ASP.NET (1.1.4322.0).

And that is it.

Ford Focus goes bluetooth

2005-09-20T21:53:00.000Z

I was especially pleased to hear that the new Ford Focus has decided to include bluetooth so you can connect your phone up easily. It has always annoyed me how you have never easily been able to get a "line-in" to your car stereo. Thank you for seeing sense.

Ebay and Paypal fees calculator

2005-09-20T21:11:00.000Z

We have developed a free tool for calculating ebay and paypal fees. Simply enter the sale price, and the calculator shows how much the fees will be from both ebay and paypal. Certainly helps to give you a quick check when you are selling your stuff on ebay, or receiving and making payments on paypal.

The calculator works bot in US$ and GB£. Get the tool here.

Email configuration ideas for multiple pc/device users

2005-09-15T20:17:00.000Z

I came accross an excellent article which covers the different methods avilable for checking email using an email client like Outlook. The article tends towards Windows Mobile devices, but it appraises the pros and cons of the different methods for different scenarios. e.g. best way to have email on your laptop, PC and PDA at the same time.

Although the majority of users probably stick to POP3 mailboxes, we also offer users the ability to check email via IMAP4 or hosted Exchange. POP3 can be clunky. And while its nice to have a complete copy of your email on one PC, its good to know you have a few copies on a few seperate systems. So in the event of corruption or data loss, there's always a backup.

The following article goes into great depth of the different methods available:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/articles/strategy.mspx

Windows Small Business Server Documentation

2005-09-12T21:17:00.000Z

Workaround: WSUS fails to install on Windows SBS computers

There is a known issue if you are trying to install without success WSUS 2.0 on a computer running Windows SBS 2003.

Read the work around here.

Windows Mobile Themes

2005-09-11T13:36:00.000Z

As with customising the look of your pc, the same can be done for your Windows Mobile device. Download a selection of themes from Microsoft and then install the theme to change the skin of your device.

For help installing the themes read personalising your device by Suzanne Ross.

Virtual Keyboard

2005-09-10T21:32:00.000Z

Having recived this lovely Windows Pocket PC SPV M2000, I have spent quite a bit of time installing programmes and testing the capabilities. I have to say I am very impressed.

There are few limitations that I can find, apart from the screensize and keyboard. But it looks like there are bluetooth add-ons to solve those problems.

One such idea is a virtual keyboard. Saves carrying extra kit.

http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com/Products.asp

Also, a rather nice looking folding keyboard. http://www.thinkoutside.com/stowawayir_product.html

Can anyone give me one please?

Orange SPV M2000 Review

2005-09-10T16:24:00.000Z

Orange SPV M2000
Originally uploaded by Yellow Park.

We have started testing the Orange SPV M2000 phone out and it is simply stunning. We are increasingly getting asked for advice regarding the type of mobile/cell phone to use to check email etc. Well folkes, this is more like a laptop on the move, with a whole host of programmes and accessories, making connectivity a sinch. You can connect to wireless, GPRS, bluetooth and Infra Red networks.

There are no limitations on installing programmes, and there's plenty of programmes around. e.g. Skype, MSN Messenger, Antivirus, Command Prompt. Checkout the Windows Mobile Application Catalog for a list of approved applications. We have been using the Terminal Services client to connect to our servers over wireless and are very impressed with the results. With GPRS it is initially slower, but the "thin client" philosophy of terminal services means its still pretty darn good.

The Operating System is Windows Mobile 2003 Second Edition which has the feel of Windows XP mixed with Windows 3.11.

Check out the orange website for more details. They don't cost much either. Makes you wonder what will hapen to the Ipaq.

Windows Vista available for download

2005-08-03T21:03:00.000Z

Windows Vista is now available for download for msdn subscribers. Prior to the launch, Microsoft announced that Longhorn will be known as Windows Vista. When I went to download Vista, curiously it was referred to as Windows Longhorn Professional Edition Beta 1 (Windows Vista). Well that's cleared that one up then!

As we speak, my copy is being downloaded and I am looking forward to getting my hands on it. Having said that, there's Visual Studio.Net 2005 to look at, not to mention SQL Server 2005, .NET framework 2...... All promising hours of configuration hell.

There is also a lovely homepage for Vista. Go get it ...

