Documentation: Hyper-V Setup

PROBLEM: Sharepoint 2013 Forbidden 503 Service Unavailable

PROBLEM: Sharepoint 2013 Forbidden 503 Service Unavailable
FIX: Update the domain password of the Sharepoint Services
ROOTCAUSE: A compulsory Domain password change created an issue in the Sharepoint Services, you have to manually update/set the service password.
COUNTERMEASURE: Create an SPADMIN account in the domain and set the password not to expire.

BACKGROUND:

Last month, I consolidated all my server needs at home into 1 server.  I am using a Dell Poweredge III SFF as the physical server with 2 CPU, 32GB of Memory and 8 2.5” drives. I bought this from ebay for half the original cost.  The purpose of the server was for learning about the following topics: Hyper-V, Windows 2012, Exchange 2013, Sharepoint 2013, Lync 2013, SQL 2012. This is only a hobby and not exactly job related.   Yes, I created a complex situation at home just to occupy my mind when I’m bored.  This is more of a “problem solving journey” than anything else. [poweredge notes] .  If you are in the same journey, please feel free to exchange notes here.

Sharepoint site was running like a champ for weeks and then all of a sudden, “forbidden 503” error.  The Sharepoint server is a Hyper-V client inside the Poweredge 2930 III server.  I had 8 drives running/designated for each specific server. The backend of the Sharepoint server database was a virtual disk on a separate drive within the physical server.   The Domain server was the Hyper-V host and the physical network connection was tied into the physical Linksys Network switch.  Inside the Hyper-V Host is the virtual switch that connects all the Hyper-V clients ie domain, exchange and sharepoint.  For sharepoint to properly work, all the interconnected systems must be fully functioning. In short, the forbidden 503 error was not an easy problem to troubleshoot.

Virtual Machines:
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When I setup Sharepoint 2013 for testing, I was using the domain\administrator account to run the service [this is the mistake]. W2012 domain forced a password change of the administrator account in which I did and then a few days later, I found out, the Sharepoint site was down.

Two symptoms:
1. Sharepoint Site “Forbidden 503 Service Unavailable”
2. Central Admin was unavailable

SOLUTION:
Step By Step:
1. Go to Sharepoint Server Services
2. Update the Sharepoint Service Account
3. From the command prompt, Type iisreset  /restart

Windows Service Account-password needs manual update
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IIS Application Pool Failed to start [lesson learned: do not use the Administrator account]
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iOS7 Minimalist Settings

I finally upgraded to 5S [from 4] with 32GB and I configured mine to use the minimum amount of energy and bandwidth.  I did add a battery case – Maxboost  Fusion to give me an additional 3 hours of  uptime. My AT&T account has a cap of 2GB per month and I think this is still a good data plan [minimalist] considering that I am not planning to watch videos on LTE nor plan to stream Spotify when I am not using WIFI.  I’m using the Spotify Offline Mode and downloaded all my Hillsong music from home.  Mainly, the use of this gadget is for reading, blogging and listening to sermons and music. 

Here’s the simplified version of what cnet had mentioned at their site.  Please do read the cnet articles so that you can understand what items are being turned off and the reasoning.

1. Settings-General-Background App Refresh, mine is turned OFF.
2. Settings-iTunes & Apps Store and scroll to the Automatic Downloads, mine is turned OFF
3. Settings-Privacy, Location Service=OFF, mine is turned OFF
4. Settings-General-Spotlight Search, mine is all turned OFF
2. Settings-General-Accessibility, Increase Contrast=ON; Reduce Motion=ON, mine is all turned ON
3. Settings-General-Usage, Under Storage, Study the Apps that is holding a lot of space and if you don’t use it, Delete the App

Source:
cnet-Longer Battery Life
cnet-Speed up iOS7

FIX: Amazon Prime – Video Streaming Issue on Windows 8 PC

Problem: When you play a movie using your Amazon Prime account [Chrome browser], video streaming is not available.
FIX: Use Adobe Flash Player instead of Silverlight

Step By Step:
1. Open Chrome Browser
2. Type chrome://plugins in the url bar
3. Find the Silverlight plugin and Click Disable
4. Find the Adobe Flash Player plugin, Click Enable
5. Retry Video Streaming
6. END

Correct Settings: Silverlight – DISABLED

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Correct Settings: Flash Flayer-ENABLED

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Script: Shutdown/Restart Sharepoint 2013 and SQL Server

Sometimes I received an error when I access my Sharepoint site at home saying “the server is unavailable”.
I have two options:
1. Restart the Sharepoint 2013 VM
2. Run the script shutdownSQL-SP.cmd

I opted out using #2, the downtime was shorter.  I still have to find the reason why sometimes this error happens.

ECHO ON

net stop “W3SVC” /y
net stop “SPAdminV4” /y
net stop “SPTimerV4” /y
net stop “SPTraceV4” /y
net stop “SPUserCodeV4” /y
net stop “SPWriterV4” /y
net stop “SPSearch4” /y
net stop “OSearch14” /y
net stop “MSSQLSERVER” /y
net stop “SQLSERVERAGENT” /y
net stop “MSSQLFDLauncher” /y
net stop “MSSQLServerOLAPService” /y
net stop “MsDtsServer100” /y
net stop “ReportServer” /y
net stop “SQLWriter” /y
net stop “SQLSERVERAGENT” /y

pause

net start “MSSQLSERVER” /y
net start “SQLSERVERAGENT” /y
net start “MSSQLFDLauncher” /y
net start “MSSQLServerOLAPService” /y
net start “MsDtsServer100” /y
net start “ReportServer” /y
net start “SQLWriter” /y
net start “SQLSERVERAGENT” /y
net start “W3SVC” /y
net start “SPAdminV4” /y
net start “SPTimerV4” /y
net start “SPTraceV4” /y
net start “SPUserCodeV4” /y
net start “SPWriterV4” /y
net start “SPSearch4” /y
net start “OSearch14” /y

PAUSE

BookReading: Microsoft Virtualization Secret

Book- Microsoft Virtualization Secret
Author-John Savill
ISBN: 978-1118293164
Chapters: 15
Pages: 554
myRating: 5 Stars

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Seagate Freeagent USB Drive To eSATA Conversion

PROBLEM: Seagate Freeagent 750GB USB drive is too slow to function as a main backup drive.
FIX: Disassemble the USB drive and transplant the internal hard drive to a trayless SATA external enclosure.

BACKGROUND:
I needed more space to accommodate all my Hyper-V related files ie .vhdx which are huge.  I have this Seagate Freeagent 750GB drive in my tiny Sentry Safe but it is bulky and very slow.  The USB data transfer is maxing out at 20MB/sec and to transfer a 300GB vhdx files every week is just not so pretty.  The objective is to copy the files quickly and then remove the drive from the Poweredge 2950 server and place the drive into the fire safe for safekeeping.  This is the weekly copy of all my work [the backup of the backup thingy]

I was thinking of getting a new drive but I needed to utilize all my resources first before wasting my money on bigger space and smaller profile drives.

I opted out for the StartTech 3.5” trayless because I wanted to reuse my old drives for quick testing and swapping of drives on the fly.

Tools/Materials
Trayless SATA External Enclosure
Disassembly Procedure [not the exact model but pretty close]

Step By Step:
0. Proceed at your own risk [disclaimer]
2. Watch the YouTube video to learn how to disassemble the Freeagent Drive
3. Disassemble the Freeagent Drive
4. Remove/Separate the 3.5” internal drive from the old case
5. Insert the 3.5” drive to the StarTech trayless external enclosure
6. Turn on power of the Trayless Enclosure
7. Open Windows Disk Management App
8. Verify 750GB drive is present and healthy
9. Run data transfer test to measure data throughput
10. END.

Note: I did not have to import the disk, Disk Management recognized the drive as is.

Benefits:
1. I did not have to buy another drive
2. Sentry Safe has extra space now
3. Startech Trayless Cage has an internal fan that provides a mild cooling to the drive
4. Gained an data transfer speed from 20MB/sec to 60MB/sec
6. Quick drive swap

Figure 1:

 

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Figure 2: Seagate Barracuda 7200.11, Model ST3750330A8

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Figure 3: Trayless SATA External Enclosure

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Figure 4:
eSATA Data Transfer
Read 72MB/Sec
Write 66MB/Sec

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PROBLEM: Poweredge 2950 III Dell OpenManage Not Showing Storage Option

PROBLEM: Dell OpenManage Not Showing Storage Option
FIX: Install Dell OpenManage Software using Custom Settings

1. Download Dell OpenManage 7.2 Download
2. Install Dell Open Manage software with custom settings
3. Verify that Storage Management Options are selected to be installed
4. END.

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Update: Poweredge 2950 III Fan Mod-Day013 Uptime

Server Status:
POST Issues-None [boot up straight to W2012]
F1 Fan Failure Error-None
CPU Error-None
Memory Error-None
Hard Drive Error-None
Current Rack Temperature; 82’F
Thermostat Setting: 79’F
RunTime: Day013, [Since 20130823, 24/7 operation]
Noise Level: I think an electric fan is louder than the Poweredge 2950. 

ISSUES:
1. Electrical Consumption is $0.73 per day or $22.01 per month.  I have to migrate my old old Hyper-V server to this server to save electricity.
2. Need more time on the server.  Got the Hyper-V 2012 and Sharepoint 2013 running. Next is Exchange and Lync.  Still need to read more books.

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PROBLEM: Dell Poweredge 2950 III Jet Engine Fan Noise

PROBLEM: Dell Poweredge 2950 III Jet Engine Fan Noise
FIX: Install a 47 ohms resistor on Fan1,2,3,4 and Power Supply fan
OBJECTIVE: To reduce the fan noise of Poweredge 2950 III without overheating the CPU
STATUS: Completed
QUESTIONS:
How noisy after the mod? I can stay and work in my office all day without being bothered by the noise.
How hot is the server? Tjmax is 100’C
What’s the Server Rack Ambient Temperature? 86’F
What is the Server Room temperature? 80’F
What is the house thermostat setting? 76’F
How much was the cost of the mod? $1.49 from Radio Shack
Why use 47 ohms? From my 2007 experiment to reduce the fan noise of a Poweredge 1550.
10v=12 ohms
9v=20 ohms
8v=30 ohms
7v=42 ohms
6.5v=50 ohms [6500 rpm]

BACKGROUND:
System Information:
Dell Poweredge 2950 III Small Form Factor
CPU-Intel Xeon 2.66GHz 1333 mhz
Memory-32GB
Drives-8-73GB, 2.5” SAS Drives
Purpose: Windows 2012 Hyper-V Server Host
Refurbished from Ebay: $600.00

Post Work Video
View Video1-Booting Fan Noise – Zero
View Video2-Floss Air Flow Test

Tools/Supplies/Skills Required:
Soldering iron
Heat Shrink
5 pcs. 47 ohms resistor 1/2 watt from Radio Shack p#-2711105
Soldering skills
Patience

Step by Step:
0. Proceed at your own risk.
1. Turn off power
2. Remove cover
3. Remove Fan 1,2,3,4, Figure 1
4. Cut “Red” wire, Figure 2
5. Solder a wire to extend the red wire and heat shrink, Figure 3
6. Repeat Step5 for fan2,3,4
7. Solder a 47 ohms resistor inline with the newly added wire extension and heat shrink it, Figure 5
8. Reinstall fan smartly back to the fan mount.  Smartly-meaning be careful not to let the wire get tangled with the rotating fan or short circuit it to ground, Figure 6
9. Remove 1 Power Supply [modify 1 power supply only, save the other one as a backup just in case this mod will burn it over time]
10. Remove the cover of the power supply [smartly], you can figured it out.
11. Remove fan from the power supply, Figure 10
12. Cut “Red” wire, Figure 11
13. Solder a wire to extend the red wire and heat shrink
13. Solder a 47 ohms resistor inline with the newly added wire extension and heat shrink it, Figure 12
14. Reinstall fan smartly back to the fan mount.  Smartly-meaning be careful not to let the wire get tangled with the rotating fan or short circuit it to ground.
15. Replace the power supply cover [smartly], it needs some thinking but you can use the other spare power supply as a visual aid of how the assembly should be.
16. Reinsert power supply back to the server
17. Turn on server
18. Monitor server temperature
19. Verify server temperature at the back
20. END

REFERENCES:
Figure 1
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Figure 2
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Figure 3
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Figure 4
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Figure 5
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Figure 6
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Figure 7
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Figure 8
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Figure 9
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Figure 10
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Figure 11
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Figure 12
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Figure 13
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Figure 14
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Figure 15-Core Temp
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Figure 16-Carrier Touch-n-Go App [Home Thermostat Setting at 76’F, Server room temperature is 80’F]
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Figure 17-Rack ambient temperature is 86”F
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Figure 18-Room temperature is 80’F
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Figure 19-Finish Product-Poweredge 2950 added to the 42U rack inside the home office.
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Figure 20 Electric Bill
What’s next? “Off the Grid” Solar Power.  This Poweredge 2950  is rated 780 watts.
780 watts/1000 kw = .78kw
.78kw x 24 hours = 18.72 kWh/day
18.72 kWh/day x $0.10/kWh=$1.87 cost per day
$1.87 x 30 days=$56.1 cost per month
$56.1 x12 months=$673.2 cost per year

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View All Poweredge Tags

IIS Media Services 4.1 in W2012 Server

While trying to setup the Windows Media Services on W2008R2 and failed, I was looking for an alternative for W2012.  I found out that Windows Server 2012 does not support Windows Media Services anymore.  W2012 now uses IIS Media Services 4.1 instead.  I deployed the Media Services 4.1 to my W2012 Server but was not able to test yet.  I still need to read the documentation to be fully convinced that I need to ditch the old Media Streaming that I am currently using. 

