Archive for Tips and Tricks

Trello – Fantastic, free web-based project management tool

March 1, 2013 Project Management, Tips and Tricks, Tools No comments

 

Trello-Free-Organization-Tool-Easy-to-Use

A former colleague, Jason Coffey (click here to view his LinkedIn profile), showed me a great, free project management tool set called Trello.  Trello has a fresh approach to organizing tasks in a visual manner so you can quickly put your arms around a project.

The company has stated the tool set will always be free. So I have assurance that I can use it without the fear that I may get the hammer of going pay for use route with other great products I have used in the past.

They have a great demo/tutorial that I highly encourage you to look at to understand this new concept. But once you start building your project plan; you will understand why this tool set is popular.  It’s easy.  You can visually see and understand the stages of tasks in the entire project.  I love it!

www.trello.com - It’s now listed under my RESOURCES section.

WinMerge

February 16, 2012 Resources, SharePoint 2010 Tips and Tricks, Tips and Tricks, Tool No comments

WinMerge

WinMerge is a great, open source tool that can run on the Windows platform.

How does this help you with SharePoint Administration?  An example is to compare web.config files.

The tool can highlight what line or lines of code are different between the files in comparison. 

There are any other uses.  Please visit the website www.winmerge.org for more information and free download.

Tony Maddin

Cincy SPUG February 2012

February 7, 2012 Cincinnati SharePoint User Group, SharePoint User Group, Tips and Tricks No comments

Mike Smith Photo

Mike Smith (picture on the left) a MCT, SharePoint MVP, many other acronyms along with the Cincinnati SharePoint User Group committee once again put together a great learning atmosphere for the monthly meeting at the Cincinnati SharePoint User Group.

I am using one of the items I learned from the meeting.  It’s called, Windows Live Writer from Microsoft.  It’s an online editor that can tie into various types of blog websites.

My blog runs on WordPress and I have to say it was really simple to connect and use.  I have now used the tool to clean up formatting issues I had with my other posts on this blog.

The meeting’s theme was Lightning Talks with audience participation.  I left the meeting with a few more tidbit and tricks.

Please visit Mike Smith’s blog for information and buy his book!

http://techtrainingnotes.blogspot.com/

Dropbox.com

February 5, 2012 Tips and Tricks, Tools No comments

Dropbox

The Dropbox.com toolset has been around for sometime for public and commercial use.

This toolset if fantastic in my opinion.  While working with clients and client workstations I may not have all the physical computer options such USB, FTP, etc.

This website and toolset is a great alternative so I can transfer various files from my laptop to my client’s network to continue conducting business to completion.

The website and toolset is free to sign up and use.  The free use is up to 2GB of storage on the dropbox.com website.  However, you can pay a monthly fee to expand it.

I will add this toolset to the TONYMADDIN.COM resources area.

Another must have SharePoint admin tool – ULS Viewer

June 8, 2011 SharePoint 2010 Tips and Tricks, Tips and Tricks, Tools No comments

As many of you are aware, reviewing log files are a necessary practice in our information technology industry.  But your standard NotePad on a Windows Server just cannot keep up when it comes to reviewing log files.

This tool has been around since 2009.   However, I when diagnosing a SharePoint 2010 farm, it was the tool of choice to help find the problem.  Here is the link.

Must have command for your system admin toolbox – GPRESULT

June 1, 2011 Tips and Tricks, Windows Server No comments

I was in need of getting detailed network information in a development/DMZ environment with heightened security.   In particular, Domain Controller information.   I did a lot of NSLOOKUP’s and PING’s to the gateway and dns servers to see what name(s) returned.  I got zero results.  (Very tight security.  :-) )

 

 

[box type="info"]My buddy pointed me to the command GPRESULT.exe. It’s a built-in executable for Windows operating systems.

I was able to get a detailed report of the NIC card and the network settings.  A great tool to use![/box]

[box type="info"]Click here for the Technet article on how to use it. [/box]

[box type="bio"]Another special thanks to John Chism on his advice.[/box]

Tip: How to speed up a slow Virtual Server

May 25, 2011 Microsoft Hyper-V, Microsoft Virtual Server, Tips and Tricks, Virtual Technologies, VirtualBox, VMWare Workstation No comments

If you have virtual servers (VMWare, Hyper-V, Virtual Box, etc.) running Windows operating system that does not have Internet connectivity; you will see the operating system services run slow. An example is opening up PowerShell command prompt. This could take up to 30 seconds at times. Open Internet Explorer. Then open an internal website. This could take some time.