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.mspx

I can sleep easy tonight

2005-08-02T16:39:00.000Z

The country is a lot safer now following my bag search on the tube today. I think my blonde skin-head and pasty white complexion make me look like a stereotypical terrorist. I will sleep allot safer tonight knowing that the police are targeting likely looking terrorists.

My new blog space!!

2005-07-31T13:14:00.000Z

Well thanks for finding me! As you can see, I have changed my blog provider to http://www.blogger.com, which allows me to combine my flickr photos and links with my blog.

Hope you enoy this new blog.

tour de france

2005-07-31T10:34:00.000Z

tour de france
Originally uploaded by Yellow Park.

On the day the bombs went off near our ofice in London, I was in Nancy trying to catch the tour de france.

All one word

2005-07-30T12:18:00.000Z

Why do people spell their email addresses and say "all one word". Like you've ever heard of a space in an email address.

People seem to think that they must explain to the address taker that their email address does in fact not have a space between two words.

I did a search on Wikipedia.org and turned up a blank.

Windows Vista

2005-07-26T12:47:00.000Z

The Microsoft Gravy Train continues at full steam ahead with the arrival of the new Operating System to replace XP.

Windows Vista is the name, which replaces the Longhorn codename used by Microsoft throughout development.

A Beta version will be available from 3 August. Watch this space for feedback, as we will be trying this out as soon as we can get our hands on it.

Anyone interested in checking it out should visit the Vista page on the microsoft website:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/default.mspx

Microsoft Technical Support - doh

2005-07-18T12:46:00.000Z

I don't like using this blog as a rant area, but today I am making an exception. We are putting together an Active/Passive cluster for our exchange server and have found documentation available for this to be sparse and conflicting. We haven't used any of our yearly Microsoft Technical Support pack, so today I thought I'd give it a go.

BIG MISTAKE

We basically want to check the SCSI configuration required for both servers in this set-up, which on the face of it, is not a difficult question to ask. So we call the Technical Support line at Microsoft, as we get a few free calls a year because we are Microsoft Certified Partners.

I explain what we are trying to check and the support guy tells us "You need to pay for a consultant". I was amazed. But in fact it gets worse. I receive a rambled excuse that he's not on-site, so he can't advise us on that, and we should check white papers.

Any suggestions for the white papers, I ask - "No you have to find those yourself".

I shudder to think how non Microsoft Certified Partners are treated. The guy seemed like he was having a bad day and couldn't be bothered. It was a simple question, all we wanted was a simple answer, not a drawn out excuse why that information couldn't be given to us.

Let me explain one thing Microsoft, dumb and cockey responses like this are not why we subscribed to the Microsoft Certified Partner Programme. On the positive side for Microsoft, they'll be making a saving, because we won't be calling the support line again.

One other thing Microsoft, rather than paying for a consultant, we will be paying for Merak Mailserver instead.

I am OK

2005-07-11T12:46:00.000Z

My office is in Algate East in London, so when the terrible events of last thursday happened, alot of people were getting in touch.

Thankfully I was no where near London when the bombs went off. I was actually in France trying to beat Lance Armstrong to the Nancy finish line on the Tour de France. We made it with about an hour before they came through and managed to see the quick fly by.

But it was really odd to be away from London when all that was going on. James from our office wrote a piece which really summed it up well.

never turn right when you get on a plane ..

2005-06-22T12:45:00.000Z

This brings a whole new meaning to not turning right when you get on a plane. Simply a great idea. I am looking forward to air taxis.

http://www.release1-0.com/freshproduce/newideas_aerospace.cfm

From someone that spends upto 4 hours a day travelling to the office, this looks like it will be a breath of fresh air, and opens up new acceptable living distances from the office.
It certainly beats the congestion charge. And the new road tax designed to get you out of the car and onto public transport. And - get this - the new "peak" tax for rail travel to discourage people from travelling peak times on the train. The worlds gone mad.

All we need are mini C130 hercules, with enough room for your French car, (exempt from speeding fines, parking fines, congestion charge, and the new road tax), and then living in Europe and commuting to city airport for London is not a bad prospect.

here we go again

2005-06-21T12:44:00.000Z

Thanks to MrGovernor once more for this. I must say that it raised a smile.

