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[Keith] Welcome to the Mind Of Root. I'm Keith Albright

[Rich] and I'm Rich Niemeier.

[Keith] This is Episode 51 recorded on May 13th, 2008.

Chit-Chat - What's going on with you?

[Rich]

  • Have encountered alot of viruses lately. Is it malware or true old fashion viruses.

[Keith]

Housekeeping Items

[Rich]

[Keith]

  • Got the right date this week. Sorry about last week. It wasn't worth the effort to edit.
  • Logo contest is currently running. Submit your entries to Contest[at] MindOfRoot.com
  • Steve will be back next week. Then I will be out for the next week. Heading down to Florida on Vacation.

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  • Device Driver Management
-I have a server that must have had a tape drive connected at one point. When you boot, it tells you the DLLTAPE-VRTS driver failed to load. Unlike NT where hardware drivers and software services were listed together under services, you can't see and control these drivers through the services MMC.
-You can see the service information (name, startup type, etc) if you launch the WINMSD utility and look under 'Software Environment -> System Drivers', however you can't control them.
-NET command at command line is aware of them, NET START ADPU160M yields 'Service already started'. But NET STOP ADPU160M yields 'request not valid for this service'
-Enter ServiWin?. It let you control your drivers and services both locally and remotely. Obviously care and caution is required. I was able to disable the erroneous driver and no longer get the error.
-ServiWin? is CLI friendly so you can script your actions as well. It has a very 'Sysinternal' feel to it.
-Link: http://nirsoft.net/utils/serviwin.html http://shrinkster.com/y1s
  • More on XP SP3? problems
-The current spate of reports surround PC's going into an endless reboot cycle after installing SP3?.
-Isolated to AMD-based machines that have most likely been imaged with a sysprep image created on an Intel processor-based machine. In this case, the Power-Management intelppm.sys driver is enabled and loaded even though the correct driver for AMD is amdk8.sys. The presence of this driver on reboot is causing the problem. Hey, did I mention a handy driver disable utility yet.
-You may have this scenario and not even know it. Apparently HP used this method to build their images for PC they shipped (despite Microsoft stating it was not supported).So, if you have an HP, you could encounter this.
-It appears that if you have an AMD system, youcan get around this problem by disabling this driver prior to applying the service pack and you should be OK. I haven't tested this, but if this is truly the cause, it should be a work-around.
-Link: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9084418&intsrc=hm_list http://shrinkster.com/y1t
-Link: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9084938&intsrc=hm_list http://shrinkster.com/y1u
  • Domain Upgrade FSMO role transfer
-I have my two new dedicated DC's built and promoted. Next step is to start transferring the AD FSMO roles to them. Flexible Single Operations Master (FSMO rolls better than FSOM). Reference a couple articles at Microsoft below.
-Infrastructure should not be on same server as Global Catalog.....except in certain situations.
-RID and PDC should be on same server
-I confirmed everything moved with the Active Directory Topology Diagrammer.
-Link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223346/en-us http://shrinkster.com/y1v How to divide up the roles among servers
-Link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324801/en-us http://shrinkster.com/y1w How to perform the transfer
-Link: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cb42fc06-50c7-47ed-a65c-862661742764&DisplayLang=en http://shrinkster.com/y1x Active Directory Topology Diagrammer
  • Compaq Knows Best
-So, when I ordered my servers, I order all rack-mounts except for one. This one-ff I made a tower because it has to accommodate a special Fax board. I wanted to make sue it would fit and it is not a heavy weight app anyway, so a small server would do.
-I get the box and the invoice and as I'm reviewing the invoice, I see an extra 8-port SAS controller. I figure it's gotta be in this one-off build. Sure enough, I open the case and there it is. I call Compaq and they tell me it was added by them because my config wouldn't work as submitted (with my SmartArray? 200 RAID controller) Of course, I'm looking at the cabling done by Compaq and I see they hooked everything up to the RAID controller and the other SAS controller is just sitting there.
-They agree to look into it further and I agree to remove it and stage my server. Server is done, part is on my desk, and Compaq is still waiting for someone internally to tell them why the added a $142 "required" part.
-Link: http://
  • Philly WiFi is dead
-Officially dead as of June 12, 2008. Brought it up since we spoke about it on a previous show. I don't remember if I said I thought it would work...I doubt it. I'm too cynical.
-Link: http://www.philebrity.com/2008/05/13/wifi-interruptus-ugly-details-of-earthlink-pullout-emerge/ http://shrinkster.com/y1y

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Listener Feedback

From listener....Brian Malanowsky who posted a comment on the blog

Question for Keith (Episode 50 - Dancin’ With Myself),

I was wondering if the checklist for your servers that you listed on the show notes were you complete notes. I work for a computer company who installs servers for medium sized businesses and I would like to compare our checklist with yours.

[Keith] That is not my complete list. It was more of an list of the major tasks. The checklist I have covers things in detail. e.g. which specifc services to disable, exact audit settings, etc. I'll need to clean it up but have no problem making it available. I'll get it posted by the end of the week on the blog in case anyone else is interested and I'll send you a link.

[Rich] Just recently spent way to much time dealing with a problem that simply ended being I needed to update symantec backup exec. I have excuses but no real reasons I had not updated the application as a matter of course for setting up the server.

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Website Picks

Rich - http://

Steve - http://

Keith - http://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/ http://shrinkster.com/y1z If you ever need any clarification on something related to a sale or financial transaction, this is your reference. I had to resolve a disagreement between myself and a co-worker when she claimed you could post-date a check. I swore that you couldn't do this as it put a condition or hindrance on the monies. Turns out, you can legally do it. Not that you want to become a lawyer or anything, but it is good to know where you can look these things up.

Last Call

Anyone....Anyone....Buehler.....Buehler....

Closing

All right, well that is it for the show. For listener feedback; you can email us at Feedback [at] mindofroot.com or post a comment on the main site at mindofroot.com. If you use iTunes, you could write a review. If you just want to show us your listening, drop a pin on the Frappr map...there's a link on the show site.

Lastly, you can drop any show ideas or topic requests on the wiki. There is a link to the wiki on the main show site. If you would like to participate in the show; either through an interview, a segment contribution, or any other way, please let us know. We are also a member of the Techpodcast and the Blubrry networks. Check out some other great shows by going to Techpodcast.com and Blubrry.com....That's Blubrry without the E's

Thanks everyone.