Enable logging of Microsoft Windows installer for diagnosing and troubleshotting. Enabling installation logging can be easility accomplished for a problem installation by using command line parameters. Strat the installation .msi file with command line parameters to log information that can be reviewed after the failed (or even successfull) product installation.
To enable MSI installation logging use the following example:
installfile.msi /L*V c:\install.log
Replace the installfile.msi with the name of your installation file.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Supporting Technology with Technology.: Enable 24 bit color in RDP for XP or 2003 Server
Supporting Technology with Technology.: Enable 24 bit color in RDP for XP or 2003 Server
Connect with true color 24 bit rdp.
A pre-defined default limit on XP or windows 2003 server limits the color depth of RDP connections to 16 bit maximum. How to configure the "server side" of remote desktop to accept connections at 24-bit true color. Vista, windows 7 and server 2008 already allow higher that 24 bit color by default.
Connect with true color 24 bit rdp.
A pre-defined default limit on XP or windows 2003 server limits the color depth of RDP connections to 16 bit maximum. How to configure the "server side" of remote desktop to accept connections at 24-bit true color. Vista, windows 7 and server 2008 already allow higher that 24 bit color by default.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Enable 24 bit color in RDP for XP or 2003 Server
Enable 24 bit color in RDP for XP or 2003 Server
On Windows server, RDP or RDS (Remote Desktop Services), also permits remote access connectivity by clinets running any version of the remote desktop connection client. The remote desktop connection client used to be called terminal services client and remote desktop protocol client. Older RDP client used to have a color limitation but the newer later RDC client (remote desktop connection) does not have that limitation but the color depth can be adjusted to the user's preference.
The default color resolution for RDP sessions is limited to 16 bits. This color depth is set on the remote computer and not on the connecting computer. There is an easy fix for this that will enable 24 bit true color for RDP connections. Connect to the remote computer then:
- Go to Start -> Run.
- Type in gpedit.msc and click on OK to run the program.
- In the window that opens’ left panel, go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Terminal Services.
- On the right-hand panel, find the setting that says Limit maximum color depth and double-click it.
- In the dialog box that pops up, select Enabled from the radio buttons as shown in the image.
- In the combo box, select “24 bit” or “Client compatable“.
- Click OK.
Microsoft Terminal Server
(Windows RDS - Remote Desktop Service on Windows 2008 R2)
On Windows server, RDP or RDS (Remote Desktop Services), also permits remote access connectivity by clinets running any version of the remote desktop connection client. The remote desktop connection client used to be called terminal services client and remote desktop protocol client. Older RDP client used to have a color limitation but the newer later RDC client (remote desktop connection) does not have that limitation but the color depth can be adjusted to the user's preference.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Run dsa.msc in 2008 windows server
A simple but effective command used by hundreds of thousands domain administrators and other tech support and server management personal was to run the command dsa.msc from the command line or from the start run menu. This tool was taken out of the default installation for windows 20087 server. This is an interesting change and one that must have a logical cause behind it. The first of which is security.
That topic is not in the scope of this post. What is in the scope is how to get it back . To get the dsa.msc command back into member 2008 server is quite easy. The image in this post shows the options that should be selected to re-enable dsa.msc to run from a member server. The installation takes only minutes and doesn't require a reboot of the server.
Monday, March 02, 2009
How Some Companies Do Support.: VMWare - Virtualization Support
How Some Companies Do Support.: VMWare - Virtualization Support
The few instances where I needed to contact VMWare support for assistance on a project, they did a decent job. Although they, and all other vendors, tout having the best support and are committed to making their users happy, it always depends and varies depending on who you get when you call in and what is the current support queue length they are working off of.
A tired and understaffed support group no matter whose it is will always be less effective than a support department that is fresh and not over-worked (over baked), ready to break down or are disgruntled about their work conditions.
Then, there is the other factor of who you get. Although I'm not apposed to getting a new support person when I call in to a company for support, I do mind if they are not into the technology or interested in solving the issue at hand. I like and don;t mind if put on hold so they can consult with another person except times where time is more critical for the project and that added wait time can come back to hurt the project goals.
On the other side of the spectrum is the support staff members who have been at the company many years or doing the same job or technology for a long time and not only know a great deal but are grumpy about it. The experienced grumpy that thinks you should have already known much of the information they are providing and also they dispense a subtle talk down. This is the worst. Worse that the new support agent or support engineer. Although they know a lot of the product and technology, the more sadists ones will use that as a torture device. Not providing all the information, especially and particularly in the form of gotchas in design or implementation.