AMD roadmap

2005-06-20T12:44:00.000Z

Clearly I have been neglecting my blogging responsibilities. However, straight back into Geek talk with details from AMD:

AMD announce major socket transition from Socket A to Socket 754 pin

AMD has recently announced that Socket A processors (Sempron) will become end of life during this quarter and no further shipments will be made from AMD on these products after mid June. The replacement product will be the Socket 754 Sempron. Please ensure that you are working with this roadmap to transition your builds from Socket A to Socket 754 during this timescale and that you have taken sufficient stock of any Socket A product to smooth this transition.To assist the market in a quick transition AMD recently moved the price down on their 754 pin products in line with the Socket A.

So pip pip and hooray, for cheaper gear.

doh

2005-06-01T12:43:00.000Z

I can only appologise for my distinct lack of blogging over the last few weeks. I can only put this down to replacing every wall and ceiling on the ground floor of my house, including a complete new kitchen, along with having the in-laws to stay for a month. Not the best recipe for working from home at night and weekends. So as you can imagine, I have been unable to blog.

As James Governor regularly says, there are 3 things to remember about blogs: linkation, linkation, linkation.

Parent Paths option is disabled in IIS 6.0

2005-04-01T12:42:00.000Z

By default, the Parent Paths option is enabled in IIS 5.0, but it is disabled by default in IIS 6.0
If you are upgrading from IIS 5 to IIS 6, you might find that certain pages are displaying correctly.

If your Web site or application uses relative parent paths in an include statement they will not work by default in IIS6.Relative parent paths in include statements use the following form:

The best solution to the problem is to use absolute virtual paths from the root of the Web site instead of relative paths.Example:

However, it is possible to allow Parent Paths. This is simply done by the following steps:

1. Open IIS and locate the website that contains the asp application.
2. Right click the website and click properties.
3. Select the home directory tab and then click Configuration.
4. Click the options tab and then select the Enable Parent Paths check box.
5. Click OK twice to confirm the changes.

For more details, take a look at the following Microsoft article:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;332117

MOM 2005 article

2005-03-29T12:41:00.000Z

I recently contributed towards an article on Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 for Redmond mag. http://redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?EditorialsID=475

Regular readers of my blog will have read the complete article here.

Redmondmag.com is a wealth of information for Microsoft technologies.

Not bad Allied Telesyn

2005-03-23T12:41:00.000Z

I have posted a few blogs ranting and raving about various companies (not as many as I should have). But when service it good, it should be raved about more.
UPS - you hit the top spot for service again. Allied Telesyn, you hit third behind sonicwall, as you only managed to persuade UPS to arrive after 2 hours, insetad of 20 minutes like Sonicwall did.

When I worked for Pizza Hut UK as a waiter and pizza maker they had loads of corporate messages all over the staff area. One has stuck with me for ages:
"A happy customer on average will tell 7 people. An unhappy customer tells 20 people and doesn't come back."

It really is the case that bad work is more talked about than good. A friend of mine called a bar the other day and asked if they "by any chance had found a scarf left the other night?" The sound of surpirse when they said yes - we get so used to bad service and people stealing things nowadays.

So well done Allied Telesyn. But most of all, well done UPS for doing the job yet again.

10 Spam programmes reviewed

2005-03-11T12:40:00.000Z

Spam is a pain for everyone. Here is an excellent article reviewing 10 of the spam programmes currently available on the market.

http://redmondmag.com/features/article.asp?EditorialsID=466

Hard drive reliability

2005-03-10T12:39:00.000Z

Over the last few years I have used literally hundreds of hard drives on numerous systems, both for clients, work and for myself. Hard drives are usually the forgotten soldier, beavering away all the time and doing work behind the scenes. Its only when they go wrong that people realise they exist. Nowadays, hard drives and storage in general is so cheap that most people can impress their friends and boast the largest capacity.

The reason I am going on about this is because I serviced a PC for a client today. The computer would POST (the white text displaying specs when you start the system), but then it just looped in a continuous cycle of resetting itself. So it would not start.

Well blow me if it wasn't a Maxtor (Again!). It's an on-going joke with my partner and I about Maxtor. Whenever we see a hard drive with Maxtor written on it, we know we have got problems. Out of all the hard drives I have used, I can honestly say, that virtually all the problems I have had with hard drives turn out to be a Maxtor.

