Free Wireless Headset

On one of those rare days off, I was watching TV when I happened upon the Rachel Ray Show. I think it was a rerun, but what caught my attention was a segment that mentioned a great website that will give you a FREE headset for your phone.

The name of the site is FreeHeadset.org and that is their web address as well. You will have to pay for shipping, but on the headset that I ordered, that was only $4.74 For most of the newer phones and Blackberry devices it looks like they have a free option and also a higher end device that is not free.

If you aren’t already using a hands free headset while you drive and talk on the phone, please do. Here in Chicago you can actually get pulled over and issued a ticket for not using a hands-free device, and I have heard that many other states are moving in that direction also

New Laptop

I finally feel whole again. I have gone a whole year without a laptop and darn it, I didn't like it! I think that every tech, from the Helpdesk Technician to the CIO needs to have easy access to technology. I happen to think that giving a tech a laptop is the best thing you can do to encourage them to become a better tech. But I digress . . .

I did a post a few weeks ago about all the laptops that I was considering, and I still think those are some of the better options out there, but I settled a bit.

My dear husband was in Wal-Mart the day before Christmas (yes, I am one of THOSE people who got a laptop from Wal-Mart, my head is down in shame . . . but only a little) and saw a deal that he could not pass up.

I got an HP Pavilion DV6629WM. It has a beautiful 15.4" display and came with a digital camera and printer. Unfortunately, it did come with Vista Home Premium, which I am not entirely thrilled about, but I can always downgrade if I really need to.

Office Demos

It is almost Christmas, so I have set aside my studying for a few days, but still needed to work on some training for Office 2007 and stumbled upon a site many probably use all the time, but was new to me.

Microsoft has really become more user friendly in the past couple of years, and one sure sign of that is the wealth of information they have on their Office Online sites. In addition to some really great trainging materials, the also have some great demos.

I took some tips and created an article for our newsletter, but I will also be sending my customers more often to the Office site so they too can get the information that they need.

I often find that desktop support takes up a large part of my day if I let it, and I also have found that the more training and guiding I do is less time I have to spend later answering the more basic how-to quetions from my users.

By the way, I also have some users who are still using Office 2003 and one or two stuck on Office 2000 and there are links from them from this site too.

Last Minute Gift for the Geek Girl

I am browsing the net this afternoon while I wait for a backup to finish so I can do some testing, and I stumbled upon a last minute gift idea for the geek girl on your list.

This little pink toolkit is awesome. . .and so cute. I just love it. I am sure that any techy girl on your list would love this gift. That is, unless she already has a great set of tools.

While you are on this site, another great gift for the woman on your list would be the Ambient Fire DVD. I have a fireplace in my family room, but can't wait to try this DVD on the TV in the bedroom.

And while you are at it, you may as well spring for either the Fireplace Jar Candle or the Fireplace Scented Tealights. This should really set the mood.

Studying: Command-Line Utilities for Account Management

Today I am studying about the command-line tools used for account management that are tested on the 70-290 certification exam. I need to know what they do, and how their arguments are setup.

dsadd.exe - when used it adds objects to AD (computers, users, quotas, groups, ou)

dsget.exe - when used it shows the properties of objects in AD

dsmod.exe - when used it modifies attributes of objects in AD (computers, users, groups, ou)

dsmove.exe - moves objects in AD

dsquery.exe - allows you to query AD for objects that match specified criteria

gpresult.exe - shows the RSoP for a target user and computer

whoami.exe - displays user and group info for current logged-in user

cmdkey.exe - manages stored username and passwords on the pc

How-to Setup a Managed Switch

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I switched a switch. I replaced a 24-port switch with a 48-port switch, and went from an HP to a Netgear switch, both managed.

So I can remember what I did, I am listing the steps I took to setup my switch:

1. Plug in the modem cable that came with the switch to a computer on-site and the switch console port.

2. Plug in power adapter.

3. Connect to the switch via HyperTerminal if using Windows XP, if using Vista, you will have to download a terminal emulation program. In HyperTerminal setup a new connection with the following settings:

• Baud rate - 9,600 bps
  
• Data bits - 8
  
• Parity - none
  
• Stop bit - 1
  
• Flow control - none
  

4. Typed in user and put in the values given. Then typed ezconfig.

5. I setup the network parameters, giving the switch its network address.

6. Logged out of HyperTerminal and logged into the switch via the web to finish the configuration.

Switched a Switch Today

Today I had to come in early to change out a 24-port 10/100/1000 switch to a 48-port 10/100/1000 switch.

Now I know that technically, this is not a big deal and is pretty straight forward, but let's keep in mind that a year ago I was a desktop tech who hardly knew what a switch looked like. Today I am installing them. I have made progress, even if it is in baby steps.

We got a Netgear GSM7248 Managed Switch from Newegg.com and it was here in two days with standard shipping. I game with easy to follow instructions and so far has been great. Now I need to watch it and lable all of the connections, which will take considerably longer than it did to install it.

I will keep posting as to how this switch is doing, but we only paid $1,160 for this switch.

Still Studying . . . Any Help?

I am trying to not get frustrated, but I am. I have used a plethora of study tools, and each time I change tools, and test on that tool, I fail the practice exams.

I seem to have the hardware sections down cold, but everything else is questionable. I have used two different video programs; TestOut and QuickCert. Neither video program seems to have prepared me well enough. I also went through the MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit , but that did not prepare me completely either. I am now going through the Syngress book, MCSA/MCSE Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment, which I have to say has been the most comprehensive tool yet. There are tools mentioned in this book that I have not heard of from the other tools.

If anyone has any tips/tricks for studying for and passing this test, I would be most grateful for any help. I had set a goal for myself of November 2007, but that date of course has come and gone and I have not yet sat for the exam. My only consolation is that I have only been working on Server 2003 for just under a year, and have to study in my "spare time."

So, if you are an MCSE, or have at least passed the 70-290 test, please let me know what worked best for you?

