Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Exchange Server Error Code Look-up

Use the Error Code Lookup tool to determine error values from decimal and hexadecimal error codes in Microsoft Windows® operating systems. The tool can look up one or more values at a time. All values on the command line will be looked up in Exchange’s internal tables and presented to you. If available, informational data associated with the value or values will also be shown.

Download HERE

Remote Desktop Connection 6.1 (RDP 6.1) on Windows XP WITHOUT SP3. RDP 6.1 on Win XP with SP2

Recently, on one Windows 2008 I’ve installed a Terminal Server Role and did a TS Web Apps. Really nice feature, you can get access to application through web interface, exactly how it’s done on Citrix, but by using Windows 2008 you not requested to buy a Citrix ;). Yes, TS Web Apps from Windows 2008 is a nice, but to get access to this application, on a client side should be installed RDP 6.1 client. This particular version of RDP cames with SP3 for Windows XP or with SP1 for Windows Vista. I have no idea why Microsoft doesn’t provide RDP 6.1 as separate package.
In my case I couldn’t install XP SP3 or Vista SP1 on every machine in Network, so I’ve found a workaround. The first step is to install a RDP 6.0. After that we need to get few files from XP SP3 or Vista SP1. Create anywhere on your disk directory, let’s say RDP6_1 and put there the following files:

lhmstsc.mui
lhmstscx.mui
mstsc.chm
mstsc.exe
mstsc.exe.mui
mstscax.dll

Inside RDP6_1 create directory en-us and put there the following files:

aaclient.dll.mui
mstsc.exe.mui
mstscax.dll.mui

NOTE: Remember to take all mentioned files from Windows XP SP3 or from Windows Vista SP1.

Now inside RDP6_1 create a batch update.bat. Here is a content of update.bat :

del c:\windows\$ntservicepackuninstall$\mstsc.exe
del c:\windows\$ntuninstallkb925876$\mstsc.exe
del c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\mstsc.exe
del c:\windows\system32\mstsc.exe
del c:\windows\system32\dllcache\mstsc.exe
del c:\windows\lastgood\system32\mstsc.exe

del c:\windows\$ntservicepackuninstall$\mstscax.dll
del c:\windows\$ntuninstallkb925876$\mstscax.dll
del c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\mstscax.dll
del c:\windows\system32\mstscax.dll
del c:\windows\system32\dllcache\mstscax.dll
del c:\windows\lastgood\system32\mstscax.dll

copy mstsc.exe c:\windows\$ntservicepackuninstall$\mstsc.exe
copy mstsc.exe c:\windows\$ntuninstallkb925876$\mstsc.exe
copy mstsc.exe c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\mstsc.exe
copy mstsc.exe c:\windows\system32\mstsc.exe
copy mstsc.exe c:\windows\system32\dllcache\mstsc.exe
copy mstsc.exe c:\windows\lastgood\system32\mstsc.exe

copy mstscax.dll c:\windows\$ntservicepackuninstall$\mstscax.dll
copy mstscax.dll c:\windows\$ntuninstallkb925876$\mstscax.dll
copy mstscax.dll c:\windows\servicepackfiles\i386\mstscax.dll
copy mstscax.dll c:\windows\system32\mstscax.dll
copy mstscax.dll c:\windows\system32\dllcache\mstscax.dll
copy mstscax.dll c:\windows\lastgood\system32\mstscax.dll

xcopy *.* c:\windows\system32 /e /y
regsvr32 %systemroot%\system32\mstscax.dll /s

Update.bat should be run after installation of RDP 6.0
Now, you can navigate to your TS Web Access and run RemoteApp Program.

AccessChk v4.1

Mark Russinovich released a new very nice tool for IT Pro (System Administrators), AccessChk v4.1.
Windows administrators often need to know what kind of accesses specific users or groups have to resources including files, directories, Registry keys, global objects and Windows services. AccessChk quickly answers these questions with an intuitive interface and output.

