Active Directory Icon

When a Windows 2000 computer is part of an Active Directory domain there is an icon in My Network Places –> Entire network called Directory. This icon allows you to browse Active Directory. This icon is missing in Windows XP and 2003, but it can be restored!

On a Windows 2000 machine browse to C:\Winnt\System32 and locate dsfolder.dll. Copy this DLL to your XP or 2003 computer and place it in C:\Windows\System32. With the DLL copied over we must register it; from a command prompt run the following:

regsvr32 dsfolder.dll

The Directory icon will now appear in My Network Places –> Entire Network on your Windows XP or 2003 computer.

Reinstall TCP/IP

Using the netsh command we can quickly and easily rewrite the two registry keys:

HKLM\\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
HKLM\\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\DHCP\Parameters

The command is a simple one and will create a log file for you to review, open up a command prompt and run:

netsh int ip reset c:\resettcpip.log

Preventing Disconnected Network Drives

1.Command line

net config server /autodisconnect:-1

This disables the autodisconnect “feature” and should be set on the server holding the share.

2.registry
Open up regedit and browse to:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters

Set the REG_DWORD value “autodisconnect” to HEX 0xffffffff. This will disable this feature. You could also specify a length of time before it disconnects. The dword value can be set anywhere from 1 to 65535 minutes.

Converting Dynamic Disks Back to Basic Disks

Windows 2000, XP and 2003 provide a feature called Dynamic Disks. A dynamic disk can contain simple volumes, spanned volumes, striped volumes, mirrored volumes, and RAID-5 volumes. When using dynamic storage, you can perform disk and volume management without the need to restart the computer.

Once the change has been made to Dynamic Disks, they cannot be changed back to Basic Disks without deleting the partitions and rebuilding the disk. This can be troublesome, thankfully there is a way to hack it back to a Basic Disk.

Caution: Make sure you have a full, verified backup of all your data before you proceed. If you make an error during this procedure the disk will become corrupt and data loss can occur. Before you begin you will need a tool from the Windows 2000 SP4 Support Tools called DskProbe.

DskProbe is a sector editor tool that allows you to edit, save, and copy data on a physical hard disk. Once you have downloaded and installed the support tools, run DskProbe.exe from C:\Program Files\Support Tools.

Note: Windows 2003 Support Tools includes DskProbe 2.

-The GUI is changed but the steps are the same. With DskProbe running click on Drives and select Physical Drives.

-In the Open Physical Drive window double click the drive you wish to edit and then click on Set Active. Once the drive has been set as active, close the window.

-Next click on Sectors and select Read.

-Enter the Starting Sector as 0 and the Number of Sectors to 1 then click Read.

-Scroll down until you locate sector 01C0 and the third byte from the left should read 42. Along with being the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything else, it is also what identifies this as a dynamic disk.

-Change this byte to 07.

-Next click File and then select Exit. You will be prompted to save the changes made.

-Click yes, and when DskProbe closes reboot the machine. Once the computer has rebooted open up Disk Management and the drive should be restored back to a Basic Disk. You will have to do this for each partition on the disk.

Download Details: Windows Server 2000 SP4 Support Tools

Microsoft TechNet Sysinternals Online Toolset

Microsoft is testing a service that gives IT managers anywhere access to all the free Sysinternals diagnostic and troubleshooting utilities from any machine connected to the Internet.IT administrators no longer need to download and unzip the tools.They can run them from any Web location.
The idea is to provide full web-based access to the Sysinternals Toolset without unzipping files, etc.

See: Sysinternals Live Web Site

Deploying Office 2007 Compatibility pack via Group Policy

Firstly, download the FileFormatConvers.exe file from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=941b3470-3ae9-4aee-8f43-c6bb74cd1466&displaylang=en

1.Create a directory C:\DEPLOY and place the .exe in there. Open a command shell and type the following:

C:\DEPLOY\FileFormatConverters.exe /extract:C:\DEPLOY\

This will extract the files to the directory and you will end up with two main files – 012Conv.CAB & O12Conv.MSI

2.You now need to place these two files onto a file server share where all your users have read permissions.

3.Now open up your Group Policy console and create a new policy.

4.Expand out the Computers Configuration and select the Software Settings > Software Installation.

5.Right-click in the right hand pane and select New > Package.

6.Browse to the package on the file share you are going to use and select the O12Conv.MSI file and choose
open.

7.When prompted choose Assigned (you can also choose Publish but this option will not automatically install the software for your users – it will just make the package available for them to install).

8.Once you have pressed OK you will find the package in your GPO.

Emergency Security Update for Internet Explorer (KB960714)

A serious security vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 on Windows XP SP2 and SP3, Server 2003 SP1 and SP2, Vista Gold and SP1, and Server 2008 was discovered few days back, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted XML document containing nested SPAN elements, as exploited in the wild in December 2008. (REF CVE-2008-4844)

Microsoft has released a Security Update for Internet Explorer (960714) which resolves the vulnerability. This security update is rated Critical for Internet Explorer 5.01, Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 6 Service Pack 1, and Internet Explorer 7.

You may install the update via Automatic Updates, Windows Update or download the update from Microsoft Download Center.

Microsoft releases first iPhone app

Engineers in the company’s Live Labs have released the company’s first application for Apple’s popular smartphone–even before making it available on Microsoft’s own mobile platform. Seadragon Mobile, which was added to Apple’s App Store on Saturday, is a free image-browsing app that allows users to quickly “deep zoom” images while online and is intended to demonstrate what is possible with a mobile platform.

Seadragon is the backbone for Microsoft’s Photosynth, which allows users to take a grouping of photographs and stitch them together into a faux 3D environment. Other iPhone apps are reportedly in development in Redmond; Microsoft’s Tellme unit was expected to release the company’s first iPhone app in the form of a voice-activated search for a variety of phones, including iPhone and BlackBerry.

See this link:
http://livelabs.com/seadragon/

BSNL Broadband Router drivers and configurations

Procedure for Broadband Installation & Modem configuration:

Go to this link:
http://www.calcuttatelephones.com/dataoneinstall/menu.html

Product Key not accepted after Integrating SP3 media

The problem arises if the /integrate command is run under Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. The /integrate process will not report any error and appear to work but if you try to install from the media your product key may not be accepted. Luckily the fix is easy. Run the /integrate command under Windows XP or Windows Server 2003. For more information around this issue

see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;950722