Password Strength Checker

Ever wondered or wanted to know how good your password is, you might be surprised how easy it is crack and your account compromised.
Things to consider when creating or changing your password.

Complexity: Add uppercase letters and symbols.
Length: Make sure is has a minimum of 8 characters
Variety: Don't use the same password for everything.

In secure environments passwords will be changed monthly and you will not be able to use the same password for 24 password changes. (or 24 months). Now this may seem a little over the top but in a secure environment this is what is required. So if you lo-gin to your account on multiple computers you should change your password at least 2 to 4 times per year.

If you want some ideas on how to create a strong secure password Microsoft has a website to help.
 You can see it here.

Password Strength Checker App


Steven Jarvie
Jarvie Computing
www.jarviecomputing.com.au
www.jarvieit.com.au

This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions Microsoft Outlook.

When clicking on a hyperlink in an e-mail, I get this Message : “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator.” I get this message every time that I attempt to use the hyperlink. I am the administrator on this stand alone computer. How do I deactivate this feature so that I activate hyperlinks ?

If you received this error after uninstalling any application that takes over the HTML open command (including, but not limited to, Chrome & Firefox browsers) you may also need to change the HTM/HTML association in the registry.

1. Start, click Run, type Regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.html
3. Right click the value for the .html key and select Modify…
4. Change the value from “ChromeHTML” to “htmlfile” (or from FireFoxHTML to htmlfile)
5. Repeat for .htm, shtml, .xht, .xhtml, .xhtm keys

Repeat these steps for htm and .shtml keys if they exist. You may also want to check the xhtml and xhtm keys. Don’t want to edit the registry? Download this file (right click and choose Save target as…) Then double click on the file to run. From After uninstalling Google Chrome Links in e-mail don’t work any more

This is a link to explain more about this error.

http://www.slipstick.com/problems/this-operation-has-been-cancelled-due-to-restrictions/

Steven Jarvie
Jarvie Computing
www.jarviecomputing.com.au
www.jarvieit.com.au

Intermittent connection to Windows 7 shared folder from Windows XP workstations

How to Optimize Windows NT Server Using the Registry. The windows 7 computer is acting as the server.

I maintain a small network for an accounting office. My client has a Windows 7 Professional server which is sharing Internet access and sharing a folder to 2 Windows 7 workstations and 2 Windows XP workstations. I have the folder mapped as drive "L:" on all the workstations.
Everything works fine for the Windows 7 workstations. They are able to access the Internet and read/write files in the shared folder all day, every day.
Everything works fine for the Windows XP workstations at first, but then they lose access to the shared folder after awhile (sometimes hours, sometimes overnight). They retain access to the Internet, however. I am sometimes able to reboot the Windows XP workstations to see the shared folder again, but other times the connection just comes and goes at an apparently random schedule

To configure the Server service, follow these steps:

1. In Control Panel, double-click Network.
2. On the Services tab, click the Server service, and then click Properties.
3. There are four configuration options for the Server service listed here:
   1. Minimize Memory Used
   2. Balance
   3. Maximize Throughput for File Sharing
   4. Maximize Throughput for Network Applications

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

When you configure one of the four options for the Server service, the information is saved to the following two registry keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters\size

Your choices for this registry key are 1,2 and 3.

1 = Minimize Memory Used
2 = Balance
3 = Maximize Throughput for File Sharing and Maximize Throughput for Network Applications

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\LargeSystemCache

Your choices for this registry key are 0 and 1.

1 = Maximize Throughput for File Sharing
0 = Maximize Throughput for Network Applications

Some programs, such as SQL and Exchange, set this value during an installation. For these programs, the optimal setting is 0.
0 = Indicates that the computer does not go outside its cache pool and use program memory to perform I/O functions.

1 = Indicates that the computer looks outside of its cache pool and uses program memory to perform I/O functions. This occurs if the cache is full.


Reboot the server or:

net stop server
net start server

 

Potential issues after installing SharePoint Foundation 2010 SP1

Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010 Service Pack 1 (SP1) was recently released through Microsoft Update. On a default installation, Windows SBS 2011 Standard administrators should be able to see it in the SBS Console and would need to approve it for installation before it is offered for installation on the server.