The few instances where I needed to contact VMWare support for assistance on a project, they did a decent job. Although they, and all other vendors, tout having the best support and are committed to making their users happy, it always depends and varies depending on who you get when you call in and what is the current support queue length they are working off of.
A tired and understaffed support group no matter whose it is will always be less effective than a support department that is fresh and not over-worked (over baked), ready to break down or are disgruntled about their work conditions.
Then, there is the other factor of who you get. Although I'm not apposed to getting a new support person when I call in to a company for support, I do mind if they are not into the technology or interested in solving the issue at hand. I like and don;t mind if put on hold so they can consult with another person except times where time is more critical for the project and that added wait time can come back to hurt the project goals.
On the other side of the spectrum is the support staff members who have been at the company many years or doing the same job or technology for a long time and not only know a great deal but are grumpy about it. The experienced grumpy that thinks you should have already known much of the information they are providing and also they dispense a subtle talk down. This is the worst. Worse that the new support agent or support engineer. Although they know a lot of the product and technology, the more sadists ones will use that as a torture device. Not providing all the information, especially and particularly in the form of gotchas in design or implementation.
Remote Support
A simple process that could take an experienced person several minutes to maybe ten can turn into an hour with a person on the remote side that has no idea of how to perform the functions that you are requesting or have never even seen a command line or rarely use the right-click feature of their mouse.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Backup Exec 12 - Exchange 2007 Email Notification
Backup Exec 12 Not Sending Email Notification through Exchange 2007
#550 5.7.1 RESOLVER.RST.AuthRequired; authentication required
Diagnostic information for administrators:
Generating server: exchange.yourdomain.local
#550 5.7.1 RESOLVER.RST.AuthRequired; authentication required ##
Original message headers:
When you're encountering a problem sending Backup Exec 12 email notification alerts through an Exchange 2007 server, check the following
Test that you can access port 25 (SMTP port number) on the Exchange server by using telnet.
telnet ip-address-of-exchange-server 25
ehlo domainname.gr
mail from:backup@domainname.gr
rcpt to:administrator@domainname.gr
data
backup exec
.
Your will then get a confirmation the mail has been queued for delivery
If the mail gets delivered you know port 25 in not blocked or restricted in any way you have permission to send e-mail.
If you do not connect, check to see if there is any software blocking the connection like software or hardware firewalls. Antivirus programs now come with firewall features to stop worms from sending out email from the computer they are infecting. Stop the services and try again. Once you have successfully telneted and sent the test email but backup exec still does not send email notifications then check the following.
The Backup Exec software might not be authenticating properly so be sure you have used an actual real email address with an active domain account as the sender address. The name is a description and can be anything but the email address has to an account in the domain - Exchange wants it that way. If you already have an active domain account as the sender address in backup exec, like administrator@domainname.gr, check the account's inbox and look for NDR (non-delivery reports as they may provide an important clue to why your email not being delivered.
Other tools that are handy to utilize when troubleshooting this problem is the the transport receive logs in exchange, they will determine if the email has even been received by the exchange server. When email is accepted into the Exchange email organization by the transport server (it could be the same server as the mailbox server), it will be logged. A simple log generated by exchange is very useful for problems such as this one.
Another tool I often used for determining if a program is trying to communicate information to another system over the network is a simple little program call Active Ports. This is a free program hat show you the running processes and what they are doing in terms of sending or receiving data. It has a very small foot print and installs in seconds so it is worth a look at. You can accomplish the same thing with a command line command but this GUI based tool gives you nearly realtime information which is important for something like SMTP send that could take only less than a second to occur.
The NDR information shown at the top of this email is an example of what someone was getting when they called for assistance. After going through the regular trouble shooting options as discussed above for determining the problem. If you are reading this you most likely have Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Exchange 2007. The way Backup Exec sends their email notifications has not changed in years and version 12 or 12.5 has also not changed. the new culprit is Exchange 2007. There are some additional security options included in the groups and users that are implemented through the domain schema update that has to be run in order to install Exchange 2007. One of those new options is in the domain group properties especially if you are using a distribution list to send the notification to. Uncheck the option to authenticate all users in group. That was the cure for the problem described in the NDR report shown at the beginning of this blog.
Microsoft Exchange email delivery issues as well as issues on the client side can be resolved using online remote support software. Online remote support accounts for a majority of help-desk solutions. Microsoft Exchange can be repaired remotely as well as email clients like Micrsooft Outlook.
