Free download: iPad troubleshooting guide

Free download: iPad troubleshooting guide: "

With Apple iPads landing on people's doorsteps this week, MacFormat - part of the TechRadar network - has come up with a handy flowchart to make sure that you never get bored of your device.

There is nothing worse than getting a brand new piece of kit, only to find yourself frustrated with it because it doesn't do what you want it to.

Luckily MacFormat's free troubleshooting guide will stop you from doing just that. It may not make Flash magically appear on the machine, but it will give you essential advice for getting the best out of your shiny new iPad.

iPad essential

The flowchart is a sneak peak of what you can find in MacFormat's upcoming one-shot magazine, title: iPad: The Essential Handbook.

The magazine goes on sale 16 June, but you can download the flowchart now in handy PDF form. Just go to http://macformat.techradar.com now.

And if you decide to hang it on your wall, take a photo of you with it, complete with iPad and send it to the usual address.

You won't win a prize, but you may win the affection of the TechRadar team.

Related Stories

• Three unveils cheapest iPad data plan yet
• Apple becomes world's biggest technology company
• Barnes & Noble eReader for iPad launches
• In Depth: Top 20 best free iPad apps
• Apple stores to open early for iPads in UK

"

(Via TechRadar: All latest feeds.)

WiFi Troubleshooting

A very nice article about troubleshooting and/or increasing your WiFi performance in Macworld this morning....

10 things you should know about degunking your Active Directory database

Very useful....  We're going to peruse a couple of these before we find any surprises...

 

10 things you should know about degunking your Active Directory database: "

Sooner or later, you’ll need to clean up your Active Directory to remove outdated entries or fix erratic behavior. Here are some tips for handling the chore the right way.

---

Over time, you may find that your Active Directory database becomes cluttered with obsolete data (such as references to users or servers that no longer exist) or that it begins to malfunction. Here are some things you should consider before you set out to clean up or repair your Active Directory.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: Look for the simple solutions first

In spite of outward appearances, erratic Active Directory behavior is not always related to a corrupt Active Directory database. For instance, take a situation in which you can’t create or remove a domain. While it is possible for a corrupt database to cause this problem, it’s more likely that the domain controller hosting the FSMO roles for the domain is down. Another possibility is that the user who is attempting to perform the operation may not have the necessary permissions.

2: Verify that DNS is functioning properly

Active Directory is completely dependent on DNS. So if your DNS server fails, it will be only a matter of time before Active Directory begins to have problems too. If you are receiving error messages such as Domain Not Found, Server Not Available, or RPC Server is Unavailable, you may have a DNS server issue.

3: Never underestimate the power of DCDIAG

Windows domain controllers include a command-line utility called DCDIAG. Running this utility performs a number of diagnostic tests on a domain controller. Often times, DCDIAG will help you quickly determine the cause of the problem.

4: Delete extinct metadata the right way

One of the most common issues with Active Directory is that it contains numerous entries related to servers that no longer exist. While you can use ADSI Edit to manually remove references to extinct servers, doing so often does more harm than good. Active Directory is a relational database. Removing an entry for an extinct server can orphan other database entries and cause a whole slew of problems. A better approach is to use the NTDSUTIL tool’s METADATA CLEANUP option. This TechNet article provides a full set of instructions on the process.

5: Use ADSI Edit sparingly

You can use ADSI Edit to manually create and delete Active Directory entries. However, ADSI Edit is very unforgiving. Making a mistake can destroy your entire Active Directory. Therefore, it is important to know when and when not to use it. For example, Exchange 2007 can’t be uninstalled until the last public folder has been removed, but a bug prevents you from removing the remaining public folders. I have found ADSI Edit to be useful in working around this issue, but I am extremely hesitant to use it for other purposes.

6: Don’t use domain controller snapshots

With virtualization all the rage, it’s no surprise that many organizations have virtualized their domain controllers. Most of the server virtualization products on the market allow you to create a snapshot of a server. That way, if something goes wrong with the server, you can roll it back to a previous state without having to restore a backup.

While I’m all in favor of backing up your domain controllers before attempting to repair Active Directory, you shouldn’t use snapshots. Rolling back a snapshot of a domain controller can have catastrophic consequences. Active Directory transactions are numbered. Rolling back a domain controller causes the numbering sequence to be disrupted. This leads to all sorts of domain synchronization issues.

7: Remember that Active Directory is based on the extensible storage engine

Normally, NTDSUTIL is the tool of choice for repairing Active Directory problems. But in the case of severe corruption, NDTSUTIL may not be able to fix the problem. If this happens, your best bet is to restore a backup. If that isn’t an option, though, you can try using ESEUTIL.

