Internet/Web/PC/Server/VoIP/Networking/Solving problems with technology

If you look up technology geek in the dictionary, you'll find my picture. Been involved in tech since I was 9 years old (well before PCs *cough*).

I've familiar with just about everything, whether Microsoft, open source, Asterisk/Trixbox VoIP based PBX to MS Exchange 2010 or Hyper-V. You name it, I've probably done it. If I haven't done it, I can figure it out or point you to someone who already knows it. Tech isn't just a job, is a passion. When $**t hits the fan, that's when I really excel. I recently bailed out a company (remotely) who used software developed by one guy and that guy walked out with the keys to the kingdom and there was not a single technical soul at that company. I've been faced with "impossible" problems such as a company losing their entire mail server, no backups, because someone broke the virtual machine. Microsoft had no tools to repair what had been done to break it. I was able to reach one of the key MSFT developers of Hyper-V, at home, on a Sunday and got him to write a tool to fix it. For free. I tried to pay him or send him a giftcard, he wouldn't take anything in return. No kidding.

I do not have my own company (any longer). I just do some work here and there on the side. I help many from these and other forums for free. I do volunteer tech work for a couple of local non profits and for barter.

I am also a project manager and build software development teams and can take a business problem requiring a software solution and can assemble a team of developers to address it.

If you have any tech questions, as long as I have the time I'm happy to help. Ask here or PM me. I have plenty of references.

Sweet, I work on Hyper-V.

Thanks for offering your tech services. I am no formal tech guy myself but have setup my own secure wi-fi, re installed my OS, registry fixes, and free antivirus'/spyware etc. This just gives you a little background of what I know..by no means an expert at any of these. Anyway, I currently run AVG free and Spybot Search and Destroy. Seems to have sped up my old 7 year old home PC quite a bit. What are your thoughts on the level of virus protection this offers and spyware/malware? Have tried to run these on my sis' computer and it did little to speed it up and found nothing on her computer. 2nd ?, any other ideas for her slow computer? (It's relatively new and hardly has any programs on it). Think it's the horrid Vista. Can PM me if you prefer.

Thanks for your help!!!

Jeff

know anything about sharepoint? I am just did an in place upgrade from wss 2.0 to MOSS 2007. Data is there, but my search doesnt work anymore. I havent setup the SSP, got any pointers on this? or do you know of a kick ass sharepoint consulting company?

Cozmo said:

Sweet, I work on Hyper-V.

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In that case, thank Chris Eck for saving my butt .

llacap said:

know anything about sharepoint? I am just did an in place upgrade from wss 2.0 to MOSS 2007. Data is there, but my search doesnt work anymore. I havent setup the SSP, got any pointers on this? or do you know of a kick ass sharepoint consulting company?

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I'm good enough to get Sharepoint up and running (just got 2010 Beta up last week), but not enough to know off hand how to fix what you describe without having to sink time into it. If the Sharepoint forums or MSFT boards are unable to help, I used to work with this guy
http://www.patrickhynds.com/

If he can't solve your problem, he will know who can.

Racerxjling said:

Thanks for offering your tech services. I am no formal tech guy myself but have setup my own secure wi-fi, re installed my OS, registry fixes, and free antivirus'/spyware etc. This just gives you a little background of what I know..by no means an expert at any of these. Anyway, I currently run AVG free and Spybot Search and Destroy. Seems to have sped up my old 7 year old home PC quite a bit. What are your thoughts on the level of virus protection this offers and spyware/malware? Have tried to run these on my sis' computer and it did little to speed it up and found nothing on her computer. 2nd ?, any other ideas for her slow computer? (It's relatively new and hardly has any programs on it). Think it's the horrid Vista. Can PM me if you prefer.

Thanks for your help!!!

Jeff

Click to expand...

I have nothing specific to provide, but in my experience, machines shipped from any major manufacturer are slow right out of the box after all the bloatware that the OEM loads them down with (I was the guy that reverse engineered 3rd party app installers and jammed them into the OS install scripts for NEC's manufacturing process when marketing demanded all that bloat to compete with the other competitors' bloat). If you're satisfied that it's a relatively new machine with a decent amount of memory, the harddrive has plenty of free space, and it's free of virii and malware, has it always been slow? Are all the drivers up to date? How much physical memory does the PC have? Check the event log, anything suspicious there? Lots of reoccurring errors or anything?

