The symptoms are pretty simple.  In this case, the customer is using the POP3 Connector and is no longer receiving emails.  This problem can occur in a number of scenarios with the same fix.  the event log shows this error:

An error occurred while delivering mail to ’someguy@someplace.com’ on the SMTP server ‘localhost’. The error code was 0×800ccc6c. Verify that the mailbox exists and that the Exchange receive connectors are configured properly.

I’ve had this problem but with different event logs as well, so if you are getting some weird things, this is definitely something to look into before you so do anything else.  Both times, the problem was low disk space on the system partition.

That’s right!  low disk space.  First time I came across this problem, the server had about 55mb left so it was a no brainer.  But this time, there was 1.86GB left so I figured I’d free up some space after I had resolved the email problem.  It turns out that there should always be at least 2GB of free space for exchange to work properly.

I started to move a 14gb folder (using Teracopy of course..) to another partition and, magically, emails started pouring in after a few minutes.

If you google this problem, one of the first sites that shows up with a solution is Microsoft’s site, so you assume that the solution must be a good one.  Actually, it didn’t work for me.  The Microsoft page is this one.  The solutions that they give probably work in many cases, but I tried both of their solutions and I was still at the starting line.

The solution? simply run:  outlook.exe /resetnavpane

basically, this is the same as deleting your profilename.xml in your user directory.  It did the trick for me and if I can save someone the trouble of looking for that solution for hours.. then I’m happy!

The Blackberry App World is an application that you install on your blackberry device.  Once installed, it acts just like on the iPhone, letting you browse the many categories and download applications and games directly on your device.  Put more of your life on your BlackBerry smartphone! Download BlackBerry App World for free to load up your BlackBerry smartphone with games, social networking, online shopping, personal productivity, organization tools and other fun and functional apps. It’s your world – bring more of it with you with BlackBerry App World!

App World will be a great place for developers to publish their work and make an extra buck selling their applications.  It should help RIM stay on top of the threat the iPhone has become and keep its users satisfied with an acceptable number of applications available in many categories.

You can get started directly on the Blackberry site.

Windows Foundation Server provides you with a dependable and affordable technology foundation for running your business applications as well as sharing information and resources. Being based on Windows Server 2008, you can run not only core infrastructure, terminal services and identity management solutions for your business – you can support you core LOB applications built on the simplicity and technical capabilities that Windows Server 2008 provides.

Windows Server 2008 is a great way to get your first Server 2008 in your business, especially if you have no servers in your infrastructure yet.  It will allow you to grow and use the best technologies right away. It is limited to 15 users, so  the recommended applications are the following:

• Core Infrastructure:  Windows Server Foundation is an excellent option for use with single or multiple workloads, such as file sharing, print sharing, networking, Terminal Services, remote connections, and other common server roles. Also, Windows Server Foundation can be used for Internet Web services and as a Web server platform for intranets and extranets where user authentication is required.
• Active Directory:  Windows Server Foundation can be used as an Active Directory server or domain controller, and can also join a domain as a member server or domain controller (but the 15 user limit still applies across AD scenarios)
• Terminal Services (Remote Desktop):  Windows Server Foundation is also ideal for multiple-user computing, such as sharing Microsoft Office or using Terminal Services.
• Line of Business Applications (LOB):  Your line of business applications that are built for the Windows Server 2008 family can be deployed on your server. If they have the “Certified for”, or “Works with” accreditation for Windows Server 2008 Standard, then they will be supported on Windows Server Foundation, as well as being able to deploy many third party software which is currently available for Windows Server 2008.

Server Foundation is probably a great server solution for the above-mentionned applications, but the 15-users limit might be reached pretty quickly if you plan on expanding.  Microsoft’s Small Business Server 2008 might be a better solution if you want to get all the bells and whistles without the huge price tag.

I remembered a friend talking to me about a tiny freeware that lets you resume copies in case there were problems so I figured it would be a good idea to give that a shot.  Enter Teracopy.  This Windows “Copy replacement” lets you copy files much much faster than Windows ever could and adds many new features to the standard function.  Here is some information from their site:

• Copy files faster. TeraCopy uses dynamically adjusted buffers to reduce seek times. Asynchronous copy speeds up file transfer between two physical hard drives.
• Pause and resume file transfers. Pause copy process at any time to free up system resources and continue with a single click.
• Error recovery. In case of copy error, TeraCopy will try several times and in the worse case just skips the file, not terminating the entire transfer.
• Interactive file list. TeraCopy shows failed file transfers and lets you fix the problem and recopy only problem files.
• Shell integration. TeraCopy can completely replace Explorer copy and move functions, allowing you work with files as usual.
• Full Unicode support.

Teracopy impressed me quite a bit.  it uses different techniques to make sure your copies are completed faster, and that’s not just a catch phrase.  I’ve never heard my USB hard drive work that hard.  The estimated time for the Windows copy was about 55 minutes for each file.  Teracopy got everything done in about 30 minutes.

