IT Knowledgebase Articles

How can I test to see if my SMTP service is ready to receive incoming mail? There are a couple of ways to verify if the SMTP service is working properly: Testing with an e-mail client First, you can choose to use a standard Internet e-mail client program, such as Microsoft Outlook Express, for a…

How to Temporarily Increase the Exchange 2000 16-Gigabyte Database Size Limit? MS KB 813051 has info on this issue: The Microsoft Exchange 2000 Server message database (MDB) automatically shuts down and does not restart when it reaches the maximum size limit that is permitted. This behavior is by design to prevent the database from trying…

How do I temporarily disable the automatic download of Windows XP SP2? Windows XP SP2 was released to the Windows Update – Auto Update tool in the middle of August 2004. While recognizing the security benefits of Windows XP SP2, some organizations have requested the ability to temporarily disable delivery of this update via Automatic…

Work with the TechNet Exchange Virtual Labs Great new resource from Microsoft: The TechNet Virtual Labs! Ever wanted to test Microsoft’s newest software in a sandbox environment? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to test new servers immediately, without formatting hard drives or dedicating one or more computers to the project? Now you can,…

Work with the TechNet Exchange 2007 Virtual Labs Great resource from Microsoft: The TechNet Virtual Labs, and now, featuring Exchange Server 2007! Ever wanted to test Microsoft’s newest software in a sandbox environment? Wouldn’t it be great to be able to test new servers immediately, without formatting hard drives or dedicating one or more computers…

Microsoft KB 842851 has more info: Tar pitting is the practice of deliberately inserting a delay into certain SMTP communications that are associated with spam or with other unwanted traffic. The tar pit feature works by slowing all responses that contain SMTP protocol 5.x.x error codes. By slowing an SMTP conversation, you can reduce the…

What is Microsoft Software Update Services (SUS)? Microsoft SUS is a free patch management tool provided by Microsoft to help network administrators deploy security patches more easily. In simple terms, Microsoft SUS is a version of Windows Update that you can run on your network. Today corporations have to frequently check the Windows Update site…

Use this table to help you calculate Subnet Masks, available hosts per subnet or number of subnets per class. The table deals with Subnetting of only one octet. # of Masked bits # of Non-masked bits Bit pattern # of subnets =2^M What will the new subnet mask be? # of hosts per subnet (C…

Here is a collection of studying tips I’ve put together for my students. You don’t have to follow them on the word, but doing so will increase your chances of passing the MCSE certification tests – and even better – become a knowledgeable person, not just one of those “Paper MCSE“… Do you have any…

How can I fix STOP 0x7B Error Messages after deploying Sysprep Images? When you prepare an image of a machine with the sysprep tool, the machine resets or you get the stop 0x7B error on the deployed machines even if you used the pnp switch. The message is: ​STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE This is caused because…