Repair / Clean print spooler

Read this article to help fix a problem where the print spooler does not start or keeps stopping after each start.

It says for XP but I have tested this on Vista and it corrected the problem I had.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324757

You can also use cleanspl.exe from Windows 2003 Resource Kit but this does not work for Vista.

What happens when you run "Repair" on a network connection.

1. Attempt to renew DHCP Lease
2. Flushes ARP cache (arp -d *)
3. Flushes NetBIOS cache (nbtstat -R)
4. Flushes DNS cache (ipconfig /flushdns)
5. Re-Register NetBIOS name and IP address with WINS (nbtstat -RR)
6. Re-Register computer name and IP address with DNS (ipconfig /registerdns)

Absolute positioning in a CSS container

Now this was a real pain to figure out as there wasn't much documentation on it. In order to successfully utilize absolute positioning inside a CSS container where the position will be relative to the container and not the window you will need to define the following:

#container {
position: relative
}

This will ensure that any object placed within this container will be positioned relative to it.

<div id="container">
...
...
...
</div>

IIS 6 - Install IIS using an answer file

Old stuff but I keep forgetting the command line everytime I do it again.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/WindowsServer2003/Library/IIS/750d3137-462c-491d-b6c7-5f370d7f26cd.mspx?mfr=true

Using Report Services on a SharePoint 2007 site

First you will need to install the reporting services add-on for SharePoint Server 2007 if you haven't already.

Second, the web parts that will be required for SharePoint to access Report Services will need to be installed.

By default, the webparts are installed with SQL Server 2005 and are located in ..\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\Reporting Services\SharePoint\RSWebParts.cab.

You will need to copy this file over to front end web server and run the following command:

stsadm.exe –o addwppack –filename “<path to file>\rswebparts.cab” -globalinstall

Finally, in order to properly get the Web Parts just installed to function on a MOSS2007 setup with Reporting Services you will need to make a change on the site's web.config file. The trust level must be changed to WSS_Medium.

<trust level="WSS_Medium" originalurl="">

How to run Windows PowerShell Scripts

PowerShell scripts cannot be run by default because the ExecutionPolicy is set to Restricted by default. In order to get scripts to run you must change this.

Here is a good manual to get you up and running PowerShell scripts from Microsoft:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/winpsh/manual/run.mspx

How to configure an NTP server

Following two articles will aid in setting up a NTP server for a Windows Server 2003 PDC master machine.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816042
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q262680

DNS: Recursion

Link for below article: http://www.techbytes.ca/techbyte31.html

DNS: The difference between "Do Not Use Recursion" and "Disable Recursion"

In the Windows 2000/2003 DNS console (dnsmgmt.msc), under a server's Properties -> Forwarders tab is the setting Do not use recursion for this domain. On the Advanced tab you will find the confusingly similar option Disable recursion (also disables forwarders).

Recursion refers to the action of a DNS server querying additional DNS servers (e.g. local ISP DNS or the root DNS servers) to resolve queries that it cannot resolve from its own database. So what is the difference between these settings?

The DNS server will attempt to resolve the name locally, then will forward requests to any DNS servers specified as forwarders. If Do not use recursion for this domain is enabled, the DNS server will pass the query on to forwarders, but will not recursively query any other DNS servers (e.g. external DNS servers) if the forwarders cannot resolve the query.

If Disable recursion (also disables forwarders) is set, the server will attempt to resolve a query from its own database only. It will not query any additional servers.

If neither of these options is set, the server will attempt to resolve queries normally:... the local database is queried... if an entry is not found, the request is passed to any forwarders that are set... if no forwarders are set, the server will query servers on the Root Hints tab to resolve queries beginning at the root domains.