A Great Tech Tool

The PowerSquid is a great tech tool. Any tech who has ever gone into the field to install a new PC on a users desktop knows that the biggest pain is sometimes plugging in all the periphials in the powerstrip. The speakers and external drives often have huge transformer plugs that no matter how you move them arround, always end up taking over two outlets. With the PowerSquid Outlet Multiplier, you can use all of your outlets, even when they are big transformer blocks!

I will no longer be intimidated by these devices. From now on, I will be using the PowerSquid on all my new installs. I can appreciate a great idea, and this is it. They are offing special deals during the holiday season, so check them out and
Get 5% off your entire PowerSquid.com order. Coupon code: AFF5PSCOUPOFF

5 Laptops for the Women On Your List

I need to buy a laptop. Between blogging and studying for the MCSE exams, I need to be able to have everything with me instead of carrying cds around. My iPod has helped, but I really need a computer with me everywhere.

So, I have started looking for laptops that I want to purchase. I already listed out the specs that I like in a earlier blog, here I want to make a note of the laptops that I am seriously considering.

1. I think the one I like the best is this T23210 being offered at QVC. I have stated again and again that I really like Dell products, so it is fitting that this top my list. I like the specs on this laptop, and I LOVE the color options! I have not purchased from them in the past, but the price on this laptop is very good.

2. I really like this XPS M1530 a lot. I love the highest end option, but I think right now it is a bit too expensive. And again, I have to say that I really like the color options here. For something that I will have attached to my hand, I like the idea of it being attractive. Besides, colors make me happy.

3. I also like the IBM Thinkpad X61s fully loaded. It is not as pretty as the Dells, but it is a solid laptop, and you can still get Windows XP Pro loaded if you want to, which I think I do.

4. I also really like the HP Pavilion dv2500t. It can be customized to include the features/specs that I want, and the price is competitive.

5. Finally, I am not sure this is the year I am ready to jump in and purchase a Mac, but I am very tempted by all of the hype about running a better Windows machine on the MacBook Pro.

Second Mentoring Session - Installing Exchange 2003

We installed Exchange Server 2003 on our new network today. There wasn't much to it, but I did want to put down just a couple of notes while I am thinking of it.

1. Exchange server does have some dependencies. You will have to install the following Windows Components (I did forget these once home, but a quick look on this very helpful site did indeed refresh my memory:

• .Net Framework
• ASP.net
• IIS
• World Wide Web Publishing Service
• SMTP
• NNTP

2. We installed Exchange in three steps, forestprep, domainprep, and setup.

3. There is a handly log file that is created on the root of the drive where Exchange is installed called Exchange Server Setup Progress.log for troubleshooting.

4. You have to be logged into the server as an administrator for the domain for this to all work as it should, and yes, you should definitely make sure your DCs are up and running.

Mentoring Began Today

I started a mentoring program today. I am being mentored by a good friend of the family, and I want to document what I am learning and also encourage everyone to find a mentor and learn as much as you can from them.

I realized a while back that unless I looked for a mentor or teacher, there was a good chance I would not get my MCSE. I have the study tools, and the books, and the server license that expires in 3 months. All of these things are valuable, but what I started to see was that the parts of the practice test I was scoring the highest consistantly on were those things that I had actually had to do in my work environment. This seems obvious, but it was then that I decided to take my friend up on the offer of learning by doing.

I also had been wondering how I could possibly stay in the network admin position I am in without a senior Windows person there to guide and direct me and make sure that I learn how to do the important things. By beginning the mentoring program, I realize that I can stay at my current job while I spend time out of work learning and asking questions.

Many of my future posts will be a breakdown of what I have learned in my mentoring sessions so that I can keep a record of my progress, and perhaps help someone else through this very long process.

Notes from today:
1. It is important before beginning to build any kind of network to lay it out on paper as completely as possible, with server names, functions, and relevant information.
2. It is very good practice and recommended by my mentor to always create two Domain Controllers in any configuration. Having an extra one if one fails is the main reason for this.
3. DCs have no local accounts.

Desktop and Laptop Specs for Home Users

Many of my friends are buying laptop and desktop computers for their kids and spouses for the holidays. I am constantly being asked what I recommend, so I thought I would recreate the specs I like here and then just refer them to my site.

Let me start by saying that I recommend Dell over all other computers. The reason is simple; support! They have the best support I have encountered, and that goes for business sales and personal sales as well. They stand behind their product and that means something to me. And by the way, I am not getting any commissions from them.

For a laptop I recommend at least the following specificications:
Processor: A Dual core of at least 1.6 or higher
Memory: 1GB
HardDrive: 160GB
Wireless: 802.11 a/b/g/n

For a desktop, I recommend the following:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (2.20GHz)
Memory: 2GB
HardDrive: 320GB
Graphics Card: Best you can afford

These are just what I would look for if I were buying one for myself. Many of the stores are running fantastic deals right now, so certainly shop around and look for the highest specs for the lowest price, but processing speed and memory are key for almost all users, so don't be cheap in those areas.

Searchers Beware

I am about to send out an email to all of my users, warning them to be very careful when they do a Google search.

I many different blogs this week about this problem. Alex Eckelberry over at Sunbelt blogged about this on Monday drawing much attention to the issue. Alex's article showed how a search on some common tech terms led to several exploits that could infect a system that is left vulnerable.

According to an article posted last night over at InformationWeek it seems that Google has deleted many of the malicious pages, but that the other popular search engines are being targeted as well.

This just serves to remind all us tech folks to keep telling our users that they simply have to make sure their operating systems are up-to-date, that they have anti-virus programs installed on all their PCs, and that they are always careful about web sites that they visit. I will have to be sure to also email this warning to all of those "non-paying" customers I have like Mom and Dad.

Recovering a Mirrored Volume (RAID-1)

A couple of posts back, I made notes for myself on how to in very general terms recover a RAID-0 or striped volume. Today I will quickly outline the steps to take in order to recover a mirrored volume.

If you loose one of your mirrored drives, you shouldn't panic too much, as long as one of your drives is healthy. What you will want to do is removed the broken drive and add another to replace it and reset the mirror.

1. The first step is to remove the mirror, which you can do by going into the Disk Management Interface and right clicking the failed drive. This should change the setting for the good drive, making it a Simple Volume.

