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Author Archive for KW – Page 40

Microsoft MVP Summit 2012

by KW · Comments (0)
Feb 27 2012

I am honored to have been selected in January 2012 as a Microsoft MVP for the Small Business Server (SBS) product for the 9th year in a row. One of the real highlights of being an MVP is to attend the annual Microsoft MVP Summit. This year’s event is being held from Feb 27 through March 2, 2012 in Bellevue/Redmond WA.

MVP’s are selected for a particular product or platform – ranging from Microsoft Office products to Microsoft desktop and server products. We have opportunities during the Summit to meet and interact with MVP’s from around the world, as well as to have in-depth discussions with our particular Microsoft product team. Our SBS group has about 50 MVPs worldwide. We have a great time learning and sharing with one another.

I am thankful that I am well enough to travel to this year’s conference.

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Categories : News, SBS

With a Little Help from My Friends

by KW · Comments (0)
Feb 15 2012

Recently, someone was having some compatibility issues with displaying the content of a web site. It would display fine with Chrome, but not IE9 — go figure. That got me to start humming this song almost immediately!

(Please note: I use IE9 all the time. I’m just having fun with it all!)

“With a Little Help from My Browser”
(aka Beatles With a Little Help from my Friends)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmOtWyjs8iU

What would you think if your browser just died
Would you download and start using Chrome?
Pull up your site, but don’t run and hide
I’m sure that we’ll get you back home

Oh, I get burned when I’m using IE
Mmmm, I get fried when I’m using IE
Yes, I’m gonna die when I’m using IE

Do you need a better browser?
I just need something that works
Could it be any browser?
I just can’t deal with the quirks

What do you do when you can’t browse a site?
Does it worry you that you can’t surf?
How do you feel by the end of the day?
Are you mad because IE just doesn’t work?

Oh, I get burned when I’m using IE
Mmmm, I get fried when I’m using IE
Yes, I’m gonna die when I’m using IE

Can you find a better browser?
You just need something that works
Could it be any browser?
We just can’t deal with the quirks

Oh, I get burned when I’m using IE
Mmmm, I get fried when I’m using IE
Yes, I’m gonna die when I’m using IE, when I’m using I …. E … !

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Categories : Songs
Tags :

Rolling up the Essentials for Valentine!

by KW · Comments (0)
Feb 15 2012

Yes, Microsoft’s SBS 2011 Essentials product has just received it’s second rollup (KB 2630429″“). Love is in the air (err … cloud). This rollup simplifies the Office 365 administration within the SBSe console, and resolves 14 major issues.

If you missed it, Rollup 1 for SBS 2011 Essentials (KB 2554629) was released on Sept 14, 2011. But RU2 includes all the updates from RU1.

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Categories : SBS

Do I Need to Stop Exchange on SBS 2011 Before Rebooting?

by KW · Comments (0)
Jan 17 2012

On SBS 2003 and SBS 2008 servers, the recommendation has been to shutdown Exchange manually before rebooting the server. This is done to speed up the time it takes to shutdown and restart the server. However, with SBS 2011 and Exchange 2010, the need to shutdown Exchange before a reboot is no longer necessary.

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Categories : SBS

Stop Exchange 2007 before Rebooting SBS 2008

by KW · Comments (0)
Jan 15 2012

On SBS 2008 servers, I recommend shutting down Exchange manually before restarting the server. Why? Quite simply because it will speed up the time required to shutdown and restart the server. I do this, for example, after installing security patches or rollups onto the server.

Use Notepad to create a batch command file with the following commands.

net stop msexchangeadtopology /y
net stop msftesql-exchange /y
net stop msexchangeis /y
net stop msexchangesa /y
net stop iisadmin /y
pause

I name the file “shutdown-exchange.cmd” or “shutdown-exchange.bat”, and save it in a Scripts folder on the server. I then create a shortcut link to the batch file onto the server’s desktop.

Yes, you can remove the “pause” command. I use it to give me a visual verification that I did indeed stop the Exchange server before restarting.

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Categories : SBS

iPhone requires Passcode after Exchange 2010 SP2

by KW · Comments (0)
Jan 14 2012

After installing Exchange 2010 Service Pack 2, you may suddenly find yourself deluged with calls from users saying that their iPhone is requesting then to enter a passcode.

The reason for requiring a passcode by default is an important one: cell phones contain a lot of valuable information, both personal and business. If your phone is lost, do you really want other people to have access to that information. With the passcode requirement, you can now remotely wipe clean that lost iPhone.

However, if you insist on disabling the requirement for the passcode, here are the steps required:

  1. Disable the setting in Exchange Management Console (EMC)
  2. Delete and re-add the Exchange mail account on your phone

Step 1: Disable the setting in EMC

  • Open Exchange Management Console, then click Organization Configuration –> Client Access –> Exchange ActiveSync Mailbox Policies tab
  • Right click on the Default policy –> Properties
    image
  • Click to UNcheck Require Password –> Apply –> OK
    image

Step 2: Delete and re-add the Exchange mail account on your phone

In addition to making the change in EMC, it will be required to delete your Exchange mail account on your phone and then re-add it.