ESEUTIL is a database maintenance tool for extensible storage engine databases. You can use it to repair structural problems within the database. You should use this technique only as a last resort because data loss is a possibility during the repair process.

8: Understand the difference between authoritative and non-authoritative restore

When you restore the Active Directory database on a domain controller, the restoration is usually non-authoritative. This means that the restoration process restores the domain controller to the point at which it existed when the backup was made. The domain controller is brought into a current state by the replication process. Other domain controllers replicate any missing entries to the recently restored domain controller.

An authoritative restore does not backfill a restored domain controller using data from other domain controllers. Instead, you are effectively telling Windows that the recently restored domain controller contains the desired data and that you want to remove any subsequent data from the other domain controllers in the organization.

9: Check NTFS permissions

When Active Directory related services fail to start on a domain controller, the problem is often mistaken for database corruption. But often, an overzealous administrator has recently tried to secure the system volume. Excessive NTFS permissions can actually prevent Active Directory from starting. Microsoft discusses this problem in Knowledgebase Article 258062.

10: Back up your domain controllers

Before you perform any major repair or cleanup work on your Active Directory, it is imperative that you perform a full system state backup of your domain controllers. As I’m sure you know, countless knowledgebase articles talk about the importance of backing up a system prior to modifying the registry — and modifying the Active Directory database is much more dangerous than editing the registry. If you make a mistake when editing the registry, you can destroy Windows. If you make a mistake in Active Directory, you can destroy the whole thing, which potentially affects every system in your organization. Therefore, you should never underestimate the importance of a good backup.

"

 

(Via 10 Things.)

Microsoft unleashes two open source tools to deal with PST archives

Microsoft unleashes two open source tools to deal with PST archives: "

To help IT departments and corporate users better manage PST files, Microsoft has released two new tools that will allow developers and third-party utilities to access and manipulate the data inside of PST mail archive folders. Microsoft also decided to make both tools open source in order to allow the IT community to extend them even further.

Dealing with mail quotas has long been the biggest headache of using Microsoft Outlook with a Microsoft Exchange mailbox. It’s necessary because when the mailboxes get too big they can take too long for users to load and can also clog up the Exchange servers. As a result, most corporate users are encouraged to regularly archive their inboxes. That creates another problem: .PST files.

PST files have been a pain point for IT because they once they get too big they become unstable and so some heavy email users will often end up juggling multiple PST files (a new one every year, for example). It’s also difficult to browse and search those PST, and you’re mostly limited to Outlook and Windows Desktop Search as ways to access them.

IT professionals have been groaning about managing PST files for years (as this quick TechRepublic search shows), so I’m sure any help in dealing with PST files will be welcomed by IT. The fact that Microsoft decided to make them open source is an intriguing factor as well. It will be interesting to see if a trend develops there.

Here are the two tools that Microsoft released:

1. PST Data Structure View Tool - Microsoft call this ‘graphical browser of internal data structures for .pst files that enables a developer to better understand .pst file content’
2. PST File Format SDK - Microsoft describes this one as ‘a cross-platform library that allows developers to read data stored in .pst files and develop applications accessing the data. In the near future, the capability to write data to .pst files will be added to the SDK.’

You can download them for free from the MSDN library.

Below is a quick video from the Microsoft team that developed these tools:

"

(Via Tech Sanity Check.)

In Depth: 10 free tools to get an unbootable PC working

Very nice guide again from the outstanding TechRadar in the UK.

In Depth: 10 free tools to get an unbootable PC working: "

The Windows boot process is a fragile thing. A single corrupt byte on your hard drive, a buggy boot driver or missing Registry key could be enough to break it.

And that'll leave you staring at an error message, or maybe a blank screen, the next time you start your PC.

Windows has plenty of recovery options, of course - Safe Mode, Last Known Good Configuration, Startup Repair - but if these fail to deliver, and you've no recent backups to restore, then you'll need to look further afield.

Fortunately there are plenty of recovery options available.

If your troubles are due to malware, for instance, then many of the top antivirus vendors offer free bootable rescue CDs that might be able to help.

But if the virus has damaged some critical file or hard drive structure then removing the malware alone won't be enough. So you may need a recovery disc with extra powers, something that can fix broken boot records, solve partition problems, scan the Registry and more.

Whatever approach you take, be careful: an inappropriate 'fix' can cause more problems than it solves. If possible, we'd recommend you back up your hard drive before you start, so it can be restored later if necessary.

And with that done, you can go looking for a recovery disc to suit your needs. Or, better still, check our list, download any that appeal, and you'll have them to hand if disaster strikes.

