realized

IS it possible to basicly MIRROR the two so if my main server goes down the SBS machine can take over ? I know i can't have 2 DC's on the same network (one being SBS) , but the SBS machine wont be a DC till its promoted.. and that would happen if our main box went down. the reason for this is we had two offices and now we are merging.. so i will be left with a 2003 standard and 2003 sbs machine.. My goal is to have both pc's on the network at all times, and the USER ACCOUNTS, and some FOLDERS to be MIRROED (including some GPO's) .. that way if one goes down i can bring the system back up asap via the sbs machine which will be backup.. is this possible?

When i "net use l: \\ip\share /user:domain\username" and press the enter key, it asks for my password, and i type it.. it works fine.. when i try to "net use l: \\ip\share /user:domain\username mypassword" or "net use l: \\ip\share mypassword /user:domain\username" i get an error. The goal of this would be to map the drive in 1 line so i can use it in a batch script. If i can do it in two lines via a batch script that would work also but i am not sure how. Any help would be great!

Is it possible with GPO's to disable access to CDROMS/BURNERS, and usb slots via memory sticks?

My dhcp server assigns an ip to anything that plugs into the network. What are some ways around this? I was thinking , one way would be no dhcp, or dhcp but reserved leases only - and only add known mac addresses.. that seems a bit extreme.. Also that wouldn't help if somebody sets up a static address on the network.. a firewall can't block data based on MAC... i think what i am wanting is impossible.. basicly allow only DOMAIN CLIENT-MEMBERS on the network i.e members of my domain.... any way to make sure that ip is assigned AFTER GPO's are applied lol?

Are there any utilities out there that will parse the eventlog in real time/semi real time and on ERROR/WARNING send me an email and/or test message my phone etc?

i am trying to figure out whats going on here. it appears like all my gpo's are being applied but all my workstations (XP SP2)'s event logs are flooded with these two errors.. What are some things i can check? Server: Windows 2003 Standard SP1 Workstations Windows XP SP2.

GPO computer config is not disabled, and i did it with group policy object editor.. I have like 20 Policies in here.. i think they are all default.. FOREST -> DOMAIN -> Default domain policy small business server client computer small business server domain password policy small business server internet connection firewall small business server lockout policy small business server remote assistance policy small business server windows firewall then in forest -> domain -> Group Policy Objects -> Default domain controler policy Default domain policy small business server auditing policy small business server client computer small business server domain password policy small business server internet connection firewall small business server lockout policy small business server remote assistance policy small business server windows firewall EHH>????? Why do i have double of both.. these are defaults?

I have an SBS2003 machine (SP1) and it seems that anything i set in COMPUTER CONFIG doesn't deploy to workstations.. Is there something odd i must configure for this to work? Anything i set in USER CONFIG works i.e restrict access to programs.. but NOTHING i set in computer config works..

The 2003 standard has a few options i would like. For example the Pop Up Allow list under User Config -> Admin Templates -> Windows Components -> Internet Explorer.. But i dont have the same options in SBS2003. Do i need to update Group Policy Editor or something in my SBS machine?

sh*t... WUSUS doesn't work under SBS2003 ? says: Operating System Microsoft Windows Server 2003 (Standard or Enterprise Edition). Microsoft Windows 2000 Server or Advanced Server with Service Pack 4 (SP4) or later.

Proxy software is one way to go if you just want to see what websites they are accessing.. Some routers have proxies as a feature and all you would need to do is enable it and start logging.. Another option to really MONITOR is something like SpectorSoft's CNE suite, this will track everything (almost everything..) for the most part, and screen shots etc. There are alot of other companies out there that make monitoring software as welll.

Thanks guys, for now i will use WUSUS since patch deployment is my main concern at the moment. I will look into the other sugestions you guys have later =)

What is the best way to deploy updates to workstations running windows XP? I have been looking at SUS , are there any other options or am i on the right track...

