Kaseya Antivirus: "Your license will expire in X days"

Over the past year, we have had the issue of Kaseya Antivirus (KAV) displaying "Your license will expire in X days" even though the Kaseya administrator interface shows the license as valid on numerous systems. Our fix has always been to uninstall, reboot, reinstall, reboot. It works, but it is time-consuming and the user can't use their system. Thankfully, Kaseya addressed this and has an easier way to fix:

http://community.kaseya.com/kb/w/wiki/877.why-do-kav-endpoints-show-a-different-license-expiration-than-shown-in-the-kav-ui.aspx

Update 7/9/2013: Because of a recent increase in the incidence of endpoints displaying the "License will expire in 'x' days" message, an update to  KAV 1.4 has been released that adds a "Fix Kaspersky Key" button to the KAV UI that will delete the currently assigned rolling Kaspersky key(s), and reapply both the initial and update key currently available on the VSA.

Contractually, we cannot completely disable the license expiration pop-up, and because of the licensing schema outlined above, the license expiration information is only available on the local endpoint, we do not have the means to gather the local endpoint license expiration for reporting to the VSA and/or KAV module.

ASUS Vivotab Smart Charging Issue

We just ordered a few dozen ASUS Vivotab Smart tablets running Windows 8 (full, not RT) to run some offline surveys. I'm going to try to post any quirky issues I come across, as I haven't been able to find much about them when searching.

The first thing I noticed is that if the battery is extremely low on the tablet, it will not start. Even if you connect a power cord, you must wait a bit for the system to start up. When the battery is low and you press the power button for a few seconds to start...it will flash orange 3 times. Once it has enough battery, it is able to start normally. These charge very slowly, so if you are at 0% battery...you might be charging for a while before it will start.

Can't export from SSI Web CAPI - "An error occured while getting..."

I'm trying to run Sawtooth SSI Web CAPI 3.0.2 for field administrators on a Windows 8 tablet. The software appears to install normally and I can run surveys. After completing a survey, I try to use the "Get Copy of Data..." button, but receive an error:

An error occured while getting
c:\users\username\Desktop\surveyname_data.csv
Please make sure the server is started (using menu item File | SSI Web CAPI Module Settings)
and try getting the data again.

After downgrading to SSI Web CAPI 3.0, I was able to export the data properly. I found the download here: http://sawtooth-software-ssi-web-capi-module.software.informer.com/3.0/

Convert WMV encoded with G2M4 Codec

I ran into some issues using a video created with GoToMeeting. Turns out that GoToMeeting uses its own codec (G2M4) when encoding the videos, so it won't play in all media players. My specific issues was that it wouldn't automatically stream & play in a webpage when uploaded to our Intranet.

I used these instructions from the folks at AVC to convert the video to a more friendly WMV3 codec:

http://www.any-video-converter.com/convert-g2m3-g2m4-codec-video-to-wmv-avi-mp4-flv.php

Step One:
Please click here to download and install the gotomeeting codec.

Step Two:
Please go to C:\Program Files\Citrix\GoToMeeting\723 (a folder with numbers, which is the version of GTM you have installed). There will be a file called "g2mtranscoder.exe". This is the utility that GoToMeeting uses to convert the file to a generic WMV file after recording.

Step Three:
Now follow the instructions below to use command line to convert the WMV G2M3/G2M4 Codec Video file:
1. Copy g2mtranscoder.exe AND g2m.dll files and paste them onto the ROOT C: drive (ie not in a folder).
2. Place the GoToMeeting recorded WMV G2M3/G2M4 Codec Video file on the ROOT C: drive as well.
3. Launch the command prompt (start -> run -> cmd).
4. If the command prompt launches and shows a file/folder path (ie C:\Documents and Setting\etc) then type "cd.." (without the quotes) until you are seeing just the root C: in the command prompt line (will look like C:\>).
5. Now, type the following at the prompt: "c:\g2mtranscoder.exe source=c:\videofilenamehere.wmv". (Of course put the name of your video file instead of those words and don't forget the .wmv).

6. This should have kicked off the conversion, but there is no visual indication of this. You can make sure it's working though - open Task Manager and click on Processes then sort by CPU usage, you should see the g2mtranscoder hogging all your CPU cycles. It's working!

Please note it would take about 20-30 minutes for g2mtranscoder.exe to convert a one-hour long file to a generic WMV file.
7. When the g2mtranscoder.exe process stops, you would get the WMV WMV3 codec video in ROOT C: drive, which has replaced the source WMV G2M3/G2M4 codec video.

Migrating Scalix to Google Apps: Mail

We are investigating Google Apps as a replacement for Scalix 11.4.6. I am doing a test migration right now that will move all my mail folders using (the older free version of) imapsync. Here is the script that I am using:

imapsync --host1 my.host1.com --user1 username --password1 **** --authmech1 PLAIN \
--host2 imap.gmail.com --user2 username --password2 **** --authmech2 LOGIN --port2 993 --ssl2 \
--exclude "Calendar|Contacts|Deleted Items|Journal|Junk E-mail|Notes|Other Users|Public Folders|Tasks" \
--prefix2 "SX/" --regexflag 's/\\X-*//g' --allowsizemismatch --useheader 'Message-ID' --skipsize

Let's go through the script:

These are the basic lines required for imapsync, specifying our hosts and login credentials.
imapsync --host1 my.host1.com --user1 username --password1 **** --authmech1 PLAIN \
--host2 imap.gmail.com --user2 username --password2 **** --authmech2 LOGIN --port2 993 --ssl2 \

