Error running Active Directory Users & Computers in SBS2008

I ran into an issue on a new SBS2008 server at a clients office recently. Whenever I tried to launch Active Directory Users and Computers on the SBS2008 server it would come up with a Visual C++ Runtime error and the message read:

“The Application has requested the runtime to terminate it in a unusual way. Please contact the application’s support team for more information”

The first job was to install all of the available updates which did not resolve the issue so a search of the usual online communities was in order and after a short search I came across someone with the same issue here.

The suggested resolution was to open Active Directory Sites and Services which in my case was not affected, then go to ‘Tool’ and on the ‘Disk Cleanup’ tab click on delete files. The issue seems to be caused by the installation of third party apps, however there is nothing unusual installed on this server but in this instance the AD tools were not happy. No the less simply following this method the issue was resolved and I hope this helps others.

- Rob

Power of Community

My experience of the IT community up until running my own business was..well inbred to say the least. The company that I worked for previously bordered on almost grooming you to distrust other IT companies as if they were the ‘enemy’.  To my shame this was a feeling that was exaggerated in some of my future engagements after leaving there and setting up on my own. However, about 2 years ago I joined the BNI which is an international business referral network which brings different businesses together to allow them to pass business once a certain rapport has been made. I will always remember the first meeting I went to was at Woodborough Hall in Nottingham on a dark November morning. I arrived there at 06:45, that’s right 6.45am, to a room full of people that I had never met. I mean talk about a fish out of water, I don’t think I could have been more uncomfortable if I had been stood there naked!

None the less the first person to that came to speak with me was Adam Harris from Bear-IT who came over to speak with me and discuss what I did. This totally opened my eyes to the fact that maybe, just maybe, those other IT companies were not so evil after all and that maybe, just maybe, there could be synergies between seemingly rival businesses. After this Adam invited me up to meet with him to discuss things further. I was told by another IT company that I was working with at the time not to discuss software and tools etc as they should be a closely guarded ‘secret’. However, once I started talking with Adam I found that we all do the same things, same tools, same software just a different business with different faces. So I reciprocated the openness that was shown to me.

Fast forward on to the beginning of this year when I was approached by another IT consultant and fellow business owner from Birmingham. Richard Tubb from Netlink IT contacted me following some posts which I had made on Twitter. After reading Richard’s blog it seemed clear that he had travelled the business path which I wanted to embark upon, making the move from being ‘self-employed’ to being a ‘business owner’, so we began to talk. Once again I was astounded at the openness of information that was being afforded to me by someone I had only known a short time. Things such as the type of tools to use, how to deliver the best customer experience, service management and delivery, all of which is normally hidden information within the IT trade. So why was all of this being given free of charge, without a catch or clause? Because Richard believed in the community and the power of working together instead of against each other. Now all of this collaboration what highlighted when in May 2009 I was drafted in by Richard and some of his peers to assist in a massive nationwide upgrade project for one of their clients, you can read all about it here. All in all there was 8 different IT businesses working together under on collaborative umbrella which meant that what was a massive project which included over a dozen servers, 200+ desktops across 13 sites was all made possible by the IT community working together instead of against each other.

It was once said by John Donne “No man is an island”, and no truer word has been said. For those that run businesses it can be quite isolating but there are people out there who are willing to work with you and help you so don’t be afraid to ask.

If you are interested in developing a strategic alliance with myself then please feel free to contact me at rob@potter-tate.co.uk. Alternatively if you have a storey you would like to share about how the community has helped you then send it over as it would be great to share.

- Rob

It’s been a while

It been some time now since I last posted something up. Part of this is because I have been very busy trying to develop the business and grow it which as those of you who have businesses know it takes some effort to do. Also in doing that I have been a little disorganised, while I make no promises as to how organised I am now what I can say is that I am always trying to improve on this.

