A. Mikkelsen

Just found this very interesting article http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1013109 describing a problem with Windows 2008 and ESX 4 virtual hardware version 7.

In short the article states that you might have the disks go offline in a Windows 2008 VM if you

• Upgrade virtual hardware from version 4 to 7
• Installing a new VM with virtual hardware 7

There is two ways to get around this (taken from the VMware KB 103109)

————————

• VDS_SP_UNKNOWN = 0x0
• VDS_SP_ONLINE = 0x1
• VDS_SP_OFFLINE_SHARED = 0x2
• VDS_SP_OFFLINE = 0x3

C:\>DISKPART.EXE
DISKPART> san
SAN Policy : Offline Shared

DISKPART> exit

1. Log in to your system as an Administrator.
2. Click Computer Management > Storage > Disk Management.
3. Right-click the disk and choose Online.

Many admins have upgraded to Windows 7 and gotten into problems when trying to install the vSphere Client.

I have found a few guides to do a workaround, but the best guide is found at techhead.co.uk.
http://www.techhead.co.uk/running-vmware-vsphere-client-on-windows-7

Thanks to Kiwi Si.

Last week I upgraded a Virtual Center server from Win2003 & MSSQL 2000 (32-bit) to Win2008 & MSSQL 2005 (64-bit).

During the installation of vCenter it asked for a 32-bit ODBC even though all the new systems was running 64-bit.
After a some time on Google i found that Windows 64-bit also includes a 32-bit version of the ODBC.

To set up a 32-bit DSN launch the 32-bit version of the Data Source Administrator. It is located at:
%systemdrive%\Windows\SysWoW64\Odbcad32.exe

Also se
http://www.vmwarewolf.com/32-bit-odbc-dsn-for-vsphere/

Over the past few months we have seen a few Windows servers with a black screen.
Meaning

• You can’t see the logon promt
• You get a black screen when you connect with RDP

We found that the problem was caused by a change in the Windows color scheme.

The solution is to copy the color scheme from a simular Windows servers registry and add it the VM/server that has the problem using registry to connect to a remote server.

1. On a simular windows server locate “[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Colors]” and export it to a file.
2. Using the same Registry Editor connect to the remote server.
3. Import the registry file just created or change the color scheme manually.
4. Reboote the affected server to change the color scheme.

Default color scheme for a Windows 2003 server.
Default color scheme for a Windows XP.
Default color scheme for a Windows 2000 server.
Default color scheme for a Windows 2008 server.

Finally Microsoft is giving away it’s software for free.
They are starting with SharePoint Designer 2007 (formally Frontpage).
It’s a start and I’m hoping they will keep up the “good work” 🙂

Get it from Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=baa3ad86-bfc1-4bd4-9812-d9e710d44f42

VMware has released a video comparing the two installations.
The video is worth watching

http://www.vmware.com/technology/whyvmware/resources/esxi-hyper-v-installation.html

Today my WSUS stopped working, every time i tried to install a new update it failed.
I googled a bit and found a few guides to get it working.

I have had the best luck with Method 2.

Here is what you need to do:
Method 1:

1. Open a command prompt. (If you don’t know how please contact a technical support person)
2. net stop wuauserv
3. regsvr32 /u wuaueng.dll
4. del C:\WINDOWS\SOFTWAREDISTRIBUTION
5. del C:\WINDOWSUPDATE.log (if this tells you that it is in use just go to the next step).
6. regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
7. net start wuauserv
8. wuauclt.exe /resetauthorization /detectnow

Method 2:

1. Open a command prompt. (If you don’t know how please contact a technical support person)
2. net stop wuauserv
3. regsvr32 %windir%\system32\wups2.dll
4. net start wuauserv

Method 3:

1. Download the relevant version of Windows Update for your system
   AgentWindows, x86-baserede systemer
   http://download.windowsupdate.com/WindowsUpdate/redist/standalone/7.0.6000.381/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe
   Windows, x64-baserede systemer
   http://download.windowsupdate.com/WindowsUpdate/redist/standalone/7.0.6000.381/WindowsUpdateAgent30-x64.exe
   Windows, Itanium-baserede systemer
   http://download.windowsupdate.com/WindowsUpdate/redist/standalone/7.0.6000.381/WindowsUpdateAgent30-ia64.exe
2. From Start -> Run click Browse and browse to wher you downloaded the Windows Update installation.
3. Add the following /wuforce to the end of the path.
   C:\WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe”/wuforce
4. Click OK
5. Follow the installation guide

There you go, you should be able to request Windows Updates and they will download and install as you expect.

See more here
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/943144

Ever wanted a XP installation disc that only had the bare minimum of features and the smalest foot print?
The take a look at nLite and if you a a gamer also take a look at Game XP.

You can find a guide to both Freeware programs here.

Last week I created a new WinXP media including SP3 using nLite.
After installation of a new VM I discovered that the VM boots faster and that the foot print is alot smaller around 1.3 GB.

I will in future use nLite or vLite to trim all my WinXP, WIN2003 server and Vista installation medias with.
This will result in my DR of VM’s will take up less space.

I know disk storage isn’t expencive but I also move the DR to tape 😉

Today, after installing a VM with Windows 2003 ee, SP1 and IIS, I got ‘Service Unavailable’ when i tried to see it the webserver worked as planned.

After quite a bit of googleing, I found a working solution.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899965

1. In Start -> Run type “dcomcnfg”
2. Right Click “IIS Admin Service” under Component Services -> Computers -> My Computer -> DCOM Config
3. Choose “Security”
4. In the section “Launch and Activation Permissions” click “Customize”.
5. Add the local user “Network Service”
6. Set the permission so “Network Service” is allowed to:
   • Local Launch
   • Remote Launch
   • Local Activation
   • Remote Activation
7. Restart the server or restart the WWW service.