Link several reports to a single KPI enabling discriminative report rendering in PPS dashboards

I found this article very usefull. I post the link here, in order to help someone with the same problem I had.

 

Bye

Fabio

SQL2000 Databases not showing up in Enterprises Manager but do show up in Management Studio

I can see the databases in the Query Analyzer Object Browser and with EXEC sp_helpdb.

 

NT 5.2 (3790) Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for 64-Bit Itanium-based Systems

8.00.2039 Enterprise Edition (64-bit)

 

I did a dbcc checkdb('master') and dbcc checkdb('msdb') and found no errors.

 

I can't see anything in the Management folder either.

 

When I try to view a login it gives me and Error 220.  It works fine in Management Studio.

 

Any ideas?

 

I found a fix at: http://www.ureader.com/message/92216.aspx

 

I had two databases that were offline that had the Error 220.  We took these off line a few weeks back.  I'm not sure why this happened but it works now.

 

I'll include the code in case the link goes away.

 

USE master
GO
DECLARE @db_name varchar(500)

DECLARE dbn_cursor CURSOR FOR
SELECT [name] FROM sysdatabases;

OPEN dbn_cursor

FETCH NEXT FROM dbn_cursor
INTO @db_name

WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
select * from sysdatabases where name = @db_name
IF @@ERROR <> 0
 BEGIN
     declare @off int
     print 'Restarting database '+@db_name
    

     exec @off = sp_dboption @db_name, 'offline', 'TRUE'
     IF @off <> 0 
  print 'Taking offline failed! Need manual workaround!'
     else
  begin
      declare @on int
      exec @on = sp_dboption @db_name, 'offline', 'FALSE'     
      IF @on <> 0
   print 'Bringing online failed! Need manual workaround!'  
      else
   print 'Restart successfull!'
         end  

 END
FETCH NEXT FROM dbn_cursor
INTO @db_name
END

CLOSE dbn_cursor
DEALLOCATE dbn_cursor
GO

3com 905, 905b, 905c Not supported

I build PC for small businesses and use the 3com 905, 905B or 905C card since they are well made and more importantly are fully detected by Windows XP and drivers are not needed.  I have hundreds of PCs at customers using this fine card and I am sure many others have this card installed.  It is a far better card than the "cheap junk" now being sold.

The use of the 3com card makes it easier to setup new PCs and get on the internet and get drivers for the built-in network cards.   I keep the 3com card in the new PC and use then as the primary network interface in many cases.

I think that the 3COM card needs to be supported.  It is fully supported under XP whynot under Vista.????

Reply:

That is a great question and the answer is within MS decision to continue supporting XP for the next few years. I have to say that I was let down moving to Vista - maybe I just expected to much. For business it doesn't delivery many advantages.

 

------------------------------------

Date conversion woes: Cast? Convert?

I have been having some trouble trying to get the date format YYYYMMDD 00:00:00.00 to convert to MM/DD/YYYY.  I am using SQL 2005 and Reporting Services.  I attempted several variations to solve this problem as outlined below, with the final working conclusion at the end.  I am not saying that this is the BEST or the ONLY way to achieve the solution, but it worked for me.

Code Block

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SELECT DATE_TIME AS DATE1

FROM TRANSLOG

--returns value of 20071027 02:26:24.06

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SELECT CAST(DATE_TIME AS SMALLDATETIME) AS DATE1

FROM TRANSLOG

--returns value of 2007-10-27 02:26:00

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SELECT LEFT(CAST(DATE_TIME AS SMALLDATETIME),11) AS DATE1

FROM TRANSLOG

--returns value of Oct 27 2007

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SELECT CAST(SUBSTRING(DATE_TIME,0,9) AS SMALLDATETIME) AS DATE1

FROM TRANSLOG

--returns value of 2007-10-27 00:00:00

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), DATE_TIME, 103)

FROM TRANSLOG

 --although this works with GETDATE(), it does not work with the DATE_TIME field

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SELECT CONVERT(VARCHAR(10), CAST(DATE_TIME AS SMALLDATETIME), 101) AS DATE1

FROM TRANSLOG

--THIS WORKS!!!  Displaying 10/27/2007

 

 

 

Hope this helps somebody someday!

 

-Jody

Reply:

Thanks Joe.

 

What data type is DATE_TIME?

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

Apparently, the DATE_TIME field is NOT a datetime (or smalldatetime) datatype.

 

That is why you are having to first convert it to a datetime datetype BEFORE using the CONVERT() function to create the desired format.

------------------------------------
Reply:

The data type for this field is varchar(23).

 

This is in a SQL table that is housing information for our Warehouse Managment System.  I didn't actually build the table, just trying to report on some of the data in it... Did I go about finding the solution correctly, or would there have been a different approach?  I am always open to learning - as I have only been learning SQL for less than a year.

------------------------------------
Reply:

Try:

 

select convert(varchar(10), cast(left(DATE_TIME, 8) as datetime), 101)

from TRANSLOG

 

 

AMB

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

hunchback wrote:

Try:   select convert(varchar(10), cast(left(DATE_TIME, 8) as datetime), 101) from TRANSLOG     AMB

 

That appears to return the same results as the last statement I used...could you explain how it differs?

------------------------------------

Windows Deployment Service question, how to add a raid driver to a capture a new image?

 

First of all, I want to thank you all for posting... for I have had many questions answered in getting a brand new Windows Deployments Server up and running. I have never used RIS before so I am in n00b mode with deployment.

 

As of now I can capture and deploy XP and Vista Images on machine that DO NOT have a RAID controller.

 

Now I have several machines that have RAID controllers and when attempting to capture, the "choose what volume" never populates with C: or anything.

 

How do I get a capture image prepared to load up and capture a "client" machine that has a raid controller controlling the drives?

 

Do I somehow use the boot.wim or capture.wim file and inject the driver for the raid card so?

 

Again, I am speaking about creating a new capture of a new machine that has had sysprep run on in and has a raid controller in it.

 

 

Thanks so much!

 

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Driver for PHP CTP

 

The Microsoft SQL Server Driver for PHP Team is proud to announce the availability of the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Driver for PHP CTP. This driver is a PHP 5 extension that allows the reading and writing of SQL Server data from within PHP scripts. The extension provides a procedural interface for accessing data in all editions (including Express editions) of SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2000. The API makes use of PHP features, including PHP streams to read and write large objects.

 

The SQL Server 2005 Driver for PHP Community Technology Preview (October 2007) is a preview release not intended for production purposes and can be downloaded here. To provide feedback or to get more information, visit our team blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlphp . Please post any questions you have about this CTP release in this forum.

 

Thanks.

The SQL Server Driver for PHP Team

Reply:

Maybe this goes beyond the responsibility of the SQL Server Driver for PHP Team, but it would be incredibly useful if you all put together information on configuring SQL Server 2005 to allow connections to be made from PHP. If you look at all the comments over at PHP.net for the MSSQL reference you'll see a huge mess of confusion and various workarounds and troubleshooting suggestions (what dll's go where, what config.ini settings need to be tweaked, SQL Server configuration options, etc.). It would be so nice to have a reliable source organize the required/recommended configuration settings as well as some troubleshooting ideas.

I love seeing Microsoft supporting PHP, so thank you all for your hard work and keep it up!

