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How to Disable SMBv2 in Vista and Windows 7

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Created on Wednesday, 02 February 2011 10:48

Last Updated on Wednesday, 14 September 2011 14:35

Written by Daniel Mundy

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See also: Windows 7 Networking Problems

Windows Vista introduced a new SMB protocol, version 2. It often causes problems:

• Opening 2007 files from a network share takes a long time. The first file takes minutes to open, but subsequently closed it will re-open quickly
• Browsing mapped drives is slow - each directory takes more than a few seconds to open
• Data corruption in Line-of-Business applications that access a shared database on a file share / mapped network drive. The connections to the database time out and cause data corruption.

This affects Windows 7 too.

Turning off SMBv2 fixes these problems for me. If you are not having problems, however, the recommendation is to leave SMBv2 turned on.

Turning SMBv2 Off

Run the following two commands from an elevated command prompt:

sc config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb10/nsi

This sets the following registry value:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanWorkstation\DependOnService
Type:    REG_MULTI_SZ
Data:    bowser, mrxsmb10, nsi

sc config mrxsmb20 start= disabled

This sets the following registry value:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\services\mrxsmb20\Start
Type:    REG_DWORD
Data:    4

Turning SMBv2 On Again

Run the following two commands from an elevated command prompt:

sc config lanmanworkstation depend= bowser/mrxsmb10/mrxsmb20/nsi

This sets the following registry value:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\services\LanmanWorkstation\DependOnService
Type:    REG_MULTI_SZ
Data:    bowser, mrxsmb10, mrxsmb20, nsi

sc config mrxsmb20 start= auto

This sets the following registry value:

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\services\mrxsmb20\Start
Type:    REG_DWORD
Data:    2

Thanks

Thanks to Richard at axon IT for his blog post which helped me solve this problem.

More Info

Some really good info about the differences between SMBv1 and v2 here: http://www.danieletosatto.com/2010/10/22/smb-tuning-for-xenapp-and-file-servers-on-windows-server-2008/

This also mentions that SMB 2.0 Sessions are per user NOT per computer - this means that for example a terminal server or virtualised server will only open one connection on SMBv1. In this example SMBv2 will bring a great performance boost.

Error 0×85010004 in Windows Mobile 6.1 connecting to Exchange 2003 SP2 on SBS 2003

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Created on Tuesday, 01 February 2011 15:31

Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 February 2011 16:03

Written by Daniel Mundy

Hits: 2691

I was setting up ActiveSync on Windows Mobile 6.1 connecting to Exchange 2003 SP2 on SBS 2003. I got the following message on the phone:

Your account in Microsoft Exchange Server does not have permission to synchronize with your current settings. Contact your Exchange Server administrator. Support code: 0×85010004.

Here are things to try. Source: http://davidschrag.com/schlog/245/troubleshooting-0x85010004-for-exchange-2003-and-windows-mobile-5

Step one

Please install the hotfix below to see if it helps:

• Error message when you try to synchronize a Windows Mobile 5.0-based device in Exchange Server 2003: “0×85010004?

Step two

This issue can be caused if you have a Firewall and not allowed a rule on the Firewall for Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync. So I would like to check if you have run the CEICW Wizard. Please open Server Management console, navigate to ‘To Do List’ and click ‘Connect to the internet’ in the right panel. The wizard can help us configure the networking settings for a SBS server. It automatically creates the ISA rules for internet access and site publishing. It’s strongly recommended to use the wizard to configure the SBS server.

More info:

• 825763 How to configure Internet access in Windows Small Business Server 2003
• XCSI/PRE/E2K3/Unable to synchronize with Exchange server using Active Sync

Step three:

Please checked the properties of Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync, is the Directory Security properties for IP Address and Domain Name Restrictions configured as ” DENIED ACCESS”? To check it:

1. Open IIS.
2. Expand Web Sites -> Default Web Site.
3. Open the Properties page of Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync.
4. In Directory Security tab, click Edit under “IP address and domain name restrictions”.
5. Make sure that you configured as Granted access.

Step four:

Please check the following IIS settings:

For Exchange/Exchange-oma virtual directory:

1. Open IIS Manager
2. Open properties of virtual directory Exchange/Exchange-oma
3. Select Directory Security tab
4. Select Edit in Authentication and access control box. Make sure the authentication setting as below:

Authentication Methods
Enabled Basic authentication
Enabled Integrated Windows authentication
Disabled anonymous access

For OMA virtual directory and Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync virtual directory:

1. Open IIS Manager
2. Open properties of OMA virtual directory and Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync virtual directory respectively.
3. Select Directory Security tab
4. Select Edit in Authentication and access control box. Make sure the authentication setting as below:

Authentication Methods
Uncheck Enable anonymous access
Uncheck Integrated Windows authentication
Check Basic authentication

Robocopy Makes Folder Hidden / Invisible

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Created on Thursday, 27 January 2011 10:26

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 11:54

Written by Daniel Mundy

Hits: 4515

After I copied a folder using Robocop /COPYALL the folder was marked hidden. All I had to do was change the attributes back using the following command in an elevated command prompt:

attrib -h -s E:\Path\To\Folder

Sandboxie: LastPass plugin in IE won't save Master Password

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Created on Thursday, 27 January 2011 09:26

Last Updated on Thursday, 27 January 2011 09:26

Written by Daniel Mundy

Hits: 3386

When using both Sandboxie and the LastPass plugin in Internet Explorer, you may not be able to save the master password. Each time you open IE you would need to log in to LastPass again. This can be a pain, especially if you have a complex master password (which you should).

There is a post about this on the Sandboxie forum.