Here’s the setup information.

IIS Media Services Website – view site
Getting Started – view site

1. Download IIS Media Services 4.1
2. Click Install Now
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3. Click Install
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4. Set IIS if installing in Windows 2012 Server
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5. Setup Installation in progress
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6. Installation complete, click Finish
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7. Ignore other Apps, Click Exit
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8. Open IIS Administration Service
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FIX: Sharepoint 2013 Configuration Failed at Step 3

I’m currently testing the new Sharepoint 2013 at home and I’ve hit a road block during the Sharepoint Product Configuration phase of the setup [been two days until now].  There are already so many articles written about the issue and I’ve tried almost all of the top known solutions to no avail.   After giving up on the web articles, I went over to all my downloaded white papers from the MS site and found the Deployment Guide.  The answer to my issue was found in p. 41 in the deployment guide.  If you are curious about the under the hood details, please read the entire deployment guide before going through the final deployment.  If you just want to execute a quick fix, follow the 3-Steps that I provided below.  It is not a step by step procedure because I am assuming that you have some form of admin knowledge regarding SQL, Sharepoint and Active Directory.  The root cause of the problem – I was following a good security admin habit – never to use a DOMAIN\Administrator account to manage a SQL Server and Sharepoint Server.  With that mindset, I was using a different account “SPAdmin” to setup Sharepoint.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:  Sharepoint 2013 Configuration Failed at Step #3

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION:

“Task configdb has failed with an unknown exception. Exception: System.InvalidOperationException: An error occurred while getting information about the user spadmin at server RIGELRESEARCH.local: Access is denied”

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION:.
1. W2012ES-Windows Server 2012 Essentials Converted to Windows Server 2012 Standard running as a Hyper-V 2012 Host and as Domain Controller – DOMAIN.local

2. W2012-Windows Server 2012 Standard with SQL Server 2012 and Sharepoint 2013 installed

User Accounts:
DOMAIN\Administrator
DOMAIN\SPAdmin [to setup Sharepoint]

FIX:
1. Read Sharepoint 2013 Deployment Guide p.41 and understand SQL 2012 and SP2013 permission requirements.
2. Setup SPAdmin Account with correct permission in SQL Server 2012 and in Active Directory per Deployment Guide [see figure 2,3]
3. Login using the SPAdmin Account to the Sharepoint Server that you are configuring. NOTE: Any other account will generate the error.

CAUSE OF FAILURE:
I logged in as DOMAIN\Administrator to the Sharepoint\SQL Box but when I ran the Sharepoint 2013 Product Configuration, I was using the account DOMAIN\SPAdmin in Step1 of the wizard.  Although I provided the correct SQL Roles to SPAdmin prior to the setup as dbcreator, securityadmin, public, serveradmin, setupadmin and sysadmin, during the creation of the Sharepoint Configuration DB, the SPAdmin account did not become a “db_owner” of the Sharepoint Configuration Database [see Figure4].  When the SPAdmin failed to become the db_owner, the wizard came to an Exception state because it cannot further edit the database.

I highlighted the solution to the issue in p.41 below.  In my case, SPAdmin was not the db_owner of the Sharepoint Config database because it was created by the DOMAIN\Administrator account even if SPAdmin was set to dbcreator role prior to the setup.

Read Sharepoint 2013 Deployment Guide p.41image

Figure1-Sharepoint Products Configuration Wizard Step #3 Failed
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Figure2-Setup SPAdmin Account – Server Roles
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Figure3-SPAdmin Domain Account Membership
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Figure 4-SPAdmin Role when the Configuration Wizard  failed.  I was logged in as DOMAIN\Administrator to the SQL Server Box. SPAdmin account did not become the “db_owner” dbo
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Figure 5-SPAdmin Role when Configuration was successful. I logged in as DOMAIN\SPAdmin
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Windows Server 2012 Related Bookmarks

The following are my bookmarks of the newly released Microsoft products in 2012. 

Exchange Server 2013
Office 2013
SharePoint 2013
SQL Server 2012
Transition from Windows Server 2012 Essentials to Windows Server 2012 Standard
Windows 8
Windows Server 2012 Essentials
Windows Server 2012 Test Lab Guides – TechNet Articles – United States (English) – TechNet Wiki
Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012 Test Lab

W2008R2 to W2012 Migration Planning
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Book: Free PDF Version–Introducing Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, SQL 2012; MS Action Pack

I have a stable Windows 2008 R2 Server environment at home for testing purposes.  The backend for the Sharepoint Server 2010 is SQL Server 2008 R2 both running as Hyper-V Guest OS.  Honestly, all is well in my environment but then this year, Microsoft released a new server product line. I have doubts to execute a complete rebuild of my stable system, but as we know, if we do not adapt now, after a year, new development will unfold and we get so behind in the rollout and our knowledge becomes outdated.

I’ve finished the W2012 ebook and there are good reasons to upgrade.  Not that I have to … but just to gain knowledge about the new system and how it works is a good purpose to start diving in to the new technology.  I’m currently reading Windows 8 and so far there is also some interesting  new features.  I have not peek on the SQL2012 ebook but I know that it has some good stuff in it also.

Here’s the link to the sources where you can download the free ebook from Microsoft Press.

Free ebook: Introducing Windows 8: An Overview for IT Professionals | Download PDF
Free ebook: Introducing Windows Server 2012 (RTM Edition) | Download PDF
Free ebook: Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012Download PDF

Hardware Notes
Dell Poweredge 2850-works with W2012 but no virtualization support but good enough to test the OS, Sharepoint 2013 and SQL2012 [get this from Craigslist for <$200]. This rack server is not that loud.  Mine sits in my home office inside a rack with no annoying fan noise-somewhat.
Dell Poweredge 2950 Gen III-Supports Hyper-V 2012 but a little expensive than the PE 2850 [I don’t have this yet, but planning to later]
Dell Latitude 4300 Notebook-Supports Hyper-V, 8GB RAM max and powerful enough for testing purposes. [I’m using this notebook for all my testing.] View Inventory from Dell DFS Direct

Software Notes
Subscribe to MS Action Pack to get all the MS software for testing.  A cheap way to learn. View Benefits

Enjoy and Learn!

NOTES: Advanced Excel Functions

Excel Functions-Alphabetical
Excel Functions-By Category
VLOOKUP Tutorial
Excel Notes
Excel Is Fun You Tube
ExcelFiles

Windows Server 2012

Microsoft Technet has been talking more about Windows Server 2012 recently and last  night,  I downloaded the .vhd version of Windows Server 2012 hoping that I can get it to work on “boot to VHD” using my spare Dell Poweredge 2850 server which has 8GB of memory and lots of drive space. [PE2850 cannot run Hyper-V].  After a few hours of trying, I’ve learned that the .vhd download version works only with hyper-v.  My main objective is to run w2012 without installing Hyper-V.  My Hyper-V server memory of 8GB is running at the top limit.  It is currently running Exchange 2010/Domain and a Sharepoint 2010/SQL Server 2008.

I have not explored the OS yet nor have I started reading any documentations.  But for those of you who are interested of how the new OS look, here’s some screenshots.

Hyper-V Setup, 1024MB of memory
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Windows Server 2012 Documentation [Technet]
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RJ-45 Pinouts

http://techgurulive.com/2008/09/29/rj-45-pinouts-r-straight-through-cross-over-and-roll-over-cables/ 
Straight Through Cable and Crossover

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Sharepoint 2010 Access Denied +SP on Hyper-V

A. Access Denied

PROBLEM: Sharepoint 2010 Access Denied
FIX: Delete Domain Account and then recreate.

I’ve recently migrated a Sharepoint Server 2010 from a Dell Poweredge 2850 to Hyper-V.  Everything works fine except one subsite keeps getting “Access Denied”.  I’ve read a lot of documentation and blogs but none of them provided the solution to the problem.

I’ve narrowed down the issue to a specific user and I can repeat the problem over and over.

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After several trial and error and no fix in sight, I tried deleting the account in the Active directory and then recreate it and the account started working. 

 

B. Sharepoint 2010 Migration from Physical to Virtual [Hyper-V] [view P2V Toolkit]
I’ve been testing Sharepoint 2010 for over a year now using a Dell Poweredge 2850 2U Rack Server.  I have a 24U rack in my home office that I utilized for testing and recently, the demand to quite down the office area and reduce the amount of heat generated has become my primary objective lately.  This week I finally able to do it without issues [except the access denied mentioned above]

Benefits:
1. One Server running
2. Less Noise
3. Less Heat
4. Backup/Restore of .vhd is simpler
5. I can use the PE2850 for other tests.

VM Info:
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VHD Allocation
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CPU and Memory Performance of Sharepoint2010 on Hyper-V
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Process
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Day04 [End up Buying GT-P3113]

I was on my Day04 of using the GT-Nxxxx and I end up getting the Galaxy Tab 2 7”.  [MSRP-$249.99].  I was a looking a for a special gift for my wife and I don’t want to spend too much. A few months ago, I bought her a nice Dell Latitude 12” with SSD but all she really used it for was just web and email.  By having this tablet at her bedside and work, I think this item will get more mileage.  Let’s see what happens in the next few months.  The goal is to cater all her computing needs in the tablet.  Will see.

GT-P3113TSYXAR User Manual
Read Amazon’s Review on Galaxy Tab 2
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Step By Step:
1. Power On
2. Setup Wireless Network
3. Set Screen Timeout=5min
4. Update Black Wallpaper 
5. Download Apps
Google Chrome
Google Drive
Evernote
iTriage
Medscape
Tango
Spotify
Equalizer
Facebook Android
Alarm Clock
Amazon
Yellow Pages
Have2Eat
Have2Snack
Have2P
AdobeAir
Advanced Task Killer
Equalizer
Dictionary
CNN
Billy Graham
ESword
Adobe Reader
Adobe Flash Player11
Astro File Manager
Setup Google+ Account
6. Give the product to wife [no instructions or demo]

GT-Nxxx User Trial; Day02-Sharepoint Server +W2008R2

Installed Chrome Browser
Installed ECHOLink-ok
Installed TeamViewer-ok
Installed Radio Scanner-ok

Tested Sharepoint site on my Sharepoint Server-normal functionality
Tested controlling W2008R2 server from Galaxy Tab using TeamViewer-ok
Tested Ham Radio ECHOLINK-ok
Tested Radio Scanner-ok

GT-Nxxxx User Trial; Day01

GT-Nxxxx User Trial [10” tablet]

Date: 20120425: Day01
Step By Step:
1. Power On
2. Setup Wireless Network
3. Download Apps
Netflix
YouTube
Amazon
Adobe Reader
Astro File Manager
Advanced Task Killer
Setup Google+ Account
Download Spotify
Bible
iTriage
Medscape
CNN
MSN
Wordpress
Alarm Clock
4. Test Spotify-Locked up twice.
5. Test Netflix-no issues
6. Test YouTube-no issues
7. Test Amazon-no issues
8. Upload .pdf books-no issues
9. Read .pdf book-no issues
10. Hookup tablet to Stereo Receiver and EQ-no issues. Sound is great.
11. Test cbs.com-ok but had to download flash
12. Test fox.com-ok
13. Test hulu-not supported

Install and configure RBS (SharePoint Server 2010)

Install and configure RBS (SharePoint Server 2010)

via Install and configure RBS (SharePoint Server 2010).

