Tech for Lunch! » Tips & Tricks

SBS 2008 – Error Code 0×800ccc6c – Verify that the mailbox exists and that the Exchange receive connectors are configured properly.

Pascal Roy — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:11:51 +0000

Sometimes, the error messages that we get are absolutely misleading. This is one of those cases where you get called to a server for a mail problem and end up wasting a couple of hours on a problem that could have taken mere minutes to fix.

The symptoms are pretty simple. In this case, the customer is using the POP3 Connector and is no longer receiving emails. This problem can occur in a number of scenarios with the same fix. the event log shows this error:

An error occurred while delivering mail to ’someguy@someplace.com’ on the SMTP server ‘localhost’. The error code was 0×800ccc6c. Verify that the mailbox exists and that the Exchange receive connectors are configured properly.

I’ve had this problem but with different event logs as well, so if you are getting some weird things, this is definitely something to look into before you so do anything else. Both times, the problem was low disk space on the system partition.

That’s right! low disk space. First time I came across this problem, the server had about 55mb left so it was a no brainer. But this time, there was 1.86GB left so I figured I’d free up some space after I had resolved the email problem. It turns out that there should always be at least 2GB of free space for exchange to work properly.

I started to move a 14gb folder (using Teracopy of course..) to another partition and, magically, emails started pouring in after a few minutes.

Cannot start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot Open the Outlook Window

Pascal Roy — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 19:51:14 +0000

I recently came across this problem on a customer’s computer and tried everything I could find via Google. Naturally, none of the solutions worked. When you click on the icon to start Outlook, the window shows up briefly and then disappears, popping up that extremely meaningful message: Cannot Start Microsoft Office Outlook. Cannot Open the Outlook Window .

If you google this problem, one of the first sites that shows up with a solution is Microsoft’s site, so you assume that the solution must be a good one. Actually, it didn’t work for me. The Microsoft page is this one. The solutions that they give probably work in many cases, but I tried both of their solutions and I was still at the starting line.

The solution? simply run: outlook.exe /resetnavpane

basically, this is the same as deleting your profilename.xml in your user directory. It did the trick for me and if I can save someone the trouble of looking for that solution for hours.. then I’m happy!

Teracopy – Copy files faster in Windows

Pascal Roy — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:21:01 +0000

Just a few days ago, I had to make backups of a few computers. I used Acronis True Image to make full images of the machines and needed to take them out of the company to keep them safe. I thought I would simply copy them to an external USB 2.0 hard drive, but when I hit the copy/paste operation to copy the first 16gb file, I realized I wouldn’t be getting home any time soon.

I remembered a friend talking to me about a tiny freeware that lets you resume copies in case there were problems so I figured it would be a good idea to give that a shot. Enter Teracopy. This Windows “Copy replacement” lets you copy files much much faster than Windows ever could and adds many new features to the standard function. Here is some information from their site:

Copy files faster. TeraCopy uses dynamically adjusted buffers to reduce seek times. Asynchronous copy speeds up file transfer between two physical hard drives.
Pause and resume file transfers. Pause copy process at any time to free up system resources and continue with a single click.
Error recovery. In case of copy error, TeraCopy will try several times and in the worse case just skips the file, not terminating the entire transfer.
Interactive file list. TeraCopy shows failed file transfers and lets you fix the problem and recopy only problem files.
Shell integration. TeraCopy can completely replace Explorer copy and move functions, allowing you work with files as usual.
Full Unicode support.

Teracopy impressed me quite a bit. it uses different techniques to make sure your copies are completed faster, and that’s not just a catch phrase. I’ve never heard my USB hard drive work that hard. The estimated time for the Windows copy was about 55 minutes for each file. Teracopy got everything done in about 30 minutes.

Once installed, Teracopy completely replaces your windows functions so whenever you make a copy/paste operation, Teracopy takes over. At the time of writing this article, there is a portable version in beta. There is also a Pro version that lets your play around in the copy queue and gives you support & upgrades as well.

