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• Cisco VPN Client dropping connection

  - by IT Team

  Using Windows XP and Cisco VPN client version 5.0.4.xxx to connect to a remote customer site. We are able to establish the connection and start an RDP session, but within 1-2 minutes the connection drops and the VPN connection disconnects. The PC making the connection is on a DMZ which is NATed to a public IP address. If we move the PC directly onto the internet without being on the DMZ the connection works and we don't encounter any disconnects. We use a PIX 515E running 7.2.4 and don't have any problems with similar setups connecting to other customer sites from the DMZ. The VPN setup on the client side is pretty basic, using IPSec over TCP port 10000. Not sure what device they are using on the peer, but my guess would be an ASA. Any idea as to what the problem would be? Below is the logs from the VPN client when the problem occurs. The real IP address has been changed to: RemotePeerIP. 4 14:39:30.593 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 CM/0x63100024 Attempt connection with server "RemotePeerIP" 5 14:39:30.593 09/23/09 Sev=Info/6 CM/0x6310002F Allocated local TCP port 1942 for TCP connection. 6 14:39:30.796 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IPSEC/0x63700008 IPSec driver successfully started 7 14:39:30.796 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IPSEC/0x63700014 Deleted all keys 8 14:39:30.796 09/23/09 Sev=Info/6 IPSEC/0x6370002C Sent 256 packets, 0 were fragmented. 9 14:39:30.796 09/23/09 Sev=Info/6 IPSEC/0x63700020 TCP SYN sent to RemotePeerIP, src port 1942, dst port 10000 10 14:39:30.796 09/23/09 Sev=Info/6 IPSEC/0x6370001C TCP SYN-ACK received from RemotePeerIP, src port 10000, dst port 1942 11 14:39:30.796 09/23/09 Sev=Info/6 IPSEC/0x63700021 TCP ACK sent to RemotePeerIP, src port 1942, dst port 10000 12 14:39:30.796 09/23/09 Sev=Warning/3 IPSEC/0xA370001C Bad cTCP trailer, Rsvd 26984, Magic# 63697672h, trailer len 101, MajorVer 13, MinorVer 10 13 14:39:30.796 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 CM/0x63100029 TCP connection established on port 10000 with server "RemotePeerIP" 14 14:39:31.296 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 CM/0x63100024 Attempt connection with server "RemotePeerIP" 15 14:39:31.296 09/23/09 Sev=Info/6 IKE/0x6300003B Attempting to establish a connection with RemotePeerIP. 16 14:39:31.296 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IKE/0x63000013 SENDING ISAKMP OAK AG (SA, KE, NON, ID, VID(Xauth), VID(dpd), VID(Frag), VID(Unity)) to RemotePeerIP 17 14:39:36.296 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IKE/0x63000021 Retransmitting last packet! 18 14:39:36.296 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IKE/0x63000013 SENDING ISAKMP OAK AG (Retransmission) to RemotePeerIP 19 14:39:41.296 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IKE/0x63000021 Retransmitting last packet! 20 14:39:41.296 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IKE/0x63000013 SENDING ISAKMP OAK AG (Retransmission) to RemotePeerIP 21 14:39:46.296 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IKE/0x63000021 Retransmitting last packet! 22 14:39:46.296 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IKE/0x63000013 SENDING ISAKMP OAK AG (Retransmission) to RemotePeerIP 23 14:39:51.328 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IKE/0x63000017 Marking IKE SA for deletion (I_Cookie=AEFC3FFF0405BBD6 R_Cookie=0000000000000000) reason = DEL_REASON_PEER_NOT_RESPONDING 24 14:39:51.828 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IKE/0x6300004B Discarding IKE SA negotiation (I_Cookie=AEFC3FFF0405BBD6 R_Cookie=0000000000000000) reason = DEL_REASON_PEER_NOT_RESPONDING 25 14:39:51.828 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 CM/0x63100014 Unable to establish Phase 1 SA with server "RemotePeerIP" because of "DEL_REASON_PEER_NOT_RESPONDING" 26 14:39:51.828 09/23/09 Sev=Info/5 CM/0x63100025 Initializing CVPNDrv 27 14:39:51.828 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 CM/0x6310002D Resetting TCP connection on port 10000 28 14:39:51.828 09/23/09 Sev=Info/6 CM/0x63100030 Removed local TCP port 1942 for TCP connection. 29 14:39:51.828 09/23/09 Sev=Info/6 CM/0x63100046 Set tunnel established flag in registry to 0. 30 14:39:51.828 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IKE/0x63000001 IKE received signal to terminate VPN connection 31 14:39:52.328 09/23/09 Sev=Info/6 IPSEC/0x63700023 TCP RST sent to RemotePeerIP, src port 1942, dst port 10000 32 14:39:52.328 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IPSEC/0x63700014 Deleted all keys 33 14:39:52.328 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IPSEC/0x63700014 Deleted all keys 34 14:39:52.328 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IPSEC/0x63700014 Deleted all keys 35 14:39:52.328 09/23/09 Sev=Info/4 IPSEC/0x6370000A IPSec driver successfully stopped Thank you for any help you can provide.

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• Problem Disabling Roaming Profiles on Grouped Users

  - by user43207

  I'm having some serious issues getting a group of users to stop using roaming profiles. As expected, I have roaming profiles enabled accross the domain. - But am doing GPO filtering, limiting the scope. I originally had it set to authenticated users for Roaming, but as the domain has branched out to multiple locations, I've limited the scope to only people that are near the central office. The GPO that I have linked filtered to a group I have created that include users that I don't want to have roaming profiles. This GPO is sitting at the root of the domain, with the "Forced" setting enabled, so it should override any setting below it. *On a side note, it is the ONLY GPO that I have set to "Forced" right now. I know the GPO is working, since I can see the original registy settings on a user that logged in under roaming profiles - and then that same user logging in after I made the Group Policy changes, the registry reflects a local profile. But unfortunately, even after making those settings - the user is given a roaming profile on one of the servers. A gpresult of that same user account (after the updated gpo) is listed in the code block below. You can see right at the top of that output, that it is infact dealing with a roaming profile. - And sure enough, on the server that's hosting the file share for roaming profiles, it creates a folder for the user once they log in. For testing purposes, I've deleted all copies of the user's profile, roaming and local. But the problem is still here. - So I'm aparently missing something in the group policy settings on a wider scale. Would anybody be able to point me in the direction of what I'm missing here? *gpresult /r*** Microsoft (R) Windows (R) Operating System Group Policy Result tool v2.0 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corp. 1981-2001 Created On 5/15/2010 at 8:59:00 AM RSOP data for ** on * : Logging Mode OS Configuration: Member Workstation OS Version: 6.1.7600 Site Name: N/A Roaming Profile: \\profiles$** Local Profile: C:\Users*** Connected over a slow link?: No USER SETTINGS CN=*****,OU=*****,OU=*****,OU=*****,DC=*****,DC=***** Last time Group Policy was applied: 5/15/2010 at 8:52:02 AM Group Policy was applied from: *****.*****.com Group Policy slow link threshold: 500 kbps Domain Name: USSLINDSTROM Domain Type: Windows 2000 Applied Group Policy Objects ----------------------------- ForceLocalProfilesOnly InternetExplorer_***** GlobalPasswordPolicy The following GPOs were not applied because they were filtered out ------------------------------------------------------------------- DAgentFirewallExceptions Filtering: Denied (Security) WSAdmin_***** Filtering: Denied (Security) NetlogonFirewallExceptions Filtering: Not Applied (Empty) NetLogon_***** Filtering: Denied (Security) WSUSUpdateScheduleManualInstall Filtering: Denied (Security) WSUSUpdateScheduleDaily_0300 Filtering: Denied (Security) WSUSUpdateScheduleThu_0100 Filtering: Denied (Security) AlternateSSLFirewallExceptions Filtering: Denied (Security) SNMPFirewallExceptions Filtering: Denied (Security) WSUSUpdateScheduleSun_0100 Filtering: Denied (Security) SQLServerFirewallExceptions Filtering: Denied (Security) WSUSUpdateScheduleTue_0100 Filtering: Denied (Security) WSUSUpdateScheduleSat_0100 Filtering: Denied (Security) DisableUAC Filtering: Denied (Security) ICMPFirewallExceptions Filtering: Denied (Security) AdminShareFirewallExceptions Filtering: Denied (Security) GPRefreshInterval Filtering: Denied (Security) ServeRAIDFirewallExceptions Filtering: Denied (Security) WSUSUpdateScheduleFri_0100 Filtering: Denied (Security) BlockFirewallExceptions(8400-8410) Filtering: Denied (Security) WSUSUpdateScheduleWed_0100 Filtering: Denied (Security) Local Group Policy Filtering: Not Applied (Empty) WSUS_***** Filtering: Denied (Security) LogonAsService_Idaho Filtering: Denied (Security) ReportServerFirewallExceptions Filtering: Denied (Security) WSUSUpdateScheduleMon_0100 Filtering: Denied (Security) TFSFirewallExceptions Filtering: Denied (Security) Default Domain Policy Filtering: Not Applied (Empty) DenyServerSideRoamingProfiles Filtering: Denied (Security) ShareConnectionsRemainAlive Filtering: Denied (Security) The user is a part of the following security groups --------------------------------------------------- Domain Users Everyone BUILTIN\Users BUILTIN\Administrators NT AUTHORITY\INTERACTIVE CONSOLE LOGON NT AUTHORITY\Authenticated Users This Organization LOCAL *****Users VPNAccess_***** NetAdmin_***** SiteAdmin_***** WSAdmin_***** VPNAccess_***** LocalProfileOnly_***** NetworkAdmin_***** LocalProfileOnly_***** VPNAccess_***** NetAdmin_***** Domain Admins WSAdmin_***** WSAdmin_***** ***** ***** Schema Admins ***** Enterprise Admins Denied RODC Password Replication Group High Mandatory Level

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• dvd drive I/O error?