Open [instead of save] .pdf in Browser in Sharepoint 2010

The default setting for Sharepoint 2010 Server asked you to save a .pdf instead of opening it in the browser.

FIX:
1. Open Central Admin
2. Application Management-Manage Web Application
3. Select the Site
4. Click General Settings-General Settings
5. In Browser File Handling, Change the selection from Strict to Permissive.

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Install and configure RBS (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

Install and configure RBS (SharePoint Foundation 2010)

via Install and configure RBS (SharePoint Foundation 2010).

NRC: NUREG Publications Prepared by NRC Staff

NRC: Publications Prepared by NRC Staff

via NRC: Publications Prepared by NRC Staff.

NASA Technical Reports Server

NASA Technical Reports Server

via NASA Technical Reports Server.

Free Microsoft Virtual Academy

https://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/Home.aspx

NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) Policy plans documents

NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) Policy plans documents

via NASA Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) Policy plans documents.

Digital library of government standards and specifications

Digital library of government standards and specifications

via Digital library of government standards and specifications.

RIAC, Reliability Information Analysis Center

RIAC, Reliability Information Analysis Center

via RIAC, Reliability Information Analysis Center.

Aircraft Accident Reports | NTSB | Find Online Full-Text Resources | Find Information | Worldwide | Hunt Library | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Aircraft Accident Reports | NTSB | Find Online Full-Text Resources | Find Information | Worldwide | Hunt Library | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

via Aircraft Accident Reports | NTSB | Find Online Full-Text Resources | Find Information | Worldwide | Hunt Library | Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Disk2vhd Tool for Physical to Virtual Migration

Disk2vhd Tool for Physical to Virtual Migration

via Disk2vhd Tool for Physical to Virtual Migration.

Windows(R) Image to Virtual Hard Disk (WIM2VHD) Converter – Home

Windows(R) Image to Virtual Hard Disk (WIM2VHD) Converter – Home

via Windows(R) Image to Virtual Hard Disk (WIM2VHD) Converter – Home.

Building a Standard Image of Windows 7: Step-by-Step Guide

Building a Standard Image of Windows 7: Step-by-Step Guide

via Building a Standard Image of Windows 7: Step-by-Step Guide.

Goodbye to the Courier font? – Slate Magazine

Goodbye to the Courier font? – Slate Magazine

via Goodbye to the Courier font? – Slate Magazine.

MDOP-DaRT | Microsoft Desktop, Management, Virtualization | TechNet

MDOP | Microsoft Desktop, Management, Virtualization | TechNet

via MDOP | Microsoft Desktop, Management, Virtualization | TechNet.

Download and Install Debugging Tools for Windows

Download and Install Debugging Tools for Windows

via Download and Install Debugging Tools for Windows.

Sharepoint 2010 Excel Import Error “Selected Cells Are Read Only”

PROBLEM: When importing an Excel spreadsheet to a Custom List, the following error occurred:
”The selected cells are read only”

FIX: Change the default enhanced rich text to plain text on the text box you just created.

Force Delete a Sharepoint Web from SQL Management Studio

1. Open SQL Management Studio
2. Go to WSS_Content DB-Tables-DBO.Webs
3. Delete the row containing the site.

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Sharepoint is Down-Unable to Connect to my Dynip Servers

1. Verify Dynip Client is running/functional at vdomain
2. Reestablish client connection to Dynip

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Sharepoint 2010 Templates

http://www.techsolutions.net/Blog/tabid/65/EntryId/18/Fab-40-for-Sharepoint-Foundation.aspx

HOWTO: Install a new Sharepoint 2010 Template
1. Go to the main Sharepoint 2010 Site
2. Click Stie Actions-Site Settings
3. Under Galleries-Click Solutions
4. Click the Library Tab
5. Click the Solutions Tab
6. Click Upload Solution
7. Browse-Select File and Click OK
8. Click Activate
9. Then Close

HOWTO: Use a Sharepoint 2010 Template
1. Go to the main Sharepoint 2010 Site
2. Click Site Actions-New Site
3. Select a Template
4. Enter Title, url
5. use Unique Permission
6. Navigation, No, No, No

Issue Tracking DB

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Project: Sharepoint 2010 +SQL Server 2008R2 on Poweredge 2850

From Evernote:

Project: Sharepoint 2010 +SQL Server 2008R2 on Poweredge 2850

Objective: To deploy Sharepoint 2010 and SQL Server 2008R2 on a production server [PE2850]
Date: 20110901
Hardware and Software Information:
Dell Poweredge 2850, 2.8GHz Xeon 8GB Memory
Drive0-73GB, c: mirror
Drive1-73GB, c: mirror
Drive2-73GB, v: mirror
Drive3-73GB, v: mirror
Drive4-150GB, y: backup
Drive5-150GB, f: sqldata

Software:
OS-Windows 2008R2 Data Center
Sharepoint 2010 Enterprise
SQL Server 2008 R2

Phase 1.0 OS Installation
1. Install Windows 2008 R2 OS
2. Activate Server
3. Run Windows Update
4. Add server to Active Directory
5. Copy Sharepoint 2010 to c:
6. Copy SQL2008 setup files to c:

Phase 2.0 SQL Server Installation
7. Run SQL Server 2008 R2 setup
8. Choose New Installation
9. Support Rules installation->Requirements all pass, 7 items ->Click OK
10. Enter Product Key
11. Accept the Terms-> Click Next
12. Install Setup Support Files
13. Review the warnings, 11 items – 1 yellow Windows Firewall -Click Next
14. SQL Server Feature Installation-Install all features, Pass-6, Failed-0 Warning-0, Skipped-18
15. Select Default Instance
16. Review Disk Space Requirments, 6109 GB Required, 48362 Available
17. Choose Service Accounts
SQL Service Agent, NT Authority\System, Manual
SQL Server Database Engine, NT Authority\System, Automatic
SQL Server Analysis Service, NT Authority\System, Automatic
SQL Server Reporting Service, NT Authority\System, Automatic
SQL Server Integration Service, NT Authority\System, Automatic
SQL Server Full Text Filter, NT Authority\Local Service, Manual
SQL Server Browsing, NT Authority\Local Service, Disabled
18. Choose DB Engine Configuration-Windows Authentication
19. Click Add Current User
20. In Data Directories, choose f: drive [sqldata]
21. In Analysis Service, Add current user
22. In Reporting Service, Select “Install the Sharepoint Integrated Mode”
23. In Error Reporting, Click Next
24. In Installation Configuration Rule, Pass-6, Failed-0, Warning-0, Skipped-2
25. In Summary, Click Install
26. Install SQL 2008 Updates and SP1

Phase 3.0 SQL Server Configuration
27. In Windows Firewall, Advanced Settings, Add an Inboud Rule SQL 2008 Port1433, TCP
28. Enable TCP/IP Protocol in SQL Configuration Manager

Phase 4.0 Sharepoint 2010 Installation
29. Install Sharepoint 2010-Install Prerequisite
30. Install Sharepoint 2010-Enter Key
31. Choose Server Farm [Do not install the Stand Alone, or SQL Server Express will be installed]
32. Select Server Type, Complete
33. Setup Complete
34. Run Windows Update and update everything
35. Install Sharepoint 2010 SP1
36. Run Windows Update again

Phase 5.0 Sharepoint 2010 Configuration
37. Run Sharepoint 2010 Product Configuration
38. Select Create a new server farm
39. Set Sonfiguration Database as:
DB Server=PE2850
DB name=WSS_Config
Username=vdomain\adminstrator
Passphrase=
40. Specify the Port – 7000 and choose NTLM
41. Review the Settings – http://pe2850:7000
42. Run Initial Farm Configuration Wizard
43. Complete the Wizard and http://pe2850:7000 Central Admin Site opens
44. In Customer Experience, Select No, I do not wish to participate
45. Run the Sharepoint Farm Wizard, Click Start Wizard
Service Account-vdomain\spadmin
Service – Select all but Lotus
46. Create a Top Level Site [Enterprise Wiki]
Title-Rigel Research International
URL-http://pe2850
Template-Enterprise Wiki
47. Test the new site
Phase 6.0 Firewall Configuration
48. Open Firewall Exception at Router, 192.168.1.5 Port 8000
49. Open Firewall Exception at Windows Firewall, 192.168.1.5 Port 8000
50. Open IIS Manager, Change Sharepoint-80 binding from Port from 80 to 8000

Phase 7.0 Old Sharepoint 2010 Migration of SQL Data
51. Verify new farm site functionality, http://pe2850
52. Open Central Admin->Manage Web Application->Confirm Site name-Sharepoint-80
53. In Central Admin, Click Manage Content Database and Check “Remove Database”
54. Copy the old WSS_Content.mdf and WSS_Content_Log.ldf to f:\SQLData Location
55. Open SQL Management Studio
56. Right Click WSS_Content database->Task->Detach->Click OK
57. Go to SQL Data Location->Rename the current WSS_Content.mdf to WSS_Contentx.mdf
58. Go to SQL Data Location->Rename the current WSS_Content_Log.ldf to WSS_Content_Logx.ldf
59. Rename the copied backup copy to WSS_Content.mdf and WSS_Content.ldf
60. In SQL Management Studio, Right Click Database->Attach->Add
61. Select WSS_Content.mdf [the old copy]
62. In SQL Management Studio-> Security-> Logins
63. Right Click vdomain\Administrator->Properties-User mapping->Set to dbo for WSS_Content
64. Right Click vdomain\spadmin->Properties-User mapping->Set to dbo for WSS_Content
65. In Central Admin, Click Manage Content Database->Add Database
66. Set Database Configuration
Database Server=PE2850
DB Name=WSS_Content
67. Select Windows Authentication
68. Open IE and test http://pe2850/sites/intranet
69. Confirm that Search Functionality is not working at this time

Phase 8.0 Sharepoint Search Server Configuration
70. In Central Admin, Click Notice from Health Analyzer->View these issues
71. Confirm no crital errors and no Certificate token errors
72. In Central Admin, Click Manage Service Application
73. Select Search Service Application and Click Manage Icon from the Ribbon Toolbar
74. Click Content Sources and Click Local Sharepoint Site
75. Set the following
a. Setup Full Crawl, Daily at 12am
b. Setup Incremental Crawl at 12pm
c. Check-Start Full Crawl Now
76. Click the Refresh Link to see the status
77. Open Task Manager and monitor CPU and Disk I/O of mssearch.exe
78. Open IE and confirm Sharepoint Search Functionality

Phase 9.0 Adobe iFilter Configuration
79. In Central Admin, General Security->Define Blocked Type and check if pdf is not list
80. In Central Admin, Manage Service Application->Search Service Application-Click Manage
81. In Left Pane, Click File Types->New File Type->Enter pdf and Click OK
82. Read and implement kb/2293357
83. Install Adobe iFilter Pack 9.0 x64
84. Download pdf icon and place to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\IMAGES\ folder
85. Add Entry to docicon.xml located at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\TEMPLATE\XML
<Mapping Key=”pdf” Value=”pdficon_small.gif”/>
86. Reboot Sharepoint Server
87. Execute Full Crawl again
88. Open IE and confirm Search Functionality with pdf icon showing.

Sharepoint 2010 Security Token Issue

I’ve migrated a Sharepoint 3.0 box to Sharepoint 2010 Foundation a few months ago using the Database Attach method.  The upgrade went well but I could not get the search functionality to work no matter how I tried.  The error below pops up at the Application Event Log which clearly states that there is a problem in the Security  Token mechanism.

An exception occurred when trying to issue security token: Could not connect to http://localhost:32843/SecurityTokenServiceApplication/securitytoken.svc/actas. TCP error code 10061: No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it 127.0.0.1:32843. .

FIX: Long story short, I have to setup a new Sharepoint 2010 box and then migrate the SQL database to the new server.

