Test and Fix SQL Connectivity
After server and workstation reboots, a database application that I use every day would not start. It displayed this message: SQL Server does not exist or access denied
Azure Backup Client Fails with 0x07EF8
I’m testing Azure Backup client on a Server 2012 R2 Essentials machine. On this machine, I had two options: an Essentials plugin and the standard agent. I tried the Essentials …
Windows 10 Repeatedly Disconnects Network Drives
A few weeks ago, I upgraded from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro. The most frustrating problem has been that mapped drives on my server frequently disconnect. One of …
Microsoft Launches $5000 Azure Credit for Nonprofits
If you assist nonprofits with their I.T. needs, you may have noticed a flurry of announcements made in January about Microsoft’s plans to donate “$1 billion of cloud computing resources …
ServerCeipAssistant Task Incorrectly Formatted XML
On my Server 2012R2 Essentials machine, I wasn’t participating in the Customer Experience Improvement Program, but there is a scheduled task for it anyway—one that suddenly started throwing an error …
StorDiag Errors after Windows 10 Upgrade
I upgraded from Windows 7 Ultimate to Windows 10 Pro a couple weeks ago. I’ve had ongoing issues with briefly losing connection to my local network. Updating the network card …
Windows 10 Does Not Show or Install Optional Updates
Remember all those optional updates in Windows 7? Often you could ignore them, but sometimes you might actually want to update all your hardware drivers at once, or even install …
3CX Modifies Windows Hosts File
A Windows Server 2012R2 Essentials machine was returning strange results when I did a DNS query from PowerShell. I traced it back to modifications that 3CX version 14 had made …
Outbound Calls Busy through 3CX Session Border Controller
I am running 3CX 14 stand-alone on a cloud-based server with a fixed IP. At my location, I have installed the Session Border Controller (SBC), also v14, on a local …
Cox Removed Ancient Trap–Internet Fixed?
When I switched back to Cox for Internet in January 2016, the contract installer ran a new drop from the pole to my house, all the way to the jack …