HOWTO: Show Desktop icon in Windows 7
By Jesse | May 7, 2009
Where is the “Show Desktop” icon in windows 7? It took a while for me to find it.
There are two ways to access this feature although both the icon and the “quick launch” toolbar are both gone. The first way, is on the far right hand side of the task bar. There’s a small vertical rectangle …. clicking on it will show the desktop.
Alternately in Windows 7, if you right click in the taskbar, there’s an option called “show the desktop”. Personally I miss my icon… But both of these seem to work for me.
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Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Solution: skype: error while loading shared libraries: libasound.so.2: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64
By Jesse | May 4, 2009
I recently hit a problem with skype on linux. When running skype from the GUI, nothing happened, I tried running skype from the command line and got :
skype: error while loading shared libraries: libasound.so.2: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64
apparently due to the fact it was unable to find libasound.so.2 which is provided by the alsa-libs.i386 package. This was further verified by running:
ldd /usr/bin/skype
for those of you unfamilar with ldd, it lists all the pacakge dependencies and whether or not it can find each file, if you have this problem and run this command, you will likely find that for libasound.so.2 you get => not found.
I then ran yum install alsa-lib.i386 but found it was already installed. This quickly led to the solution :: Uninstall alsa then reinstall.. which did indeed fix the problem.
to do this:
yum remove alsa-lib.i386 (this will also uninstall skype)
yum install alsa-lib.i386 (this reinstalls alsa)
then browse to http://www.skype.com/download and download the new rpm.
Let me know if this fixes your problem.
Topics: How To, Misc | No Comments »
Fixing Active Directory DNS (_msdcs, _sites, _tcp, _udp)
By Jesse | April 23, 2009
Have you ever accidentally deleted the AD DNS settings such as _msdcs, or installed AD and then needed to add a DNS server? How do you get AD to build it’s DNS settings. As you know AD is very tightly bound to DNS so if those settings are not there, DNS is probably going to cause a world of hurt moving forward.
Never fear, this can easily be fixed. To fix this, download the Windows Support Tools :
After installing the support tools, verify your dns on the server is set correctly. Generally I set domain controllers to have their DNS boxes BLANK.. (ie they use themselves to resolve DNS. If they cannot find the DNS entry they seek, they use the root servers to do recursive queries.).
To check dns, goto TCP/IP properties of your Local Area Connection.. and in the “Use the following DNS server addresses:” set this value to blank. It should give you a message when you hit ok that it is using localhost as the DNS server.
Now goto the command prompt and in c:\program files\support tools run :
dcdiag /fix
then run
netdiag /fix
Finally run
ipconfig /flushdns
ipconfig /registerdns
net stop server
net start server
If you refresh your DNS you should now have all your entries in DNS that you need for AD to work properly.. The above command verify more than just fixing the DNS issues, but it doesnt hurt to run them and the dcdiag and netdiag will make sure your AD / DNS are the way they need to be.
One other note. Net stop server stop more than just DNS .. it also stops Netlogon and Distributed File systems. THESE SERVICES DO NOT START BACK UP ON THEIR OWN– so after you’ve done the steps above I recommend either a quick reboot or if you cant do that go into service and start any automatic services that are stopped (such as netlogon and distributed file systems.. Your server should now work fine!
Now sit back and relax.
Topics: How To, Microsoft Windows | No Comments »
Dont buy a Dell Desktop!!!
By Jesse | March 10, 2009
Just wanted to give our best practices for hardware. This is not necessarily the only solution, but it is definitely what has worked well for us in the past.
If you’re are at all technical, dont EVER EVER buy a Dell desktop. If you are an end user who is not technical then you’re probably fine with Dell.. But if you ever need any form of truly technical tech support.. Give up now.. Don’t ever bother to start… The chance that the support rep in who-knows-where-istan can help you is zero. We completely understand the need to outsource and see it as a valuable tool.. But outsourced support no matter where it is.. Whether India, or the United States, or Britain can never be as good as internal support from a knowledge level perspective. In addition Dell’s main support center is in India which adds a language barrier to the equation. It’s hard enough getting a 1st level support rep to understand that you need information about a specific chipset, but now one has to do it to someone who does not have Technical English as their first language. Spyware removal? yes, they do that very well.. But need to know where to get drivers for a different OS than shipped with the system or heaven forbid a 64-bit OS forget about it.. Go ask your cat….