When we put an order into our distributor today, they offered Maxtor 80GB as they had run out of 40GB Western Digital. I said "Don't swear at me.", and explained my experiences with maxtor. Interestingly they told me that they ' receive more Maxtor returns than any other hard drive manufacturer. However, Maxtor are the best seller.'

I am not surprised by this. Maxtor, in my experince, are a temperamental animal, quite similar to an 80's Conservative politician. Prone to corruption, a failure in office and they get right up your nose.

I swear by Western Digital who have never let me down, have a 3 year warranty and they look far sexier.

No Microsoft security bulletins Planned for March

2005-03-08T12:39:00.000Z

Microsoft is not planning to release any security bulletins for the month of March. This means that "Patch Tuesday" (2nd Tuesday in the month when security bulletins are released) will be alot slower or non existent.

There were 12 security bulletins in February, so I can only guess that most of the department went on holiday for some well earnt rest. Or there were no significant security risks identified?

Nameserver resource

2005-02-25T12:38:00.000Z

Here is a great resource for creating and maintaining DNS name servers.

http://www.menandmice.com/9000/9310_DNS_Corner_Questions.html

Windows Server 2003 SP1 Hits RC2 Stage

2005-02-10T12:37:00.000Z

Windows Server 2003 SP1 Hits RC2 StageMicrosoft posted second release candidates on Wednesday night forWindows Server 2003 Service Pack 1, Windows Server 2003 x64Edition and Windows XP Professional x64 Edition.

By Scott Bekkerhttp://entmag.com/news/article.asp?EditorialsID=6563

Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 review from the small guy on the ground

2005-02-10T12:36:00.000Z

It was with great relief that I stumbled across MOM 2005. I had seen the daily reports produced by SBS 2003 and knew that I needed similar reporting, but more detailed and specific, on our other servers.

We have an increasingly growing network comprising essential servers that must remain online at all times. Each server has different monitoring needs depending upon the job that it is doing. E.g. web, mail, dns or database server etc.

After reading the reviews, I was keen to get up and running fast. This didn’t really turn out to be the case. MOM is a complex monitoring system and so a reasonable amount of reading is really necessary before installation. On the plus side, there is a mass of documentation on MOM 2005 from Microsoft and so the initial installation happened over a weekend after reading about 5 manuals.

MOM works on the basis of having a monitoring server, with each client computer having a Client Agent installed. I quickly realised that MOM 2005 was massively dependant upon other Microsoft software products. The data is stored in SQL server and SQL Reporting Services is used also. Depending upon the size of the network being monitored, this can be on set-up on one server, or more servers to spread the load. Oh, and you need IIS and the .Net framework.

I installed the Management Server and all essential services on a spare server, so I was able to pretty much do what I wanted within the confines of the domain. After the Management Server was installed, the installation of the Client Agent on a member server was relatively straight forward. The Client Agent can install automatically after a few clicks. However, as with all things, there are a few ports to open on firewalls to allow for communication between essential ports.

Once this initial installation of server and agent has been done, it is necessary to configure the monitoring and alerts. When you install MOM, you get 2 new MMCs. The Administrator Console and the Operator Console. All MOM configuration is done through the Administrator Console. The Operator Console is used to view the alerts and logs generated by MOM. The Operator Console can be customised to the needs of different types of administrators or users. So this really does follow the delegation of permissions concept. Even down to the point of being a ticketing system to log service requests, either by clients or staff.

Management packs are used to apply template style monitoring to a specific server role. So if you have an Exchange Server, then apply the Exchange management pack and follow the guidelines from the documentation. Continue this until each management pack for each type of server role has been applied. This will roll out a complete set of monitoring and alert settings for each server on the network which reports back to the Management Server and alerts the appropriate staff of the appropriate alert or warning etc.
The reality of the configuration of MOM 2005 involves a lot of head scratching and reading to really understand the mechanics of the monitoring and alert processes. This clunky installation and configuration is the only downside for me.

Although we have by no way explored the extent to which MOM 2005 can be used, we have been extremely impressed by its monitoring scope and power. We have not had time to continue configuring as much as we would have liked. However, even so, it has already helped us so much.

I have been particularly impressed with the way that you have a centralised location to search through log files when solving a service failure, or warning. This has enabled us to resolve emergencies after being emailed details of the critical warning or failure.
MOM 2005 monitoring picks out stuff you would never really check, or possibly find. This does lend itself to a proactive and research type approach to problem solving, helping to pre-empt problems and avoid failures. It also leads to a great deal of staring at a screen reading logs.

