BACKUP LOG cannot be performed because there is no current database backup

I was getting this message when trying to use a script to back up my database: "BACKUP LOG cannot be performed because there is no current database backup". My searching lead me to this link:http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=243166&SiteID=1. where someone else was having the same issue.

The problem happens when you change the database to simple to truncate the log, then back to full recovery. You have to do a manual full backup before you can do a log back up again.

I had gone to simple recovery in an attempt to shrink a log file that was not being maintained.

Migrating SQL Reporting Services 2005

I'm in the process of migrating our production report server and databases into a Virtual PC client to create a Demo machine. This took a lot more steps than I expected.

I installed SQL and Reporting Services. I then tried to back up and restore the report server database and was not having any luck. I later discovered that I need to move both the report server database and the report server temp database.

I used the a script found on MSDN titled Moving a Report Server Database to Another Computer . It looks like it would be found in the SQL Server 2005 Books Online.

This script only works on sql server 2005. There are some new keywords used that 2000 does not support. One key detail was not to use the GUI to back up and restore the databases. Either use a script or detach/reattach the files. The article explains this.

In the configure report server gui, I had to change the credentials type. The default was not working for me. I set it to windows and entered in the account info. connected and applied the changes. If you entered in the wrong password, you will not be alerted to the mistake.

Next step was to restore the encryption key. You will have to export it from the first report server by using the same tool. I was getting this error on the restore: "The encrypted value for the "LogonCred" configuration setting cannot be decrypted". My problem was leaving the password blank on the database set up section.

Once I placed a password in there and gave that account access to the databases, it worked for me.

Another issue I was having was getting the report server initialized. Adding the encryption key solved that.

I then moved over my content, fixed permitions, and changed the datascources. EXEC sp_change_users_login 'Update_One', 'username', 'username' can be an important command to fix logon accounts after a database migration.

Microsoft Strategic Commander X05-92630

I dug out my old Microsoft Strategic Commander X05-92630 to play some World of Warcraft with and had a hard time getting it to work. My first problem was the missing CD. My second was discovering that Microsoft has discontinued support for it. The drivers are included in windows XP, but the profile software for the buttons isn't.

There was a download in Microsoft downloads that looked promising. SWGameEN.exe. It was the 95/98 drivers, but other sites linked to it claiming it was 2000/XP compatible. I ran it and got this annoying error message. Error creating process . Reason: The system cannot find the file specified.

If I ran it in compatibility mode, the error went away. But it choked trying to load DirectX stuff. DirectX Setup Initialization Failed. I updated DirectX and it still failed. I searched for other copies of SWGameEN.exe but those failed with the same problem.

My final attempt before I tossed this in the trash was to search for the model number. X05-92630. Someone had repackaged the install files. http://members.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=78554. It started the install and worked like a charm. There was a long pause where there was nothing on the screen and I started to think it failed. But it came back and told me to unplug and replug in my USB device.

I might rehost that download someplace else, but I'm up and running.

Update: I am now using
Zboard Fang Gamepad ZGP-1000

How I got Adobe Photoshop to run as a limited user

Today I was locking down a computer lab and ran into problems with adobe photoshop 6.0. Up until now, all users were administrators on the machines that they were working on. We have had little problems and the politics are easier to deal with.

Spyware is finally taking a lot of our time, so we want to take some steps to avoid it. Running everyone as a limited user is the simplest security step to take. We just have to keep the programs that they use working. That brings us to Photoshop.

When running as a limited user, photoshop starts to load. It errors out with a message about a file that is locked. The first two obvious security setting that need to be checked are the permissions on the TEMP folder and the Program files\adobe\photoshop folder. If the TEMP folder is in the user profile, it will not be a problem. We had it redirected to c:\windows\temp and that caused us a few problems.

Photoshop also saves settings in the application folder*, so we decided to grant full access to that folder. This method worked for most programs that have problems. The registry is also a place to look, but the messages talking about locked files kept me looking at the filesystem. When that did not solve it, I looked to my toolbox for help.

I loaded up sysinternal's filemon.exe to watch what files photoshop was not able to access. It showed Photoshop trying to create and then open a temporary file (the swap file) on the root of the C: drive. I added a advanced security permition that allowed full read/write access to the drive and I checked the box that says apply to this folder only (so I don't give them full access to everything, just access to files on the C).

Finally after that, Photoshop was able to run with out any problems. I tried to search for this and could not find it. The only solution was to use FAT32 instead of NTFS when formatting. What good is a limited user if you run on FAT32.

To sum up the changes:
Give user group read/write access to c:\program files\adobe\photoshop
Give user group advanced read/write access to c:\ and ONLY apply it to "this folder only"
verify user group has read/write access to %temp% folder.

* I was working from an existing install, I did not try to reinstall it. Some programs give you the option "Just for me" or "For Everyone" and that makes a difference.

Spyware can be stopped

I have 2 ideas for stopping spyware or at least make the game more exciting. I think would work if someone could get the right people behind them.

1) Patents. That is a hot topic. Software patents and how they are harmful to the software industry. Someone should compile a list of patents that spyware is using or create a think team to patent new ideas before they use them. They will either work around the patents or get the laws changed.

2) Companies should sue for the use of their hardware for profit. Users of big companies click yes to the EULA, but it is the companies property and the spyware is using system resources for advertising. I have heard of cases in the past where hackers stole idle time from computers and the companies cam down on them with the full wrath of the law. Why is this any different.

IANAL, but I think both of these sound reasonable. If someone forms a patent team, I already see few things spyware could be doing, but isn't. This epidemic will get worse before it gets better.

This is not news, its the way it is

It is sad that the internet has become so hostile. At work I connected one of our servers to a connection on the outside of our firewall for some remote support (didn't have the VPN papers signed yet). The moment that I enabled the nic, the server informed me that the RPC Service has failed and the computer will shut down.

I was foolish for not checking the patch levels. I assumed that someone else was on top of that. A mistake I will not make again. But home users have problems of their own. They don't know they have to keep it up patched. If I had my grandma running Linux, I would be the one patching it. What about converting all my friends and family to Linux. I would be so overwhelmed keeping each one current.

As it stands, I format, install XP /w SP2, change their user accounts to limited access, install spyware detection, antivirus, leave the firewall and automatic updates on, and finally put firefox on the desktop.

At the same time, I have to explain why XP is better than the 98 or ME that came with the computer, what SP2 is and why it takes so long, what a firewall is, what firefox is, why I created a special admin account for them to install stuff with and why the should never surf the web while logged into admin with the red background.

And if you are a slashdot regular, I am not telling you anything new. I should release this as a news story, but as we all know, this is not news. Its just the way it is.

What about the rest of the spyware?

spyware scanners only get 50% - 70% of all known spyware. Using two scanners help, but that's a large percentage of spyware that still get by. I just scanned a system with Microsoft's Antispyware and it removed every thing it found, but the realtime protection was still indicating that something was trying to change my browser addresses.

I want to put together a guide to tracking down that last 10% of spyware that gets overlooked by the scanners. Some simple developer tools can be very powerful in the tracking down spyware. Sysinternals has a good collection of tools that I want to talk about with tracking down spyware in mind.