Windows Update error and missing ADVPACK.dll

Ran into an issue with Microsoft Windows Update service on 2 Windows 2003 servers. I use a 3rd party patch management tool that calls the Windows Update API. This issue was preventing the correct list of vulnerabilities and causing Windows Update to error out. Once of the servers would report Error number: 0x8DDD0004 the other reported an ActiveX issue.

While exploring solutions I ran into the following error message when opening Add/Remove Windows Components via appwiz.cpl.

ADVPACK.dll error

I tried checking the backup to find when the file changed or went missing. However the backup software failed to launch. Windows Search found a copy of the file in %SystemRoot%\ServicePackFiles\i386. Copy and pasted it into %SystemRoot%\System32.

ADVPACK.dll search

In order to repair Windows Update I also needed to stop the bits and Windows Update service, rename the %SystemRoot%\SoftwareDistribution directory then restart the services.

Everything works like a charm. Now to figure out what happened to my DLL.

Windows 0

Communicate clearly using the Nato phonetic alphabet background

Communicate clearly using the Nato phonetic alphabet background. It is difficult to accurately convey an asset tag, serial number, model number, etc to a peer or offsite support. Aside from phone clarity there is often accent or language barriers.

If you are using a Microsoft Windows OS you can quickly add the Nato phonetic alphabet to your desktop background. Grab a copy of the Sysinternals tool Bginfo. Then download the Bginfo configuration file nato.bgi.

bginfo screenshot

bginfo

Windows 0 ,

Google Chrome Socks5 command line switch

In Windows the Chrome browser uses your system wide proxy settings. This can be a problem if you have a need to run different browsers and/or applications. An example would be running a Secure Shell proxy to get through a content filtering firewall.

To get around the Chrome system wide proxy settings, use a command line switch. Open or create a shortcut to Chrome/Chromium

Chrome Socks5 Proxy Command Line Switch

Replace 127.0.0.1 with your proxy address and 8080 with your proxy port.

Browsers 0 , ,

Tail files with Powershell

For those note aware of the GNU Tail utility, it will print the last n lines of text from a file. It is an invaluable tool for monitoring log files.

Since Windows does not have an equivalent command this is quite useful.
Using the Powershell Get-Content cmdlet will print the contents of a file. The -wait parameter will print additional lines as they are added.

Be aware that this is slow on large files.

Windows 0 ,

Microsoft Windows 2003 server hung “Saving your settings”

Every so often I will run into the error where a Windows 2003 server will get stuck logging off a user. The console screen will display the message “Saving your settings”.

I recently run into this issue while needing to remotely reboot the server. The server in question did not have any kind of remote access card. However the server was running RAdmin software and I was able to get a console screen open. Both shutdown and psshutdown commands failed to run. Running “query session” and “query user” didn’t give me any active sessions to reset.

Ultimately I used pskill to kill the winlogon.exe process. Once the process was killed I was able to log on via console and/or RDP.

Windows 0

Fix Shrew Soft VPN on Ubuntu 11.04

After upgrading my system to Ubuntu 11.04 I was no longer able to establish a VPN connection. Shrew Soft VPN would time out. It appears that the Reverse Path Filter was causing the issue.

Found the following solution:

Edit your network-security.conf to disable the Reverse Path Filter:

Set the following items from 1 to 0:

Save and perform the following command.

Linux 0 , ,

Lenovo T400 will not power on

Ran into a problem with my Lenovo T400. The laptop would not power on. No lights of any kind. Tried with and without the battery and/or AC adapter. Found these instructions while searching around for a solution:

  • Ensure nothing is plugged into the computer
  • Remove the battery
  • Press power button 10 times
  • Press power button down for 30 seconds
  • Press power button twice
  • Attach ac adapter
  • Press power button once. PC should come up. Perform normal start up. Everything should be fine.
  • Shut down and reinstall the battery

Worked like a charm.

Hardware 34

Windows Administrator Thumb Drive Toolkit

A Windows Administrator USB toolkit. The following is a collection of free and/or open source tools I like to keep on hand.

Portable Apps Collection

PortableApps

PortableApps.com Suite™ is a complete collection of portable apps including a web browser, email client, office suite, calendar/scheduler, instant messaging client, antivirus, audio player, sudoku game, password manager, PDF reader, minesweeper clone, backup utility and integrated menu, all preconfigured to work portably. Just drop it on your portable device and you’re ready to go.
PortableApps has a huge number of programs available. Some more useful than others. Here are the apps I like to keep in my toolkit.

  • KeePass – Encrypted password database
  • Chrome – Chrome browser
  • Putty – Secure Shell / telnet client
  • LibreOffice – OpenOffice fork
  • Notepad++ – Highly usable text editor
  • 7zip – File archiver with a high compression ratio.
  • ClamWin – Antivirus
  • FileZilla – FTP client
  • InfraRecorder – CD/DVD read/write
  • winMd5Sum – md5sum check and compair
  • WinSCP – Secure copy client.
  • Windows Error Lookup Tool

Windows Sysinternals

An useful set of tools made my Mark Russinovich now available through Microsoft. Take some time and browse through the available tools. I find I use the Sysinternal tools almost everyday. Not sure how someone would administer Windows without them.

Sysinternals Suite
The entire set of Sysinternals Utilities rolled up into a single download.
PsTools
The PsTools suite includes command-line utilities for listing the processes running on local or remote computers, running processes remotely, rebooting computers, dumping event logs, and more.

Keep your Sysinternals tools up to date with using a Portable Apps compatible tool WSCC

WSCC

Found a nice batch file to keep your Sysinternals tools updated over at SysadminGeek.com

MS recently added Sysinternals Live. Description below from their site.

Sysinternals Live

Sysinternals Live is a service that enables you to execute Sysinternals tools directly from the Web without hunting for and manually downloading them. Simply enter a tool’s Sysinternals Live path into Windows Explorer or a command prompt as http://live.sysinternals.com/ or live.sysinternals.comtools.

You can view the entire Sysinternals Live tools directory in a browser at http://live.sysinternals.com.

dban

Darik’s Boot And Nuke

Darik’s Boot and Nuke (“DBAN”) is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.
If you deal with server decomisions on a regular basis, this is an invaluable tool. This bootable image will allow your to perform a DOD compliant drive wipe.

Any additional tools you must have on hand?

Windows 0 ,

1 2 3 4 5 6