File this under "things I always forget how to do, and then find on my own site when I search for it".
If you want to ping your Server 2008 machine and receive a response, open a command prompt or Run dialog and use the following commands:
Allow incoming ICMPv4 echo requests
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="ICMP Allow incoming V4 echo request" protocol=icmpv4:8,any dir=in action=allow
Allow all incoming ICMPv4 requests
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="All ICMP V4" protocol=icmpv4:any,any dir=in action=allow
Old Deprecated Syntax
netsh firewall set icmpsetting 8
This will allow your server to reply to ICMP requests.
To disable this and block ICMP requests, run:
netsh firewall set icmpsetting 8 disable
Updated 5/27/2011: Changed to use newer netsh advfirewall firewall instead of deprecated netsh firewall.
Launch a new Command prompt (Start > Run, cmd) and type systeminfo. Wait for a bit, and eventually it'll spit out a slew of useful information. You're looking for about the 10th line from the top, Original Install Date.
C:\>systeminfo
Host Name: xxxx
OS Name: Microsoftr Windows VistaT Enterprise
OS Version: 6.0.6001 Service Pack 1 Build 6001
OS Manufacturer: Microsoft Corporation
OS Configuration: Standalone Workstation
OS Build Type: Multiprocessor Free
Registered Owner: xxxxx
Registered Organization:
Product ID: xxxxxx-xxx-xxxxxxx-xxxxxx
Original Install Date: 11/9/2008, 9:00:50 PM
…
It actually does say "Microsoftr" and "VistaT", because obviously a random "r" or "T" tacked onto a word is just as clear as (r) or (TM).
I want, no demand, easy access to my Dropbox. This involves adding it to to the Favorite Links bar in Vista (just drag it there) and the Places bar. On Windows 2000 and XP you can use Tweak UI, but it doesn't run well on Vista. I can't recall if the Places bar customization didn't work on all versions of Vista, or just 64-bit Vista. Either way the registy script is an easy way to make the changes.
 |
 |
Places Bar
Before |
Places Bar
After |
Registry Script to Customize the Places Bar
Copy and paste the following text into a new text document and save it with a .reg extension (eg. dropbox-places.reg). Double-click it to import it to the registry.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\comdlg32\Placesbar]
"Place0"="Recent"
"Place1"="Desktop"
"Place2"="C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\My Dropbox\"
"Place3"="MyDocuments"
"Place4"="MyComputer"
Make sure that you provide the full path to your Dropbox (usually this means you'll only have to replace YOURUSERNAME with your actual username. The order will be Recent Items, Desktop, Dropbox, Documents and My Computer. You can modify that, but don't create any more than 5 places (0-4).
For over a year I've been unable to wirelessly activate one of my BlackBerrys. Each time I tried to perform an Enterprise Activation I'd receive an error message stating:
An error has occurred. Please contact your System Administrator.
If I started activation while tethered it would [eventually] work, but there was nothing in the log files to indicate why wireless activation would fail.
I finally broke down and called RIM about it. And of course as soon as the helpful Canuck was on the phone my wireless activation worked. I explained my situation though and he offered a few pointers:
- Make sure the BES isn't overloaded
- Make sure the BES was close (network-wise) to the Exchange server
- And most importantly: make sure that you don't have too many rules in Outlook
The BES wasn't overloaded, it was on the same network and in the same rack as the Exchange server, but I had a pile of Outlook rules. 30 active rules to be precise. I like my rules and I wasn't about to disable all of those rules every time I needed to activate. No, I decided to take the opposite tact and add another rule.
The activation message comes from network@etp#####.etp.REGION.blackberry.net (eg network@etp1006.etp.na.blackberry.net), the subject will be similar to RIM_adf32c10-d5a2-23a4-95df-10400821c6d3 and it will have an ETP.DAT attachment.
I created a new rule that is the very first rule.
Apply this rule after the message arrives
with na.blackberry.net in the sender's address
stop processing more rules
The rule checks all arriving messages for na.blackberry.net in the sender's address, and if it's found immediately stops processing all other rules. Short, simple and its solved my enterprise activation woes.
RIM TSupport also recommended increasing the log level of the Mailbox Agent to at least 4 – anything less than 4 doesn't yield any useful information. You can do this from the BlackBerry Server Configuration Panel or from the Registry:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Enterprise Server\Logging Info\Mailbox Agent]
"DebugLogLevel"=dword:00000004
Browse to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Research In Motion\BlackBerry Enterprise Server\Logging Info\Mailbox Agent and create a new DWORD value called DebugLogLevel with a decimal value of 4 (for log level 4). Valid values are 1-5 with 5 being the most verbose.