1. AVG Rescue CD, 69.3MB

The AVG Rescue CD is a portable version of AVG Anti-Virus that can be launched from a CD or USB flash drive. It will then try to obtain the latest antivirus definitions, if an internet connection is available, before scouring your PC for malware and removing anything it uncovers.

There's more to the disc than antivirus, though. You also get TestDisk, a powerful tool that can solve partition problems and fix broken boot records, as well as sorting out many other hard drive issues. A simple Registry editor lets you tweak your PCs Registry (if it's accessible). And it all else fails then you may at least be able to recover important documents with Midnight Commander, a capable file manager.

2. Avira AntiVir Rescue System, 64.2MB

The Avira AntiVir Rescue System is updated several times a day to ensure it always contains the most recent antivirus definitions. So if you need a recovery disc, then download the latest version from another computer, run it, and allow the program to burn a boot CD for you (there's no bootable flash drive option).

Launch your PC from the Rescue System and you'll find an easy-to-use GUI with some useful configuration options. It can try to download more updates, if a network connection is available, and will then set to work scanning your system for threats.

If the antivirus engine doesn't get your PC running again, though, there's little else here to help. You can open a Linux command window to try and explore the stricken PC further, but that's all.

3. BitDefender Rescue CD, 260MB

The BitDefender Rescue CD works much like most of the antivirus competition: burn its ISO file to CD, boot from this and you'll be able to download the latest virus definitions, then scan your system for malware.

What's a little different, though, is the range of extras that you get as well. There are text editors (Vim, Xedit), file managers (Midnight Commander, RoxFiler), Firefox, a rootkit detector (ChkRootkit), the Nexus Network Scanner, and a whole lot more. Of course these are all Linux-based tools (Knoppix, to be precise), so if you're strictly Windows-only then it may take a while to figure out what's going on, but this is still an above-average recovery CD.

4. Hiren's BootCD, 187MB

Hiren's BootCD is an amazing LiveCD with an array of troubleshooting utilities. Useful antivirus tools include Spybot - Search & Destroy and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware; there are a stack of utilities to check your master boot record and partition table and fix any problems; and others can reset a forgotten Windows password, finally allowing you to log on.

You'll also find system information tools, memory testers, network utilities, BIOS tools and more. You need to be careful when using some of these, as many of the tools won't work on anything later than Windows XP, and in fact could cause problems with later systems. But still, if your PC won't boot and you've no idea why then this is one of the best places to start finding out.

5. Norton Bootable Recovery Tool, 167.63MB

Run the new Norton Bootable Recovery Tool (NBRT) and it'll quickly create a bootable CD, DVD or USB flash drive with the very latest Norton antivirus tools. And it's such a sophisticated disc builder that you can even include your choice of drivers, useful if you need RAID support. If your PC isn't booting due to a malware-related issue then this just might be enough to get it running again.

The NBRT will be bundled with Norton Internet Security 2011, and so you'll need a product key from the NIS 2011 beta before you can use it. This only takes a moment: just visit the beta registration page, enter your details and you'll be sent a product key via email. (There's no need to download the NIS 2011 beta unless you're interested in that as well.)

6. Paragon Rescue Kit Express, 45.7MB

Paragon Rescue Kit Express may be a cut-down version of the full Rescue Kit package, but it could still come in very useful. The program creates a bootable CD that includes the Boot Corrector, a useful tool that can fix many common boot problems. There's an Undelete Partition Wizard to restore accidentally deleted or lost partitions. And if these don't work, the File Transfer Wizard will at least help you export critical files from your broken PC to another system.

Please note that Rescue Kit Express is free for non-commercial use only, and You must register with Paragon before you can create the boot disc,

7. Parted Magic, 79.4 MB

Parted Magic is a Live CD that takes components from Parted and Gparted to deliver a great deal of partitioning power, in an attractive and easy-to-use interface.

There's little in the way of recovery options, unfortunately, but Parted Magic does include many other tools that may be able to help. TestDisk will try to locate lost partitions, for instance. Browsers will take you online, if there's an internet connection available, for more advice. And a variety of backup tools will copy files or clone your hard drive, useful as a precaution if your attempts to fix the boot problems actually make things worse.

8. Partition Wizard, 39.2MB

Partition Wizard's recovery disc comes in a relatively compact 39MB ISO file, but it still manages to cram in plenty of hard drive-related functionality, and an easy-to-use GUI.

The key function on offer here is the ability to rebuild your hard drive's Master Boot Record, the structure that stores vital information like your partition table. And there's also a partition recovery wizard that will scan your drive for lost or deleted partitions. But if you need them, there are plenty of other functions on offer: you can move, resize, merge or copy partitions, convert a partition's file system, convert a dynamic disk to a basic disk, and more.

