As you may know, SBS 2008 always wants to be the DHCP server in a domain. Not a problem, right? Well, if you have the Linksys WRTU54G-TM router from T-Mobile, it is a problem.

The issue is that even though you can go into the network setup on the router and disable DHCP, it never stops the service. This means that you now have two DHCP servers on one network giving conflicting addresses.

The Linksys WRTU54G-TM router from T-Mobile is absolutely necessary if you have “T-Mobile @Home“ phone service. This service allows you to connect a standard land-line phone to the router and have a pseudo-landline through T-Mobile. You have to put a SIM card in the router and as other routers don’t accept SIM cards, this is the only one that you can use with this service.

So my client needed this router AND he needed his new SBS server. Though it is possible to have the SBS stop serving DHCP, it isn’t recommended. Here is how I solved the problem of keeping the router for my client’s phone service while installing a new router for the network gateway.

1. I got him a new router to set up as the default gateway for the network and set the IP Subnet to 192.168.0.x.
2. I connected the server and all office computers to this router.
3. I then connected the old router, WRTU54G-TM, behind the new one and set it up with a different IP Subnet of 192.168.1.x.

This allowed both routers to be active while the primary network and its computers received their DHCP through the server. The phone service still worked and at the end of the day, everyone was happy. And next time I see a sys WRTU54G-TM, I’ll know exactly how to handle it. If I can’t remove it, I’ll simply make it subservient to another router.

Tim

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“This portion of Remote Web Workplace requires the Microsoft remote desktop Active X control. Your browser security settings may be preventing you from downloading Active X controls. Adjust these settings and try to connect again”

Have you seen this Internet Explorer 7 error message when attempting to connect to Remote Web Workplace in Windows SBS 2003? I just did for the first time and I want you to know that the fix is.

Option 1:

1. In IE7, go to the Tools menu.
2. Choose Internet Options > Programs > Manage add-ons.
3. Look for ‘Microsoft RDP Client Control (redist)’.
4. Click on it and then look below and click on ‘Enabled’.

Option 2:

1. “Tools” menu > Internet Options > Advanced.
2. Now click on the Reset button at bottom to reset the IE7 settings.
3. Restart Internet Explorer and retry logging into Remote Web Workplace.
4. Download and install the Active X plugin.
   

Once you do that you should be able to log in to Remote Web Workplace also known as RWW.

Happy Computing,

Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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Today I had a client whose “old computer guy” had copied her entire “My Documents” folder to her Windows 2000 server. Apparently he had not set the folder permissions so that she was the only person who could access the files. Therefore everyone had access and obviously she didn’t want everyone viewing her files. So I did what she asked and I removed the files from her server.

This could have been avoided, and he would probably still be her “computer guy”, if he had just set the permissions on the server’s shared folder. Doing so really isn’t difficult but if you don’t know that you have to do it, there can be serious problems.

This leads to the differences between a “computer guy” and a computer network consultant. A computer guy is typically someone who is good with computers and can generally fix a lot of problems. But the more in depth issues are the ones that cause the more expensive problems. If one of the lady’s employees had gotten a file that was not meant for them to see, there could have been serious repercussions such as seeing other employees pay rates or socil security numbers. Just for the record, these are examples, I do not recommend keeping such data in your “My Documents” folder.

A “computer guy” may be less expensive than a “computer network consultant” but the savings in headache and possible lawsuits is enormous.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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As I wrote before, Small Business Server 2008 has been released to hardware manufacturers. And I just saw that in October it will be released to computer network consulting companies who subscribe to Microsoft’s Action Pack. Though we have the latest Release Candidate, there will be differences between that and the full release version and I am excited to see it. I have already posted there are some significant changes to Windows Small Business Server 2008 as opposed to Windows Small Business Server 2003.

There is also the Essential Business Server that is for medium sized companies. For the time being, Biden PC is focusing on the Small Business Server and small business market instead of the Essential Business Server and the medium sized business market but in time, that will change.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2008 has finally been released to manufacturing. This means that around October we’ll have the full-release version of Windows Small Business Server 2008. Check this link.

This version of SBS is based upon Server 2008 Longhorn which was based upon Windows Vista. One advantage of this is for those of us who use USB keyboards. There is no text-based installation section and the whole thing is USB keyboard compatible. OK, maybe I’m a bit more excited about that part than most, but that’s ok. =)

The pricing has changed also.

1. 2003 Standard: $599 with 5 CALs
2. 2008 Standard: $1,089 with 5 CALs
3. 2003 Premium: $1,299 with 5 CALs
4. 2008 Premium: $1,899 with 5 CALs

So Small Business Server 2003 was less expensive than Small Business Server 2008. But…

1. 2003 1 CAL Standard: No such thing.
2. 2008 1 CAL Standard: $77
3. 2008 1 CAL Premium: $189
4. 2003 5 CALs: $521
5. 2008 5 CALs Standard: $385
6. 2008 5 CALs Premium: $945
7. 2003 20 CALs: $1,841
8. 2008 20 CALs Standard: $1,540
9. 2008 20 CALs Premium: $3,780

There are now more options for CALs (Client Access Licensing). For instance, you can now purchase a single CAL if you only need one. Previously you had to purchase 5 just to get 1.

I can’t wait to actually get my hands on this new version of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

As great as it has been to work with Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, SBS 2008 looks to be even cooler. There are a bunch of changes that are quite exciting.

