CyberStreams Blog

I recently had to troubleshoot a server that had been failing its backups.  There error that appeared in the backup log was “Error returned while creating the volume shadow copy:0xffffffff “.  Everyone knows that backups are absolutely critical for any network. A lot of these backup systems use a feature in Windows called Volume Shadow Copy. This feature enables backups of systems while in use. 
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This blog entry details the steps of migrating a SharePoint SQL backend from SQL Express to SQL 2005.  I would like to say this was an easy deal, but it wasn’t, there were many hiccups that I did not expect to encounter and I have documented them all and how to fix each one that I have encountered (all registry hacks to prayers  )  Here we go…
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One of the longest serving technology security methods is the password. On the surface it seems simple and cheap, and for many companies it may be, but the reality is that passwords have serious flaws and dangers. Some of these exist as part of a trade-off between security and ease of use and others due to the mish-mash of separated systems we run into in a corporate environment or on the internet in general.

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Windows 7 is looking to be a tremendous leap forward for Microsoft.  Here is a link to a downloadable tool on the Microsoft website for evaluating your machine in terms of anticipated compatibility and performance improvements:  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=1b544e90-7659-4bd9-9e51-2497c146af15  

I wanted to write a bit about a cool little function of Windows 7 called Readyboost.  While not a new function (it originated in Vista), Readyboost has been enhanced in its Windows 7 form.  In Vista, it was a neat concept of a tool that ultimately was limited and provided little noticable effect.  In Windows 7, the limits are mostly gone and the effects can have quite an impact.
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The newest version of the Iphone is out and I believe we can officially call it better than the original. I mean to get existing Iphone users to pony up the cash to purchase the latest model it needed t o be, plus the list of apps grows daily. It’s pretty amazing that you can have everything from voice command apps, to speedometer app, to a thermometer app, that all works well on your go anywhere phone. This trend that the Iphone has made usable, (more…)

Windows Mobile 6.1 is a better and more stable OS than Windows Mobile 5, but there are still some bugs that Microsoft has been fixing, and still needs to fix.  I ran into one of these recently when working with an email account configuration.   Here’s what happened, and how to fix it.

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The newest installation of Apple’s iPhone, the 3Gs just hit the shelves on June 19^th. While the new model may seem physically identical to its predecessors, it does pack in a lot of changes under the hood. The camera has been upgraded to 3 megapixels, offers customizable focusing options, and most significantly now allows for video recording. Note though that a flash is still lacking and little improvement can be expected when using the camera in a dark setting. In terms of hardware, the 3Gs offers a much faster processor which promises to run and load applications up to 2x faster than before and the graphic chips have been upgraded to allow more intricate detail and better 3D graphics when gaming.
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