2. After you have added a new drive to replace the failed one and the computer recognizes it and it has been made a Dynamic disk, you can right click the Simple Volume and add the new drive.

This is based on much better and more detailed instructions from the book I am currently reading from the link on the left.

Managing Windows 2003 Server Tips

There are 3 main tools, according to Microsoft, that a System Admin should use to monitor and maintain Windows 2003 Servers.

1. Performance Console- there are two parts to this, the System Monitor that has all the different settings for hardware on your server and the Performance Logs and Alerts that has a standard set of logs and customizable logs and alerts that you can set.

2. Event Viewer - has the different log files on events that the server records. Application, System and Security logs reside on every server. Directory Service and File Replication Service logs will exist on a DC. A DNS Server will contain an additional log file called, appropriately, DNS Server.

3. Task Manager - this handy tool is still the best one for looking at actual process threads. An additional tool that most techs I know use is Process Monitor, as it shows more detail than the built in Task Manager.

Exchange Tips for Tracking Outgoing Mail

Exchange Tips

Yesterday we had some trouble with outgoing email, and while our bridgehead server is in another location, we do have an Exchange Server here that I am responsible for. I am brand new to administering an Exchange Server, so I had to find some tips online for at least getting a feel for what may be happening and where things may be hanging up.

I wanted to do some basic troubleshooting for when messages are not going out, and a quick Google search for this turned up a few sites, the best of which was Exchange 911.

At their site, I found these tips that I used to begin tracking issues:

1. Try to find where the message has gotten stuck by using the Message Tracking Center in the Exchange System Manager.

2. Check the services running on the server where the messages are stuck to make sure all critical Exchange Services are indeed running.

3. Checked the Event View on my server to make sure there were no obvious problems or sreaming errors.

Another Gift Idea for the Techie on Your Christmas List

I need to add some more technical posts here soon, but I see that lots of folks want the gift ideas as well, so I thought I would share my newest top of the list "wanted" gift.



It is this Timex Watch and I just saw it in my Women's Health magazine for this month, and I want one! This watch does it all, and at Amazon it is under $100.



It connects to your iPod, without a cable, and it also has a 50-lap memory, three alarms, a countdown timer, two interval timers, and a chronograph function.



If you have a techie on your list who also likes to keep in shape, this may be the perfect gift.

Great Site and YouTube Help

Last night my daughter asked me if I could download the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special to my ipod so she and her grandmother could watch it on the TV. She had found them online at YouTube but wanted to see them on the big screen. I said, "sure I can do that," before realizing that I had actually never done that.

I had read through a couple of articles and message board posts that had me wondering just how possible this task was, when a further look down my Google search page revealed that my favorite daily blog, lifehacker had an article and a recommendation for me.

I read and then quickly downloaded iTube (also called Ares Tube). I am very happy to say that it was incredibly easy then to download and import the YouTube clips I wanted. In no time at all I had my daughter and mother quite happily watching Charlie Brown, which got me in bed at a very decent hour.

Fixing Software RAID-0

I had to fix a stripped array this morning, and that got me thinking (yes, and reading) about the correct way to fix software RAID volumes.

So, I thought I would quickly put down here the steps to restore RAID-0, RAID-1, and RAID-5 software arrays if you loose a disk and have to replace it for some reason, like I did this morning. I will spend the next three posts explaining how to do this for each one. Today, RAID-0 or a striped array.

RAID-0 (striped)

While stripped volumes do provide the best performance and storage option, they are not fault-tolerrant, so I sure hope you have a good backup of the lost drive or have the software handy to recreate the data on this drive.

Once you have determined that your drive is bad, or you have had to fix an error on the drive more than once, you can go ahead and delete the volume by right clicking on it in the bottom pain of the Disk Management screen (right click on My Computer, Manage, under Storage choose Disk Management).

If your new drive isn't installled go ahead and do so now. Once it is installed, Rescan Disks (on the View menu in Disk Management) if you don't see it as unallocated space in the drive view window.

Before you can create the new volume, you will have to make this a Dynamic Disk by right clicking on the disk name. Once this is done, you can right click on the drive and choose the option New Volume. From there, follow the promts to add the new drive to the Selected disks.

This is by no means a step-by-step or complete guide, there are other sites that do this much better than I can here, and I highly recommend the first one, as it has pictures and all:

Beginners Guide at PCStats

Disk Management from the Microsoft TechNet

5 Fun Gifts for the Geek on Your Christmas List

Do you have any Geeks on your list?

You know the ones, they dress in dark colors, and may sit in a cubicle or an office, but come 6pm, they are sitting in their basement in front of at least 2 monitors playing the latest online RPG.

Here are a few fun ideas if you have any of these folks on your list:

1. Have a mobile IT person in the family? Are they often running from system to system or location to location fixing computer issues? If so, they may need an Ironkey. This is a secure way to keep passwords handy and be able to browse the internet safely from any location.

2. When I first got into the IT business, someone got me a Wave, I had it only a month before I noticed dear hubby using it. I have not seen it since, but this is definitely a great stocking stuffer for anyone who likes to tinker.

3. I love this laptop tote. I am adding it to my own list right now.

4. I haven't tried the Sun Jar yet, but with all the attention that green gadgets are getting this year, I will definitely be adding a couple of these to my list for my siblings.

5. And last but certainly not least, if you have been putting off getting yourself or the top receiver on your list an iPod, now is the time. With so many to choose from, you can get one for almost everyone on your list.

Office Assistant & Unzipping Files in Windows XP

Office Assistant Error
I have a user who is getting this error:

There is no office assistant character files present on the system.
Please run setup in maintenance mode and install at least one character.

After a quick search, it seems this is because we often update Office 2000 around here by adding Outlook 2003. When this is done, a second Office Assistant is installed and the two then fight over control.

The instructions on this site suggest an uninstall/reinstall should fix my issue. I have plans to do so tomorrow.

Unzipping Files in Windows XP
I often have new users of Windows XP asking me to install WinZip for them, and while this is a fine product, it is no longer needed.

