WindowsAdminGuru BLOG

Today we have received an alert on Memory Fault on one of the DELL server model POWEREDGE 6450. We did check in the event viewer whether any errors that are throwing for the information. Howerver not seen any alerts in that list. Then next would be checking the Dell OpenManager Start ==> Programs ==> Dell OpenManage Applications ==> Server Administrator ==> Server Administrator Note: This one I took from Version 1.0, if your server has upgraded version options would be little different. You get login screen, login with your local admin credentials or use the domain account There you can see a list of options your left hand side bar, click on 'Memory' Once you click on 'Memory', right side page you will find the status of memory blocks that are connected in. Here goes the example - In this page you can see what is the maximum RAM it supports, how much currently installed etc as well. Apart from Memory option, you can find more options as ...

Login as Administrator and follow the below steps how to remove / un-install the Outlook Express manually from the Windows XP. Click on START ==> click Run Enter the following command: "C:\Program Files\Outlook Express\setup50.exe" / APP: OE UNINSTALL / PROMPT Click on OK This process will uninstall Outlook Express from your computer.

How to Reinstall or Fix Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) and Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider Service‏ Create a batch file with the following content: cd /d %windir%\system32 Net stop vss Net stop swprv regsvr32 ole32.dll regsvr32 oleaut32.dll regsvr32 vss_ps.dll vssvc /register regsvr32 /i swprv.dll regsvr32 /i eventcls.dll regsvr32 es.dll regsvr32 stdprov.dll regsvr32 vssui.dll regsvr32 msxml.dll regsvr32 msxml3.dll regsvr32 msxml4.dll Upon running the batch file if you get one or both of the following errors: dllregisterserver in swprv.dll failed: regsvr32 /i swprv.dll returns the error "DLLInstall in swprv.dll failed. Return Code was: 0x8000ffff" dllregisterserver in es.dll failed Followed by the recorded events in the event log with the event ID 12289: Then there are three events in the event log all event ID 12289 source: VSS Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error RegOpenKeyExW(-2147483646,SOFTWARE\Micr...

'Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider' service is missing in the services list, how to get that service back? (Windows 2003 Server) This was due to, I ran a command to kill / terminate the Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider service. However this would not happen always until you mark it for deletion. Don't worry even if this is get deleted, I've done this on the production box which bit critical server. However it will not ask for any reboot etc. You can re-register the dll file which is related to 'Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider' service. Here goes the procedure how to do that - Click Start, Run, type regsvr32 /i swprv.dll Once this get registered, you could find the service in the services list.

Error returned while creating the volume shadow copy:8004230c Aborting Backup This error is coming when I run the NTBackup to take System State Backup. This error throwing because there is some issue with VSS (Volume Shadow Copy Service) C:\WINDOWS\System32\vssvc.exe As we all know (Wintel System Admins), 'Volume Shadow Copy' service is by default set to 'Manual' mode, as and when required that service will start automatically. After it started failed, I did check for any other service which is supporting this service, then found ' Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider ' service is stopping mode. First we tried terminating this service, as it not stopping by it self, here goes the command - C:\>tasklist /svc | findstr swprv svchost.exe                  11684 swprv This command will give you the output of code of that service, based on that you can terminate. To terminate use the bel...

Guys, want to check your error messages related to Microsoft Products, here goes the straight link to check the solutions - http://www.microsoft.com/technet/support/ee/ee_basic.aspx Find detailed message explanations, recommended user actions, and links to additional support and resources. To perform a search, enter the Search for, Microsoft Product and then click Go. These values can be found in the Event Viewer logs.

How to generate HEAT report from EMC website link, what is the use of HEAT report The Host Environment Analysis Tool (HEAT) is a Web-based application that Processes the output of the EMCReports script for the Windows Hosts. In order to generate a HEAT report login to the EMC POWERLINK website: https://powerlink.emc.com Once you are successfully logged into the site with the valid user name and password, kindly follow the below link: Home ==> Support ==> Product and Diagnostic Tools ==> Environment Analysis Tools ==> Host Environment Analysis Tool (HEAT) Visit the Host Environment Analysis Tool (HEAT) Website https://servicetools.emc.com/heat.php Upload the latest EMC grab report and then you will find the complete HEAT report. You could also send the same file to your registered mail id.

Here’s the list of Microsoft Windows Versions and how much RAM the various Windows versions and editions support: Windows NT 4.0: 4 GB Windows 2000 Professional: 4 GB Windows 2000 Standard Server: 4 GB Windows 2000 Advanced Server: 8 GB Windows 2000 Datacenter Server: 32 GB Windows XP Professional: 4 GB Windows Server 2003 Web Edition: 2 GB Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition: 4 GB Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition: 32 GB Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition: 128 GB Windows Vista: 4 GB Windows Server 2008 Standard: 4 GB Windows Server 2008 Enterprise: 64 GB Windows Server 2008 Datacenter: 64 GB Windows 7: 4 GB

Today I've received one ticket on logical drives failure. 2 hard drives are part of the RAID 5 and 1 is spare drive. Ordered 3 hard drives, got the outage from the client. However I'm still thinking how to resolve this situation. Finally decided to go with to reseat the hard drives first one by one, if they get set right with this, we can leave them as it is, otherwise replace the faulty ones. First we shutdown the server, asked onsite engineer reseat the hard drives one by one. However none gave good result, hence we have decided to replace the hard drives one by one. As these are hot swappable, onsite engineer replaced the first hard dirve, it is getting started rebuilding. Hence need to wait for some until it gets rebuild. Rebuilding would take some time more than 4 hours time. Steps: 1. Shutdown the server 2. Ask Onsite tech to reseat the hard drives one by one which are showing faulty 3.Power on the server and check, so that we will know which hard drive is rea...

