It’s Complicated

Joe’s blog about technology, life, and more.

Something happened to my Windows Vista desktop that I use primarily at work.  To explain the issue, here is some background information.  I normally lock my computer anytime I step away from it to prevent un-authorized access.  It used to be that I could just hit CTRL+ALT+DEL and type in my password and press (Return|Enter) to unlock my machine.  However, in the last week or so instead of bringing up the password field for the logged on user when you hit CTR+ALT+DEL, what you get instead is an icon for the username which you then have to click or just hit enter before you type in the password.  Now this may not sound like much of a problem, but when you are used to something happening a certain way, changing that makes a difference.  I didn’t change any of my user options in Vista, so I am guessing that this is a change from a recent update or something from Microsoft.  I don’t have access to many Vista machine to test this on, but I am curious if anyone else has seen this before and if you know how to fix it.  If I find a solution I will post it here, but for now I am still looking.  I just want to hit CTRL+AALT+DEL and type in my password to logon, I don’t want to have to click on my user icon or have an extra key press before I can put in my password.  Maybe thats just me being set in my ways…

This is a great utility (also free) that will allow you to add the recipients of your sent items to the Outlook auto fill cache.  This is great if you reload a PC or in any number of other solutions.  Click here to read more about it and download this great utility.

Here is a great little tool from NirSoft that allows you to edit, backup and manage your Outlook auto fille cache file or .n2k file.  This is great for backup or combing through to fix a corrupt or otherwise incorrect entry without having to scroll through the list in Outlook.  Click Here to read more about it and download this completely free tool. 

I recently ran into some very strange issues with an older fax through e-mail solution.  The setup is a mixed Exchange 5.5 (unsupported) and Exchange 2003 site with an old version of RightFax from Captaris (version 8.5 – unsuppored).  After years of working in this configuration, suddenly the outbound fax abilities quit working and you would receive NDR messages anytime you sent an outbound fax.  Incoming was working without problems, only outbound fax through e-mail was a problem.  I checked the Exchange connector for RightFax on the Exchange 5.5 box which was fine, there were some side issues there where some .tmp files weren’t getting purged properly, but I couldn’t find a cause for the issue we were having.  Reboots were done in hopes this would help resolve the issue, but they did not help.  The only errors I was receiving were as follows:

Exchange cannot determine a route for this message or no next hop can be determined.   A routing group topology does not have a routing group connector set up between the routing groups.  Mail destined to a routing group that does not have a routing group connector to connect it to other groups cannot be sent.   

Solution: Add or configure your RGC between RGs

and

After a few days of researching and trying to find a solution to this issue, I happen to notice that I had another problem.  In the Exchange 2003 ESM I could not browse the public folder tree.  I’ve had this issue before and seen various things cause it, so I began researching the exact error codes I received.  (sorry I didn’t write those down, but they said something like “503 service unavailable” when I tried through OWA). 

I ended up restarting the Exchange 2003 HTTP Virtual server from ESM, and also dismounting and re-mounting the public folder store.  After I did that I noticed some events in my application log basically saying the route for FAX was online and mentioned our fax server name.  Out of curiosity I tried sending an outbound fax through e-mail and it worked!  I then asked the staff in the location where the issue was originally reported to try sending some test faxes through e-mail but they reported back and said it was still not working.  I then performed the same steps I mentioned above on all Exchange 2003 servers which seemed to fix the issue of not being able to view the public folder tree in ESM, but also had the side effect of fixing the outbound fax issue. 

I have no idea how an old fax system could possibly be tied into the public folder system of Exchange 2003.  I have no support for either Exchange 5.5 or the version of RightFax we are using, so I will probably never know.  I do know that the two issues were related somehow and the same solution for fixing the public folder tree view in ESM also fixed our outbound fax issues.  I think this is very strange but am glad the system is working again.  I hope this will not delay replacing these old systems and they still need to be replaced asap. 

I have been toying around with the new 2.2 firmware for my ipod touch (2nd Gen).  I had been really excited to check out the new podcast features in the itunes app, but alas, its not as good as I had hoped.  It turns out that the new podcasting features of the itunes app are independant of your itunes configuration.  So you might have a list of podcasts you are already subscribed to in itunes, but none of them show up on the touch.  Podcasts (a new menu item in the itunes app on the iphone/touch) are indepednant of what you have in itunes.  While this new functionality is still cool, it would have been nice to import my itunes podcasts as those are the ones I want to update anyway.  This new functionality has little use to me, but is still neat if you aren’t already using itunes to manage your podcast subscriptions. 

I have also been having an issue with wifi connecting to WPA protected APs, basically I would have to turn my wifi option on and then off and then back on again in order to get it to connect to any wireless.  Hopefully this new firmware will address that issue as well. 