  - by bobby

  i get dis error evry time i burn a cd/dvd thru my dvd drive...!! Nero Burning ROM bobby 4C85-200E-4005-0004-0000-7660-0800-35X3-0000-407M-MX37-**** (*) Windows XP 6.1 IA32 WinAspi: - NT-SPTI used Nero Version: 7.11.3. Internal Version: 7, 11, 3, (Nero Express) Recorder: Version: UL01 - HA 1 TA 1 - 7.11.3.0 Adapter driver: HA 1 Drive buffer : 2048kB Bus Type : default CD-ROM: Version: 52PP - HA 1 TA 0 - 7.11.3.0 Adapter driver: HA 1 === Scsi-Device-Map === === CDRom-Device-Map === ATAPI-CD ROM-DRIVE-52MAX F: CdRom0 HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N G: CdRom1 ======================= AutoRun : 1 Excluded drive IDs: WriteBufferSize: 83886080 (0) Byte BUFE : 0 Physical memory : 958MB (981560kB) Free physical memory: 309MB (317024kB) Memory in use : 67 % Uncached PFiles: 0x0 Use Inquiry : 1 Global Bus Type: default (0) Check supported media : Disabled (0) 11.6.2010 CD Image 10:43:02 AM #1 Text 0 File SCSIPTICommands.cpp, Line 450 LockMCN - completed sucessfully for IOCTL_STORAGE_MCN_CONTROL 10:43:02 AM #2 Text 0 File Burncd.cpp, Line 3186 HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N Buffer underrun protection activated 10:43:02 AM #3 Text 0 File Burncd.cpp, Line 3500 Turn on Disc-At-Once, using CD-R/RW media 10:43:02 AM #4 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 307 Last possible write address on media: 359848 ( 79:59.73) Last address to be written: 318783 ( 70:52.33) 10:43:02 AM #5 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 319 Write in overburning mode: NO (enabled: CD) 10:43:02 AM #6 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 2988 Recorder: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM G SA-H12N; CDR co de: 00 97 27 18; O SJ entry from: Pla smon Data systems Ltd. ATIP Data: Special Info [hex] 1: D0 00 A0, 2: 61 1B 12 (LI 97:27.18), 3: 4F 3B 4A ( LO 79:59.74) Additional Info [hex] 1: 00 00 00 (invalid), 2: 00 00 00 (invalid), 3: 00 0 0 00 (invalid) 10:43:02 AM #7 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 493 Protocol of DlgWaitCD activities: TRM_DATA_MODE1, 2048, config 0, wanted index0 0 blocks, length 318784 blo cks [G: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N] -------------------------------------------------------------- 10:43:02 AM #9 Text 0 File ThreadedTransferInterface.cpp, Line 986 Prepare [G: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N] for write in CUE-sheet-DAO DAO infos: ========== MCN: "" TOCType: 0x00; Se ssion Clo sed, disc fixated Tracks 1 to 1: Idx 0 Idx 1 Next T rk 1: TRM_DATA_MODE1, 2048/0x00, FilePos 0 307200 6531768 32, ISRC "" DAO layout: =========== ___Start_|____Track_|_Idx_|_CtrlAdr_|_____Size_|______NWA_|_RecDep__________ -150 | lead-in | 0 | 0x41 | 0 | 0 | 0x00 -150 | 1 | 0 | 0x41 | 0 | 0 | 0x00 0 | 1 | 1 | 0x41 | 318784 | 318784 | 0x00 318784 | lead-out | 1 | 0x41 | 0 | 0 | 0x00 10:43:02 AM #10 Text 0 File SCSIPTICommands.cpp, Line 240 SPTILockVolume - completed successfully for FSCTL_LOCK_VOLUME 10:43:02 AM #11 Text 0 File Burncd.cpp, Line 4286 Caching options: cache CDRom or Network-Yes, small files-Yes ( ON 10:43:03 AM #19 Text 0 File MMC.cpp, Line 18034 CueData, Len=32 41 00 00 14 00 00 00 00 41 01 00 10 00 00 00 00 41 01 01 10 00 00 02 00 41 aa 01 14 00 46 34 22 10:43:03 AM #20 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 268 Pipe memory size 83836800 10:43:16 AM #21 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1405 10:43:16.806 - G: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N : Queue again later 10:43:42 AM #22 SPTI -1502 File SCSIPassThrough.cpp, Line 181 CdRom1: SCSIStatus(x02) WinError(0) NeroError(-1502) Sense Key: 0x04 (KEY_HARDWARE_ERROR) Nero Report 2 Nero Burning ROM Sense Code: 0x08 Sense Qual: 0x03 CDB Data: 0x2A 00 00 00 4D 00 00 00 20 00 00 00 Sense Area: 0x70 00 04 00 00 00 00 10 53 29 A1 80 08 03 Buffer x0c7d9a40: Len x10000 0xDC 87 EB 41 6E AC 61 5A 07 B2 DB 78 B5 D4 D9 24 0x8D BC 51 38 46 56 0F EE 16 15 5C 5B E3 B0 10 16 0x14 B1 C3 6E 30 2B C4 78 15 AB D5 92 09 B7 81 23 10:43:42 AM #23 CDR -1502 File Writer.cpp, Line 306 DMA-driver error, CRC error G: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H12N 10:43:55 AM #24 Phase 38 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1767 Burn process failed at 48x (7,200 KB/s) 10:43:55 AM #25 Text 0 File SCSIPTICommands.cpp, Line 287 SPTIDismountVolume - completed successfully for FSCTL_DISMOUNT_VOLUME 10:44:01 AM #26 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 11412 DriveLocker: UnLockVolume completed 10:44:01 AM #27 Text 0 File SCSIPTICommands.cpp, Line 450 UnLockMCN - completed sucessfully for IOCTL_STORAGE_MCN_CONTROL Existing drivers: Registry Keys: HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WinLogon Nero Report 3

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• Windows 2008 Unknown Disks

  - by Ailbe

  I have a BL460c G7 blade server with OS Windows 2008 R2 SP1. This is a brand new C7000 enclosure, with FlexFabric interconnects. I got my FC switches setup and zoned properly to our Clariion CX4, and can see all the hosts that are assigned FCoE HBAs on both paths in both Navisphere and in HP Virtual Connect Manager. So I went ahead and created a storage group for a test server, assigned the appropriate host, assigned the LUN to the server. So far so good, log onto server and I can see 4 unknown disks.... No problem, I install MS MPIO, no luck, can't initialize the disks, and the multiple disks don't go away. Still no problem, I install PowerPath version 5.5 reboot. Now I see 3 disks. One is initialized and ready to go, but I still have 2 disks that I can't initialize, can't offline, can't delete. If I right click in storage manager and go to properties I can see that the MS MPIO tab, but I can't make a path active. I want to get rid of these phantom disks, but so far nothing is working and google searches are showing up some odd results, so obviously I'm not framing my question right. I thought I'd ask here real quick. Does anyone know a quick way to get rid of these unknown disks. Another question, do I need the MPIO feature installed if I have PowerPath installed? This is my first time installing Windows 2008 R2 in this fashion and I'm not sure if that feature is needed or not right now. So some more information to add to this. It seems I'm dealing with more of a Windows issue than anything else. I removed the LUN from the server, uninstalled PowerPath completely, removed the MPIO feature from the server, and rebooted twice. Now I am back to the original 4 Unknown Disks (plus the local Disk 0 containing the OS partition of course, which is working fine) I went to diskpart, I could see all 4 Unknown disks, I selected each disk, ran clean (just in case i'd somehow brought them online previously as GPT and didn't realize it) After a few minutes I was no longer able to see the disks when I ran list disk. However, the disks are still in Disk Management. When I try and offline the disks from Disk Management I get an error: Virtual Disk Manager - The system cannot find the file specified. Accompanied by an error in System Event Logs: Log Name: System Source: Virtual Disk Service Date: 6/25/2012 4:02:01 PM Event ID: 1 Task Category: None Level: Error Keywords: Classic User: N/A Computer: hostname.local Description: Unexpected failure. Error code: 2@02000018 Event Xml: 1 2 0 0x80000000000000 4239 System hostname.local 2@02000018 I feel sure there is a place I can go in the Registry to get rid of these, I just can't recall where and I am loathe to experiement. So to recap, there are currently no LUNS attached at all, I still have the phantom disks, and I'm getting The system cannot find the file specified from Virtual Disk Manager when I try to take them offline. Thanks!

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• Unable to make the session state request to the session state server

  - by Angry_IT_Guru

  For about 4-5 months now, I seem to be having this sporadic issue--mainly during our busiest time of the day between 10:30-11:45AM, where all my Windows 2003 web servers in a Microsoft NLB cluster start throwing session state server errors. A sample error is below. System.Web.HttpException: Unable to make the session state request to the session state server. Please ensure that the ASP.NET State service is started and that the client and server ports are the same. If the server is on a remote machine, please ensure that it accepts remote requests by checking the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\aspnet_state\Parameters\AllowRemoteConnection. If the server is on the local machine, and if the before mentioned registry value does not exist or is set to 0, then the state server connection string must use either 'localhost' or '127.0.0.1' as the server name. at System.Web.SessionState.OutOfProcSessionStateStore.MakeRequest(StateProtocolVerb verb, String id, StateProtocolExclusive exclusiveAccess, Int32 extraFlags, Int32 timeout, Int32 lockCookie, Byte[] buf, Int32 cb, Int32 networkTimeout, SessionNDMakeRequestResults& results) at System.Web.SessionState.OutOfProcSessionStateStore.SetAndReleaseItemExclusive(HttpContext context, String id, SessionStateStoreData item, Object lockId, Boolean newItem) at System.Web.SessionState.SessionStateModule.OnReleaseState(Object source, EventArgs eventArgs) at System.Web.HttpApplication.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() at System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) Now I'm using ASP.NET State service on a centralized back-end Windows 2003 server that all servers communicate to. I was originally using SQL Server state for a couple years as well prior to having this issue. The problem with SQL wqas that when the issue occurred, it created a blocking situation which essentially impacted all users across all servers. The product company recommended that I use the standard ASP.NET State service as that was what they technically supported. Why this would make a difference is beyond me -- but I had no choice but to try it! I have attempted to create multiple application pools, adding additional servers, chaning TCP/IP timeout from 20 to 30 seconds, and even calling Microsoft ASP.NET product support, with very little success. I even recommended that they review whether they are using read-only session state instead of read/write per page request -- as I understand that this basically causes every page to make round-trips to state server even if state isn't being used on the page. Unfortunately, the application is developed by our product company and they insist that it is something with my environment because other clients do not have these sort of issues. However, I've talked to other clients and they tell me when they've seen issues like they, they've basically had to create another web farm. This issue almost seems like I've simply reached some architectural limit within the application... Microsoft's position on the issue is that the session state needs to be reduced and the returncode being reported back from the state server indicates buffers are full. To better understand the scope of issues (rather than wait for customers to call and complain), I installed ELMAH and configured it to send me e-mails when unhandled exceptions occur. I basically get 500-1000 e-mails during the time period of high activity! If any one has any other ideas I could try or better ways to troubleshoot, I'd appreciate it.

