Recently, I helped a customer restore a SQL Server 2005 database. The only problem was that the default restore was leaving the database in Standby / Read-only mode. The solution to this problem was really quite simple. After some googling I came across this MSDN Thread.

Basically to restore the database from a backup and put it back into production mode, just run the following SQL query:

RESTORE DATABASE <database_name> FROM <full_backup> WITH RECOVERY;

Happy Database Restoring!

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• Cannot delete file: Access is denied
• There has been a sharing violation.
• The source or destination file may be in use.
• The file is in use by another program or user.
• Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

I found a slick utility today that will help you release the locks on a file and solve this problem without having to reboot your PC. It’s called Unlocker.

The instructions on the Unlocker Site are pretty straightforward. Happy File Unlocking!

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Today and tomorrow only, Codeweavers is offering their products for free! How cool is that? You could run Office with Crossover, but we all know you will be running Team Fortress 2 or World of Warcraft. Happy Gaming!

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If any of you have ever worked with offline folders in Windows, you know how frustrating it is when a server changes or is no longer available and Windows still tries to keep the offline folders synchronized. This is not only annoying for one user, but is extremely annoying in a shared computing environment where multiple users log on to the same PC. This is because offline files stores files for every user that logs on and it tries to synchronize every users’ offline files every time.

When offline files become a burden, there is a simple trick to reset the offline file cache on Windows XP (it is not obvious if you have never done it before). The steps are below:

-You must be logged on as a user with Administrator Rights.

-Open up Windows Explorer by pressing “Windows Key + E” (or by using the myriad of other ways to open Windows Explorer).

-Navigate to Tools -> Folder Options

-Go to the Offline Files tab

-Now hold down “CTRL+SHIFT” and left click on the “Delete Files…” option.

-A confirmation message will appear.

-Click “Yes”

-Click “OK” on the Offline Files option window.

-Reboot your computer.

-Now the offline files cache has been reset and you can start corrupting it again from scratch!

That’s it! Happy file caching!

Technorati Tags: Windows, Offline Files, Networking

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As an IT professional, I often have to use a laptop to test software or services on different subnets where I am working. Some of these subnets do not provide DHCP so that I can obtain an IP Address automagically . I would have to go into the IP settings of the network adapter and change the settings manually when I wanted to talk on a new subnet. This was a pain. Then, I remembered a program called “Netsh.exe” that comes with Windows 2000, XP, and 2003.

I always forget the syntax though. A quick google search landed me on the Petri IT Knowledgebase

Basically, what I ended up doing is this:

-Open up notepad
-Type the following into your blank “.txt” file

netsh interface ip set address name="Adapter Name" static ip mask gateway
Where Adapter Name is the name for your NIC that you want to configure (e.g. “Local Area Connection”), ip is the ip address you want to set, mask is the subnet mask, and gateway is the gateway you want to set.

-Save the text file as a “*.cmd” or “*.bat” file and run it whenever you want to change subnets (just create a *.cmd or *.bat file for each subnet).

That’s it! No more manually setting up your NIC because that just takes way too long .

Technorati Tags: Windows, Automation, Command-Line, Scripting

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I have always said that Windows machines would run perfectly fine if it weren’t for all the software that people install on them . There is some truth to this for some of the especially bloated, sluggish, commercial software that is out there for Windows.

In this post I’m going to let you in on a little secret. You don’t need Norton anti-virus, Adobe Reader, Microsoft Office, QuickTime, or Microsoft Money for most every day computing needs. Before I get comments saying, “Well, you do need Software A because it does a, b, and c that Software B won’t do,” let me say this. The software outlined in this post is good for almost every non-power user need there is. Also, if you are doing advanced computing, chances are you already know that these products exist and you should know if they fit your needs.

So, here we go with the list.

-Avast Home Edition: Replaces “insert horrible, nasty, bloated commercial anti-virus here” Yep, as I have said before- Norton Sucks, McAfee Sucks, Panda Sucks. Viruses Suck, but you have to deal with them as a Windows user. Go to http://www.avast.com and download the free Home Version.

-Foxit Reader: Replaces Adobe Reader. Why would you want to do this? Because Adobe Reader sucks. It sucks the life out of your RAM every time it loads. It is bloated and it slows your computer down. If you need to read a pdf file, go to http://www.foxitsoftware.com and download Foxit Reader. From what I have seen, it works flawlessly and is very fast. The program itself is about 1/10th the size of Adobe Reader. That should tell you something.

-VLC Media Player: Replaces almost all other media players, including QuickTime. Quicktime works as advertised on the MAC. However, on Windows it just pisses me off. An unsuspecting user will install QuickTime with iTunes if they are not careful and uncheck the iTunes box. QuickTime is slow and causes many weird problems on Windows machines. Go to http://www.videolan.org and download VLC Media Player. Install it with the Firefox plugin (you are browsing with Firefox aren’t you?) and watch embedded web video like QuickTime till your heart’s content. It plays stand-alone video and audio files as well.

