Boston Help Desk

Recently I came across a client having issues using remote desktop connection on his Windows Vista laptop to connect to his Windows XP computer in the office. The error that he was getting was:

Remote Desktop cannot verify the identity of the computer you want to connect to. This problem can occur if:

1.      The remote computer is running a version of Windows that is earlier than Windows Vista.

2.      The remote computer is configured to support only the RDP security layer.

Contact your network administrator or the owner of the remote computer for assistance.

Do you want to connect anyway?

When he was presented with the option to connect anyways he selected yes but soon found that it would not connect and further attempts subsequently produced the same results. I looked further into the issue and found that the reason why it was not connecting is that the remote desktop server authentication option was set to not connect if server authentication fails. The server authentication option prevents users from connecting to a different computer or server than the one originally intended.  There are three authentication options available to choose from in Remote Desktop connection:

·         Connect and don’t warn me

With this option, even if Remote Desktop Connection can’t verify the identity of the remote computer, it connects anyway.

·         Warn me

With this option, if Remote Desktop Connection can’t verify the identity of the remote computer, it warns you so that you can choose whether to proceed with the connection or not.

·         Do not connect

With this option, if Remote Desktop Connection can’t verify the identity of the remote computer, you won’t be able to connect.

To change this server authentication option you open Remote Desktop Connection, go to Options then click on the Advanced tab, under server authentication you click on the drop down box and select connect and do not warn me.

DGT, the owners and operators of the Boston HelpDesk, have launched the Worcester HelpDesk.  The Worcetser HelpDesk is focused on providing enterprise-class IT managed services to small business in the Worcester area.

If you are unable to install, uninstall or repair a program in Windows XP due to the following error:

“The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in safe mode, or if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance.”

Below are a few things to try to solve the problem:

 1. Start your computer in Safe Mode (pressing F8 at startup right before Windows logo appears).

 2. Go to Start > Run or a command prompt and type msiexec/regserver and press Enter.

 3. Restart the computer normally. The problem should be solved.

 If this does not resolve the issue another resolution is to reinstall the Windows installer, rename the damaged Windows installer files, and then performing a reinstallation of the Windows Installer.

   1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd in the Open text box, and then click OK.

   2. Type cd %windir%\system32, and then press ENTER.

   3. Type attrib -r -s -h dllcache, and then press ENTER.

   4. Type ren msi.dll msi.old, and then press ENTER.

   5. Type ren msiexec.exe msiexec.old, and then press ENTER.

   6. Type ren msihnd.dll msihnd.old, and then press ENTER.

   7. Type exit, and then press ENTER.

   8. At the command prompt, type exit, and then press ENTER.

   9. Click Start, and then click Turn off computer or Shut Down.

  10. Select the Restart option, and then click OK, or click Restart.

  11. Log on to the computer.

  12. Download and install the latest version of the Windows Installer which can be obtained from Microsoft’s website.

  13. Click Start, and then click Turn off computer or Shut Down.

  14. Select the Restart option, and then click OK, or click Restart.

If you are unable to login to etrust ITM console and see an error: Invalid Username or password, follow the process below. This is usually caused by the corruptions in the DB folder.

Download namecheck.zip from CA Support Site: https://support.ca.com/phpdocs/0/5704/namecheck.zip

. Stop all CA eTrust services
. Run namecheck.exe from command prompt
. Start all CA services and try to login

I recently encountered an issue with Windows 7 Professional connecting to an older Snap Server.  After some research, I found that this problem originated in Vista, and is resolved in Windows 7 by the same method.

 To use a login script to map a network drive to an older Snap Server in Vista or 7 Professional, you first have to create a local user account on the Snap Server, even if it is joined to the domain.

 Then, you have to make the following changes on the Windows client.

. Go to Administrative Tools
. Double Click Local Security Policy
. On the left pane, click to expand Local Policies
. On the left pane, click on Security Options
. Now, on the right pane, near the bottom, click on Network Security LAN Manager Authentication Level
. On the drop down, change the default setting (NTLMv2 only) to Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session if negotiated

Then, just add the username and password into the network mapping command in the login script.