UPDATE 11-24-08
   It turns out there is a way to download new episodes of your podcasts from the touch (using your existing subscriptions and not the built-in separate podcast client on the iphone/touch).  When you go into your podcasts and view the details of them, there is a new option as you scroll down to “Get more episodes”.  So even though itunes and the podcast client on the touch are two separate things, you can at least download new episodes of your current subscriptions.  I was confused since my subscriptions weren’t under the podcast menu button at the bottom.  You have to go into the podcasts you have synched on your iphone/touch as if you were going to listen to one, scroll down and there you will see how to download more content right from the touch.

Now that I have an iPod Touch, I found that being limited to using iTunes on a single computer to sync and manage my library of music, podcasts and videos was a drag.  So I did some google searching and found that I could store my iTunes library on a portable hard drive and use iTunes on any computer (granted the iTunes version if the same).  I gave it a try, installed iTunes on two computers, made sure my portable hard drive was using the same drive letter on both computers and then began to setup my library.  As a result of all this work, I can now manage my library, sync my iPod and make changes anytime on either PC.  This works great and is very convenient for me.  Now I just need to get a dock for my desk and a few other accessories.  I didn’t find a need to post detailed instructions on my blog as there are many existing resources you can find with a simple google search on how to set this up.  Its very easy and works great, and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who wants to go mobile with iTunes. 

I have gone crazy with the iTunes App store for my new Touch.  Here is a list of some of my favorite apps and games.  Some of the games can be played against another Touch device over Wifi.  This is only the current list, there are apps being added all the time and I can hardly wait to see what else comes out!  (One warning, if you use folders, watch out for updates, as if you have a large amount of data stored in the app, it will never update and you will have to restore your IPOD to recover, just don’t install the updated versions).

facebook
iChalky
mSecure
Travelocity
Radiolicious
Movies
eBay
WordPress
FS5 Hocky – fun wifi game
vSNAX
I.TV
ShoZu
Palringo
Express
Folders – awesome
Billminder – not free
Expsharer – also awesome
Banner Free
FourFre
IfFound
iTicTac
Lande
rMarbleMash
MazeFinger – awesome
Pageonce – awesome
Remote
MobileNews
Crash…ding
SQ Lite
CAr CAre – not free but awesome
Diggnation
Touch4

Last week I finally purchased a 32GB IPOD Touch (2nd gen).  I have to say right off the bat, that this is one of the coolest tech gadgets I’ve ever played with.  Its sleek, ellegant, functional and easy to operate.  The App Store on iTunes is great, there are tons of free apps and a whole lot more of non-free apps that are great as well.  I personally now have over 8 pages of icons on my home screen!  I love the wifi connectivity, rich browsing experience with Safari, and an equally rich e-mail experience.  One of my favorite features of the iTunes remote option, that lets you control a running instance of iTunes with the Touch over wifi.  Everything from now playing controls, to volume.  Its great, and will make a convenient remote control for a party or event where you want to have music playing in the background.  I wish it had bluetooth support, a camera and GPS, but oh well.  If you want those features, get an iPhone. 

I can’t personally use an iPhone because of my work e-mail requirements, but I am seriously considering getting my wife an iPhone soon and experiencing it that way.  I went with the largest model at the recommendation of someone I know who has a Touch.  It is absolutely true that if you have the space you will use it.  I am now using over half of the space on my Touch between the apps and movies/music/podcasts… 

My recommendation would be to buy the 32GB model, immediately get a Zagg protective cover and get yourself some kind of case to keep it in.  These shiny sleek devices are easily scratched on the back and have no trouble collecting layers of skin oils on the surface to smear around.  With all that being said, I love my iTouch, its amazing and if you (the reader) are thinking about getting one, I highly recommend it.  One other tip for you, disable the backup (see previous post) to speed up synch times. 

Microsoft seems to have decided to keep Windows 7 as the official name of their next Operating system after Windows Vista.  I’m not sure what to think about that, but some people have voiced their negative opinions regarding the name.  To me it seems like they are trying to do some things similar to Apple, (OS 9, 10, X).  Hope that strategy works for them and I also hope that Windows 7 will be more successful than Vista.  Although I have never had any real trouble with Vista (post SP1), it will be interesting to see what they do with the next version of the Windows OS.  Source Article here.

This is not ground breaking information, but someone may find it helpful.  If you want to migrate a Microsoft DHCP database from one Windows 2003 server to another, you may be surprised to find that the backup/restore feature doesn’t work.  I don’t know why this is included if it won’t work, but its there.  If you want to successfully migrate DHCP to another server just do the following:

1. Authorize the new DHCP Server in AD through the DHCP MMC
2. From the command prompt on the old DHCP Server, run the following: “netsh dhcp server export C:\dhcp.txt all”
3. Copy the resulting export file to the new DHCP Server
4. From the command prompt on the new DHCP Server, run the following: “netsh dhcp server import c:\dhcp.txt all”

Refresh your MMC view to see the imported settings.  You will notice that everything including leases are migrated over successfully.  Verify your settings and thats it!