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• MS Securily Essentials efficiency / usage, suspicious processes

  - by biggvsdiccvs

  I recently noticed that my (originally pretty fast) Windows 7 Pro laptop started getting slow and using a lot of CPU power for no apparent reason. A full scan by Microsoft Security Essentials revealed nothing. After some investigation, I found multiple instances of a strange process called urpev.exe and a couple of similar exe files sitting in subdirectories of Users//AppData/Roaming (this particular one was in a folder called Xyceowme). Description: "Mescrosift Visaal Studie 2010". Company name: "Mesrosift Corporatien". Is it a virus or something? :) Now, all of these exe files were scheduled to be started from the Task Scheduler by tasks with names like "Security Center Update - 1291373911" and similar. My user name was listed as the author of the tasks. I disabled the tasks, restarted the computer in safe mode and moved all of the exe files to quarantine for further investigation. All of this was done last night. I just scanned the files with Security Essentials again (not updated since yesterday) in the quarantine location and this time it found PWS:Win32/Zbot.gen!plock in urpev.exe (but not in the other exe files, which are most likely viruses, too). Category: Password Stealer Description: This program is dangerous and captures user passwords. Another strange process is browser.exe (not chrome.exe) by Google Inc., described as Google Chrome. I uninstalled Chrome but it's still there. It runs out of Users\\AppData\LocalLow\UIVoice\ToolMedium\browser.exe and if I move it in safe mode, it just reappears there, and multiple instances run. Needless to say, it I kill it, it just runs again. Couldn't see anything in Task Scheduler, but found a couple of references to it in the Registry Editor: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/LowRegistry/Audio/PolicyConfig/PropertyStore/ HKEY_USERS/S-1-5-21-1685709306-872053864-2599010960-1002/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/LowRegistry/Audio/PolicyConfig/PropertyStore/ Maybe it's a legit process, but seems kind of strange. For the time being, I suspended the process and killed all of the child processes when I booted up the laptop. I used Security Essentials to scan the system periodically, but obviously it's not effective at least against one virus. I had the "real-time protection" turned off. Would it help if it were turned on and how much of a nuisance would it be? I wonder if there is a better alternative to Security Essentials. Over the years I've used multiple antivirus products at home and especially at work and was not very happy with any of them. Apparently, asking for software recommendations or comparisons is taboo here, but I will mention that I installed Malware Bytes and it was able to find an quarantine a bunch of suspicious files, and at least some of which were truly infected, but when it scans the bogus security center update executables from Mesrosift Corporatien, it finds nothing wrong. Also, any thoughts on the browser.exe mystery? Neither MS Security Essentials nor Malware Bytes found anything wrong with that file. However, after I ran a Malware Bytes scan and quarantined everything it found suspicious and rebooted the laptop, the process did not run.

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• How clean is deleting a computer object?

  - by Kevin

  Though quite skilled at software development, I'm a novice when it comes to Active Directory. I've noticed that AD seems to have a lot of stuff buried in the directory and schema which does not appear superficially when using simplified tools such as Active Directory Users and Computers. It kind of feels like the Windows registry, where COM classes have all kinds of intertwined references, many of which are purely by GUID, such that it's not enough to just search for anything referencing "GadgetXyz" by name in order to cleanly remove GadgetXyz. This occasionally leads to the uneasy feeling that I may have useless garbage building up in there which I have no idea how to weed out. For instance, I made the mistake a while back of trying to rename a DC, figuring I could just do it in the usual manner from Control Panel. I found references to the old name buried all over the place which made it impossible to reuse that name without considerable manual cleanup. Even long after I got it all working, I've stumbled upon the old name hidden away in LDAP. (There were no other DCs left in the picture at that time so I don't think it was a tombstone issue.) More specifically, I'm worried about the case of just outright deleting a computer from AD. I understand the cleanest way to do it is to log into the computer itself and tell it to leave the domain. (As an aside, doing this in Windows 8 seems to only disable the computer object and not delete it outright!) My concern is cases where this is not possible, for instance because it was on an already-deleted VM image. I can simply go into Active Directory Users and Computers, find the computer object, click it, and press Delete, and it seems to go away. My question is, is it totally, totally gone, or could this leave hanging references in any Active Directory nook or cranny I won't know to look in? (Excluding of course the expected tombstone records which expire after a set time.) If so, is there any good way to clean up the mess? Thank you for any insight! Kevin ps., It was over a year ago so I don't remember the exact details, but here's the gist of the DC renaming issue. I started with a single 2008 DC named ABC in a physical machine and wanted to end up instead with a DC of the same name running in a vSphere VM. Not wanting to mess with imaging the physical machine, my plan instead was: Rename ABC to XYZ. Fresh install 2008 on a VM, name it ABC, and join it to the domain. (I may have done the latter in the same step as promoting to DC; I don't recall.) dcpromo the new ABC as a 2nd DC, including GC. Make sure the new ABC replicated correctly from XYZ and then transfer the FSMO roles from XYZ to it. Once everything was confirmed to work with the new ABC alone, demote XYZ, remove the AD role, and remove it from the domain. Eventually I managed to do this but it was a much bumpier ride than expected. In particular, I got errors trying to join the new ABC to the domain. These included "The pre-windows 2000 name is already in use" and "No mapping between account names and security IDs was done." I eventually found that the computer object for XYZ had attributes that still referred to it as ABC. Among these were servicePrincipalName, msDS-AdditionalDnsHostName, and msDS-AdditionalSamAccountName. The latter I could not edit via Attribute Editor and instead had to run this against XYZ: NETDOM computername <simple-name> /add:<FQDN> There were some other hitches I don't remember exactly.

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• Unable to Mange DNS via MMC

  - by IT Helpdesk Team Manager

  When trying to access the DNS service on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (Build 3790) domain controller/schema master via the MMC DNS snap in or locally via the DNS MMC from Administrative tools I'm getting a red "X" through the icon for the DNS Server. The inability to access DNS management via MMC happens on all domain controllers as well. We've looked at items such as the DHCP client not being started, incorrect DNS setup ( the machine points at itself and another DC ), the DNS service not running ( it is and all DNS queries via NSLOOKUP work correctly ), dslint returns the correct information and functions as expected. There is the following entry in the DNS event log: The DNS server could not initialize the remote procedure call (RPC) service. If it is not running, start the RPC service or reboot the computer. The event data is the error code. For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp. 0000: 0000051b dnscmd fails with RPC server unavailable yet RPC is started: C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator.DOMAIN>dnscmd /Info Info query failed status = 1722 (0x000006ba) Command failed: RPC_S_SERVER_UNAVAILABLE 1722 (000006ba) DCDIAG /TEST:DNS /V /E produces the following errors: Warning: no DNS RPC connectivity (error or non Microsoft DNS server is running) [Error details: 1753 (Type: Win32 - Description: There are no more endpoints available from the endpoint mapper.)] Warning: no DNS RPC connectivity (error or non Microsoft DNS server is running) [Error details: 1722 (Type: Win32 - Description: The RPC server is unavailable.)] The DNS server could not initialize the remote procedure call (RPC) service. If it is not running, start the RPC service or reboot the computer. The event data is the error code. A DNS query for _ldap._tcp.dc._msdcs. returns the correct results. All domain and ADS related activities are working except that I can't manage my DNS via MMC or dnscmd. Any thoughts or solutions would be greatly appreciated. EDIT: Adding Registry export per request: Key Name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc Class Name: <NO CLASS> Last Write Time: 10/18/2012 - 2:29 PM Value 0 Name: DCOM Protocols Type: REG_MULTI_SZ Data: ncacn_ip_tcp Value 1 Name: UuidSequenceNumber Type: REG_DWORD Data: 0xb19bd0f Key Name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc\ClientProtocols Class Name: <NO CLASS> Last Write Time: 3/9/2007 - 12:11 PM Value 0 Name: ncacn_np Type: REG_SZ Data: rpcrt4.dll Value 1 Name: ncacn_ip_tcp Type: REG_SZ Data: rpcrt4.dll Value 2 Name: ncadg_ip_udp Type: REG_SZ Data: rpcrt4.dll Value 3 Name: ncacn_http Type: REG_SZ Data: rpcrt4.dll Value 4 Name: ncacn_at_dsp Type: REG_SZ Data: rpcrt4.dll Key Name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc\NameService Class Name: <NO CLASS> Last Write Time: 2/20/2006 - 4:48 PM Value 0 Name: DefaultSyntax Type: REG_SZ Data: 3 Value 1 Name: Endpoint Type: REG_SZ Data: \pipe\locator Value 2 Name: NetworkAddress Type: REG_SZ Data: \\. Value 3 Name: Protocol Type: REG_SZ Data: ncacn_np Value 4 Name: ServerNetworkAddress Type: REG_SZ Data: \\. Key Name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc\NetBios Class Name: <NO CLASS> Last Write Time: 2/20/2006 - 4:48 PM Key Name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc\RpcProxy Class Name: <NO CLASS> Last Write Time: 3/9/2007 - 12:11 PM Value 0 Name: Enabled Type: REG_DWORD Data: 0x1 Value 1 Name: ValidPorts Type: REG_SZ Data: pdc:100-5000 Key Name: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Rpc\SecurityService Class Name: <NO CLASS> Last Write Time: 2/20/2006 - 4:48 PM Value 0 Name: 9 Type: REG_SZ Data: secur32.dll Value 1 Name: 10 Type: REG_SZ Data: secur32.dll Value 2 Name: 14 Type: REG_SZ Data: schannel.dll Value 3 Name: 16 Type: REG_SZ Data: secur32.dll Value 4 Name: 1 Type: REG_SZ Data: secur32.dll Value 5 Name: 18 Type: REG_SZ Data: secur32.dll Value 6 Name: 68 Type: REG_SZ Data: netlogon.dll

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• How to prevent delays associated with IPv6 AAAA records?

  - by Nic

  Our Windows servers are registering IPv6 AAAA records with our Windows DNS servers. However, we don't have IPv6 routing enabled on our network, so this frequently causes stall behaviours. Microsoft RDP is the worst offender. When connecting to a server that has a AAAA record in DNS, the remote desktop client will try IPv6 first, and won't fall back to IPv4 until the connection times out. Power users can work around this by connecting to the IP address directly. Resolving the IPv4 address with ping -4 hostname.foo always works instantly. What can I do to avoid this delay? Disable IPv6 on client? Nope, Microsoft says IPv6 is a mandatory part of the Windows operating system. Too many clients to ensure this is set everywhere consistently. Will cause more problems later when we finally implement IPv6. Disable IPv6 on the server? Nope, Microsoft says IPv6 is a mandatory part of the Windows operating system. Requires an inconvenient registry hack to disable the entire IPv6 stack. Ensuring this is correctly set on all servers is inconvenient. Will cause more problems later when we finally implement IPv6. Mask IPv6 records on the user-facnig DNS recursor? Nope, we're using NLNet Unbound and it doesn't support that. Prevent registration of IPv6 AAAA records on the Microsoft DNS server? I don't think that's even possible. At this point, I'm considering writing a script that purges all AAAA records from our DNS zones. Please, help me find a better way. UPDATE: DNS resolution is not the problem. As @joeqwerty points out in his answer, the DNS records are returned instantly. Both A and AAAA records are immediately available. The problem is that some clients (mstsc.exe) will preferentially attempt a connection over IPv6, and take a while to fall back to IPv4. This seems like a routing problem. The ping command produces a "General failure" error message because the destination address is unroutable. C:\Windows\system32>ping myhost.mydomain Pinging myhost.mydomain [2002:1234:1234::1234:1234] with 32 bytes of data: General failure. General failure. General failure. General failure. Ping statistics for 2002:1234:1234::1234:1234: Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 0, Lost = 4 (100% loss), I can't get a packet capture of this behaviour. Running this (failing) ping command does not produce any packets in Microsoft Network Monitor. Similarly, attempting a connection with mstsc.exe to a host with an AAAA record produces no traffic until it does a fallback to IPv4. UPDATE: Our hosts are all using publicly-routable IPv4 addresses. I think this problem might come down to a broken 6to4 configuration. 6to4 behaves differently on hosts with public IP addresses vs RFC1918 addresses. UPDATE: There is definitely something fishy with 6to4 on my network. When I disable 6to4 on the Windows client, connections resolve instantly. netsh int ipv6 6to4 set state disabled But as @joeqwerty says, this only masks the problem. I'm still trying to find out why IPv6 communication on our network is completely non-working.