I found a nice site with pictures that I like to send to users so they can do this on their own, and wanted to document it here. There is no need to reinvent the wheel on this one.

gOS

Today I am playing with gOS in the hopes that we can use it here for a stand-alone web application station. This is also the much talked about OS that is coming pre-installed on the new WalMart $200 PCs that we keep hearing about.

At first glance, I like it. It has a Mac/Doc looking app running along the bottom of the desktop with links to most web applications that I think the typical user/teenager would want.

I just need a workstation here where employees can surf the web and check their email during lunch in our lunchroom, so this seems to be a perfect fit. I got the live distro, so I figure it is realatively safe to continue running it from the CD drive. We will shut the PC off overnight and reboot it each morning.

I am having some trouble getting it to recognize the crappy nic on this old home PC I am working on, but I will get it eventually. I will post more once I have had some time to play around with this a bit more.

Backup Changes on Graphics Server & Spooler changes

Backup Changes

I was studying for my 70-290 this weekend by reading through some chapters in my Microsoft Press book. As I was reading and actually beginning to understand some of the backup information, I realized I need to make a couple of changes to my backup schedule here at work.

I was again convinced that I need to do a bi-weekly normal/full backup of the main graphics server, and then run Differential backups each night for the next two weeks. This insures that I need only the full backup tapes (of which there are 2) and the differential tape in case of a system failure.

I thought I had set this, but it turns out I was running incremental backups and so I switched that today.

I also turned off the verify switch. I had sort of thought before that I didn't really need to do it, but with the new tapes I just got, it seems silly.

Spooler Changes
I changed the location of the spooler on the main server. It was on the C drive, it is now on E:\spool\PRINTERS.

Symantec Error

Symatec Error
I have had the situation twice now where a user received the following message:

"The add-in 'C:\Program Files\Symantec_Antivirus\vpmsece.dll could not be installed"

From the Symantec site I did find a solution. It seems you just need to delete the extend.dat file from the c:\Documents an dSettings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook folder.

Graphics Day

I spent part of this week in the Graphics Department here learning about what each person there does, and how they use their computers, and what we can possibly do in IT to make their jobs easier or more efficient at least.

MS Office for the Mac
We really need to purchase this. The guys in graphics get files often from clients and CS Reps that are either word, or Powerpoint documents, and each time they do, they go over to the PCs and try to figure out how they will get them on the Macs. This seems silly to me, so I plan to ask for a copy for at least two of the guys there.

Pitstop
Some of the guys in the department use Pitstop, but some can't because there are not enough licenses. Again, this is silly . . . they should all have it or none should use it. I have some digging to do there, and the manager says he has a plan?

Memory
The main designer has an older Mac now than some of them, and he appears to need a bit more for the intense graphics programs he uses.

Files and Their Usage
A couple of things here that I am still considering . . . but they have a consistency problem, a storage problem, and a process problem. First, they have one guy who is creating a job with a standard set of folders and names, and another two that aren't following this system. I would like to encourage them to standardize this all. Second, the guy who has a standard way of doing things, is copying all of the fonts that he uses in a job into the job folder, which is somewhat wasteful of resources, as we already have all the fonts in our fonts folder. We are then taking up extra room on the server, and in many cases the fonts can't be used this way and get corrupt as well. Finally, we seem to copy all of our graphics files in several locations, which again, seems to leave much room for error and also wastes our limited resources. CS Reps put the graphics file in CRPublic. Graphics Guys open and create a set of Job files on the Graphics Server. When they are finished they put a copy of the files in the PDF to Email folder (in CR Public folder). I need to think on this some more . . . but this seems wasteful to me.

Viewing the GPO Settings on a Windows 2003 Server and Fun with Manager

Windows Server 2003 Fun

I had some strange settings showing up today, and needed to view the applied GPO settings for one of my member Windows Server 2003 computers. I will look into other ways to view this, but one quick and dirty was is the following:

• Go to Start --> Help and Support --> Tools --> System Information
• View the Advanced System information
• View the Group Policy Settings, Applied

Fun with Manger

Every now and again one of our users calls us to say that her orders are coming in from Manger. I am told this is either one of two things:

1. If she can ping the servers internal address, the vendor needs to be contacted
2. If she can't ping the internal server address, she should be given a new ip address and walked through running an ipconfig /release /renew

Opening Office 2007 Packages

Embarassing, yet true

This is the second time I have nearly cut my fingers off trying to get into the new Microsoft Office 2007 packaging. So, as embarassing as it is, I am making a quick note here of the process.

1. Remove the red and clear label on the side of the fancy clear case.
2. Remove (or at least break the seal) of the completely clear circular label at the top.
3. Pull the red tab sticking out of the case on the top.

I know, I know, it really doesn't sound that complicated, and yet, there are several of us here who couldn't figure that out for the longest time. . .so I have to ask. . is it really necessary to do that? To make it sooooo hard to get into? I mean, come on!

Access 2007 Issues With Spec Sheets

Two fixes for Today

We have recently installed Office 2007 on new computers we are ordering, and our Spec Sheet that all of our cutomer reps use would not open. It turns out that there are two fixes that must be applied.

First, we have to set Access to not show the "Action Queries"

• Click on the Office 2007 symbol on the top left
• Click on the "Access Options" button at the bottom right
• Go to the Advanced Tab
• Look Under the Editing and Confirm options
• Uncheck the third box down, "Action queries"

Second, we also need to change the Trust Center Settings

• Click on the Office 2007 symbol on the top left
• Click on the "Access Options" button at the bottom right
• Go to the Trust Center Tab
• Click on the link to go to the Trust Center Settings on the right
• Click on the Trusted Locations option
• Put a check in the box to "Allow trusted locations on my network"
• Add the location (server) of the Spec Sheet

Intenet Explorer 7 Hack and Interesting Website

FTP hack for IE 7

I needed for some of my users to be able to open FTP sites up by default in Windows Explorer rather than as a website. I am sure this is much less secure, but since when do we really care much about security around here.