During the continued configuration, the amount of “bogus” alerts like a webpage not being found, makes your network appear like it is on meltdown. Although this is annoying, it helps to tick off the list of configuration changes needed to configure the network and MOM.

There are a lot of fundamentals needed before a proper grasp of configuring can be made. Plus there’s the reporting power provided by SQL Server Reporting Services to tackle.
In the future, we are keen to integrate MOM 2005 with text message alerts, so we can receive text message alerts as well as email alerts.

Do not underestimate the power of MOM 2005 or the effort required to install, configure and maintain it. But it is one hell of a tool!

SBS Getting started guide

2005-02-09T12:35:00.001Z

We have been working with SBS 2003 for a few months now and, to be honest, we think it is really good. There are some great features. I came accross this article from Microsoft which highlights the main points needed to get started. It really is a point and click installation with loads of pre-configured Group Policies and settings which make both setting up and administering a real breeze. Check the article out below.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sbs/2003/plan/gsg/appx_d.mspx

A great article on wireless

2005-02-09T12:35:00.000Z

Here's a link to a great article on Wireless Hotspots. It highlights some interesting WIFI connection sniffers and tools etc. Plus a few tips and tricks.

http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness/issues/technology/broadband_mobility/wi_fi_on_the_road_4_tips_for_hitting

There's users and there's users.

2005-02-07T12:34:00.000Z

I've been taking a few service calls recently and I sometimes amaze myself just what can be fixed on the phone. it is often not as easy as that. There are a few basics that any user can be taught to help out. I wrote a whole article on keyboard shortcuts, so I'm going to post that in our forum http://forum.yellowpark.net. Please feel free to circulate to any users, in the hope that it makes our lives easier.

Client excuses

2005-02-03T12:34:00.000Z

A client appologised to me today for not sending some stuff to me. They said they were editing Colonel Gadaffis' book.

How to enable Windows 98 clients to logon to Windows 2003 based Domains

2005-02-03T12:33:00.000Z

There is loads of conflicting information regarding configuring Windows 98 clients to join a 2003 domain. This document from Microsoft is a great example of conflicting information.

If you follow this document, you are advised to install the Active Directory Client Extensions for Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0. Then make a couple of registry changes and voila.
The reality is different. We followed the Microsoft instructions to the letter and were unable to join the domain with the Windows 98 client machine. Every time we tried to log onto the domain, we had an error stating Incorrect password or parameter.

Here's the basics of configuring Windows 98 to join a domain. Right click Network Neighbourhood and click properties. Then select Client For Microsoft Networks and click the properties button. Tick the "Log on to Windows NT Domain" and enter the domain name in the "Windows NT Domain" box - note you do not need to enter the .com or .local extension for the domain name.

We found you were then able to log onto the domain without any of the registry changes or AD Client extensions as recommended. In fact, when we had the AD client extensions installed and with the registry changes, we were unable to logon. Work that one out!

You will find that the computer is not added into the Computers OU. So you might want to add that manually.

During logon, a logon script tries to execute and doesn't. We will be continuing to test out the windows 98 and SBS 2003 set-up and making changes over the next few weeks. We will also be testing out System Policies for W98. I will blog all findings as usuall. Watch this space.

My mates cartoon streaming on our server

2005-02-03T12:32:00.000Z

Here's a link to a cartoon that a good friend of mine is making. Put this address into Windows Media Services.

mms://demo.yellowpark.net/Kingsland

Windows Media Services 9

2005-02-02T12:32:00.000Z

Windows Media Services 9 is a great "free" component of Windows 2003 server (not available with web edition). Install it through add/remove windows programmes and you will be streaming video and audio in minutes - well in reality, that does depend upon the complexity of your network and making sure you open the right ports on your firewall(s). You will need the following ports mapping in to your firewall to allow Windows Media Services to work correctly:

In: TCP 1755, UDP 1755, UDP 5005, TCP 554 (quicktime)
Out: UDP 1024 - 5000

There are loads of resources for Windows Media Services 9. We have barely scratched the surface so far. There are developer kits available for download. Just get on Uncle Bills site and search.