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• Failed Administrator login on WSO2 IS with external OpenLDAP

  - by Marco Rivadeneyra

  I have an installation of WSO2 Identity Server and I'm trying to make it work with an external OpenLDAP instance I have followed this guide: http://wso2.org/project/solutions/identity/3.2.3/docs/user-core/admin_guide.html#LDAP For the read-only mode. But when I try to log-in I get a failed login and the following error on the console: TID: [0] [WSO2 Identity Server] [2012-08-10 17:10:25,493] WARN {org.wso2.carbon.core.services.util.CarbonAuthenticationUtil} - Failed Administrator login attempt 'john[0]' at [2012-08-10 17:10:25,0493] from IP address 127.0.0.1 {org.wso2.carbon.core.services.util.CarbonAuthenticationUtil} Full log: http://pastebin.com/pHUGXBqv My configuration file looks as follows: <UserManager> <Realm> <Configuration> <AdminRole>admin</AdminRole> <AdminUser> <UserName>john</UserName> <Password>johnldap</Password> </AdminUser> <EveryOneRoleName>everyone</EveryOneRoleName> <!-- By default users in this role sees the registry root --> <ReadOnly>true</ReadOnly> <MaxUserNameListLength>500</MaxUserNameListLength> <Property name="url">jdbc:h2:repository/database/WSO2CARBON_DB</Property> <Property name="userName">wso2carbon</Property> <Property name="password">wso2carbon</Property> <Property name="driverName">org.h2.Driver</Property> <Property name="maxActive">50</Property> <Property name="maxWait">60000</Property> <Property name="minIdle">5</Property> </Configuration> <UserStoreManager class="org.wso2.carbon.user.core.ldap.LDAPUserStoreManager"> <Property name="ReadOnly">true</Property> <Property name="MaxUserNameListLength">100</Property> <Property name="ConnectionURL">ldap://192.168.81.144:389</Property> <Property name="ConnectionName">cn=admin,dc=example,dc=com</Property> <Property name="ConnectionPassword">admin</Property> <Property name="UserSearchBase">ou=People,dc=example,dc=com</Property> <Property name="UserNameListFilter">(objectClass=inetOrgPerson)</Property> <Property name="UserNameAttribute">uid</Property> <Property name="ReadLDAPGroups">false</Property> <Property name="GroupSearchBase">ou=Groups,dc=example,dc=com</Property> <Property name="GroupSearchFilter">(objectClass=groupOfNames)</Property> <Property name="GroupNameAttribute">uid</Property> <Property name="MembershipAttribute">member</Property> </UserStoreManager> <AuthorizationManager class="org.wso2.carbon.user.core.authorization.JDBCAuthorizationManager"></AuthorizationManager> </Realm> I followed this guide to configure my LDAP server up to Loggging: https://help.ubuntu.com/12.04/serverguide/openldap-server.html Could you suggest what might be wrong? The LDAP log is available at: http://pastebin.com/T9rFYEAW

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• TV not detected by Windows/VGA - when there is a WHDI device in the signal chain

  - by ashwalk

  I'm at my wit's end with this one... I had an EVGA GTS 250, and I used to plug it's HDMI out into a WHDI sender, which transmitted to its corresponding WHDI receiver 15ft away, which then connected to a Samsung LN40D LCD TV through another HDMI cable. PC/VGA < [hdmi cable] < WHDI sender <[air] WHDI receiver < [hdmi cable] < TV It was perfect, stable, no perceivable latency. I just plugged everything the first time and it worked instantly. It sent 5.1 audio, and Windows/nVidia Control Center detected the TV by its name. The WHDI device is this one: http://goo.gl/Q8iWI5 Now I bought an EVGA GTX 650, and WHDI doesn't work anymore. Both Windows and nVidia Control Center won't detect the TV, only the monitor that's connected via DVI. The TV screen shows "TX202913 connected. Check video signal." on top of a black screen. Though the device is not the problem itself, just the fact that it's not allowing direct connection between PC and TV. I would bet that if put an AVR in its place I'd also have this issue. The HDMI on this new card works with other monitors. If I put the older card back, WHDI works normally. I have googled this for 5 months on and off. Once I bumped into a page that showed how to force a display device to always-on through registry edit. Once I restarted windows, the Tv (through WHDI) displayed my expanded or duplicated desktop at 1024x768 ONLY, and listed the display as "digital display". I could not change the resolution and it wouldn't playback audio (although the option was available at nVidia Control Center HDMI audio options, but did not work). This proves that there is no conflict between the devices, except that software-wise, Windows cannot, for the life of it, understand that there's a TV there to send video/audio to. Since this won't do (no audio, poor video), I reverted this regedit. It's also not an EDID problem within the TV, since when connected directly it works. The last weird bit of this saga is that today, I reminded of Windows' "Add Device" dialog, gave it a go, and a "Samsung Generic UPNP TV" showed up, which I promptly installed the drives for, rising to a climax of... ...NOTHING HAPPENING. As far as I can tell, it really didn't change anything other than using up a few kb in my main disc. I should also say that I looked a LOT into handshake problems and nothing applied either. Do any of you have an idea of what may be going on? I can't stand the thought of having a us$200 device not working because of the addition of a newer graphics card, when the much older one had no issues. There is absolutely NO REASON for this to happen. There is NO documentation on WHDI online. Apparently no one buys this stuff. For the same reason, no one responded to this same plea for help on NVidia and EVGA forums. Worst case, this can be a warning about this setup for people in the future. Thanx in advance.

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• SQLExpress service unable to start Error code 17053

  - by Chris Sobolewski

  A user was instructed by their software support to upgrade a program and install SQLExpress as part of the installation process. Since that time, the service has been able to start, citing error 17053, which appears to be an authentication issue. Here is the error log: 2011-01-11 13:17:45.50 Server Microsoft SQL Server 2005 - 9.00.3042.00 (Intel X86) Feb 9 2007 22:47:07 Copyright (c) 1988-2005 Microsoft Corporation Express Edition on Windows NT 5.1 (Build 2600: Service Pack 2) 2011-01-11 13:17:45.50 Server (c) 2005 Microsoft Corporation. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.50 Server All rights reserved. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.50 Server Server process ID is 3332. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.50 Server Authentication mode is WINDOWS-ONLY. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.50 Server Logging SQL Server messages in file 'c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG'. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server This instance of SQL Server last reported using a process ID of 2332 at 11/10/2010 2:15:24 PM (local) 11/10/2010 7:15:24 PM (UTC). This is an informational message only; no user action is required. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server Error: 17053, Severity: 16, State: 1. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server UpdateUptimeRegKey: Operating system error 5(Access is denied.) encountered. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server Registry startup parameters: 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server -d c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server -e c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\LOG\ERRORLOG 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server -l c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\DATA\mastlog.ldf 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server Error: 17113, Severity: 16, State: 1. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server Error 3(The system cannot find the path specified.) occurred while opening file 'c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\DATA\master.mdf' to obtain configuration information at startup. An invalid startup option might have caused the error. Verify your startup options, and correct or remove them if necessary. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server Error: 17053, Severity: 16, State: 1. 2011-01-11 13:17:45.52 Server UpdateUptimeRegKey: Operating system error 5(Access is denied.) encountered. 4 Server Error: 17053, Severity: 16, State: 1. 2011-01-11 13:08:21.34 Server UpdateUptimeRegKey: Operating system error 5(Access is denied.) encountered. 12:47:20.85 spid5s SQL Trace ID 1 was started by login "sa". 2011-01-11 12:47:20.90 spid5s Starting up database 'mssqlsystemresource'. 2011-01-11 12:47:20.93 spid5s The resource database build version is 9.00.3042. This is an informational message only. No user action is required. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.21 spid5s Error: 15466, Severity: 16, State: 1. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.21 spid5s An error occurred during decryption. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.38 spid8s Starting up database 'model'. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.38 Server Error: 17182, Severity: 16, State: 1. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.38 Server TDSSNIClient initialization failed with error 0x5, status code 0x90. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.38 Server Error: 17182, Severity: 16, State: 1. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.38 Server TDSSNIClient initialization failed with error 0x5, status code 0x1. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.38 Server Error: 17826, Severity: 18, State: 3. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.38 Server Could not start the network library because of an internal error in the network library. To determine the cause, review the errors immediately preceding this one in the error log. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.38 Server Error: 17120, Severity: 16, State: 1. 2011-01-11 12:47:21.38 Server SQL Server could not spawn FRunCM thread. Check the SQL Server error log and the Windows event logs for information about possible related problems. One lead I had was to change the SQL logon account from "Network Service" to "Local System". Unfortunately, that is resulting in the error message The Security ID Structure is Invalid [0x80070539] Any help either uninstalling or getting SQLExpress running would be fantastic.

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• SBS2003 to SBS2011 Migration - Installation Error