This line excludes non-mail folders that will be moved manually, most likely via Outlook connectors & PST files. (ugh)
--exclude "Calendar|Contacts|Deleted Items|Journal|Junk E-mail|Notes|Other Users|Public Folders|Tasks"

This line will prefix each folder name is Google Apps with "SX". I want to keep migrated data separate from the default folders in Gmail.
--prefix2 "SX/"

This is required to fix an error with headers added by Scalix (BAD parse error: non-storable system tag "\X-Has-Attach"). See this post on the Zimbra forums.
--regexflag 's/\\X-*//g'

Since we are modifying the message (--regexflag, above) we need to tell imapsync to ignore message sizes, since they will no longer match. Instead, we need imapsync to use the "Message-ID" header to compare messages. These options allow us to run imapsync again after the intial sync and only sync changes.
--useheader 'Message-ID' --allowsizemismatch --skipsize

Big thanks to Mark for this post!

Latitude e6220 "Unknown Device"

I was just re-installing Windows 7 x64 on a Dell Latitude e6220. After installing drivers, there was one "Unknown Device" in device manager. In Properties -> Details, the Hardware Id is listed as:

ACPI\SMO8800
SMO8800

Turns out this is a driver for the hard drive's free fall sensor. Go to dell support, select computer type and your operating system. Select the "Application" category and you will see:

ST Microelectronics-Driver
Applies to: Free Fall Sensor

Direct Link (Win7 x64): http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/us/en/19/DriverDetails/DriverFileFormats?DriverId=F91KT&FileId=2731102934

Scalix Connect for Outlook, Quickbase & Blank Emails

My employer uses Intuit Quickbase for some online databases and Scalix 11.4.6 with Outlook 2003/2007 for email/calender/etc. Starting this past Monday, all emails from QB were appearing blank to Outlook users (appeared normally in WebMail). Our short-term workaround was to request that all emails be plain text. This worked for simple alerts, but is not supported for emailed reports.

We contacted support, but Quickbase said they hadn't made any changes and "it worked for them". I knew that was not correct since previously, an email alert with a few lines of data would be 5KB...but they were now 75KB! I also contacted them via twitter (@IntuitQuickbase) and they responded, but were not very helpful. So, I started digging around. I had a copy of the email's raw formatting and started making changes, resubmitting, making changes, etc...

After a frustrating hour, I found the cause of the issue. It is related to some formatting that QB started including in their messages the previous weekend. Here is the specific section:

/* Because of the way tables are nested within a div and the scroll is set on the div,
all browsers with the exception of IE think the width of the div should not include scrollbar
width and therefore end up overlapping the field names with scrollbar. Adding some padding to avoid scroll-x and width setting changes.
Only for browers other than IE. Changes affect Field & Markers dropdown on NotificationEdit and Fields dropdown for formula builder.*/
html>/**/body #ftDiv
{
padding-right:10px;
}

The use of the “&” symbol on line 4 appears to be the issue. If I edit the message source and change the “&” to “and” or remove, I can resubmit the message and it displays properly. At first I believed that this is a reserved character that can not be used in this context, but now I think that it is just a Scalix Connect for Outlook bug. I have a support ticket open with Scalix, too bad they might be dead. Once I found this was the cause, I updated QB support and they have been very helpful. They have updated code on their test servers and worked with us to confirm a fix. Now we are just waiting for it to go into production. Thanks QB Support!

Embedded Excel Sheet Resizes After Editing in Powerpoint

One of my users was having an issue with Excel sheets embedded in Powerpoint resizing after editing. The sheet would shrink to almost 50% of it's original width. I was able to replicate the issue on my computer in Powerpoint 2003 & 2010 and struggled all day searching for a solution. Dragging, re-pasting, formatting the object and many other things we tried...failed. Finally a coworker passed me this link. 2 minutes later, all fixed.

Embedded Excel worksheets shrink when you edit them in PowerPoint

For a quick fix, paste this in notepad, save as a .reg and double-click:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Excel\Options]
"QFE_NICE"=dword:00000001
"QFE_ONTARIO"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Excel\Options]
"QFE_NICE"=dword:00000001
"QFE_ONTARIO"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Excel\Options]
"QFE_NICE"=dword:00000001
"QFE_ONTARIO"=dword:00000001

Excel 2010 Insert PDF "Cannot start the source application for this object"

While attempting to insert a PDF file into an Excel file while using Excel 2010 (Insert tab, Object, Adobe Acrobat Document), one of my users was receiving the error: "Cannot start the source application for this object". In my scenario, we are running Office 2010 Standard & Adobe Reader X. From reports I have read, the same thing may happen with Excel 2007. Here is how to fix:

- Close Excel
- Open Adobe Reader X
- From the "Edit" menu, select "Preferences"
- Select "General" on left
- Uncheck "Enable Protected Mode at Startup"

You should now be able to insert PDF documents properly!

Thanks Kublai99!

---

What is Protected Mode?

Protected Mode is a new security feature for Adobe Reader X that protects users' applications and data by limiting what malicious files can do and access. Protected Mode is enabled by default and Adobe recommends that you leave it on for security reasons.

Excel 2010: "Compile error in hidden module: ThisWorkbook"

In our case, this issue was caused by a NitroPDF 5 Add-In (but I imagine there are other add-ins causing the same issue). To remove this from loading, I moved the following file to another directory. Once removed, Excel started without the error.

C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\XLSTART\NitroPDF.xla