------------------------------------

How to preform a recover

It can happen that you have the need to recover files or mails. This explains how you can recover these while using a backup database:

New-StorageGroup -name "Recovery sg" -Recovery
New-MailboxDatabase -Name"recovery db" -MailboxDatabaseToRecover "mailbox database" -StorageGroup "Recovery sg" -EdbFilePath "c:\recovery\recovery.edb"

Mount-Database -id "Recovery db"
Restore-Mailbox -RSGDatabase "Recovery DB" -Identity "Steve Jobs"

If you want to restore mails that already have been deleted :

 

[Restore-Mailbox -RSGDatabase "Recovery db" -RSGMailbox "Mike Jones" -Identity "Mike Jones" -TargetFolder
"Old Mails"

Creating certificates for your owa

I had problems with creating certificates for my owa afer searching I found the right piece of code it may be helpfull for some of you :

 

New-ExchangeCertificate -DomainName mail.domain.com,exchange.domain.com,exchange.network.local -IncludeAutoDiscover:1 -Services IIS -FriendlyName "mail.domain.com,autodiscover"

 

 

cheers

Windows 2000 Professional

 

Can anyone help me???? My son has an old comp..it has windows 2000..I had someone formatt his hard drive after replacing a part...after one day..visited a site Im sure he wasnt supposed to and whatever happened(virus) I cant find control panel or system restore..we dont have a recovery disk either so i dont know what to do..when I turn it on all that comes up is a ton of pop ups saying that windows found spyware adaware or a trojan..I know that its really not windows...is there something I can download to restore the original windows??

 

Sandi

Reply:

iF SOMEONE CANT HELP ME MAYBE SOMEONE KNOW OF OTHERS THAT MIGHT KNOW OF THIS PROBLEM..THANKS ALL

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Sandi,

 

As this forum mainly focus on SteadyState issues, you can get assistance about security issue from Security Newsgroup:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.security.homeuser

 

The reason why we recommend posting appropriately is that you will get the most qualified pool of respondents, and other customers who read the newsgroups regularly can either share their knowledge or learn from your interaction with us.  Thank you for your understanding.

 

Just FYI, you may need to boot the system into Safe Mode to perform further actions such as scan for virus/adware. (Restart your computer and start pressing the F8 key on your keyboard. When the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, select Safe Mode, and then press Enter.)

 

Best Regards,

------------------------------------

Coming Soon: Asset Intelligence 1.5

Folks,

 

Below you'll find a "sneak preview" of the next release of Asset Intelligence, which is currently slated for 1H CY '08. As always, the usual disclaimers apply to any pre-released software (think may and probably will change etc.).

 

In addition, I'll keep this post at a fairly high level and we will have additional posts as time goes by to introduce the different features in more detail. For now, the key thing to keep in mind, is that Asset Intelligence 1.5 will be installed on top of SCCM 2007 RTM and will expand its current capabilities. The sooner you upgrade to SCCM 2007 RTM--the better.

 

We set the following high level goals for AI 1.5:

• Make features easily discoverable and user friendly, requiring minimum concept drag (i.e. low ramp-up).
• Allows customers to customize their local catalog and categorize software assets.
• Allow customers to keep license information up-to-date.
• Provide consolidated licensing reports comparing the "ought" with "is" (e.g. for Microsoft Volume Licensing).
• Keep software asset categorization up-to-date (Dynamic for SA customers and Bulk for non-SA).
• Allow customer requests for categorization via System Center On-line (SA customers).

To meet these goal we are building the following high level features:

• New Catalog and License management UI which is built into the SCCM Admin console.
• New reports that expose new functionality.
• Compatibility with Softgrid.
• Basic replication to distribute latest catalog updates to other SCCM sites..
• Ability to import licensing data (e.g. MVLS).

In addition, we will provide extra functionality to SMS SA customers to allow them to keep the on-site catalog dynamically up-to-date. This will be accomplished by the following features:

• New site role called catalog synchronization point that will communicate securely with System Center Online.
• On-demand or scheduled catalog synchronization via SCCM management console
• Ability to upload uncategorized software titles to System Center Online for a-sync identification.

 

That's it for now. More will come over the next few months as we get closer to our Beta date. I hope this peaks your curiosity :-)

Reply:

Does SCOnline imply a synchronization to MS between what our SCCM inventories report and what our licensing includes? Would it be limited to MS products only? If thats the case, you guys might as well work with the Vista team and add the new Vista licensing as a role within AI 1.5 and be done with it.

------------------------------------
Reply:

 

Hi Dan,

 

Synchronization to System Center Online means that newly categorized software titles and other 'fresh knowledge' will be downloaded from the Microsoft master catalog to your SCCM database, thus giving you the most up-to-date categorization scheme. In addition, you will have the option to upload uncategorized applications to System Center Online, where researchers will review the titles, categorize them and then make them available via the download aspect of this mechanism.

 

In this release, licensing is not tied to this dynamic system or SPP (the Vista store you are referring to) but rather, it will be entered into the system by the administrator via a wizard. Once the data is imported into the database, we'll be able to compare that to your inventory and produce reports for you. In other words, this is a manual step that will allow you to import Microsoft license (MVLS) and simplified 3rd party license information (e.g. basic info such as name, publisher, version, quantity etc.).

 

It is important to note that licensing and inventory data are not sent up to Microsoft. The only data that could go up, if you choose to upload a given software title for categorization, will be application specific data (e.g. name, publisher, language etc.) which will then be given to the researchers for categorization and inclusion in the master catalog.

 

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

 

I've been questions around this feature set being back-ported to SMS 2003. The answer to that= No.

 

We will not add these to SMS 2003.

------------------------------------
Reply:

Next week we'll start posting more information on the different features. If you have a preference, let me know.

 

------------------------------------

Monitoring issue with hard drives

 

Hello,

 

Currently when I click on a computer from any of my computer groups it shows all the information including the hard drive information however the graphical bar showing the utilization has disapeared ?? Anyone know how to get this back?

 

Also when going into the monitoring tab and clicking on the Microsoft Server Client > Logical Disk Space  it doesn't show a warning for disks over 90% full.  Where do you change this setting?

Reply:

Hi,

 

We may need more information for analysis, please help to capturing screen shots of the related symptoms and saving the Operations Manager logs of event viewer to .evt format, then send them to SCEDATA@microsoft.com.

 

Note:

Please include the following three lines in the email body:

 

2336893
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?postid=2336893&siteid=17
Guo-zhen Wang - MSFT

 

Regarding more information about how to send email to SCEDATA@microsoft.com, please refer to:

 

How to send files to the Microsoft SCE team for review
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1680389&SiteID=17

 

Also, please post a quick note in the current thread to inform me after sending the email.

 

Thanks!
-----------------------------
Sincerely,
Guozhen Wang
Microsoft Online Community Support

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

As this thread has been quiet for a while we will be changing the issue type to 'Comment'.

 

If you wish to return to this question you can go ahead and change the type back to 'Question'. Then you can edit your initial post and change the radio button at the top of the post editor window.

 

If the issue has been resolved, we'd love to hear your solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems.

 

Thanks!
-----------------------------
Sincerely,
Guozhen Wang
Microsoft Online Community Support

 

------------------------------------

Internet access in proxy server environment

I have moved to Steady State from SCT in our department's classrooms which connect to the internet through the school's proxy server.

