Andrew Schwabe's Blog - Windows 2003

Disable SSLV2 & Weak SSL Ciphers on IIS

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:29:00 -0400

Seems that there is a lot of confusion for people who manage windows/IIS servers and need to disable SSL 2 and older weaker encryption. There are are few nice articles, but can sometimes be confusing unless you really know your way around the Windows Registry. I hope I can simplify this for some people. Important: There is no need to purchase a utility to do this. Save the money. Some companies charge you $20 or more per server to have a utility to easily click and enable/disable these services. [More]

Setting up a BETTER SFTP Server on Windows

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:13:00 -0400

I added a blog post a while back about setting up an SFTP server on Windows. It turns out that it IS easy to setup an SFTP server, but to setup a GOOD (read: "secure") takes a bit more work. The solution I am going to describe, I call "Better" (not "Good"), because it solves some problems, but not all of them. [More]

Adobe Air: #2032 (and similar) error when trying to install an .AIR file

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:53:00 -0400

If you are building Adobe AIR applications and run into this vague error when using an install badge or air.swf from within flex, it may be your web server that is the issue. [More]

Setting up a SFTP Server on Windows

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:55:00 -0400

I have been working with SFTP (FTP over Secure Shell, so is thus encrypted), and needed a free or low cost solution to setup an SFTP server on windows (not to be confused with FTPS, which is a bit different). I came across this great blog entry from www.digitalmediaminute.com, so this information comes from them with a few minor updates from me. This tutorial will help you turn your Windows based system into a SecureFTP (SFTP) server. Background Secure Shell (SSH) is a program that lets you log into another computer over a network, to execute commands in a remote machine, and to move files from one machine to another. It provides strong authentication and secure communications over insecure channels. When using ssh, the entire login session, including transmission of password, is encrypted and therefore is very secure. [More]

Subversion on Windows + Eclipse Howto: Part 2

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:20:00 -0400

Ok, here in part 2 we are going to detail the installation process for Subversion on windows. If you follow these directions, it should go pretty smooth, and when you are done, you will have a working subversion server connected to your eclipse for remote development. Step 1: Download the software you need:

Download Subversion binary installer I used Setup-Subversion-1.5.1.en-us.msi at the time of writing this. I recommend you get the newest STABLE release. Download Tortoise SVN installer I used version 1.5.3 at the time of writing this. I recommend you get the newest STABLE release. Optional: If you don't have eclipse yet, I highly recommend you get it here (if you don't know which version to get, get the java developers version), along with Aptana tools and either subclipse or subversive. Installation and config of eclipse won't be covered here, but there is plenty of documentation online that a google search will reveal.

[More]

Subversion on Windows + Eclipse Howto: Part 1

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 13:23:00 -0400

There are a lot of Subversion/windows tutorials out there, but many of them are also outdated. Subversion is quite mature now, and there are several ways to use it for software development lifecycle. The two most common questions I get about subversion are:

Can I have subversion manage source on a remote server if I develop over FTP? and
Do I have to run subversion on my local machine if I want to develop locally.

The short answers to these questions are: Yes, you can have subversion manage code that lives remotely, you just have to know how to do it. And No, you do not need to install and run the subversion software on your local machine if you don't want to. The ideal setup is that your server runs Subversion to manage code on your remote server, and you simply use a client to connect to your repository for remote development. If you are connecting remotely and actually doing your development on a remote machine, thats where it gets a bit tricky. You will need access to the server and do critical commits, updates, etc. on the server. Other than that, you can remotely develop via FTP. In Part 2, I will detail the installation process on Windows 2003 (using modern versions of subversion and tortoise SVN), step by step, so that you can get a Subversion server up and running, and connect to it remotely using Eclipse. Subsequent parts to this will be examples of how to setup projects that are server-side development code versus client-side development code along with pros and cons of each. If you have specific configuration requests, please post comments so I know what you want to see.

Using Ghost 2003 with Windows Vista

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 10:56:00 -0400

If you do a few google searches for "ghost" and "vista" you will find a ton of posts. What I have found frustrating is the lack of clarity on one particular issue:

"If you back up a windows vista partition using ghost 2003 (dos based) to another drive or partition, can you restore it and have a bootable vista OS ?"