9. Trinity Rescue Kit, 118MB

The Trinity Rescue Kit is another Live CD that specialises in system repair and recovery functions. There are tools to rebuild the partition table, reset passwords, detect viruses and recover data, and you also get a samba server, ssh server, disk cloning and more.

The system is command-line based, though, so don't expect much in the way of handholding. It's also looking a little dated at the moment; the site warns that 'virusscan is still largely broken because of AV vendor side changes', and the last release was in July 2009 so it's probably not a good idea to try the disc on a Windows 7 system. Still, if the author releases an update soon, or you know what you're doing at the Linux command line, then the Trinity Rescue Kit could still be worth a look.

10. Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility, 3.01MB

If you've read our list and are unsure which might be the best recovery disc for you, then Shardana may have the answer. It's able to combine the boot discs of many different companies and tools - AVG, Avira, BitDefender, F-Secure, GData, Panda, Parted Magic, Partition Wizard and more - into a single package, then create just one ISO file or bootable USB flash drive that will run them all.

The program doesn't come with the various ISO files, of course: you'll have to download them yourself. And we wouldn't be at all surprised if installing multiple antivirus tools on the same disc resulted in occasional conflicts and odd behaviour. If you're willing to take the time to experiment, though, SARDU really could help you create the ultimate in bootable system recovery discs.

Related Stories

• Microsoft goes on offensive over Google Apps
• Review: Adobe Creative Suite CS5
• Review: SeeSaw
• In Depth: How to convert video for your iPod or iPhone
• In Depth: How to save websites offline with HTTrack

"

(Via TechRadar: All latest feeds.)

Facebook Privacy Settings

For those of you who could use a little overview of how exactly to adjust the now infamous Facebook privacy settings, Macworld/Computerworld have produced a nice guide.

10 things to consider before transitioning from Exchange 2003 to 2010

10 things to consider before transitioning from Exchange 2003 to 2010: "

The key to a smooth Exchange transition is planning — and lots of it. Brien Posey takes you through the key aspects of the process.

---

Transitioning from Exchange Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 is relatively painless, but it does require a great deal of planning. This article describes some of the things you need to know as you get ready for your transition.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: You may not be able to reuse all of your server hardware

Exchange 2010 requires a 64-bit Windows operating system. Since Exchange 2003 works only on 32-bit versions of Windows, an in-place upgrade is out of the question. You will have to acquire at least one new server before you can transition to Exchange 2010. Depending on how your Exchange organization is configured, it may be possible to perform leapfrog migrations, in which existing server hardware is reused after the server’s contents have been transitioned. Leapfrog migrations are not always possible.

2: You can say goodbye to any legacy Exchange Servers

The transition process requires you to place your Exchange organization into native mode. As a result, you will have to decommission or upgrade any Exchange servers that are running versions of Exchange older than 2003.

3: You’ll have to make changes to your Active Directory

At a minimum, your Active Directory must be set to the Windows Server 2003 functional level. In addition, you will have to make sure that at least one global catalog server in each site is running Windows Server 2003 SP2 or greater. Finally, you will have to upgrade the Active Directory schema before you will be able to install Exchange 2010.

4. You’ll need some retraining

Exchange 2010 is nothing like Exchange 2003. Even the management tools have changed. The Exchange System Manager has been replaced by the Exchange Management Console and a command-line tool called the Exchange Management Shell. When you also consider all the architectural differences, you can see why retraining is essential.

5: Front-end Exchange servers have been replaced

Some articles on migration and transition seem to compare Exchange 2003 front-end servers to Exchange 2010 Client Access servers. In some ways, this is a fair comparison, because Client Access servers (commonly called CAS servers) host OWA. While front-end servers were optional in Exchange 2003, though, CAS servers are required in Exchange 2010 even if you never plan to use OWA. Every client connecting to an Exchange 2010 organization (including Outlook, OWA, and ActiveSync clients) connects through a CAS server.

6: Routing groups and administrative groups are gone

Routing groups and administrative groups were a staple in Exchange 2003. However, these features were removed in Exchange 2007 and are not present in Exchange 2010 either.

7: You’ll need to plan for backward compatibility

Exchange 2010 Client Access servers and Hub Transport servers are not backward compatible with Exchange 2003. Therefore, you will need to leave your front-end servers, your bridgehead servers, and possibly even your mailbox servers in place until the transition is complete. If you remove these server roles too early, users whose mailboxes still reside on an Exchange 2003 server may lose functionality.