 

Previously, with SCT, I had disconnected the internet because of lack of precise control but the promised capability of Steady State to allow access to a predetermined list of websites seemed ideal.

 

So I prohibited internet access except for a list of sites.

 

However the sites are not available. Although the browser is set to access the internet through a proxy server the request for credentials (a prerequisite for access to the internet) is not made, and neither the specified home page nor other permitted pages are accessible. I note that the list of permitted sites has been transferred to the "do not use proxy for" setting in Connections-Lan Settings-Advanced. As these addresses are not sent to the proxy it seems that Steady State is blocking what it allows!

 

This seemed strange until I read another message posted here which stated that Steady State is not designed for proxy server environments and that the proxy server mechanism had been used to allow/restrict sites.

 

Clearly this is a great disappointment to us. Is there no workaround? We would be most grateful to learn of it.

 

Many thanks

 

Jim

 

Reply:

Hi Jim,

 

This is an expected issue. When you set the "Prevent Internet access (except Web Sites below)" option, the system will set the proxy server in IE to a non-exist one (NoInternetAccess) and add web sites allowed to the "Exceptions". The "Use the same proxy server for all protocols" option is checked. In this way, all web site access except for those allowed sites are blocked. Based on the design of SteadyState, this option will not work under environment where already has a proxy server. As you have learned that, your proxy server already has options to block/allow websites.

 

For your reference, to only allow some specific websites, you can use IE's Content Advisor feature. Please refer to the following thread:

 

http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsToolsandUtilities/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1909916&SiteID=69

 

Note: You can add websites from Approved Sites tab and uncheck "Users can see websites that have no rating" option under General tab to block other websites.

 

Best Regards,

------------------------------------
Reply:

Thank you Shawn.

 

I have realised that Content Advisor may offer the best workaround and have started using it, particularly when I discovered that the use of a wildcard e.g. *www.bbc.co.uk gives permission to access all pages on the specified website. (Interestingly I couldn't find information about the use of wildcards on any of the MSoft documentation.)

 

However, once Content Advisor has been set up, it is of very limited use because each computer in the cluster needs to be identically configured as all students should have access to the same resources. Content Advisor will only allow changes on a per computer advisor.

 

I (and others I am sure) work by creating and replicating an image, a procedure which takes a minimum of several hours. This effectively means that I have to attempt to predict, for weeks in advance, which sites are going to be required.

 

Would it be possible to consider some additional functionality for Steady State in a future version to allow for what I think would be a fairly typical school situation whereby groups of like-configured computers have different internet access requirements.

 

What is required is a means by which the computers in particular cluster can be quickly given access to a new website. If a set of computers under control of Steady State could get their permissions list from a central site, e.g. the teacher's computer, that would be ideal. Immediately the teacher learns of a new web resource that would be helpful (or wants to block an existing one) they would just add it to an appropriate list.

 

As you mention the school's proxy server does have the ability to block and permit individual sites. However the procedure required, contacting the site administrator by email, is too slow.

 

Thanks for considering this and for the improvements which have been provided in the new version of SCT/SS.

 

Jim

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Jim,

 

Thank you for your sharing and suggestions on this issue.

 

If these clients are in a domain, you can use the [User Configuration\Windows Settings\Internet Explorer Maintenance\Security\Security Zones and Content Ratings] policy to deploy Content Advisor settings. However, please understand that SteadyState is client based program and no centrally manage option is provided. Thus, you need to change this kind of configurations manually on every computer. If the access list will be updated frequently, SteadyState may not be a proper solution.

 

Regards,

------------------------------------
Reply:

Thank you Shawn.

 

The more I use Steady State the more I like it and I will try to make it work for us.

 

We aren't logging into a domain at present for this purpose.

 

Two possible mechanisms occur to me.

 

The first is whether it would be possible to create our own content advisor like the ICRA3.

 

The other is if there is registry hive which I could replicate from one computer to the others.

 

Your thoughts would be welcomed.

 

Jim.

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Jim,

 

Based on my further research,  Content Advisor information were stored in the following place. You may setup it on one computer and then replicate the registry keys to other computers.

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Ratings

 

Regards,

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi,

I recently installed SteadyState. I am using only one computer. So i made another account named Check Mail. I checked the "Prevent Internet Access (except Web sites below)" and in entered yahoo.com;gmail.com;swissmail.net;hotmail.com; but when i logged into Check Mail, i can't access any of them including the homepage (http://www.google.com.ph)

I did not do anything with proxies etc. What did i do wrong?

I'm using a Cable Modem conncted through LAN.

Thanks!

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Janix,

 

You can try the suggestions in the following thread:

 

Blocking all but selected websites

http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsToolsandUtilities/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2068409&SiteID=69

 

Regards,

------------------------------------

Inside Microsoft Exchange 2007 Web Services is off to the printers!

 

The last work on the book is done and it should be publicly available around 11/28.

SMS 2003 to ConfigMgr 2007 Migration Whitepaper Available for Download!

I am pleased to announce that we have just published a whitepaper that provides guidance for customers transitioning from SMS 2003 Patch Management to System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Software Updates Management. The paper was written by Michael Schultz, a Senior Consultant at Microsoft, in coordination with the Configuration Manager Product Team and Writing Team (moi). 

 

You can download the paper from here:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/8/6/d861e149-76f7-4348-89aa-7f3d9777f5ae/Configuration Manager Software Updates Management Guidance - Migration from ITMU.doc

 

Here is a description:

 

While the release of System Center Configuration Manager 2007 has been accompanied by robust functional and procedural product documentation, the integration of WSUS introduced two additional challenges:

¾  Successful migration of SMS 2003 environments to Configuration Manager while maintaining the existing software update levels of service.

¾  Clarifying a dramatic shift in a fundamental process in the minds of experienced SMS 2003 administrators.

 

This whitepaper provides guidance on how to migrate software update management from SMS 2003 to Configuration Manager, how to operate in the transition period while maintaining ongoing software update deployments for both SMS 2003 and Configuration Manager clients, and best practices for managing software updates using Configuration Manager.

 

This document assumes that the reader has experience with both SMS 2003 and the Inventory Tool for Microsoft Updates (ITMU).  Additionally, it is beneficial for the reader to be familiar with the operational processes associated with enterprise software update management. 

 

 

CozyRoc SSIS+ 1.2 Beta 1

It is November 1 and a perfect day to announce Beta 1 of CozyRoc SSIS+ 1.2 library. We have included some really powerful components, which will serve as foundation for other advanced components:

• Package SSIS Connection Manager - Provides access to the current or different package at runtime.
• Data Flow Source SSIS Data Flow Component - Very fast, non-blocking, in-memory data read from another data flow.
• Data Flow Destination SSIS Data Flow Component - Exposes data from a data flow for in-memory read in another data flow.

We will soon blog about the performance of these new components. Our preliminary tests show they match the performance of the raw data file source/destination components, but there is one important difference. Our components do not need to go thru intermediate file write/read step. They are reading/writing in parallel and the process is not sequential as the Microsoft recommended solution for transferring data from one data flow to another. You can try it for yourself by downloading the package.

And don't forget to check the Package SSIS Connection Manager. It makes possible the access of the package object at runtime from other components and tasks. If you miss the ability to access the package object model once upon a time in DTS, you will love this new feature.

