SBSPECIALIST

I was interested in this. Generating truly random passwords is not an easy thing to do. But there is (as with everything) a website to help you.

Go here -> https://www.grc.com/passwords.htm

And get one of the 63-bit keys.

Pasted from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_phonetic_alphabet>

I got myself into something without doing all the research I should have.

Scenario...

A customer has been running SBS and Terminal Services (Application Mode) on a separate W2003 server. Historically, and wrongly, the TS Licencing server was setup on the TS server (normally setup on a separate server). However, that is an aside.

The licencing server was becoming flaky. We decided to put a new server in for TS, and correct the previous problem by moving licencing to the SBS server, where it should have been all along.

My thought was, setup the TS server (fine), setup Licencing on the SBS, down the existing TS/Licencing server and .....Doh! That didn't work, no licences (if you enter the licence numbers it tells you they cannot be registered).

Half an hour or so of panic ensued. Then Google finally pointed me somewhat in the direction.

In fact, all that I had done was pretty much correct, but I should not have downed the old server. When all is setup, you have to call a charming young lady in India, to whom you read out the 25 character licence details for:

The two servers

The sets of licences (in this case, three sets of five)

She (as I am sure you will get the same charming lady I got ;-) ) will then do some magic on the registration server and Voila! Your licences appear on the new Licencing Server and all works like a dream. You then need an additional code from her to deregister the original licencing server, and you can shut that down and skip it (in our case).

Total time on the phone was 19 minutes (it's a free call 0800 number from the UK), and a very efficient and friendly service (great patience).

What did I learn?

Do your research and don't assume

Learn the phonetic alphabet

On the latter point, if you have to read out 5 x 25 character licence codes over a mobile phone line to India, it pays to know the Phonetic Alphabet. Indeed, I remarked to my wife on my (late) return - they should teach that and typing in school. Some hopes!

I saw this as, once again, a customer had asked me if it was possible. As someone who has numerous domains, I thought I would give it a try before trying it on my customer (the old 'dogfood' principle). And guess what....Not only is it very easy to setup, but it WORKS.

Thanks to Jamie for this, and I thought I would post it to help anyone who might be in a similar predicament to me!

Configuring SBS (or any user's Outlook with Exchange) to send from a different domain

Over at Sean's blog, there is a post that talks about configuring multiple domains for your SBS server to receive mail. That post, by the way, would also work for any Exchange organization to receive mail at multiple domains. The question that everyone wants answered in his comments, though, is how to set up the client's Outlook to send using one of the other addresses. Here is how I do it:

hat out

1. After you have Outlook configured for Exchange and working properly, create a second e-mail account in the SAME PROFILE. Go to Tools -> E-mail Accounts and choose Add a new e-mail account. Click Next.
2. Choose POP3 and click next.
3. Fill in the user's name, the secondary e-mail address you want to use, and for incoming server name use anything that isn't true that you want (I usually just type the word none). For outgoing server, type the internal name of your SBS or Exchange server. You don't have to provide a username and password.
4. Click More Settings.
5. On the General tab, change the name to something the client will recognize identifying the secondary address (for instance, use the secondary address, or the domain name). Click OK.
6. Click Next. (Next will not be available unless you provide both an incoming and outgoing server name.)
7. Click Finish.
8. Press Ctrl-Alt-S or go to Tools -> Send/Receive -> Send/Receive Settings -> Define Send/Receive Groups.
9. Click the Edit button.
10. Click the account name on the left that you just created.
11. Turn off the check mark for Receive Mail Items.
12. Click OK and close.

Now, when your client creates a new e-mail message, you will see a drop down button in the toolbar of the message called Accounts. If they want the message sent as the secondary address, just choose that account name from the drop-down list. The message will go out looking as though it came from the other address, and as long as the address was added to the Exchange organization and their mailbox properly, mail replies will come back to that address.

You can use Outlook rules to sort mail based on the incoming address to different folders, but you must manually choose the outgoing account, even when you are replying to the message. The reason for this is because the incoming mail still comes in on the Exchange account, so Outlook would automatically try to send replies using the Exchange account (and therefore the default Exchange e-mail address). You will notice on any reply or forward that the account that will be used is in the header area of the window.

The only down-side to this method is that the client MUST remember to change the account themselves, but it is the easiest way I have found to do it. I hope this helps everyone.

