Expand the virtual disk size of Windows 2008 Server with VMware Player / Workstation
Posted on October 27, 2011, under SharePoint, Software, Technology.
VMware Disk (~20 minutes)
For Workstation 7 and later and Player 3.x and later, you can increase the virtual disk from the GUI:
- Select the virtual machine from the Inventory.
- Click Edit Virtual Machine Settings.
- Click Hard Disk.
- Click Utilities > Expand, enter the new size, then click Expand.
Windows 2008 OS (~2 minutes)
How to extend the boot partition in Windows Server 2008
To extend the boot partition in Windows Server 2008, follow these steps:
- 1. Click Start, and then click Server Manager.
- 2. In the navigation pane, expand Storage, and then click Disk Management.
- 3. In the details pane, right-click the volume that you want, and then click Extend Volume.
- 4. Follow the instructions in the Extend Volume Wizard to extend the boot partition.
Reference: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325590
Fix it: Help for Checking Your Windows Security Settings
Microsoft has small utility online you can run to check your Windows security settings:
Diagnose and fix Windows security problems automatically
What it fixes…
- Checks Windows security features and enables them if needed
- Phishing or Smartscreen filters
- User Account Control (UAC)
- Data Execution Prevention (DEP)
- Windows Firewall
- Antivirus protection status and updates
OpenDNS Hijacks Bing Searches – Workaround
Update 8/15/2011: Thankfully, OpenDNS is no longer redirecting Bing searches. The Founder, David Ulevitch, posted on their blog in regards to ISPs hijacking searches. I posted a comment about OpenDNS’s behavior, and Mr. Ulevitch sent me a personal e-mail saying he understood the sentiments, and that’s why he directed the proxy to be shut down. I tested it, and sure enough – no more hijacking! I’m glad OpenDNS was able to take and act on feedback.
While I have loved the OpenDNS service for the last several years, this week it has started hijacking web searches I perform in IE’s address bar that should be going to Bing. I don’t like this. So far support is saying this is a change with IE9, but obviously IE9 has been out for quite some time, and this behavior is new.
You can even see the direct for yourself using this short video I made:
http://screencast.com/t/uBiL34Giq
Until OpenDNS receives enough attention that they look at changing this, there is a workaround…
Update I: In the OpenDNS forums, there is a post where others complain of the same behavior. A support person from OpenDNS vaguely says it is not a bug, but that there might be an issue with the proxy. They then closed the forum thread, directing people to support tickets. I have a ticket open, and so far they are saying it is my fault for not using my browser correctly.
Workaround
Internet Explorer lets you set custom search providers for the address bar, using a page Microsoft has set up on the IE Addons site:
Create your own Search Provider
Follow the instructions to create a new entry for Bing. In my case, I simply named it "Bing 2". Then click the "Install Search Provider" button.
You will be prompted to install the new search provider. Select that you want to use it as your default search provider.
Now when you search in IE’s address bar, your searches will correctly be sent to Bing.
Clever Microsoft Ad
Posted on November 18, 2010, under Technology.
SPS2010 – October CU Issues
Posted on November 7, 2010, under SharePoint.
The SharePoint Team blog posted a notice Friday (11/5), that there was an issue with the SPS2010 October CU, and to not install it. Cryptically, they said if you have installed it, to contact Microsoft Support.
Later in the day, they posted a follow-up, detailing which packages were affected (SharePoint Server Package 2394320 and Project Server Package 2394322), and steps for a workaround.
It appears that the main issue is that the User Profile Service Application loses the assigned permissions during the install of the CU. The post walks you through resetting the permissions.
Microsoft Junk E-mail Reporting Add-in for Outlook
Microsoft has released a Junk E-mail Reporting Add-in for Microsoft Outlook 2003, 2007 and 2010 which allows you to easily report spam back to Microsoft for analysis. Reporting the spam back to Microsoft helps them improve their junk e-mail filtering technologies.
