Tue, May 10, 2011
Symptoms:
Inability to browse internet from Blackberry Browser application when set to “Blackberry Browser”, but able to browse when the browser options are set to “Internet Browser”
High CPU utilization on the BES, primarily due to BMDS.exe (Blackberry Mobile Data Service)
Solution:
Ensure there is sufficient free space on the hard disk on the BES. Compressing/deleting some logs, and then restarting the server resolved the issue for me.
Wed, May 4, 2011
Automating Windows Password Changes in PowerShell
Many organizations have a need for scheduled, automated windows local admin password rotations with reporting functions.
The following PowerShell script covers these requirements. It uses a CSV to input the computers which need a password change. This could easily be changed to pipe directly from AD, some database, or even a simple text file. It then sets the local administrator account to a random password (assuming that the password is over a certain age) and records that password in a CSV in a secure location. When the loop is completed it will send a report explaining what happened to an admin address.
Please feel free to comment with questions or suggestions.
Wed, May 4, 2011
A neat way to pull up all results of “stuff that’s near you” on Google Maps is to center it on your location, then search for *. It should produce results of most everything close to you, so it can be a nice trick when you’re trying to get a lay of the land around your current location.
Fri, Mar 25, 2011
When attempting to sync my iPhone to iTunes, I received the error:
ITunes could not connect to this iPhone because an unknown error occurred (0xe80006b)
However, a simple reboot of my phone took care of the problem.
Wed, Mar 9, 2011
Problem:
“This meeting is not in the calendar; it may have been moved or deleted” when invited to meetings in Outlook
Resolution:
For the user experiencing the issue, remove their user account from BES. Then, correct the Date/Time settings on the Blackberry. Mainly, ensure the options are set to pull the time from Network/Blackberry, and that the time that is displayed at the bottom of the Date/Time menu is the correct time.
Wed, Mar 9, 2011
When syncing an iPhone with iTunes, I noticed that several of my apps that I’d… acquired backup copies of… through Installous had vanished from the available applications on the home screen of my phone.
To prevent this from happening, after plugging your iPhone into your computer, simply:
Open iTunes
Click File –> Transfer Purchases from iPhone Then, the next time you sync, your apps should not be lost.
Thu, Mar 3, 2011
I spent a few minutes looking for the PowerShell ISE download for Windows Server 2008R2. When it didn’t become immediately apparent, I checked Server Manager and, lo and behold, it’s available as a feature for installation.
The PowerShell ISE is a great script editor and, due to the fact that I script almost entirely in PowerShell now, it’s replaced Notepad++ as my editor of choice.
Mon, Feb 28, 2011
In Exchange 2007, if a recently-disabled mailbox does not appear in the Disconnected Mailbox menu in EMC (if you wanted to reconnect it to a different user, for instance), simply run one of the following commands in Powershell:
Clean-MailboxDatabase \servername\SGName\Store
Cleans Database of the individual store
Get-Mailboxdatabase | Clean-MailboxDatabase
Cleans all databases in the Organization
Get-Mailboxdatabase | Where{ $_.Server –eq “”}| clean-MailboxDatabase
Cleans all databases in the specific store
Get-Mailboxdatabase | Where{ $_.
Wed, Jan 26, 2011
On Windows 7 I was installing my new HP LaserJet P1102W, and I completely ignored the initial setup instructions. Long story short, I’m waiting and wondering why the full software CD won’t recognize that the device is plugged in.
I had to turn off the printer, remove the device from the Devices and Printers applet, and then it was immediately recognized when the device was turned back on.
Wed, Jan 12, 2011
This one liner will get the password age in days of an account on the current domain:
[Math]::Round($(get-qaduser $user).PasswordAge.TotalDays)
In this case you’ll need to set the $user variable prior to running this command.