Lessons Learned:
1. I’ve learned how to migrate to Sharepoint 2010 over and over [maybe 4x]
2. I’ve learned how to fix a Sharepoint 2010 Search issues [Link]
3. I’ve learned how to fix the .pdf issue “not searching pdf” [Link] [Link2]

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Configure Sharepoint 2010 Search Service

http://sharepointgeorge.com/2010/configuring-enterprise-search-sharepoint-2010/

Configure Adobe iFilter for Sharepoint 2010 – kb/2293357

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2293357
http://www.sharepointsharon.com/2010/03/sharepoint-2010-and-adobe-pdf/

Sharepoint 2010 and Filestream

http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/blog/Pages/BlogPost.aspx?pID=970

Repairing corrupted files in Excel

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/repairing-corrupted-files-in-excel-HA001034656.aspx

Step by Step – Latitude E4200 New OS

1. Add local users
2. Add bookmark
3. Install Office2010 Enterprise
4. Install Windows Update +IE9
5. Install Office2010 SP1
6. Install Visio 2010
7. Install Project 2010
8. Install Windows Live Essentials
9. Install Picasa
10.Install Google Chrome
11.Install Google Toolbar
12.Install Adobe CS
13.Install E-Sword
14.Install Office SaveAs to PDF AddOn
15. Install Log Parser 2.2
16. Install Log Parser Lizard
17.Installed Sharepoint Designer 2010
18.Install ISO Recorder
19.Install Gadwin Printscreen
20.Install Remote Desktop Manager
21.Install Virtual Clone Driver
22.Install SyncToy
23.MS Silverlight
24.Install 7-Zip
25.Install Winzip
25.Install HTC Sync

Step by Step – Creating a Network Cable RJ45 Connector

1. Remove 20mm outer cable shield
2. Arrange 8-wires in the following order
Orange Stripe
Orange
Green Stripe
Blue
Blue Stripe
Green
Brown Stripe
Brown
3. Crimp RJ45 connector

Step by Step–Router Switch Functionality Test

Tested on Linksys Router EZXS88
1. Remove power supply connector from the network switch
2. Connect an RJ45 Ethernet Cable to Port1 and Port2
3. Connect power to the router
4. Verify if the following LED are on
Power – On
Link/Act – On
100 – On
Full/Col – On
5. Repeat test between Port1 and Port3

Notes: PowerPivot Excel 2010 and Sharepoint 2010

Download Site
PowerPivot for Sharepoint 2010 Documentation
Business Intelligence Blog 
Demo

CHECKLIST: New OS Setup

1. Add local users
2. Add bookmark
3. Install Office2010 Enterprise
4. Install Windows Update +IE9
5. Install Office2010 SP1
6. Install Visio 2010
7. Install Project 2010
8. Install Windows Live Essentials
9. Install Picasa
10.Install Google Chrome
11.Install Google Toolbar
12.Install Adobe CS
13.Install E-Sword
14.Install Office SaveAs to PDF AddOn
15. Install Log Parser 2.2
16. Install Log Parser Lizard
17.Installed Sharepoint Designer 2010
18.Install ISO Recorder
19.Install Gadwin Printscreen
20.Install Remote Desktop Manager
21.Install Virtual Clone Driver
22.Install SyncToy
23.MS Silverlight
24.Install 7-Zip
25.Install Winzip
25.Install HTC Sync

Small Business Server 2011 – SBS2011 Setup

Small Business Server Setup [Starbucks @San Marcos Outlet]
Objective: To test drive SBS2011 on Dell Latitude Notebook while waiting  for the kids at Schilitterbahn

What do I have?
1. Starbucks as my office
2. Dell Latitude E6400
3. 500GB External Drive
4. 2- 8GB micro SD card
5. SBS2011 Download DVD
6. 4 hours to spare until the kids are done at the waterpark

Tasks:
1. Create a bootable USB flash drive containing SBS2011 OS
2. Setup SBS2011 on VHD
3.. Test SBS2011 on E6400

Create a bootable SBS2011 Flash Drive
1, Create a 120GB VHD from Computer Management
2. Run imagex /info “i:\sources\install.wim”
3. Run imagex /apply i:\sources\install.wim 1 g:\
4. Reboot and boot to vhd

To Create a .wim – imagex /capture c:\image.wim “name”

References:
Boot to VHD
SBS Documentation Team Blog
Official SBS Blog
SBS Community
SBS Technical Library
SBS Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Sharepoint Certificate Issues

Troubleshooting Sharepoint Certificate Issues
http://blogs.blackmarble.co.uk/blogs/rhepworth/archive/2010/01/07/reassigning-the-correct-ssl-certificate-to-sharepoint-2010-web-services-iis-site.aspx

Poweredge 2850 Memory and Storage Upgrade

Memory Type: DDR2 PC2-5300, DDR2 (ECC)
Maximum Memory: 16GB
Currently Installed Memory: 4GB
Total Memory Slots: 6
Available Memory Slots:  4

1.  The 2 Hard Drive Caddies $7.50 each
2.  73GB 80P SCSI $30
3.  146GB 80P SCSI $50

Windows Media Server 2008

All Playlist Album
All Playlist-Shuffled Album
HM003 All Hail King Jesus Album
HM004 To Him Who Sits On The Throne Album
HM005 Glory To The King Album
HM006 I Exalt Thee Album
HM007 Give Thanks Album
HM008 Glorify Thy Name Album
HM009 You Are My God Album
HM010 Praise and Honor Album
HM011 I Will Rejoice Album
HM012 Arise And Sing Album
HM013 Mighty Warrior Album
HM014 Lamb of God Album
HM015 In His Presence Album
HM016 Steadfast Love Album
HM017 His Word Album
HM018 Forever Grateful Album
HM019 Solid Roc Album
HM020 Army Of God Album
HM021 Lord Of All Album
HM022 Enter His Gates Album
HM023 The Lord Reigns Album
HM024 Bless The Lord Album
HM025 Mighty God Album
HM026 My Refuge Album
HM027 We Have Overcome Album
HM028 Victor’s Crown Album
HM029 Arise O God Album
HM030 Amazing Love Album
HM031 Exalt The Lord Album
HM032 See His Glory Album
HM033 Shouts of Joy Album
HM034 Eternal God Album
HM035 Worship The King Album
HM036 Jesus Is Alive Album
HM037 Come To The Table Album
HM038 Pure Heart Album
HM039 Crown Him Album
HM040 The Highest Place Album
HM041 Up To Zion Album
HM042 Chosen Treasure Album
HM043 All Nations Worship Album
HM044 Lift Him Up Album
HM045 Take The City Album
HM046 All Hail The Power Album
HM047 He Is Faithful Album
HM048 Almighty Album
HM049 The Secret Place Album
HM050 Rejoice Africa Album
HMD601 Worship – Don Moen Album
HMD700 Tearing Down Strongholds Album
HMD701 Sampler WarInTheHeavenlies Album
HMD851 Acapella Album
HMD905 Rejoice Album
HMD906 Sampler Praise Album
HS001 Sampler Celebrate Album
HS002 Sampler Jubillee Album
HS004 Sampler Hosanna Album
IMD201 Urban Hope Album
IMD303 Spiritual Warfare Album
IMD400 Something To Hold On To Album
IS001 Peace Instrumental Album
Sandi Patti Album
Brandon Heath Album
Leeland Album
Lincoln Brewster Album
Michael W Smith Album
Paul Baloche Album
Paul Wilbur Album
DonMoen-HidingPlace Album
DonMoen-IBelieveThereIsMore Album
DonMoen-IWillSing Album
ItsAllWorshipSampler Album
LennyLeBlanc-AboveAll Album
LindellCooley-OpenUptheSky Album
MichaelNeale-MadeMeGlad Album
PaulBaloche-AGreaterSong Album
PaulBaloche-GodofWonders Album
PaulBaloche-Offering Album
PaulBaloche-OpenTheEyesofMyHeart Album
PaulBaloche-OurGodSaves Album
PaulWilbur-LionOfJudah Album
PaulWilbur-NightOfExtravagantWorship Album
PaulWilbur-TheWatchman Album

Filestream in Sharepoint2010

http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/blog/Pages/BlogPost.aspx?pID=970

HTC Touch Pro2 to Android Setup

http://connect-utb.com/index.php?option=com_jdownloads&Itemid=68&task=view.download&catid=8&cid=54

1. Download the full bundle (zip).

2. Extract it. You’ll see a folder, FRX04, copy its contents to the root of your SD card.

3. Go into the STARTUPS folder. Grab the appropriate startup.txt for your device, and move it to the root of the card (or where you run haret.exe from. If you want to change the location of the build, put a rel_path= statement in the cmdline section of the startup.txt. Mine is located two folders deep on the SD, so my rel_path=Androids/TP2Ref)

4. Click haret.exe on your phone thru File Explorer, Total Commander, etc.

5. Watch the boot process – you’ll see a section where you have to calibrate the screen – don’t forget to do this! Optionally, if you’ve already done this copy your ts-calibration file from your other build.

Sync gmail to iphone

Sync Gmail to Iphone [link]

FIX: csrss.exe causing Windows7 100% CPU Usage-Corrupted Profile

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555021 

FIX: delete corrupted profile

image

Good Known cpu usage.
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MS Action Pack Subscription 2011

MS Partner Site

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 20102
Microsoft Project Professional 20102
Microsoft Visio Professional 20102
Microsoft Business Contact Manager 2010
Microsoft MapPoint North America 20102
Microsoft MapPoint Europe 20102
Server
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Standard
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Standard client access licenses (CALs)1,2,3
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Enterprise CALs1,2,3
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Standard
Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Standard CALs1,2,3
Microsoft Forefront Client Security Management Console
Microsoft Forefront Client Security agent
Microsoft Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 Standard (per processor)1
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Enterprise CALs1,2,3
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 CALs1,2,3
Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2010 client management license (ML)1
Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2010 server ML Enterprise
Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010 Management Server
Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010 server ML Enterprise
Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010 client ML
Windows
Windows 7 Professional1,2
Windows 7 Ultimate1,2
Windows Server
Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise1
Windows Server 2008 CALs (not edition
specific)1,2,3
Windows Server 2008 Terminal Server CALs1,2
Windows Web Server 2008 R2
Windows Home Server 2008
Windows Server 2008 R2 Foundation1
Windows Small Business Server 2008 (Windows SBS) Standard
Windows SBS 2008 CALs1,2,3
Business Solutions
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Workgroup Server1
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Workgroup CALs1,2,3
MSDN
MSDN for Microsoft Action Pack Development and Design (licensed per user):
– Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Professional
– Microsoft Expression Studio 4 Web Professional

Configure Exchange2007 Hub Transport Role to Receive Internet Mail

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2006/11/17/431555.aspx

Exchange Toolbox http://www.mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx

Protected: Log Parser Lizard

This content is password-protected. To view it, please enter the password below.

4 netstat command

netstat -f
netstat -a -n -o
netstat -b
netstat -r

image

Exchange Server 2007 on Windows 2008 Setup

1. Read Exchange2007 Install Notes on Windows 2008
2. Install IIS Compatibility Component
3. Install IIS7 Component

image

image

Adobe CS3 Collection Help Docs

Adobe Acrobat Pro Using Adobe Acrobat Pro
Adobe Bridge-Version Cue
Adobe Premiere Pro CS3
After Effects CS3
Device Central
Dreamweaver API Reference

Dreamweaver CS3
Encore CS3
Extending Dreamweaver
Extension Manager
Flash CS3
Illustrator CS3
InDesign CS3
Photoshop CS3
Using and Administering Contribute
Using Fireworks®

Windows7 Native Boot to VHD [Dual Boot Setup]

1. At Windows7 [or Windows2008] PC, Insert the DVD Setup Disk
2. Boot to the Windows7 [or Windows2008] DVD disk
3. Cancel the setup and exit to Command Prompt
4. At the Command Prompt, run Diskpart
diskpart
create vdisk file=c:\windows7.vhd maximum=25600 type=fixed
select vdisk file=c:\windows7.vhd
attach vdisk
create partition primary
assign letter=v
format quick label=vhd
exit

5. Back at the Command Prompt, type Setup
6. Install Windows7 to the newly created VHD drive

NOTES: Digital Rights Management in Sharepoint

Apply IRM to a list or library
Full Article

Before IRM can be enabled for lists and libraries, the Microsoft Windows Rights Management Services (RMS) Client with Service Pack 2 must be installed on every front-end Web server for your SharePoint site. In addition, Information Rights Management needs to be enabled in Central Administration for your site. Additionally, a server administrator must install protectors on all front-end Web servers for every file type that the people in your organization want to protect by using IRM.

To apply IRM to a list or library, you must have at least the Design permission level for that list or library.

  1. If the list or library is not already open, click its name on the Quick Launch.

If the name of your list or library does not appear, click View All Site Content, and then click the name of your list or library.