What I have learnt over these last months is that I have spent most of the last few years just “getting on with it” without actually knowing what ‘”it” is that I am trying to achieve. Through the introduction that I had made to a book called “E-Myth Revisited” I have learnt a great deal about small businesses and why they succeed and more importantly why the fail, I would encourage ANY business owner to read this as there is something for everyone in there.

However, what I did learn was that I did not yet have any specific goals in my personal life or my work life, both of which are absolutely critical if you are to succeed. After all if you have no goals what have you to gauge success against? So I set about working out what my goals would be for the next year, while the book encourages ‘life’ goals I felt I needed to take smaller steps.  Once I had finished writing them down the list to be quite honest felt almost overwhelming and I felt a little lost with it.  That feeling has been lurking around for some time but recently I had what some would call an epiphany which has changed my perspective a little.

I have always been a keen cyclist but about a year ago my road bike was side-lined due to mechanical problems which I just didn’t know how to get sorted. But thanks, and that’s a BIG thanks, to my dad he took it and managed to get it sorted out (thanks dad!). So about a month and half ago I started back getting up at 6am and cycling. At first I was doing 7 miles in the morning and soon moved on to 14 miles which was a really great feeling. This weekend I stepped it up to 18 miles which was no big deal but along the way there is a hill, not too steep, but it is about a mile long. So here I am 6:30am going up this long dragging hill in the lowest gear at just 5mph. I looked up the hill to see yet more hill and thought I need to walk, there’s no way I can get all the way up there.  It was an all consuming and overwhelming feeling that I felt I had no way of overcoming. Then it suddenly dawned on me and I thought, “if I walk this will hurt, if I cycle this will hurt and while I cannot manage all that way I CAN get just 1 metre further”.  Now logic may well be screaming “all those 1 metres all add up to the same distance you moron”, my heart is saying “I can do 1 metre more”.

So I continued up this hill completely and totally focused on just 1 meter ahead with the occasional look up the hill for any obstacles ahead until I hit the top, where I relaxed and just pedalled on. The strange thing was all the hills on this route after this one was so much easier by comparison and they really did feel much, much easier.

Without realising it I had broken down this insurmountable goal of climbing up this long drawn out hill to much smaller, manageable steps of 1 metre chunks.  By focusing on a ‘micro-goal’ and making sure that I kept looking ahead to check I was on the right path with no dangers I was able to achieve my goal.  I have now applied this same logic to my business goals and suddenly they don’t seem too insurmountable anymore I just need to take one step at a time.

To some this may be obvious as some people work this way naturally but to others it isn’t always and if this has been of use then please let me know. Or if you have any better ideas on how to make goals more bite sized then let me know as I am always interested in new ways of doing things.

- Rob

How to look after your client

I went out today to visit a client who was having problems with ESET Anti Virus.  It transpired that despite paying for the software from their previous supplier and it being licensed until September 09 it was having a problem with the username & password for downloading updates. They did not have a copy of the username and password details nor were they able to contact their old IT supplier as they did not seem to be in contact any longer. The simplest way forward was to contact ESET directly to try to obtain the details. After a brief conversation with the main switchboard I was told that they would get someone to call us back from tech support as soon as they were available, yeah heard that before! However I was pleasantly surprised to receive a call back from their tech support team asking how they could help. I explained the situation and gave the username that we had from the software, I was asked to hold. The next thing person to come on the phone asked if I had a “query regarding why the account was suspended”. I replied that I was just trying to find out what the password was as to was not downloading updates anymore. I was then told that the reason it had been suspended was because the previous IT supplier had not paid them for the software. I was asked if I was calling from the “end user” to which I replied “yes”.  Now at this point the client had paid the supplier for the software, however the supplier had not paid ESET so by rights the dispute was between client and supplier; ESET was under no obligation to correct this situation. What they actually did was nothing short of exceptional.  The man on the phone said “ok, I will re-activate the license to the end of it’s period in September. The only thing I ask is that when it is due you renew the product with us”.  This surpassed anything that I was expecting from this situation, the fact was as I said ESET did not have to put this right but the did. 