8: The Client Access server has a built-in proxy

Once you implement an Exchange 2010 Client Access server, you should configure your external DNS entries so that all OWA requests flow to it. But you should leave your Exchange 2003 front-end servers in place. The Client Access server has a built-in proxy. If users who have an Exchange 2003 mailbox connect to an Exchange 2010 Client Access server, the request will be automatically redirected to an Exchange 2003 front-end server.

9: You’ll have to learn the server roles

In Exchange 2003, there were really only two server roles: front end and backend. Exchange 2010 has several additional roles. Before you begin planning your Exchange 2010 deployment, it is absolutely critical that you take the time to understand these new roles.

10: You’ll need to use PowerShell for some management tasks

The Exchange Management Console (Exchange 2010’s replacement for the Exchange System Manager) is built on top of a command-line interface called the Exchange Management Shell. The Exchange Management Shell is a Windows PowerShell environment with numerous Exchange specific cmdlets.

This means that any administrative action you can perform through the Exchange Management Console can also be performed through the Exchange Management Shell. But the reverse isn’t true. Although the Exchange Management Console contains the basic mechanisms for managing Exchange, Microsoft hides most of the more advanced functions. It is unrealistic to expect to be able to manage Exchange 2010 without occasionally having to use PowerShell commands.

---

Check out 10 Things… the newsletter

Get the key facts on a wide range of technologies, techniques, strategies, and skills with the help of the concise need-to-know lists featured in TechRepublic’s 10 Things newsletter, delivered every Friday. Automatically sign up today.

"

 

(Via 10 Things.)

5 low-risk, high-reward experiments for IT

5 low-risk, high-reward experiments for IT: "Redefine your relationship with the business with these five small-scale, forward-thinking experiments"

(Via Computerworld Breaking News.)

Windows Partitions

Windows Vista created a partition on a drive that I planned to use as a backup destination. Couldn't delete it (EFI 200mb) through the disk manager so I found this for use from the CLI.

1. From command prompt, enter: diskpart
2. list disk
3. select disk ###
4. clean

That should wipe out all partitions (no prompting, so be careful!)

If that doesn't do it, you can do a follow up with:
5. dban (which will wipe out all partitions if 4 didn't do it)

Free programs find and remove duplicate files

Free programs find and remove duplicate files: "Auslogics' Duplicate File Finder is easier to use than Digital Volcano's Duplicate Cleaner, but Duplicate Cleaner identifies more types of redundant files."

(Via Workers' Edge.)

California School Ranknings

The 2009 Rankings just came out. Check it out here.

Utility Spotlight: Microsoft Office Environment Assessment Tool

For those of you considering Office 2010....

Utility Spotlight: Microsoft Office Environment Assessment Tool: "

The Microsoft Office Environment Assessment Tool scans your systems to determine their readiness (or lack thereof) to upgrade to Office 2010.

Lance Whitney

TechNet Magazine May 2010

"

(Via TechNet Magazine: RSS Feed.)

Free backup utility outshines Windows 7's built-in disk imager

Free backup utility outshines Windows 7's built-in disk imager: "Easeus Todo Backup is faster and simpler than the disk-imaging component of Windows 7's Backup and Restore applet."

(Via Workers' Edge.)

Geek of All Trades: iSCSI Is the Perfect Fit for Small Environments

Geek of All Trades: iSCSI Is the Perfect Fit for Small Environments: "

Greg Shields

TechNet Magazine May 2010

"

(Via TechNet Magazine: RSS Feed.)

Toolbox: New Products for IT Professionals: Toolbox: New Products for IT Professionals

Toolbox: New Products for IT Professionals: Toolbox: New Products for IT Professionals: "

This month, our Toolbox includes a deployment tool called SmartDeploy and a performance tuning utility called Tweak7.

Greg Steen

TechNet Magazine May 2010

"

(Via TechNet Magazine: RSS Feed.)

Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Controllers: Plan Carefully for RODCs

Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain Controllers: Plan Carefully for RODCs: "

Paul Yu gives us an in-depth look at what it takes to be ready to deploy RODCs in support of secure branch office connections.

Paul Yu

TechNet Magazine May 2010

"

(Via TechNet Magazine: RSS Feed.)

Desktop Virtualization: Care and Feeding of Virtual Environments

A small battery of links from this month's TechNet coming....

Desktop Virtualization: Care and Feeding of Virtual Environments: "

Virtual desktops are not without their unique management issues. This article explores some of the best practices for maintaining a secure and efficient virtual environment.

Wes Miller

TechNet Magazine May 2010

"

(Via TechNet Magazine: RSS Feed.)

9 Must-Do’s To Keep More Of What You Make

Excellent suggestions to consider here, definitely check out Pick the Brain for more good articles.

