TmR Blog

Today I have managed to find one amazing free piece of software for Helpdesk and network Inventory it’s called: SpiceWorks and can be found here: http://www.spiceworks.com/ that software can run on any hardware, and all flavours of Windows, and is really intuitive and simple to user.

Among the feature I really like are:

1. Helpdesk dashboard allowing users to log calls and watch the progress, and as well add the SLA
2. Inventory that is linked to AD and allow you to check all machine details
3. Simple network scanning tool that pull all possible data out of the box.
4. Community the whole back end behind the main software with users sharing plug-in and tips how to utilize the software

Overall if you looking for something powerful, cheap and effective for your network check that software.

Boot up your computer using Microsoft Windows Vista Bootable disk. (Check your BIOS setup)

When you see the 1st Windows Vista installation screen appear, please configure your ‘language‘ preferences.

When prompted, click ‘Repair your computer’.

Startup Repair will automatically detect a problem. When prompted, click ‘Repair and restart’, and then restart your computer from the Windows Vista bootable disk. If Startup Repair does not automatically detect a problem, continue to the next step.

click ‘Repair Your Computer’.

Click Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options.

BootRec.exe provides the following command-line options:

/FixMbr. Re-writes the master boot record (MBR) of the system partition to start Windows Vista. This won’t overwrite the existing partition table.

/FixBoot. Writes a boot sector onto the system partition to start Windows Vista.

/ScanOs. Scans all disks for Windows Vista installations and displays them to you. Oddly, this didn’t work for me, even on a test system that was starting just fine.

/RebuildBcd. Scans all disks for Windows Vista installations and prompts you to pick the ones you want to add to the BCD.

Type  ‘BootRec.exe /fixmbr’ and press Enter.

Congratulations! You’re done.

When you try to install something from command line you can often get the following error

WriteError: Failed to write the log file: . Access to the path ‘C:\Windows\logs\ ServerManager.log’ is denied.

the reason behind is the User Access Control feature in both Windows 2008 and Windows Vista. In order to fix that you have to right click on the “Command Prompt” and chose “Run as Administrator” that way you gain correct right to be able to operate the files.

Same with running the for example Exchange 2007 setup, you have to right click and chose “Run as Administrator” as other way you won’t be able to go over the installation.

You can as well use the following: type CMD in search box and pres: Ctrl+Alt+Enter that would make it Run as Administrator

I’m fed up with caring number of CD/DVD’s with me all the time so I decided to put the Vista onto a USB key as all new machines have capability to boot from USB, and more and more machines don’t come with CD/DVD drive.

Here is what you have to do:

1. Format USB key to FAT32 file system:

1.  
   • go to Start –> Run –> cmd
   • run the following commands:
     1. diskpart
     2. select disk 1
        • IMPORTANT: always check what disk is your USB key to do that type: list disk
     3. clean
     4. create partition primary
     5. active
     6. format fs=fat32
     7. assign
     8. exit

2. Copy Windows Vista DVD to the USB key using the following command: xcopy D:\*.* /s/e/f E:\ (where D is the drive letter to your DVD drive, and E is the drive letter assigned to the USB key)

3. Start the computer and boot from USB and check how quickly is working

We all know that offline files sometimes got corrupted and will never update, even if you remove the available offline it will still won’t work. In Windows XP it was easy to recreate database with a simple mouse click, but in Vista it’s a bit more complicated as they have redesigned how offline files are synchronized. In order for you to be able to get it working you have to do the following:

1. Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box and press Enter.

   If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.

2. Locate and then click the following registry subkey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Csc\Parameters

   Note If the Parameters subkey does not exist, create it. To do this, follow these steps:

   • Click the following registry subkey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Csc
   • On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.
   • Type Parameters, and then press ENTER.
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type FormatDatabase, and then press ENTER.
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
6. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
7. Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

They key will remove it self, but you will have to reestablish offline folder, and I do know that’s it’s pain but in my situation it was the only way to get it working again.