Deleting your mail account:

  • Click Settings –> Mail –> Exchange Mail Account
  • If necessary record your current settings
  • Turn off the options to sync Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks
  • After turning off those options, you should be prompted to delete your mail account

Setting up your mail account

  • Click Exchange –> enter your mail account information
  • If you are prompted ‘Cannot verify server identity’, click Continue
  • Enter your mail account information
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Categories : Exchange, Phones, SBS
Tags : ,

Installing Exchange 2010 SP2 for SBS 2011

by KW · Comments (0)
Jan 13 2012

Exchange 2010 Service Pack 2 was released on December 4, 2011. But I’ve waited over a month before deciding to install this on my production server.

First, two questions you may have:

Q: Why don’t I see the Exchange SP2 in WSUS or Windows Update?
A: The explanation is simple: there is no ability to uninstall Exchange Service Packs, so Microsoft does not automatically push them out.

Q: If it doesn’t show up in WSUS or WU, how would I know that there is an Exchange Service Pack to download?
A: The SBS 2011 Best Practices Analyzer will inform you if there is a Service Pack to be installed (see screenshot of warning message)

image

And since we have to manually download and install Exchange Service Packs, this also gives us a chance to make sure that our server has been backed up before proceeding. So, let’s get started:

Step1: Reboot, Backup and Download

  • I would strongly advise that you restart your server before proceeding
  • Then make sure you have a current backup of your server on hand (just in case)
  • Download SP2 by clicking  on the link in the Resolution portion of the BPA warning message, or click this link to go to the Exchange 2010 SP2 Download page
  • Click on the Download button and then select to Save the SP2 file (be sure to click on SAVE, and not RUN
    I normally create a specific folder for service packs. In this case, I created E2010SP2.
    image   image
  • When finished with the download, click on Open Folder
    image

Step 2: Unblock – Extract – Stop Services

This is a very important, and perhaps unexpected step: after downloading the SP2 executable, you must UNBLOCK it before you can extract it, and then we must stop a service before we begin installing SP2.

  • Right click on the Exchange2010-SP2-x64.exe file, then click Properties. From the bottom of the Properties window click Unblock –> Apply –> OK
    image   image
  • Double click the .exe file to extract it, then click OK to extract it to the directory you created
    image  
    image  
    image  
  • Click OK when you see the Extraction Complete message
    image
  • Click Start –> type: services.msc, and then locate and stop the Windows SBS Manager service.
    image

Step 3: Run the Update

Finally, we are ready to install Exchange 2010 SP2!

  • Double click on setup.exe
    image
  • Click on ‘Install Microsoft Exchange Server upgrade’
    image
  • Click Next on the Introduction window:
    image
  • Click to “I accept the terms in the license agreement”, then click Next
    image
  • It now performs a Readiness check to verify that Exchange is ready to be upgraded. If everything passes, you are ready to click Next. Otherwise you will need to resolve any identified issues, and then restart setup.exe.
    image
  • Click finish when the upgrade is completed
    image
  • Be sure to restart the Windows SBS Manager that we stopped in Step 2. Although not required, I would also suggest rebooting your server

Rerun the BPA to confirm that the Exchange SP2 warning no longer displays.

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Categories : Exchange, SBS, Servers, WSUS
Tags : ,

Extreme IT Makeover

by KW · Comments (0)
Jan 11 2012

Oliver Sommer is a fellow SBS MVP’er (Germany), and he was involved with an Extreme IT Makeover in Helsinki last year. A short video of this effort was filmed and posted on HP’s Coffee Coaching website.

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Categories : SBS

Awarded MVP Status for 2012

by KW · Comments (0)
Jan 01 2012

I’m honored to announce that Microsoft has renewed my status as a Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) for Small Business Servers for the year 2012. This is the 8th straight year that I have been so recognized.

And just to clarify any misconceptions, I am not employed by or work for Microsoft. Here is what Microsoft says about the MVP award:

We seek to recognize the best and brightest from technology communities around the world with the Microsoft® Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award.

These exceptional community leaders come from a wide range of backgrounds. They are teachers, artists, doctors, engineers, as well as technologists, who actively share their high-quality, real-world technical expertise with the community and with Microsoft.

With the MVP Award, we thank these inspiring individuals for representing the voice of thousands in the community through the powerful and independent feedback they give us, and for helping our customers maximize the potential of their software.

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Categories : News, SBS

MalwareBytes Crashing

by KW · Comments (0)
Dec 29 2011

For those of you who use MalwareBytes, you should be aware they just came out with a new version (1.60.xx) and a new database definition naming convention. I’ve installed it on several systems with no problems.

But tonight I was working on a system, and did the regular in place upgrade of MalwareBytes. However, upon completion of the update process, MalwareByrt crashed on start up. Rebooting the computer did not help. So I uninstalled MalwareBytes, rebooted and then installed it clean. It still crashed on startup.

Fortunately, a quick Internet search identified that several other people had encountered this same issue with the new version of MalwareBytes. Fortunately, someone had a fix to the problem. I was not aware that MalwareBytes had their own standalone uninstall/cleanup utility program. So I downloaded it, ran it, rebooted, reinstalled MalwareBytes and now it starts up fine.

Here’s the link to the cleanup utility, straight from MalwareBytes’ web site:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam-clean.exe.

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Categories : Malware, News
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