#550 5.7.1 RESOLVER.RST.AuthRequired; authentication required
Diagnostic information for administrators:
Generating server: exchange.yourdomain.local
#550 5.7.1 RESOLVER.RST.AuthRequired; authentication required ##
Original message headers:
When you're encountering a problem sending Backup Exec 12 email notification alerts through an Exchange 2007 server, check the following
Test that you can access port 25 (SMTP port number) on the Exchange server by using telnet.
telnet ip-address-of-exchange-server 25
ehlo domainname.gr
mail from:backup@domainname.gr
rcpt to:administrator@domainname.gr
data
backup exec
.
Your will then get a confirmation the mail has been queued for delivery
If the mail gets delivered you know port 25 in not blocked or restricted in any way you have permission to send e-mail.
If you do not connect, check to see if there is any software blocking the connection like software or hardware firewalls. Antivirus programs now come with firewall features to stop worms from sending out email from the computer they are infecting. Stop the services and try again. Once you have successfully telneted and sent the test email but backup exec still does not send email notifications then check the following.
The Backup Exec software might not be authenticating properly so be sure you have used an actual real email address with an active domain account as the sender address. The name is a description and can be anything but the email address has to an account in the domain - Exchange wants it that way. If you already have an active domain account as the sender address in backup exec, like administrator@domainname.gr, check the account's inbox and look for NDR (non-delivery reports as they may provide an important clue to why your email not being delivered.
Other tools that are handy to utilize when troubleshooting this problem is the the transport receive logs in exchange, they will determine if the email has even been received by the exchange server. When email is accepted into the Exchange email organization by the transport server (it could be the same server as the mailbox server), it will be logged. A simple log generated by exchange is very useful for problems such as this one.
Another tool I often used for determining if a program is trying to communicate information to another system over the network is a simple little program call Active Ports. This is a free program hat show you the running processes and what they are doing in terms of sending or receiving data. It has a very small foot print and installs in seconds so it is worth a look at. You can accomplish the same thing with a command line command but this GUI based tool gives you nearly realtime information which is important for something like SMTP send that could take only less than a second to occur.
The NDR information shown at the top of this email is an example of what someone was getting when they called for assistance. After going through the regular trouble shooting options as discussed above for determining the problem. If you are reading this you most likely have Symantec Backup Exec 12 and Exchange 2007. The way Backup Exec sends their email notifications has not changed in years and version 12 or 12.5 has also not changed. the new culprit is Exchange 2007. There are some additional security options included in the groups and users that are implemented through the domain schema update that has to be run in order to install Exchange 2007. One of those new options is in the domain group properties especially if you are using a distribution list to send the notification to. Uncheck the option to authenticate all users in group. That was the cure for the problem described in the NDR report shown at the beginning of this blog.
Microsoft Exchange email delivery issues as well as issues on the client side can be resolved using online remote support software. Online remote support accounts for a majority of help-desk solutions. Microsoft Exchange can be repaired remotely as well as email clients like Micrsooft Outlook.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Server Error in '/owa/auth' Application - Outlook Web Access
Server Error in '/owa/auth' Application.
Runtime Error
Among other error messages received while trying to get Outlook Web Access working on IIS6/Exchange 2007 , this one was the worse:
Runtime Error
Among other error messages received while trying to get Outlook Web Access working on IIS6/Exchange 2007 , this one was the worse:
Server Error in '/owa/auth' Application. Runtime Error
The reason it was one of the worst ones was because I knew I was close. Close to getting the thing working and after already trying so many things to make Outlook Web Access work from the Internet or an external computer and on the internal LAN network, this was the final hurrah to the trouble.
I checked the web for answers and hit so many forums with guru after guru after wan-be guru. Even the forums that charge to allow you to see the answers. You know the ones. They want you to pay a yearly subscription to see answers to questions. Yes they have answers to a lot of things but so many times you can tell the guys answering are giving the quickest cheesiest answers they can and hope they score the points for the answer.
They didn't have the answer. The usual spay of links to Microsoft technet and other places were there but no one had the answer. I found it myself. Trial and error and yes this server was hot - there were people waiting to use it.
Outlook web access for Exchange 2007. IIS6 running the front end OWA. This is a recipe for trouble don't you think? Things don't change and people who've been around know that the more complex the OS and services get, the more complex the problem. There are times you can throw some old fashioned techniques into the problem and score a win.
Trouble shooting this OWA Exchange 2003 problem was a brute force attack. I knew that at some point the right combination of security and permissions settings would hit and they did. Struggling to get outlook web access to work from external or the Internet but see it working on the LAN or internal network then try this. Don't be scared. Exchange has some new features that will put things right as Exchange 2007 actually manages Outlook web Access directory security from the web browser. Also, it isn't working anyway that's why your reading this. IIS manages the web site but exchange is looking out on the Outlook web access folder and everything else structure underneath.
