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Microsoft released an update this week for the Windows Server Solutions BPA that covers a number of products, including: Small Business Server 2011 Standard Edition Small Business Server 2011 Essentials Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 Essentials Windows MultiPoint Server 2011 More information about this update is available on the Official SBS Blog page at http://blogs.technet.com/b/sbs/archive/2011/09/29/windows-server-solutions-bpa-updated-september-2011.aspx So how do you get the update? First, make sure you have the Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2.0 installed. To get it, go here . Next, make sure to download and install the Windows Server Solutions Best Practices Analyzer 1.0 here During the install, you will be prompted with this screen: Make sure to check this box during your install, or you will not be prompted to automatically update! Once you have it installed, launch the BPA either via the SBS Console under security (if you selected to integrate it in the console) or when you launch it under the start menu. You will see in the system tray an icon/pop up stating to update, like this: Select that, and a window will open Close the BPA you have open and then wait about 5-10 seconds. The next box will change and allow you to click on it. That’s it, you are now updated! Hey Lyle, I don’t see it prompting me. Why? Ok, so you got it installed, but now you launch it and don’t see it prompting you for the update. No problem, here is how to fix this: Open up the registry and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsServerSolutionsBPA Look for the DWORD item “Update”.  It is probably set to a 0. We want to change it to a value of 1. It should now look like this:   Close out the BPA if you have it open. Now re-launch it and you will see it appear in the SysTray. Lyle Epstein Kortek Solutions Lyle Epstein’s Systems Engineer Blog

Like everything else in IT today, cloud computing can be either unnecessary in your business operations – or it could be something you really need. However, a recent survey on the perception of the cloud shows that almost half of small business owners are more or less dismissing it outright.

Well Microsoft’s new Office 365 solution goes down causing business disruption. Sometimes I wonder if this cloud nonsense is just another bad joke.   Lyle Epstein Kortek Solutions Lyle Epstein’s Systems Engineer Blog

Today we received a batch of new Seagate Enterprise hard disks, which should have been model ST2000NM0011. It looks like someone in the label department in Thailand made a mistake, as the model number is shown with a 1 (1TB) and a 2 (2TB). After plugging it in, it was detected as a 1TB drive. Glad to know we can’t always rely on stickers.

Do you use QuickBooks for your accounting at the business? Do you use the payroll feature in QuickBooks to pay your employee’s? Are you a member of Costco? Did you know that as a member of Costco QuickBooks provides a discount on their payroll services? If you did than that is great, if not, pick up the phone and give QuickBooks Costco payroll a call at 800.498.7401 x 87108
I was able to save over $100 a year from our payroll services by using this.

The Motorola XOOM is the first device to run the Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) OS, optimized for tablets. With a 1GHz dual-core processor, 32GB memory, and 1GB RAM, plus a gorgeous 10.1" widescreen HD display and support for Adobe Flash 10.2, you can experience the best in multimedia, and multi-task with the ease and performance of a PC.

The Motorola XOOM is the tablet you've been waiting for.

Tonight I had a customer informing me that since we installed the latest rollup for Exchange 2010 SP1 their BlackBerry were sending duplicate messages. After doing some research into the issue, I came across this blog http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2011/03/14/exchange-2010-sp1-rollup-3-and-blackberrys-sending-duplicate-messages.aspx For the time being, hold off on installing RU3 until Microsoft get’s this fixed. In fact, they state that they have pulled the Rollup for now. I suggest looking at the EHLO link above to confirm when it is fixed.

I am currently working on planning out a new data center that will be running Exchange 2010. I found a great tool from the Exchange team called Exchange 2010 Mailbox Server Role Requirements Calculator which is quite powerful. An updated version of this tool can also be located at http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2010/01/22/3409223.aspx

Today my wife updated her Sprint Samsung Transform phone with the latest Android OS. I have been waiting for Sprint to push out this update as I found a very strange bug in the base OS that was shipped with the phone in November 2010. For a list of versions and when they were shipped, see http://socialcompare.com/en/comparison/android-versions-comparison The bug I identified was if you setup the phone to Sync with the Exchange server, in this case Exchange 2010 SP1 RU2 and then proceed to select a contact, change the picture of the contact to one that is on the device, and re-sync, you will now see the new picture in your Outlook. That is how it is suppose to work. The bug part comes in when you now edit that contact, say change the phone number or email address. Now sync the device, and you will notice the data doesn’t change in the device. The only way to fix it from my testing was to delete the contact via the phone. Once you do that, re-sync, and it will be gone from the Contacts in Outlook. Now go into your deleted items and you will see the contact. Move it back to your contacts, and re-sync the phone, and the contact is now correct on the phone. But if you make a change to the contact again, you will run into the same issue. This was VERY annoying! I had found an update to the Android OS but it required rooting the phone, something I didn’t want to do. After the update came down today from Sprint, I retried my issue, and the bug has now been fixed. Other things I noticed in the new update is the support for OOF, or Out of Office. That is a nice touch as Active Sync get’s more aligned to the features in Exchange 2010 and EAS. I also noticed that the new update now enforces Active Sync’s security policies, including requiring a device password. Now we wait for Microsoft’s own Windows Phone 7 to start supporting more Exchange EAS policies. If you are interested in knowing more about EAS, here is a chart by Marco Nielsen

The White House is currently reviewing a new set of much tougher laws for software piracy, including jail time of up to 20 years. There are several other items in this list of recommendations that do not pertain to software, like drug offenses, but all fall in the intellectual property category. If you want to see what these new limits are about take a look at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ip_white_paper.pdf