During a remote login session to a  Dell server running Windows Server 2003 you might encounter a large image that takes a very long time to get displayed and if you feel that this nice image of a Dell server is boring or takes to long time, then here is how you remove it.

To get rid of the image, just delete the following registry key.

My Computer\HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\Wallpaper

The value of that key should be something similar to

\windows\system32\DELLWALL.BMP

Just delete this registry key and restart your server and the next time you login you will not see this image.

We had a couple of clients running Windows Small Business Server 2003 that had issues installing Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2.  We are still trying to figure out the reason why these machines developed this problem and others systems running the same hardware and software configurations did not have any difficulties with the installation. 

Anyway, Gary, who is a tech for us did some research and came up with the following solutions.  There are two ways to fix this problem, however, try Solution 1 first and if it does not work try Solution 2.

Solution 1:

1. Click Start -> Run and type “cmd” and press Enter.
2. Run this command in the command prompt: Net stop Cryptsvc
3. Go to C:\Windows\system32\catroot2 and rename Edb.log to Edb.txt.
4. Click Start -> Run and type “cmd” and press Enter.
5. Run this command: Net start Cryptsvc
6. Reboot the server.
7. Install the Service Pack 2 (Win 2003 SP2) again.
There is a chance that you may get the error again. If so, go to Solution 2.

Solution 2:

1. Create a folder on the desktop and name it “temp”.
2. Go to C:\Windows\system32\CatRoot folder.
3. Press “F3″ on your keyboard (Search the folder for files/directories.)
4. Search for “tmp*.cat, KB*.cat” (without quotes.) Make sure you search for all files and folders in CatRoot folder.
5. Move all the files to temp folder on the desktop.
6. Reboot the system.
7. Install Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2 again after the server restarts.

We’re all familiar with moving program windows around the desktop. You can click-and-hold the window’s title bar to move it around. But what do you do when you accidentally move a window’s title bar off the desktop so you can’t grab it anymore? The window is stuck in that inconvenient position.

The trick to moving these stubborn program windows is to use your keyboard.

1. Select the program window you’re trying to move, and then, press ALT+SPACEBAR on your keyboard. The program’s shortcut menu is displayed.
2. Click Move.
3. Use your LEFT ARROW, RIGHT ARROW, UP ARROW, or DOWN ARROW keys to move the window so you can see its title bar on your screen.
4. After you move the window where you want it, press ENTER.

We had done a pretty good job having users only use Mobile 5 and 6 smart-phones so the integration with Exchange would be easy. But the day had finally come to where we needed to install BES Professional 4.1.4 on an SBS 2003 box with Exchange 2003 (6.5 SP2).  I downloaded the 49 page manual from Blackberry and had a difficult time following the instructions they provided.  I did some research online and came up with all the necessary information to fill up the holes that the BES manual had.  I have tried to condense those 49 pages into this one post.  Here ya go.

1. Ensure the port 3101 TCP is open on the firewall (Outbound ONLY).

2. Create a new user called BESadmin and ensure you create a mailbox. Ensure this user is ONLY a member of “Domain users”

3. Make BESadmin a local Administrator of the server. This is done in AD via the “Built-in” Administrators group

4. Go to Admin Tools on open “Domain Controller Security Policy” and expand the “Local Policies” and “User Right Assignment”. You need to add BESadmin to “Log on Locally” and “log on as Service”.

5. Open Exchange System Manager and right mouse click on “DOMIANNAME (Exchange)” and select Delegate Control. Follow the steps and add BESadmin as an Exchange View Only Administrator.

6. In Exchange manager expand the servers folder and right mouse click on your server and select properties. On the properties windows select BESadmin and add the permissions “Administer Mailbox Store, Receive As, Send As”

7. Open Active Directory and from the View menu select “Advanced Features”. Then go to each user that will be added to the BES and open their properties, go to the security tab and add the user BESadmin and add the security permission “Send As”. (This will overcome some MS patches that prevent BES sending emails)

8. Log on as BESadmin and install the BES software, normally you just install “Blackberry Enterprise Server” as most sites don’t use the MDS services (MDS is a much heavier install). Follow the prompts of the install and the server will be required to restart half way through the install. Restart the server and log back on as BESadmin and the install will continue. (Make sure the Connect Test works and the SRP ID etc is validated during the install)

9. After the install is finished open Blackberry Manager, an error will appear about MAPI client which you can just hit OK. The MAPI setting windows will appear so just add the server name back in and select “Check Name”, if it resolves just hit OK and the manager will start.