All the folders under OWA need to not have the cog look. They should look like folders. If your have the cogs, get rid of them. How? Right click them one at a time and then at the bottom of the default property page it should read OWA but greyed out. the next field should read script and executables not grayed out and the last field, application pool, should be grayed out too. Now each of the fields should have in them Application Name: OWA , Execute Permissions : Scripts and Executables and the last, Execute Permissions: MSExchageDefualtAppPool.
All the folders underneath OWA should say the same thing in these three fields. You may be asking, what about directory security? What do I put there? Put anything you like. Exchange is managing that portion of it and will change whatever you do there anyway.
This solution also fixed these errors too:
- Outlook Web Access encountered an unexpected error and was unable to handle your request.
- Page cannot be displayed Internal server error .
- Url: http://exchange.yourdomain.com/owa/auth/error.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/owa/auth/logon.aspx
For one of the best spyware removers that I've used, check out this post - SupperAntiSpyware - Desktop support at work . I used to use Adaware SE but after several disappointments with it, I searched and found another product. This one also has a free version, installs faster, works faster, has a smaller foot print, and most importantly - works much better. The few times this program had trouble removing any malware I used combofix.exe in conjunction but that is rare. Superantipyware alone has done the job many times.
For online remote desktop support software try this site - http://www.4remotesupport.com. They have a very inexpensive solution for remote control access of client computers, desktops and servers. There's never a cost increase and updates and upgrades are also included with no additional subscription charge or fee. Remotely Control host keyboard and mouse online, work as if you're there and provide remote support through the web. Their solution even works on the LAN or the web, same account, same low cost.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Information Technology Support - Adventure (Rated PG): NetGear PS121 USB to Ethernet Network
Information Technology Support - Adventure (Rated PG): NetGear PS121 USB to Ethernet Network
Make any standard USB printer a network printer with this inexpensive USB to network converter. Share your desktop printer with all computers on your home or small office network without having to buy more printers. With this PS, you can stop having to leave computers on just so other desktop computers on the network can acces the USB attached shared printers. Share them and keep your computer off and save power without even needing a dedicated server to do it.
Source blog home - Information Technology Support - Adventure (Rated PG)
Make any standard USB printer a network printer with this inexpensive USB to network converter. Share your desktop printer with all computers on your home or small office network without having to buy more printers. With this PS, you can stop having to leave computers on just so other desktop computers on the network can acces the USB attached shared printers. Share them and keep your computer off and save power without even needing a dedicated server to do it.
Source blog home - Information Technology Support - Adventure (Rated PG)
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Information Technology Support - Adventure (Rated PG): Computer Desktop and Server Management
The list is short for companies and software that could offer the managed service software that kaseya can offer. At an affordable price, you could offer support services beyond that of the break/fix business model.
Offer them more at a steady contract price without having to even be onsite to implement and also reduce onsite visits and panic calls. With Kaseya computer desktop, server, and all network device management software, you could know about problems even before your customers do. In addition, you could offer backup solutions through imaging software built right into Kaseya and also get a robust ticketing system and remote control appication to remotely access your clients computers and provide real time support.
Kaseya is capable of automating and remotely manage the following key IT services:
Offer them more at a steady contract price without having to even be onsite to implement and also reduce onsite visits and panic calls. With Kaseya computer desktop, server, and all network device management software, you could know about problems even before your customers do. In addition, you could offer backup solutions through imaging software built right into Kaseya and also get a robust ticketing system and remote control appication to remotely access your clients computers and provide real time support.
Kaseya is capable of automating and remotely manage the following key IT services:
- PC Remote Control/Remote Support
- Patch Management
- Kaseya Computer Audit and Discovery
- Remote Desktop Management
- LAN and Windows Monitoring
- Help Desk and Trouble Ticketing
- Software Deployment & Systems Management
- Network Policy Management
- Backup and Disaster Recovery
- Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware Detection
- Cross Platform Support (PC and MAC)
- User State Management
- Power Management
Kaseya - Minimum system requirements
Backup and disaster recovery has components and is driven by Acronis. Other posts related to Acronis at http://pctechnow.blogspot.com/ and http://pctechgo.blogspot.com/ .
Backup and disaster recovery has components and is driven by Acronis. Other posts related to Acronis at http://pctechnow.blogspot.com/ and http://pctechgo.blogspot.com/ .
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Conferencing and Collaboration - Live Meeting
Online Remote Support Software
Microsoft LiveMeeting has a new version and some great new features to go with it.