Yes..Instead of calling Dell if you have a problem, instead ask your cat for the answer. You’ll get your answer more quickly this way. What’s that you say? Don’t have a cat? Go home tonight and open your fridge, see any vegetables? ask them.. Same deal. You’ll get your answer quicker this way and you’ll keep your blood pressure down to boot. Now we jest a bit, but we are serious about the level of technical knowledge- If you expect to ask them questions regarding the chipset on the motherboard, the processors that can fit the board, or adding things that they cant pull up in their relatively limited support database you will spend HOURS and HOURS on the phone getting nowhere. In addition they don’t listen very well and will repeatedly try to convince you you actually have the OS the machine shipped with even if you have already told them you refomatted it with something else…
We do however, recommend Dell Servers. Dell Servers are GREAT. They are the premium workhorse server we recommend to all our clients. They hardly ever break, the support is actually good and they get the job done every time.
So that said, what do we recommend for Desktops. Our current favorite is HP. Again for a similar reason that we like Dell servers. They tend to run like champs. And in terms of support they’re pretty knowledgeable.
For laptops we recommend Lenovo.. Why? Three reasons.. Knowledgeable support staff.. Phenominal unbelievable outstanding and amazing repair support (Get the box on Monday and you will almost always have it back, fixed, by Wednesday.) .. And the final reason: Thinkvantage update manager. Wow.. Finally a company that has a smart product. Reformat a machine, get the network driver, install the update manager from lenovo and two clicks or so later you have all the right drivers regardless of the OS. Not the original OS? no problem.. Lenovo’s got you covered. Wow.. need I say more.
So in an end wrap up get:
Lenovo Laptops, HP desktops, Dell Servers and Cisco Switch equipment — You’ll have a rock solid computing foundation to build on and are very likely to be happy with your choices.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Microsoft to end support for Windows Rights Management Services V1.0
By Jesse | March 10, 2009
Microsoft will be dropping support for all RMS (Rights Management Services) v1.0 products on March 23rd, 2009. This does not include RMS with V1.0 with SP2 or RMS v2.0 which will still be supported.
On top of dropping support, Microsoft will also be preventing activations or reactiviations of both the client or server. So if you have a server that has an expired SLC you will not be able to renew it after March 23rd unless you upgrade to V1.0 SP2 or later. Microsoft is ending support for v1.0 because it is outdated and can expose customers to security risks.
To get the new clients can be found on the following link:
Microsoft Rights Managment Services with SP2 Download and Info Page
If you have questions please post them and I will try to answer them.
Topics: IT Security, Microsoft RMS, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Fix for “The system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation” error.
By Jesse | March 9, 2009
Several times I have encountered the error:
“The system administrator has set policies to prevent this installation”
The solution to this is to fix the local security policy.
- Open control Panel and go to Administrative Tools.
- In Administrative tools open Local Security Policy.
- In Local Security Policy right click Software Restriction Policies and click “New Software Rectriction Policy”.
- Now Left click on software restriction policies and in the right-hand window you should see enforcement.
- Double-click on enforcement and set the policy to apply to “ALL USERS EXCEPT LOCAL ADMINISTRATORS”
Now approve the changes and see if you are now able to install software.
Alternately several people recommended the following but I’ve found the above steps fix the problem in 98% of cases. If you are unfamiliar with the registry…. stop reading.
- Browse the registry to HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Installer
Create: DisableMSI Type: REG_DWORD value = 0 (0 should allow you to install it was originally 1) - Browse to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Installer\Products\
Search the list for the product that is causing the error.. delete the folder in the products folder… this may also correct your error…
If you have any additional comments or pointers they are welcome.
*********************
***** UPDATE ******
*********************
I’ve gotten alot of comments that they cannot find secpol.msc. This is because it is not included on Home versions of vista. However, I now believe I have an answer even to this. I have spent the last hour reviewing the registry changes that are made and have narrowed down the value that is changed when you set the above policy. The Value changed is a dword value :
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy Objects\{A541BD3D-1A70-4D7B-BC99-CF1ADFC0DE9F}Machine\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer\CodeIdentifiers\PolicyScope
It is changed from 0 to 1 when you set it not to apply to administrators. When you set “new software restriction policy the following tree is populated:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Group Policy Objects\{A541BD3D-1A70-4D7B-BC99-CF1ADFC0DE9F}Machine\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Safer
I am not sure if you need the whole tree to get it to function or just the value I have included 2 Registry files to run. The first includes just the policyscope value of 1 the second includes the entire “Safer” tree that was created on my machine when I added the software restriction settings.
Click here to download just the PolicyScope setting. (download and run first to see if it fixes your problem.)
Click here to download the entire “Safer” tree that manually adds the fixed software restriction settings. (try this if the above reg file does not fix your problem.)
Topics: Uncategorized | 31 Comments »
What is Rights Management Services?