-OpenOffice Suite: Replaces Microsoft Office. If you just need a little word processing, presentation creating, and spreadsheet magic, then OpenOffice should work. OpenOffice uses less resources than Microsoft Office and it will save in the Microsoft Office formats (.doc, .ppt, .xls). Head over to http://www.openoffice.org and download the latest version of OpenOffice to save yourself some sanity and money.

-Clearcheckbook.com: Replaces Microsoft Money. There are plenty of users out there that use Microsoft Money to balance their checkbook. They don’t do fancy reports. They aren’t forecasting investments for the next fiscal year. They just want to balance their friggin checkbook. Why they torture themselves with Microsoft Money is beyond me. Clearcheckbook.com is the only web application that I am recommending because it is simple, intuitive, and replaces a core function that many users use in Microsoft Money. This site helps you balance your checkbook (plain and simple) by letting you enter in your purchases via the website, Instant Messaging, or even SMS text messaging. Simple is good and this site works great. There are also some more advanced features that are just as easy to use. Head over to http://www.clearcheckbook.com and rid yourself of Microsoft Money.

That’s it! Five simple programs that won’t break the bank (they’re free) or your computer. Have any alternative programs that you like to use? Let me know in the comments.

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Google Query: Login Failure: the target account name is incorrect

This problem had me going for a bit today. As it turns out the answer was simple. Let me set up the scenario for you.

At work we are in the middle of an Active Directory child domain migration (we are migrating our users and computers into a child domain). As part of this domain migration, we are also moving from separate departmental file servers onto a single file server for the building. I had a logon script in place that would disconnect old mapped printers from a client and reconnect new mapped printers so that we could decommission one of the old file servers (a dying behemoth HP that looks like a mini-fridge).

The script worked beautifully except for on two legacy Windows 2000 Professional workstations (the rest are Windows XP). The old printers were not removed and the new printers were not mapped on these machines. So, I proceed to try and run the script manually by going to:
\\script-server\script-share

I get the following message:
Login Failure: the target account name is incorrect

Huh!?! OK, so this sounds like a DNS or WINS problem. I proceed to check both using nslookup and nbtstat. Everything looks normal. I can query the server and get the appropriate IP address. I even flushed both the DNS and NetBIOS cache. Still the same message. Google time.

After searching for “Login Failure: the target account name is incorrect” I came upon a forum entry at experts-exchange that got me thinking in the right direction.

One of the accepted answers said to remove the problem server from the domain and rejoin it. What that does is essentially reset the computer account for that server. So, I got to thinking (dangerous, I know). The server that I was using for the logon script had recently been migrated to the child domain…

What if the old computer account still existed in the parent domain? A quick query in Active Directory confirmed this to be true. AHA! I deleted the account from the parent domain and all was well after that. The two Windows 2000 Professional workstations were able to access the Script server share.

The only thing that I am still fuzzy on is why the Windows 2000 Professional workstations had a problem and the Windows XP Professional workstations didn’t. Any ideas? Leave them in the comments.

This was a very specific case in which the error was experienced. However, the cause may enlighten those administrators in a similar situation. Perhaps the server computer account is screwed up. In this case, maybe resetting it in Active Directory or removing and re-joining the server to the domain will help. I hope you find this helpful. I was glad that it was a relatively simple solution.

Happy File Serving!

Technorati Tags: Windows, File Server, Active Directory, Scripting

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Update: wnaquin in the comments below pointed out that the users’ actual favorites were not in the new location. Keep in mind that this script does not actually copy any data to the new location. So this will work for new users, but for existing users you will have to copy their data manually or through a logon script. The below .bat or .cmd file should work:

@echo off
REM # The below line creates the directory structure.
xcopy "%userprofile%\favorites" "\\Server\share\%username%\favorites" /i /t /q /y
REM # The below line copies the files.
xcopy "%userprofile%\favorites" "\\Server\share\%username%\favorites" /i /q /y

Every Windows System administrator knows what a pain user profiles can be. This is especially true if they are roaming profiles. That is why I have made it my personal mission to rid the world of roaming profiles. I have enabled folder redirection at work through Group Policy. This works for the “Application Data”, “My Documents”, and “Desktop” folders.

However, in Microsoft’s infinite wisdom, they decided to leave out the one folder that will make our users scream the loudest. The “Favorites” folder. There is no setting in Group Policy for the “Favorites” folder. So I had to script it. Below are the results in VBScript.

'==========================================================================
'
' NAME: fav_redirect.vbs
'
' AUTHOR: Harley Stagner
' DATE : 1/24/2008
'
' COMMENT: This script will redirect users folders to the File server
' yourfileserver
'==========================================================================
'**************************************************************************
'********************************Header Section*****************************
'**************************************************************************
Option Explicit
'Variable for shell object
Dim wshShell
'Variable for redirecting Favorites
Dim strFavoriteRedirectRegKey
Dim strFavoriteRedirectLocation
Dim strFavoriteRedirectRegType
'**************************************************************************
'********************************Reference Section**************************
'**************************************************************************
'CREATE GLOBAL OBJECTS
Set wshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
' INITIALIZE VARIABLES----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'Favorites Redirection Registry Info
strFavoriteRedirectRegKey = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders\Favorites"
strFavoriteRedirectLocation = "\\YOURFILESERVER\Redirected Folders\%username%\Favorites"
strFavoriteRedirectRegType = "REG_EXPAND_SZ"
'**************************************************************************
'**********************************Worker/Output Section********************
'**************************************************************************
'Redirect Favorites by writing registry entry.
wshShell.RegWrite strFavoriteRedirectRegKey, strFavoriteRedirectLocation, strFavoriteRedirectRegType