  - by Shawn Gradwell

  Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 to 2011 Migration. I followed the Migration Guide from Microsoft and the source server had no errors when running the various tests prior to the migration. I have completed the destination server setup using the Answer File and the server is up and running. It all looks good, I can access Exchange and AD and the only problem is the error message when you log in stating that the setup did not complete and to check the logs. Because all looks good I am continuing the migration to the destination server. I also have to state that this client does not use Sharepoint at all. Do I have to redo everything? Herewith the logs: [4992] 121016.225454.5905: Task: Starting Add User or Group access VSS registry. [4992] 121016.225454.7645: TaskManagement: In TaskScheduler.RunTasks(): The "ConfigureSharePointVSSRegistryTask" Task threw an Exception during the Run() call:System.Security.Principal.IdentityNotMappedException: Some or all identity references could not be translated. at System.Security.Principal.NTAccount.Translate(IdentityReferenceCollection sourceAccounts, Type targetType, Boolean forceSuccess) at System.Security.Principal.NTAccount.Translate(Type targetType) at System.Security.AccessControl.CommonObjectSecurity.ModifyAccess(AccessControlModification modification, AccessRule rule, Boolean& modified) at System.Security.AccessControl.CommonObjectSecurity.AddAccessRule(AccessRule rule) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.IWorker.Tasks.ConfigureSharePointVSSRegistryTask.AddUsersToAccessRegistry(List`1 names) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.IWorker.Tasks.ConfigureSharePointVSSRegistryTask.Run(ITaskDataLink dl) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.TaskManagement.Data.Task.Run(ITaskDataLink dataLink) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.TaskManagement.TaskScheduler.RunTasks(String taskListId, String stateFileName) [4992] 121016.225454.7655: Setup: An error was encountered on the TME thread: System.Security.Principal.IdentityNotMappedException: Some or all identity references could not be translated. at System.Security.Principal.NTAccount.Translate(IdentityReferenceCollection sourceAccounts, Type targetType, Boolean forceSuccess) at System.Security.Principal.NTAccount.Translate(Type targetType) at System.Security.AccessControl.CommonObjectSecurity.ModifyAccess(AccessControlModification modification, AccessRule rule, Boolean& modified) at System.Security.AccessControl.CommonObjectSecurity.AddAccessRule(AccessRule rule) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.IWorker.Tasks.ConfigureSharePointVSSRegistryTask.AddUsersToAccessRegistry(List`1 names) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.IWorker.Tasks.ConfigureSharePointVSSRegistryTask.Run(ITaskDataLink dl) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.TaskManagement.Data.Task.Run(ITaskDataLink dataLink) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.TaskManagement.TaskScheduler.RunTasks(String taskListId, String stateFileName) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.Setup.SBSSetup.ProgressPagePresenter._RunTasks(Object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e) [4956] 121016.225455.0685: Setup: _UnhandledExceptionHandler: Setup encountered an error: System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation. ---> System.Reflection.TargetInvocationException: The TME thread failed (see the inner exception). ---> System.Security.Principal.IdentityNotMappedException: Some or all identity references could not be translated. at System.Security.Principal.NTAccount.Translate(IdentityReferenceCollection sourceAccounts, Type targetType, Boolean forceSuccess) at System.Security.Principal.NTAccount.Translate(Type targetType) at System.Security.AccessControl.CommonObjectSecurity.ModifyAccess(AccessControlModification modification, AccessRule rule, Boolean& modified) at System.Security.AccessControl.CommonObjectSecurity.AddAccessRule(AccessRule rule) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.IWorker.Tasks.ConfigureSharePointVSSRegistryTask.AddUsersToAccessRegistry(List`1 names) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.IWorker.Tasks.ConfigureSharePointVSSRegistryTask.Run(ITaskDataLink dl) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.TaskManagement.Data.Task.Run(ITaskDataLink dataLink) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.TaskManagement.TaskScheduler.RunTasks(String taskListId, String stateFileName) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.Setup.SBSSetup.ProgressPagePresenter._RunTasks(Object sender, DoWorkEventArgs e) at System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker.WorkerThreadStart(Object argument) --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.Setup.SBSSetup.ProgressPagePresenter.TasksCompleted(Object sender, RunWorkerCompletedEventArgs e) --- End of inner exception stack trace --- at System.RuntimeMethodHandle._InvokeMethodFast(IRuntimeMethodInfo method, Object target, Object[] arguments, SignatureStruct& sig, MethodAttributes methodAttributes, RuntimeType typeOwner) at System.Reflection.RuntimeMethodInfo.Invoke(Object obj, BindingFlags invokeAttr, Binder binder, Object[] parameters, CultureInfo culture, Boolean skipVisibilityChecks) at System.Delegate.DynamicInvokeImpl(Object[] args) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallbackDo(ThreadMethodEntry tme) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallbackHelper(Object obj) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.runTryCode(Object userData) at System.Runtime.CompilerServices.RuntimeHelpers.ExecuteCodeWithGuaranteedCleanup(TryCode code, CleanupCode backoutCode, Object userData) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state, Boolean ignoreSyncCtx) at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallback(ThreadMethodEntry tme) at System.Windows.Forms.Control.InvokeMarshaledCallbacks() at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m) at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.DebuggableCallback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam) at System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessageW(MSG& msg) at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ComponentManager.System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponentManager.FPushMessageLoop(IntPtr dwComponentID, Int32 reason, Int32 pvLoopData) at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoopInner(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context) at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoop(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.Common.Wizards.Framework.WizardChainEngine.Launch() at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.Setup.SBSSetup.MainClass._LaunchWizard() at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.Setup.SBSSetup.MainClass.RealMain(String[] args) at Microsoft.WindowsServerSolutions.Setup.SBSSetup.MainClass.Main(String[] args) [4956] 121016.225455.0865: Setup: Removed the password. [4956] 121016.225455.0905: Setup: Deleting scheduled task at path Microsoft\Windows\Windows Small Business Server 2011 Standard with name Setup [4956] 121016.225455.8055: Setup: Removed SBSSetup from the RunOnce.

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• Outlook 2013 keeps freezing, semi-consistently

  - by AviD

  I have an oddity of problem with my Outlook's stability. It seems to be freezing up, not at random intervals, but based on a seemingly strange combination of configurations. I have been trying many different combinations, I've even devolved to "Cargo-cult" debugging, since I have no clue what is causing this... Here is my set up - since I don't know for sure which settings are causing the lockup, I'll probably mention irrelevant things: (relatively) clean install of Windows 8 (on hyper-v, if that matters) Clean install of Outlook 2013, fully updated 3 accounts configured: Hotmail account configured with ActiveSync Gmail account Large-ish account (several GB) connected with IMAP Only a few folders are subscribed in IMAP Outlook is set to only display subscribed folders configured to keep messages permanently Google Apps account, connected with IMAP Small account connected with IMAP All folders IMAP subscribed Outlook is set to only display subscribed folders configured to keep messages permanently Several Send/Receive Groups configured, to try different configurations of enabling/disable/partial the different accounts - with different send times, from 60 minutes down to 5 minutes. The problem is that at certain points Outlook completely freezes up and I have to kill it. This is not consistent - there are some things that cause it immediately almost consistently, there are some times that it just happens by itself after some period of time (sometimes a few moments, sometimes a few hours; sometimes while using it, sometimes after I've been away from it for a few hours). I have searched all over, and there seem to be many with similar (apparently) problem, and found numerous "solutions" (some even more cargocultish than mine), but so far none of them worked. I've removed all the accounts, both all together and one at a time, and re-configured them - eventually it freezes up. I've tried uninstalling Outlook, cleaning it up completely - removing files, app settings, registry keys, etc - then reinstalling - eventually it freezes up. I've only enabled the Hotmail account, disabling (but not removing) the Google accounts - apparently this does not lock up. I've enabled the Hotmail and the Gmail accounts, leaving the Apps one disabled - it seems like it does not lock up. With all accounts enabled, it locks up almost immediately after doing a send/receive. With only the Apps account enabled, it seems to not lock up. With the Hotmail and the Apps accounts enabled (Gmail disabled), it seems like it locks up after a random amount of time. With Hotmail enabled, and Gmail and Apps both enabled but set to receive only custom folder downloading (not all subscribed folders) - sometimes it locks up right after a send/receive, sometimes it goes for hours without locking up, and sometimes it only locks up when I send an email. I've tried switching the ports for the Google accounts (SSL/465 vs TLS/587), though I have no idea if this should affect, but no real difference. In short, I honestly have no idea what is actually causing Outlook to lock up, I might be completely barking up the wrong tree. At this point I don't really know what else to try, I'm flipping switches at random here. I would like to have all 3 accounts enabled, ideally in several groups (e.g. pull down only important folders in a group with short interval, and all other folders in a longer interval) - obviously without freezing up at all. I've tried putting in all the important details, if there is anything else important to add please let me know. Another issue that occurred to me might also be connected - the Google accounts don't always synchronize properly, even after a send/receive or "update folder". At least not consistently... though I haven't been able to find a significant connection between this and that.

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• Windows 7 inbuilt and 3rd party (de)fragmentation related queries

  - by Karan

  I have a pretty good idea of how files end up getting fragmented. That said, I just copied ~3,200 files of varying sizes (from a few KB to ~20GB) from an external USB HDD to an internal, freshly formatted (under Windows 7 x64), NTFS, 2TB, 5400RPM, WD, SATA, non-system (i.e. secondary) drive, filling it up 57%. Since it should have been very much possible for each file to have been stored in one contiguous block, I expected the drive to be fragmented not more than 1-2% at most after this rather lengthy exercise (unfortunately this older machine doesn't support USB 3.0). Windows 7's inbuilt defrag utility told me after a quick analysis that the drive was fragmented only 1% or so, which dovetailed neatly with my expectations. However, just out of curiosity I downloaded and ran the latest portable x64 version of Piriform's Defraggler, and was shocked to see the drive being reported as being ~85% fragmented! The portable version of Auslogics Disk Defrag also agreed with Defraggler, and both clearly expected to grind away for ~10 hours to completely defragment the drive. 1) How in blazes could the inbuilt and 3rd party defrag utils disagree so badly? I mean, 10-20% variance is probably understandable, but 1% and 85% are miles apart! This Engineering Windows 7 blog post states: In Windows XP, any file that is split into more than one piece is considered fragmented. Not so in Windows Vista if the fragments are large enough – the defragmentation algorithm was changed (from Windows XP) to ignore pieces of a file that are larger than 64MB. As a result, defrag in XP and defrag in Vista will report different amounts of fragmentation on a volume. ... [Please read the entire post so the quote is not taken out of context.] Could it simply be that the 3rd party defrag utils ignore this post-XP change and continue to use analysis algos similar to those XP used? 2) Assuming that the 3rd party utils aren't lying about the real extent of fragmentation (which Windows is downplaying post-XP), how could the files have even got fragmented so badly given they were just copied over afresh to an empty drive? 3) If vastly differing analysis algos explain the yawning gap, which do I believe? I'm no defrag fanatic for sure, but 85% is enough to make me seriously consider spending 10 hours defragging this drive. On the other hand, 1% reported by Windows' own defragger clearly implies that there is no cause for concern and defragging would actually have negative consequences (as per the post). Is Windows' assumption valid and should I just let it be, or will there be any noticeable performance gains after running one of the 3rd party utils for 10 hours straight? 4) I see that out of the box Windows 7 defrag is scheduled to run weekly. Does anyone know whether it defrags every single time, or only if its analysis reveals a fragmentation percentage over a set threshold? If the latter, what is this threshold and can it be changed, maybe via a Registry edit? Thanks for reading through (my first query on this wonderful site!) and for any helpful replies. Also, if you're answering question #3, please keep in mind that any speed increases post defragging with 3rd party utils vis-à-vis Windows' inbuilt program should not include pre-Vista (preferably pre-Win7) examples. Further, examples of programs that made your system boot faster won't help in this case, since this is a non-system drive (although one that'll still be used daily).

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• How to diagnose and solve an erratic "HDCP Support Required"?

