Authentication Roadblock for WSS 3.0 Access on the local Server

Ran into a fun little authentication issue with IIS 7 and SharePoint recently. I installed a SharePoint farm on one machine and set up my first site collection with a custom host header. Once the site was created I was unable to access it from the host server where I was working. I received an authentication prompt three times and the browser would report that the page load was "Done" but the result was a blank page. The problem did not occur when I set up the site using the host name and a port number.

A peek in the server event logs showed my account failing the authentication with the following:

Security Log Error: 4625
Keyword: Audit Failure
Failure Reason: An Error occurred during Logon.
Status: 0xc000006d

A little Internet searching and a look at one of my favorite troubleshooting resources, www.eventid.net, resulted in a link to Microsoft KB 896861, which explains an authentication issue with Integrated Authentication and versions of IIS over 5.1.

The fix that worked for me was to disable the loopback checking, a security feature designed to prevent reflection attacks. Make the following change to the registry and everything will be right in your SharePoint world.

1. In Registry Editor, locate and then click the following registry key:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa


2. Right-click Lsa, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.


3. Type DisableLoopbackCheck, and then press ENTER.


4. Right-click DisableLoopbackCheck, and then click Modify.


5. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.


6. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart your computer.

Digital Readers and Twitter May Change Reading and Writing

Check out this interesting segment from NPR this morning, "How E-Books Will Change Reading and Writing", regarding the introduction of digital readers and social media into the mainstream.

Lev Grossman (a Time magazine book reviewer) says the real challenge for writers is electronic-book readers like the Kindle. He says the increasingly popular devices force people to read books in a different way.

"They scroll and scroll and scroll. You don't have this business of handling pages and turning them and savoring them." Grossman says that particular function of the e-book leads to a certain kind of reading and writing: "Very forward moving, very fast narrative ... and likewise you don't tend to linger on the language. When you are seeing a word or a sentence on the screen, you tend to go through it, you extract the data, and you move on."

I don't agree with the idea that digital readers make people less willing to engage in written material for the long haul. Personally, I read more now and spend more time considering and highlighting segments of books using my Kindle, something I didn't do with a printed book. It not all about "extracting the data and moving on," it's about consuming the data in a medium that makes it accessible during the time you have available.

The segment also discusses cell phone novels and writing via Twitter. While I agree that Twitter is certainly not the future of written novels, I do think it is a fast and reasonably reliable way to gather news and information that is relevant to one's current activities. It might even mean I have more time to read that book.

Mostly Useless Server 2008 Personalization Trivia

When you first load a fresh install of Windows 7 or Server 2008 (original or R2) the desktop is empty of icons except for the Recycle Bin. Personally, I really like it that way. The search mechanism is so easy to use I have little need for icons cluttering up my desktop background.

However, some people like the look of the familiar. In Windows 7, you can use the "Personalization" control panel applet to add back the icons for Computer, Network and Documents. Windows 2008 has no such option in the control panel for restoring those icons by default. Instead you must type "desktop icons" into the search window and select the hidden control panel feature to "Show or hide common icons on the desktop."

You can right click "Computer" in the start menu and there is an option for that component to show on the desktop, but the same feature is not available for "Network." The other option is to install the "Desktop Experience" onto the server, which will add several of the customizing features that one might be wishing for. I also noticed that I have access to the Personalization control panel applet on a server that has Terminal Services (aka Remote Desktop Services) installed.

I suspect there are some registry keys that can reveal some of these interface tweaks. Or maybe this is just a Trivial Pursuit question in the making.

New Years Resolution: Get Certified!

Is your New Years' resolution to finally sit down and take some Microsoft exams? I'm planning to work a bit harder toward my Exchange 2007 MCITP certification in the first half of 2010. Just because Exchange 2010 is released doesn't mean that taking the time to learn an "older" technology isn't useful. Especially if that is what you are faced with administering on a day to day basis.

If you haven't visited the Microsoft Learning website recently, it's worth a look. Microsoft has updated several of their charts and learning paths to make the changes between the MCSE program and the MCTS and MCITP programs a lot clearer. I'm a fan of the the "Certification by Technology" chart that lists out each major product line and the certification paths available.

There are also some downloadable charts detailing the upgrade paths from older certifications, complete with recommendations for online or live training and reading materials. Finally, the Learning Catalog has several free "clinics" covering topics such as "Exchange 2010 in the Enterprise" and "Exploring Microsoft Virtualization". They are easy place to get started.

Here's to a productive 2010!

Recovering Hard Deleted Items in Outlook

This isn't new information, but it's something that comes up from time to time - recovering hard deleted (SHIFT+DEL) items from Outlook. Hard deleted items skip over the "Deleted Items" bin, so they can't be recovered using the regular "recover deleted items" tool within the Outlook client.

Exchange 2003 OWA can be used to recover items that were hard deleted using the Outlook client. To get back those items, log into the OWA web page. Then edit the URL to be: "https://server_name/exchange/user_name/inbox/?cmd=showdeleted". The "dumpster" for the inbox will appear and you can recover your deleted email. If you want to recover items from other folders, just change the word "inbox" in the URL to the folder you need, like "calendar" or "drafts".

If you are using Outlook 2003 as your mail client there is a registry setting that you can add to turn the dumpster on for all the folders. Outlook 2007 has the registry setting already enabled by default. Of course, recovering any deleted items assumes that the deleted items retention settings have been configured on your Exchange server.