Just copy and paste the code into notepad and save the file with a *.vbs extension and you’re ready to rock. You will need to replace some information in the script with details that are specific to your environment (like the redirection location). Also keep in mind that the initialization of the variables are one variable per line. For example, where it says “strFavoriteRedirectRegKey= Some value” that statement should be on one line. Also the statement:

wshShell.RegWrite strFavoriteRedirectRegKey, strFavoriteRedirectLocation, strFavoriteRedirectRegType

Should be on one line. The formatting of the web page throws this off sometimes.

You can either run the script locally (to test its functionality) or you can set this as a login script for users via Active Directory Group Policy. That’s it! Happy folder redirecting!

Technorati Tags: Windows, Active Directory, VBScript, Windows Scripting

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I was copying some files from an older file server to a newer file server when I ran across the above error. After some Googling, I was reminded of a Windows “feature” that I have not had to deal with before. Apparently there is a 250 character limit on the Windows file path when copying files to a different location. This is not a limitation of NTFS, but a “feature” of Windows explorer shell.

Anyway, it is something that you just have to deal with. There are a few approaches that you could take.

-Delete all the user’s files and smack them for using such long filenames and burying their files “20,000 folders under the C:” .

*Note the above method will probably get you fired (would it be worth it though?)

-Find some way to shorten the file path so you can copy it over.

It just so happens that the above method can be achieved without a loss of employment using the Windows SUBST command to create a virtual drive that is mapped to a folder on your Windows machine.

-Open up the command prompt by going to “Start->Run” and typing “cmd”

-In the command prompt window type the following:
subst v: "c:\path\to\your\ridiculous\unnecessarily\buried\folder\under\a\folder\under\a\folder"

Now instead of trying to copy “c:\path\to\your\ridiculous\unnecessarily\buried\folder\under\a\folder\under\a\folder\file.txt”

You will be copying “v:\file.txt”

When you are done with the virtual drive you can unmap it by typing the following at the command prompt:
subst v: /d

That’s it! If you are a user reading this, please try to use more sensible file organization techniques. If you are an IT professional, congratulations for not strangling your users. Happy File Copying!

Technorati Tags: Windows, File System, File Server Maintenance, Users Never Learn

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Let’s get right to the point. The big anti-virus products suck! McAfee sucks! Norton sucks! Panda sucks! They infect your Windows-based systems with their sucktitude until you lose all productivity. Isn’t the point of anti-virus to protect you from a loss of productivity? Does this line sound familiar?

“I spent 4 hours last night trying to update <–insert horrible piece of crap anti-virus product here–> . I finally found the solution to the problem after 2 hours of googling, 1 hour of finding so an so dll file, and 1 hour on the phone with tech support trying to find out what to do with so and so dll file.”

Here is the part where I usually say “use Ubuntu instead of Windows, duh.” However, that is simply not an option for some users. So rather than preach, I’ll tell you how to protect those Windows systems without resorting to crapware. It’s simple really. Follow these steps and everything will be much better.

-If you have a new computer (Dell, HP, whatever) uninstall that stupid free trial of whatever crappy anti-virus came with it.

-If your ISP provides you with a big-name (read crappy) anti-virus software package, DON’T USE IT! Refer to the first step and uninstall it.

-If you “know a guy” (maybe your cousin’s son’s brother-in-law) that is “good with computers” and tells you that you need to install McAfee, Norton, or Panda, schedule a meeting with him face to face. Now smack him for uttering such nonsense and proceed to the next step.

-Do visit http://www.avast.com, will ya?

-Download their free home version, install it, and register it. You’ll be much happier for it, I promise.

-A small warning: Avast does talk to you when it updates the virus database, but you can turn this off if you don’t feel like being social with your anti-virus software.

That takes care of your anti-virus woes. That was easy wasn’t it? There is one other thing you can do to help keep your computer safe. STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER! Seriously, cut it out, will ya? I won’t get into an overly zealous technical argument over which browser is better, yada, yada, yada. I will just offer this.

Let’s say you are allergic to fish. Fish targets your allergies and you have a horrible, nasty, life-threatening reaction when you eat fish. But, fish came with your computer, so you eat it. Your prior knowledge of the horrible fish allergy should have prevented you from eating it. But now you are going to die a horrible, fishy, death. that’s not how you want things to happen is it? Why don’t you go get a nice chicken sandwich instead?

Spyware tends to target Internet Explorer. So, you are more likely to get spyware by using Internet Explorer. Having this prior knowledge, why would you want to use Internet Explorer when you computer is inherently allergic to it?

Don’t eat the fish, eat chicken. Don’t use Internet Explorer, download and install Firefox for free.

That’s it! Happy Computing!

Technorati Tags: Windows, Spyware, Security, Anti-virus

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