10 Free Network Management Tools from SolarWinds

Pascal Roy — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:18:37 +0000

Management tools are always useful, but good ones are hard to find. I think the best ones are very often the ones that are built for a single purpose instead of those huge applications that are supposed to do everything. One good example of this, is Solarwind’s Exchange Server Monitor. I came across this application because I needed something that would just sit there and let me see how the server was doing without having to check a remote desktop window constantly. I went back to see the other free tools and many of them can be extremely useful for the specific tasks they were built for.

SolarWinds Free TFTP Server – upload and download executable images and configurations to network devices – our most popular free network monitoring tool!
IP SLA Monitor – quickly troubleshoot network slowdowns between sites and easily understand device-to-device performance using sophisticated Cisco® IP SLA operations.
Free Kiwi Syslog Server – receive, log, display, and forward syslog messages from network devices with this easy-to-use Syslog Server.
Free Kiwi CatTools – simplify daily management tasks with the ability to manage and backup network
VM Monitor – continuously monitor a VMware® ESX Server and its virtual machines with at-a-glance virtualization health statistics.
SolarWinds Free Real-time NetFlow Analyzer – capture and analyze up to one hour of NetFlow data to see what types of traffic are on your network, where it’s coming from, & where it’s going.
SolarWinds Free Exchange Monitor – continuously monitor Exchange and get real-time insight into services, mail queue sizes, and host server health with this clever desktop dashboard.
SolarWinds Free NetFlow Configurator – configure NetFlow v5 via SNMP on supported Cisco® devices – a perfect complement to Orion NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and our free Real-time NetFlow Analyzer tool!
SolarWinds Free Advanced Subnet Calculator – compute addresses for IP subnets – another perennial favorite in our suite of free network monitoring tools!
SolarWinds Free Wake-On-LAN
– remotely power up network PCs

I have not tested all of these tools of course, because some of them are too specific for my needs, but the Exchange Monitor and the Kiwi Syslog Server work great and do exactly what you expect them to.

Free tools are always welcome and the quality products offered by Solarwinds are an excellent addition to any administrator’s toolset.

BSOD – Session Manager Initialization fails with status 0xc000026c

Pascal Roy — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:54:03 +0000

A couple days ago I ran into a weird problem on a customer’s computer and I had such a hard time figuring out what it was, I thought I’d add it in my tips section. From what I’ve been able to gather, the problem occurs mostly with Windows XP SP2, but it could also be present with other variations.

It was a simple service call and after everything was done, I rebooted the computer to make sure everything was ok.. well, after that, the machine never restarted. It simply kept looping, while on the windows logo screen, I could see the blue screen flashing and then it would restart.

At this point, I tried safe mode in all its forms and tried “Last Known Good Configuration” etc.. nothing worked. I couldn’t run System Restore because windows did not even start. So I used the F8 option to Disable auto reboot on BSOD and finally saw the actual Blue Screen message:

c000021a Fatal System Error
The Session Manager Initialization system process terminated unexpecedly with a status of 0xc000026c

A few Googles on the subject helped piece together a solution. The problem is caused by a Windows Update known as KB925902. The patch wasn’t installed recently.. it’s been on the machine for at least 6 months, but something must have triggered the problem.

The Solution:

Apparently there are a few variations on how the problem presents itself, so if windows starts in safe mode, I would go for a System Restore or use the Add/Remove programs section to remove that update.

What I had to do was to remove the update manually using the Recovery Console. here’s how to do it:

Boot with your original Windows XP CD. You need one which will allow you to get into the Recovery Console.

Once booted, choose to use the Recovery Console, usually by pressing “r”.

You may need to press “enter” here to choose a different keyboard layout, otherwise you might have a hard time typing the next commands.

Choose which Windows installation you need to log into. if there’s only one on that machine, it will be “1″.

Type in the Administrator password. Yes, there is one, you had to supply one during the Windows XP installation.

Change folders using: cd WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB925902$\spuninst

Run this command in the folder: batch spuninst.txt

If the command ran correctly, you should see a spuninst.tag file, using the “dir” command.

reboot the computer.

At this point the computer should boot properly and you should install SP3 and other patches to prevent this problem from happening again.