And of course the beta is available for download here.

Tell us about the way YOU repackage applications AND be eligible for a prize drawing

Folks,

 

We are trying to understand the motivation and practices behind SMS/SCCM application repackaging. As you know (by reading Ed's post) we have a problem today, which we are trying to remedy. It would be great if you could shed some light on the process you use, and share some information that will help us understand this better.

 

To that end, here are some leading questions. Feel free to diverge from them and post additional information which you deem relevant.

• Why do you repackage applications?
• What rules/best practices do you follow when repackaging an application?
• What parameters do you modify when you repackage applications (e.g. ARP, MSI Code, title etc.)?
• Looking at all the packages you have, how many are repackages (%)?
• How often do you repackage applications (# of new packages per week/month)?
• If you had a way of manually categorizing a repackaged application within SCCM (let's say via UI) and that manual tag would be reflected in reports, would that be an acceptable solution to this problem?
• If you have SMS 2003 SP3 or if you are test SCCM '07 RTM --what % of applications appear as uncategorized and how many of those are repackaged? (This can be an actual number of %)

I'd like for us to have a discussion around this topic. We'll start with you sharing this information and then we will discuss possible solutions, with pro/con analysis and get your feedback on it.

 

I think it will be an interesting thread :-)

 

We are looking forward to reading your responses,

 

Reply:

Folks,

 

To make things more interesting and a bit more lively, let's have a little competition here.

 

We'll offer a prize to one of the first 10 people to post answers to the questions above. This means that we'll randomly select one individual out of the first ten and send him/her a nice 1 GB USB memory stick with a Microsoft logo.

 

Given that one of the ten will win, the odds are pretty good :-) and the information will help us ship a better product. So don't be bashful, take a few moments to think about the question and then post a response. As soon as we have 10 posts, we'll draw a name and post a note for the winner to follow-up with us for shipping details.

 

Looking forward to reading the responses and sending out the prize,

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

OK, since no one seems to be answering, I'll take a stab:

• Why do you repackage applications?
  We try *not* to repackage applications as much as possible, because we found the repackaged applications tend to be quite "brittle" - deployment and re-deployment success rates are lower than the solution we use most often: we edit the MSI database (we use InstallShield AdminStudio, but VS Orcas would probably work too). Answering your question ("why"): to enforce standard naming conventions (for the Add/Remove Programs name), to set default values that make more sense in our environment, set license keys, suppress reboots (we prefer letting SMS control the reboots), turning off "customer experience"/auto-update/EULA display, removing crazy stuff the developers put in that can cause problems (such as custom actions in the MSI), etc. Yes, a lot of this could also be done with an MST, but why bother? The work is the same and I don't have to worry about some tech double-clicking the MSI and forgetting there is an MST that goes with it. When an application install comes as an EXE, generally we can extract the MSI from it and do all that.
  
• What rules/best practices do you follow when repackaging an application?
  We don't, but in editing the MSI, rule #1 is "no custom actions". We always try to enforce naming conventions that make asset tracking and reporting easier, and we have a formal document that outlines the guidelines that internal/contracted developers must adhere to. Before deploying anything with SMS, we QA it to make sure the guidelines are adhered to.
  
• What parameters do you modify when you repackage applications (e.g. ARP, MSI Code, title etc.)?
  It varies, but, as I mentioned before, we remove custom actions, we change the Add/Remove Programs title, we change the licensed user/organization to a standard value, apply volume license keys.
  
• Looking at all the packages you have, how many are repackages (%)?
  I'd say less than 5%.
  
• How often do you repackage applications (# of new packages per week/month)?
  We have about 2,000 packages, and we do maybe 10-20/month, although it varies a lot. A business unit migrating to Vista, for instance, would cause more than 100 packages to be produced in that month.
  
• If you had a way of manually categorizing a repackaged application within SCCM (let's say via UI) and that manual tag would be reflected in reports, would that be an acceptable solution to this problem?
  Absolutely not! I have chills down my spine just by thinking of the labour cost!
   I'd suggest the cleanest solution would be to use the software (MSI) ID to, since it does not change if the title is changed and it could be plugged into the MSI in the case of a repackage, instead of a hash that can change easily. Failing that, I'd prefer a tag that clients would need to add to the MSI of repackaged applications and would point back to the original application in the Asset Intelligence catalogue. My rationale is that the repackager knows the application; the SMS/ConfigMgr administrator may not. These two groups by the way may be in entirely different parts of the organization, or even different organizations, in case of outsourcing. I believe the role of SMS/ConfigMgr is to be the enabler, the platform. But identification of each application should be owned by the MSI.
  
• If you have SMS 2003 SP3 or if you are test SCCM '07 RTM --what % of applications appear as uncategorized and how many of those are repackaged? (This can be an actual number of %)
  That report does not come out of the box (hint: future enhancement)! Under v_GS_INSTALLED_SOFTWARE_CATEGORIZED, we have 13,036 Normalized Products. Of these, 2,370 are uncategorized and 7,640 are unidentified.
  
  I hope that helps!
  
  Bernard

------------------------------------
Reply:

Bernard, this certainly helps - thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

 

Please send your contact and mailing information to 15beta@microsoft.com and I'll send you a pretty Microsoft USB key :-)

------------------------------------
Reply:

Dan,
The email bounced!

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification

Delivery to the following recipient failed permanently:

    15beta@microsoft.com

Technical details of permanent failure:
PERM_FAILURE: SMTP Error (state 13): 550 5.1.1 User unknown

------------------------------------
Reply:

I assume a spam filter kicked-in. Can you give me an email address? I'll ping you directly and delete the post with your address.

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

Got it. I'll mail you shortly.

 

------------------------------------

Hi I'm new to the forum

Hey everyone,

I am brand new to this forum and I just wanted to pass through and say hello to everyone.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!
David

Bye Steady State

I am sorry, but unless the chunky load times are reduced we are ditching SS.  I understand why it is going slow, but this is a decesion made by my Mgr's.

Reply:

Hi Texkonc,

 

Just for your information, the new version, Windows SteadyState 2.5 beta will be released soon. It will fix the slow logon issue, and Vista support will also be added. Please feel free to try it if you have interest.

 

Regards,

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Shawn,

 

do you already know what is responsible for the slow logon? Is it an internal SteadyState error?

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi,

 

This is a known issue after installation of Steadystate. SteadyState Service will take a long time to start. Please see these threads:

 

http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsToolsandUtilities/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1792708&SiteID=69

http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsToolsandUtilities/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1798447&SiteID=69

http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsToolsandUtilities/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1806565&SiteID=69

http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsToolsandUtilities/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1853779&SiteID=69

 

Regards,

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Shawn

 

I have tried a workaround that reduced the logon time with 90 seconds.

 

I have set the "Windows SteadyState Service" to manual startup, then made a registry entry under  
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] that starts the service.

 

Do you se a problem with this?

 

Thanks

Kristian

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Kristian,

 

This service is responsible for many features of SteadyState. It's not recommended to make changes to it. For more information about this service, you can refer to the following thread:

 

Possible Workaround? for Slow Boot (Windows SteadyState Service hung)

http://forums.microsoft.com/WindowsToolsandUtilities/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2300751&SiteID=69

 

Best Regards,

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Shawn

 

I am aware of the importance of the service and its responsibilities as you describe, thats why I am trying to find a workaround so I can have both decent logon time and the benefits the service provide.

