Month: November 2004

Lot’s of posts recently on a variety of subjects — ISA vs anything else, to patch or not to patch, spyware (scumware), Raid configurations, firewalls and XP SP2 blocks applications from running, … and the list goes on.. It reminds me that we can’t satisfy all the people all the time. So, let’s jump straight into this week’s song — which was recorded almost 40 years ago (tell me it ain’t so!) by the Rolling Stones–I Can’t Get No Satisfactionaka I Can’t Run No ApplicationI can’t run no application, I can’t run no application‘Cause I try and I patch and I … Continue reading 2004-11-26 “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”

Recently, I surveyed several of the SBS MVP’s to find out which router(s) they use or recommend with their SBS installations. Their answers are listed below (no names, to protect the innocent!). As with many things, there were different opinions. If you have your own personal favorite, please add it as a feedback.   MVP #1: I’m using low end routers (DLink DI-604) along with the Basic firewall because these clients (under 15 users; no heavy Internet activity) normally don’t need a router that has all the high end features of VPN, SPI or extensive logs.  The DLink  is really cheap, but it gets … Continue reading Which routers do you use with SBS?

We get a lot of posts complaining of slow file transfers from workstation to the SBS server. The first suggestion we make is to disable SMB signing, which is properly described at www.smallbizserver.net. The other thing we suggest is to switch your NIC card away from autosense/autodetect.   I’ve had a server that has had the same ‘slow file transfer’ symptoms for two weeks, and yet nothing I did fixed the problem. Finally, tonight, I had a chance to ‘google’ through this newsgroup looking for other ideas. I found a post from Chad Gross (in August) saying that with Dell servers in particular, that he had … Continue reading Slow File Transfers & DELL Servers

A tip of the hat to Merv for this information! A frequent question on the NG is: can I use Ghost to make copy of my SBS system drive, and if so, which version of Ghost should I use? Merv’s answer is: You can use Ghost 2003 (or later).1.  Install the Ghost 2003 software on a Win2K or WinXP workstation (not the server) and then make a set of Ghost Boot floppies using MSDOS as your operating system on the floppies (requires a MS DOS bootable disk or CD to copy the files from this to your Ghost Boot Floppies).  … Continue reading How to “ghost” your SBS system disk

Did you notice that MS released a new MSN search (beta)? You can see it here: http://beta.search.msn.com/   While fiddling around with the new search tool, I was listening to the oldies radio station that plays all the hits from the 1960’s and 70’s. It’s amazing how one can still remember all the words to just about every song, even though it 30-40 years ago. One of the fun songs back then that I enjoyed playing on my guitar was from the Herman’s Hermits –   Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter aka Mister Gates, You’ve Got a Lovely … Continue reading 2004-11-13 “Mrs. Brown, You’ve Got a Lovely Daughter”

Recent problem posted on the NG:  We do not have a static IP. Our ISP requires that we forward mail to their SMTP server on port 1025 instead of port 25. When I look at the SmallBusiness SMTP connector there does not appear to be a choice for the SMTP port. Is there a way to specify port 1025 for just their smarthost? The answer (provided by Henry Craven) was: 1. Shut down the Exchange services2. Go to: %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\services file3. Edit the contents for the smtp service to specify another port numbersmtp   25/tcp  mail          #……and change it to:smtp   1025 /tcp mail      #…..4. save … Continue reading Change port Exchange SMTP uses

If you are running Sharepoint with SQL (not WMSDE), you’re supposed to be able to perform full text searchies. If searching is not working for you, make sure it’s enabled. Here’s how: 1. Click Start > Administrative Tools > Sharepoint Central Administration.2. Scroll down to the Component Configuration section3. Click on the Configure full text search link4. Click the box to enable full text search5. Click OK, and then wait several seconds while it updates.

Well, it was one wild week here in the states with the Presidential elections. Fortunately for us in Florida, it was Ohio’s turn to be the center of attention. Kudos to John Kerry for not dragging out a long, extended legal battle.  It’s also a wild time as Susan Bradley has declared that the elephant (Microsoft) has decided to move quickly with new security announcements.   For me, it’s been a wild week with lot’s of paper work, so I’m taking my wife out to the beach for a weekend getaway. Jeff M. is going to have a wild month … Continue reading 2004-11-05 “Wild Thing”

The following question was recently asked on the NG: “Does anybody know how to allow the Video/Audio in MSN6.2 through ISA firewall. I have tested it OK between 2 laptops over the internet, but when I return one back to our SBS2003 LAN and try a video conf, I get the message: Your computer, Internet provider or network may not support audio conversations or video conversations.Any Ideas ?????Steve Foster replied as follows: You will not get MSN Messenger video/audio to work through ISA. I don’t think ISA2004 will support it either.The problem is that the audio/video connections are built dynamically, on random ports, directly … Continue reading Cannot make IM Audio/Video work through ISA