  - by Jom Orgstrom

  I am playing a digital tv broadcast on Windows Media Center for Windows 7. I built this system so it works with HDCP, and in fact I have been able to watch tv and bluray before with this same computer. However, I suddenly started getting an "HDCP Support Required" error from WMC. The entire message is as follows: HDCP Support Required High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) may not be supported by the current video card. Use an HDCP-compliant display, video card, and video driver. Or, connect using an analog connection such as component or VGA. Relevant specs are: CPU: Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770 Motherboard: Asus P8H77-I Memory: 16GB DDR3-1600 Graphics: Radeon HD 7850 (Driver by AMD, version 8.982.0.0 built on 2012/07/27) Display: Acer P243w connected by HDMI Sound: Roland Quad-Capture (It complains even when I use the bundled VIA HD Audio) TV Tuner: I-O Data GV-MC7/HZ3 OS: Windows 7 Professional SP1, Windows Update enabled. All patched and up to date. As you can see, there is nothing weird or old about my setup. I am also not doing anything strange, not doing any overclocking, weird system changes and so on. One thing that does happen from time to time, is that the display goes black for a few seconds (sometimes when watching media contents, sometimes when just using photoshop or Visual Studio). This happened with my previous setup as well, so I'd be inclined to think it is a display or cable issue (apart from the BD drive, these are the only things I kept from my previous setup to this one). But being a digital transfer, as far as I know, these things either work or not. Never erratically or with decreased quality. The thing is that sometimes I can watch the TV, sometimes not. This happens with recorded programs as well, so it's not a per-program thing. Sometimes rebooting helps, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes unplugging and plugging back the HDMI connector helps, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes doing so doesn't even turn the screen back on, so I have to reboot. Unfortunately, WMC's error message is quite unhelpful. I'd like to know exactly where the problem is, so I can solve it. I don't want to buy a brand new display just to then find out it was a registry setting that was misconfigured. I've tried looking at the system event viewer, but these errors don't show up at all in there. Other people who have this problem seem to have a setup that is not HDCP compliant, so I turn to you guys here. Anybody knows how to diagnose this problem? Edit: So I got the Cyberlink Blu-ray disc advisor. I ran it and told me everything was okay, except for the Video Connection Type, which showed as "Digital (without HDCP)". I then proceeded to unplug the power cable from the monitor, plugged it in again, ran the tool again, and now it's "Digital (with HDCP)". Needless to say, I can watch my TV and recorded programs on WMP again. I'm guessing that at some point, something may be slightly wrong with the HDCP setup, and Windows decides to reset the entire content protection path (which leads to the screen blanking out). Usually the reset succeeds, but sometimes it doesn't, so Windows defaults to turning HDCP off. There's no way to turn it back on, except by doing a hard reset of the display. I really want to know what the exact error was, so I can fix it. Is it the cable? is it the display? is it the video card? the driver? Also, is there any other way to try and turn HDCP on again without having to hard reset the display? Oh, questions, questions...

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• Clarification On Write-Caching Policy, Its Underlying Options And How It Applies To Hard Drives And Solid-State Drives

  - by Boris_yo

  In last week after doing more research on subject matter, I have been wondering about what I have been neglecting all those years to understand write-caching policy, always leaving it on default setting. Write-caching policy improves writing performance and consists of write-back caching and write-cache buffer flushing. This is how I understand all the above, but correct me if I erred somewhere: Write-through cache / Write-through caching itself is not a part of write caching policy per se and it's when data is written to both cache and storage device so if Windows will need that data later again, it is retrieved from cache and not from storage device which means only improved read performance as there is no need for waiting for storage device to read required data again. Since data is still written to storage device, write performance isn't improved and represents no risk of data loss or corruption in case of power failure or system crash while only data in cache gets lost. This option seems to be enabled by default and is recommended for removable devices with no need to use function of "Safely Remove Hardware" on user's part. Write-back caching is similar to above but without writing data to storage device, periodically releasing data from cache and writing to storage device when it is idle. In my opinion this option improves both read and write performance but represents risk if power failure or system crash occurs with the outcome of not only losing data eventually to be written to storage device, but causing file inconsistencies or corrupted file system. Write-back caching cannot be enabled together with write-through caching and it is not recommended to be enabled if no backup power supply is availabe. Write-cache buffer flushing I reckon is similar to write-back caching but enables immediate release and writing of data from cache to storage device right before power outage occurs but I don't know if it applies also to occasional system crash. This option seem to be complementary to write-back cache reducing or potentially eliminating risk of data loss or corruption of file system. I have questions about relevance of last 2 options to today's modern SSDs in order to get best performance and with less wear on SSDs: I know that traditional hard drives come with onboard cache (I wonder what type of cache that is), but do SSDs also come with cache? Assuming they do, is this cache faster than their NAND flash and system RAM and worth taking the risk of utilizing it by enabling write-back cache? I read somewhere that generally storage device's cache is faster than RAM, but I want to be sure. Additionally I read that write-caching should be enabled since current data that is to be written later to NAND flash is kept for a while in cache and provided there is data that gets modified a lot before finally being written, holding of this data and its periodic release reduces its write times to SSD thereby reducing its wearing. Now regarding to write-cache buffer flushing, I heard that SSD controllers are so fast by themselves that enabling this option is not required, because they manage flushing. However, once again, I don't know if SSDs have their own onboard cache and whether or not it is faster than their NAND flash and system RAM because if it is, keeping this option enabled would make sense. Recently I have posted question about issue with my Intel 330 SSD 120GB which was main reason to do deeper research having suspicion of write-caching policy being the culprit of SSD's freezing issue assuming data being released is what causes freezes. Currently I have write-cache enabled and write-cache buffer flushing disabled because I believe SSD controller's management of write-cache flushing and Windows write-cache buffer flushing are conflicting with each other: Since I want to troubleshoot in small steps to finally determine the source of issue, I have decided to start with write-caching policy and the move to drivers, switching to AHCI later on and finally disabling DIPM (device initiated power management) through registry modification thanks to @TomWijsman

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• Unable to make the session state request to the session state server.

  - by Angry_IT_Guru

  For about 4-5 months now, I seem to be having this sporadic issue--mainly during our busiest time of the day between 10:30-11:45AM, where all my Windows 2003 web servers in a Microsoft NLB cluster start throwing session state server errors. A sample error is below. System.Web.HttpException: Unable to make the session state request to the session state server. Please ensure that the ASP.NET State service is started and that the client and server ports are the same. If the server is on a remote machine, please ensure that it accepts remote requests by checking the value of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\aspnet_state\Parameters\AllowRemoteConnection. If the server is on the local machine, and if the before mentioned registry value does not exist or is set to 0, then the state server connection string must use either 'localhost' or '127.0.0.1' as the server name. at System.Web.SessionState.OutOfProcSessionStateStore.MakeRequest(StateProtocolVerb verb, String id, StateProtocolExclusive exclusiveAccess, Int32 extraFlags, Int32 timeout, Int32 lockCookie, Byte[] buf, Int32 cb, Int32 networkTimeout, SessionNDMakeRequestResults& results) at System.Web.SessionState.OutOfProcSessionStateStore.SetAndReleaseItemExclusive(HttpContext context, String id, SessionStateStoreData item, Object lockId, Boolean newItem) at System.Web.SessionState.SessionStateModule.OnReleaseState(Object source, EventArgs eventArgs) at System.Web.HttpApplication.SyncEventExecutionStep.System.Web.HttpApplication.IExecutionStep.Execute() at System.Web.HttpApplication.ExecuteStep(IExecutionStep step, Boolean& completedSynchronously) Now I'm using ASP.NET State service on a centralized back-end Windows 2003 server that all servers communicate to. I was originally using SQL Server state for a couple years as well prior to having this issue. The problem with SQL wqas that when the issue occurred, it created a blocking situation which essentially impacted all users across all servers. The product company recommended that I use the standard ASP.NET State service as that was what they technically supported. Why this would make a difference is beyond me -- but I had no choice but to try it! I have attempted to create multiple application pools, adding additional servers, chaning TCP/IP timeout from 20 to 30 seconds, and even calling Microsoft ASP.NET product support, with very little success. I even recommended that they review whether they are using read-only session state instead of read/write per page request -- as I understand that this basically causes every page to make round-trips to state server even if state isn't being used on the page. Unfortunately, the application is developed by our product company and they insist that it is something with my environment because other clients do not have these sort of issues. However, I've talked to other clients and they tell me when they've seen issues like they, they've basically had to create another web farm. This issue almost seems like I've simply reached some architectural limit within the application... Microsoft's position on the issue is that the session state needs to be reduced and the returncode being reported back from the state server indicates buffers are full. To better understand the scope of issues (rather than wait for customers to call and complain), I installed ELMAH and configured it to send me e-mails when unhandled exceptions occur. I basically get 500-1000 e-mails during the time period of high activity! If any one has any other ideas I could try or better ways to troubleshoot, I'd appreciate it.

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• I am starting to think that Prevx.com isnt a legit site...but heres my long-winded question

  - by cop1152

  I apologize in advance for the long-winded post. I posted it all because I believe its informative and may be useful. Also, I posted my question at the end. Moments ago I was RDC to a file server in my home (from inside my home). I had opened Firefox and Googled for a manufacturers website. Immediately after clicking the link, Firefox abruptly closed. This seemed odd to me to so I checked the running processes and discovered d.exe, e.exe, and f.exe running. I Googled these processes on a different machine and found them belonging to a key-logger/screen-capturer/trojan called defender.exe, which according to the Prevx lives in c:\documents and settings\user\local settings\temp. (Prevx link http://www.prevx.com/filenames/147352809685142526-X1/DEFENDER32.EXE.html) Simultaneously, an obviously-spoofed Windows Firewall popup appeared on the server asking me to click ‘yes’ to update Windows Firewall. At this time I ended all rogue processes, emptied the temp folder, removed defender.exe from startup, and checked my registry and a few other locations. Before deleting Defender.exe I noted that it was created moments ago, just before Firefox crashed. I believe that I was ‘almost’ infected with this malware. I believe that it needed me to click the phony popup in order to complete infection because it wasn’t allowed to execute processes from the temp folder. After cleaning the machine, I restarted it and have been monitoring it for over an hour. I am debating on whether or not to restore the Windows partition (a separate physical drive from the data) or to just watch it for awhle. I should mention that, because of the specs on this machine, I do not run antivirus software, but I know it well and inspect it regularly. It is a very old Compaq with a 400mhz processer and 512mb of ram. I have a static IP and the server is in the DMZ running an FTP client and some HTTP server software. All files transferred to and stored on this machine are scanned for malware before transferring. Usually the machine only runs 19 processes and performs pretty well for its intended purpose. I posted the story so that you could be aware of a possible new piece of malware and how it acts, but I also have a question or two. First, over the last few months I have noticed that PREVX is listed at the top of most of my Google searches when researching malware, especially for new or obscure malware…and they always want you to purchase something. I don’t think they are one of the top AV companies, so it seems odd that they are always the top Google result. Does anyone have any experience with any of their products? Also, what sites do you rely on for malware researching? Recently, I have found it difficult to find good info because of HijackThis-logs and other deadend info cluttering up my searches. And lastly, besides antivirus, third-party firewall, etc, what settings would you use to lock down a machine to make it more secure in instances where a stubborn admin like myself refuses to run AV? Thanks.