Pasted from <http://www.jamiejamison.com/2005/08/configuring_sbs.html>

I saw this on www.grumblingtummy.com and thought it was appropriate.

Lesson 1

A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rings. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbour. Before she says a word, Bob says, "I'll give you £800 to drop that towel." After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob. After a few seconds, Bob hands her £800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she gets to the bathroom, her husband asks, "Who was that?" "It was Bob the next door neighbour," she replies. "Great!" the husband says, "did he say anything about the £800 he owes me?"

Moral of the story:

If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure.

Lesson 2

A priest offered a Nun a lift. She got in and crossed her legs, forcing her gown to reveal a leg. The priest nearly had an accident. After controlling the car, he stealthily slid his hand up her leg. The nun said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest removed his hand. But, changing gears, he let his hand slide up her leg again. The nun once again said, "Father, remember Psalm 129?" The priest apologised "Sorry sister but the flesh is weak." Arriving at the convent, the nun went on her way. On his arrival at the church, the priest rushed to look up Psalm 129. It said, "Go forth and seek, further up, you will find glory."

Moral of the story:

If you are not well informed in your job, you might miss a great opportunity.

Lesson 3

A sales rep, an administration clerk, and the manager are walking to lunch when they find an antique oil lamp. They rub it and a Genie comes out. The Genie says, "I'll give each of you just one wish." Me first! Me first!" says the admin clerk. "I want to be in the Bahamas, driving a speedboat, without a care in the world." Puff! She's gone. Me next! Me next!" says the sales rep. "I want to be in Hawaii, relaxing on the beach with my personal masseuse, an endless supply of Pina Coladas and the love of my life." Puff! He's gone. "OK, you're up," the Genie says to the manager. The manager says, "I want those two back in the office after lunch."

Moral of the story:

Always let your boss have the first say.

Lesson 4

An eagle was sitting on a tree resting, doing nothing. A small rabbit saw the eagle and asked him, "Can I also sit like you and do nothing?" The

eagle answered: "Sure, why not." So, the rabbit sat on the ground below the eagle and rested. All of a sudden, a fox appeared, jumped on the rabbit and ate it.

Moral of the story:

To be sitting and doing nothing, you must be sitting very, very high up.

Lesson 5

A turkey was chatting with a bull. "I would love to be able to get to the top of that tree," sighed the turkey, "but I haven't got the energy." "Well, why don't you nibble on some of my droppings?" replied the bull. They're packed with nutrients." The turkey pecked at a lump of dung, and found it actually gave him enough strength to reach the lowest branch of the tree. The next day, after eating some more dung, he reached the second

branch. Finally after a fourth night, the turkey was proudly perched at the top of the tree. He was promptly spotted by a farmer, who shot him out of

the tree.

Moral of the story:

BullSh!t might get you to the top, but it won't keep you there.

Lesson 6

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold the bird froze and fell to the ground into a large field. While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize how warm he was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy. A passing cat heard the bird d singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

Morals of the story:

(1) Not everyone who sh!ts on you is your enemy

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of sh!t is your friend

(3) And when you're in deep sh!t, it's best to keep your mouth shut!

Original source unknown.

Pasted from <http://www.grumblingtummy.com/archives/category/business/>

So I got the machine back here, put in an XP disk and ran Recovery Console. I ran chkdsk /r and after a couple of hours the machine came back up.

I still have no idea why it happened, I know that the several hours it took I am not going to be abloe charge the customer for. Happy? Yes of course I'm happy!

From time to time you get to meet significant people. People who in some way, change your life. Maybe they change the way you think about things. Maybe their knowledge enables you to understand things that previously had eluded you. Maybe, simply, being in their presence makes you happier, makes you enjoy life that little more.

We all get to meet such people occasionally, and we try to get closer to them, to let their influence work on us for as long as it can. What is inevitable is that sooner or later we will lose that influence, and all we can hope is that some of what we have learned from them will stick with us and continue to affect the way we think about and act upon things. Maybe it was a school teacher, the one who introduced us to the wonders of literature or switched on the light with regard to a particular maths problem.

In our working lives, we tend to be a little more cynical than we were in school and we tend to hold people at arm's length as a result. Then comes along someone with the special talent or personality which makes us sit up and take notice. These people are giants, and it is necessary to make an effort to absorb the wisdom they dispense before they (as they inevitably will) stride off into the sunset to dispense that wisdom to other folk.