 

My logon time (from power on) with the service set to Automatic startup is 3 min. 45 sec. with my workarround it is 2 min. 15 sec. but I am not sure which functions the service provide won´t work when the service is started after the user is logged on. Referring to your answer to Mirandra I assume number 6 and 7? The functions I need is number 1, 2, 3 and 4.

 

I have tried the possible solution you refer to, but the wscsvc service (Security Center service) is a dynamic service which only starts when needed, that means the SteadyState service doesn`t start, well - not on the machines I tested.

 

I also tried the suggested solution with cleanboot, but as far as I can see, this set the SteadyState service to Disable.

 

Restrictions are configured  through Group Policy.

 

The short question is, do you think functions 1, 2, 3 and 4 will work using my workarround? I know you cant garantie but I would like your opinion.

 

Thanks,

Kristian

 

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Kristian,

 

Although everything works in my test, please understand that this method is not recommended. You can keep the current status and continue monitoring it. If problem is encountered, please post here for further discussion.

 

Regards,

------------------------------------

IE7 Has stopped working with OmniPageSE in Vista Home Premium

 

Warning!

 

IE7 refused to start with the titled indecipherapble message.  Searching this forum found a similar problem with SharePoint, whatever that is.  In the forum people mentioned having similar problems with OmniPage.  So did I.  Uninstalling it seems to have fixed things.

 

Two other points...

1) I installed OmniPage as part of my Canon Pixma 650 package.  Vista DID WARN me that there were unstated compatability issues.  I plunged ahead.  Don't!

 

2) I tried to find an IE7 download site, and Microsofts doesn't seem to know about Vista!

The download site: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx

gives several operating system options, but no Vista options.  Probably just as well, as if I'd not had this conundrum, I wouldn't have stumbled upon this forum and the real answer to my problem.

 

 

Vista sure is Touchy!

 

Good luck.

Reply:

Same here. I installed it on one system (Vista) and suddenly IE7 wouldn't work. Befuddled, I moved to the next computer in the office and installed it there, same results. Uninstalling OmniPage Pro 12 took care of the issue.

 

One day I might come to like Vista. I love the email program in Vista.  But the rest of it seems more aggravation and video slowdown than necessary.

------------------------------------

Got A Fix

 

Ok took a LONG time searching Microsoft's forums but I found it. The Winsock got screwed up. The fix is as follows incase anyone else has this issue.
 
1.  Click Start , type cmd in the Start Search text box, and then
press ENTER.
2.  Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
netsh winsock reset
3.  Restart the computer.""
 
NOTE: Must use cmd as admin

 

Hope this can help someone. After a bit of searching I found the problem many times but only one post with a solution that does not involve a clean install of Vista.

Reply:

So what was the problem that you were having?

------------------------------------

Probably BUG on Dependency tool

In SQL SERVER 2005 SP2 the dependency tool seem to work bad on view declared as the follow one:

SELECT QUERY1

 

UNION

 

SELECT QUERY2

 

The problem can be fixed rewriting the view as

 

SELECT QUERY1

UNION

SELECT QUERY2

 

Simone

WARNING ANOTHER KB UPDATE FOR VISTA x64

WARNING, Microsoft released another update!

 

At this moment in time we have 3 updates for Vista Ultimate x64:

KB932596, KB938979, KB941649

 

If you have one of them installed the: bcdedit -set loadoptions "DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS" function wil, stop functioning.

In other words, it will be impossible to load unsigned drivers.

 

Many people have problems and even internet connections, firewall programs like Peerguardian (freeware) will not function.

 

As programmer to be able to make a program that uses drivers, you must get them signed at Microsoft. This costs money.

 

It is of course a way of unfair business, by Microsoft. It is unreasonable to demand mony for a freware program for example.

 

If you don't want problems, and want to use unsigned drivers. Remove the mentioned updates.

 

ANOTHER DANGER:

Microsoft has plans to include these updates in Vista SP1, if Microsoft does this many people will be unable to use their programs. And even connect to the internet, with teir trusted firewall applications like for example Peerguardian.

 

Also:

It damages technological advance, if you are a programmer how can you write a new driver? Get your BETA builds signed??? It is insanity on the part of Microsoft.

 

Complain NOW!

 

In my opinion Microsoft should fire the guy, most responsible for these updates. Un do them, and defenetly not include them in SP1.

 

If they don't, they probably will get another million dollar fine by EU commisioner Nellie Kroes. Deserved this time I think!

 

 

Kindest regards,

 

 

Uncle X(NL)

November updates to The Configuration Manager Documentation Library

The Configuration Manager Documentation Library on TechNet has been updated for November.  Many of the updates were added directly in response to customer requests and comments and questions that we saw here.

 

For a list of the new or updated topics, see "What's New in the Configuration Manager Documentation Library for November 2007" (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb892811.aspx). New and updated topics also say "Topic last updated—November 2007" so if you see a conflict with a previous version, trust the later date.

 

Discussions about a printable format are underway but no news there.

 

An updated November chm is still in the works but not available at this time. We'll keep you posted when we have that ready to download.

 

As always, we welcome your feedback and discussion about the documentation in the Documentation forum.

 

 

 

Step-by-Step guide for "How to Install a Configuration Manager 2007 Primary Site Using Custom Setup"

Hi,

I just created a Step-by-Step guide for "How to Install a Configuration Manager 2007 Primary Site Using Custom Setup" uploaded to below link...Welcome your feedback on any corrections or additions...

http://cid-8092d81ddc784c66.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Configuration%20Manager%202007%20|5SCCM|6

Thanks

Shaminda

Reply:

Gee, a lot like http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb633203.aspx, but with pictures!

 

 

------------------------------------

BizTalk - Data-driven application host server (?)

Now the BizTalk is recognized and advertized mostly as an Integration server.

 

There is an architectural pattern for using BizTalk. It is used:
* as an integration engine, as an integration layer between applications (usually and as a data transformation layer);
* for the workflow applications (including the long-running workflows);
* as a host for Business Rule Engine applications.

I think the BizTalk Server is more then that.
 
Let's think of BizTalk Server as a generic Application Server.
Now we have the Windows Server OS as an Application Server. We have the IIS as the Application Server.
Windows can host the standalone applications and Windows service applications. We can start the applications by hand, schedule its start by the Scheduled Task utility, setup the special developed applications as the Windows Services.
IIS hosts the Web applications.
 
Let's look at the BizTalk Server as a generic Application Server. Application Server for our usual standalone applications.

The .NET applications can easily start from the Expression shape of the simple Orchestration. There is little redundancy in development.

What the advantages we have using the BizTalk as an Application Server for standalone applications?
 
Data-driven applications:
Somewhere in the system the data appears. It can be a new file copied in a folder, new file received by FTP, new data in SQL database, new messages in the message queue, new data in the SAP/R3 application, new e-mail. Those data triggered the BizTalk application.
Data is appeared and this starts the appropriate application.
Say a hundred new files appears in the folder (or a hundred rows appeared in the SQL database). And this starts a hundred appropriated applications to concurrently process this data.
This is not easy to implement this data-driven application management in the usual standalone application.
BizTalk implements many transport and application adapters to transfer data to/from BizTalk applications, like File, FTP, MSMQ, SAP/R3, JD Edwards, etc.
 