It takes a registry hack:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_INTERNET_SHELL_FOLDERS

Name: iexplore.exe
Type: REG_DWORD
Data: 0x0 (default) or 0x1

Restart PC and it takes FTP sites right to Explorer


Intesting Website

I ran across a website that I really want to work through today as I was reading some email. I want to remember this one, and use it, and perhaps even suggest it to others. I don't know much about it yet, and the name, Hacker High School, is perhaps not quite right.

I am a FLYbaby

What the heck is a FLYbaby?
Ok, I will finally admit it outloud. . I am not organized, and organization does not come to me naturally. Not only I am not natively organized, I have almost no routines and usually avoid them at all cost. So, it comes as no suprise to most that I don't exactly have a perfectly clean home that my family can't wait to get home to. I was not taught how to clean by habit and routine, and therefore, when company is coming, it is usually a several day ordeal that contains much hollering and lots of stress.

Last week, I realized that not only was my house disorganized and not clean, but my house really was only a reflection of the chaos I had accepted in all areas of my life. I was also at a loss as to how I was going to encourage my ds (dear son) to care about school and get himself together. So I did what I always do when I am in a crisis and need advice, I used google.

The first sites I happened across were reform schools and places for troubled teens. Knowing that things were bad, but not quite that bad yet, I kept going. I somehow ended up on a funny little page with a woman in purple wings and blue hair at www.flylady.net. I won't bore you with all the details, but I highly recommmend this site for any woman who may be a perfectionist, works at home or outside somewhere, and is feeling like perhaps things in your life are out of control and you can't organize yourself.

Once I decided to become a FLYbaby, the only natural next step was to organize the second most important thing in my family's life (the house being the first), dinner! I have only begun to use some of the tools posted on the Saving Dinner site.

I can't tell you what to do, and I am sure this system is not for everyone, but I think it is no coincidence that I had my first really good idea for a story today. . .one week into the new lifestyle!

Backup Exec, Mac Troubles, and Exchange Size Limit

Backup Exec
I have spent a couple of pretty darn frustrating days trying to figure out what in the world happened to one of my servers to make my backups stop working. I am using Backup Exec 9 with an internal tape drive on one server to backup files on another server. Suddenly, and without warning, my backups started failing. I tried everything I could think of, including Symantec's advice of redoing the login admin account. Nothing. So what had changed? Well, I had installed IIS to beging testing VMWare on that box, so ok, I figured uninstalling IIS couldn't hurt. Reboot. . .Nothing. I tried every iteration of backup, incrementals, differentials, copies. . .Nothing. Noticed VMWare had added some network adapters, so I figured what the heck, may as well disable them while I am thinking of it and at that moment happened to realize that the windows firewall was turned on for my main nic. . .odd. . .I don't remember that being on. I decided to look at my other nics on my other servers, and sure enough, it wasn't turned on anywhere else. Of course. . .rebooted. . wallah. . backups working!! ARRRGGGGHHHH!!!

Macs too
In addition to backup fun, I have been helping one of the graphics guys get his new Mac Pro up and running. I don't think that there is too much I want or need to say about that. We also did some Webway work/tweeking while we were at it, and I do want to note that we had some minor issues with viewing proofs that seem to have something to do with login accounts and permissions. ALSO TO NOTE: As the admin down south suggested, I have removed the oldes mac from the network and will now monitor the switch in the Graphics room.

Exchange Note
I did notice yesterday, while I was checking all the server logs to see what had changed, that we were getting a warning on the Exchange Server that we were running into out 18 GB size limit for our DB. A quick note the admin down south confirmed that this needed to be fixed. He said he changed a registry setting to give us 70 GB and that the MS limit was actually 75 GB, so we had some wiggle room if we do get close to the edge. Another registry fix would allow us to continue working long enough to have folks delete much and be operational once again.

Confirmation and Perfmon

Blogging Confirmed
I needed to use this blog today to go back and look at what I had written back in February about moving icons around on the Blackberry, so I learned a valuable lesson today; keep on blogging!

I enjoy blogging, and know that in order to remember some of the tips and tricks I am picking up I need to have a central repository of information, hence Computer Pooh. However, it is not every day that I get confirmation that an idea of mine is a good one, yet here I am blogging about one.

Perfmon
I am continuing to study for my first MCSE test. As a matter of fact, I really want to take the first one here in September, yet I am not sure I am ready.

I have been looking at the performance monitor this week, and wanted to quickly blog here the items that are best to monitor so I can log in an see this from the web.

• Networking: Network Interface- bytes sent/sec and bytes total/sec; Server - bytes rec'd/sec and it should be no more than 50% of bandwidth; TaskManager - Network Utilization should be 30% or lower
• Disks: Physical Disks - %disk time should be less than 50%; Physical Disks - Current disk queue length should be between 0 - 2%
• Memory: Memory - pages/sec should be 0 - 20%; Memory - Available bytes should be 5% + of RAM; Memory - Committed bytes should be less than RAM; Memory - Pooled Non-paged bytes should be steady; Memory - Page faults/sec should be below 5
• Processor: Processor - % Processor Time should be less than 85%; System - Process queue length should be less than 10%; Server Work Queues - Queue length should be less than 4%; Processor - interrupts/sec should be steady to low

Learning Hardware Arrays

RAID 5 Please

In order to repartition an older server that only had a 3GB boot partition, we had to break our RAID 5 array. We demoted it to a RAID 0 and deleted and re-created some partitions, and in the end, had to re-install the OS. Once we did this, we wanted to to re-create the RAID 5 partition, but the software that talks to the controller would not go back to RAID 5 as an option.

In the end, on our ProLiant ML350 Server we had to delete the array and reboot to return to the factory default, which was RAID 5.

I am still try to decipher what I learned from this experience. . .I am not convinced I learned anything at all. Well, I guess I learned that I really know nothing about hardware arrays. I am studying for the 70-290 Windows Server 2003 exam and read about software arrays, and that makes perfect sense to me, but this hardware array stuff is much more difficult.

A Switch in the Certification Plan and Circular Logging

Not CCNA but MCSE

A month ago, I had been planning to pursue my CCNA. However, after talking it over with the boss, he "highly recommended" reconsidering and instead begin work on my MCSA or E. Since I am counting on work to foot the bill, at least in part, I decided the boss must be right, and since both are on my longer list of goals, I decided to follow his advice.