On the Settings menu Settings menu, click List Settings, or click the settings for the type of library that you are opening.

For example, in a document library, click Document Library Settings.

  1. Under Permissions and Management, click Information Rights Management.

Note   If the Information Rights Management link does not appear, IRM might not be enabled for your site. Contact your server administrator to see if it is possible to enable IRM for your site. The Information Rights Management link does not appear for picture libraries.

  1. On the Information Rights Management Settings page, select the Restrict permission to documents in this library on download check box to apply restricted permission to documents that are downloaded from this list or library.
  2. Under Permission policy title, type a descriptive name for the policy that you can use later to differentiate this policy from other policies.

For example, you can type Company Confidential if you are applying restricted permission to a list or library that will contain company documents that are confidential.

  1. Under Permission policy description, type a description that will appear to people who use this list or library that explains how they should handle the documents in this list or library.

For example, you can type Discuss the contents of this document only with other employees if you want to restrict access to the information in these documents to internal employees.

  1. To apply additional restrictions to the documents in this list or library, do any of the following.

To
Do this

Allow people to print documents from this list or library.
Select the Allow users to print documents check box.

Allow people with at least the View Items permission to run embedded code or macros on a document.

Select the Allow users to access content programmatically check box.

Note   If you select this option, users could run code to extract the contents of a document.

Require that people verify their credentials at specific intervals.

Select this option if you want to restrict access to content to a specified period of time. If you select this option, people’s issuance licenses to access the content will expire after the specified number of days, and people will be required to return to the server to verify their credentials and download a new copy.

Select the Users must verify their credentials every check box, and then specify the number of days for which you want the document to be viewable.

Prevent people from uploading documents that do not support IRM to this list or library.

If you select this option, people will not be able to upload any of the following file types:

  • File types that do not have corresponding IRM protectors installed on all of the front-end Web servers.
  • File types that Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 cannot decrypt.
  • File types that are IRM protected in another program.

Select the Do not allow users to upload documents that do not support IRM check box.

Remove restricted permissions from this list or library on a specific date.
Select the Stop restricting permissions to documents in this library on check box, and then enter the date that you want.

  1. After you finish selecting the options that you want, click OK.

HOWTO: Create a bootable Windows Vista/W2008 Server on Flash Memory

Create a bootable Windows Vista/W2008 Server on Flash Memory
1. Format the USB flash memory drive to FAT32 file system
Run CMD.EXE and type the following command. Note: This set of commands assumes that the USB flash drive is addressed as “disk 1″. Double check that by doing a list of the disks (type “list disk”) before cleaning it).

1.diskpart
2.select disk 1
3.clean
4.create partition primary
5.select partition 1
6.active
7.format fs=ntfs quick
8.assign
9.exit
2. Copy Windows Vista’s DVD ROM content to the Flash Drive
Type in command to start copying all the content from the Windows Vista DVD to your newly formatted high speed flash drive.
xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\
3. Setup your computer BIOS to boot from USB Drive
4. Install Windows Vista from flash memory drive

HOWTO: Installing BartPE to USB Flash Drive

Installing BartPE to USB Flash Drive

I found this instructions from the web:

Installation of PE2USB:
Copy the files pe2usb.cmd and pe2usb.bin to your <pebuilder> directory.
For successful installing BartPE to a USB flash disk you need:
1) A USB flash disk with a capacity of 256MB or more
2) Server 2003 SP1 (or a release candidate). You can download this from
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=02734CEA-7A4B-4D95-B220-8E1708C3ED46
  This file is large, about 350MB!!!
Unpack the files from the service pack (this is not installing) with:
sr1sp.exe -x, lets assume you extract it to c:\server2003sp1
Create the folder <pebuilder>\srsp1
Copy the file c:\server2003sp1\i386\setupldr.bin to the <pebuilder>\srsp1 folder
Expand the file c:\server2003sp1\i386\ramdisk.sy_ to the <pebuilder>\srsp1 folder
expand -r c:\server2003sp1\i386\ramdisk.sy_ <pebuilder>\srsp1
You can now remove the c:\server2003sp1 folder, not needed anymore…
3) Build BartPE using pebuilder as normal, you must set the output folder to
  “BartPE”, you do not need to generate an ISO image for now.
4) Run “pe2usb -f <drive:>” to format and install the files to your UFD.
  Formatting is only needed the first time, so next time you can run
  “pe2usb <drive:>” (without -f) to update the BartPE files.
For successful booting BartPE from a USB flash disk you need:
1) A PC that is capable of booting from a USB flash disk with 256MB memory
  or more.

HOWTO: Using the Windows Server 2008 VHD with Hyper-V

Using the Windows Server 2008 VHD with Hyper-V

  1. On your computer, install Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft Hyper-V. Detailed instructions on how to install the latest version of Microsoft Hyper-V can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/virtualization/install.mspx
  2. Download the files required. There are 2 different images (Windows Server 200 Enterprise Full Installation and Windows Server Enterprise Server Core Installation), and 2 ways to download them based on your current internet connection – see IMAGE SELECTION section below for further information.
  3. When you have installed Hyper-V and extracted the VHD files, copy the VHD file to a pre-selected location (recommended default location C:\Users\Public\Documents\Microsoft Hyper-V\Virtual Hard Disks)
  4. Open Hyper-V Manager. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Hyper-V Manager.
  5. From the Action pane, click New, and then click Virtual Machine.
  6. From the New Virtual Machine Wizard, click Next.
  7. On the Specify Name and Location page, specify what you want to name the virtual machine and where you want to store it. (you can keep this as default location for ease).
  8. On the Memory page, specify enough memory to run the guest operating system you want to use on the virtual machine (Recommendation at least 2Gb).
  9. On the Networking page, connect the network adapter to an existing virtual network if you want to establish network connectivity at this point.
  10. On the Connect Virtual Hard Disk page, select “Use and existing virtual hard disk”, and browse to the location you copied the VHD file to in step 3 above.
  11. Select finish (you can also start the VHD at this time, however we recommend you create a snapshot before you start the VHD for the first time).
  12. To logon to the machine, use the following credentials:
    • Username: administrator, password: pass@word1 (Administrator account)

HOWTO Enable Anonymous Access to Sharepoint Server

HOWTO Enable Anonymous Access to Sharepoint Server

rakb200810202103

1. Enable anonymous access for the Web application.
2. Open Sharepoint Central Administration–>Application Management Tab
3. Under Application Security, Click Authentication Providers
4. Click Default Zone
5. Check Enable Anonymous Access
6. Click Save and Close Central Admin site.
7. Open the site on which you want to enable anonymous access.
8. On the Site Actions menu , click Site Settings.
9. On the Site Settings page, in the Users and Permissions column, click Advanced permissions.
10. On the Permissions page, on the Settings menu, click Anonymous Access.
11. On the Change Anonymous Access Settings page, select the parts of your Web site that you want anonymous users to access.
12. END

HOWTO: Adding Application Template To Sharepoint

HOWTO: Adding Application Template To Sharepoint

rakb200810190836

1. Download Sharepoint Template from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/sharepoint/bb407286.aspx
2. Extract the template to a folder in c: drive
3. Copy the Sharepoint Template with .wsp extension to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\BIN folder
4. Open command prompt at C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\BIN
5. Type this command in the command prompt.
stsadm -o addsolution -filename ApplicationTemplateCore.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name ApplicationTemplateCore.wsp -allowgacdeployment -local
stsadm -o copyappbincontent
6. Type this command in the command prompt to install KnowledgeBase
stsadm -o addsolution -filename KnowledgeBase.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name KnowledgeBase.wsp -allowgacdeployment –local
7. Type this command in the command prompt to install HelpDesk
stsadm -o addsolution -filename HelpDesk.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name HelpDesk.wsp -allowgacdeployment –local
8. Type this command in the command prompt to install BugDatabase
stsadm -o addsolution -filename BugDatabase.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name BugDatabase.wsp -allowgacdeployment –local
9. Type this command in the command prompt to install CallCenter
stsadm -o addsolution -filename CallCenter.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name CallCenter.wsp -allowgacdeployment –local
10.Type this command in the command prompt to install ITTeamWorkspace
stsadm -o addsolution -filename ITTeamWorkspace.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name ITTeamWorkspace.wsp -allowgacdeployment –local
11. Open your Sharepoint Site
12. Click Site Actions—>Create
13. Under Web Pages, Click Sites and Workspaces
14. Enter Title
15. Enter URL name
16. Under Template Selection, Click Application Template Tab
17. Select the Template you wan to install.
18. User Permission-Same as parent
19. Answer Yes, Yes, Yes if this is a subsite.
20. END

Repeat these commands to install the rest of the template.

stsadm -o addsolution -filename ProjectTrackingWorkspace.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name ProjectTrackingWorkspace.wsp -allowgacdeployment -local

stsadm -o addsolution -filename InventoryTracking.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name InventoryTracking.wsp -allowgacdeployment -local

stsadm -o addsolution -filename DocumentLibraryReview.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name DocumentLibraryReview.wsp -allowgacdeployment -local

stsadm -o addsolution -filename BudgetingTrackingMultipleProjects.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name BudgetingTrackingMultipleProjects.wsp -allowgacdeployment -local

stsadm -o addsolution -filename ContactsManagement.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name ContactsManagement.wsp -allowgacdeployment -local

stsadm -o addsolution -filename EventPlanning.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name EventPlanning.wsp -allowgacdeployment -local

stsadm -o addsolution -filename JobRequisition.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name JobRequisition.wsp -allowgacdeployment -local

stsadm -o addsolution -filename PhysicalAssetTracking.wsp
stsadm -o deploysolution -name PhysicalAssetTracking.wsp -allowgacdeployment -local

HOWTO pdficon Search

HOWTO pdficon Search
rakb200810141200

http://workerthread.wordpress.com/2008/01/03/configure-pdf-ifilter-in-wss-30/

http://blogs.msdn.com/joelo/archive/2007/01/12/why-wss-3-0-x64-and-moss-2007-x64-what-s-the-deal.aspx

1.Save the attached file pdficon_small.gif to c :\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\images
2.Go to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server extensions\12\TEMPLATE\XML folder
3.Open the docicon.xml file
4.Add a line just above the </ByExtension>  <Mapping Key=”pdf” Value=”pdficon_small.gif” OpenControl=””/>
5.Save the file
6.Search Sharepoint, the results with pdf document will now have a visible .pdf icon
7.END

HOWTO: Building a Sharepoint Server 3.0 From Scratch

HOWTO: Building a Sharepoint Server 3.0 From Scratch
rakb200809301915

Phase 1.0 Sharepoint Setup

1. Install fresh copy of Windows Server 2003  With IIS
2. Run Windows Update, update all.
3. Download Sharepoint 3.0 With Service Pack1 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=EF93E453-75F1-45DF-8C6F-4565E8549C2A&displaylang=en
4. Run Sharepoint.exe setup
5. Choose Basic (Choose Advance only if you have SQL Server 2005 installed already)
6. Wizard runs –>Services to be restarted IIS, Sharepoint Administration Service, Sharepoint Timer Service.
7. Task 1-10 Configuration
8. Configuration successful–>Click Finish
9. Internet Explorer opens to http://sasdcmpkg:8000/default.aspx (This indicates that Sharepoint was installed correctly). Don’t do anything yet on the site.
10. Open Sharepoint Central Administration from Administrative Tools
11. Perform Administrator Task 1-18 if applicable. (I think you can skip this but just do it anyway)
12. END

Phase 2.0 Sharepoint Setup for Department Site (CMP As an Example)

(Default IIS www port is port 80, in server sasdcmpkg, the port needs to be in 8000 for security reasons)

1. Open the default homepage http://sasdcmpkg:8000/default.aspx (This is the main or root site, don’t do anything special here, this is the root site where all the department subsites will reside)
2. Click the Home tab
3. At Home page, –>Click Site Actions –>Create
4. Under Web Pages –>Click Sites and Workspaces
New Sharepoint Site Page
Title/Description=CMP Sharepoint
Website= http://sasdcmpkg:8000/cmp
Template=Custom –>Choose Team Worksite
Permission=Select Use unique permission

Navigation=NO, Display this site on the Quick Launch of the parent site
Navigation=NO, Display this site on the top link bar of the parent site
Navigation Inheritance=NO, Use top link bar from the parent site
5. Setup Group for this site
Visitor=Use Existing Group
Members=Create a New Group-CMP Sharepoint
Owners=Create a New Group -CMP Owners
6. END

Phase 3.0 Sharepoint Setup for Subsites within the Department Site

1. Click the Home tab
2. At Home page, –>Click Site Actions –>Create
3. Under Web Pages –>Click Sites and Workspaces
New Sharepoint Site Page
Title/Description=TeamEng
Website= http://sasdcmpkg:8000/cmp/TeamEng
Template=Custom –>Choose Team Worksite
Permission=Select Use same permission
Navigation=YES, Display this site on the Quick Launch of the parent site
Navigation=YES, Display this site on the top link bar of the parent site
Navigation Inheritance=YES, Use top link bar from the parent site
NOTE: Repeat steps 1-4 to create additional subsites within the department. take note of the 3 YES answers for the subsites.  This is the option to make the Top Link Bar to be visible on the Department Website.
4. END

Phase 4.0 Sharepoint Search Troubleshooting
If for some reason the search feature is not working, you need to stop and restart the spsearch service from the command line using stsadm.exe.  Do not use the Sharepoint Central Administration site to restart the Search Service or you will need the sqlcmd.exe to drop and create the table which you normally don’t have yet.