10. Within Blackberry Manager click on Blackberry Domain in the left column and then the users SERVERS tab in the center section, select your server within this tab and view the properties below. Ensure that “SRP Status:” is Connected (This can take a few minutes the first time so refresh the screen a few times). Once your status is connected you can start adding users.

11. Within Blackberry Manager click on you server name in the left column and then the users TAB in the centre section, just add a user and the click on that user. You will see all the users’ properties and a drop down menu called “Service Access” and select “Set Activation Password” and set a password of “a” for example.

12. Turn on you Blackberry device and ensure Wireless is enabled. Go into “Options/Settings” and “Time & Date” and set the correct zone and time etc. Then from the home screen go to enterprise activation and enter the users email address and enter the password that was set in step 11. Press the track wheel and select Activate. Within a minute you should get data returned which indicates the process is functioning correct.

Extra

Note: Sites running SBS 2003 premium will need to change the BES “Web Server Listen Port” from 8080 to another available port (e.g. 8090 or 9090) as soon as it is installed. This port needs to be changed as the BES Web Server will be listening on the same port as ISA. To change this setting open Blackberry Manager, select MDS and then “edit Properties” and change the “Web Server Listen Port” to the desired port number.

a. Also ensure you review the IT Policy in Blackberry Manager. This can be found in Blackberry Domain > Global TAB > Edit properties. It is recommended that in the IT Policy you go into “Device Only Items” and set “Enable WAP config” to FALSE, this will force user to use the free browser (It uses the internet connection of your BES server). It is also highly recommended that you configure a password policy prior to rolling out any handhelds.

b. If you are unable to activate devices wirelessly you can test your connectivity to Blackberry buy running the following app from the command prompt:

C:\Program Files\Research In Motion BlackBerry Enterprise Server\Utility\BBSrpTest.exe

This will send a signal to BB and wait for a response, it this fails check your firewall settings (open and/or direct port 3101 TCP to you BES server)

c. If you have Domain Admins using BlackBerry devices you may have to run the following script if you are unable to send email for those users devices:

dsacls “cn=adminsdholder,cn=system,dc=domainname,dc=c om ” /G “DOMAINNAME\BESadmin:CA;Send As”

I ran across a problem last week where a Windows XP Pro computer booted up fine, but when you  login, the system would start loading normally and then immediately log back out, taking you back to the login screen. The same events happened in safe mode.

I did some research and think this problem may be a new strain of an oldie but goodie known as “blazefind”.  I found some information from the Lavasoft user forum archives that I modified a little to fix the problem and make the computer bootable. 

First thing to do is get to the Windows recovery console and replace the software hive with a previous good backup. It should look something like this:
C:\windows>cd system32\config
C:\windows\system32\config>ren software software.old
This renames the current software hive to software.old
C:\windows\system32\config>copy C:\windows\repair\software
It should say “1 file(s) copied”
NOTE: After the next step you will have to remove the CD, then boot into safe mode. If you do not boot into safe mode in Windows XP it may prompt you to reactivate and you may not be able to get into Windows.

C:\windows\system32\config>exit

Now hit the F8 key and boot into safe mode. Logon to the administrator account when you reach the welcome screen. Hopefully you will be able to logon.

Now we need to edit your old registry to change the path to the userinit.exe file:
open regedit.exe
Highlight HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE (note: this is important, if you do not highlight this the next step will not work)
goto file - load hive…
Now select your old registry file which should be in C:\windows\system32\config\software.old
It will ask you what to name it, if you don’t understand, just type “test”.
Now navigate to the following:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\<what your named this in the previous step>\microsoft\windows nt\currentversion\winlogon.
Look at what the userinit value is. On my customer’s machine it was %system32%\userinit.exe which is invalid.

Next change the value to read C:\windows\system32\userinit.exe

Now close the registry editor, and we need to go back to recovery console to put your original registry back which should look like this:
C:\windows>cd system32\config
C:\windows\system32\config>del software
C:\windows\system32\config>ren software.old software
C:\windows\system32\config>exit

Thanks to all those who helped with this fix.