Long-running applications; data correlations:
Say our application sent data to the remote partner then after several minutes or days the partner modified data and sent it back.  How can we facilitate the application to wait this response? How can the application survive the server restarts? How can we facilitate the situation when thousand applications are waiting the  responses and flooding the server memory? How can we correlate the response data with appropriate application?
BizTalk by design works all these cases.
 
Scaling up and scaling out:
Having BizTalk as an Application Server the developers can redesign the architecture from big, monolithic application to the small, isolated business-unit application set. BizTalk helps to transfer data between those small applications, helps to correlate data. This ways to high scalable application. Moreover the BizTalk has the intrinsic functionality to manage the high availability and high performance requirements by the special host mechanism.
 
Yes, it's true that the data-driven applications get the well-organized data which definitely is the output from other applications. Is that mean we've returned to the point where we have gone because it means the old paradigm, the integration level where the BizTalk always was positioned?
The integration tool is the intermediate level tool. It is not the self-independent tool.
But seems the BizTalk is the self-independent Application Server for our usual standalone applications.

  
Regards,

OpsMgr SP1 RC (ROM)

 

Hi all,

 

I've just had a look at the release notes etc. for SP1 RC, and was wondering about any possible caveats in upgrading the RMS to SP1, given the fact that the SCE servers in gateway mode will be pre-SP1?  I'll post in the SCE NG regarding SP1 for SCE...

 

Thanks,

 

Eugene

Reply:

 

Hi Eugene,

 

Just found you have another duplicated issue posted at "System Center Essentials - General" :

 

OpsMgrSP1 RC?

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=2373488&SiteID=17

 

Therefore, I will mark this thread and lock it. Thank you.

 

At the same time, here is a RMS related document for your reference:

 

Microsoft's Remote Managed Services Solution for Partners

http://download.microsoft.com/download/d/c/f/dcfdca55-1316-4ebb-8dd1-901cf73e7533/managed%20services%20overview(v3).doc

 

 

Sincerely,

Robbin Meng

Microsoft Online Community Support

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

 

Thanks. That seems to have answered the SCE issue, what I am still worried about is the impact of SP1 RC on a ROM env, such as what we have setup at the moment.

 

If we cannot upgrade SCE to SP1, then I assume asap we need to upgrade the OpsMgr gateway servers we have downstream?

 

(I realise this is not for a production env as yet, but need to plan ahead)

 

E

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hello Eugene,

 

So far, I have not been confirmed that SCE in "Service Provider" mode will be OK with the RMS running SP1 RC or eventually SP1 RTMv version. I am still researching on this issue.

 

Regarding upgrading SCE to SP1, personally, I think SCE SP1 should be released in the first half of year 2008. So far, we have not the list of the hotfixes which will be included into SP1. Also, I agree that we test SP1 in your test computers first, not for a production environment.

 

Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Robbin Meng
Microsoft Online Community Support

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

 

Thanks for the reply!

I would appreciate some feedback on the "SP" mode compatibility (don't mind testing it, but if I can save a few hours that would be welcome!). It is in any case something I imagine the ROM team would need to clarify, as there are partners like is deploying in increasing numbers.

 

Regards,

 

Eugene

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Eugene，

 

Regarding the compatibility of incoming SP1, this issue is still under research and discussion. I will keep you updated on this thread.

At the same time, if you have any feedback, please feel free to share it with us here. Thanks again for your time and efforts.

 

Sincerely,

Robbin Meng

Microsoft Online Community Support

------------------------------------

please help me in terminal service in windows vista ultimate

 

dear all,

 

 i have one vista ultimate pc and number of vista business pcs, now i can't access one server from my pc but i can access other servers and vista business pcs can access all server .

 

can any one help me??

 

thanks,

Reply:

Hi,
 
From your post, I understand that a Vista ultimate machine cannot terminal to a specific server (we call it "fail" server.).

To further analysis the issue, please help to confirm the following points: 

1. Is it a domain or workgroup environment?
2. Is there any differences between the "work" servers and "fail" server? Such as the OS version, network segment.
3. Is the "fail" server running Application Mode or Remote Administrative mode?
4. Please capture the error message to me when the Vista ultimate machine cannot terminal to the "fail" server.

Sincerely,

 

Joson Zhou

Microsoft Online Community Support

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

 

Hi,

 

As this thread has been quiet for a while we will be changing the issue type to 'Comment'.

 

If you wish to return to this question you can go ahead and change the type back to 'Question'. Then you can edit your initial post and change the radio button at the top of the post editor window.

 

If the issue has been resolved, we'd love to hear your solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems.

 

Thanks!

 

Sincerely,

Joson Zhou

Microsoft Online Community Support

------------------------------------

network problem

 

my computer cant connect to another computer in our house the other computer can access this one but this just comes up with network diagnostics which doesnt know wots wrong trying to have a battle on starcraft

Reply:

Hi Sativa,

 

Please understand that we have not enough information about how starcraft works, but I will try my best to check if it is a networking issue.

 

Before we go further, I would like to confirm the following points with you:

1.    Are all computers running Windows Vista?

2.    Can the problematic computer access share folder on the other computers?

3.    Does it work if you turn off the firewall on all computers?

 

Sincerely,

 

Joson Zhou

Microsoft Online Community Support

 

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Sativa,

 

As this thread has been quiet for a while we will be changing the issue type to 'Comment'.

 

If you wish to return to this question you can go ahead and change the type back to 'Question'. Then you can edit your initial post and change the radio button at the top of the post editor window.

 

If the issue has been resolved, we'd love to hear your solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems.

 

Thanks!

 

Sincerely,

Joson Zhou

Microsoft Online Community Support

 

------------------------------------

Windows Vista laptop and 2000 Server Environment

I got a new Vista Business laptop and am trying to add a network share to the Windows 2000 domain cotroller.  I enter the path to the resources and click connect, but have no luck seeing the 2000 server.  I can ping the domain controller.  When I try to add this to the domain, it can't find the DC either.  Is there anything special I need to do for Vista to talk to 2000 server?

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Dirk

Reply:

 

Hi Dirk,

 

Do you mean there is a share folder but it fails to add to the Windows 2000 Active Directory? Or there is share folder on Windows 2000 Domain Controller, but it fails to be accessed on the Vista laptop?

 

For further analysis, please provide the following information:

 

1. Does the Vista join the domain?
2. Is the Vista using wireless or wired network to connect DC?

  

Sincerely,

 

Joson Zhou

Microsoft Online Community Support

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Dirk,

 

As this thread has been quiet for a while we will be changing the issue type to 'Comment'.

 

If you wish to return to this question you can go ahead and change the type back to 'Question'. Then you can edit your initial post and change the radio button at the top of the post editor window.

 

If the issue has been resolved, we'd love to hear your solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems.

 

Thanks!

 

Sincerely,

 

Joson Zhou

Microsoft Online Community Support

------------------------------------

Remote Console logon Failure

 

Having trouble logging in remotely using the SCE console.  I think the reason is the same as the reporting issue fixed in the hotrollup.