One thing we do need to work on is cross browser compatibility. Again, we'll blog any findings on this.

San Fran Rocks

2005-02-02T12:31:00.000Z

Even though our resident analyst is out of town, it still feels as though he is with us. Reading about the San Francisco escapade certainly raises a smile.

The office is much quiter - much quieter. In fact, I'm wondering what music we will be playing this Friday afternoon. Nu Yorican Soul will not sound the same. And all this with a distinct lack of literature to read. Come back James, all is forgiven.

Norton AntiSpam 2005 Not recommended

2005-01-31T12:30:00.000Z

I have been using Norton Antivirus products for many years now, and they are usually pretty good. But I have had a major issues with when trying to install Norton AntiSpam 2005. Especially with windows 98.

Because of this, I would recommend not using Norton AntiSpam. It seems this is a widespread issue. Normally resulting in the users computer freezing up. I will blog any fixes when I find any. However, the worrying part is not even a mention or aknowledgement by Norton on their website or knowledge base. Yet thousands of moaning customers throughout the internet community.

Windows symphony

2005-01-26T12:30:00.000Z

This is great. An excellent use of flash and windows sounds.

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/noises.php

What is going on Cisco?

2005-01-21T12:29:00.000Z

What is going on Cisco? I am now day 12 after reporting a faulty firewall on a support package, and still a replacement is not organised.

Am I wrong in thinking that a faulty firewall is a grade 1 network emergency? System down. Security barriers off. Open source access. Remind me what Cisco specialises in? Oh yes, security.

Its at times like these I have fond thoughts of the great experiences we have with Sonicwall. Once we found a fault on a sonicwall firewall. We lodged the complaint at 5pm. 9am the following morning, UPS delivered a replacement. Later we called to arrange collection of the faulty unit. 20 minutes later, the man in brown was buzzing our door. HOORAY! That is everything you want from the manufacturer of the most important piece of network kit.
Wise up Cisco. Customers need to be looked after.

MailBasketMD installation failed.

2005-01-07T12:28:00.000Z

Exchange 2003 does not come with a mehod of creating catch-all mailboxes. Unbelievable I know. However, for some reason, Microsoft have overlooked this functionality. There are various free scripts available online to do this. However we came accross a great tool called MailbasketMD which has a GUI, thus enabling a more userfriendly was of controlling catch-all mailboxes for Exchange 200/2003: http://www.turbogeeks.com/products/mailbasketmd.asp
We tried to install and ran into problems.

MailBasketMD is an ActiveX DLL that runs as a COM+ application. It therefore relies on the service Distributed Transaction Coordinator in order to run. We basically needed to start this service in order to get it working.

Startng this service was a seperate troubleshooting issue, details can be found here.

Distributed Transaction Coordinator failed to start ....

2005-01-06T12:28:00.000Z

We ran into an issue with the Distributed Transaction Coordinator. We needed to install a COM+ application which was failing to install. After chekcing the event logs, we noticed various errors stating that the Distributed Transaction Coordinator could not start and we narrowed this down to the MSDTC log file missing.

The MSDTC log file is located in the %windir%\System32\DTCLog directory. When we checked for this directory, it did not exist. So we created the directory, then created the log file within the directory "MSDTC.log". We then ran "msdtc -resetlog" from the command promt. This indeed solved the problem as we were then able to start the DTC service.

The Link between keys Absconding and facial hair

2005-01-06T12:27:00.000Z

Never mind the keys, look to the facial hair. Thanks to James Governor for the idea that to make a key work you need a beard. This is something my partner and I have been practicing for some time. It looks like Jim Bob needs to grow a longer beard or at least fill in the blanks. Personally, I recommend a piece of string running inside the arms of your jacket - instead of preventing the loss of gloves, this would be a handy way of keeping track of the aforementioned keys.

Lose the beards guys.

Back up headache

2005-01-05T12:26:00.000Z

We encountered a problem recently while using the Windows Backup Utility (NTBackup.exe). We scheduled the backup of a server to happen overnight to a network share on a different server attached to the network.

After checking the logs, we realised that the backup hadn't happened. This was really strange - the back up worked while logged in, but when trying to run the scheduled backup, the backup failed with various Event ID errors relating to DCOM problems.