Well, the day after I began studying for the 70-290 test (ins and outs of Win2003 Server) I needed to replace a failing SCSI drive in one one of our 2000 Server PCs. And wouldn't you know, I did indeed use what I had just been studying. . .dynamic disk management.

I have to say that most of what I am learning is directly applicable to my job, and is much easier for me to get my head around than a lot of the networking details I was trying to master while studying the CCNA material.

I have high hopes that someday in the future, in the long away future I am afraid, I will have both my CCNA and MCSE, but for now, I am studying hard to take the 70-290 test in the early fall.


Circular Logging

For some reason, the guy I work with thinks that we have to have circular logging enabled on our Exchange 2003 Server. Yet, he can't quite get his head around why our backups keep failing since he enabled it.

From postings all over the web, and from my trusty Exchange Bible (Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 24Seven by Jim McBee) I see that our problems most likely stem from circular logging being enabled on our server.

So, today I turned it off and am anxious to see if my mailbox backups again run tonight without trouble. Shoot, it is lunchtime, I guess I am off to try that backup.

Google Tips, FSMO Roles, Vista command line, and Server Config Tips

Google Tip for Sys Admins
There was an article published 07/07/07 at the Internet Storm Center that gave a couple of "defensive googling" tips to search for compromised sites on your network.

site:myorg.org porn and
site:myorg.org cialis buy


FSMO Roles
It all started with a check of one of my favorite blogs, Daily Cup of Tech. I was checking it for the first time in a couple of weeks, as things have been busy here, and realized that the author is in the middle of a really good series. It seems he had some server trouble recently and has been kind enough to document some fo the lessons learned there. Lesson #3 is really about riding AD of a failed DC, and while beginning that reading, he mentioned FSMO roles, which believe it or not I have never heard of. So, not wanting to waste a perfectly good opportunity to learn more, I jumped to this very informative site on wikipedia. Flexible single master operation roles (there are 5, 3 Domain-wide roles and 2 Forest-wide roles) or Fiz-mo roles are basically specialized domain controller tasks.


VISTA Command Line
I wanted to flush my local dns cache today, and realized that I would need elevated status in VISTA in order to do this. As it was the first time I needed to do this via the command line, I had to do a quick search to come up with the correct command, so here it is for next time:

runas /u:Administrator "ipconfig /flushdns"
the command to display the cache, by the way, follows here: ipconfig /displaydns


Server Configuration Tips
I am still on the Daily Cup of Tech blog site reading about his server failures and have come across another tip that I very much appreciate and want to remember. He says:

"I generally build my domain controllers with five drives. Two in a mirrored configuration for the OS and three in a RAID 5 configuration for the data. The nice thing about this is that the OS and data are separated. I have experienced three systems now where the OS container on the RAID system corrupted and left all of the data completely in tact. Had I not configured these systems this way, I believe that I would have lost some or all of my data."

AD Replication and Career Advice

AD Replication
I read a fantastic article in Windows IT Pro today and don't want to forget where I read it and what I need to do. . so here goes. Sean Deuby wrote a really great article on troubleshooting ad replication, and what made it so great was that even a newbe admin like me understood most of what he had to say. Here are the steps I need to take to make sure AD is replicating here at our location:

1. Check the OS on the server (DC server that is)
2. Check the health of the directory service.
3. Check the communication between other DCs
4. Verify protocol of direcotry services and determine whether the DCs are authenticating correctly.

For all the details, check out "Troubleshoot AD Replication: Magic wand no required" in the June, 2007 edition of Windows IT Pro.

Career Advice Worth Noting

In that same edition of WITP, there was another really good article, this time one on getting ahead in the career game. Ben Smith breaks career advancement into 5 easy steps, some I am doing and others are goals. Really good take-aways for me are:

1. Find mentors and have them make suggestions on goals
2. Go after jobs to develop needed skill sets, like budgeting and management
3. Track and Qualify Achievements; Make list of accomplishments

List of Things to Do

Programming Language
I think that it is because I have been so unsuccessful at it so far, but for some reason, a couple of times a year, I get the bug to learn a programming language. So, here I am today, scouring the internet, looking for an easy way to learn. I think this time I will include my teenagers, as perhaps they can keep me motivated at this task which I continually put off. Couple of sites I like today are:
http://nostarch.com/frameset.php?startat=wcj_rev for books to read
http://www.mindview.net/ great reference tool

Packet Analysis
I also realize every now and again how little I know, and how much I need to learn about packet analysis. I have installed Wireshark on PCs I use, but am promply intimidated after one packet capture by the information there. I found a book (Practical Packet Analysis by Chris Sanders)today online that I would really like to buy, but I have promised myself that I will not purchase anymore books until I have finished some of the ones I already own and never have read. But in case I forget all about this book, this post.

Monday Musings

Family Time
I have to find a way to cut out more time for my family. I leave the house around 6:30 am or 7 am and don't get home until 6 pm. After a long day at work, I find I have to spend at least 30 minutes running/working out and then have to cook dinner. If I am lucky, I can sit down to enjoy a book, take a motorcycle ride, or hang out with hubby and the kids around 8 pm, leaving only 2 hours of fun time! This can't be right. . .can it?!

Back to Networking
I am headed back to the books today. I got away from them last week as I had so much to do here, but it seems this week will be a good time to catch up on my CCNA studying. I also still have that pesky switch that will no longer let me log in.

Salesforce.com
It seems I need to download and install this, as our sales folks have decided they can't live without it. I am hesitant, but hey, one more thing to add to the resume is always fun.

Reflections

The more I read other peoples blogs, I realize that even the very good technical ones occasionally get a bit. . .off target. People like to muse sometimes, so I am going to also.