9 Must-Do’s To Keep More Of What You Make: "

It’s common to want to look the other way when we’re faced with dealing with our finances. It’s not a very exciting task for most people. And some people are outright scared to look at their finances, afraid they’ll discover a mess. But today I want to challenge you to dive right in there and make some progress. To give you a bit of guidance and to lessen the stress of this challenge, I’ve provided some steps you can take today that will quickly help to improve your finances.

Here are the Top 10 Ways to Improve Your Bottom Line:

1. Discover Your Personal Net Worth: Major corporations are judged by their financial ratios. One of the most important is their net worth (assets minus debts). Take a moment to calculate your own net worth. Subtract all your debts (mortgage, credit cards, car loan) from your assets (home value, cash, savings, car value). Hopefully you’ll discover a positive number. Search online for average net worth by age listings to compare your net worth to others. This exercise will give you a good understanding of your financial situation, and will hopefully motivate you to increase your net worth.

2.Stop Paying for the Stuff You Don’t Need: A big factor in your personal net worth is your ability to spend less than you earn. To decrease the amount you spend, I recommend you first take a look at your monthly expenses and see if there is anything there you don’t use. Find one or two items that you can eliminate. When I did this exercise for the first time, the first thing to go was my home phone line. Wasn’t using it. Didn’t need it.

3. Pay Less for the Things You Want Now take the rest of your expenses and see if there is a way you can pay less for them. Obviously you can’t instantly lower your mortgage. But you could possibly lower things like insurance and cable TV simply by calling and asking. Other expenses, like food can be lowered by using coupons and asking more for discounts.

4. Create a Simple, Better Budget Instead of building out a big budget on all your expenses. Simply take 3 or 4 spending categories that you have the most flexibility with (e.g. dining out expense), and set a budget amount for the month. You’ll only need to worry about tracking these 3 or 4 categories, and can focus your energies where it matters most.

5. Earn More with Your Savings High yield online savings accounts are now paying interest up to 6 times the national average on regular savings accounts. It’s quick to open up an account with one of these banks. The funds are FDIC insured and usually come with no fees or minimums. If you’ve got $1,000 or more lying around in a normal savings account, it’s time to get with the times and move those funds to a place where you can earn a bit of money with your savings. At a minimum you’ll be able to keep up with inflation.

6. Fix Credit Report Errors Visit annualcreditreport.com (the only place to get your truly free credit report) and view your credit reports from the three bureaus. Make note of all the errors on the reports. If you find some major errors (debts that aren’t yours, late payments you didn’t know about, etc.) call up the bureau and find out how to get the error fixed. Doing so will likely help to improve your credit score. Which in turn will help you to get better rates on insurance and loan rates.

7. Lower Your Interest Rates If you have high interest credit card debt, call up your credit card company and request that your rate be lowered. Have a competitors rate handy to negotiate. This trick can literally save you hundreds if you have a lot of debt. And all it takes is a phone call.

8. Open a Roth IRA If you haven’t started saving for your retirement, or you want something to supplement what your doing with your company 401k, the Roth IRA is the perfect fit. Earnings from the funds invested in your Roth IRA can be withdrawn in retirement tax free. It’s easy to open a Roth IRA too. You can open one quickly at a bank, a mutual fund company, or with one of the online discount brokers.

9. Get a Quote on Life Insurance Lastly, if someone else depends on your income, you should strongly consider life insurance. For most people this is the last area of focus regarding their finances. But it’s a very important area. I’m not going to pretend you could get insurance in a day. It’s a long, drawn-out process. But you could get a quote and get the process started today.

Hopefully this gives you some good ideas and you’re encouraged to get started improving your finances. Do something today!

This guest post was written by PT Money: Personal Finance by PT.

"

(Via PickTheBrain.)

Convert your PDFs to ePub (eBooks)

For those of you who are looking to read your PDFs as ePub files viewable in iBooks, take a look at this guide.

Almost everything you need to know about DHCP as a Systems Administrator

Almost everything you need to know about DHCP as a Systems Administrator: "

This article will help you to learn everything that you need to know as a systems administrator (or SysAdmin) about this protocol and what can you do with him.

Petri Recommended: Update to the Latest Vista Drivers

Vista's performance can be improved dramatically by installing the latest Vista-Certified hardware drivers. PC hardware manufacturers release new, improved Vista drivers continually: New versions are probably available for your PC right now.


Petri IT Knowledgebase Team

>> Download Driver Genius Pro: Our recommended Vista driver update scanner (5.1Mb)

What's DHCP? And why it's recommended to use it? Imagine that you're working as a SysAdmin for a large company with 500 desktop computers; you need to set to each desktop computer IP address, subnet mask, default gateway, DNS servers, and other network settings. How could you do that?