By Jesse | February 18, 2009
Rights Management Services is a technology product sold by microsoft that allows users to protect their documents with a set of digital access rights. The original product was created for use with Windows Server 2003 with API’s for Windows XP, Windows 2000 and Vista. In version 2.0 of RMS also known as ADRMS, RMS is now a role in Windows Server 2008.
Rights Management Services allows you to protect sensitive information by allowing the original document owner to easily assign “use rights” to the document. I call RMS “in-use” protection which is unlike Transport encryption such as SSL or PGP and also unlike ACL type restrictions.
In other words, I can create a word document and email it to you and give you “view-only” rights. When you get the email, you will not be able to print the document, copy text out of it, or edit it. RMS even blocks print screen! Pretty neat stuff.
The rights you can assign include “view only”, “print”, “copy”,”save and edit”, or “full control”. These are pretty self-explanatory so I wont go over them in detail, but basically you can assign these rights to any email, Word doc, Excel doc, or PowerPoint doc.
This is a very useful technology, but what happens if you have Blackberries in your environment? or what happens if you have other files types you want to protect like PDF? Ah ha! well, that’s where GigaTrust comes in. GigaTrust, based in Herndon, VA has created a complementary line of products that extends the Microsoft RMS platform to other file types including PDF, Visio, CAD/CAM, JPG, and hundreds more. In addition, they also protect messages sent from the Blackberry and enable the Blackberry to view protected content while still enforcing the original rights.
Very cool stuff GigaTrust! Here’s a post from MS Technet about them too.. If MS is behind them it must be good stuff.
Blackhawk Consulting can provide expert deployment services for native Rights Management Services- We can develop your deployment strategy, can recommend products like GigaTrust, and can design an architecture that fills your RMS service needs.
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Fedora hangs during install
By Jesse | February 18, 2009
I’ve had several PC’s that refuse to load the Fedora install DVD and hang during startup. I’ve always has success by doing the following. When presented with the inital linux menu to press enter to continue, instead, press tab to edit the boot options
add “ACPI=off noapic” to the end of the boot options. You should now be able to run the install normally without further problem.
Topics: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Fix for device descriptor read/64, error -71
By Jesse | February 11, 2009
This article describes the necessary steps needed to fix a system that does not recognize attached USB devices. If you check your /var/log/messages file you will see:
Feb 11 12:39:28 localhost kernel: usb 2-5: New USB device found, idVendor=0204, idProduct=6025
Feb 11 12:39:28 localhost kernel: usb 2-5: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
Feb 11 12:39:28 localhost kernel: usb 2-5: Product: Flash Disk
Feb 11 12:39:28 localhost kernel: usb 2-5: Manufacturer: CBM
Feb 11 12:39:28 localhost kernel: usb 2-5: SerialNumber: 09171500CA39E502
Feb 11 12:39:28 localhost kernel: usb 2-5: USB disconnect, address 7
Feb 11 12:39:28 localhost kernel: usb 8-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 6
Feb 11 12:39:28 localhost kernel: usb 8-1: device descriptor read/64, error -71
Feb 11 12:39:29 localhost kernel: usb 8-1: device descriptor read/64, error -71
Feb 11 12:39:29 localhost kernel: usb 8-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 7
Feb 11 12:39:29 localhost kernel: usb 8-1: device descriptor read/64, error -71
Feb 11 12:39:29 localhost kernel: usb 8-1: device descriptor read/64, error -71
Feb 11 12:39:29 localhost kernel: usb 8-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 8
Feb 11 12:39:30 localhost kernel: usb 8-1: device not accepting address 8, error -71
Feb 11 12:39:30 localhost kernel: usb 8-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 9
Feb 11 12:39:30 localhost kernel: usb 8-1: device not accepting address 9, error -71
Feb 11 12:39:30 localhost kernel: hub 8-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 1
To fix this problem, reboot the machine and at the boot menu edit the kernel options and add irqpoll.
After editing irqpoll to the kernel option- the problem should go away and the device should show up as a normal USB 2.0 device.
Topics: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
BES “Device Not Supported” error
By Jesse | February 9, 2009
If you receive a “Device Not Supported” error when trying to deploy an application to a new Blackberry device from your BES server, it is likely because your device.xml and vendor.xml files are not up-to-date.
To update your device.xml file and vendor.xml files right click on the links below:
https://www.blackberry.com/Desktop/Download/XML/Device.xml
https://www.blackberry.com/Desktop/Download/XML/Vendor.xml
and save them to the following location on the BES server:
C:\Program Files\Common Files\Research In Motion\AppLoader
You should not need to restart any services after making this update. After completing the update, please try to redeploy back to the device.
Topics: How To, Uncategorized | No Comments »
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