I end up throwing in the towel on my own PC every year or so and buy a new drive, move the old one to a USB enclosure and install the OS from scratch (not suggesting you do that, just pointing out that even I have to resort to that from time to time). I wouldn't be quick to blame Vista, I know it has a bad reputation, but I used Vista from the time it was released until Windows 7 came out and didn't have a lot of issues (and my wife still uses it today and has none).

Do you have good connections for freelance programmers? All the ones I use seem to suck.

NetViper said:

Do you have good connections for freelance programmers? All the ones I use seem to suck.

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Not really so much freelance, I use a few different shops depending on the technologies needed and the skill set. From UX experts to graphic design to copy writers to .NET to javascript, etc. I work with some vietnamese who are cheap and good if you give them excellent specs and art, but have to be managed closely day to day to some shops that are very expensive but top notch.

Sounds like we're about on the same page robr.
I'm a senior systems engineer, and manage a networking dept. I also do pen-testing and computer forensics.
This week I've been dealing with a weird routing issue with a Riverbed StealHead. The StealHead was causing massive latency between it and the 2821 it's connected to(with a 3' long cross over cable). Duplex was right, speed was right. Weird issue.

I mainly do:
- Servers(VMWare ESX, Exchange, BES, SQL, Oracle, Citrix, Tripwire, etc, etc, etc). I've touched just about everything made I think.
- VOIP
- Routers, wan optimizers, and misc network infrastructure
- Computer Forensics(part of a business fraud team)
- Penetration Testing/Vulnerability Assessments/Network Security Consulting(part of an audit team)


I'm also glad to help any NSX owner who needs some guidance.
Should I start my own thread or just use this one?

jond said:

Sounds like we're about on the same page robr.
I'm a senior systems engineer, and manage a networking dept. I also do pen-testing and computer forensics.
?

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How does one get started and certified in forensics? I know that's something I would likely be pretty darned good at, though it may not be realistic due to other reasons . I used to be in Richmond a lot, still work remotely with one company down there regularly. If I'm ever down that way again, would love to get together and talk tech over a beer or two .

robr said:

How does one get started and certified in forensics? I know that's something I would likely be pretty darned good at, though it may not be realistic due to other reasons . I used to be in Richmond a lot, still work remotely with one company down there regularly. If I'm ever down that way again, would love to get together and talk tech over a beer or two .

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Yeah definitively, the next time you're in Richmond shoot me an IM.

I've researched different certs for myself to get certified in some of the areas I work in now. I haven't actually messed with certs since 2003 though, but the partner over me in that area keeps pushing me so I started looking into the process. I'll paste my notes below. From what I found, the EnCe cert(assuming you use EnCase) is one of the most respected. It also seems like the CISSP, even though it's not forensics specific, seems to carry some respect in the arena.

As far as get started in the field, for me it's just been luck. I only do a handful of jobs a year(it's not my full time gig), although some of the cases have been huge. For me, where I work, we have a business valuation department and they do all kinds of things. One of the last cases involved an employee allegedly stealing 10's of millions over a 10 year period from his employer. The team does all the heavy lifting with looking at where money is going, who knows who, etc. I acquire the digital evidence, secure it, maintain a legal chain of custody, forensically imagine the data, load copy of data into EnCase, keyword search, supply the team with the relevant evidence and do misc logistics consulting with how to tackle the case.
It's fun. It's more a change of pace than anything else.

The only thing I would caution is to first look at the salary info for someone who does computer forensics full time vs what you make now.

Do you have any certs?



###################My Notes on EnCe:##################
Acquire Ence:


1. Requirements to take exam: Level 2 class completetion or 12 months experience.
Given some of the things they cover are things I haven't seen it's probably smart not to try to skip the class.
http://www.guidancesoftware.com/computer-forensics-training-ence-certification.htm

2. Estimated study time required outside of class: Guesstimate 600 pages in free time after work is probably 5-6 months assuming I go through the excercises and read for comprehention.
http://www.amazon.com/EnCase-Comput...tified/dp/0782144357/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

3. Classes:
3a. EnCase Computer Forensics II - $3,000
http://www.guidancesoftware.com/computer-forensics-training-encase2.htm

3b. EnCe Prep Class - $2,500
Forensics II class is a pre-reqisite
http://www.guidancesoftware.com/computer-forensics-training-encase-ence.htm


4. Take written exam

5. Take pratical exam - 60 days is granted to complete the practical. Not sure how much time it would actually take.
Would probably need ~4 weeks or so blocked off from normal work to work on it.