Want to know why?

[box type="info"]Here is the answer:

It’s a known issue with Windows. It’s trying to check certificates to see if they have been revoked. However, it slows down the operations within the operating system until the check times out. [/box]

To avoid this issue, you can fix the issue a couple of ways. Manual or script it with PowerShell.
[box]

Internet Explorer:

Go to Tools => Internet Options =>Advanced tab =>  Under Security: uncheck  ”Check for Server Certificate Revocation(requires restart)[/box]

PowerShell Script:

[box]Set-ItemProperty -Path HKCU\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\internet settings\ -Name “CertificateRevocation” -Value =”0″[/box]

[box type="bio"]A special thank you to John Chism and his team for coming up with this solution.[/box]

Overcome Test-SPContentDatabase “Database too old error message”

May 24, 2011 SharePoint, SharePoint 2007, SharePoint 2007 Error, SharePoint 2010, SharePoint 2010 Research and Development, SharePoint 2010 Tips and Tricks, Tips and Tricks No comments

Ok, I was thinking that I could quickly take a SharePoint 2007 content database, apply the minimum Service Pack 2 for WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007, and then perform a database attachment within SharePoint 2010 in minutes while basking in the glory of the easy process.   I should have known this is SharePoint and everything is earned in this world.  :-)

I rebooted all the web front end servers and application servers just to make sure my little SharePoint 2007 world had the right build number of 12.0.0.6421 within Central Admin.   So I did a backup of the database and then moved the BAK file to the SharePoint 2010 Database instance and performed a simple restore.  For extra incentive and I was the DBO in the environment, I placed the SP Farm Account DBO to make sure the attachment goes ok.

I ran the PowerShell commandlet Test-SPContentDatabase to verify the database.  Then I got the error.

[box type="warning"]Category: DatabaseValidation Error: True UpgradeBlocking: False Message: This database [SSPBeta] is too old and cannot be upgraded. Remedy: Upgrade this database to Windows SharePoint Services Version 3, SP2 or later. [/box]

[box type="info"]So after I read multiple blogs, forums, etc.; I wanted to think outside-of-the-box. I tried an idea. “Maybe the commandlet needed a build number newer than 12.0.0.6421?”

So I got the April/2009 Cumulative update for WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007. So I applied these two CU’s to the SharePoint 2007 Environment.

I verified I was on build number 12.0.0.6504. [/box]

Just like washing your hair.  Rinse and Repeat. 

So I did a backup of the database and then moved the BAK file to the SharePoint 2010 Database instance and performed a simple restore.  For extra incentive and I was the DBO in the environment, I placed the SP Farm Account DBO to make sure the attachment goes ok.

I ran the PowerShell commandlet Test-SPContentDatabase to verify the database.

 [box type="shadow"]Then Poof!!!   The Test-SPContentDatabase command liked this minor build update.[/box] 

 Resources for review:

I welcome any feedback.

Internet Explorer 9 Compatibility View

May 9, 2011 Internet Explorer, Tips and Tricks No comments

There are times where I need to view a website but the website is not ready for Internet Explorer 9.  But how can I change Internet Explorer 9 so that I can view it in compatibility mode?

Well in Internet Explorer 9, the location is buried.  So I am writing this blog post so I can reference it.  I am sure there are other fellow technologists out there that need the same information.  I hope this helps people out.

[box]1. Right Click on the sprocket on the top-right hand side.

2. Checkmark Command bar. (You should now see the command bar.)

3. Choose Tools ==> Then Compatibility View Settings.

4. Then Kapow! You are now view it in other IE settings. [/box]

Open Source eMail Server

April 4, 2011 Open Source Tools, SharePoint 2010 Tips and Tricks, Tips and Tricks, Windows Server No comments

 

I found on a discussion thread on a great, open source email server to install in a development enviornment.  This is nice to have so you do not have to become a Microsoft Exchange guru.

http://hmailserver.com/

 

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