Archive for March, 2012

Windows 2003 NTP sync looses 1 hour

Monday, March 26th, 2012

I have a new server running windows 2003 R2 to support legacy software.

The server sits in a secured room which does not have access to the Internet. As such it was installed by DVD.

The operating system included service pack 2.

When it came time to configure NTP(we have an internal clock), the time would adjust one hour backwards.

I checked the the following:

  1. Time Zone.  Correct
  2. Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes is checked. Correct
  3. The BIOS clock.  Correct
  4. The time server is accessible. Correct.
  5. Patch levels.  Possible problem.

I remembered the time when the government decided to extend daylight savings time and decided a patch was missing.

I searched the Microsoft site and found KB955839

I installed the patch and my time synchronization was correct.

Lesson of the day: Don’t assume the service pack has all needed patches.

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Remote Desktop command keys.

Sunday, March 25th, 2012

After posting Where is ctrl-alt-delete I thought it might be a good idea to list the remaining key combinations for remote desktop.  You may not use all of them but it’s good to know they exist.  Microsoft was good enough to provide the following:

 

Shortcut key Description
ALT+PAGE UP Switches between programs from left to right.
ALT+PAGE DOWN Switches between programs for right to left.
ALT+INSERT Cycles through the programs in the order they were started.
ALT+HOME Displays the Start menu.
CTRL+ALT+BREAK Switches the client between full-screen mode and window mode.
CTRL+ALT+END Brings up the Windows Security dialog box.
ALT+DELETE Displays the Windows menu.
CTRL+ALT+MINUS SIGN (-) Places a snapshot of the active window, within the client, on the Remote Desktop Session Host (RD Session Host) server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing ALT+PRINT SCREEN on the local computer).
CTRL+ALT+PLUS SIGN (+) Places a snapshot of the entire client windows area on the RD Session Host server clipboard (provides the same functionality as pressing PRINT SCREEN on the local computer).

 

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Where is ctrl-alt-delete for remote desktop?

Saturday, March 17th, 2012

If you have worked with windows for a period of time, one of the most common used keyboard command sequences is ctrl-alt-del. In the old days, this was one of two solutions to fix many problems of Microsoft; reboot.

Nowadays, you would use it to start the task manager or lock the desktop.

Microsoft eventually blessed us with Remote Desktop. A great tool for remote access but there comes the time when you need ctrl-alt-del.  You enter it and quickly discover it only works for the local session.

For some reason, it was not obviously documented and I tend to forget it as I don’t use it that often. Probably because it doesn’t make sense. This option seems to be based on “whoops, forgot about that…..why don’t we just use…..”

To enter a remote ctrl-alt-del, you would enter:

ctrl-alt-end

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LSF will not re-install

Saturday, March 17th, 2012

There was a case were an LSF installation had to be reinstalled on a Windows 7 machine. We ran the uninstall and deleted the LSF folder from the C drive. However, when attempting the re-installation; we received a message about the LIM service already running for the cluster.

Checking the services; I found Platform LIM still listed. Normally you would also see Platform RES and Platform SBD.

The suggested solution was to re-install the system. This was not attractive as the build process takes time to configure and verify for production.

My first thought was the service was keeping the installation process from running. The question was how to remove it?

After a little search I found the sc command which allows you to use the command line to interact with the Service Control Manager and Services.

The command needed:  sc delete [service name]

Now what would be the service name? If you return back to the services interface and double-click Platform LIM, you will see the service name which is : LIM.

You can also use the sc command by entering: sc query | more

This will list all services. Look for Platform LIM and above it will be the service name.

After I found the service name; I entered:

sc delete LIM

The service went away and the LSF installation was successful.

Technet Documentation for sc delete.

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