Lookout! What was that? Do my eyes deceive me, or was that a wicked fast boot time from a windows PC? Believe it or not, that is exactly what it was. The MSDN Blog began a series last night on “fundamentals”. The first fundamental they are covering is that of boot time. Steven Sinofsky, President of Windows and Windows Live Division of Microsoft, stated in the blog post’s preamble, “When it comes to talking about “fundamentals” we want to start with boot time – no feature gets talked about and measured more. We designed Windows 8 so that you shouldn’t have to boot all that often (and we are always going to work on reducing the number of required restarts due to patching running code). But when you do boot we want it to be as fast as possible.” We’ve heard a lot about boot time in the past when it came to Windows, however, Windows 8 may prove to be the real deal this time. The video embedded below, was posted as part of the MSDN blog post. It is an impressive display to say the least....

Every time a train runs on the vast network of tracks laid by the Indian Railways, its safe passage is in some part due to the efforts of a small technology start-up in Bangalore. The company, Apna Technologies and Solutions, has installed sensors on the side of railway tracks to detect any defective wheels and axles that can cause track fatigue, fractures, derailments and accidents. This data is transmitted to cloudbased servers for storage and analysis with instant reports on defects transmitted to the Railways within seconds. Apna's founder Baskar Ceri is just one among several Indian entrepreneurs who now use cloud-based servers to deliver complex engineering technology to a host of new users. From increasing safety in railways, addressing inefficiencies in food supply chain, to managing the operations of hotels, Indian entrepreneurs are coming up with unique models that use cloud computing. In cloud computing, the information is stored and processed on computers 'in ...

Windows 2008 Server all editions comparison sheet available here. Information like which Windows Server 2008 supports how much RAM, Number CPUs support, Hyper-V technology, Hot Swap RAM and CPUs, NAP (Network Access Protection), Cluster Service etc. Windows Server 2008 comes in several major editions derived from the same code base. The most important differences among editions are in the number of processors, amount of physical memory, and high-availability features supported. The edition specifically targeted at servers with Itanium CPUs, Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-Based Systems (IA64), is not listed in the chart, but its features and price are almost identical to the Datacenter Edition listed in the rightmost column.   Windows Server 2008 Web Edition Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition Windows Server 2008 Datacenter Edition Supersedes Windows Server 2003 Web Editi...

Today we have faced an issue related to logical drive on one of the Windows 2000 Server. In HP SIM console, logical drive showing failed, opened Array Config Utility to see what is the exact error message it is throwing and event viewer as well. In the event viewer, drive is failed and in ACU logical drive failed and need to re-enable it. Thought check in Disk Management, there we could see 'drive disable' and required to write the disk signature to enable the drive. Drive is visible in 'My Computer' and Disk Management, however data is not accessible. However errors hitting the event viewer still, to control this, we have decided to re-enable the drive and save the changes by clicking 'save' button. Here is one more tip, when you try to re-enable the logical drive on Windows 2000 Server, we thought it might ask for the reboot to fix / save the changes. However it didn't asked. Data lost on the drive which we have re-enabled, as we already know t...

Here goes the tips like how to create the our own event log in Windows Server 2008 Operating System with syntax and examples - EVENTCREATE [/S system [/U username [/P [password]]]] /ID eventid [/L logname] [/SO srcname] /T type /D description Description: This command line tool enables an administrator to create a custom event ID and message in a specified event log. Parameter List: /S system Specifies the remote system to connect to. /U [domain\]user Specifies the user context under which the command should execute. /P [password] Specifies the password for the given user context. Prompts for input if omitted. /L logname Specifies the event log to create an event in. /T type Specifies the type of event to create. Valid types: SUCCESS, ERROR, WARNING, INFORMATION. /SO source Specifies the source to use for the event (if not specified, source will default to 'eventcreate'). A valid source ...

'Esentutl' with command syntax Command description: Database utilities for the Extensible Storage Engine for Microsoft How to use this command with options, here goes the examples -  Defragmentation: ESENTUTL /d {database name} [options] Recovery: ESENTUTL /r {logfile base name} [options] Integrity: ESENTUTL /g {database name} [options] Checksum: ESENTUTL /k {file name} [options] Repair: ESENTUTL /p {database name} [options] File Dump: ESENTUTL /m[mode-modifier] {filename} Copy File: ESENTUTL /y {source file} [options]

The below given command line command would display the available application terminal servers on the network. QUERY TERMSERVER [servername] [/DOMAIN:domain] [/ADDRESS] [/CONTINUE] Here goes the Syntax example with options: servername Identifies a Terminal server. /DOMAIN:domain Displays information for the specified domain (defaults to the current domain). /ADDRESS Displays network and node addresses. /CONTINUE Does not pause after each screen of information.

The HP MSA60 storage system connected to Port 1E Box 1 of the controller in Slot 5 Today I've got one alert that 'MSA 60 model array controller' drives not visible on the server. I've started checking the event viewer what could be the reason. There I found some related to the high temperature etc and also there could be some what power shutdown happened at the server site location. Finally we got to know that, there is some power outage window happening at the server location, since then this MSA model array controller is down. I believe since last 10 hrs. At last power came, we power on the server and storage box as well. However we couldn't see the drives in my computer or disk management. Again we have rebooted the machine from iLO remote control, could see 'it is showing 2 options, 1.Press F1 to loose the date and re-enable 2. F2 to re-enable and later restore the data. We selected option 2, (pressed F2) and then server came up and checked in the dis...