It is sometimes the simpleist of mistakes that cause the most amount of head scratching. The problem turned out to be that the backup was scheduled to Append the data to the media rather than Replace. This doesn't sound like a huge problem on the face of it. But the fact that there was no backup job to append to caused the error.

Last Blog for 2005?

2004-12-23T12:26:00.000Z

This will probably be my last blog for 2005. But you never know.....
New website to check out:

http://safety.msn.com/phishing/

This is an online safety and security site courtesy of our friends at MSN. Certainly worth a look.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

SP1 docked

2004-12-22T12:25:00.000Z

Windows 2003 SP1 is a 308MB download with bags of functions and new tools that are designed to make a real difference to the security of Windows Server 2003. Visit the following site for more technical details about the enhancements included with SP1.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/downloads/servicepacks/sp1/sp1faq.mspx
James Governor please take note!

Windows Server 2003 SP1 inbound

2004-12-21T12:24:00.000Z

Thats right folkes, Service pack 1 of Windows Server 2003 is on its way. Microsoft have only released a Beta version so far. Actually they call it an RC (Release Candidate) - it's at times like this I rely on James Governor to make sense of the acronym soup that continues to get out of hand in this industry.

I do get worried when service packs are released. Sure, they are intended to improve the performance of the application concerned. However, they provide a new unknown quantity. Do not expect to install and walk away with amazing new features courtesy of Uncle Bill. Beware. The path of the service pack is dark and twisting.

If this SP lives up to its expectations, expect the some great enhancements, with probably a boat load of bolted down and "enhanced" defaults. We will be testing this out over the coming weeks and will blog the results.

The primary objective of SP1 is to reduce customer pain centered on server security
Security Configuration Wizard (SCW)—SCW is a wizard that configures server security based upon existing server roles.

Post-Setup Security Updates (PSSU)—Servers are vulnerable in the time between initial installation and having the latest security updates applied.
Windows Firewall—Also released with Windows XP Service Pack 2. The Windows Firewall is off by default on Server 2003 Service Pack 1, and must be turned on to begin protecting systems.

There's more than one way to skin a cat.

2004-12-20T12:24:00.000Z

Its an old saying, but it still rings true today. And it is most certainly the case usually after hours of developemnt or head scratching. The thing to do is stand back a take a different look at the problem. There's more than one way to skin a cat.
The reason I bring this up is that we have been wading through loads of development recently. I was looking at hours of development time to programme another bespoke solution. Then I came accross the right application free to customise to our requirements - courtesy of Uncle Bill. That saved months of developemnt. Thanks Bill.

Windows XP SP2

2004-12-20T12:23:00.000Z

I have heard mixed reports about XP SP2. Some people I encounter swear they will never install SP2.

One employee from IBM told me they were not allowed to install SP2 on their Thinkpads.
With all that said, I have not really encountered any problems. Sure, when you install it, there is an annoying icon that appears by your clock saying "Meltdown imminent." However, once you get it installed and it settles down, I can't really see a reason for it not being installed.
SP2 does affect the general handling of the browser, including blocking pop ups, preventing code execution etc. These annoyingly unfamiliar events do tighten security for the sometimes unaccustomed end user. So as a developer, you need to be aware of these changes. However, remember that a system that runs fine on 2000, will not necessarily run the same on XP SP2.
Microsoft lawyers were making great claims of SP2 being attack proof, which certainly made me raise an eyebrow. However, I am sure it helps to keep the Gremlins at bay. It certainly creates another barrier.

To find out more regarding Windows Xp Service Pack 2, visit: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/default.mspx

Life is Good

2004-12-16T12:22:00.000Z

We've been working really hard over the last 12 months and it feels good to be at the end of the year. Security has become a big issue for us and I find myself doing more on security of our networks than anything else.

For anyone who hasn't woken up and realised it, if you have an always-on internet connection, you will be coming under attack. Until we checked the firewall logs and saw how often our networks are scanned and probed, I wouldn't have believed it. We are under attack literally every minute of every day. If you are going to have one new toy for Christmas, make it a firewall. Its money well spent for peace of mind.

A great resource for Active Directory

2004-11-30T12:29:00.000Z

I found a great resource on the microsoft website. Add it to your favourites, it will certainly come in handy.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/technologies/activedirectory/maintain/opsguide/part2/adogdapb.mspx#EYAAActive Directory Operations Guide Appendix B - Procedures Reference