Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Dude: Where have my folders gone??? .... Windows 7

You knew where everything was in Windows XP but where have they moved them to in Windows 7 (and Vista)

New locations are:

User Profiles: C:\Users\
All users desktop: C:\Users\Public\Desktop\
All users start menu: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Error: MAPI32.DLL when launching Outlook 2003

Issue:
When launching Outlook 2003 the below error is displayed:

Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. MAPI32.DLL is corrupt or the wrong
version. This could have been caused by installing other messaging software.
Please reinstall Outlook.

Solution:
Rename the C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033\MSMAPI32.DLL to MSMAPI32.old. Then try starting Outlook.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Citrix: Internet Explorer Intranet Zones

It appears that Citrix and Terminal Services does not allow Internet Explorer Security Zones to be modified from inside a Citrix Session. We used to have a Group Policy that set our Zone settings, but for some reason did not apply to our Citrix or RDP sessions.

There was a fix I found on the net that uses a Group Policy Object to resolve this.

The setting is in Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Internet Explorer | Internet Control Panel | Security Page | Site to Zone Assignment List

Enable that policy and fill it with the sites you need.

1 = Intranet Zone
2 = Trusted Zone
3 = Internet Zone
4 = Restricted Zone

eg. http://soeteam.blogspot.com Value 1.
Means http://soeteam.blogspot.com will be added the the Intranet Zone. You will be able to see this within IE.

After I applied this Group Policy I needed to log onto the console of the Citrix servers and run 'gupdate /force'

Source: http://www.trevorprokop.com/?p=11

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Telstra Ultimate USB modem using Ciscos VPN Win 7

Install Latest firmware then install drivers.

http://www.sierrawireless.com/en/sitecore/content/Sierra%20Wireless/Support/Downloads/AirCard/USB_Modems/Telstra_Ultimate_AC312U.aspx

Disable “Windows 7 Mobile Broadband” in the telstra Watcher "user options"

Ref

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1709121

Monday, August 22, 2011

Lync 2010: Migrate OCS 2007 R2 user to Lync 2010

The below process shows how to migrate an OCS 2007 R2 user to Lync 2010. This cannot be done using any GUI driven tools (at time of writing)

Note: Lync users cannot use the Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 client to log into Lync 2010. If the user to be migrated is logged in and using the Communicator client they will be automatically logged out and an error message informing the user to upgrade their client.

1. Launch the Lync Server Management Shell from your Lync Server
2. Type command: Move-CsLegacyUser -Identity username -Target lyncserver.yourdomain
3. Confirm the user move.
4. You're done.

Install the Lync 2010 client and enjoy. :)

Sunday, July 17, 2011

ERROR: A temporary profile is loaded after you log on to a Windows 7-based system

To resolve this problem, follow these steps:
1. Log on to the system by using an administrative user account other than the user account that is experiencing the problem.
2. Back up all data in the current user's profile folder if the profile folder still exists, and then delete the profile folder. By default, the profile resides in the following location:%SystemDrive%\Users\UserName
3. Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
4. Locate the following registry subkey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
5. Under the ProfileList subkey, delete the subkey that is named SID.bak. 

Note SID is a placeholder for the security identifier (SID) of the user account that is experiencing the problem. The SID.bak subkey should contain a ProfileImagePath registry entry that points to the original profile folder of the user account that is experiencing the problem.
6. Exit Registry Editor.
7. Log off the system.
8. Log on to the system again.
After you log on to the system, the profile folder is re-created.

Source:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947242/en-au

ERROR: Microsoft Lync 2010 must be installed by running the appropriate Lync setup executable

Issue:
You experience the following symptoms:
• A local Windows Installer (MSI) installation for Microsoft Lync 2010 can fail, and the following warning is displayed in the Microsoft Lync 2010 Setup dialog box:Microsoft Lync 2010 must be installed by running the appropriate Lync setup executable


Resolution:
Use the Lync 2010 UseMSIForLyncInstallation Group Policy setting to enable or block MSI deployments for Lync.msi as follows:

Name: UseMSIForLyncInstallation
Default: 0
Range: 1 or 0
Registry Location:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator
To do this, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Communicator
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type UseMSIForLyncInstallation, and then press ENTER to name the registry entry.
5. Right-click UseMSIForLyncInstallation, and then click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 1 if that value is not already displayed, and then click OK.
7. Exit Registry Editor.
8. Restart the Windows client.

