Received the following error after trying to connect a new Windows 7 workstation to SBS 2003.

“An error occurred while trying to copy the Client Setup files. Check the following, and then try again:

If you use a public proxy server to browse the Internet, clear the Internet Explorer connection setting for using a proxy server.  To do this, from the Tools menu, click Internet Options, click the Connections tab, click the LAN Settings button, and then clear the check box in Proxy Server.

If you do not have a public proxy configured for the Internet Explorer, then your network administrator must reinstall the Client Deployment component on the server. To do this, from Add or Remove Programs, run Windows Small Business Server Setup in maintenance mode, and then run Client Setup again.”

Here’s the fix:

1. Open Administrative Tools->IIS Manager
2. Go to Server(local computer)\Web Sites\Default Web Site\Connectcomputer
3. Right click Connectcomputer and select properties
4. On the Directory Security tab, under Secure Communications, click Edit
5. Remove the selection of Require secure channel(SSL) and Require 128-bit encryption.
6. Click OK two times and try again.

More info here…

We stopped supporting BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) and Exchange a long time ago due to its cost, stability, and complexity.  We know lots of folks are fans of Blackberry’s so we looked all over for an alternative.

AstraSync is what we found and have recommended to our clients for years.  It works well and our Blackberry users seem to be happy with it.

Hopefully one day Blackberry will just license ActiveSync like Apple’s iPhone did, but for now, AstraSync works great and is cost-effective considering the alternative.

So if you need your Blackberry to talk to Exchange, get AstraSync and move on to more interesting things

If you want to use a GoDaddy UCC certificate with Exchange 2010, you’ll run into a few problems using the new certificate GUI tools.

Since GoDaddy does not provide a PFX certificate to download, you have to use the PowerShell command line.

Though you can use the new GUI to assist you in determining which SAN names you need if you want.

MY ADVICE:  make your common name just your top level domain name!  (ex. montopolis.com)  This way you can change out your SANs easily and rekey when needed.

Go to DigiCert’s Exchange 2010 CSR Tool which is just supper handy (GoDaddy really needs to make a version of this tool).

Enter all of your information and click Generate.

Copy the PowerShell code provided into Notepad.

In front of the code you pasted put in “$Data=” (without quotes).  Example:

$Data=New-ExchangeCertificate -GenerateRequest -KeySize 2048 –SubjectName…………………

On the next line enter the following (without quotes)

set-content -path “mycommonname.com.csr” -Value $data

Now paste these two lines into your Exchange Management Shell.

You should now have a mycommonname.com.csr file!

Open this file in notepad so you can copy & paste this for GoDaddy.

Go to https://certs.godaddy.com and request a new UCC certificate.  When asked paste your CSR.

Wait for GoDaddy to issue your cert and download it for Exchange 2007.  Copy the contents of the ZIP into the directory where your CSR is located.

From the Exchange Management Shell type in, replacing mydomain.com.csr with your filename:

Import-ExchangeCertificate -FileData ([Byte[]]$(Get-Content -Path mydomain.com.crt -Encoding byte -ReadCount 0)) | Enable-ExchangeCertificate -Services “IIS”

Don’t worry about the services enabled right now.  We just want to enable one.

Now start your Exchange Management Console –> Server Configuration.  You should now see your new certificate listed.  Select it and click Assign Services to Certificate from the Actions menu.

Now assign the certificate to the services you want and voila!

I wasted a couple hours going the wrong way so I hope this saves someone else some time and frustration.  Good luck!

As a benefit of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009, beneficial provisions of IRC Section 168(k) (relating to bonus depreciation) and Section 179* (relating to increased deductions) have been extended for new equipment and software placed in service.

* The extension of these provisions results in potentially lucrative tax breaks for eligible technology purchases. Bonus depreciation is available for all businesses and provides an immediate depreciation deduction of 50 percent of the cost of new equipment and software placed in service during calendar year 2009. For taxable years beginning in 2009, 100 percent of new equipment and software purchases up to $250,000 can be expensed immediately. To limit this benefit to small businesses, the maximum immediate expense amount is reduced dollar-for-dollar to the extent that a taxpayer’s total new equipment and software purchases for the year exceed $800,000. (None of this information should be construed as or constitutes tax advice—please consult your tax adviser for a complete and detailed analysis.)

For more information on this tax break visit the IRS website.

Once we introduced Windows 7 systems to our network, our GPO to set the screensaver and lock the system after 15 minutes stopped working.

A Google search only relevantly led me here:

http://blog.mpecsinc.ca/2009/05/windows-7-no-logon-screen-saver.html

So after some leg work, here is the GPO you want to create & use now.

Create a GPO Link and set it up as follows:

Let GPO replicate or gpupdate /force it.

Tested on Windows 2003, XP, 2008 & 2008 R2 & 7.  Not tested on Vista, assume it’ll work.

If you want more granular control you can create WMI filters.  This nice article Creating WMI and Group Filters for 2000, XP, 2003, 2008, Vista, 7, 2008 R2 is right from the documentation gods @ Microsoft!