1. At the command prompt: type net stop spsearch (to Stop Sharepoint Search Engine)
2. At the command prompt: type net start spsearch to Start Sharepoint Search Engine)
3. Open command prompt, go to folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN
4. At the command prompt : type stsadm.exe –O spsearch –action fullcrawlstop (to stop Search Engine Crawl)
5. At the command prompt : type stsadm.exe –O spsearch –action fullcrawlstart (to start Search Engine Crawl)
6. Test Search in Sharepoint Website
7. END

Phase 5.0 Enable .pdf Search in Sharepoint

Microsoft Reference: kb927675 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927675
1. Read/Perform kb927675
2. Install Adobe PDF iFilter plugin
3. Add registry key mentioned in kb927675
4. In command prompt: type net stop spsearch (to Stop Sharepoint Search Engine)
5. In command prompt: ype net start spsearch to Start Sharepoint Search Engine)
6. Open command prompt, go to folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN
7. In command prompt : type stsadm.exe –O spsearch –action fullcrawlstop (to stop Search Engine Crawl)
8. In command prompt : type stsadm.exe –O spsearch –action fullcrawlstart (to start Search Engine Crawl)
9. Test Search in Sharepoint Website
10. END

Phase 6.0 Sharepoint Backup

1. Create a folder c:\backup to contain the backup file (this can be a share drive)
2. Go to c:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extension\12\Bin
3. Open command prompt inside the Bin folder
4. Type stsadm.exe -O backup -url http://sasdcmpkg -filename c:\backup\fullfarmbackup.dat
5. END

Phase 7.0 TTRM (Time to Read The Manual)

1. Watch the Video Demo from Microsoft to get the big picture of sharepoint.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointtechnology/HA102055631033.aspx
2. On the top right corner of the browser while in Sharepoint Site click the blue button with a question mark. The information there will jumpstart your way in creating/modifying your Sharepoint site.
3. SharepointHosting.com created many helpful video tutorials, watch each one if you don’t want to read the manual. (I did). There is a bug in the flash player, you have to click the slider button once and then click the play button or else it will just sit there and do nothing. Great tutorials.
http://www.sharepointhosting.com/video_tutorials.html
4. For the brave and the hungry to customize Sharepoint 3.0, here’s the advance topics.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/sharepoint/default.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepointtechnology/FX100503841033.aspx?ofcresset=1

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288070.aspx
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc268155.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/sharepointserver/default.aspx

http://wss.collutions.com/default.aspx

http://www.usingsharepoint.com/default.aspx
http://www.wssdemo.com/default.aspx

Phase 8.0 Building the Knowledge Base Site
I’m always fascinated with how Microsoft built their Knowledge Base System. You search google for an error and then a kbNumber comes up with the information to fix your problem. How simple and smart is that.  Well, we have that here now in SAS Sharepoint. With proper planning of the Wiki site (I call it Knowledge Base), we can do the same here at SAS. 

So how can we come up with a Numbering System? 

I propose this KB numbering system: cmpkb200809300501

Why? Because later on, we can configure the Sahrepoint engine for a wildcard search ie. cmpkb*, or *kb2008 etc. (out of the box, wildcard is not supported)

cmpkb200809300501

Meaning:

cmp-department

kb-knowledge base

2008-year

09-month

30-day

0501-time

TEMPLATE:
TITLE
kbNumber
SYMTOMS
CAUSE
RESOLUTION
MORE INFORMATION
REFERENCE
KEYWORD
AUTHOR

Using a timestamp numbering system is a lot easier and no need to manage the numbers in a database.  There will be no duplicate kb number in your department for as long as you write the time you created the document in 24h format.  You don’t need to ask somebody about what to number your kb.  (TRIZ 40 Principle- Self-Service).

CONCLUSION:
In my opinion, the out of the box configuration of Sharepoint 3.0 is more than enough for SAS needs. We just need to establish a good backup and recovery plan. There is no limit to the size of the Windows Internal Database of Sharepoint 3.0 according to  Microsoft. The only good reason why some administrators use SQL2005 instead of the built in SQL database are scalability and backup method in SQL2005 are better. The location of the SQL database is in this folder C:\WINDOWS\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data (not in the usual SQL data location)

The only customization that you have to do from out of the box is to install the Adobe iFilter mentioned in Phase 5.0 above.  What this filter do is index the text inside the .pdf file just like the default feature of indexing .doc, .xls, .ppt and more. Other than that, once you uploaded your documents to Sharepoint, wait for 5 minutes, perform a search and voila!, your document is found.

Another thing to consider is implementing 5S in the design of your Sharepoint Site.  Do it right the first time and you don’t have to undo the things your team doesn’t like later.  I normally uses the folowing guidelines:

1. What is the purpose of the site? Define this purpose and build on top of it. ie. Effective Team Collaboration
2. Use “segmentation” (TRIZ 40 Principle-Segmentation) , divide your department into smaller groups. ie. By SDWT
3. Use the “10 sec rule”, find what I can do in the site in 10 seconds.
4. Use the “3-click rule”, find any information/document in 3-mouse clicks. (not counting the search engine)

5. Before uploading a document:

o Tidy up the contents

o Provide a descriptive filename

6. Use a third person to test your site and ask how confusing it is. Ask for the negative comments, write it down and then fix it.

7. As DMAIC taught us, C-stands for Control.  manage your site everyweek. In Sharepoint, everyone in your team is a contributor and they will add anything without much thinking, let them do that (no limitations) but manage it effectively.  Keep an eye on the progress of the site. 

HOWTO: Enable .pdf search in Sharepoint 3.0 Site

HOWTO: Enable .pdf search in Sharepoint 3.0 Site

rakb200809300740
Microsoft Reference: kb927675 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927675
1. Read/Perform kb927675
2. Install Adobe PDF iFilter plugin
3. Add registry key mentioned in kb927675
4. In command prompt: type net stop spsearch (to Stop Sharepoint Search Engine)
5. In command prompt: ype net start spsearch to Start Sharepoint Search Engine)
6. Open command prompt, go to folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN
7. In command prompt : type stsadm.exe –O spsearch –action fullcrawlstop (to stop Search Engine Crawl)
8. In command prompt : type stsadm.exe –O spsearch –action fullcrawlstart (to start Search Engine Crawl)
9. Test Search in Sharepoint Website
10. END

HOWTO: Enable Sharepoint .chm Upload

HOWTO: Enable Sharepoint .chm Upload

In STS 1.0 you could upload to a document library any file you liked. This obviously had the drawback that you could upload a script (say) and by clicking on it start it carrying out its functions. The usual way round this was for the Administrator to request that such “dangerous” file types (scripts, exes etc.) should be zipped and then the zip file uploaded to the document library.

In WSS there is a set (long) list of file types that can not be uploaded to a document library.

This file () can of course be amended by the administrator – usually I suspect to reduce the list of restricted file types rather than to increase the number. As I wrote enough the default list is *very* long.

The file is ….60/CONFIG/DOCEXTFL.XML

To change the list of non-uploadable files you can either amend the file itself (and probably do IISRestart to make it work) or you can use the User Interface *on the server* as follows (the example being removing chm files from the list).

1. Programs
2. Administrative Tools
3. Open SharePoint Central Administration
4. Under Security Configuration, click Manage blocked file types
5. Remove the line for CHM and click OK

HOWTO: Enhance Command Prompt Sharepoint stsadm.exe

HOWTO: Enhance Command Prompt Sharepoint stsadm.exe
rakb200810010626
Run command line program using cmd.exe anywhere in your computer.
Example: stsadm.exe -O backup -url http://vw2003r2sp -filename B:\_Backup\fullfarmbackup2.dat
In order for this to work, you have to execute the stsadm.exe inside the folder C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN
FIX: Add System Variables Path
1. Open Windows Explorer
2. Click Advanced Tab
3. Click the Environment Variables button
4. Under System Variables, Click New
5. Variable Name=Enter Path
6. Variable Value=Enter C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\web server extensions\12\BIN
Now, when you open the cmd prompt, you can right away execute
stsadm.exe -O backup -url http://vw2003r2sp -filename B:\_Backup\fullfarmbackup2.dat -overwrite without going to the directory.
stsadm.exe -help
Microsoft Windows [Version 5.2.3790]
(C) Copyright 1985-2003 Microsoft Corp.
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.VDOMAIN>stsadm.exe -help
Usage:
           stsadm.exe -o <operation> [<parameters>]
           stsadm.exe -help [<operation>]
Operations:

           activatefeature
           addalternatedomain
           addcontentdb
           addpath
           addpermissionpolicy
           addsolution
           addtemplate
           adduser
           addwppack
           addzoneurl
           authentication
           backup
           backuphistory
           binddrservice
           blockedfilelist
           canceldeployment
           changepermissionpolicy
           copyappbincontent
           createadminvs
           creategroup
           createsite
           createsiteinnewdb
           createweb
           databaserepair
           deactivatefeature
           deleteadminvs
           deletealternatedomain
           deleteconfigdb
           deletecontentdb
           deletegroup
           deletepath
           deletepermissionpolicy
           deletesite
           deletesolution
           deletetemplate
           deleteuser
           deleteweb
           deletewppack
           deletezoneurl
           deploysolution
           deploywppack
           disablessc
           displaysolution
           email
           enablessc
           enumalternatedomains
           enumcontentdbs
           enumdeployments
           enumgroups
           enumroles
           enumservices
           enumsites
           enumsolutions
           enumsubwebs
           enumtemplates
           enumusers
           enumwppacks
           enumzoneurls
           execadmsvcjobs
           export
           extendvs
           extendvsinwebfarm
           forcedeletelist
           getadminport
           getproperty
           getsitelock
           getsiteuseraccountdirectorypath
           geturlzone
           grantiis7permission
           import
           installfeature
           listlogginglevels
           localupgradestatus
           managepermissionpolicylevel
           mergecontentdbs
           migrateuser
           provisionservice
           refreshdms
           refreshsitedms
           registerwsswriter
           removedrservice
           removesolutiondeploymentlock
           renameserver
           renamesite
           renameweb
           restore
           retractsolution
           retractwppack
           scanforfeatures
           setadminport
           setapppassword
           setconfigdb
           setlogginglevel
           setproperty
           setsitelock
           setsiteuseraccountdirectorypath
           setworkflowconfig
           siteowner
           spsearch
           spsearchdiacriticsensitive
           syncsolution
           unextendvs
           uninstallfeature
           unregisterwsswriter
           updateaccountpassword
           updatealerttemplates
           updatefarmcredentials
           upgrade
           upgradesolution
           upgradetargetwebapplication
           userrole
Examples:
stsadm.exe -o addpath -url http://server/sites -type wildcardinclusion
stsadm.exe -o adduser
           -url http://server/site
           -userlogin DOMAIN\name
           -useremail [email protected]
           -role reader
           -username “Your Name”
           -siteadmin
stsadm.exe -o backup -url http://server/site -filename backup.dat -overwrite
stsadm.exe -o backup -directory c:\backup -backupmethod full
stsadm.exe -o createsite -url http://server/site
           -ownerlogin DOMAIN\name
           -owneremail [email protected]
stsadm.exe -o createweb -url http://server/site/web
stsadm.exe -o deletesite -url http://server/site
stsadm.exe -o deleteweb -url http://server/site/web
stsadm.exe -o enumsites -url http://server
stsadm.exe -o enumsubwebs -url http://server/site/web
stsadm.exe -o enumusers -url http://server/site/web
stsadm.exe -o extendvs -url http://server:80
           -ownerlogin DOMAIN\name
           -owneremail [email protected]
stsadm.exe -o renameweb -url http://server/site/web1 -newname web2
stsadm.exe -o restore -url http://server/site -filename backup.dat
stsadm.exe -o restore -directory c:\backup -restoremethod overwrite
stsadm.exe -o setconfigdb -databaseserver server
stsadm.exe -o unextendvs -url http://server
For information about other operations and parameters,
use “stsadm.exe -help” or “stsadm.exe -help <operation>”
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.VDOMAIN>

HOWTO: WSS3.0 Extending Search

REFERENCE:
http://www.knowledge-management.com/news/v4n11/spssearch.html
http://blogs.msdn.com/marioha/archive/2006/02/17/533946.aspx

Enabling Wildcard Search in Sharepoint
This walkthrough will guide  you how to enable wild search using SPS, you need to do the following:

1.Export the search result web part.
2.Customize the DWP file, add query to enable the wild search criteria
3.Import the web part back to SPS and drop it within search page area.

