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vCenter Server Appliance with an embedded vPostgres database may stop running with out any warning. After logging into the web user interface (web UI) of the appliance you may notice that, in the Storage Usage on the Summary tab, the database statistics are showing 100%. Attempting to start the vCenter Server services at this point will result in the service running for a brief moment before is automatically shuts down again. This occurs because a disk partition on the vPostgres database contains no free space.

VMware doesn't have any recommended preventative maintenance tasks at this time but it doesn't hurt to establish your own in order to prevent this sort of issue in the first place. There is a retention policy for the database and we will look at why that may not be adequate for some installations.

We often have found with many of the new routers and Windows 7 and later will default to IPv6 for all their Internet lookups when browsing the web. The issue is that seen by many is that the resolution of names in the URL are delayed until an IPv4 is used to complete the lookup. This problem started after an update by Microsoft that caused IPv6 to be preferred over IPv4.

Microsoft released a Knowledge Base article on this issue, KB2533454 - Resolving Internet connectivity issues after World IPv6 Launch (June 6, 2012). This KB article contains a Microsoft FixIt tool to change the preferred IP version from IPv6 back to IPv4

The success of a deployment of new computers in a business environment has allot to do with the process and being consistent with that process. Getting the steps out of order may cause some issue that were not expected nor will you know why one computer works fine and another doesn't.

Below is a list of steps that we often follow for deploying new computers in a business environment that has a Windows domain controller.

After a recent update on a WatchGuard XTM 5 series we were unable to login using Internet Explorer 10 and the WatchGuard Web UI. The only way to connect to the WatchGuard XTM firewall was to use the WatchGuard System Manager. For us this a bit of a handicap in several ways and we refuse to use Chrome or Firefox since they tend to be less secure.

We finally were able to fix it with a suggestion from WatchGuard support.

Frequently we are called to a new client because of network performance or stability issues. These cases manifest themselves over time by inexperienced data cabling installers, typically the business owner or one of the employees, who attempted to save some money by doing the work themselves.

The installation of data cabling, also referred to as structured cabling, is almost as much an art form as it is a time tested trade that can most effectively be perfected through the training by one with years of experience and formal training in the field.

On some occasions Windows Small Business Server 2011 will not keep accurate time. This can be a problem with some network devices attempting to connect with the server and is especially an issue with workstations that will automatically look to the small business server for their time.

By running the following command from a command prompt, you can view the current configuration and status of the Windows Time service.

Microsoft Small Business Server 2011 is one of the nicer releases of small business server line of products that was released for a number of reasons. Most importantly it contains all of the important business server applications than any small business would need such as security, file sharing, web services, e-mail, and database services.

It is critical that when you perform any administration of an SBS 2011 server that you perform the task using the Small Business Server Console whenever possible. After installing Small Business Server 2011, this console will continue to open automatically on login to the server unless you disable it. This is where you check the status of the system, add and remove users, create shared resources, and ensure that your system is backed up as well a many other functions. The console will only open for one user at a time, so if you have more than one user logged into your small business server the console may not open if it is open in another session.

We had a situation where we wanted to setup an Intuit QuickBooks POS system in a locked down configuration so that it was more like a kiosk for the register attendants. There are several ways to go about this but most will lock down every user, but in our case we only wanted to affect the POS users to prevent unnecessary changes to the system.

The process we came up with uses a combination of parental rights, registry hacks, and user menu modifications. You will also need to make sure you create a special local user account that you will assign these changes to. Before attempting this process, make sure you have a backup of your system in the event something doesn't work as expected.

One of the first signs that you have malware on your computer is that Internet Explorer begins to have performance issues or stops working all together. We highly recommend to our clients to only use Internet Explorer, although the version may vary depending on how they are using it. For most, the latest version should be used as this will provide the best security.

If you suspect your computer is infected with malware, open your Control Panel and select the Uninstall a Program option. Review the applications that are installed and see if any of them are on our Garbageware list. This is the low hanging fruit of normal computer clean up that will help with your computer stability and performance.

When setting up Intuit QuickBooks POS v12 in a multi-user environment, you will likely want to have each user sign into the POS system to track their sales transactions. By default the log in requirement is disabled so when you setup a new employee you will not have the option to assign a password.

To setup employee accounts with passwords follow these steps.

When attempting to connect a vCenter server to Active Directory I got an error that I had to enter a fully qualified domain name in the Domain field, which I had done. So why the error. I started checking the following areas.