After I installed the plugin on my home machine, I saw a new button on e-mails to Report Junk:
When you click the Report Junk button, you are prompted to confirm you want to report the selected e-mail as spam. Once you click yes:
- The original e-mail is moved to the Junk E-mail folder
- An e-mail is sent from your account to abuse@messaging.microsoft.com, with the original junk e-mail forwarded as an attachment. The e-mail also includes the e-mail header information to allow for analysis on where the junk e-mail originated from.
- You will receive a confirmation e-mail from abuse@messaging.microsoft.com, saying Microsoft has received your submission and will analyze the content to look at adjusting their filtering rules.
Microsoft update problems; Yay for my backup plans!
Posted on August 2, 2010, under Technology.
Microsoft released a critical security patch (MS10-046) that hosed my Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit machine. After the patch installed, I click the button to reboot, but it never finished. It froze on the screen that said, "Preparing To Configure Windows. Please Do Not Turn Off Your Computer." Even the little spinner had froze. I finally powered down the machine, but I couldn’t get Windows to boot even in Safe Mode.
I did have a plan though. I booted up my Windows 7 emergency System Repair Disc, and attempted to go back to a previous System Restore Point. Every time I tried though, I received a failure error of 0×80070057. (*Spoiler Alert* After I restored my computer, I realized I had turned off Systems Restore for all my drives. Sheesh, not sure why I did that. Probably to save disk space. Lesson learned.)
That left me with one option to get Windows back up and running without too much pain. In the menu of the System Repair Disk, I selected System Image Recovery, since I had scheduled weekly full backups of my system. (You do too, right?)
After successfully running the system image restoration process, a few of my files were now a week or so out of date. When I logged in, up popped my Carbonite client. It had recognized that my system had just gone through a recovery, and gave me options on restoring my files that were either out of date or missing. I selected the files to restore, and now my system is back up and running! Sweet!
The change I will be making to my backup strategy is enabling System Restore Points on my C: drive.
Summary:
- Create a Windows System Repair Disc
- Enable System Restore Points on the System drive (C:)
- Schedule weekly System Image backups
- Purchase a Carbonite subscription, and use the recommended backup settings
- Be a little skeptical of emergency patches
Zune – Reserved Space fixed with a device restart
This last year, my 8GB Zune has been acting up a little when it comes to the Reserved Space on the device. Every so often I would receive a message that my Zune was full, only to see that Reserved Space was using over 1 GB of storage.
In the past, I would go through the not-too-painful-but-still-tedious process of reformatting and re-syncing all of the content.
I just discovered that I can simply restart the Zune, and when I connect it back up to my computer, everything is back to normal. I guess we still live under the principle of “when in doubt, reboot.”
Discover core databases for a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 farm
Posted on March 4, 2010, under SharePoint.
Below are steps for one method to discover databases used by a WSS 3.0 farm. Log in to SharePoint Central Administration for each of these activities.
Configuration Database
- Go to the “Operations” tab
- Click “Servers in Farm”
- Under “Farm Information” see the following items:
- Configuration database server
- Configuration database name
Central Administration Content Database
- Go to the “Application Management” tab
- Click “Web application list”
- Click “SharePoint Central Administration v3″
- Under “SharePoint Site Management”, click “Site collection list”
- Under the root “/” site, look in the information table for the “Database Name” value
General Usage Content Databases
- Go to the “Application Management” tab
- Click “Web application list”
- For each web application listed other than “SharePoint Central Administration v3″ (see above), perform the following:
- Click the web application name
- Under “SharePoint Site Management”, click “Site collection list”
- For each listed site collection (by URL):
- Click the URL of the site collection
- In the information table, look for the “Database Name” value
Search Database
- Go to the “Operations” tab
- Under “Topology and Services”, click “Services on server”
- Click the text “Windows SharePoint Services Help Search”
- Under “Search Database”, look for the values:
- Database Server
- Database Name
Windows 7 – Homegroups
Posted on October 25, 2009, under Technology.
Finally! Easy home networking. I bought a Windows 7 Home Premium Family Pack (3 licenses), set up a Homegroup to share files and a printer, and I’m loving it. Super easy.
