Outlook reminders not appearing

When Outlook reminders are not appearing on there expected times, try these steps to fix the problem:

Verify the reminders are enabled:
In Outlook go to Tools > Options > Other (tab) > Advanced Options > Reminder Options and verify the Display the reminder box is checked.

If that is checked, then go to Start > Run > type outlook /cleanreminders.

If there is still no solution, then go to Start > Run > type outlook /resetfolders.

Microsoft Support

New commands that I have used frequently the past month...

On my never ending Linux/Unix/Windows knowledge quest, I have learned a few basic commands that have just been really helpful and that I have used very often in the past month while troubleshooting random problems.

Linux
smbmount - mount smb shares
Been in a few tight squeezes with some data I needed off a machine, but my only available storage option is a NAS.

• smbmount //ip/share /mnt/mountpoint -o username=domain\\user,password=pass

For me this would look like:

• smbmount //192.168.1.10/Backup /mnt/nas -o username=user,password=password

df - shows disk info (usage, mount point, free space)
The -a switch displays all filesystems, the -T switch displays the FS type, and the -h switch displys the results in "human readable" formats (such as MB and GB)

• df -a -h -T
  

du - shows size of files and folders
The -c switch gives a total of the size of all files in the directory, the -h switch lists size in a human readable format, and the -s switch outputs only the size of the directory, not the files within (it is pointless to use the -c switch with the -s switch unless you really enjoy doing so. Also without the -s switch, the output will be of every file and folder in a directory, which could be very verbose)

• du -c -h /mnt/Backup
• du -h -s /mnt/Backup

Unix/Mac
Here is how to make a release renew script to make quicken things up a bit:
In a terminal window, type:

• nano /usr/bin/rr

Which will open a blank page called rr. Now add:

• #!/bin/bash
• echo "Now releasing your IP"
  
• sudo ipconfig set int BOOTP
• sleep 5
• echo "Renewing your IP"
• sudo ipconfig set int DHCP
• echo "Done!"

Where int is the specified interface. CTRL+O to write the file then CTRL-X to exit.
Now to make the file executable enter:

• sudo chmod 775 /usr/bin/rr

That is it...now just enter rr to release and renew your ip.

Windows
I have also been using Windows to mount network shares through command prompt.

• net use
  
• net use a-z: \\ip\share /USER:domain\user
• net use /DELETE a-z:
• net use /DELETE *

The first command will display all mapped network shares.
The second command will map a share and use the logon credentials of domain\user, and might prompt you for your password (a-z is the drive letter for the share to be mapped to, you must use a drive letter not currently used).
The third command will delete a specified mapped drive (again, you must specify a drive letter for a-z).
The fourth command will delete all mapped drives.

These are all simple commands, but very useful for me day to day.

Visor drop down terminal window

The makers of Quicksilver (Mac application that indexes user directories for quick referencing) have come up with another very useful plugin. It is called visor and what it serves as a terminal window that will slide down at the entering of a user defined keystroke.

• Visor provides a systemwide terminal window accessible via a hotkey, much like the consoles found in games such as Quake.

This program has served me very well as I do not like keeping terminal windows open or navigating to the terminal icon when I need to open a new terminal window.

Here are some links...

• Visor Main Page
• Visor Download Page
• Quicksilver

Some updates were not installed...

I get this error frequently. Windows Update (WU) will find all available updates for my machine, download them, and attempt to install them, but reports the error: Some updates were not installed. A fix I have stumbled across that has worked every time is to force reinstall WU. The steps are fairly simple.

• Download a WU executable from Microsoft.
• Save the executable to your desktop.
• Open up command prompt (Start > Run > cmd) and cd (change directory) to your desktop.
• cd Desktop (Assuming you are at C:\Documents and Settings\)
• Next type the name of the executable (windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe) followed by the switch /wuforce
• WindowsUpdateAgent30-x86.exe /wuforce
  
• Note: When typing the name of the executable, you can enter a bit of text and then press tab to autocomplete your file name. Example typing windows then pressing tab would give me windowsupdateagent30-x86.exe

That's it. Now just go to Windows Update and it will require you to reinstall WU. After that you should be able to download and install properly. Hope this helps.