If you'll try to perform this task manually you're probably going to waste a lot of time on sitting on each computer 5-10 minutes, beside time, you can for example accidentally enter wrong IP address to few clients, or to type the same IP address to few clients too.

In order to solve these 'problems' you can use Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (or DHCP) in your network.

DHCP allows you  to manage the networks' IP addresses scopes and other TCP/IP settings like DNS, Default Gateway, etc. from central place, this central place called DHCP server. Beside the management, if there's any problem you don't need to run between your clients, you just need to connect to your server and to check the DHCP settings, as I mentioned – the DHCP works from central place, so if there's a problem, it's probably from the server, so you know where to go in case of problem and your saving time.

The DHCP server can provide easily IP addresses to clients automatically so you don't even need to configure and set options in the client side, all you need is to setup DHCP server, configure scope options and some other TCP/IP settings in the server side and that's it. You can provide to your clients IP addresses from the selected range that you've configured and some other TCP/IP options.

Note: DHCP in my opinion can be called 'The next generation of BOOTP', because the BOOTP came first before the DHCP, and today we're using BOOTP in order to deploy operating systems by booting from the network. Beside this, DHCP was developed in order to support in large networks – something that BOOTP can't provide.

How DHCP works?

Without entering to the related technical information (DORA process) the DHCP client request from the DHCP server IP address for a while, the length of time that the DHCP client can use the dynamic IP address that the DHCP server provided can be called lease, just like the name: lease means that the client 'rent' an IP address for a specific time from the DHCP server, if the client wants to continue using the specific IP address the client needs to re-assign the address by renew the lease, this will happen before the expiration time of the lease if the client is still in the network.

More in depth, the DHCP service works by using the DORA (Discover, Offer, Request and Acknowledgment) process (you can trace on the whole process using a network monitor utility):

1. DHCPDISCOVER – The client broadcast a DHCPDISCOVER packet in order to locate a DHCP server in the network, in some cases that the DHCP server isn't in the same subnet of the client, you'll need to configure in your network devices (usually routers) a DHCP Relay Agent, in order to transfer the DHCPDISCOVER packet to the DHCP server.
2. DHCPOFFER – The DHCP server broadcast a DHCPOFFER packet to the client which includes an offer to use a unique IP address for the client.
3. DHCPREQUEST – The client broadcast a DHCPREQUEST packet to the DHCP server with an answer, and 'asks' from the server to 'rent' the unique address that the server offer to her.
4. DHCPACK – The DHCP server broadcast a DHCPACK packet to the client, in this packet the server acknowledge the request from the client to use the IP address, and provide to the client the IP address lease and other details such as DNS servers, default gateway, etc. if the server cannot provide the requested IP address or from some reasons the address is not valid the server sends DHCPNACK packet in stand of DHCPACK, more information about DHCPNACK is under the specific subject – DHCPNACK.

Note: DHCP service uses port 67/UDP in the DHCP server, and 68/UDP at the DHCP clients.

It's recommended to check that your firewall doesn't block these ports in order to able the DHCP server and clients to communicate, and also check that your network devices supports DHCP Relay Agent in case that some of your clients are in different physical subnet.

In some cases you'll notice another DHCP messages like these:

1. DHCPDECLINE – If the client recognizes that the IP address that the DHCP server offer to her in use, the client will generate a new request to another IP address (in the DHCPREQUEST step).
2. DHCPRELEASE – This message is commonly in use when the client 'give up' and release IP address.
3. DHCPRENEW – This is the request packet to renew and continue 'renting' the IP address lease.
4. DHCPINFORM – The DHCPINFORM is packet that the client send to the DHCP server in order to get more details from the server, for example DHCPINFORM can be send in order to locate another DHCP servers in the network.

DHCPNACK

The DHCPNACK or Negative Acknowledgment is a packet that the server sends if the IP address is not available in stand of DHCPACK (in use on other client for example) or the address is no longer valid.

In case of DHCPNACK the client must restart the lease process in order to get an IP address.

DHCP Scopes, Exclude and Reservation

DHCP Scope is a range of IP addresses that you configure in your DHCP server as range of addresses that designed for distribution to the clients.

For example, if you set a scope with a range from 10.0.0.100-10.0.0.200, you can easily provide only from this range IP addresses to your clients.

You can also create more than one scope, but it's recommended to check that your scopes aren't duplicating one with each other's. At the scope creation process you can add some more TCP/IP parameters such as subnet mask, IP addresses lease time, router (default gateway), DNS servers, etc. so when the clients gets the IP addresses they'll get also the other parameters from the scope.

