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Not too long ago I had a problem updating my virus definitions on a VMware virtual machine.  When I tried to update my Symantec virus definitions on my virtual machine, I kept getting an error message saying my machine could not access a long-named vmdk file.  It said if this file was on a remote computer, I should check my connection, and if it was not, I should check my hard drive (or something along those lines).  The message gave me the option to Retry, Abort, or Continue.  Retry and Continue both made the same error message pop up, and Abort shut my vm down (without deleting some lck files, preventing me from restarting my vm until I manually deleted those).  I tried running different versions of VMs (XP and two Windows 7 machines) and got the same error.   I also didn’t get the error when running Microsoft Updates…only Symantec LiveUpdate.  I had to reinstall VM Workstation to get it to work and I haven’t gotten that error since.

I set up an distribution group on our Exchange server for when we need to communicate with a new customer.  Email to the group from the inside worked fine, but any external mail sent to the address would bounce with a generic "Unknown recipient".  I asked a couple of our other network engineers to look at it, and one of them found the RequireSenderAuthenticationEnabled attribute was set to true, so he changed it with this command: [more]

"Set-DistributionGroup "groupname" -RequireSenderAuthenticationEnabled $false".

Download and run the Cygwin installer from their web site: www.cygwin.com.  OpenSSL is not one of that packages that gets installed by default with Cygwin.  The important part of install is choosing OpenSSL as one of the packages you install, because that package is not selected by default.  You do this by searching for "openssl" on the "Select Packages" step, expanding "Net" option, clicking on the "Skip" image so that a version shows, and clicking the "Next" button.  Use the image below as a reference. [more] 

After not using my Garmin GPS for two or three weeks, I tried to turn it on and nothing happened.  Ends up the battery was dead.  I first thought I must have a bad battery - at least the battery is removable.  However, after searching online I found that a lot of people have the same problem.

When you turn a Garmin nuvi (at least the 855), it puts the device into sleep mode so it will start up quickly (providing it hasn't been shut down too long).

In order to really shut the device down you have to: [more]

Remove the battery, put it back in then hold the power button down when it's trying to boot up.

or

Hold the power button down (actually, it's pushing it to the side) for 8-10 seconds - but sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't.

I am having trouble with my machine overheating. I found two useful tools to look at the temperature on the cores of the processor.  The programs are: 

RealTemp - This program will monitor the temperature on each of the cores (for any modern Intel processor) and also periodically log the results to a file.

Tpfancontrol - This is a program specifically for ThinkPads which shows the temperature and allows you to control the fan speed somewhat. It does show the fan speed and how it changes as the temperature on the cores change.

Cisco has a built in tool that allows you to test AAA server connectivity.  It is included in both the CLI and the ASDM.  This tool is useful when you are setting up a AAA server because you don't have to login and out of the device in order to test the connectivity.

The CLI command is:
test aaa-server authentication SERVERNAME [more]

After entering this command you will be prompted to enter the server IP address, and a username and password.

The packet-tracer command is another tool that comes in handy when testing access-lists and VPN configurations.  It simulates a packet that transverses through the ASA and prints out the each step it takes and points out where it is failing.

To trace a HTTP packet from the inside address of 10.1.1.1 to outside address of 4.2.2.2 the command would be:
packet-tracer input inside tcp 10.1.1.1 www 4.2.2.2 www detailed

The multi-tasking feature released with iOS 4.0 is a great feature to allow you to run more than one application at one time; however, the implementation assumes you always want to keep each app running (in a minimized fashion) rather than closing them – so, with iOS 4.0 instead of closing the app when you click the home button, it simply allows the app to run in the background.  To see what apps you have running, press the home button twice.  This will bring up the multi-task bar which shows all the apps running in the background.

To close an application that is running in the background, follow these steps:

1. Push the home button twice.
2. Push and hold down one of the app icons showing in the multi-task bar - this will cause the app icons to jiggle (similar to when you re-arrange apps on the main screens) & have a red circle with a minus sign.
3. Push the minus sign to close the application.

You may want to close applications you don’t want running in the background for the following reasons: [more]

1. Memory – each application running is taking up memory
2. Security – applications may be running services in the background that you don’t want running
3. Battery – having multiple applications running in the background will drain your battery quicker
   

My iPhone connects in my office to wi-fi which also is able to connect through my VPN router.  For my laptop, I had set the DHCP settings on my wireless router to include the internal CoNetrix DNS server.  When I connected my phone which uses Exchange active-sync to connect, it would get an error about the certificate authority being untrusted and hit OK to continue. 

Later on I noticed that my phone kept getting synchronization errors and would get the pop up about the certificate authority being untrusted.  What I later noticed was that the server name would change from our internal to external back and forth.  [more]

I later realized that our DNS server had a host record that was the same as our external mail server address.  Each time the phone went on and off my wireless network, it would keep switching server names because the internal DNS would resolve to the actual internal server name. 

I removed the DNS server for the CoNetrix internal network from my wireless router and the phone has only connected to webmail externally.  It no longer tries internal access.

Changing Product Key on Windows 2003 (and SBS2003):  I needed to change the product key on a SBS machine that was virtualized from an IT consulting customer’s machine. I did not want to re-activate the SBS machine using the customer’s key since the machine was still active and did not want to interfere with the proper operation of the production machine. I needed to install our MSDN key since this is the proper usage for that type situation.

In order to do this, when the product ask you to activate, chose the option to telephone a customer service representative to activate Windows.  Then when the Activate Windows by phone comes up, chose the “Change Product Key” at the bottom to enter the new product key. Then cancel out of this operation and activate the windows over the internet as usual. [more]