6. Renewing: 32 credits every 3 years(Some random things count a little, but seems EnCase classes are what really count). Figure (1) $3,000 class every 3 years to keep cert.
http://www.guidancesoftware.com/EnCE-Application-Renewal.htm
###################My Notes on EnCe:##################

So my buddy occasionally looks at the naughty ladies on the web and picks up all sorts of "PC STDs" and gets a royal @ss chewing from his wife. Most recently, it's the pop up porn ads out of the blue and the bogus "buy the antivirus program to free your computer of etc etc trojan, virus" that completely hijacks his computer. It wont even let you open any programs. I've managed to disable it msconfig under start up, and deleted the files, but it has once again reared it ugly head after a few weeks.

What antivirus/programs can he purchase at whatever price to prevent these things from taking over his wife's computer? I live too far away now to be able to save his hide at a moment's notice.

FogCityNSX said:

So my buddy occasionally looks at the naughty ladies on the web and picks up all sorts of "PC STDs" and gets a royal @ss chewing from his wife. Most recently, it's the pop up porn ads out of the blue and the bogus "buy the antivirus program to free your computer of etc etc trojan, virus" that completely hijacks his computer. It wont even let you open any programs. I've managed to disable it msconfig under start up, and deleted the files, but it has once again reared it ugly head after a few weeks.

What antivirus/programs can he purchase at whatever price to prevent these things from taking over his wife's computer? I live too far away now to be able to save his hide at a moment's notice.

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There's a rule in IT, if you get a trojan, the ONLY safe removal is to format and reinstall the OS. Once a hacker gets in, they can plant a custom backdoor than AV would never be able to detect.
But as far as your question, if money isn't an issue, I would tell him to get a copy of vmware workstation, and do his porn surfing inside of that. Any infection to the virtual machine won't touch the main machine.
A cheaper alternative could be to use portable ubuntu, although linux isn't for everyone.
http://lifehacker.com/5195999/portable-ubuntu-runs-ubuntu-inside-windows

Fog, while Jon is right, I doubt that's practical for 99.9% of people out there. There really is no 'magic program' that will clean everything. Most of us will run a few different scanners/cleaners, we may have to manually remove some virii, edit the registry, etc. It can take many hours to clean a machine, and even then you can't be sure you have everything off. If I can identify exactly what infected the machine, I might be able to feel 'good enough', but I don't really think that the average non-computer literate person can effectively remove virii any longer. He's best off having virus protection in place that will try to intercept one if he does something stupid (and that's the real key, it's very difficult to get a virus unless you do something stupid like 'CLICK HERE' which fires off a download and click to install, or 'RUN AN EMAIL ATTACHMENT'. Windows 7 has come a reasonably long way to protecting people from themselves, but nothing is foolproof.

I'm a Linux Consultant and enjoy every minute of it! Anyone need any Linux help?

enkrypt3d said:

I'm a Linux Consultant and enjoy every minute of it! Anyone need any Linux help?

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I have to say, Peppermint looks pretty cool. Will have to try that out soon. Just got OSX running on my Dell XPS laptop though, that's been my latest side project. That and my jailbroken iPhone.

robr said:

Just got OSX running on my Dell XPS laptop though, that's been my latest side project.

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Any worries of it talking back to apple?
I spent a few hours getting OSX to run in VMWare, then after playing with it, I thought, I'm really not comfortable using this on my home internet. I know the odds are low, but being it's illegal to install OSX on non-mac hardware, I don't want to be part of a mass RIAA-type lawsuit.
What are your thoughts? Do you think it's anything to worry about?
Do you use it on your home internet?

jond said:

Any worries of it talking back to apple?
I spent a few hours getting OSX to run in VMWare, then after playing with it, I thought, I'm really not comfortable using this on my home internet. I know the odds are low, but being it's illegal to install OSX on non-mac hardware, I don't want to be part of a mass RIAA-type lawsuit.
What are your thoughts? Do you think it's anything to worry about?
Do you use it on your home internet?