What would cuase this ?Seems to be random.. nothing really happens before hand, just one minute people can't login and i notice i am back to 5 licenses (default?) So then i need to RESTORE to get it up and running. *edit* It seems that each time the server is rebooted, my licenses are gone.. any ideas *edit*

Windows 2003 SBS (Service Pack NONE). what is "poolmon" ? I will do some research and report back asap.

I have a box with 3 users logged in, no users accessing shared devices (printers, folders, etc), and these users have been gone since friday anyways.. Anyways... My winlogin.exe according to taskmanager is using 400mb of ram which seems like a LOT. Is this normal? I have 2GB ram, and running win2003 Standard, with MSDE, no iis or anything..

I am looking for either a way to fix or a replacement for outlook. Outlook is fine when there aren't too many emails/attatchments but it seems like if you have a lot it seems to hang a lot. I have a 1.8GB PST file and 1gb ARCHIVE PST file. When i go from one folder to another it sometimes hangs for 30seconds or so, also when i am going from email to email it does the same thing. The pc in question is 2.8GHZ P4 (HT enabled) with 1gb DDR2 RAM. When i open up my task manager i see outlook is using 75 or so mb of ram depending on how long its been open? it starts off around 60mb.. I have deleted old emails and compressed my personal folder but that does nothing to help.. Any ideas?

launchconsole.exe in SBS has a bunch of cool features, i.e email status/preformance reports daily, on change, etc. But i have another 2003 box which is 2003 Standard (not SBS) and i dont see this utility.. Does it only come with SBS?

Administrators are needed to install, but I have an application that I need deployed on all my workstations. The application itself is really an update. When the user opens the program, it prompts for an upgrade; they click upgrade now, and then stops because they are not an administrator? Is there anyplace where I can specify that if the filename = xxx.exe or whatever, let it be installed under elevated privileges?

i have a question about scripting, with VBS i can "map" remote printers very eaisly, i can also make one a default printer, but how can i, delete ALL printers that are currently on the client machine that match a wildcard? i.e delete all "HP*", and "Toshiba*" etc, then map the new printers ? This way i can "clean" our the printers before mapping new ones.

Can i have two domains in the same directory (or "entire directory") if one is SBS and one is 2003 standard? I have two locations.. locatio1: 2003 SBS location2: 2003 standard VPN between the two, both have diffrent domain names, and subnets.. To make administration a bit eaiser, i would like to see everything on the remote network when i search the ENTIRE DIRECTORY, or have the ability to search that domain as well..

Windows 2003 lets two people "remote desktop" or use "terminal services" to connect remotly. How do i set time limits , or even better, idle time outs so that not to be locked out of my system. I would like all idle connections made to the server via TS to be dropped after 20minutes.

I have a problem with people bringing laptops on the network, the problem here is they get an ip/dns/gateway before they login to the domain, so these machines are "open" to internet access but not authorized to be on my network. What are some ways to disable NON DOMAIN clients from getting on the domain? the way my network is configured: Windows 2003 Standard DNS SERVER (if i can disable dns acccess to non users that might help) Gateway is ROUTER DHCP server is the windows 2003 machine. Please help !!

Thanks for the response, That makes lots of sense, and i see that it would be eaiser to manage diffrent gpo's that way as well.

Windows 2003 SBS.... Testing Software Update Services w/ SP1 Well first it says i must create a new GPO called "Basic SUS Config" and in there modify a few settings such as Computer Config / Admin Templates/ Windows components/ windows update - "configure automatic updates" and also "Specify intranet Microsoft update location" then it says to create ANOTHER GPO , modify the Computer Config / Admin Templates/ Windows components/ windows update - "configure automatic updates" , and set the TIME i want it to update. So my question is this, if i made the changes to the ONE GPO titled "Default domain Policy" wouldn't it do the exact same thing? I dont get why i need to create two new gpo's.. why not modify the default domain one? and if i change my mind later instead of deleting a GPO i just change the setting back to not configured?