Once installed, Teracopy completely replaces your windows functions so whenever you make a copy/paste operation, Teracopy takes over.  At the time of writing this article, there is a portable version in beta.  There is also a Pro version that lets your play around in the copy queue and gives you support & upgrades as well.

• SolarWinds Free TFTP Server – upload and download executable images and configurations to network devices – our most popular free network monitoring tool!
• IP SLA Monitor – quickly troubleshoot network slowdowns between sites and easily understand device-to-device performance using sophisticated Cisco® IP SLA operations.
• Free Kiwi Syslog Server – receive, log, display, and forward syslog messages from network devices with this easy-to-use Syslog Server.
• Free Kiwi CatTools – simplify daily management tasks with the ability to manage and backup network
• VM Monitor – continuously monitor a VMware® ESX Server and its virtual machines with at-a-glance virtualization health statistics.
• SolarWinds Free Real-time NetFlow Analyzer – capture and analyze up to one hour of NetFlow data to see what types of traffic are on your network, where it’s coming from, & where it’s going.
• SolarWinds Free Exchange Monitor – continuously monitor Exchange and get real-time insight into services, mail queue sizes, and host server health with this clever desktop dashboard.
• SolarWinds Free NetFlow Configurator – configure NetFlow v5 via SNMP on supported Cisco® devices – a perfect complement to Orion NetFlow Traffic Analyzer and our free Real-time NetFlow Analyzer tool!
• SolarWinds Free Advanced Subnet Calculator – compute addresses for IP subnets – another perennial favorite in our suite of free network monitoring tools!
• SolarWinds Free Wake-On-LAN

  – remotely power up network PCs

I have not tested all of these tools of course, because some of them are too specific for my needs, but the Exchange Monitor and the Kiwi Syslog Server work great and do exactly what you expect them to.

Free tools are always welcome and the quality products offered by Solarwinds are an excellent addition to any administrator’s toolset.

Cozi.com is basically an all-in-one organizer for your family.  You can enter all of your family members (even if they can’t use the computer…) and enter a color-coded schedule that allows you to see where everyone is at all times.  You enter your grocery lists, or any other kinds of lists you can think of and every member of the family can pitch in.  You can send messages to members and get reminders for anything that is in your calendar.  For the author in you, there is even a blogging feature, called a family journal, that lets you chronicle anything and everything that goes on with the family, including pictures.  The features as listed by Cozi are:

• Family Calendar
  
  

  The Cozi Homepage

• Family Journal
• Customizable Lists
• Photo ScreenSaver ( requires a Download)
• Reminders and Messages
• Cozi and Outlook Sync
• Mobile Access

I can tell you first hand that Cozi is a very useable tool if your family is on the go.  There are no excuses for your tech-savvy kids not to use the site as well because they can get everything on the move.  Cozi offers mobile web access, SMS and even lets you call-in through a toll-free number to have your lists and schedules read to you.  All of these features will let you work with your iPhone and any Smartphone.

If you also like to use smartphones with Outlook, Cozi offers a plugin for outlook that will let you synchronize everything in your Cozi account with your Outlook.  This can be very useful if you don’t always have an available internet connection.

Aside from all the cool features and the nice way to implicate my family in my techno-crazed lifestyle, the interface and ease of use are the things that have caught my attention the most.  This is a great example of a very well done Web 2.0 application.  You get a framework that lets you do exactly what it was designed to do, and your data isn’t trapped inside of it.  You can access everything in more than one way.

Even without a family, Cozi can help you or any group get organized.  If you live with someone, you may want to give this one a try!

as an enhancement, but that’s really just a matter of how you use your browser.  Whether it will help you get things done faster, is up to you.

Microsoft’s site offers a nice tour of features and lets you download the lastest version.  I have yet to give the final version a try.. I must confess, I still use IE6 sometimes.  I have never upgraded to the dreaded IE7 because every time I have come across it, I noticed weird page renderings and an incredibly slow performance.  However, if I must upgrade to something better eventually (assuming I can’t use my beloved Firefox…), then I would choose Internet Explorer 8 over previous versions easily.

I have read in quite a few places about people who will wait for a while before upgrading because they want to make sure the bugs are fixed.  Well, I have to agree, but this shouldn’t be something to stop you from trying it on a test machine or in a virtual environment.  There are still fixes coming out for IE6 after all ;-)

All things considered, if you are going to upgrade to it eventually and don’t need previous versions for compatibility issues with a specific application or website, then upgrading shouldn’t be a problem.

PhonEx is one of those plugins that once you get used to having it around, you just can’t live without it.  I’ve tried many plugins and applications that modify my contacts and/or my phone, but I always ended up removing them because they either caused problems or simply didn’t have the features I was used to with the standard WM6 functions.  PhonEx is not subtle in its changes and that’s what makes it work for me.  I love the scrolling contacts and the large dial-pad the most.  The Today plugin is also a very nice feature and let’s you change settings and access your contacts and favorites in no time.