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• Windows 7 disk errors after a few hours of runtime

  - by GFK

  I'm having trouble understanding what is going on with my work PC. Whenever I boot it, it runs fine for a while, then starts to randomly show disk errors. The displayed error often contains the message "not enough storage is available to process this command", although depending on the application that fails it can be different. This has happened for weeks now and is getting worse. This is what troubles me: It never seems to impact critical parts of the system (no BSOD, no freeze). Only some applications seem impacted, refusing to function correctly after a while: Outlook 2010 cannot download RSS feeds anymore, Firefox 6 or IE9 cannot download anything bigger than 3MB without failing, Windows Update fails, all msi installers fail, Visual Studio 2010 starts failing in weird manners... It only happens after a while using it (typically 3 hours, but it seems that installing a program or compiling several times makes it shorter) Rebooting solves it (temporarily). The system: The OS is Windows 7 Pro Spanish SP1, 32 bits The system is an HP Compaq 6000 Pro with 4 GB memory (only 3.4GB usable since the system is 32bit), one 500GB hard drive. Installed applications include: Visual Studio 2010, SQL Server 2008 R2, VMWare Workstation 7, Microsoft Security Essentials, Office 2010. Shutting down all related services and processes doesn't seem to change anything. The diagnostics I've run so far: Hard drive : 465GB, 165GB free Process Explorer : physical and virtual memory seem ok (pagefile is 5.3GB, physical memory usage 70%, system commit 39%) Windows Memory diagnostic tool: OK CHKDSK returned: 488282111 KB total disk space. 281668248 KB in 265779 files. 150188 KB in 62949 indexes. 0 KB in bad sectors. 571755 KB in use by the system. The log file has occupied 65536 kilobytes. 205891920 KB available on disk. For non-spanish speakers, that means all ok. SMART diagnostic tools (DiskCheckup) report all values normal. temperatures are in the normal range (HWinfo). The event viewer doesn't seem to contain any significant message. ran CCleaner 3, without any noticeable effect. I was thinking about some file number limit (between Visual Studio projects and other applications, there are around 300.000 files on the hard drive), but I couldn't find any. It's possible there is something related with the use of the temporary folders (it's the only explanation I have for why applications fail but Windows doesn't), but I cannot confirm that. Only thing I cannot find out is if chkdsk reporting 65MB for the log is normal. It seems since Vista it always reports this. Any other cleaning/diagnostic tool you might know of? Edit: I ran several other tools since I first published the question: Seagate SeaTools (the HD manufacturer's analysis tool): complete test run OK. Intel Rapid 10.1 (the HD controller manufacturer's troubleshooting tool): the HD's ok. Microsoft Desktop Heap Monitor: Desktop Heap Information Monitor Tool (Version 8.1.2925.0) Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Session ID: 1 Total Desktop: ( 46464 KB - 11 desktops) WinStation\Desktop Heap Size(KB) Used Rate(%) WinSta0\Winlogon (s1) 128 3.6 WinSta0\Disconnect (s1) 64 3.8 WinSta0\Default (s1) 20480 3.0 msswindowstation\mssrestricteddesk (s0) 1024 0.2 __X78B95_89_IW__A8D9S1_42_ID (s0) 1024 0.2 Service-0x0-3e5$\Default (s0) 1024 0.6 Service-0x0-3e4$\Default (s0) 1024 0.3 Service-0x0-3e7$\Default (s0) 1024 2.1 WinSta0\Winlogon (s0) 128 1.9 WinSta0\Disconnect (s0) 64 3.8 WinSta0\Default (s0) 20480 0.0 All ok, desktop heap usage < 5% Edit 2: I tried totally resetting my account by creating a new one, logging under this new one and delete the first one (local rights and files), then logging back with this deleted account (it is a domain account). No luck. Also, I found out often the error is "not enough storage is available to process this command". Searching on the internet, I found an old troubleshooting tip (setting a registry key to raise the IRP stack limit, whatever it is) which did not change anything.

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• My PC suddenly doesn't detect the primary drive (SSD)

  - by smoth190

  My computer has been working fine for months, and it worked today, but tonight I went to start it up to find that my OCZ Vertex 2 isn't being found. When I turn on my computer, the loading screen gets stuck at "Detecting IDE drives...". After a while, it keeps going and lists the drives it finds. The first one in the list should be my Vertex 2, but it just says "None". The computer proceeds to get stuck on "Loading operating system...", which is understandable because the drive with the OS is "gone". My first thought was drive failure, but every time drives have crashed on me, they're still detected--they just don't work. This drive is an SSD, it's pretty new, and I had no problems beforehand. I find it hard to believe it failed. I'm sure it's possible, but I hope this isn't the case. There has been nothing strange going on at all with my PC, it's been running perfect until now. I was just about to do my monthly dskchk and defrag today. I popped in my Windows 7 Home Premium disk and booted from it. When I launched the repair tool, it didn't list any operating systems (because the drive is 100% missing...). When I've had disks crash before, it still listed the OS, you just couldn't do anything with it. I tried to restore from an image, but I don't have any of those, either. I opened the command console and listed the drivers with wmic logicaldisk get name. Only C: and D: came up. C: was my 1TB storage driver (luckily, all my stuff is here--only the OS is on the SSD!) and D: was the disk driver. So I still had an MIA drive... The SSD didn't come with any driver disks, so I can't install drivers. If there's a way to do this from a CD I can burn with my other PC, please let me know. What the heck do I do? Although only the OS is on my SSD, a new SSD is expensive. I'll probably also have to buy a new copy of Windows (an upgrade would be nice, though...) because I've found it eats my registration key when my PC crashes (and my thousands of dollars of Adobe programs, I'll be on the phone with tech support for a week to get those keys back). And I'll lose my registry, all my settings, all sorts of other stuff that I'll spend weeks restoring. My computer is a pain in the butt to take out and open up, so if I can't fix it, I'll try fiddling with the plug or putting it into a new computer, but not right now. Any help is greatly appreciated! The day when they make crash-less drives will be the day I live without worry.

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• Hard drive write speed - finding a lighter antivirus?

  - by Shingetsu

  I recently have been getting a lot of system lag here (for example, the mouse and the display in general take about 15 seconds to react in the worst cases). After a lot of monitoring the resources, I found that the problem mainly happens when too much Disk I/O is being done. Three culprits have been identified: My browser had the highest write I/O with 35,000,000 I/O Write Bytes. Steam had the highest read I/O (when IDLE!!!) with 106,000,000 I/O Read Bytes. My antivirus (in both cases I will soon mention) was the runner up in both cases with: 30,000,000ish write and 80,000,000ish read. The first AV I had was Avast! which I had liked on my previous system. After noticing it taking so much I/O I switched to Panda (supposing it wouldn't use TOO much during idle phase). However it only used a bit less I/O. Just a lot less memory and cpu and somewhat more network. My browser at the moment is Maxthon 3 (which I like a lot). Before this I was running chrome which had similar data and much higher cpu when running in the background was enabled. I'm not going to be running steam all the time and there aren't many alternatives to it. I like my browser very much, but I AM willing to switch if there's an obvious problem (I'm in programming, however I'm not a very good sysadmin, especially not when it comes to windows). Finally, my system almost stops lagging when I turn off the antivirus (and preferably steam) (some remains but once in every 5-6 hours for a few seconds so it isn't a big problem). My question (has a few parts): Is it possible to configure steam to lower it's I/O usage? (and maybe network while we're at it?) Which antivirus (very preferably free) uses lowest I/O while idle (I leave PC alone during active scans so that isn't a problem). Is there an obvious problem with my current browser and, if so, is there a way to fix it or should I switch and, if so, to what? (P.S. I've been on FFox for some time too). Info on system: Windows 7 (32 bit T_T, I am getting a new one in a few months but I want to keep using system during that time though). Hard Drive (main) is a Raid0. (Also have an external 1TB one which contains steam (and steam alone). As such it doesn't get used by much anything other than steam and isn't a very large problem. However steam still uses some I/O of registry) CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU [email protected] RAM: 6GB (3.25GB usable) (this and CPU have little effect as shown in next section) Additional info: Memory usage during problematic times: 44% CPU usage during problematic times: 35% Page File: main drive: system managed. 1TB drive: none. The current system I'm using is about 6 years old and is mainly a place holder while I await the new one in a few months. Final words: this is my 1st post on Super User (this question wouldn't feel right on Stack Overflow where I usually stay). If it doesn't have it's place here please tell me. If anything is wrong with it, same. Edit Technically I'm looking for a live thread detection program with minimal IO usage. I already have good active scan capability: Kaspersky (the free scanner uses the paid database) and MalwareBytes. Edit 2 Noticed another one, it seems that windows media player has been using stuff even when off! Turning it off and restarting now. If the problem is fixed I'll tell you guys. The reason I didn't notice it before was because I didn't have resource manager in front of me at the MOMENT of the problem. Now I did and it was at the very top of the list!

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• Connecting PC to TV via HDMI/DVI: Windows XP doesn't allow the appropriate screen resolution

  - by Jørgen

  I have a computer that is connected to the living room TV (a Panasonic) via HDMI. There is no other monitor connected. My problem is that the computer, which is running Windows XP, does not allow me to set the proper resolution for the TV. Both the graphics adapter and the TV should support the 1280x720 resolution, but it cannot be selected - the only available options are 1280x600 and 800x600, both in the "native" Windows dialog box and the custom Intel graphics options dialog box. Do anyone have a suggestion for a solution for this? Things I've thought of: Setting the resolution directly in the registry (where?) Installing some "custom" monitor driver (the TV manufacturer does not appear to provide any, currently the "generic" one is used) Details on the setup: Connection: DVI output on the computer via a passive DVI-HDMI adapter to the HDMI input on the TV, audio is run on a separate link, the TV is able to combine video and audio without any problem, the problem is there regardless of whether or not the audio is connected. The connection is several meters long through some walls, for this reason using a VGA cable instead is not an option. Note that the report explicitly says that the TV supports 1280x720. Still, I am not allowed to select it in Graphics Options, only 1280x600 and 800x600 is available. For 800x600, there's a lot of black around the edges; for 1280x600, the screen is "zoomed" so the edges of the monitor image (like the taskbar) is not visible. Other: The computer is running Windows XP. More recent versions of Windows are not an option (I have no licence). Linux is probably not an option (some of the video streaming sites I plan to use do not support it, I think) I wrote the rest of the details below. Thanks for any help!! TV: Panasonic TX-L32X10Y, European version; a 720p 32" quite "regular" LCD TV. Allowed resolutions according to manual: Signal name: 640x480 @60HZ Horizontal frequency: 31.47 kHz Vertical frequency: 60Hz Signal name: 750/720) /60p Horizontal frequency: 45.00 kHz Vertical frequency: 60Hz Signal name: 1,125 (1,080) / 60p Horizontal frequency: 67.50 kHz Vertical frequency: 60Hz (this is exactly how the manual presents it. PC via D-SUB (VGA cable) and "regular" HDMI have more alternatives.) Messing with the "zoom" settings on the TV does not affect the available resolution options on the computer. Computer: The following is a printout from one of the graphics adapter option pages. I think it covers most of it. The computer is a Dell. INTEL(R) EXTREME GRAPHICS 2 REPORT Report Date: 04/17/2011 Report Time[hr:mm:ss]: 20:18:02 Driver Version: 6.14.10.4396 Operating System: Windows XP* Professional, Service Pack 3 (5.1.2600) Default Language: English DirectX* Version: 9.0 Physical Memory: 1021 MB Minimum Graphics Memory: 1 MB Maximum Graphics Memory: 96 MB Graphics Memory in Use: 6 MB Processor: x86 Processor Speed: 2593 MHZ Vendor ID: 8086 Device ID: 2572 Device Revision: 02 * Accelerator Information * Accelerator in Use: Intel(R) 82865G Graphics Controller Video BIOS: 2972 Current Graphics Mode: 1280 by 600 True Color (60 Hz) * Devices Connected to the Graphics Accelerator * Active Digital Displays: 1 * Digital Display * Monitor Name: Plug and Play Monitor Display Type: Digital Gamma Value: 2.20 DDC2 Protocol: Supported Maximum Image Size: Horizontal: Not Available Vertical: Not Available Monitor Supported Modes: 1280 by 720 (50 Hz) 1280 by 720 (60 Hz) Display Power Management Support: Standby Mode: Not Supported Suspend Mode: Not Supported Active Off Mode: Not Supported (disclaimer: this question was also asked at the Wikipedia Reference Desk some time ago and might show up in a Google search. I got no useful answers there.)