    Example;

Net use X: \snapservernameshare password /USER:snaperservernameusername

We recently came across this issue recently, where BackupExec DLO was no longer working on a user’s PC.  The reason was Service Pack 2 for Office 2007.  Our choice was to upgrade to the latest BackupExec or remove Service Pack 2 from Office 2007.  The former was too costly for the company and the version they were using was only one behind the latest; it would have meant upgrading BackupExec base product, several agents for the servers, and upgrading twenty plus DLO agents.  The latter seemed more feasible and timely, but proved not to be as easy as a “simple uninstall”.  Below are the steps we used to get it done:

How to Uninstall and Remove Office 2007 Service Pack 2

1. Download Office 2007 SP2 Uninstall tool

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=b97e6ecf-8da5-455d-b3bb-8ff2223f97c4&displaylang=en

2. Double Click on office2007spuninstall.exe. Accept the terms and click Continue.

3. Make a new folder called oarpman at the root of C drive and click OK.

4. Now Press win+r  and type cmd at run command

For Windows Vista and Windows 7 Click Start > All Programs > Accessories. Right-click Command Prompt and click “Run as Administrator”

5. OARPMAN will need a release name to start the uninstall. To get it the release name, type the following in your command prompt window: c:\oarpman\oarpman.exe /report and press Enter.

6. To start the uninstall of SP2 type the following in your command prompt window: c:\oarpman\oarpman.exe /remove O12SP2 (replace O12SP2 with your release name) and press Enter. This process may take some time to complete.

Service Pack 2 is uninstalled, and Office 2007 is reverted back to a patch state prior to SP2 being installed.

“Can’t create file. Right-click the folder you want to create the file in, and then click properties on the shortcut menu to check your permissions to the folder”.

If you have ever encountered the following error when opening or trying to save an attachment in Outlook the problem most likely occurs because the Outlook temporary folder is full. The error seems to point to permissions as being the cause for the issue but 9 times out of 10 cleaning out the folder and closing out and reopening Outlook will resolve the issue. Attachments opened in Outlook are saved as a copy to the OLK folder under Temporary Internet Files. Finding this folder is not so easy so here are some instructions on how to find this folder in order to clear it out.

1.       Navigate to Start, then Run and type in regedit

2.       Depending on the version of Outlook you have the folder location will be under the following key:

Outlook 2002/XP HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\Security

Outlook 2003 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook\Security

Outlook 2007 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Outlook\Security

3.       Open the registry key from the previous step and copy the path, the folder location will look similar to the following path C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\OLKxxx

4.       Open up My Computer and paste the copied path into the address bar and press enter

5.       Once the folder opens up you can now delete all files located within this folder

6.       If you have Outlook open close out and reopen it and now you should be able the attachment.

Non Unicode mode limits the PST/OST size to 2GB.

By default Outlook 2003/Outlook 2007 creates PST/OST files in Unicode mode. But if files are created in non unicode mode, quick way to fix this is to change the registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Outlook subkey.

Add a new string registry value: NewPSTFormat and set it to 2.

NewPSTFormat can have the following values:

Prefer Unicode PST: 0 (default)

Prefer ANSI PST: 1

Enforce Unicode PST: 2

Enforce ANSI PST: 3

Setting the value to 2 will force all new OST/PST files to use the Unicode format.

This will not change the current PST/OST files but will impact the new ones that are created.

1) Version was still showing as Standard after doing the Upgrade and there was a message about Messaging and Collaboration Services not being upgraded. Also, event ID 1002 is seen in the event log.

Event ID: 1002

Source: MSExchange Setup

Category: Microsoft Exchange Setup

Exchange Server component Microsoft Exchange Messaging and Collaboration Services failed. Error: 0xc107041d - The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion. (EXIFS)

To fix this issue, rename the files: exifs.sys and exifssmsg.dll from the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers folder. Then run the installer again.

2) There was an error with regards to msxml3:

Error messages below were in the Exchange 2003 setup log.

[20:49:41] Calling MSXML installer with command line: “msiexec /i msxml3.msi /q reboot=”ReallySuppress””

[20:49:41] Process created … waiting (-1) [20:49:42] Process has exited with 0×000643 [20:49:32] The command

msiexec /i msxml3.msi /q reboot=”ReallySuppress”

failed, returning error code 1603 (Fatal error during installation.). — ID:31136 — ScCreateProcess (f:\tisp2\admin\src\libs\exsetup\hiddenw1.cxx:1821)

Error code 0XC0070643 (1603): Fatal error during installation.

To fix the issue:

1) Download a copy of latest MSXML 3 from Microsoft download site.

2) Copy the file to Exchsrvr\Bin folder and rename the existing one to msxml3.msi.old

3) Then click on Retry on the Exchange upgrade screen.

Also, after installing Exchange 2003 SP2 again make sure to delete the ‘Database Size Limit in GB Registry key’ and remount the exchange store for new store limits to take effect.

If your CA ITM management console is  installed on a Server, you can access the ITM management console without having to log into that server console.  Just point your web browser to: https://<servername>:6688/ and you will be directed to the ITM console login screen.  Hope you find this helpful.