At the end of this, for the cost of a license, they have a very satisfied client who will tell a good few people how well ESET looked after them.  It was once said that sometimes you have to give something away free in order to get more business, this is a classic example of how to look after you client even if it may cost you a little; in the long run it will be worth.

The importance of listening

Over the years I have seen a great many IT engineers come and go, after all 16 years is a  long time in the trade. During that time I have also taught a number of engineers the best ways to do the job, many of which had no formal qualifications such as MCP, MCSE etc. The first lesson that I have always made a point of teaching is to listen; listen to the client. Whenever you go out on a service call you will be given a description of the issue that you are there to resolve. In my opinion, the golden rule is to sit down with the client and ask them to explain the problem and listen.  There are two reasons why I always do this; firstly the information that you have been given on your job sheet will be what the help desk interpreted from the client but may not be accurate so best to check. Secondly, you will allow the client to vent themselves to you and during the discussion you can usually connect with them on some level which will invariably given you a better insight to both the issue faced and the client personally. I have always felt that this was standard, common sense in all businesses.  However, those of you that follow me on twitter (@robfranklin) will have seen the experience that I had with Dell’s tech support on Friday which left me feeling somewhat frustrated.  Here is how the conversation went:

Me: “Hi there, I have a problem with BackupExec for Small Business Server that was supplied with these new servers for my client”.

Dell: “What is the problem?”

Me: “When I enter the license key it says that it is invalid. It accepts the “Premium” license key but it will not accept the SBS key”

Extended period of silence…now 15 minutes in to the call and not progressed

Dell: “What license number do you have?”

Me: “The license key is…”

Dell: “That’s a serial number”

Me: “It says license key?”

Dell: “No that’s the serial number”

Me: “But it says on the front cover that it is the “Software License Key” and inside, just above the key, it says “Software License Key”. Surely it would say serial number if that is what it is?”

Dell: “No that’s the serial number, you need to go to the Symantec licensing portal and register the serial number”

Me: “But I have done dozens of these and I have always just entered the key into the software”

Dell: “They have tightened up the licensing recently”

Me: “Hmm, ok where do I go to register the ‘serial number’?”

So now we go to the Symantec licensing portal, I complete the registration in order to log on to the site. After entering the ‘serial number’ it says that the ‘serial number’ is invalid.

Me: “It says the number is invalid”

Dell: “Are you sure it is entered correctly?”

Me: “Yes I’m sure but it does not say it is a serial number it clearly says it’s a license key”

Dell: “Ok I need to speak with Symantec, can you hold"?”

Me: “Err yeah ok”

So I was put on hold, 35 minutes in to the call and I had made no progress. Needless to say I did not stay on hold as by this point I was completely frustrated by the fact that the support technician was simply not listening. The conversation above it not verbatim but I must have explained to this guy about 10 times that it clearly states it is a License Key and not a Serial Number but he was not listening.

The most important skill that any person who is in a customer facing role can do is just listen. By not exercising this most fundamental skill during this call my whole experience with Dell’s “Pro-support” was completely destroyed and had this been my first experience then I would be one very unhappy client and would think twice about buying Dell again.  That said only a week before I had spoken to them and the support tech I spoke to I cannot say enough about. He listened and acted on what I was telling while verifying what I was saying was correct.

I can only assume that my bad experience was a one-off but none the less it was a bad experience.  So if nothing else, don’t talk just listen and everything else will take shape.

Strategic Web Masterclass

Following on from my recent post about Strategic Marketing Masterclasses, the same company is now running Strategic Web Masterclasses. So what is a “Strategic Web Masterclass”? In simple terms it will help a business owner or the person tasked with looking after the website to be able to an action plan that is tailored to their business and not just something off the shelf. For those that are interested the course can be fully funded for eligible businesses. Read on for more info:

Overview
Award winning marketing consultancy, Fresh Marketing Solutions have put together a course to help all businesses maximise the return from their website. The 1 day Web Masterclass will provide the opportunity for learners to put together a website action plan that is tailored to their business. They will learn about the different considerations when producing a successful website and will be able to put together an action plan to be used in their business.