Basically this is because of a feature in IE8 called "Protected Mode". When you run IE8 not-sandboxed, it defaults to running in protected mode. When sandboxed, it runs in standard mode (virtually as administrator) - this is done automatically by Sandboxie. When running in standard mode (ie when you are sandboxed), IE will not remember any passwords that were entered when running in protected mode (ie when you were running outside of the sandbox).

How to make the LastPass plugin remember your master password

1. Close all instances of IE
2. Clear the sandbox: in the Sandboxie Control program, right click on the sandbox and select "Delete Contents"
3. Disable forced programs: in the Sandboxie Control program click File, Disabled Forced Programs
4. Open IE
5. Go to Tools, Internet Options
6. On the Security tab, clear the check box for "Enable protected mode" (untick it) and click OK
7. Close IE, make sure you still have "Forced Programs" disabled in Sandboxie, and open IE again
8. Log in to the LastPass plugin with your master password, selecting "Remember Password"
9. Go to Tools, Internet Options
10. On the Security tab, check the box for "Enable protected mode" (tick it) and click OK
11. Enable Forced Programs again in Sandboxie

Now it should remember the password. If you're still having problems, search the Sandboxie forums and maybe request assistance there.

Safely Remove or Eject a Disk Using the Command Line

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Created on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 13:49

Last Updated on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 13:54

Written by Daniel Mundy

Hits: 17297

Use the diskpart utility to safely remove a disk drive. This is useful when you have no GUI, for example in Server Core or Hyper-V Server.

1. On command prompt, type "diskpart" and wait for the new prompt, then type "list volume". Take note of the number of your desired volume by watching its drive letter (be carefull!!!)
2. Type "select volume <number>", where <number> is the number of your USB storage.
3. Then, type "remove all dismount". Type "exit" to leave diskpart. Enjoy! ;)
4. Now you can safely remove your USB storage device from the Hyper-V server.

According to the diskpart remove´s help (type "help remove" inside diskpart):

==================

" DISMOUNT    This parameter may be used if 1) all drive letters and
mounted folder paths have been removed from the volume, or
2) the ALL parameter is specified.  This parameter
specifies that the file system is to be dismounted and
the volume taken offline. If other processes are using
the volume, DiskPart closes any open handles before
dismounting the file system and taking the volume offline.
You can bring the volume online by assigning it a driver
letter, by creating a mounted folder path to the volume, or
by using the ONLINE command. DISMOUNT will fail if used
on a volume that has any remaining drive letters or mounted
folder paths. For scripting, using REMOVE ALL DISMOUNT is
recommended."

===============

Source: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winservercore/thread/d99024c1-75d0-4344-9cce-8a7b895d1885

Realtek HD Audio: Failed to uninstall the device

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Created on Sunday, 16 January 2011 18:35

Last Updated on Sunday, 16 January 2011 18:35

Written by Daniel Mundy

Hits: 4382

The Realtek HD Audio sound card was not showing up in Windows Mixer. When I tried to uninstall the driver, it said "Failed to uninstall the device".

Here's how I fixed it:

1. Go to Device Manager
2. Look at the properties of the uninstallable device, in the "Details" tab, write down the string you see (eg. HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_8086D608& REV_1000\4&3ACC46D&080201)
3. In Registry Editor, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum
4. You should be able to find a folder that matches this string. In this case, I found a folder called "Func"
5. WARNING: You are about to delete this folder from the registry, make sure you back it up first!
6. I deleted the folder below "Func"
7. Then I restarted the computer and it reinstalled the Realtek driver

Windows 7 Networking Problems

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Created on Wednesday, 22 December 2010 09:15

Last Updated on Wednesday, 02 February 2011 11:16

Written by Daniel Mundy

Hits: 6038

Note: This article is a work in progress.

Things to Check when you're having problems with networking in Windows 7:

• Disable SMBv2

Task Offloading

The next thing to try, if that doesn't fix it, is to disable Task Offloading on your NIC. Go to the Advanced tab of the NIC's properties and disable everything related to "offload". Make a note of what you did and what the default settings were before you start, so that you can revert the changes if they do not help.

More Links

Stuff I found interesting while troubleshooting these problems:

• http://www.opensourcec.org/blogs/bill_bosacker/archive/2009/03/05/4141.aspx - disable large send offload in Hyper-v
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff571012.aspxj - using registry values to enable and disable task offloading
• http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverhyperv/thread/bdc40358-45c8-4c4b-883b-a695f382e01a/ - very slow network performance with Intel NIC when TCP Large Send Offload is enabled
• http://forums.microsoft.com/TechNet/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3273603&SiteID=17 - How to disable TCP Offload options
• http://www.sysprobs.com/windows-7-network-slow - Windows 7 Network Slow
• http://www.experts-exchange.com/Software/Office_Productivity/Office_Suites/Q_25341398.html - Office documents slow to open from network when using Windows 7
• http://www.experts-exchange.com/OS/Microsoft_Operating_Systems/Server/SBS_Small_Business_Server/Q_26223017.html - Slow network performance between Windows 7 client and Windows SBS 2008
• http://movement3.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/slow-network-speeds-in-hyperv/ - Slow network speeds in Hyper-V
• http://www.experts-exchange.com/Microsoft/Server_Applications/Q_25240647.html - Hyper-V R2 slow network performance

Red X in Outlook Web Access

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Created on Tuesday, 30 November 2010 10:56

Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 November 2010 11:14

Written by Daniel Mundy

Hits: 2925

You may not be able to compose a new message or reply to an email in Outlook Web Access when using Vista or Windows 7. A red "X" will be shown where the editor should be.

This behavior occurs because Windows Vista no longer includes support for the ActiveX control that is used for HTML editing in Outlook Web Access.

To fix it, just install hotfix 911829 on the server running Exchange Server 2003. This hotfix requires Exchange Server 2003 SP2 or later.

This does not apply to Exchange 2007.