When I got this new gig, I thought it was the perfect move for the direction I had decided I was heading in. . and it is. But I also thought that all workplaces were mostly the same. . .and they are not. I have really only worked for 4 companies is my short little 11 year career, and they have been the small business flavor, or the big educational institution. Both have their advantages and disadvantages I am finding. . but I think I prefer the educational institutions. Generally speaking, people are more friendly, honest, and believe it or not, hard working. I also realize that the benefits one receives from a college or university can't be matched in the small business world. Additionally, as an IT person, I LOVED the free flow of money that goes on in College IT departments, I really like being able to test new toys and products.

Furthermore, as I sit here and feel sorry for myself and prowl the internet for job openings at nearby colleges, I am thankful for having those jobs in the past. While my kids were little and growing, I averaged 4 weeks of vacation a year, which is nothing to sneeze at I now realize. I would give much to be in that position again, but until I can be, I will concentrate on being thankful for the years of great benefits in the past, and will rest secure in the knowledge that I will unashamedly look for those benefits in my next position. After all, I love my work, why not enjoy it even more?

How Hard Drives Work

As I continue my search for the backup/data storage solution for my company, I find myself going back and reading again how hard drives work, and new developments in hard drive technologies. I am still reading the Holy Grail book and since this is where the book goes, I am going there also. It never hurts to re-read what you thought you knew.

I found a pretty decent website for information on how hard drives work that I want to note at this time.

Wireless Specs

I have been out of the wireless "loop" for about 2 years now, as I have not really had to deal with routers or cards much. At home, DH has setup our network, so short of finding the connection, I haven't played much at all.

I had one of my customers ask today about 802.11n and had to sheepishly admit that I had not even heard of it. 802.11g was new the last time I was trying to connect wireless cards. He needed to know if he paid the extra $30 for an 802.11n card if it would work in his 802.11g router. I assumed it would, but did double-check for piece of mind and of course it does.

There was a very good article posted on the Wireless & Mobile page in NetworkWorld that helped me understand the new specification. Looking around their site a bit, I see that 802.11n has been in the news for a bit now. I guess I need to add Network World as one of those sites I check first thing in the morning for IT news and information.

Storage Learning Fun

I have to delve into the world of storage now, and I have to say that it is all VERY confusing. I have a book, The Holy Grail of Data Storage Management, by Jon William Toigo that seems to cover most of what I am looking for, but I need to find the time to actually read the book!

We have about 300GB of data that we need to backup, but we also need to be able to restore that data quickly, and also keep some snapshots.

A consultant we have been working with has recommended an external Apple XServe array, but I have to say that I am VERY hesitant to go down that lonely Apple road. Everyone I know has Windows based systems, and God knows I often need to call those I know for help/advice when I get stuck here. Bottom line is that in the business world. . Apple still has a long way to go.

Today, I worked on the switch

I hardly know which of my issues to attack. . they all seem so darned overwhelming. How is one to learn all of this anyway? I keep reading and circling and reading. . .neverending circle this is.

Anywho, I enabled Spanning Tree on the Graphics switch today, as it had lots of collision errors. I need to watch it for a couple of days and then see how things are going, but no one is crying that it brought down the network or anything so that is good I guess.

I turned this on, because the manufactuers book of instructions lists it as the first thing to try if the network runs slow, processes fail or users can't access servers or devices. Sounds like us eh? So why not? No new immediate errors yet, so will keep watching it and see what happens and try to run a test to see if files transfer any quicker with this feature engaged.

Issues I need to resolve

I need to post for a while about some issues I am having on the network and the steps that I take to try and figure them out/solve them.

DNS Issues
To tell the truth, I am not sure I am having DNS issues, but something smells odd. Here is what I see that worries me:
1. Can no longer get to the DNS mmc on my server (this may be a permissions issue)
2. A tracert on my PC to anything offnetwork fails EVERYTIME (have tested another PC here on same subnet and see the same behavior)
3. NSLOOKUP returns a non-authoritative answer everytime and doesn't find internal addresses ever

Switch Issues
Suddenly this week, I can't access my main switch. I have tried the web interface and telnet. I used this a couple of months ago to update the software, but now I can't get into it for anything. It seems to be working normally.

What is THIS?
I have an unknown device, which I have to assume is our second router on our network, that no one knows anything about. We had a consultant come and he wanted to know what this was, I couldn't tell him. What I do know is that traffic that travels from our 10/1000 subnet to our 10/100 subnet is SLLLOOOOWWW

Manager Fun

Today I needed to help one of my users get data from our customer management db on a unix box to an excel doc she could then browse and send on to the customer. Here are the steps involved, which I found on my own (again...right now the small victories count)
1. log into Manager and 4bl
2. Type RUN"QUERY" and hit enter
3. Enter MANAGR or the db name and volume
4. type in CLEAR FIND SHIP-TO FOR ALL and hit enter
5. type in SORT CUST-NUM,BRANCH
6. type in FILE filename (where "filename" is the new name for your file.)
7. type in the following and hit enter
EXPORT CUST-NAME,NAME,SHIP-NAME,SHIP-ADDR(1),SHIP-ADDR(2),SHIP-CITY,SHIP-STATE,SHIP-ZIP
8. Exit the program

To copy to a floppy:
1. Put a floppy disk in the Manager Server
2. In Manager, hit CTRL T to get a QNX prompt
3. type in cp /4BL/filename /dos/a/filename.txt (use your filename)

Then just open the file in Excel on your desktop to edit out the customer names you do not need.

Painful Lessons

It has been a long week, yet I believe a productive one. This week marks my 3 month anniversary at the new company. Therefore, a review was setup. On that very same day, I decided to add some Windows network monitoring components to our main server, and uninstall every other Windows component. Yes, disaster ensued.

It will be a long time before I forget the sheer terror. . .yes that is the word I have been searching for all week. . I felt pure. . full-blown terror as soon as I realized what I had done. . .uninstalled IIS from an Exchange Server. I knew immediately that I was in really deep do-do. . .and had no idea what to do.

To make a long story short. . .a friend walked me through it. What had to be done was that IIS had to be completely removed and then reinstalled. After that, we found that the Exchange Routing Engine Service would not start, so a reinstall of Exchange and the most recent service pack was necessary (based on KB323672). After an intense 3 hours, all was back to normal for the most part.

