Liquidware Profile Unity - vhd Compacting

names were blocked out of the image - they are not needed. Image is an example of the output. 

Both .vhd and .vhdx  are Microsoft virtual hardrive file extensions. 

Liquidware compact tool works wonders on user .vhdx profile disk files. 

In the example above we can see that the tool run a defrag on the disk. Then proceeds to compact the disk by removing white space. Whitespace will vary by user. Whitespace is space that was used by files  and then the files were deleted. The files took up space causing the virtual disk to expand but when removed, the disk remained expanded. Thin provisioned disks will do this, it is normal behavior. What the compact tool does is shrink the disk back down by removing the whitespace created by file deletions.   

Virtual Disk WhiteSpace

A virtual disk will be thin provisioned and start very small, maybe several megs to a couple of hundred. this occurs not only with Microsoft's virtual disk format of vhd and vhdx but also with virtual disks, .vmdk files,  created for vmware virtual machines. 

Sample Compacting Tool command line

the command line used for the compacting tool output shown in the screen cap is shown below. There is a configuration file that can be updated to change the location such as where the backup file is placed and the working directory. In the example, those options were provided during run time, when the command was run. 

LwL.ProfileUnity.Client.CompactVHD.exe /VHDFile \\servername\Profiles\username\ProfileDisk\username_ProfileDisk.vhdx  /WorkDir e:\CompactWorkDir\ /AcceptEULA

 

Backup to Cloud using Veeam 

Creating Blob Storage, Veeam Backup and Azure Storage Blob

File and Folder Compression

Blue Arrows on Folders and Files

SmartPhone ActiveSync Stuck Loading Email Messages

Android, iPhone ActiveSync Stuck at Loading Never displays Email

I used an available Blackberry 10 simulator and found that there was not a Loading messages the phone was stuck at displaying but indeed I had an empty non-functional connection to a test Exchange mailbox. 

   

I hope this post saves you some time and you have found this post quickly. This is rare problem and from I have researched about its cause is that it appears to be related to migrations of Exchange. In this case, I can say there was indeed a migration. The client's server was Exchange 2010. The client had two Mailbox servers and two CAS servers. Their email system was upgraded and migrated from an earlier release of Microsoft Exchange. 

Android, iPhone, all Devices not Displaying Email even After Successful Account Setup 

I believe the cause is not entirely due to a migration because I have seen many migrations and ActiveSync on the Smartphone, regardless whether it was an Android, IPhone, Tablets or iPads, did not have this issue.   I suspect the problem stemmed more from a history of BES (BlackBerry Enterprise Servers) and a long history of an internal Exchange organization that has seen its share of BES and Exchange upgrades/migrations. Also, the setting which I will describe to you to change to correct this problem, I recall was often changed with BES implementations and is opposite the default setting.   

Android ActiveSync Never Displays Email Because of This Setting in Microsoft Users and Computers
 Active Directory 

The solution for me an I hope this works for you is simply open Active Directory Users and Computers. Locate the user, one user to test with for now will suffice, open the properties page and select the security tab, then click on the advanced button, then check the box for Inherit Permission. Save the new settings, reconnect the smartphone to the Exchange either by restarting the device or deleting and re-creating the Account on the Active-Sync Device

Active Directory Users and Computers >> Locate User >> Right-click Properties >> Security Tab >> Advanced Button >> Check the box "Include Inheritable Permission from the Object's Parent" 

I hope this works for you as well as it worked for me and you have this post before loosing too much time.

Help others find this post fast by Sharing it or Linking to it from your own blogs or Tech Support Forums. 

Enhance the support you provide with Software for Computer Support Online. Remotely access Desktops, Computers, Active Directory servers, Network devices  and even firewalls online with Remote control Online Remote Support Software. Add another simple to use tool - Free Trial. 

How annoying while working on a server on-site on-premises or remotely to have it screen lock in a short time continuously repeatedly. Here how to Disable Windows Server Auto lock Screen Lock   without affecting other servers. 

Outlook Keeps Prompting for Logon Credentials Office 365

Outlook Keeps Asking for Password Credentials

When Outlook is configured for Office 365, the type of authentication is Anonymous Authentication. 

For all of you that have been configuring Outlook know that this is not a normal option for Outlook authentication against an Exchange server.  We normally have, as shown below, many more options. 

Anonymous Authentication is not listed or available as an Option in Outlook 

The anonymous option is present in Outlook 2013 but Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007 do not normally have this option listed. windows 7 is normally not a problem but since there are still many Windows XP installation out there that we need to still support, this can be an issue. 

Outlook Keeps Prompting for Credentials 

So the problem you may encounter with some XP desktop systems that still need to be supported is that Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2010 will not have this option by default. You may find on forums a repeated suggestion to update the operating system. This is not always a good option as it might break another application installed already or you have already updated but still do not have the Anonymous Authentication option in Outlook. This Outlook issue can be resolved by IT departments remotely. Software applications that give IT departments remote access to computers through the web enables faster assistance because online desktop support software creates connections to the desktop. Software for online support is designed for faster access to user desktop computers to resolve issues.  

I had a customer with XP SP3, Outlook 2007 which I upgraded to Outlook 2010 and applied SP1 but still no Anonymous Authentication in Outlook. I did not run anymore updates. Instead I found and ran the following Hotfix from Microsoft (I ran the 32bit version) : 

KB Article Number(s): 2791026 Language: All (Global) Platform: i386 Location: (hotfixv4.microsoft.com/.../462115_intl_i386_zip.exe) 

KB Article Number(s): 2791026 Language: All (Global) Platform: x64 Location: (hotfixv4.microsoft.com/.../462116_intl_x64_zip.exe) 

After running this fix, Outlook would not start until the system was rebooted. Once the system came back up, the Anonymous Authentication option was available in Outlook 2010 . 

Here is another information post regarding Outlook prompting repeatedly for user credentials. 

Using CentOS 6.4 x64 for VMware vCloud Director 5.5

Completed a complete installation of VMware vCloud Director 5.5 for a client. This was not a lab setup but the for a real cloud service.

CentOS 6.x for VMware vCloud Director

If your just starting out installing or planning your vCloud Director installation and are trying to decide whether to purchase a licensed Linux or use CentOS, I can certainly attest to the fact the CentOS operates just fine. The installation has been completed for several months now and vCloud Director has not had a single issue. I have installed two for fail-over. I do not have them in a load balance configuration. There are no caveats to using CentOS except of course it is free and thus has no profession or direct product support.

 CentOS Basic Installation for vCloud Director 5.5 

 My suggestion is to not use the basic installation option. Install CentOS with the server option and include both desktops in the installation. Or install them using YUM afterwards.

The one problem I found with CentOS 6.4 for VMware vCloud Director 5.5 was the NIC assignment. vCloud Director 5.5 requires two network interfaces. That is easy and simple enough to add. The problem comes in when there is a need to change addresses. Also, on one of the CentOS for vCloud Director installations , one of the NICs was replying for both ip addresses assigned to it.

Windows XP Login Screen - Fast User Switching

The image above is the nice login screen you get with windows XP Home or Windows XP Professional edition with fast user switching enabled. Fast user switching is usually enabled by default on windows XP but if it is not it can be enabled again. 

When windows XP Professional computer is a member of a domain, fast user switching is disabled. 

Fast user switching cannot be enabled when the computer is a member of the domain. Windows XP Home cannot be a member of a domain, only workgroup.