Masterclass Content
During the intensive 1 day course, learners will cover a variety of topics such as graphic design and page structure, web standard and technologies, getting the right content, search engine requirements, being realistic with your budget, planning your website and writing a brief for web designers. The course is suitable for any team member that wants to understand how to maximise return from their website.

The Benefits
Upon completion of the course each learner will have a good understanding of the various elements that will help their website to become more successful. By having this first hand understanding you will be in a better position to chose the right web company and get the most from their current website.

The Web Consultant
With over 10 years experience, our Web Consultant selected to run the Masterclass has a wealth of experience across businesses from a variety of sectors. These range from large organisations, small to medium enterprises and independent sole traders.

Course Details
Masterclasses will be held in May 2009. The course will be delivered in a local training facility where refreshments and lunch will be included. Specific details of location, times etc will be issued in the learner packs sent 2 weeks before the course begins. All learning materials will be provided.

The course is priced at £500 per learner (excluding VAT) with the option of group discounts.

Funding Now Available
For eligible companies*, Fresh will be able to arrange government funding to meet 100% of the course costs.

Important Information
The course will be delivered over 1 day from 9.30am to 5.30pm You will receive notification by email that we have received your booking form.
A pre-course information pack will be sent out to all learners in advance of the course. The course must be paid for in full before the start of the course. This booking form constitutes a legally binding contract. In the event of cancellation, refunds will be made minus any associated costs.

* For businesses that are eligible for funding, payment will be required prior to the course which will then be reimbursed to the learner.

If you are interested then please feel free to contact me directly rob@freethecityone.co.uk or contact Fresh Marketing Solutions directly on 01623 786786

The past is there for a reason

Funny statement to make but it is all too valid, the reality is that without the past we cannot develop or grow. Today has been a funny kind of day really. With the onset of the nice weather the shed beckoned to be sorted out and as much as I didn’t really want to do it I needed to so that is what I did.  We moved in our house about 7 years ago and when we moved in there was some stuff that still needed sorting, as it always does, that was never sorted and it ended up in the shed. This was the day when it was going to be sorted out once and for all as I needed the space back that was being occupied by this stuff that had not been looked at in over 7 years. The first job was to empty all of the day to day stuff, such as the kids bikes, scooters, mowers, tools etc until I got to the old boxes that were hiding at the back. I knew, for the most part, that almost all of it would end up in the bin as I was working on the basis that I had not looked at it in about 7 years but I needed to go through anyway just to be sure. What I didn’t expect to find in the shed was “regret”.

As I was sorting through all of the old stuff I found some letters, and at first I thought they were from an “ex” so thought I had better make a hasty disposal. However, I checked them first and that was not the case. When I was about 13 years old I joined a cycling club as I loved cycling, something which I was good at and won a number of trophies for. When I joined most of the people there were “old”, at 13 everyone over 22 was considered old. But there were some younger people there, older than me but only by a couple of years which meant that I was at least able to relate to them as I had always tended to hang out with people a little older than me. There was a couple of lads and a girl, Ali, but they all welcomed me in which for a young and timid lad was great.  Over the next couple of years we all became good friends with regular “club runs” at a weekend taking us cycling into the Derbyshire Dales as well as cycling weekends which took us as far as Ladybower Reservoir. Now at that age it was like travelling to the other end of the planet. As you can imagine we all became kindred spirits as we became a group within a group because of the age gap. We all drifted away from cycling in the end as we got older, this would be around 1991 as I started working on the nights that the club met. However, I never lost touch with Ali, as she was that little older than me she went on to college in Lincoln at Riseholm Hall studying ‘arboriculture’ which is Tree Surgery. I went up to see her there a couple of times which was great as a young kid like me, only 16 at the time, never really got out that much. She then moved on from there and got a job in a youth hostel up in Yorkshire and again I went to visit this time on the motorbike I had at the time, again a long trip for me at the time though now I wouldn’t think twice. Not too long after this she went off to University in Aberdeen as this was one of a few uni’s that ran the course she wanted to study. This is where the past catches the present as what I found in the shed was the letters that she used to send to me when she was there. Now just to clarify; we were just friends and I mean really good friends which makes it all the more disappointing that I had not really thought about this properly until today. It was the kind of friendship that normally does not exist between a boy and girl without some kind of sexual tension but it just wasn’t the case as we were great friends. I did once ask her out but she said no as we were such great friends that it would be wrong, at the time I struggled to understand but now I see it with such clarity.

