enable ping replies from Windows Server 2008

I had a Windows 2008 R2 server that would not reply to pings.  This server was not the member of a domain (it was a standalone Hyper-V host).  I fixed this by running this from an elevated command prompt:

netsh firewall set icmpsetting 8

I got this from this page:
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/windowsserver/en-US/082d0229-4137-4210-8b1a-580187c375aa/cannot-ping-windows-server-2008-r2-machine-from-inside-the-network?forum=winserverNIS

DFS replication status indeterminate

In Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012, if your DFS replication closes abnormally (or so it thinks) for some reason, the replication will stop.  If you run the Diagnostic Report from the DFS Management Console, you'll see the status for the replication group is 'indeterminate' as noted below:

If you look in the DFS event log, you should see event id 2213.  It notes the problem and gives you the exact command you need to run in an elevated command prompt to fix the issue.

Run the command and you're back in business.  To make sure that files are not inadvertently overwritten by older versions, Microsoft recommends that you back up the share that was out of contact before putting it back in place.  Frankly, to be super duper safe, you should back up all the shares.

installing Entourage 2008 EWS and getting error

I had a user with Entourage 2008 and needed to install Entourage 2008 EWS (Exchange web services edition) to work with a new Exchange 2010 server. However, each time we tried to install it, we got this error:

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You cannot install Entourage 2008, Web Services Edition on this volume. A version of the software required to install this update was not found on this volume.

To learn how to fix this issue, see "I can't install Office 2008 for Mac updates" at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/help.mspx.

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What I found was that you need install the version of Entourage EWS for the specific version of Entourage you have. If you have Entourage 12.2.3, you need to install Entourage EWS 13.03. But if you have a newer or older update of Entourage on your system, you need a newer or older version of Entourage EWS. It's very lame, but based on the version of Entourage you have, you need a certain version of EWS.

In my case, I was on the most recent version of Entourage, so I needed the most recent version of EWS (13.0.11 as of the time of this post), which is the case most people should find themselves in. First, run Microsoft autoupdate and get your Office 2008 up to the newest version. The go to the Microsoft for Mac downloads page here:
http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads

Click on Office 2008. Click on Microsoft Entourage 2008 for Mac, Web Services Edition. This will take you to the download for the most recent version of Entourage EWS, which should be compatible with your Entourage if you have it up to date. Download and install and you're ready to go.

mail enabled external contacts in SBS 2008

Adding mail enabled contacts in SBS 2008 is not the same than SBS 2003.

Here is the process in 2008:

Open Exchange Management Console.

Expand receipient configuration

Click Mail Contact

On the right click new mail contact

upgrading Quickbooks file to 2008

I've done two upgrades to Quickbooks 2008 from 2006. Both times, the QB file was on the network. In order to upgrade the file - you have to install QB 2008 on a machine and open then file. When I opened the file when it was located on the network, it gave me an error about permissions each time. Then I had to restore the QB file from backup. In short, in order to upgrade the file - I had to bring the file down local and open it there and then copy it back up to the network.