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Its not illegal to install it on a PC... as long as its your copy. You can install it on whatever you want. And no apple has no "call home" feature in its OS unlike Windows... but then again there are ways around that as well... When you install OSX, you don't even need to enter in a product key - so that tells you they don't really care about how many copies are installed anywhere etc...

enkrypt3d said:

Its not illegal to install it on a PC... as long as its your copy.

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You wouldn't think so, but surprisingly it actually is illegal even if you 'own' the OS.


"Apple does not authorize the use of the Mac OS on any x86 PC other than the ones it has developed itself. The company used a Trusted Platform Module, or TPM, to tie Mac OS to the systems it distributed to developers after announcing its switch to Intel's chips. [3]

The Mac OS X EULA forbids installations of Mac OS X on "non Apple-labeled computers".[1] On July 3, 2008, Apple filed a lawsuit against Psystar Corporation[4] for violating this restriction, among other claims.[5] Apple claimed Psystar "violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by dodging copy-protection technologies Apple uses to protect Mac OS X. "Apple employs technological protection measures that effectively control access to Apple's copyrighted works [...] Defendant has illegally circumvented Apple's technological copyright-protection measures." Specifically, Apple charged Psystar with acquiring or creating code that "avoids, bypasses, removes, descrambles, decrypts, deactivates or impairs a technological protection measure without Apple's authority for the purpose of gaining unauthorized access to Apple's copyrighted works."[6] This brief revealed that Apple considers the methods that it uses to prevent Mac OS X from being installed on non-Apple hardware to be protected by the DMCA.

On November 13, 2009, the court granted Apple's motion for summary judgment and found Apple's copyrights were violated as well as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) when Psystar installed Apple's operating system on non-Apple computers. A hearing on remedies was set for December 14.[7][8]

On January 14, 2009, the Gadget Lab site of Wired Magazine posted a video tutorial for installing Mac OS X on an MSI Wind netbook, but removed it following a complaint from Apple.[9] Textual instructions remain that include an EULA violation disclaimer.[10]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSx86


Note: I don't really care too much about Apples EULA, if I paid for it, it should be mine to do what I want with.
But being you've had to modify things to make it work, couldn't apple, in an update, simply look for said files, and log your IP. Then create a master list for their lawyer and sue a few thousand people at once? Easy money, RIAA style, no?

jond said:

You wouldn't think so, but surprisingly it actually is illegal even if you 'own' the OS.


"Apple does not authorize the use of the Mac OS on any x86 PC other than the ones it has developed itself. The company used a Trusted Platform Module, or TPM, to tie Mac OS to the systems it distributed to developers after announcing its switch to Intel's chips. [3]

The Mac OS X EULA forbids installations of Mac OS X on "non Apple-labeled computers".[1] On July 3, 2008, Apple filed a lawsuit against Psystar Corporation[4] for violating this restriction, among other claims.[5] Apple claimed Psystar "violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by dodging copy-protection technologies Apple uses to protect Mac OS X. "Apple employs technological protection measures that effectively control access to Apple's copyrighted works [...] Defendant has illegally circumvented Apple's technological copyright-protection measures." Specifically, Apple charged Psystar with acquiring or creating code that "avoids, bypasses, removes, descrambles, decrypts, deactivates or impairs a technological protection measure without Apple's authority for the purpose of gaining unauthorized access to Apple's copyrighted works."[6] This brief revealed that Apple considers the methods that it uses to prevent Mac OS X from being installed on non-Apple hardware to be protected by the DMCA.

On November 13, 2009, the court granted Apple's motion for summary judgment and found Apple's copyrights were violated as well as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) when Psystar installed Apple's operating system on non-Apple computers. A hearing on remedies was set for December 14.[7][8]

On January 14, 2009, the Gadget Lab site of Wired Magazine posted a video tutorial for installing Mac OS X on an MSI Wind netbook, but removed it following a complaint from Apple.[9] Textual instructions remain that include an EULA violation disclaimer.[10]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OSx86


Note: I don't really care too much about Apples EULA, if I paid for it, it should be mine to do what I want with.
But being you've had to modify things to make it work, couldn't apple, in an update, simply look for said files, and log your IP. Then create a master list for their lawyer and sue a few thousand people at once? Easy money, RIAA style, no?