Sign-up for a demo:
LiveMeeting Demo
Read White Paper:
Conferencing and Collaboration White Paper
Collaboration software provides not only the capability for working jointly on a document or project but also enables support.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
LiveMeeting Conferencing also for Tech Support.
The best I've found to get to the numerous support calls that can inundate the day is to access computers remotely through the web. The number of clients that you or your organization may have will increase not decrease. So the number of small and large computer problems increases along with the customer base. Computer remote support software gives technicians and support specialists the opportunity to get to more problems quicker and easier. Computer remote support software has enabled my company to grow their customer base without having to add additional technicians to support them.
Since we access their computers remotely, we are able to get to more of the computer desktop and server support tickets within the same amount of time or less. 4RemoteSupport Software for desktop remote support has enabled our company to grow faster than before. We can access clients computers to get to their problems without them waiting for a technician to arrive on-site to address the location.
Microsoft LiveMeeting is one of the best tools available for both conferencing and for remote computer access to allow meeting online and for supporting our computer products with having to accrue the charges associated with actually going to a customer or prospective clients office to demonstrate a new product or solution.
Demo: Microsoft Office Live Meeting
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/meetings-7aa77952-c1f7-4a15-96f5-5607c0bbf37d
Since we access their computers remotely, we are able to get to more of the computer desktop and server support tickets within the same amount of time or less. 4RemoteSupport Software for desktop remote support has enabled our company to grow faster than before. We can access clients computers to get to their problems without them waiting for a technician to arrive on-site to address the location.
Microsoft LiveMeeting is one of the best tools available for both conferencing and for remote computer access to allow meeting online and for supporting our computer products with having to accrue the charges associated with actually going to a customer or prospective clients office to demonstrate a new product or solution.
Demo: Microsoft Office Live Meeting
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/meetings-7aa77952-c1f7-4a15-96f5-5607c0bbf37d
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
SupperAntiSpyware - Desktop support at work.
SUPERAntiSpyware - AntiAdware, AntiSpyware,AntiMalware
My Review And Opinion:
Highly recommend it for removing malware and viruses from desktop systems.
The name of this product and their icons for the box image and the application once installed look and feel like the badware programs they are trying to remove from desktops. When I first encountered this products, I was in desperate need of a tool that would remove some programs (Trojans, browser hi-jackers, root-kits like QoolAid) from a desktop that was so badly polluted and infected that the normal programs that I used as part of a set of tools for removing such said programs were not doing the job.
After searching our to find other solutions, I came a cross a forum that recommended this program to remove really ingrained and harmful stuff. Those of you who have chased viruses and bad ware in the past have come to realize that one tool is not enough, and the bad guys are always improving their means and efficiency at which they can inject their garbage onto another computer.
I was a big fan of AdAware SE before I met this little program called SUPERAntiSpyware. Ad- Aware just didn't remove everything and after each and every reboot, the pop-ups wopuld occur again. If the reboot didn't re-infect it again, the starting of IE would (I had no choice but to use IE on this and other desktops in this clients office - NO FireFox option).
There are hundreds of thousands of viruses and Trojans just waiting to infect an unsuspecting visitor to a website. Many times these are just people who are looking to find music or other harmful things online. A simple search for kids cloths could land an unsuspecting visitors to a web site that within an instant, has infected their computer desktop and in no time at all, the computer becomes unusable. I've seen it over and over again.
When I first tried this program I actually thought from the name and look, it was going to be malware itself and I'd be looking to remove it too. After trying several programs (suggested by the wizards on various computer support forums), I found that there are indeed too many bogus programs that say they're going to clean up your computer and then turn out to actually infect it further.
This program works great and it works fast. Their are options to the type of scan to perform but even an average user can install and have it running in minutes. Their free version doesn't due real-time scanning but for a quick clean and fix, it works great. I do recommend purchasing the real time scanner to provide constant protection. I carry it on my USB drive so I'm ready to use this little gem of a program to clean computer when needed.
For a previous related post on software for PC and desktop remote access for support: http://pcremotesupport.blogspot.com/2006/04/access-pcs-on-web-for-support.html
For computer remote support software see this post: http://desktopremotesupport.blogspot.com/2005/11/desktop-remote-support.html , Provide PC remote support affordably with 4RemoteSupport web based PC remote support software.
Add extra logon tracking to Windows 2003 server without third party utilities. Sometimes your intruder threats come frm inside your network - http://www.bloglines.com/blog/Puppet?id=120 . Technology Support Blog : http://www.bloglines.com/blog/Puppet?id=120
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