Answer: YES it works -- see below for how to do this.

There are many people who say if you clone a disk (i.e. you have two hard drives, clone A to B), that ghost 2003 works fine with vista, but nobody has clearly stated how and if it works on a partition to partition basis.

Here is how we setup all our computers: The primary drive is split into 2 partitions, C: is for the OS, and D: is for files and backups. In this scenario, the OS drive can be backed up to the D: drive using ghost.

This works great for any windows until Vista came around. Now all of a sudden, changes to the boot sector make it more difficult.

So here is how to do it:

Make sure your system is installed so that you have a C: and a D: partition
- Note, we set this up so that all your "work files" are on D, so that if you restore a different OS, you can still access all your files. This way you can have multiple configurations for your computer, one for work, one for games, one for fooling around, etc. and never lose any data.
Make a "Bootable ghost CD" (or floppy disk, but our computers don't have disk drives anymore).
- Here is some info on how to create a bootable ghost cd.
- FYI you will need the bootable ghost CD because windows vista HATES ghost 2003, so its not easy to install it. If you have a bootable CD, you have no worries, and just boot from the CD any time you want to backup or restore your system.
- If you really have a hard time making a bootable ghost cd, email me, and I can help you out (for a small paypal donation).
Backup your OS (all windows):
- Boot up with your "Bootable Ghost CD"
- Select "Local Partition to Image"
- Pick your source drive and partition, destination drive and filename.
- Get coffee.
Restore your OS:
- Windows 9x, 2000, ME, XP, 2003, linux, others:
  - Boot up with your "Bootable Ghost CD"
  - Select "Local Partition From Image"
  - Browse to and pick your ghost disk image
  - Pick the destination drive and partition
  - Get more coffee
  - When done, select "Reset computer"
- Windows Vista
  - Boot up with your "Bootable Ghost CD"
  - Quit ghost (should leave you at an A: prompt)
  - Type in "ghost -fdsp" (will re-launch ghost with alternate settings)
  - Select "Local Partition From Image"
  - Browse to and pick your vista ghost disk image
  - Pick the destination drive and partition
  - Get more coffee
  - When done, select to "Reset Computer"

And thats it. I have found that this works very well with all modern windows versions, and with the few small differences, works great with vista too. Since we can boot into ghost from a CD, we don't have to install it anymore either. Now we can all have 10 OS's on our laptops and switch at will.

Windows 2003 and WidComm Bluetooth Drivers

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 16:52:17 -0400

Once a long time ago, in a galaxy far far errr... yeah. I once had my bluetooth key setup and working great on Windows 2003. I have since switched to a new laptop and now BT doesn't work again, so I tried to find my documentation on how I did what I did, and was unsuccessful.

To get to the point, I did it again, and I have it documented now. Now my struggle becomes your asset.

Here we go:

These are my notes to get Bluetooth support working in Windows 2003, using the WidComm family of Bluetooth software (the kind that comes with USB keys, and such, not the built-in windows stuff). Most people have problems with their built-in stuff because the software bombs with a "license.dat" error.

First:

Make sure you find and install drivers for your USB bluetooth device. For me, the drivers were on the CD that came with the dongle. If you don't have the CD, then you have bigger problems, and I wish you luck.

Next:

Software Installation:

You can refer to these sites for relevant information: http://www.jonsguides.com/bluetooth/ and http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t309692.html

Download IBM's WidComm package. At the time of writing, the current link was ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/bthwxp1o.exe
Download the license patcher here: http://www.dev-hack.com/pafiledb/index.php?act=view&id=3 (this is a different util than many ppl refer too, although I found this very easy to use)
Run bthwxp1o.exe (you may need to reboot -- I did not however)
- When finished, you should have a bluetooth icon in your system tray -- probably RED because of license.dat errors.
Use task manager and kill bttray.exe
Run WidcommLicensePatcher.exe
- Pick the appropriate bluetooth device from the drop-down list
- Click the save button
Restart bttray.exe (or reboot). The bluetooth icon should show up, and be white, showing proper license.
Drink beer and celebrate as you have done what many have not been able to do.

Hope this is helpful!