Here are the details:

1.Go to your search page. By default, you won’t be able to modify it, go to this link to enable the shared mode
http://nama_server/search.aspx?mode=edit&view=shared
2.Modify the Shared Page, and export the search result Web Part (just save it in your desktop, by default it has *.dwp extension)
3.The Webpart file (DWP) is basically XML File, so you can open it using Notepad. Go find this section : “QueryTemplateWherePart”
4.Add the following code in the END of the section to enable the wide search : OR CONTAINS(“urn:schemas-microsoft-com:sharepoint:portal:profile:PreferredName”, ‘”%__keywordinput__%”‘) RANK BY COERCION(multiply, 0.01)
OR CONTAINS(#WeightedProps, ‘”%__keywordinput__%”‘)
5.Save the file, go back to your sharepoint modify page – Add Web Parts – Import
6.Drop your modified search result web part to your search page. And that’s all, hope this help…
Secrets of the SharePoint Search Results Revealed – Mauro Cardarelli

From a Microsoft perspective, 2004 was the year of SharePoint Portal Server. Organizations around the world have implemented SharePoint-based solutions for more effective knowledge management and better team collaboration. It is becoming the single source for corporate content… unless, of course, you are trying to find something! I’ve equated the SharePoint search results with my seven year old daughter’s room: I know what I’m looking for is in there somewhere; I just can’t find it. This article is intended to help you better leverage SharePoint’s search results… I’ve given up on my daughter’s room.

Introduction

You’ve created a portal site for your organization. You put documents in document libraries, enabled discussions via discussion threads, and implemented ifilters to include additional content like pdf’s. You have configured SharePoint to crawl your file shares, public folders, and external websites. All this content is searched as part of your portal’s search interface. What a mess! Don’t get me wrong; the search engine is great. It always finds the proper results. Sometimes, I just have trouble understanding how to use this data.

Although it isn’t obvious, SharePoint exposes a great deal of additional search flexibility behind its standard search web part. Let’s look at how to find these parameters.

Viewing SharePoint’s Search Parameters

Follow these steps to export SharePoint’s search parameters to an XML file.

(1) In your browser, go to the following path:
http:///search.aspx?mode=edit&view=shared

(2) You’ll see the context menu ‘Modify My Page’; select ‘Shared View’

(3) You’ll see the context menu ‘Modify Shared Page’; select ‘Design This Page’

(4) Your search page is now in design mode. On the Search Results web part, click the down arrow and select ‘Export…’

(5) Save the file to your hard drive. It will create a .dwp file (this is a web part file extension). The contents are standard XML. You can make changes to this file. It is strongly recommended that you save a copy of this original file.

For the Beginner

If you do nothing else with the search parameter file, add the following line (you can place it above the ‘GroupbyList’ line):

<OpenNewWindowForMatchingItems xmlns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:sharepoint:DataResultBase”>true</OpenNewWindowForMatchingItems>

This parameter tells SharePoint to pop up a new window for each selected search item. One of the frustrating behaviors of standard SharePoint search results is that when you select a search item the results are shown in the same window. You lose your connection to your original search list. The only way back is the IE ‘Back’ button or re-executing the search. The method above forces a new window. You can look at the results, close the window, and return to your search list. This has generated a few “Wow’s” in my demonstrations.

For the Bold

Ever wonder why SharePoint always shows the top 40 results? It is a property in the search results file called ‘MaxMatchingItemsNumber’. You can change it by altering its value. The default sort is stored in ‘DefaultSortBy’. You can alter ‘ColumnURIs’ to control the header associated with search results (i.e. you can remove Author, the default middle column, and replace it with the content type).

I suggest that you spend some time and study the XML. It offers some interesting insight into what SharePoint is doing with its search results.

For the Truly Brave

This section is intended for those who are comfortable enough with SharePoint to create more advanced search solutions.

I believe the .dwp file’s most interesting method is the ‘QueryTemplateWherePart’. It contains the logic that controls relevancy as well as scope. If you are truly brave, you can alter the order of the search results as well as limit scope to a specific portal region. As an example, my portal’s search results page contains many results web parts. I have one for just People; another searches technology topics only. I’ve done this by creating unique search parameter files. Note, this works naturally with the standard SharePoint search box… all with no custom code!

Above, I showed how to add a method to pop up search items in a new window. You may wonder what else is ‘missing’ from the standard search file. The list of available methods is at:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/spptsdk/html/cDataResultBase.asp?frame=true

I found this list in my investigation and have actually used a few methods. One that you might want to try is the ‘ShowRankForEachItem’ method. When set to ‘true’, it adds the result rank next to each search item. This is especially useful when the results include several site groupings.

Implementing Your Changes

Save any changes to your modified .dwp file. Don’t forget to change the ‘Title’ node to a name that distinguishes it as a custom version (i.e. ‘KMA Custom Search Results’).

Follow the steps above to place yourself back in design mode.

(1) Delete the current Search Results web part. You can do this through its context menu

(2) Select the ‘Add Web Parts’ from the ‘Modify Shared Page’ context menu; select ‘Import’ from its list

(3) Browse for your modified .dwp file and import it

(4) Drag your web part onto the page under the Advanced Search web part

(5) Go to the homepage and execute a search You can continue to test changes to your web part by re-executing the steps above.

Summary

You can greatly enhance the user experience associated with SharePoint search results by altering and adding a few basic parameters. While these changes are not a substitute for proper information tagging, they offer an easy way for more effectively connecting employees with organizational content.

HOWTO: WSS3.0 Installing Site Template

To install this download:
=========================================================
Note: To complete the following installation, you must
have Administrator rights to the Windows SharePoint
Services site on which it is to be installed.
1. Download the site template EXE file to your computer.
2. Run the EXE file to unpack the template file to a
   location on your computer.
3. Select the template file, <template_name>.stp, from
   the extracted distribution for the application template
   you wish to install.
4. Log into your SharePoint site as the site Administrator.
5. From the Site Actions drop-down menu in the top right,
   select Site Settings.
6. Under the Galleries section, select Site templates.
7. Select Upload to load an application template into this
   SharePoint site.
8. Browse to the <template_name>.stp file from the distribution
   and select Open. If you have several application templates
   to load into your site, you can use the Upload Multiple
   Files… option to load them all at once.
9. Click Ok to complete the upload of the application template
   to your SharePoint site.

=========================================================
Instructions for use:
=========================================================
1. Log into your SharePoint site as the site Administrator.
2. From the Site Actions drop-down menu in the top right,
   select Site Settings.
3. Under the Site Administration section, select Sites and
   Workspaces.
4. Select Create to create a new site using a site template.
5. Complete the new SharePoint site information. In the
   Template Selection section, select the Custom tab. Any
   application templates that have been uploaded will be
   listed here.
6. Select the template to use for this site and click Create.
7. A site has now been created using the application template.

=========================================================
To remove this download:
=========================================================
Note: To complete the following removal, you must have
Administrator rights to the Windows SharePoint Services
site. This process will not remove the templates from
any sites that were already created using this template.
It will only prevent users from creating new sites based
on the template.
1. Log into your SharePoint site as the site Administrator.
2. From the Site Actions drop-down menu in the top right,
   select Site Settings.
3. Under the Galleries section, select Site templates.
4. In the list of site templates, find the application
   template you wish to remove and click the Edit link.
5. Confirm that this is the application template you wish
   to remove. If so, select Delete Item.
6. Click Ok to confirm the deletion.
7. The application template is now unavailable to SharePoint
   sites and has been removed from your SharePoint site
   template gallery.

HOWTO: Moving WSS3 Database to a different drive

HOWTO: Moving WSS3 Database to a different drive (out from c:\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data)
rakb200810080402

Why move the default location of the SQL Content db and the SQL Search db to a different drive?
The default SQL db location for Sharepoint 3.0 is in c:\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data which is great for a site that is not heavily used like a home server or a small office intranet.  But when Sharepoint is being deployed to an intranet that is potentially large ie. SAS, the Content and Search DB needs to be relocated away from c:\drive (system drive).  This files can grow so fast that out of the blue, the system drive will run out of space and crash — BSOD. There is no size limit for the SQL Embeded version of Sharepoint DB, so the physical limit will be the drive space and that is the reason why those 2 growing files needs to be relocated on a different drive. If we relocate those 2 files to a 2nd physical drive (not a partition), the site will perform faster and easier to recover during a disaster.

An Example of a good Sharepoint Server hardware configuration:
Memory=4GB
Drive0=c:\drive
Drive1=c:\drive mirror
Drive2=d:\drive
Drive3=d:drive mirror
1. Install SQL Server Native Client Tool, Download Here
2. Install SQL Command Line Tool, Download Here
3. Create a wss folder in c:\drive to hold the movesharepoint.bat and sharepoint.sql
4. Create a sharepointdb folder in d:\drive to hold the SQL Server .mdf and .ldf files
5. Create a batch file and call it movesharepoint.bat (Courtesy from Ken Warren)
NOTE: The highlighted items correspond to the changes I made on the script to match the drive letter of my serverG:=my c:drive
W:=my 2nd SCSI drive where I wanted to.mdf/.ldf to reside.
PE1550e=my Server Name
————————————-
net stop mssql$microsoft##ssee
copy G:\WINDOWS\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data\WSS_Content*.* W:\SharePointDB\*.*
copy G:\WINDOWS\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data\WSS_Search*.* W:\SharePointDB\*.*
net stop SPSearch
net start mssql$microsoft##ssee
“G:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\binn\sqlcmd” -S \\.\pipe\mssql$microsoft##ssee\sql\query -E -i G:\wss\sharepoint.sql
net start SPSearch
————————————-
6. Creat a sql script and name it sharepoint.sql
————————————-
EXEC sp_detach_db @dbname = ‘WSS_Content’
go
EXEC sp_detach_db @dbname = ‘WSS_Search_PE1550E’
go
EXEC sp_attach_db @dbname = ‘WSS_Content’, @filename1 = ‘W:\SharePointDB\WSS_Content.mdf’, @filename2 = ‘W:\SharePointDB\wss_content_log.ldf’
go
EXEC sp_attach_db @dbname = ‘WSS_Search_PE1550E’, @filename1 = ‘W:\SharePointDB\WSS_Search_PE1550E.mdf’, @filename2 = ‘W:\SharePointDB\WSS_Search_PE1550E_log.ldf’
go
————————————-

7. Open Sharepoint Central Administration –>Application Management Tab–>Click Content Databases
8. Click on the link for WSS_Content
9. In the Database dropdown, select Offline, Click OK
10. Minimize this Sharepoint Central Administration Page, you will need it later to place the db back Online.
11. Verify if you created the folder d:\sharepointdb mentioned in Step 4 above.
12. Go to the script folder c:\wss
13. Open command prompt on this folder
14. At the command prompt, type movesharepoint.bat
15. After the script is complete, Open Sharepoint Central Administration –>Application Management Tab–>Click Content Databases
16. Click on the link for WSS_Content
17. In the Database dropdown, select Ready, Click OK
18. Go to d:\sharepoint folder and try to rename WSS_Content.mdf, if you get an error, the move was successful
19. Go to d:\sharepoint folder and try to rename WSS_Search_Servername.mdf, if you get an error, the move was successful
20. Upload files to your sharepoint site and monitor the growth size of the files WSS_Content.mdf  WSS_Search_Servername.mdf
Here’s the command prompt snapshot of a succesful movesharepoint.bat

G:\wss>movesharepoint
G:\wss>net stop mssql$microsoft##ssee
The Windows Internal Database (MICROSOFT##SSEE) service is stopping.
The Windows Internal Database (MICROSOFT##SSEE) service was stopped successfully
.