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• How To Start Your Own Professional Blog with WordPress

  - by Matthew Guay

  Would you like to start your own blog or website?  With a free WordPress  account, it’s free and easy to get started creating your own professional quality blog site. This is the first part in a series on how to create your own professional quality blog site. No, we’re not talking about some cheapo looking blog from Blogger or something on Facebook, but creating a quality blog you can be proud of and present to millions of readers online. WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms, powering hundreds of high-profile websites and blogs around the world.  It’s both powerful and easy to use, which makes it great whether you’re just starting out or are a blogging pro.  To start out with your blogging project WordPress is completely free, and you can use the online interface or install the WordPress software on your own server and blog from there. Getting Started You can start a blog in just a few minutes.  Head over to WordPress.com and click Sign up now on the right-hand side of the main page. Enter a username and password, check that you agree with the legal terms, select the “Gimme a blog” bullet, and click Next. WordPress may inform you that your username is already taken, simply choose a new one and try again. Next, choose a domain for your blog.  This will be the address for your site, and cannot be changed, so be sure to choose exactly what you want.  If you’d prefer your address to be yourname.com instead of yourname.wordpress.com, you can add your own domain for a fee after your blog is setup…but we’ll cover that later. Once you click signup, you will be sent a confirmation email.  While you wait for the email to arrive you can go ahead and enter in your name and a short bio about yourself. When you receive your confirmation email, click the link.  Congratulations; you now have your own blog! You can view your new blog immediately, though the default theme isn’t very interesting without your content and pictures. Back on the page you opened from the email, click Login to access your blog’s administration page and to start adding stuff to your blog.  You can also access your blog’s admin page anytime by from yourname.wordpress.com/admin, substituting your own blog name for yourname. Enter your username and password, then click Log in to get started. Adding Content to your WordPress.com Blog When you sign in to your WordPress blog, you’ll first see the WordPress Admin page.  Here you can see recent posts and comments, and you can see stats of how many people have visited your site.  You can also access all of your blog tools and settings right from this page. To add a new post to your blog, click the Posts link on the left, then click “Add New” either on the left menu or on the top of the Edit Posts page.  Or, if you want to edit the default first post, hover over it and select Edit. Or click the New Posts button on the top of the page.  This menu bar is always visible whenever you’re logged in, so it’s an easy way to add a post. The editor lets you easily write anything you want in a Microsoft Word-style editor.  You can format your text, add lists, links, quotes, and more.  When you’re ready to share your content with the world, click Publish on the right side. To add pictures or other files, click the picture icon beside “Upload/Insert”.  Your free blog account can store up to 3Gb of pictures and documents which will definitely give you a good start. Click Select Files, and then choose the pictures or documents you want to add to your post. When the pictures have uploaded, you can add a caption and choose how to position the picture.  When you’re finished, select “Insert into Post”.   Or, if you want to add a video, click the video button.  You have to add a paid upgrade to upload videos directly, but you can add YouTube and other online videos for free. Click the “From URL” tab, and then paste the link to the YouTube video and click Insert into post. If you’re a code geek, click the HTML tab in the editor and edit the HTML of your blog post the geeky way. Once you’ve added all your content and edited it the way you want, click the Publish button on the right of the editor.  Or, you can click Preview to make sure it looks right, and then click Publish. Here’s our blog with the new blog post containing a picture and video.  While you’re getting to know you’re way around the controls in WordPress, the Preview feature will be your best friend while you try to organize the content to your liking.   Conclusion It only takes a couple minutes to get started blogging at WordPress.com. Whether you want to write about your daily life, share pictures of your children, or review the latest books and gadgets, WordPress.com is a great place to get started for free.  But we’ve only covered a small portion of the WordPress features…but this should get you started. Check back for more WordPress and blogging coverage coming up soon! Links Signup for a free WordPress.com account Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Add Social Bookmarking (Digg This!) Links to your Wordpress BlogHow-To Geek SoftwareProtecting Your WordPress Admin Panel From Hackers With .htaccessMake a Backup Copy of your Production Wordpress Blog on UbuntuLinux QuickTip: Downloading and Un-tarring in One Step TouchFreeze Alternative in AutoHotkey The Icy Undertow Desktop Windows Home Server – Backup to LAN The Clear & Clean Desktop Use This Bookmarklet to Easily Get Albums Use AutoHotkey to Assign a Hotkey to a Specific Window Latest Software Reviews Tinyhacker Random Tips DVDFab 6 Revo Uninstaller Pro Registry Mechanic 9 for Windows PC Tools Internet Security Suite 2010 Awe inspiring, inter-galactic theme (Win 7) Case Study – How to Optimize Popular Wordpress Sites Restore Hidden Updates in Windows 7 & Vista Iceland an Insurance Job? Find Downloads and Add-ins for Outlook Recycle !

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• The Complete List of iPad Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials

  - by Ross

  The Apple iPad is the latest new toy, and we’ve put together a comprehensive list of every tip, trick, and tutorial that we could find to help you get the most out of it—and we’re even giving one away to one lucky reader. So read on! Note: We’ll be keeping this page updated as we find more great articles, so you should bookmark this page for future reference. Want Your Own iPad? How-To Geek is Giving One Away! All you have to do to enter is become a fan of our Facebook page, and we’ll pick a random fan to win the prize. Win an iPad on the How-To Geek Facebook Fan Page Disable the “clicking sound” on the iPad Keyboard Does the clicking sound when you tap the iPad keyboard bother you? Thankfully it’s easy to disable with a couple of taps. How to disable the “clicking sound” on your iPad’s keyboard Enable and add bookmarks to the Safari Bookmarks Bar on your iPad By default, Safari doesn’t display the Bookmarks Bar. This tip shows you how to change that. How to enable and add bookmarks to the Safari Bookmarks Bar on your iPad Clear the Cache, History and Cookies in Safari for the iPad You’re probably used to clearing this kind of data right from within the browser. Not so with Safari on the iPad – but here’s how you can. How to clear the cache, history and cookies in Safari for iPad How to add more Apps to your iPad Dock The iPad has four icons in its ‘dock’. Did you know it can hold 6? How to add more Apps to your iPad Dock Convert PDF files to ePub files to read on your iPad with iBooks ePub is the format that iBooks are in. So for those of you with large eBook collections in PDF, here’s how you convert them to read in iBooks. How to convert PDF files to ePub files to read on your iPad with iBooks How to force your iPad to restart Has an app caused your iPad to freeze up, and you can’t escape? This tip shows you how to force your iPad to restart. How to force your iPad to restart How to export Keynote for iPad presentations to your Mac or PC Exporting Keynote presentations from your iPad to your Mac or PC isn’t as straight forward as you might have expected. This tutorial shows you how. How to export Keynote for iPad presentations to your Mac or PC How to import presentations to Keynote on your iPad Having trouble getting your presentations onto your iPad? How to import presentations to Keynote on your iPad How to import documents to Pages on your iPad This guide shows you how to transfer documents (MS Word or Pages) from your Mac/PC to your iPad. How to import documents to Pages on your iPad How to insert photos in a Pages document using iPad and share it as a PDF Want to spice up that doc with a picture you just took? This tutorial will show you how – and how to export that document as a PDF. How to insert photos in a Pages document using iPad and share it as a PDF How to lock your iPad If you have kids or co-workers/friends who think it’s funny to mess with your iPad – lock it. How to lock your iPad How to remove the “Sent from my iPad” signature from outgoing email on your iPad Does everyone need to know you just sent that email from your iPad? Probably not. This guide shows you how to remove the “Sent from my iPad” signature and replace it with your own (or none). How to remove the “Sent from my iPad” signature from outgoing email on your iPad How To Sync Multiple Calendars to the iPad With Google Sync This tutorial will show you a workaround on how to sync multiple calendars on your iPad using Google Sync. How to Sync Multiple Calendars to the iPad With Google Sync How to determine the MAC address of your iPad If your network restricts connections via MAC address – this guide will show you how to determine what yours is. How to determine the MAC address of your iPad How to take a screenshot of your iPad Do you need to take a screenshot of your iPad? This quick tip shows you how to do just that. How to take a screenshot of your iPad How to delete apps from your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad Anyone who had an iPod Touch or iPhone before they had an iPad won’t need this tutorial. But if you’re new to the experience, this one will help. How to delete apps from your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad How to determine the iPad ECID on Windows and Mac iPadintosh shows us how to determine the iPad’s ECID code – something you’ll want to have come Jailbreak time. How to grab the iPad ECID in Windows or OS X iPad Apps: Twitter and social networking essentials Enggadget has you covered with reviews of the first slew of iPad specific Twitter and other social networking apps. iPad Apps: Twitter and social networking essentials What does your website look like on an iPad? iPad Peek is a web based tool that allows you to enter any given URL, and it will display that page the same way Safari on the iPad does. Great for web site owners who don’t have access to an iPad. iPadPeek Stream Music and Videos to your iPad Gizmodo reviews the iPad app StreamToMe, which allows you to stream media from your Mac to your iPad across your local network. Their feelings in a nutshell – worth the $3, but not perfect. Review: StreamToMe for the iPad Apple iPad : Change links in Google Reader to point to full HTML webpage How to change links in Safari for iPad so that Google Reader points to a full HTML webpage How to connect an iPad to your existing wireless keyboard This video will show you how to connect your iPad to a wireless keyboard if you’re having any problems – and from the sound of things, quite a few folks are. via TUAW How to get started with the iPad Mashable has a very entry-level guide that will help you set up your iPad for the first time. Mashable’s Guide to Setting up the iPad Essential iPad Apps Downloadsquad gives mini-reviews to 8 iPad apps that you should install as soon as you get your iPad. iPad App Buyers Guide: Essential Apps you should get on day one Videos: The Official iPad Guided Tours From none other than Apple! Great getting started videos for all the included iPad apps. The Official iPad Guided Tours The Official iPad Manual When you buy an iPad, you don’t get a manual. But that’s not to say there isn’t one. Apple provides a 150 guide for your iPad in PDF format. The Official iPad Manual (pdf) How to print from your iPad Sure, it’s actually just an App (PrintCentral – $9.99 USD), but as of right now, it’s the only way. PrintCentral How to make your own iPad Wallpaper A perfectly detailed tutorial on how to make your own wallpaper for your iPad. The author also provides a really nice sample wallpaper, published under the Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic license. How to make your own iPad Wallpaper Got any more tips? Share them in the comments, and we’ll update the post with the links, or just the tip itself. Similar Articles Productive Geek Tips Want an iPad? How-To Geek is Giving One Away!Why Wait? Amazing New Add-on Turns Your iPhone into an iPad! 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