If the spuninst.tag file doesn’t exist, you may have received a bunch of errors instead. Joyful. There are a few reasons why this could happen, one of which is if your windows isn’t really installed on the c:\ drive, even if the Recovery Console always names it that way. To remove the patch manually, type in these commands: (make sure you replace the drive and path if required, depending on your installation)

DEL “c:\windows\$hf_mig$\kb925902\mf3216.dll”
DEL “c:\windows\$hf_mig$\kb925902\gdi32.dll”
DEL “c:\windows\$hf_mig$\kb925902\user32.dll”
DEL “c:\windows\$hf_mig$\kb925902\win32k.sys”
DEL “c:\windows\system32\dllcache\gdi32.dll”
DEL “c:\windows\system32\dllcache\mf3216.dll”
DEL “c:\windows\system32\dllcache\user32.dll”
DEL “c:\windows\system32\dllcache\win32k.sys”
COPY “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\gdi32.dll” “c:\windows\system32\gdi32.dll”
COPY “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\mf3216.dll” “c:\windows\system32\mf3216.dll”
COPY “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\user32.dll” “c:\windows\system32\user32.dll”
COPY “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\win32k.sys” “c:\windows\system32\win32k.sys”
COPY “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\spuninst\spuninst.txt” “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\spuninst\spuninst.tag”

I hope this helps someone out there because there aren’t many solutions for this problem and it took me so much time to piece together the solution. Let me know it there are any errors and if it works for you.

How to download albums from Facebook

Pascal Roy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:12:58 +0000

Have you ever wanted to grab an entire photo album from one of your friends on Facebook? It can be pretty annoying to download every single picture from an album, one by one. About a year ago, I had a plugin for firefox that could download an entire photo album in a single click. But after firefox changed to version 3.0 and facebook redesigned their pages, that plugin no longer worked.

Last week, I heard about FacePAD (Facebook Photo Album Downloader), a nifty little plugin that does exactly that; it lets you go inside an album, right-click on it and download every single image to a folder of your choice.

All you have to do is make sure you are using firefox, and install the plugin. Once installed and running, log on to Facebook and find a photo album from one of your friends that you would like to be able to browse offline. Simply right-click on the link to the album that you want to download and select “Download Album with FacePAD”. If you already clicked on that link and you are already in the album, you can simply right-click on one of the page numbers at the top of the album and you will get the same result.

Some people have complained that the plugin only downloads the first page of the album or gives javascript errors. I have not had these problems and all pages of the albums I tested downloaded just fine. The only slightly annoying thing with this plugin is that you have to confirm the download for each picture as if you were clicking them individually. It’s not too bad considering the amount of time you save from having to do all the work yourself.

Happy Downloading!

Vista User Account Control (UAC) Tool

Pascal Roy — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:27:05 +0000

The very first time I tried Windows Vista, I was annoyed by the UAC right away. User Account Control (UAC) is a that feature of Windows Vista that makes it so you are never actually logged-in as an administrator. Instead, whenever you need to accomplish a task that requires admin rights, you need to confirm that you actually want to do it. It’s not a bad idea per say, but it would have been a lot better if we had a little bit more control over it. For example, being able to choose what tasks will require the UAC prompt and the possibility to “remember” the prompts to which you have already answered.

Norton Labs offer a simple tool that replaces the standard Windows UAC and allows you to respond to each prompt only once. The Norton UAC tool allows an application to run with silently-elevated privileges only in a specific context, one previously approved by the user with the “don’t ask again” check box selected. This means that there is a difference between regedit.exe launched from the start->run box, regedit.exe originating from a shortcut double-click, and regedit.exe launched from a double click on a .reg file (and the context actually changes with each .reg file), and regedit.exe launched by an application (malicious or not). Given the contextual awareness of Norton UAC tool’s automatic responses, the Norton UAC tool provides a usability improvement over Vista’s default UAC prompts, while maintaining obvious security improvements in the Vista kernel (such as isolation, file/registry virtualization, and user interface privilege isolation) that are all disabled when UAC is disabled. Here is what the new prompts will look like:

The tool is available in 32-bits and 64-bits formats and is a free download. Simply install it and give it a shot. I think the only portion that is missing is the ability to tweak on which tasks the UAC is in function, but at least, its better than turning it off all together. Be aware that since this is a beta “Lab tool”, the program may send Meta Data back to Norton for analysis. Nothing private, but just what prompts are popping up and what you choose to do with them

How to create a Favicon.ico

Pascal Roy — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:25:41 +0000

My friend MK007 sent me a very cool link a couple of days ago and I thought it would be a great tool to share. One of the tips that I see very often to help popularize a blog or any website, is to have a “favicon”. The Favicon is the little icon that appears at the top of your browser, right beside the URL of the web page you are currently viewing. It will also show up in the bookmarks beside your site to make it easier to spot. The one for Techforlunch is: …the same as my logo on the about page. You should be able to see it at the top of your browser right now, granted your browser supports favicons. Internet Explorer 6 does not support them.