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Its actually not surprising but its another one of those "laws" that can not be enforced... there really is no way for anyone to be able to tell you're running OSX on anything but a mac... there are ways to disable the TPM and w/ most hackint0sh installs, TPM is a non-issue.

http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/tech...nara-iphone-why-i-m-switching-to-android.aspx

This is exactly why I've lost all respect for the control freak we all know as Steve Jobs. ^

That doesn't make it illegal, it makes it a violation of their end user license agreement. This is not the same thing as a company who was actually selling non-apple machines running OSX. In any case, this was an experiment on my part and it's done and over with and the VM deleted.

My company asked me to start setting up PCs here like that so people could test our web apps with Mac based Safari (the windows version apparently renders differently or so I'm told) and I had to explain why we could not do that. Sort of sucks as now they have to order a few more macs. Another reason why Apple doesn't like the idea I guess. More sales for them.

I have a question about wireless routers.

Up to now, my wireless needs consisted of broadcasting to my laptops (up to three or rarely four at a time) and occasionally our wireless printer.

We just replaced our TV and now have a unit that can access Netflix movies on demand.

The only way that we could get the Netflix feature to work was to change the frequency (channel?) of our router (a Buffalo WHR HP G54).

After changing the frequency, our wireless signal no longer extends to the far ends of our (big) house.

Looks like I probably need to get a more powerful router; spent a few minutes shopping on line and I have no idea what to look for to accomplish getting a good signal to my TV and throughout the house.

By the way, unless I have to do this, I have no particular interest in buying the newest/most expensive model just because it's the newest and most expensive.

If anyone can help, I'd appreciate your suggestions. Thanks in advance.

heya there westernb4, sorry for the delayed response.... I really don't have an answer for you. When I run into issues with range, I install more wireless access points to extend into those areas. i have a bunch of older linksys wrt54g routers at home running 3rd party firmware that allows me to create a 'mesh'.

i cant imagine you had to change the channel the router runs on, but perhaps the encryption or maybe you had to switch from 802.11g to b or WPA2 to WEP or something (probably neither of those since every product made today I'd think would support 802.11g and WPA2, but you get what I mean ). but in larger areas, the answer is typically adding another wireless access point and combining it into your existing network. very easy to do if you can get an ethernet jack at the far end of the house to plug a WAP into, otherwise a bit trickier.

robr said:

heya there westernb4, sorry for the delayed response.... I really don't have an answer for you. When I run into issues with range, I install more wireless access points to extend into those areas. i have a bunch of older linksys wrt54g routers at home running 3rd party firmware that allows me to create a 'mesh'.

i cant imagine you had to change the channel the router runs on, but perhaps the encryption or maybe you had to switch from 802.11g to b or WPA2 to WEP or something (probably neither of those since every product made today I'd think would support 802.11g and WPA2, but you get what I mean ). but in larger areas, the answer is typically adding another wireless access point and combining it into your existing network. very easy to do if you can get an ethernet jack at the far end of the house to plug a WAP into, otherwise a bit trickier.

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As robr points out, changing JUST the frequency/channel should have no effect on whether the netflix app can work, except for whether the device can get sufficient signal strength. Perhaps you can elaborate on exactly what changes you made?

Sounds to me like he's having interference issues. Changing the channel slides the used frequency band up or down, which can reduce interference.. But there can be many sources of interference, and each location will experience interference effects differently, so solving for one location by changing channels could certainly cause a second location to now encounter interference.

Robr's method of adding additional access points is probably the best way to go, since you can essentially 'drown out' interference from a neighbor's router (or nanny cam or the bazillion other devices using the spectrum) that is further away. It's possible there is a channel that he could use which avoids interference in both places, but determining that could be tricky. Trial and error might help you find a workable channel, but the fix could be temporary, plus there are less channels to choose from once you get to some of the extended-throughput modes of 802.11n.

At the very least, find a tool which does site analysis and try to find an unused channel.