The contacts manager is probably the most interesting feature there is because it is the one that sold me to this extension.  You can scroll through your contacts using just your thumb, just like on the iPhone.  no need for the stylus or the scroll bar.  Not only is this convenient, but it make your phone look and feel less antiquated.  Everything moves around smoothly, even on my older processor.  When you select a contact, the screen slides to the left and brings up the details of that contact, with a larger image and options to contact that person in a variety of ways: Call, Email, SMS etc… whatever you have entered is available.  This is where you can modify your contact’s information, assign a new picture etc…  I didn’t have pictures for everyone before, but since I installed PhonEx, I’ve been taking more pictures and trying to get more of my contacts updated because it simply looks good and makes that contacts list more attractive.

PhonEx Phonepad

From there, you can access your favorites, which is a list of people you choose to be easier to reach instead of having to go through your entire contacts list.  You can see a list of all your calls including incoming/outgoing and missed calls.  Finally, you can also go directly to the phone pad for manual dialing.  You could use the “send” key which gets reassigned to PhonEx and takes you to the phonepad as well.  The large buttons on the phonepad allow you to use your thumb only and, in my case, responds much much faster than the standard WM6 one.  For instance, when accessing my voicemail, there was a huge lag when entering my passcode.  With PhonEx, I can tap the numbers as fast as I want and everything works just fine.

There are a number of other great features like the full screen incoming calls.  When you receive a call, you get that on the entire screen, showing a picture of the contact (if you put one in) along with the number and location if it’s available.

Once you’re in a call, you have access to all the usual features, but with large buttons and it even lets you see if you are on Bluetooth right away.  You can conference someone else in and put them on Hold, Speakerphone or Mute.  You have access to the phone pad as well which is useful for dialing extensions or passcodes as I mentioned earlier.

PhonEx is certainly an excellent extension to have on your Windows Mobile Smartphone.  You can give it a try for free for 15 days and see for yourself.

It was a simple service call and after everything was done, I rebooted the computer to make sure everything was ok.. well, after that, the machine never restarted.  It simply kept looping, while on the windows logo screen, I could see the blue screen flashing and then it would restart.

At this point, I tried safe mode in all its forms and tried “Last Known Good Configuration” etc.. nothing worked.  I couldn’t run System Restore because windows did not even start.  So I used the F8 option to Disable auto reboot on BSOD and finally saw the actual Blue Screen message:

c000021a Fatal System Error
The Session Manager Initialization system process terminated unexpecedly with a status of 0xc000026c

A few Googles on the subject helped piece together a solution.  The problem is caused by a Windows Update known as KB925902.  The patch wasn’t installed recently.. it’s been on the machine for at least 6 months, but something must have triggered the problem.

The Solution:

Apparently there are a few variations on how the problem presents itself, so if windows starts in safe mode, I would go for a System Restore or use the Add/Remove programs section to remove that update.

What I had to do was to remove the update manually using the Recovery Console.  here’s how to do it:

1. Boot with your original Windows XP CD.  You need one which will allow you to get into the Recovery Console.
2. Once booted, choose to use the Recovery Console, usually by pressing “r”.
3. You may need to press “enter”  here to choose a different keyboard layout, otherwise you might have a hard time typing the next commands.
4. Choose which Windows installation you need to log into.  if there’s only one on that machine, it will be “1″.
5. Type in the Administrator password.  Yes, there is one, you had to supply one during the Windows XP installation.
6. Change folders using: cd WINDOWS\$NtUninstallKB925902$\spuninst
7. Run this command in the folder: batch spuninst.txt
8. If the command ran correctly, you should see a spuninst.tag file, using the “dir” command.
9. reboot the computer.

At this point the computer should boot properly and you should install SP3 and other patches to prevent this problem from happening again.

If the spuninst.tag file doesn’t exist, you may have received a bunch of errors instead.  Joyful.  There are a few reasons why this could happen, one of which is if your windows isn’t really installed on the c:\ drive, even if the Recovery Console always names it that way.  To remove the patch manually, type in these commands: (make sure you replace the drive and path if required, depending on your installation)

• DEL “c:\windows\$hf_mig$\kb925902\mf3216.dll”
• DEL “c:\windows\$hf_mig$\kb925902\gdi32.dll”
• DEL “c:\windows\$hf_mig$\kb925902\user32.dll”
• DEL “c:\windows\$hf_mig$\kb925902\win32k.sys”
• DEL “c:\windows\system32\dllcache\gdi32.dll”
• DEL “c:\windows\system32\dllcache\mf3216.dll”
• DEL “c:\windows\system32\dllcache\user32.dll”
• DEL “c:\windows\system32\dllcache\win32k.sys”
• COPY “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\gdi32.dll” “c:\windows\system32\gdi32.dll”
• COPY “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\mf3216.dll” “c:\windows\system32\mf3216.dll”
• COPY “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\user32.dll” “c:\windows\system32\user32.dll”
• COPY “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\win32k.sys” “c:\windows\system32\win32k.sys”
• COPY “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\spuninst\spuninst.txt” “c:\windows\$NtUninstallKB925902$\spuninst\spuninst.tag”

I hope this helps someone out there because there aren’t many solutions for this problem and it took me so much time to piece together the solution.  Let me know it there are any errors and if it works for you.