Domain Resolution - does the domain resolve back to one of the domain controllers. In my case I could ping and perform an nslookup on the domain and it resolved fine.

Many of the new Dell professional displays don't have the audio feature but when connected to a computer using the HDMI cable the computer will attempt to default the audio playback through the HDMI connection anyway. This is why you may not have audio on your computer, even if you have built-in audio on your laptop or desktop computer.

To resolve this issue you will need to change your default audio device to one that does have audio functionality. Here are some steps that might help.

On a number of occasions I have attempted to import an exported MySQL database file and received the following message.

/* SQL Error (1064): You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '?# -------------------------------------------------------- # Host:     ' at line 1 */
/* Error with snippets directory: The specified path was not found */

# --------------------------------------------------------
# Host:                         127.0.0.1
# Server version:               5.5.40 - MySQL Community Server (GPL)
# Server OS:                    Win32
# HeidiSQL version:             7.0.0.4053
# Date/time:                    2014-01-20 09:48:36
# --------------------------------------------------------

While attempting to push an install of Kaspersky Endpoint Security to a client's laptop the installation would fail with an unknown error. After checking the laptop's Application event log I found the following message "Kaspersky Security Center Network Agent - Error 25002. Error while installing: The system cannot find the path specified."

This system was fairly clean and had been check for viruses, so I knew that was not the problem. But someone else provided support and so anything could have been done by the previous admin that could have caused the issue. After researching various installation failures I found that someone had an issue with the junction points not being created correctly in the C:\ProgramData folder, which is a hidden folder for those that don't already know.

The Kyocera KM-5035 and Copystar CS-5035 both have a separate scanner controller with its own network connection. Once this card has been connected to the network and configured with an IP address at the main control panel, you can then remotely access the configuration using your web browser.

You will also need the Kyocera File Utility application in order to complete the network scanning configuration. This utility provide a data transfer connect between the PC workstation and the scanner. Be sure to download and install this utility on any computer you wish to scan to.

We seem to have a great need for training our clients on removing garbageware or other unwanted applications. So in order to provide that training and have it as a future reference for when they forget how they performed the task at a previous time, we are making this How To training public for reference.

This process, although written with Windows 7 in mind, will basically work as well with the other versions of Windows with some minor changes.

After upgrading a Windows 2003 Server to Windows 2012 Server for a client, the Canon iR C2550 would not scan to the new folder which was configured in the same way as the original server. Now the server name was different and so that should have been the only change needed. So why didn't it work. So this is what we did to troubleshoot the issue.

1. DNS - In this case we had to go back to the original DNS configuration and update the DNS to point to the new server since its IP address had changed.

After reinstalling Windows 7 and then setting up Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) again, the game would no longer allow the option for choosing which version of DirectX to use. This system was a high end laptop running Windows 7 with an NVidia graphics card that supported DirectX 11.

DirectX 11 is native to the Windows 7 installation and you can verify this by running the command dxdiag from the Start menu. The diagnostics will likely indicate that you have DirectX 11 compatibility but the game will still not detect it correctly.

One of the most common questions we get regarding mobile devices is how to setup an Apple iPhone with access to a corporate Microsoft Exchange mail system. This doesn't have to be a local system, it could be a hosted cloud Exchange server as well. Many people often will use a POP connection but this really doesn't allow the mobile device to exploit the full capabilities of the Microsoft Exchange services such as synchronizing contacts and calendars. So, get the full benefit of Microsoft Exchange by using the Exchange mail connector on the mobile device.

There are a couple of pre-configuration steps that you may want to take, especially if you have moved your Exchange service to a different hosting provider.

You may be wondering why your cursor keys along with  your Home and End keys are not working properly. When you attempt to move your cursor from one cell to another using the cursor keys, the entire spreadsheet moves in that direction. Also the Home and End keys only take you to the far left or right of that row that is currently visible instead of taking you to the beginning or end of that row.

The simple solution might be that you accidently turned on your Scroll Lock. This is a special key that is seldom used today and exists near that upper right of the keyboard between two other keys rarely used, Print Screen/ System Request key and the Pause / Break key. Check your keyboard and see if the light for the Scroll Lock is on, if so that is likely the cause of your issue. Simply press the Scroll Lock key once to turn it off; you should notice the indicator light goes off as well.