So what’s the point of this I hear you thinking? Well the point is that after she went up to Aberdeen Uni we just drifted apart and despite letters passing I could have tried harder to keep contact with her, my friend, but as a 19 year old I was busy working and not seeing what was really important in life.

Now we have regret, something which I do not really partake in as it is a flawed emotion, as far as I’m concerned, due to the fact that things cannot change just because you realise that you f***ed up. But on this occasion I do regret not doing more and I wonder what happened to her. Whether she completed the arboriculture course which would have qualified her to cut back trees that were overhanging busy roads. Whether she got married, had kids or all the other things that we do when we “grow” up. So how do you deal with regret? What is the value of such a flawed emotion in the modern world if nothing can be achieved as the past is the past? Well the first thing that you can get from it is to learn. When I say learn I mean you learn from the mistakes you made, and lets face it they are mistakes that’s why you feel regret. You make damn sure that it doesn’t happen again. The second thing that you can do is to try and put things right, if possible. What I mean by this is that in my case I can try to track down Ali, I don’t know how yet but I will try, as I said before this is not some “old flame” but a true friend and for that reason I owe it to myself, and to her, to try and see if there is some way to reach out and just say “hi, how’s it going? has life been kind…”. There are no perfect people in this world only perfect intensions, I am certainly not perfect but I am always looking for ways to get a little closer even if I know I’ll never get there I can still try.

So the thought of the day is to embrace all emotions as they all hold some benefit to your life even if it is not always clear some part of you can develop because of it. For now though I will try to find my old friend just so I can say “Hi”.

- Rob

2 day Strategic marketing masterclass for £75!!

I try not to do any shameless “whoring” but sometimes it just has to be done for the greater good.  There are a great deal of small business out there trying a great deal of marketing tactics without success because it lacks structure. Unless you have a natural flare or have had training it can be very hard to market your business/product and succeed but with a little training you can.

I am pleased to say that a fellow BNI member and good friend of mine, Kirsty Cambers from Fresh Marketing Solutions, is running a marketing masterclass.  Now in conjunction with Business Link eligible business with 2-249 employees that have not had previous Lead to Succeed Training should be eligible for Business Link support.  This support means that the course cost is reduced from £650 + VAT to just £75.00 + VAT!!  If you are interested please read on:

Overview
Award winning marketing consultancy, Fresh Marketing Solutions have put together a course to help all businesses achieve their commercial objectives in 2009. The 2 day Masterclass will provide the opportunity for learners to put together a strategic marketing plan that is tailored to their business.

Masterclass Content
During the intensive 2 day course, learners will cover a variety of topics such as tools and techniques for analysing their business environment, objective setting, evaluation of different marketing tools, implementation planning and measuring key performance indicators. The course is suitable for any team member that wants to have a structured approach to business growth or who may be relatively new to marketing.