Favicon Maker is a very easy to use web site to help you create your own icons. Simply upload an image that you want to use and it will be converted for you to the correct format. A favicon is always 16×16 so that’s the size that will be used, but you can also specify if you want the file to contain a 32×32 and/or 48×48 icon. What’s the use for that you say? Well, basically the favicon.ico is a simple icon file and icon files can contain more than one size for the same icon. For example, in windows you will see the same icon in more than one size if you look at a file on “details” mode and in “thumbnails” mode. It’s the same icon file, but you see a different size. If you are only going to be using that favicon for your site though, don’t bother getting the other two size as they will only make the favicon larger to download every time.

Once your file is created, simply download it and upload it to your website. Most blogs and Content Management Systems support favicons right away, but you may need to modify the template you are using or the html files if the favicon doesn’t show up. Just make sure that the HEAD section of your page contains the following code:

Make sure the path to the file is modified accordingly and you should be good to go! The website also explains this pretty well. Feel free to drop me a line if you need help with this.

How to choose a USB key

Josee Riberdy — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:46:11 +0000

There is no sure-fire way to shop for a key. You will need to decide on the capacity you need and think about some of the features you want, then try to find the best value for money and buy it!

Some useful info on USB keys…
Once you have chosen the capacity of your key (depending on what you want to put in it… Pictures? Word documents? Etc.), you only need to shop around and try to find the best “deal”. There are tons of companies that manufacture them and they are found in a variety of stores.

However, here is some more useful information…
- Over the years, the smaller the keys get, they now offer keys with large storage capacity and the prices are dropping. Good news!

- Generally, the lifespan of data on a USB key is ensured for 10 years. On average, flash memory supports 1 million deletions.

- The main available capabilities are: 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB (very little). After that we fall into hard drives. Prices range from $5 to just over $200. Note: As these data change very quickly, this information may be quickly outdated… Note the date of this article!

- Prices vary depending on the capacity, brand, the level of security (with or without a password to access the contents) and the type of key (USB 2.0, USB 2.0 High Speed or U3).

- We are moving towards U3 keys that we see more and more of on the market. These keys not only contain various files, but also applications such as software and their parameters (bookmarks, e-mail account, etc.).. Can you imagine? This means we can now bring with us our office (almost) saved on our USB key! At the moment, several free and paid applications are compatible with U3 and it has only just begun. The offer will become more and more interesting… Check the U3 site to find out more and learn about the applications that are available.

You may want to consider the form factor of your USB key. For instance, will you be carrying it in your pocket or elsewhere? The shape and the way it opens and closes, the way it can be carried etc, all may have an impact on your decision.

Happy shopping!

Adobe Air showcase – Refreshingapps.com

Pascal Roy — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:03:09 +0000

I may have been somewhat silent recently, but it was vacation time for everyone, and it doesn’t mean I wasn’t still looking around for new applications. A friend of mine spoke to me about this site and I went to take a look. It turns out that it is a very interesting site to know about if you are looking for and/or developing Adobe Air applications.

Refreshingapps.com was built primarily as a showcase and gallery that shows some of the fantastic Adobe AIR applications that are being developed today. So if you have seen a great AIR app, or you have built something cool go ahead and submit it to our showcase.

Everyone knows I love applications built with Adobe Flex/Air and this site is what it’s all about. You can find a bunch of applications described, reviewed and, best of all, divided into categories according to their purpose and application. The site also has some news articles about the RIA world and gives some useful links to different Resources for developers of all skill levels. Visitors can also rate the listed applications so you can view top applications as voted by actual users.

If you like Air applications, refreshingapps.com is certainly a bookmark to add to your list.