I learned much from this experience. . .
1. Good friends really are there for you at all times, and it is our job to do all we can to keep them.
2. Most testing and "playing" with servers should really not be done on production boxes.
3. Most mistakes can be recovered from.
4. Good bosses, like good friends are really hard to find. Once you find one that gets it, do all you can to keep them happy with you and your work.

Follow-up Issues

I now get the following error on my Exchange Server:
MS ExchangeMTA
Event ID 9318
An RPC communications error occurred. Unable to bind over RPC. Locality Table (LTAB) indes: 233, Windows 2000/MTA error code: 9297. Comms error 9297, Bind error 9297, Remote Server Name S4IMAGE [MAIN BASE 1 500%10] (14)

Exchange and Blackberry Tips

Exchange Distribution Lists
To allow employees to send to the global distribution list here, the steps are as follows (and I figured this out all on my own):

Under the domain, go to the Distribution lists and look for the one called All S4 employees. Right click and go to properties. On the Exchange General tab at the bottom there is setting about Message Restrictions where you can allow all or some or none to send from the list.

Blackberry Fun
It seems that since the patches for DST have been implemented, folks here can't send email via their BlackBerries.

From different postings on the web, it seems that the besadmin account has to have "send as" permissions in order for users to send via their mobile devices, so we added that in for my account and that did the trick. I am now able to send via my Blackberry, wooohooo. It is a good thing to go home with today. . . I will take even the tiny victories at this point!

Things to take from this:
1. Try to find fixes myself, it was a simple Google search that brought this solution.
2. Go with my gut and what makes sense when seeking solutions.

Happy Friday!

Upgrading Switches

Switches

Today we decided to upgrade all of our switches here at S4. We have one HP PC 4000 series and two HP PC 2800 series.

We had to setup our PCs as TFTP servers first, then copied the old config files
(put 192.168.my.ip CONFIG annettecfg) then followed the instructions to download a new OS through the Telnet session to the switch. We have much to figure out yet, but it is amazing how
things start to make sense once the pegs begin to line up.

Also, the date was way off when telneting in, so I changed the Time Sync to SNTP, Unicast, 129.6.15.28, server version 3, 720 second intervals, and manual IP Config.

Blackberry Item

I did also find the other day that in order to synchronize calendar items in the Blackberrys here, we have to go into the calendar, click on the scroll button, go down to the second-to-last item on the menu there and choose "Options." The last item there is "Wireless Synchronization:" and that must say "Yes."

Blackberry Day

As we switch over to a BES, there are lots of questions right now about how to do things on the Blackberrys.

Move Icons
To move icons on the screen around, click on the button to get numbers and the scroll button at the same time to get a menu to move or hide or show all. Once you have chosen to move the icon, scroll to where you want, and click the scroll button again to release the icon. You can use this same menu to hide certain icons as well.

Add Bluetooth Device
Go into the Options menu and look for "Blackberry." Choose that, and once in the menu, push in the scrolling button to get a menu, and from there you simply choose to "Add a device." NOTE: You will have to have the bluetooth device on and in range of the Blackberry.

Sending Email, Minus Mouse

Email Quickie

Want to keep this tip from Lifehacker.com handy, so up it goes:
1. Use Alt + Tab to switch to Outlook
2. To get to the mail folder, click Ctrl + Shift + M to open a new message, or just Ctrl + N if
already in your in folder.
3. Type in your information or part and hit Ctrl + K.
4. Tab through
5. Spell check by using F7
6. To send, Ctrl + Enter

January 29, 2007

Plans. . .

General George S. Patton said. . .
"A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect
plan executed next week."

A good thing for a perfectionist like myself to keep in mind. The plan doesn't have to be perfect, and I don't need to know every nuance of a situation before I begin workng on something. I just need to make a plan that is reasonable and then execute it well.

Switches

We are trying to upgrade our network, at least for the graphics department, so I am looking into switch options. It seems we have a GB connection from the graphics server to our switch there, and have cat6 cables running from the switch to each MAC with GB NICs. But you probably already guessed it, our switch is only 10/100!! Who the heck thought that was a good idea? I guess the good news is that a managed switch from HP is only about $350 which is probably in our budget.

I have been reading about the differences between a managed and an unmanaged switch. It seems that the managed switch just has an interface that allows you to setup features and to well. . .manage the connections. An unmanaged switch is a device that automatically detects and directs traffic.

Changes to Servers

Changes

I don't know where else to keep changes I make to the servers, so I am going to do so here. I need to speed up the connection between our 2003 server and the macs in graphics, so I made a change to the local security settings:

Local Security Settings -> Security Options -> Microsoft network server: Digitally sign communications (always).

Double-click on it and set to "Disabled". Then close the app and reboot the server.

DNSLint

I used this today for the first time on the main server. I have a log file that was generated that I need to go over, but here is what I ran:

dnslint /d (ipnumber of chi server) /s (AD server number)

List to Learn

As I sit here waiting for the server to do its backup, I wanted to make a quick list of things I need to look into.

VPN
I know how to use VPN, but how and where you set this up for others to use to access the network here is pretty new territory for me. We have one of the sales reps that would like to be able to do this, so I need to investigate how.

Disk Setups
As a friend of mine pointed out a while ago, I have a definite lack of hardware, both server side and really desktop side as well. I need to dig in and investigate and play with this a bit more. I definitely need to setup some RAID arrays at home so I can more fully understand how it works, and how to restore after a failure.

Secure FTP
They guys down south say we will have to add a server if we want to provide secure FTP, so I want to look into options and definitely understand how this is done.

Exchange
It goes without saying that I need to get up to speed quickly on this. I want to get the MS Press book and go from there.

AD
Have a book on this, just need to set aside time to actually read it. It needs to be a priority so that I am on schedule.

General Musings

Subnet Mask

I will never forget the first real technical question I had during an interview. I have worked in IT for a couple of years, but most of my interviews have been pretty informal so far.

Not this last one, and I found myself pretty unprepared. The first and last technical question I got was, "what is a subnet mask." Needless to say, I froze and could only point out that it divides the network. . which isn't quite right. A subnet mask divides an address into a network portion and a host portion.