Examples

The following command reports the accesses that the Power Users account has to files and directories in \Windows\System32:

accesschk “power users” c:\windows\system32

This command shows which Windows services members of the Users group have write access to:

accesschk users -cw *

To see what Registry keys under HKLM\CurrentUser a specific account has no access to:

accesschk -kns austin\mruss hklm\software

To see the security on the HKLM\Software key:

accesschk -k hklm\software

To see all files under \Users\Mark on Vista that have an explicit integrity level:

accesschk -e -s c:\users\mark

To see all global objects that Everyone can modify:

accesschk -wuo everyone \basednamedobjects

Sysinternals Live - Execute Sysinternals Tools Directly from the Web

The Beta of Sysinternals Live was announced today. A service that enables you to execute Sysinternals Tools directly from the web without manually downloading them. Enter a tool’s Sysinternals Live path into Windows Explorer or a command prompt as \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\<toolname>
View the entire Sysinternals Live Tools directory in a browser at http://live.sysinternals.com.

Remote Server Administration Tools for Vista SP1 has been released. ALL server languages!

I’m MCITP: Server Administrator & Enterprise Administrator

Yes, finally I’ve finished with all my exams and I’m now a MCITP Server Administrator & Enterprise Administrator :).

PowerShell on Windows Server 2008 Core Edition

Everybody, who just started deal with Windows 2008 knows a very nice (IMHO) version, Windows 2008 core. One of the things, that I , and not just I, do not love, Core Editions of Windows 2008 doesn’t support PowerShell. Equally, we can use PowerShell with Windows 2008 Core, but just from remote computer. Dmitry Sotnikov, MVP in PowerShell, published step-by-step instruction on installing Windows PowerShell on Windows Server 2008 in Server Core mode. To know how to do this, go to Dmitry Sotnikov’s PowerBlog.

SBS and EBS videos on Technet Edge

There are new demonstration videos of the upcoming Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 on TechNet Edge.

Download Windows XP Service Pack 3 Now!

It is available on public Windows Update Servers:http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/software/svpk/2008/04/windowsxp-kb936929-sp3-x86-enu_c81472f7eeea2eca421e116cd4c03e2300ebfde4.exe

Configuring the Firewall on Server Core for Remote Management

On all Windows 2008 Editions, the firewall is on by default. This true in a Server Core as well. Many IT Pro loves a new Windows 2008 Server Core Edition, but friendly speaking manage it from a command line for many Administrators is not so easy. Yes, We can manage Windows 2008 Core remotely, but we have to configure Firewall on the Core box. There are then three scenarios for remote management via MMC:

1. Server Roles – when a server role is installed, the appropriate ports are opened to allow the role to function as well as to allow remote management, so no additional configuration is required. Using the Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) feature on a full server installation, we can install just the MMC snap-ins for a role and use them to remotely manage the role on Server Core.
2. Domain joined – Once domain joined, the firewall profile is changed to the domain profile which allows remote management. Again, no additional configuration is required.
3. Workgroup server – This is the scenario (is most popular when IT Pro demonstrates or tests a new Windows 2008) in which We may need to make firewall configuration changes to allow remote management. If we want all remote managements to work, we can use:

Netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=“remote administration” new enable=yes

However, there may be situations where we only want to allow certain MMCs to connect for remote administration. Not every MMC snap-in has a firewall group, here are those that do:

On the Server Core box we can enable these by running:

Netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group=“<rule group>” new enable=yes

Where <rule group> is the name in the above table.

Not every MMC snap-in has a rule group to allow it access through the firewall.

MMC Snap-ins that Require Addition Configuration
In addition to allowing the MMC snap-ins through the firewall, the following MMC snap-ins require additional configuration:

• Device Manager
  To allow Device Manager to connect, you must first enable the “Allow remote access to the PnP interface” policy
  1. On a Windows Vista or full Server installation, start the Group Policy Object MMC snap-in
  2. Connect to the Server Core installation
  3. Navigate to Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Device Installation
  4. Enable “Allow remote access to the PnP interface”
  5. Restart the Server Core installation

• Disk Management
  You must first start the Virtual Disk Service (VDS) on the Server Core installation

• IPSec Mgmt
  On the Server Core installation you must first enable remote management of IPSec. This can be done using the scregedit.wsf script:

Cscript \windows\system32\scregedit.wsf /im 1/span>