Source:

Monday, June 20, 2011

Error 53: When trying to map to server using net use

Scenario:
You receive "status 53" when running net view or net use to attach or map to a Windows server.

eg. You type the command:
C:\>net view \\server

Results

Shared resources on \\server

Share Name Type Used as Comment
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Command failed: status 53
C:\>

Resolution
Your Windows Server you are trying to connect to does not have any WINS addresses entries listed in Advanced TCP/IP Settings. Add at least one entry and apply settings.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

TIP: Office 2010 Volume Activation Tips and Tricks

Ospp.vbs


This handy script is helpful for performing local and remote licensing operations for Microsoft Office 2010. You can find it in the “%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office14” folder. For 32-bit installs of Office on 64-bit operating systems, look for it under the “Program Files (x86)” folder. Keep in mind ospp.vbs is the script to configure the Office 2010 client, while slmgr.vbs is used to configure the KMS host and Windows installations.


To run this script, open an elevated command prompt by clicking the Start button and searching for “cmd” in the search box. Right click on the command prompt window and select “Run as administrator.” Go to the directory with this command:


cd “%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office14”


You can see the options that are available by typing:


cscript ospp.vbs -?


Richard Moloney, the developer of this script, says a useful benefit after setting up a KMS host is using the -act and -dhistory commands to verify the Office client is finding the KMS host and successfully activating. He suggests, “If you’re setting up a KMS host, you can manually trigger and verify successful activation. You don’t need to wait 25 days until notification dialogs start popping up to start troubleshooting.”


Trigger activation and view the KMS activation history by running:

cscript ospp.vbs –act

cscript ospp.vbs –dhistory


For MAK activation, one common task would be to check the status of your computer, install a Professional Plus Beta MAK key, and trigger activation. Run these commands (if you’re pasting these commands, you may need to change the long dash to a short dash). In this example, note that when you run the –act command, you’ll be triggering MAK activation, which goes to Microsoft’s activation servers, not your KMS host.


cscript ospp.vbs –dstatus

cscript ospp.vbs –inpkey:22HGX-728MX-BBWX9-7BB8X-J96B4

cscript ospp.vbs –act

cscript ospp.vbs –dstatus


What if you got an error code? You can easily get the error description with this command specifying the error code:


cscript ospp.vbs –ddescr:0xC0020017


You can even run this script to check the status or trigger activation of a remote computer. Just provide the computer name and login credentials:


cscript ospp.vbs –act


Source: http://blogs.technet.com/b/office2010/archive/2009/12/18/volume-activation-tips-and-tricks.aspx

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

ERROR: When you log on to Microsoft Office Communicator: "Cannot Synchronize Address Book"

Note This issue occurs on the client-side. However, you have to configure the settings on the server that is running Microsoft Office Communications Server to resolve the issue. If you are not familiar with Office Communications Server, contact the server administrator.

To resolve this issue, you must have the Administrator permission on the server that is running Microsoft Office Communications Server.

Windows Server 2003-based server

Method 1: If the Address Book Files folder is on the computer that is running Communications Server

  1. Click Start, click Run, type inetmgr, and then click OK.
  2. Expand ServerName, expand Web Sites, expand Default Web sites, and then expandAbs.
  3. Right-click Ext, and then click Properties.
  4. In the Ext Properties dialog box, click to select the A directory located on this computer check box on the Virtual Directory tab, click Browse to select the Address Book Files folder, and then click OK.
  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for Int in the Abs node.

Windows Server 2008-based server

Method 1: If the Address Book Files folder is on the computer that is running Communications Server

  1. Click Start, click Run, type inetmgr, and then click OK.
  2. Expand ServerName, expand Sites, expand Default Web sites, and then expand Abs.
  3. Expand Ext and click on Files, in the Actions pane click on Basic Settings
  4. Using the Physical path setting browse to the Address Book Files folder.
  5. Click OK twice and close the IIS 7.0 Management console
  6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for Int in the Abs node.