 

The computer on which you try to install Essentials 2007 has a NetBIOS domain name that does not match the first part of the FQDN of the domain. For example, the NetBIOS domain name is CONTOSO-XYZ. However, the domain is named contoso.com instead of contoso-xyz.com.

 

Now the HotRollUp fix fixed the installation on the server.  I don't want to sit in the server room in the cold but would rather use the SCE console on my laptop at the comfort of my desk, it installs ok, but I cannot connect to the server as it doesn't like my credentials.  The domain is setup as above which I think is the issue.

 

I cannot run the hotrollup on the client as it says SCE is not installed, anyone else come across this?

 

Reply:

 

The remote console does not require any hotfix.

 

Please validate that the certificates from the SCE Server install directory "Certificates" folder have been imported to the Trusted Root Authorities store on the remote UI machine.  Also, the WSUSCodeSigningCert.cer should be imported to the Third Party Publishers and Third Party Trusted Root authorities stores.

 

Also, ensure you give the FQDN of the SCE Server when trying to connect to the remote machine, and you are logged in as a user which is an administrator on the SCE server.

 

If this still fails, please post the error the console gives in this thread to help narrow the problem.

------------------------------------
Reply:

Still no luck where can I dump some screen shots?

------------------------------------
Reply:

Please use the following post to send info to the SCE team for review:

http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1680389&SiteID=17

 

Also, if the console is giving an error message that expands, you should be able to copy the internal text and post it here.

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Richard,

 

As this thread has been quiet for a while we will be changing the issue type to 'Comment'.

 

If you wish to return to this question you can go ahead and change the type back to 'Question'. Then you can edit your initial post and change the radio button at the top of the post editor window.

 

If the issue has been resolved, we'd love to hear your solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems.

 

Thanks!
-----------------------------
Sincerely,
Guozhen Wang
Microsoft Online Community Support

------------------------------------

Microsoft Deployment - Replaces BDD 2007

For those who do not know, BDD 2007 has been replaced/updated with Windows Deployment.

It is similar to BDD 2007, but upgraded with additional features and more in line with Enterprise deployment tools from MS.

 

Download it Here

 

 

Ideas

I have noticede that pople are stating tu use the server O/S as a personal sistem instead of the original products designed for their PC. Because of that I have been thinking that the self upgrade and update of their sistems should be more friendly. For example:

People that have two different internet providers have trouble seting up bridges betwen multiple LAN conecctions,  as well as creating multiple conecctions between two or more computers. Creating utilitary programs for such porpouses might be a good idea.
Something else that has come to my attention is that in small enerpricess when there is a sistem failure to restore it takes longer than it could. All recent sistems have backups for restoring the operation sistem When it would be easier to have a full sistem back up that restarts inmediatly the O/S from  a  diferent  location or hardware. It is easier to start working with the same software with the same actualizations than to restore the old one. To have an executable back up sistem that is totaly independent from the data back up might create a solution even for individul users.
Whith the constant increase of new and better hardware and requirements of softwares to work properly a future solution might be to see a CPU as a single componento of a larger computer. A cheaper solution for the future is not only to increase the performance of the computers by updating the hard ware only. By findig a way to easily fusion more than one CPU for a single program...
The TCP/IP protocols and setings should be something that can be individulay modified, I mean even to the point of modifying the registry values.
(if some one reads this please understand that spanish is my native lenguage) And now that is night time I have to stop day dreaming. Thank You.
 

NOLOCK/ROWLOCK (good or bad guys?)

Reading about avoiding deadlocks in SQL, I have found different opnions about whether using or not NOLOCK/ROWLOCK hints on SELECT/UPDATE/DELETE statements. I have several applications executing transactions on the same databases and tables, including inserts, updates and deletes. I wonder if by using NOLOCK/ROWLOCK I could decrease the chances of having deadlocks. At least using ROWLOCK on my update statements?.  I just need some advice here.

 

Regards.

 

 

Reply:

Well, the advice kind of depends on the need and type of environment you are working in.  You would want to utilize locks if Dirty Reads are absolutely unacceptable, but remember that if you are utilizing a lock on an update that you are actually putting 2 locks in place, one for the delete and another for the insert.  Utilizing rowlocks can help preserve data integrity, but can also cost data access, and the wrong implementation can easily cause Deadlocks, which is what it seems you are trying to prevent.

 

-Jay Soares

------------------------------------
Reply:

A lot depends on why you are having deadlocks.  Rowlock is almost certainly going to do the same things as you are seeing now.  Nolock is just insane in my mind, unless the data is just for a quick overview.  Reading in dirty data as good data makes your programs far less supportable.

 

I don't know your skill level, so this may seem condescending, so forgive me, but before applying real brain power to a broad problem like this, there are a few things to ask:

 

1.  Do your UPDATE and DELETE statements work of Primary or Unique constraints?  Or at the very least well indexed columns, if doing multiple rows?  If the statement doesn't use an index, it will do a table scan, locking more of the table than you probabably want (even the entire table.)  Rowlock would possibly help here, but it would essentially just take longer.

 

2.  How many concurrent users are we talking about.  A few, or hundreds? 

 

3.  How many statements are usually involved in your transactions that deadlock?  Single statements?  Or multiples in a transaction?

 

Once you have done all that you can to avoid deadlocks, the best thing to do is to handle them, by having the application "try again" when that error message is seen.  If you have your calls neatly tied up in transactions, this is easy.  If you are doing multiple statements outside of a transaction, it can be less easy.  But in each case, if you can isolate the transaction that deadlocked, retrying should be easy enough.

------------------------------------

Thanks

Thank You So Much I Was Thinking Of That To

Printer attached to print server

 

Hello,

 

I am currently having a problem getting a printer to work on a machine that I've installed Windows SteadyState on.

 

• I've installed SteadyState on a machine that logs into itself (not a domain). 
• The printer that I wish to map to has a static IP and is managed through a print server that is on our domain. 
• I have mapped to the printer using \\print_server_name\printer_name and printed a test page which worked.
• After ensuring the printer was configured I began to configure the SteadyState restrictions.
  • I've left the Prevent users from add / remove printers option unchecked.
  • I've also left the Remove printers icon unchecked
• When I enable the SteadyState settings I am unable to print and I receive an error message basically telling me that it is having issues finding the printer. 

Is there a setting somewhere that I've over looked?  If anyone has any ideas or requires further information I'd be pleased to hear / provide any additional details.

 

Chris Maddeaux

Reply:

Hi Chris,

 

First of all, please let me know the exact error message and the background infomation if there is.

 

I suggest we change the restriction level of SteadyState to check this issue: Firstly, you can create a new user profile with "No restrictions". If you can print, we can change its level to "Low restrictions"

 

…

 

Until the issue reoccurs, we can compare the differences between two levels and find the root cause gradually.

 

Best Regards,

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hello and sorry for the delay in responding. 

 

The error is as follows:

 

Windows cannot print due to a problem with the current printer setup.

Try one or more of the following:

* Check the printer by printing a test page from Windows.

* Make sure the printer is turned on and online.

* Reinstall the printer driver.

I will reset the security settings and work my way up from low and see if the error still occurs.

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi Chris,

 

Thank you for your feedback.