The Benefits
Upon completion of the course each learner will have an accurate and relevant marketing plan to implement within their business. The marketing plan will be an action plan to ensure their commercial objectives are met for 2009. By attending this course, businesses have a much more cost effective method of obtaining strategic focus than hiring in a 3rd party which can cost thousands of pounds in consultancy fees. There will be options for post-masterclass support to ensure that the newly produced marketing plan is being implemented and remains relevant to their business.

The Consultants
With over 10 years of experience, both Consultants selected to run the masterclass have a wealth of experience across businesses from a variety of sectors. These range from large multinational organisations, small to medium enterprises and independent sole traders. Both Consultants are of a high marketing pedigree with proven expertise as practitioners and hold Chartered Markeeter status.

Course Details
Masterclasses will be held across April, May and June 2009. The course will be delivered in a Nottingham training facility where refreshments and lunch will be served on both days. Specific details of location, times etc will be issued in the learner packs sent to you.  All learning material will be provided.

The course is priced at £650 per learner (excluding VAT) with the option of group discounts.

Funding now available
If you have 2-249 employees and have not had previous Lead to Success Training you should be eligible for Business Link support. If you are eligible for funding you will receive a £575 contribution towards the cost of the course.

Kirsty will arrange for Business Link to call you and allocate the funding. If you are eligible for funding you will be reimbursed by Business Link for the amount that you are entitled to. You will be asked to pay the full amount up front then you will receive the £575 reimbursement from Business Link.

If this is of interest to anyone, which it should be at that cost, then please use the form below to contact Fresh Marketing Solutions.

End of shameless whoreing, have a great week all!!

- Rob

More IT support woe’s

One of our clients called a couple of days ago to say there was a problem on on of the workstations.  In summary the workstation kept crashing on the user and was generally unstable.  After looking I found a number of errors on the workstation and the main one which caused me concern was the errors below:

When we look closer at one of the entries we see the following:

Quite clearly this is a problem. Now the “D” drive is actually a CD/DVD drive and after checking with the client the drive was empty.  The errors were occurring throughout the day as well as overnight when clearly no-one was using it. So I recommended that he call Dell support as the unit was under warranty and it was most likely going to be a hardware fault probably a controller issue.  I spoke with him again later to check how things went and he told me the guy on the phone, in a strong Indian accent, has got him to run the diagnostics and everything checked out fine.  He was told that the error he was being shown was “normal” and was caused because there was not a CD in the drive!!! I really wish someone would have told me about this…all these years I was under the illusion that this symbol combined with the word “Error” was a problem.  I’m so glad that a “quality” support service was able to clarify this clear mis-conception of mine, cheers Dell

- Rob

What makes good IT Support

I was talking to a friend of mine recently and he was telling me about some problems he was having with a new client that his company was looking after. Now he’s no stranger as he has been working with this ISP for more years than I care to remember and during this time he has been supporting end users and businesses with their Internet connections.  This typically covered ADSL connections, hosting, email, ftp etc so he’s no stranger to support but this type of support was a new thing as he was providing IT support. Anyone who provides IT support will know that it is a broad spectrum of support that is provided as we are expected to support servers, workstations, scanners, printers, routers, switches, photocopiers, smartphones and the list goes on.

One of the key characteristics of IT support technicians, in my opinion, is to listen to what the client wants or needs. Once you listen then you can deliver exactly what they are looking for from you but without the very first step you are headed nowhere fast. Now IT support on the “frontline” and Internet support have some very different characteristic but on key difference the scope of products and devices that need to be supported.

It turned out that the main issue with this particular client was that the person coordinating the IT internally did not really understand it which meant that they wanted to know every single last detail about everything on the system.  The was not because of anything other than a fear of having to deal with and support (internally) something that they really didn’t understand on anything other than a desktop use level. What we do is to help the client to understand what they need to know and explain why they don’t need to know about the disk configuration on the server.  This is the core of true IT support, it is the ability to not only support the technology but to also support the clients as an individual so that they can understand and more importantly how it relates to their business.

If your business is not getting good IT support from its supplier or you want to know how your system works for your business then contact us