1. The software works on 64 bit hardware. Only.
2. It deploys as Single-NIC only, with a router required as ISA Server will no longer be offered.
3. Setup automatically detects your router if addressed between at 192.168.x.1 and 192.168.x.255
4. A new Administrator account created during setup and the built-in is disabled out of the box. This means that the admin account can be locked out in the event that it is being bombarded with hacking attempts.
5. The system software versions have been updated to Windows Server 2008, Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Windows SharePoint Services v3, WSUS v3
6. “My Documents” redirection is no longer all or nothing. You can choose which users should have their “My Documents” redirected to a folder on the server
7. CALs for SBS 2008 Standard are now less expensive and you can get “Standard” CALs for users that aren’t using the features in Premium.
8. CALs purchased in 1, 5, or 25 packs instead of just 5 or 20.

There are many more cool features in Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 200. And if this interests you, I highly recommend that you take a look over at Sean Daniel’s SBS 2008 blog.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

I recently ran into a blog by a guy named Sean Daniel. He is a member of Microsoft’s Windows SBS Product team. That means that he is intimately familiar with Windows Small Business Server 2003 and 2008.

Sean posts new factoids to his blog just about every day. Some posts are about new features, others are about training opportunities and still others are actual “how to” posts. I am excited about his blog and I wanted to share it with you in the event that you are also interested in Windows Small Business Server 2003 and 2008.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

I’ve been receiving lots of hits to my website asking how to change passwords in Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003.

If you don’t have the legitimate Administrator password you (or your client) either forgot the password or you’re trying to hack in to it. And if you’re not my client, I won’t tell you how to get in.

If you do have administrator access to your Small Business Server 2003 computer, changing users’ passwords is extremely easy. Just follow these simple steps.

1. Go to the Server Management Console and click “Users”.
2. Choose the user whose password you want to change and right-click on their name then click on “Change Password”.
3. Type the new password in both boxes and click on “OK”. Now the user can log in with their new password.

Simple huh? I thought so.

And if you are interested in a new server for your small business, Biden PC can install one (depending on your current computer network infrastructure) for less than $2000.00.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

I have a client who has a Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 system on his network and he is asking me to compile a list of his users’ passwords. The problem is that even with administrator access to the server, I can’t see the employees’ passwords. I informed him of this and gave him these 3 options as to how he can achieve such a list.

1. He can ask his employees for their passwords and compile the list himself.
2. I can create the list and adjust the users’ settings so they can’t change their passwords. I can then give them new ones.
3. The most secretive way is to perform a brute force attack within the server to attempt to discover the employees passwords. I would then create the list. If they change their passwords, I will have to perform another brute force attack.

There are problems with each of these solutions and I will go about them in the same order.

1. Asking the employees for their passwords could make them feel as though they aren’t trusted and cause a feeling of resentment. It could also compromise the users’ passwords for other accounts which is a complete lack of security.
2. If we state that we are changing the security policy and give the employees new passwords, it is a policy change and they have to accept that. Fortunately that would not compromise the employees’ passwords for other accounts.
3. The brute force attack is costly. What it entails is essentially hacking his own employees accounts on his own server. It takes time to do this and if the employees find out, their trust in the company could suffer. And like the first scenario of asking for the passwords, this may end up in compromising employees’ passwords for other their accounts.

My professional recommendation is to go with option number 2 because it has the fewest security options, is inexpensive and will create the least distrust within the company.

Having a Microsoft Windows 2003 Small Business Server on your network is a great way to increase the security and effectiveness of your small business computer network. It has many options to increase your network security. These options include maximum password life, minimum password complexity, how often you can reuse your passwords and in the event that you forget a password, the administrator can easily reset it. The administrator can’t see the employees’ passwords but they can reset them to something new.

I hope this helps.

Happy computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

I believe that the most important thing that you can put into your small business computer network to ensure its security is time. Yes, I said time.

Windows Small Business Server 2003 has recommended security measures that should be taken called “Best Practices“. Another measure that should be taken is running MSBA (Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer) and following the suggestions it makes. Most of these must be done only once or infrequently.

Another feature called the “Server Performance Report” tells you what features aren’t functioning properly and not working as well as who has had failed attempts at logging into your server.

So what does this have to do with time? This report is emailed to you every morning at 6:00 and I seriously recommend that you read it.It takes time (just a couple of minutes) to read it and see who is having password problems or whose account is being hacked.

Hackers and script kiddies (junior hackers) have enumeration tools that can scan a network to find out what operating systems networked computers are running as well as what accounts are on those computers. Yes, they can tell if you’re using Windows XP Pro or XP Home. They can tell if your server is Windows Server 2003 or Windows Small Business Server 2003. They can even tell if you have an account on your server that is still called “administrator” and if the notes designate it as the main admin account.

These tools are dangerous because they can see what accounts are on your server. As a small business, you probably don’t have the funds to spend on a large intrusion detection system. You also can’t afford to have your server to have your server hijacked and your data stolen.

This is where the time and “Server Performance Report” come into the picture. Take the time to:

1. Perform the “Best Practices“
2. Run MSBA
3. Enable password requirements
4. Require passwords to be changed on a regular basis
5. Enable account lockout policies
6. Rename and change the description of the “administrator” account
7. Setup (once) and read the “Server Performance Report” (daily)

If you don’t read the report, it does you absolutely no good and it becomes just another piece of spam… But this one you send to yourself.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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