 

Usually, security warning/error will be received if the issue is caused by restrictions. Thus, the above error may not be caused by SteadyState. If the issue persists when No Restriction is configured, you may need to obtain further assistance from Windows XP Hardware newsgroup, or the Hardware manufacturer:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/default.aspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware

 

The reason why we recommend posting appropriately is you will get the most qualified pool of respondents, and other customers who read the newsgroups regularly can either share their knowledge or learn from your interaction with us.  Thank you for your understanding.

 

Regards,

------------------------------------

Server Manager update for WSUS 3.0 SP1 available for download

Server Manager is a new feature in Windows Server 2008 that guides administrators through the process of installing, configuring, and managing Windows Server 2008 roles and features. In addition to roles and features that are included with Windows Server 2008 by default, Server Manager enables integration of additional roles and features that are available on the Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update Web sites as optional updates to Windows Server 2008. One role that will be available as an update is Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 (WSUS 3.0 SP1). An update will also be released that enables full integration of WSUS 3.0 SP1 into Server Manager. This update allows installation, configuration, and management of WSUS 3.0 SP1 by using the Server Manager console and wizards.

 

To test the Server Manager update and obtain customer feedback, Microsoft offers a four-week Beta program for this update, starting November 2, 2007 on the Microsoft Connect site. By participating in the Beta program, you have the opportunity to try the new WSUS 3.0 SP1 role with full Server Manager integration, and provide feedback directly to the Server Manager teams. If you are interested in participating, the download is available at http://connect.microsoft.com/windows/Downloads/DownloadDetails.aspx?DownloadID=9315. For more information or questions, please contact smcpe@microsoft.com.

Exposing a Connected Property on the Data View Web Part (DFWP) to pass in CAML Queries

Hey folks, I wrote up a little blog post on how to get properties into the SelectCommand on the SPDataSource in a data view web part.

The Data Form Web Part (called Data View in SharePoint Designer) is a very versatile web part. While offering an XSLT transform for layout purposes, there are various features such as sorting, filtering and paging. However, when it comes to content management, all of the configuration is in the page layout which requires interaction with SharePoint Designer. This makes it difficult for a content editor to configure things such as filtering from the browser.

 

However, using connections and filters can really enhance the data source of the Data Form Web Part. I've published a technique here that will help you either pass in variables for use in CAML queries in your Data Form Web Part or allow you to pass in entire CAML strings through web part connections!

 

Check it out here:

http://calehoopes.blogspot.com/2007/10/exposing-connected-property-on-data.html

Cale Hoopes
caleh@ascentium.com
http://calehoopes.blogspot.com

Configuring MOSS as a Search Appliance with Keywords and Best Bets against a non-MOSS source

Hey folks, I solved my problems around MOSS searching of a MCMS site with tuning using best bets and keywords. I posted my approach in my blog.

Hopefully it will help someone out!

http://calehoopes.blogspot.com/2007/11/configuring-moss-as-search-appliance.html

Enjoy!

Cale Hoopes
caleh@ascentium.com
http://calehoope.blogspot.com

Windows Explorer Stopped Working.

 

1.Restart the computer with safe mode with Command Prompt.

2.Open User Accounts Window using command "netplwiz".

3.Create new user account.

4.Then log into new user account.

5.Copy all the files from old user account to New user account.

6.Delete the old user account.

 

Issue is Fixed !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Health service host process error

Hi,

Since yesterday, I always get this error every minutes,

Health Service Host Prcess encountered a problem and needed to close.

This error occured on 11/5/2007 at 10:30:35 AM

Please tell SRV-SCE07_MG about this problem.
We have created an error report that you can send to help us improve
Health Service Host Process. We will treat this report as confidential and anonymous.

I try to find if some services are stop but everything run ok. On this server, I only have Win 2k3 std sp2, SCE 07 et SQL express 05.

It's an IBM X3205 with 4 Gb ram and 75 Gb HDD Raid 1.

Thx for your help !

David

Reply:

 

Would you check the Operations Manager Event Log on the affected host and let us know if you see any error messages there that may give us some insight into root cause?

------------------------------------
Reply:

i don't know if those information are ok....

OpsMgr Connector
Failed to store data in the Data Warehouse.
Exception 'SqlException': Sql execution failed. Error 777971002, Level 13, State 1, Procedure AemEventProcessStaging, Line 313, Message: Sql execution failed. Error 1205, Level 13, State 51, Procedure AemEventProcessStaging, Line 222, Message: Transaction (Process ID 117) was deadlocked on lock resources with another process and has been chosen as the deadlock victim. Rerun the transaction.

One or more workflows were affected by this. 

Workflow name: Microsoft.SystemCenter.DataWarehouse.StandardDataSetMaintenance
Instance name: Client Monitoring data set
Instance ID: {1954C50F-063E-ED80-9037-A11D009788A2}
Management group: SRV-SCE07_MG

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

HealthService
The constructor for the managed module type "Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.Mom.DatabaseQueryModules.GroupCalculationModule" threw an exception. This module was running in rule "Microsoft.SystemCenter.WindowsComputer.IPSubnet.PopulateGroup" running for instance "127.0.0.0" with id:"{A1BD10CC-9996-26E1-65A0-8215A58F5B2B}" in management group "SRV-SCE07_MG".  The exception text is: Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.Mom.DatabaseQueryModules.InvalidDatabaseQueryModuleConfigurationException: RelationshipTypeId = 6068f699-56a0-8ce1-f625-701a148a219b
   at Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.Mom.DatabaseQueryModules.MembershipSubscription.ValidateRelationshipType(Guid relationshipTypeId, Guid sourceManagedTypeId, Guid targetManagedTypeId)
   at Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.Mom.DatabaseQueryModules.MembershipSubscription.Create(IXPathNavigable configurationXml, RelationshipQueryResultMethod relationshipQueryResultMethod, NotifyFatalErrorMethod notifyFatalErrorMethod)
   at Microsoft.EnterpriseManagement.Mom.DatabaseQueryModules.GroupCalculationModule..ctor(ModuleHost`1 moduleHost, XmlReader configuration, Byte[] previousState)

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi,

 

I had performed some search on the event logs which you mentioned in your previous post. And it seems not related to health service failure.

 

So could you please help to save the Operations Manager section to *.evt files and capture screen shots of the related symptoms( the "Health Service Host Prcess encountered a problem and needed to close" error message), then send them to scedata@microsoft.com .

 

Note:

Please include the following three lines in the email body:

 

Health service host process error
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?postid=2371907&siteid=17
Guo-zhen Wang - MSFT

 

Regarding more information about how to send email to SCEDATA@microsoft.com, please refer to:

 

How to send files to the Microsoft SCE team for review
http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1680389&SiteID=17

 

Post a quick note in the current thread after sending the email.

 

Thanks!
-----------------------------
Sincerely,
Guozhen Wang
Microsoft Online Community Support

------------------------------------
Reply:

Hi,

 

As this thread has been quiet for a while we will be changing the issue type to 'Comment'.

 

If you wish to return to this question you can go ahead and change the type back to 'Question'. Then you can edit your initial post and change the radio button at the top of the post editor window.

 

If the issue has been resolved, we'd love to hear your solution. By sharing your experience you can help other community members facing similar problems.

 

Thanks!
-----------------------------
Sincerely,
Guozhen Wang
Microsoft Online Community Support

 

------------------------------------