Since SharePoint Foundation 2010, patching SharePoint is a two-step process. The updated binaries are first installed and then PSCONFIG must be completed to update the SharePoint databases.
Without completing PSCONFIG, you might experience unexpected SharePoint search failures and all backups may stop working on the affected server.
The Following errors may be found in the server application log:

Log Name: Application
Source: Microsoft-SharePoint Products-SharePoint Foundation Search
Event ID: 70
Task Category: Gatherer
Level: Error
User: CONTOSO\spsearch
Computer: CONTOSO-SERVER.contoso.local
Description:
The mount operation for the gatherer application 37ad8233-57f1-47b1-873e-6a91d0f1bc36 has failed because the schema version of the search administration database is less than the minimum backwards compatibility schema version supported for this gatherer application. The database might not have been upgraded.
Log Name:      Application
Source:        Microsoft-Windows-Backup
Event ID:      521
Level:         Error
User:          SYSTEM
Description:
The backup operation that started at '?2011?-?07?-?06T02:12:07.198000000Z' has failed because the Volume Shadow Copy Service operation to create a shadow copy of the volumes being backed up failed with following error code '2155348129'. Please review the event details for a solution, and then rerun the backup operation once the issue is resolved.

You can also run the following commands to determine if you need to complete the update process with PSCONFIG:

• Launch an elevated (Run as Administrator) SharePoint 2010 Management shell from start, All Programs, Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products, SharePoint 2010 Management Shell.
• Once the shell opens, type the following command followed by enter:
  (get-spserver $env:computername).NeedsUpgrade

If the result of this command is True, then you need to complete the steps below. If the result is False then no further action is needed, if you are encountering similar events the cause will most likely not be resolved by the following steps.
To complete the SharePoint service pack process you need to follow the same steps that were previously posted on the Official SBS Blog regarding the necessity to complete PSCONFIG after a SharePoint update. Here are the steps from the article:
In order to update the SharePoint databases, you must manually run the PSconfig utility. To run the utility:
1. Open an Administrative command prompt.
2. Change directory to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\BIN
3. Run PSConfig.exe -cmd upgrade -inplace b2b -force -cmd applicationcontent -install -cmd installfeatures
Note: The Companyweb site will be inaccessible while the command is running. It is best to run the command after business hours. The amount of time the command takes to run will vary on the size of the database and the speed of the machine. On a reference machine with 8 logical processors, 32GB of RAM and a 2GB content database, the command took approximately 5 minutes to execute.
For additional information on SharePoint Foundation 2010 patching mechanism, please see the following TechNet article:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff806326.aspx

HP ProBook 4510s

A client asked if I could fit some more RAM to his HP ProBook 5410s laptop. They also mentioned it was extremely noisy. With this style of notebook you have to remove the keyboard to fir the ram. I inspected the fan and brushed the dusk away. Put the laptop back together to find that did not help with the fan revving at high speed. Dismantled it again and this time used an air compressor to clean out.
As I was dusting a rather large chuck of dust dislodged for the CPU air chamber exhaust section. Assemble the laptop back together and all was good.

Data loss happens

Data loss happens don’t let it happen to your business.

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Mozy is part of EMC Corporation—the largest provider of data storage platforms in the world.
Hard drive crashes, spilled drinks, and accidental file deletion can occur at any time and put your company’s future in jeopardy. In fact, 93% of all companies that suffer significant data loss close down within 5 years!

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You can count on Mozy’s strict security policies, military-grade encryption, and world-class data centers for optimal data protection of your business’ computers and servers.

Backup that’s Simple

Manage multi-user environments, schedule automatic backups, and monitor the health of your backups from the convenience of a single web-based admin console.

At Jarvie Computing, we believe:

You shouldn’t have to think about backup.

Backup should be set up once, and then work automatically.

Your files should be encrypted.

Your backup files should be encrypted and stored in a secure, remote location that’s only accessible to you—from anywhere.

Your backups should be smart.

Your backup system should be smart enough to only back up data that’s not already been backed up, only back up parts of a file that have changed, and be able to back up open and locked files.

Steven Jarvie
IT Consultant

http://www.jarviecomputing.com.au/

Steven Jarvie