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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Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

Have you had either your Windows Vista computer or your SBS (Small Business Server) 2008 box lose their internet connection after you reboot? This recently happened to me after I installed SBS 2008 at a client’s location. It is easy to diagnose and the fix is relatively simple if you understand how to edit the registry on your computer.

Step 1: The Diagnosis:

1. Click on the “START” button and in the small box at the bottom, type “CMD” without the quotes.
2. A black box will appear with a blinking cursor. Type “ipconfig /all” and hit “Enter”.
3. You will see a lot of text that may look completely foreign to you.
4. Look the the row that says “Default Gateway”, if it is blank, then continue on to the “The Fix” section. If the “Default Gateway” is not blank, there is another problem and the fix below will not help you.

Step 2: The Fix:

1. Close out of the black box by typing “Exit” and hitting “Enter”.
2. Click on the “START” button and in the small box at the bottom, type “regedt32″ without the quotes.
3. The registry Editor will appear and you need to navigate to HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/Tcpip/Parameters/Interfaces/
4. Here you’ll need to select the CLSID of your networkadapter where you change the settings. You’ll probably recognize it by looking at the value IPAddress that will have the IP of this adapter.
5. Open the value “DefaultGateway” by double-clicking it.
6. You will see a list of all the gateways that disappeared! ( in your case it may only be one) Very likely, the first line will be empty. I’m not sure, how this little flaw can make such a big problem.
7. Manually remove this first empty line, click OK and reboot your system everything should be working fine again.

Thanks to Ilja Herlein at http://www.netsetman.com/support/viewtopic.php?pid=832#p832 for the direction on how to fix this issue. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me!

Tim

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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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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.

Do you own a small business? How many computers do you use at your location? What, you don’t have a server? How do you back up all of your files from individual computers? How do you share important files among your employees?

A server really isn’t as large an investment as most small businesses imagine and the benefits are immense! A server running Windows Small Business Server 2003 can cost as little as $1,500 and for this you can:

• Host your own email and website
• Store user’s data on the server for backup or review
• Share a contact list and calendar
• Control who has access to your computer network
  
• Control which users have access to which public files and folders
• Access work computers from anywhere else in the world via a web browser
• Access email via a web browser
• Automate the Windows update service for user’s PCs
• Control user’s password complexity for security
• Reset a user’s password in case one forgets theirs or leaves the company
• Share Printers
• Receive faxes via email

Windows Small Business Server is an excellent platform for small businesses because it has many of the features that a large company needs with a much smaller price tag. You get the Windows Server platform, Microsoft Exchange for email as well as to share appointments and calendars, Microsoft Web Server and in the Premium Version you can also get the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Database.

Whether your company has 3, 25, 50 or even 75 computer users, your company can still use all the functions of Microsoft Small Business Server on just 1 computer. When you are ready to make your small business more efficient and take productivity to the next level, contact Biden PC for your free server consultation.

Remember, servers do more than just store files. They provide backup, security, increased productivity and peace of mind.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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I was recently attempting to install PHP into Windows Server 2008 Web Edition with IIS 7.0 and I had to google how to do it. I found a few pages that gave instructions but all were incomplete. Whatever I tried I repeatedly got the message “The specified module required by this handler is not in the modules list.” What the heck does that mean?

Well, in short I found a page by David Wang that tells you what text to put inside a batch file that installs PHP ISAPI in IIS7 (IIS 7.0). The text for the batch file begins right after where he typed “//David”. So copy from “@IF ?%_ECHO%?==?? ECHO OFF” to “ENDLOCAL“. Run the batch file after you close the Server Manager.

When you restart the Server Manager, you will then see “PHP-ISAPI” under your Handler Mappings heading. Once you see this, you know it’s installed.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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