G:\wss>copy G:\WINDOWS\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data\WSS_Content*.* W:\Share
PointDB\*.*
G:\WINDOWS\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data\WSS_Content.mdf
G:\WINDOWS\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data\WSS_Content_log.LDF
        2 file(s) copied.
G:\wss>copy G:\WINDOWS\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data\WSS_Search*.* W:\ShareP
ointDB\*.*
G:\WINDOWS\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data\WSS_Search_PE1550E.mdf
G:\WINDOWS\SYSMSI\SSEE\MSSQL.2005\MSSQL\Data\WSS_Search_PE1550E_log.LDF
        2 file(s) copied.
G:\wss>net stop SPSearch
The Windows SharePoint Services Search service is stopping…….
The Windows SharePoint Services Search service was stopped successfully.

G:\wss>net start mssql$microsoft##ssee
The Windows Internal Database (MICROSOFT##SSEE) service is starting.
The Windows Internal Database (MICROSOFT##SSEE) service was started successfully
.

G:\wss>”G:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\binn\sqlcmd” -S \\.\pipe\
mssql$microsoft##ssee\sql\query -E -i G:\wss\sharepoint.sql
G:\wss>net start SPSearch
The Windows SharePoint Services Search service is starting…
The Windows SharePoint Services Search service was started successfully.

G:\wss>

Reading Log: Sharepoint 2010 Presentation

~ Article-SharePoint_2010_Evaluation_Guide.pdf
~ Article-SharePoint_2010_Walkthrough_Guide.pdf
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_BIFeatures.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_CTandTaxonomy.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_Developer_IT_Pro_Learning_Guide.pdf
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_DocManageScenarios.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_Evaluate-ITPro.docx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_Evaluate-ITPro.pdf
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_FeaturesforBCM.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_ITProToolsforSharePoint.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_LeveragingServiceApps.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_ManagingCustomizationsITPro.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_ONLINE.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_PatchingFarmEnvironments.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_RecordsManagement.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_SearchFeatures.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_SecurityPt1.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_SecurityPt2.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_Social.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_Topology.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_UpgradeImplement.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_UpgradeLearn.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_UpgradePrepare.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010_UpgradeValidate.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010BCS.pptx
~ Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_BI.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_ClientOMandREST.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_contentmanagement.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_Externaldata-and-bcs.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_Features.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_Listimprovements.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_ListsandLINQ.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_Managingapplicationlifecycles.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_Mysitesandsocial.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_Platform.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_SandboxSolutions.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_SearchSolutions.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_SP_Services.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_UI_Improvements.pptx
Article-Sharepoint2010Developer_Workflow.pptx
Article-SharePoint2010GettingStarted.pdf
Poster-SharePoint2010_Developer_Platform_Poster.pdf
SharePoint2010DeveloperTrainingKit.Setup.exe

My Black Notebook Summary

My Black Notebook Summary

Page No Description
1 M2NPV-2 AMD x64 Vista Ultimate Setup
2  
3 SBS2003 Premium Setup
4  
5  
6  
7  
8  
9 Network Map With Hyper-V Setup [ip address]
10 Belkin Router Setup
11 Hyper-V Windows 2008 Standard Setup
12  
13  
14 Hyper-V Windows 2008R2 Enterprise Setup
15 Hyper-V Windows 2008 Hyper-V Setup [no gui]
16  
17 \\vw2003x64 Setup [virtual machine]
18  
19  
20  
21 \\vwxp64dev Setup [virtual machine]
22  
23 BookNotes: Beginning T-SQL 2005/2008
24  
25  
26  
27  
28  
29  
30  
31 \\vw2003x64dc Setup [virtual machine Domain and Exchange2007]
32 Exchange 2007 SP2 Upgrade
33  
34  
35  
36  
37  
38  
39  
40  
41 \\vw2003R2sp Setup [Sharepoint Server]
42 Sharepoint Site Setup
43 Fix: Sharepoint Search Not Working
44  
45  
46  
47  
48  
49  
50  
51  
52  
53 \\vw2003x64SQL Setup [virtual machine]
54  
55  
56  
57  
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60  
61  
62  
63 \\vw2003x64sp Setup [Sharepoint Server]
64 \\vw2003x64sp Setup [SQL Server Configuration]
65  
66  
67  
68  
69 \\vw2003x64sp Setup [Sharepoint Server Production]
70  
71  
72 \\vw2003x64sp Setup [Sharepoint Central Administration]
73 \\vw2003x64sp Setup [Sharepoint Search Configuration]
74  
75  
76  
77 Data Protection Manager 2007 Setup
78 \\vwindows7 Setup
79  
80  
81  
82  
83 \\pe1550 Sharepoint 3.0 Setup
84  
85 \\pe1550 NI Seagate Acronis Backup/Restore Procedure
86  
87  
88  
89  
90  
91  
92  
93 \\vw2003x64sql Sharepoint 2007 Server Setup
94  
95 \\e6400 Latitude Notebook Setup
96  
97 Nestor Enterprise Workspace
98  
99  
100  
101 Sharepoint Heart Center Site
102  
103 \\pe2850 Setup $160.00
104  
105 \\pe2850x86 Windows 2008 x86 Setup
106 \\pe2850x86 Sharepoint Setup
107 \\pe2850x86 Move Sharepoint To another server
108 \\pe2850x86 Sharepoint 2007 Server Setup
109  
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117 \\CharisseHP Win7 Data Recovery
118  
119 \\pe1550 ISA 2006 Setup
120  
121 \\pe2850x64 Windows 2008 x64 Setup [Enterprise and Data Center +DFS]
122  
123  
124  
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127 \\vsharepoint2010a Windows 2008 R2 Standard SP2010 and Office2010
128 \\vsharepoint2010b Windows 2008 R2 Standard
129 \\vexchange2010_dc Windows 2008 R2 Enterprise +Office2010 Beta
130 \\vexchange2010_ocs Windows 2008  R2 Enterprise
131 \\e6400 Windows7 Enterprise Setup
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View Summary | Journal | Life | Music | Computing | Travel | SwimBikeRun | Projects | Skydrive

HOWTO: Create a bootable Windows Vista/W2008 Server on Flash Memory

Create a bootable Windows Vista/W2008 Server on Flash Memory
1. Format the USB flash memory drive to FAT32 file system
Run CMD.EXE and type the following command. Note: This set of commands assumes that the USB flash drive is addressed as “disk 1″. Double check that by doing a list of the disks (type “list disk”) before cleaning it).

1.diskpart
2.select disk 1
3.clean
4.create partition primary
5.select partition 1
6.active
7.format fs=fat32
8.assign
9.exit

2. Copy Windows Vista’s DVD ROM content to the Flash Drive
Type in command to start copying all the content from the Windows Vista DVD to your newly formatted high speed flash drive.
xcopy d:\*.* /s/e/f e:\
3. Setup your computer BIOS to boot from USB Drive
4. Install Windows Vista from flash memory drive

View Summary | Journal | Life | Music | Computing | Travel | SwimBikeRun | Projects | Skydrive

Simplified Blogging-Windows Live Writer

Published: 20090707, 0914 Tuesday Rigel G. Arcayan

If you love writing, here are the tools for you at no cost.

DEFINE: How to make blogging (documentation is the right word) simple and painless.
Objectives:
To reduce the amount of time a person spends in writing a blog.
To publish/edit a blog painlessly.
Zero Cost
Zero Learning Curve
Simple
One blog-Many audience (for comments)
Soft copy of the blog in your local pc (for backup)

MEASURE:
There is no definite HOWTO in blogging and what software package to use to make blogging simplified.

ANALYZE:
Brainstorm

IDEAS

URL

Use Sharepoint Blog http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/Pages/Default.aspx
Use Google’s Blogger.com https://www.blogger.com/start
Use Windows Live Spaces http://home.spaces.live.com/
Use Gadwin Print Screen to capture windows screen http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/
Use Windows Live Writer http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/
Use a notebook and pen and then scan Hmmmm.

 

IMPROVE:
Solution-Windows Live Writer +Windows Live Account +Gadwin PrintScreen +Facebook Blog Import

TASKS:

1. Create a Windows Live Account http://home.live.com/
2. Download Windows Live Writer http://windowslivewriter.spaces.live.com/
3. Download Gadwin Print Screen http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/
4. Read all the documentation of the software package http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/
5. Start writing.  
6. If you want a Facebook presence of your blog http://www.ehow.com/how_2031202_import-blog-facebook.html 

Sample-My Windows  Live Writer
ScreenShot002

Free Screen Capture that I used.
ScreenShot003

Now you have it. No excuse for not documenting. 

Malwarebytes-The Free Remedy (Hands On Experience)

20090704, 1900H

My main pc was compromised by a malware the other day.  Of course I was logged on as an Administrator on a Windows 2003 Server.  Most of the time, I used this server to do my daily computing and I was confident that I won’t experience a malware or a virus due to my strict discipline of what site I normally visits plus my hardware firewall is in place.  Well, it happened so quick, I click a link and voila, malware was there in my browser. 

The symptom: Every time I open a website, this webpage below redirects my browser to this unknown site.

ScreenShot160

I knew I was in for a big surprise/learning (I normally say that) but I did not worry too much because I had a full backup of my system and I don’t have anything important on this server that I could not recover from another machine.

Whenever I encounter such an annoying problem as this, I normally consider this a challenge and not a setback.  So I was in for a good lesson learned session.

My Plan:
1. Remove the malware manually.
2. Study the behavior of the malware (how it infects the system)
3. Use the backup as the last resort.
4. Use only free tools

The Actual Event:
1. I searched the web for “Personal Antivirus Malware removal” procedure and found the following to be removed from my system.

Associated Personal Antivirus Files:
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\Personal Antivirus.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Personal Antivirus
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Personal Antivirus\Personal Antivirus Home Page.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Personal Antivirus\Personal Antivirus.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Personal Antivirus\Purchase License.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Personal Antivirus.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\settings.ini
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\uill.ini
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\unins000.exe
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\Uninstall Personal Antivirus.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db\config.cfg
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db\Timeout.inf
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db\Urls.inf
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\log.txt
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\pguard.ini
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\services.exe
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\activate.ico
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\Explorer.ico
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\PerAvir.exe
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\unins000.dat
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\uninstall.ico
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\working.log
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\db
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\db\DBInfo.ver
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\db\ia080614.db
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\db\ia080618x.db
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\Languages
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\Languages\IAEs.lng
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\Languages\IAFr.lng
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\Languages\IAGer.lng
c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\Languages\IAIt.lng
c:\WINDOWS\system32\log.txt
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\winlogon.exe
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\iGSh.png
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\iMSh.png
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\iPSh.png
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\iv.exe
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\log.txt
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\pguard.ini
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\services.exe

Associated Personal Antivirus Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Personal Antivirus_is1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_ITGRDENGINE
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ITGrdEngine
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer "PrS"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Personal Antivirus"

2. After spending 1 hour tinkering the file system and system registry, my battle against the malware was not going anywhere.  So, committed as I was, I launch my full backup restore using the MS Backup that I performed last December of 2008.  To make the long story short, the backup restored everything I had from the last full backup but unfortunately failed to remove the malware.

3. Plan C. Search for a free malware removal software.
First I tried, Windows Defender, installed it, run it, scan my drive, all clear no malware found but my Internet Explorer was still not working.
Next, I tried Ad Aware, this software used to be good but it was unable to remove the malware.
Tried Trend Micro free web scan, that did not work either.
Last, I came across http://www.malwarebytes.org/ . Installed it, run it and then fixed the malware.

ScreenShot001

Lesson Learned:
1. On Windows Server 2003 or XP, never run IE as an Administrator
2. On Vista, the lockdown state is great but when you click OK on a pop up, the same risk exists just like you were logged in as an administrator.
3. When you are not logged on as an Administrator, no virus or malware can write to the registry or program files folder. (this is the key to the protection)

Total Time on the learning process-3 hours.
Cost-Priceless