Every SA eventually comes across a weird problem with a server that just doesn’t seem to make sense. I recently had one such problem with an old server at work. This machine was fraught with problems when I took the job, but since it was the one and only DC at the time, I had no choice but to fix it. After fixing the problems I knew about, one of the first things I did was to replace that machine. Rather than retiring the old machine, I kept it around as a backup. We migrated to Windows Server 2003 at that time and recently went fully native after updating that old box. The upgrade worked flawlessly, or so I thought. When I attempted to install a service pack I got a strangely vague error message at the very end. “An error in updating your system has occurred.” A look through svcpack.log showed 2 problems at the very end of the process. A program called mofcomp was exiting with a return code of 3. That indicates a syntax error, which didn’t make sense as the syntax was correct. A search for the next line: “DoInstallation:RunInfProcesses for ProcessesToRun Failed” brought me to Katy Coe’s tutorial on how to fix WMI repository corruption. She does a great job in her article, but after trying the applicable steps, I still had trouble. I eventually found a reference to a Microsoft tool (which I would have found on Katy’s site if I’d just scrolled.. doh!) called WMIdiag. This tool saved the day. It found a number of problems with a handful of unregistered DLLs and EXEs. After registering the components and checking through the suggestions in the WMIdiag log the mofcomp program compiled the MOF files. The service pack installed and all was well. I didn’t have to go to all this trouble, I could have retired the machine and been done with it. After all, the server wasn’t even a critical part of my infrastructure, but it was an interesting problem to solve and I learned a few things in the process.
Category Archives: Tech
CFLs, mercury and you
A coworker of mine recently posted an article warning of the eminent dangers posed by CFLs or Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs. (those power sipping twisty-twirly replacements for regular light bulbs) Having recently purchased a number of them in my never ending quest to reduce my energy consumption, I was initially quite alarmed. Were these supposedly environment saving devices actually ticking time-bombs waiting to go off? I knew that just like regular fluorescent lights, CFLs contain mercury, and I’d read about the problems of mercury and fish in the news. It seemed pretty clear that this was a problem until I read a page on the U.S. EPA’s website about mercury exposure. As it turns out, it’s not the pure elemental mercury (ie: the mercury you see in thermostats and don’t see in fluorescent bulbs) that’s really dangerous to humans, but rather another form of mercury called methylmercury that is very harmful to us. So, that’s great right? Unfortunately it’s not that simple. The way we humans generally come into contact with methylmercury is that we release elemental mercury into the environment. (mostly from the emissions of coal-fired power plants) The heavy metal element, with the help of rainwater gets deposited into soil and sediments where it gets converted by bacteria into methylmercury. Those bacteria get eaten by larger and larger organisms and eventually end up on our dinner table. So, back to the bulbs. They aren’t a direct threat, but we need to make sure we treat them properly. The problem is, for the most part, we probably aren’t doing that. So, if you’re using CFLs or regular fluorescent bulbs (and most of you probably at least use the latter) please make sure you aren’t just throwing the bulbs in the trash. Check with your local authorities to find out about recycling options and proper disposal practices. Maybe, just maybe we can save energy and the environment at the same time.
WEP, 0 to hacked in 60 sec.
WEP key wireless cracking made easy | The Register
If you’re one of the many people still using older wireless gear that doesn’t support WPA, it may be time to toss it. A group of German cryptography researchers has modified a tool called aircrack, greatly reducing the amount of time it takes to recover the WEP key. While the weakness of the WEP encryption scheme has been widely known for years, there hasn’t been a tool that could break the encryption so quickly until now. This could give would be wireless leeches easy access to your encrypted wireless network, no matter how clever your password is. While the intrusion is bad enough, it also exposes you to the legal consequences of anything someone might do while connected. If you’ve got wireless, but no WPA, now is the time to get it. If you don’t know how, get help or turn it off.