Monday, April 4, 2011

HOWTO: Create Cisco VPN tunnel using native Mac OSX

Overview:
Yes, it can be done!! If you're sick of Error 51 when launching the Cisco VPN client on Mac OS X give this a shot.

Monday, March 28, 2011

ERROR: Outlook 2010 won't start / unable to access Mail Control Panel item

Try this:

Start Run outlook.exe /resetnavpane


OR


Go to Start > Regedit

  1. Locate HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows Messaging Subsystem
  2. Delete the Profiles key under the Windows Messaging (Subsystem) key.
  3. When you start Outlook it will prompt to Repair.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Clear Jump Lists in Windows 7

This article describes how to clear the jump lists on Windows 7:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprogeneral/thread/92b90228-2f08-4558-9c4d-6e66e103a5cf

Scroll to the post by joeboxer Thursday, January 27, 2011 3:05 AM (towards the bottom of the thread) for specific codes in the hidden AutomaticDestinations folder.

Mitch

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Adobe Error PDF in browser

"There is a problem with Adobe Acrobat/reader. If it is running, please exit and try again (1014:1014)"


f the above registry item doesn't exist on the system, do the following:

  1. Go to Start > Run
  2. Type regedit and click OK.
  3. Go to Edit > New > Key and create the missing HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Software\Adobe\Acrobat\Exe.
  4. Go to Edit > New > String Value and name this key (Default).
  5. Select (Default), and then go to Edit > Modify. Type the default path (listed above) in the "Value data" for your product.
  6. Restart your computer.
The default path for Reader 9 is "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Reader 9.0\Reader\AcroRd32.exe".
The default path for Acrobat 9 is "C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 9.0\Acrobat\Acrobat.exe".

Monday, March 7, 2011

HOWTO: Turn Windows 7 "Please Wait..." into useful messages.

When booting Windows Vista or 7, you'll see it quite often just says "Please Wait." To change "Please Wait" into useful messages, like "Installing Office 2010" or "Please Wait for the User Profile Service" etc change the policy setting:

Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | System | "Verbose vs normal status messages". Change state to "Enabled"

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Scheduled Tasks that run as SYSTEM

An oldie but a goodie. Using AT from the command line allows you to run a scheduled task as SYSTEM.

Mitch

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Bypass Windows Media Player First Run Wizard

Each time you log onto a newly built Windows 7 pc and launch Windows Media Player it will prompt you to complete the Welcome to Windows Media Player wizard. This happens for each new account. This website provides instructions on how to prevent the wizard from appearing:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/02/19/skip-and-bypass-windows-media-player-initial-settings-wizard-on-first-run/

Mitch

Thursday, January 13, 2011

HOWTO: Allow Powershell to run unsigned scripts

To allow you to run unsigned Powershell scripts you need to change Powershell's security setting.

WARNING: Please do this at your own risk and use with caution.

From a PowerShell command prompt type: Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

For more info check out http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd347628.aspx

ERROR: The term 'Get-QADUser' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, scr ipt file, or operable program.

Scenario:

You have installed Powershell + Quest ActiveRoles Management for AD. When you try to run a command that uses Quest cmdlet you get the below error:

The term 'Get-QADUser' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was included, verify that the path is correct and try again.

Resolution:

Run the command: Add-PSSnapin Quest.ActiveRoles.ADManagement

You may receive the warning below which you can ignore.

Add-PSSnapin : Windows PowerShell snap-in "Quest.ActiveRoles.ADManagement" is l
oaded with the following warnings: The following error occurred while loading.....


Re-run your initial command.

HOWTO: PowerShell to manage AD user TS settings

Tip: Install PowerGUI as well the the QuestActiveRoles Management Shell for Active Directory modules. This provides the cmdlets like QADUser which we will be using below.