In some cases, you'll need to prevent the client using some addresses, for example if your scope is from 10.0.0.1 up to 10.0.0.100, and your servers using 10.0.0.1-10.0.0.10, you can exclude these IP addresses from the scope and exclude the DHCP to distribute them to the clients, in most of the DHCP servers this option called exclude.

Reservation is a great option if you're planning to provide specific dynamic IP address from the DHCP server to unique DHCP client. If for example in the 10.0.0.1-10.0.0.100 scope you want to provide for specific client a unique address that will be always of the client, you can easily set reservation for the client using a unique identifier – the MAC address, the MAC of Media Access Control is a unique hexadecimal physical address for network adapters.

DHCP & DNS

When you're installing DHCP server you can configure the DHCP server to set DNS updates to any DNS server that support dynamic updates. More information about the combination between DHCP and DNS you can find right here.

Active Directory & DHCP Servers

In Microsoft Windows Server with Active Directory you need to authorize your server in order to work with the DHCP service.

In the past you could install few DHCP servers – as you wish, this action occurs problems like server crashing, etc.

In the new Windows 2000 Server/Server 2003/2008 you must authorize your server in order to start the DHCP server, if there's an authorized DHCP server in the Active Directory environment and a non-authorized server trying to start the DHCP service in order to distribute IP address, the server will failed in this task and the DHCP service in the local computer will stop.

DHCP Relay Agent

DHCP Relay Agent is any kind of host (usually a router or server) that listen to DHCP/BOOTP broadcast from clients on subnets without local DHCP servers.

The DHCP Relay Agent forwards the packets from the clients and the DHCP server that sitting on different physical subnets to each other in order to supply 'connection' between the DHCP Server to the clients, and opposite (from the clients to the server).

In conclusion

DHCP is a critical 'must have' network service because using DHCP helps you, as a System/Network Administrator, to manage you clients by assigning, tracking and re-assigning IP addresses.

"

(Via Petri IT Knowledgebase.)

Installing Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 R2

Installing Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 R2: "

To install Hyper-V on Windows Server 2008 R2 you can use one of the following approaches. Note that all methods require a reboot after completion.

Important note: This article does NOT deal with the tasks required to pre-configure the Hyper-V host itself. For that, please read my Prepare Your Windows Server 2008 R2 for Hyper-V Role article.

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Method #1 - Through the GUI

Probably the easiest for this specific role. I would use this method.

1. Open Server Manager, wait for it to load.

2. Click on 'Roles', wait for it to load.

3. On the 'Before you begin' page, click 'Next'.

4. In the 'Select Server Roles' page, click to select the Hyper-V role. Click 'Next'.

5. Click 'Next'.

6. Select all the Network Interface Cards (NICs) that you wish to assign for the Virtual Machines. Make sure you leave one NIC un-selected for host management. If you only have one NIC, select it, but make a note that it is best to have at least 2 NICS - one for the host and one for the VMs. These settings can be changed later.

7. In the 'Confirm Installation Selections' page click 'Install'.

8. One finished, you will need to reboot the server. Click on the 'Close' button, and then click 'Yes' when you are prompted to reboot the server.

9. When the server reboots, log back into the server and the Server Manager should automatically load and resume the installation process.

After about a minute, you should see a message telling you that Hyper-V has installed successfully. Click 'Close' to complete the wizard.

Note: Make sure you do not forget to enable the CPU Virtualization Mode and the Execute Disable bit. Again, read my Prepare Your Windows Server 2008 R2 for Hyper-V Role article. If you fail to do so, you will receive an error when attempting to start a VM.

Method #2 - Using the Command Prompt

Using the servermanagercmd.exe command is easy, and only requires 3 words... A reboot is required at the end of the installation (which can also be added to the command, making it 4 words...). However, Hyper-V network connections will need to be changed after the installation.

1. Open a Command Prompt window with elevated permissions.

2. Type:

servermanagercmd -i Hype-V

If you want to automatically reboot the server when the installation is finished, type:

servermanagercmd -i Hyper-V -restart

Easy and simple. This is probably why Microsoft decided to deprecate the usage of servermanagercmd.exe... :-(

Method #3 - Using PowerShell

In Windows Server 2008 R2, PowerShell is installed by default. However, in order to install roles with it, you need to import the Server Manager module.

1. Open a PowerShell window and type:

Import-Module servermanager

2. Once imported, type:

Add-WindowsFeature Hyper-V

If you want to automatically reboot the server when the installation is finished, type:

Add-WindowsFeature Hyper-V -restart

Easy and simple, but here too, Hyper-V network connections will need to be changed after the installation.

"

(Via Petri IT Knowledgebase.)