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April 2006 - The Random Musings of an IT Consultant.......
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  • You know those pesky Blue Screens?

    Dana Epp has written an excellent article on how to interpret them for fun and for profit http://silverstr.ufies.org/blog/archives/000761.html Next time you get a BSOD this should help you work out the root cause ASAP.

  • Installing SQL reporting Services and getting "SetDialogs" and "error 1603"?

    Just been trying to install SRS on my replacement desktop and was getting an error about SetDialogs and Error 1603. I've installed SRS on an XP SP2 box before with no problems, so a bit puzzled. A hunt around found me this thread: http://sqlforums.windowsitpro.com/web/forum/messageview.aspx?catid=92&threadid=34274&enterthread=y and running aspnet_regiis -i from the %windir%\Microsoft.Net\Framework\v1.1.4322 folder seems to have done the trick. Good old Google The reason I think I had problems this time was because I had IIS installed on this machine so I can run Virtual Server. Previously IIS wasn't installed. Hope this helps someone else.......

  • Remote Assistance - funny how you stumble across things isn't it.......

    One of the groups I read is the MSSMALLBIZ group on Yahoo! Groups...... Someone posted up today on how to offer Remote Assistance. Well, whadya know? This is one of those things I'd never clicked existed in Small Business Server 2003. <fx off>Tut, tut</fx off>. Vlad Mazek (of SBS Show fame) then posted on how he'd been alerted to a really cool way of offering Remote Assistance without having to go to Server Management. He's blogged about it here: http://www.vladville.com/2006/04/neat-way-to-offer-remote-assistance.html (BTW there are some extraneous spaces in the URL on Vlad's site. Remove those otherwise it doesn't work!) Not knowing about Remote Assistance <fx off>Tut, tut</fx off> I hadn't realised you can use it to help some one in a Terminal Server session as well as on a desktop. Is that good or what As I said, funny how you stumble across things isn't it........

  • Sharepoint, metadata and OneNote 2003

    I've just been out and bought myself a Tablet PC. I decided to go for an HP TC4200, but that's another blog post at some point or another. One thing that I have now started using is Microsoft OneNote 2003 so I can scribble notes when on client's sites. I've also found that if you are talking to clients they are less intimidated by it than if you opened your laptop up and started typing away. One thing I wanted to be able to do was upload these OneNote scribblings to my Sharepoint site in a Document Library and at upload time add some metadata to the document entry such as Client, Product or whatever. However I couldn't get it to work I could save the OneNote document to the Sharepoint site (no problem with that) but I couldn't get it to ask me to update the metadata. It works beautifully in Word and Excel, but not in OneNote <sigh> It would appear that it doesn't work in OneNote by design. Yet another one of Microsoft's bizarre design decisions. This document was very helpful in sorting this out: http:/...

  • Microsoft Licencing as Religious Enlightenment.......

    I'm fairly convinced that there only a select few who Truly Understand MS Licencing. These are the High Priests. They are the only ones who are privy to The Inner Secrets. The Prolitatriat and the bog-standard Priesthood (who are on the Licencing Desk or who work for Distributors) are left to struggle on in the dark as best they can. Occassionally a member of the Priesthood or Redmond Forbid one of the Prolitariat have a flash of insight into the inner workings of Licencing. However the feeling of Enlightenment and Well-Being soon dissolves when one the High Priesthood gently explains that it really Isn't Like That At All. Gloom and Despondency then returns to those who are not so Enlightened.......

  • London Small Business IT Pro Group meeting 10th April - SPECIAL GUESTS

    One of the things I do for my sins (many and varied the must be) is lead the London Small Business IT Pro Group. We have a great treat for you all this month! We have two guest speakers this month hot on the heels of their presentations at SMB Nation, Amsterdam. - Karl Palachuk (Sacramento SBS Partner Group leader & author of the “Network Documentation Workbook”) - Matthew Dickerson (one of Australia’s leading SBS partners & rated as #1 in Harry Brelsford's bright blue “Making it Big in Small Business” book covering 15 of the top SBS partners worldwide) Basically, these guys are some of the best SBS partners in the world (up there with Harry Brelsford) & will be giving their time freely as special guests at the London, Thames Valley & Midlands SBS Partner Groups. Perfect opportunity for us to learn from the best (about their business models, not just technical stuff). Both Karl and Matthew are experts in providing Managed Services to their clients as well as having a wealth of experience in running...

  • Connect iPaq to Motorola L6

    Just had to replace my aging (and totally horrible) Sony Ericsson T610 phone when it decided that life was no longer worth living. Basically I traded it's corpse in for the cheapest bluetooth phone the local Orange shop had, a Motorola L6. As I use my iPaq and Outlook Mobile Access to read email whilst I'm out of the office I needed to get the iPaq to talk to Orange GPRS via bluetooth and my phone. Basically the procedure is as follows: 1) Pair the iPaq and the phone. I won't go into that here. Look in the phone and iPaq docs on how to do that. 2) Open the Connections applet (Start, Settings, Connections tab). Click on Connections. 3) Add a new modem connection 4) Choose a meaningful name for the Connection and select "Bluetooth Dialup Modem". Click on next. 5) Enter *99# in the number field. Click on use dialling rules and ensure Use dialling rules is unchecked. 6) Enter "user" and "pass" in the username and password fields (without the quotes). 7) Click on Advanced. Change the baud rate to 57600 and enter the...

  • Hello and welcome.....

    Hi! Welcome to my blog...... I am hoping to use this to drop bits and pieces of information that I come across as I do consultancy work for my SME clients here in Peterborough. Partly so that I can pass those things on to all and sundry, but also somewhere where I can find them when I need them again!! A bit about me...... I run an IT Consultancy in Peterborough, UK working with a wide range of SME companies in the area. Our main focus is on Small Business Server 2003, but we have clients running on a wide range (both in size and age!) of Microsoft platforms. My passion is to see real business benefit come out of my client's investment in IT. Hope you enjoy what you read!

(c)David Overton 2006-23