Setting TS attributes

Example: Set-QADUser mbailinovski -TsHomeDirectory "\\server\users$\mbailinov" -TsHomeDrive "W:"

Getting TS attributes
Retrieving terminal services properties is easy. You just execute Get-QADUser and the objects retrieved will have the corresponding properties – for your convenience, all starting with Ts.

Get-QADUser "Mitch Bailinovski" | format-list Ts*

TsProfilePath : \\server\users$\mbailinovski
TsHomeDirectory : \\server\users$\mbailinovski
TsHomeDrive : W:
TsAllowLogon : True
TsRemoteControl : 0
TsMaxDisconnectionTime : 00:00:00
TsMaxConnectionTime : 00:00:00
TsMaxIdleTime : 00:00:00
TsReconnectionAction : 1
TsBrokenConnectionAction : 0
TsConnectClientDrives : True
TsConnectPrinterDrives : True
TsDefaultToMainPrinter : True
TsWorkDirectory :
TsInitialProgram :

Important: Terminal services properties are only available when AD cmdlets are run on Windows Server 2003 or 2008 or when the Windows 2003 Server Administration Tools are installed.

Source: http://dmitrysotnikov.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/managing-terminal-services-attributes-with-powershell/

Windows 7 User Tile Automation

Useful link for automating the replacement of user tiles for different user accounts in Windows 7.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Windows could not parse or process the unattend answer file

During Sysprep the following error message appears:

"Windows could not parse or process the unattend answer file for pass [specialize]. The settings specified in the answer file cannot be applied. The error was detected while processing settings for component [Microsoft-Windows-Shell-Setup]"

The error is
generated by the CopyProfile setting in the unattend file not being able to copy the customized profile settings to the default user profile.

One solution would be to remove this setting from the answer file and allow the build process to complete successfully. Note that the default user profile will now not receive the custom settings you want to save.

Before sysprep is run, make sure only one local account exists i.e. Administrator

Remove any other local accounts from Computer Management > Local Users and Groups.

Browse to C:\Users and delete any profile directories for the local accounts that have been removed.

The final step is to clear the ProfileList in Windows registry (scroll to bottom of this article). Browse to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList and make sure that profiles exists only for SYSTEM, LocalService, NetworkService and Administrator.

Run sysprep and capture a new image. the CopyProfile setting will now apply and save your custom settings to the Default User profile.

Mitch

Monday, January 10, 2011

A fatal error occurred while trying to Sysprep the machine

This message appears during Sysprep on a Windows 7 client when the Rearm program has run more than 3 times in a single Windows image (see here).

It is possible to workaround the problem by adding the SkipRearm setting to the Generalize pass in your unattend XML file.

Not sure if there is anyway around this if you are using KMS as it affects the client count on the KMS host. :(

Mitch

Friday, January 7, 2011

Export Outlook 2003/2007 calendar appointments to CSV file

This VBScript must be run as the logged on user. It will output all your Outlook calendar appointments to a CSV file for importing into Microsoft Excel.

I needed a way to report on what calendar appointments our users had to see whether they have more than one entry for a bank holiday.

Option Explicit

Const olFolderCalendar = 9
Const ForReading = 1
Const ForWriting = 2
Const ForAppending = 8

Dim WshShell, WSHFileSystem, objOutlook, objNamespace, objCalendar, oReport

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set WSHFileSystem = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set oReport = WSHFileSystem.CreateTextFile("C:\Support\CalendarAppointments.csv", ForWriting, True)
Set objOutlook = CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
Set objNamespace = objOutlook.GetNamespace("MAPI")
Set objCalendar = objNamespace.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderCalendar)

ProcessCalendar(objCalendar)

Sub ProcessCalendar(objCalendar)
Dim colItems, colItems2, itm
Set colItems = objCalendar.Items
Set colItems2 = colItems.Restrict("[Start] > '01/1/2011' And [Start] < '12/31/2012'")

For Each itm In colItems2
oReport.WriteLine itm.Subject & "," & itm.Start
'wscript.Echo itm.Subject & "," & itm.Start
Next
End Sub

oReport.Close