Windows 7 connecting to Xserver OS X 10.4 probs

Whenever I try to connect to the smb share on the xserver from a windows 7 computer I am unable to authenticate. But I can from Windows XP and Windows 8!

After a quick look I found this helpful post page, specifically the 'Setspn' command. Digging more into it, there is a link which I think is to this page (outdated links). Do a search on this page for "Setspn" and you'll find it detailed there.

It looks like an authentication issue with Kerberos, where it then looks at using NTLMv2 to authenticate.

To solve the problem looks like you need to change the protocol Windows vista and 7 use back to either Kerberos or NTLMv1. To do this, type from the machine:

1. Click Start.
2. Type secpol.msc in the search box and press Enter.
3. Windows Vista will display a warning message; click Continue.
4. Windows Vista's Local Security Policy console will appear. Highlight Local Policies.
5. Double-click Security Options.
6. Scroll down to the Network Security: LAN Manager Authentication Level policy entry and double-click it.
7. Change the value from the default setting of Send NTLMv2 Response Only to Send LM & NTLM -- Use NTLMv2 Session Security If Negotiated, then click OK. (Figure J).
8. Close the Local Security Policy console.

I have yet to try this. But will do in the near future.

Or follow this:

C:\ setpn -L yourserver

This gets you a list of the service principals assigned to that computer record:

• xgrid/yourserver.example.com
• vpn/yourserver.example.com
• ipp/yourserver.example.com
• xmpp/yourserver.example.com
• cifs/yourserver.example.com
• host/yourserver.example.com
• smtp/yourserver.example.com
• HTTP/yourserver.example.com
• pop/yourserver.example.com
• imap/yourserver.example.com
• ftp/yourserver.example.com
• afpserver/yourserver.example.com

To add the appropriate record:

C:\setpn -A cifs/yourserver yourserver

This gets you:

• cifs/yourserver
• xgrid/yourserver.example.com
• vpn/yourserver.example.com
• ipp/yourserver.example.com
• xmpp/yourserver.example.com
• cifs/yourserver.example.com
• host/yourserver.example.com
• smtp/yourserver.example.com
• HTTP/yourserver.example.com
• pop/yourserver.example.com
• imap/yourserver.example.com
• ftp/yourserver.example.com
• afpserver/yourserver.example.com

What to do if your windows computer is running ridiculously slow (only applies to Microsoft Windows)

So, I get a lot of people coming to me with Windows PC's and laptops which are running ridiculously slow. As I'm fixing one this very moment, I thought I'd document what I have found to be the easiest ways to get them running to their original speed (when they were first purchased).

I will run through it in a chronological order.

1. First things first, you need to be able to get the system to a 'usable' state, meaning you can click on stuff and something happens, and also you can install stuff. Here's how I do it in worst case scenarios:
1. Boot up into safe mode (continuously press F8 when the computer is booting up)
2. Enable the "Windows Installer" in safe mode.
1. Heres a link to an article where I describe how to do this.
3. A part from safe mode, you can always:
1. open the task manager and end processes of anything which is taking up the CPU, but this is a little frustrating.
2. delete startup items in the Start > Programs > Startup menu.
3. Go to  Start > Run -> msconfig and click "disable startups" described here
4. If you're still having problems, run hijackthis
1. It's a very good program and helps you delete entries in Windows linked with Malicious Programs. Here's the home page
2. When you run it you can make a text file. Paste this text file on the home page and it'll analyse it and tell you which things you'll want to remove.
3. Tick the right boxes and bingo.
2. Install and run a free anti-virus.
1. At the moment the top runners for free anti-virus are AVG and AntiVir
2. I have found that  in the past a lot of anti-virus programs are the things that actually slow your machine down. This is one of the reasons AVG and AntiVir have such good ratings.
3. Install and run a free anti-malware application
1. At the moment the top runner is MalwareBytes
4. Install and run TuneUp Utilities 30 day free trial, currently on version 2012.
1. You get a free 30 day trial, but I've found you really only need a 1 hour trial to fix all the problems. Luckily it doesn't "unfix" the problems once it has expired.
2. The main part to run is "one-click-maintanance"
1. It runs through your system and tells you how many things it can 'fix'.
2. Click the fix button
3. Keep running this program until it does not fix anything anymore.

If these basic steps aren't going to fix it, you're best option is to re-install Windows a-fresh and make a nice new start. Possibly consider installing the operating system it came with to begin with? Or even think about another operating system (i.e. not windows). Ubuntu, OS X?

At the end of the day, your computer will at best run at the speed it was running when you first bought it. If you upgrade the operating system you will notice a slow down.

Also, programs which run at startup are going to slow your machine down. I only have 3 running on my startup; DropBox, Carbonite and MAMP. I suggest you really think about how you want to use your computer. It's all about compromise. 

Any suggestions are welcome, especially if it's easier than this list of 'things to do'.

Adobe Creative Suite 5 - keeps asking for serial number

I recently installed Adobe CS 5 on a Windows Vista laptop. During the initial stage of the installation it did ask for a serial for which I put in the correct numbers. It told me everything was fine and installed.

I then tried opening Adobe Photoshop and it came up with the a dialogue box asking for the serial. I put it in, it gave me the green tick and told me everything was fine. The dialogue box disappeared and then reappeared wanting me to put in the serial, in a continual loop.

I tried serveral logins' including the administrators but none worked. I also tried a reboot.

I must mention that this laptop had Adobe CS3 installed previously which had stopped working due to a licensing error.

After trawling through the internet I initially found this post, and he posts again to say he has found a forum and found the only fix was to delete a database file. He failed to say which file, or even which post he had found!!

After some more looking, specifically for Adobe CS databases, I found this post. It mentions deleting:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Adobe\Adobe PCD\cache\cache.db



I found the file, renamed it and tried Adobe again. Put in the serial and it works beautifully.


My conclusion was that this file had either gotten corrupt or had the wrong permissions.

Windows Installer Service under safe mode

Well, it's always been a great problem not being able to install things under safe mode. I think they're paranoid of viruses installing with no antivirus running. But I always need to install little 'fix it' programs to get the comptuer up and running.

Anyway, I looked into it and found a microsoft article (right down the bottom) on how to enable the Windows Installer Service, but it doesn't work in Safe Mode.

To get it running in Safe Mode, I found this good article

Basically, in the command line in safe mode (networked) type this:

REG ADD "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Network\MSIServer" /VE /T REG_SZ /F /D "Service"

net start msiserver