Installing BT3 in VMware *UPDATED*

There are a couple of ways to run BT3 in VMware, but when it comes to down to speed and function ability, you should really just install it. *NOTE: Now you can just download a preconfigured VM with an early version of VMWare tools installed. Just download it and when first booting up the VM, select the option "I copied it". Here is a link for the download. The installation process is rather easy. Just make a new virtual machine, select all your settings, and then just format your virtual HDD to ext2 and install.

Here are the steps:

• Create a new virtual machine.
• File > New > Virtual Machine
• Click Next > Typical > Linux (select "Other Linux 2.6 x kernel")
• Name it what you want and select the storage location of the VM
• Choose "Use bridged networking" if you want the VM to look like an actual device on your LAN
• Then select the size of your virtual HDD, and uncheck "allocate disk space now"
• Click finish
• Add a USB device to your VM
• This is real simple to do, and very useful to have done. Select your VM and select "Edit this virtual machine".
• Under the Hardware tab select "Add".
• Then select USB controller.
• Boot into the VM with the BT3 CD in the cd drive.
• Select Boot into KDE (default selection)
• Then once BT has booted, open Konsole
• Prepare the disk for formatting
  
• Type fdisk -l
• See your HD, it should be /dev/sda
• Assuming it is /dev/sda, enter fdisk /dev/sda
• Enter n to create a new partition
• Then p to make it the primary partition
• Then 1 to assign it as the first partition
• Then press enter to accept the default first cylinder
• Then enter again to accept the default last cylinder
• Finally enter w to write the changes
• Now format the disk in ext2 format
• mke2fs /dev/sda1
• Once the disk is properly formatted, make a mount directory for the hard drive.
• mkdir /mnt/sda1
• mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
• mount
• Now you should see that device sda1 is mounted at /mnt/sda1 and is formatted in ext2
• Install Backtrack
• K > Backtrack > Backtrack Installer
• Keep all defaults except change "Installation method" to "Real" and uncheck "Restore Original MBR After LILO".
• Click install
• After the installation is finished, reboot the VM without the CD inserted.

After the installation of Backtrack, it might be a good idea to install VMware tools. I am currently writing and figuring out the steps to do so. It will hopefully be up in a few days.

Changing IP configurations and enabling SSH in ESX

A few simple commands to help troubleshoot ESX connections.
NOTE: The commands listed must be executed as root. This guide assumes you are logged in as root and are locally connected to the ESX console.
To change the IP for vswif0 change directory to /usr/sbin/

• cd /usr/sbin

Then delete the old vswif0 interface:

• esxcfg-vswif -d vswif0

Now create a new vswif0 interface with the correct IP settings:

• esxcfg-vswif -a vswif0 -p Service\ Console -i x.x.x.x -n x.x.x.x -b x.x.x.x
• -a (Adds an interface)
• -p (Sets the portgroup name of the int)
• -i (IP of the vswif int, ex. 192.168.1.100)
• -n (Netmask, ex. 255.255.255.0)
• -b (Broadcast, ex. 192.168.1.255)

Now to verify the changes have been made type:

• esxcfg-vswif -l

That will list all vswif interfaces and show the configurations.
To change your default gateway (extends beyond just the vswif interface):

• nano /etc/sysconfig/network

Here you can change the hostname of the server and the default gateway. To change the gateway, just type in the IP of your gateway where it reads GATEWAY=:

• GATEWAY=x.x.x.x

Now CTRL-O to write the file then press enter. Then to exit press CTRL-X.
Now that the IP configurations are correct, make sure you can ping the server.

To SSH into your ESX server, you only need to modify one config file. SSH is enabled by default, telnet is not (for security reasons).

• nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config

Find the line that reads PermitRootLogin and change the no to yes.
Now restart the service and try remoting in.

• service sshd restart

I use Putty to SSH into ESX, which can be downloaded here.

Disable the annoying restart prompt after installing Windows Updates

I always get caught working on something and find myself interrupted to install updates. I install and clench my teeth knowing that the notoriously annoying restart prompt will bug me until I finish my work and restart.

Fortunately, there is a fix. Just follow these simple steps to make your update experience a bit less annoying.

• Click Start > Run
• Enter "gpedit.msc"
• Select Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update
• Open "No auto-restart for scheduled Automatic Updates installations"
• Select "Enabled"
• Open "Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations"
• Select "Disabled"
• Now restart for the changes to take effect.

What you just did: Entered local Group Policy and changed Windows Update configurations.

*For more information on Group Policy see Wiki.
*For more information on Group Policy Editor applied locally see Microsoft.
**Original article from 4sysops.