In the SBSC in the UK we have recently seen the passing of three such giants. An unfortunate coincidence which will have a significant impact on the Small Business Specialist Community in the UK, and I'm sure that its' combined impact will be felt further afield too.

I was sitting in a Harry Brelsford presentation in Reading a few years back when he introduced a young 'techie' from Microsoft who, he said, would be happy to answer questions during the breaks. I saw a long queue develop at the first break and decided to join it. The 'young techie' was, indeed, answering questions, giving precise instructions of how to overcome a vast variety of technical problems on a wide range of subjects. It was on this day that I was introduced to the encyclopaedic knowledge of David Overton.

Since that day, I have met and talked with David on many occasions, and I am fortunate to count him as a friend. He has never, ever, failed to amaze me with his knowledge of all things Microsoft, but more than that, his humanity and friendliness mark him out as a very special individual.

We were fortunate in the West of England SBS Group to have David join us for a Christmas dinner. He had no problem with 'singing for his supper', and good humouredly answered question after question from the assembled throng. To say that they were impressed would be a serious understatement.

David is truly a 'Giant'

I was sitting in a training course for the 70-282 exam in Reading. I was sitting next to a great guy called Tom Crosby from Derbyshire. We began to chat. Just across the aisle from Tom and I was a young lady. Soon we started to chat to her. We found that this young lady was greatly enthused by all things SBS, and she started to harangue us (in the nicest possible way) about the necessity for Small Business Specialists to come together to be a 'force' who could meet with and influence Microsoft to get more of what we needed from them. To say that this was revolutionary would be an understatement, however, Susanne Dansey (yes, you guessed it) was convinced that we lowly 'cannon fodder' could not only be heard, but could be listened to by Microsoft.

Through many subsequent meetings with Susanne, her conviction and enthusiasm has never failed to astound me. She has truly worked tirelessly to enable small businesses to have the ear of Microsoft, and to ensure that, where Microsoft needed to understand something that is essential to the Small Business Community, they got it clear and 'between the eyes'.

Susanne's renown is now global, she has played an essential part in the development of the Small Business Community throughout the UK and further afield. Stanley would certainly have said 'Susanne Dansey I assume'?

Susanne is my second giant.

In the very early days of the community, while at the first meeting of a Small Business Specialist Group in Birmingham, we were assailed by a young man in an unfeasibly loud shirt who spoke a strange colonial tongue. Once we had successfully sub-titled him, we quickly saw that, despite the fact that he claimed to represent Microsoft, he spoke like no other Microsoftie I, or any of the assembled throng (gathered by aforesaid 'great guy' Tom Crosby) had ever met. Gone was the 'Microsoft is always right' approach we expected, and in came the 'Yeh! We cocked that up for sure! – How can we do it better?' approach. Refreshing? You bet!

Despite a great deal of bating over the cricket (it appears some colonial side had just been beaten by the magnificent English boys for the first time in 127 years, or something), he more than held his own against the combined forces of twenty or more cynics, and convinced them that Microsoft not only could change its' approach to small business, but desperately wanted to change. A wonderful mixture of humour, enthusiasm and plain talking won over that group, and I have seen him do the same with many other groups, leaving a room full of cynics convinced that they can achieve a relationship with Microsoft which is worthwhile.

I believe that the 'young colonial' Robbie Upcroft, has been, almost single-handedly, responsible for the development of the Small Business Specialist Groups in the UK. Many of the groups (like the Bristol one that I belong to) are still flourishing, and give a unique vehicle for the Small Business Specialists to meet and exchange views, learn from each other (and drink).

Robbie (and his lovely wife Linda) have endured the worst that the UK can throw at them, and always come up smiling. Robbie's enthusiasm and good humour has never wavered in all the time that I have known him, and that is why he is my third 'giant'

These three people, like all good people are now moving on to other (greener) pastures. I am, of course, pleased for them, and wish them all success in their new fields. I cannot help however, my thoughts being tinged with regret that we have, to varying degrees, 'lost' these three. They cannot be replaced because 'giants' rarely can. We who remain, can only do our best to fulfil what they started, to drive forward the community for the good of all its members, to continue to develop the Small Business Specialist Groups in the UK, and to help each other to grow our businesses.

Who knows, in a few years I may have the opportunity to salute three more 'giants' who have arisen in the intervening years?

In the meantime, I hope you will join with me in thanking and saluting David, Susanne and Robbie – three giants passing.