First I ran:

ntfrsutl inlog > c:\sometextfile.txt

This creates a list of the items that are being inbound replicated on the problem server. I went through the file looking for the line IBCO_INSTALL_RETRY as described in the KB but it did not find it. Then I decided to go through the file manually reading the hole thing. I found that I had a slight variation on the KB article on some items I had the files marked with IBCO_DEL_RETRY and IBCO_RENAME_RETRY. I then ran the GUID’s for these files through the following command to find out what they were.

ntdfsutl idtable {GUID} > c:\someothertextfile.txt

This relieved that some folders that had been deleted would not replicate off the server and also a file that had been renamed would not replicate the change. I found that I had a permission issue with these folders and files and was able to fix it.

First I decided to have two types of links core links with a cost of 10 and default site links with a cost of 100. Now I decided to put all my core sites (HQ’s and sites with large user populations) in to one site link called the hub. It should be noted that the KCC will fully mesh all sites that are in one link so if you find you are going to have alot of core hub sites you may want to construct the mesh manually by creating individual site links for the core. I would say more that 5 core sites probably requires manual link creation.

Next you need to create site links for all of your other sites. It is recommended to only have 2 sites in a link (apart from the core) this means that you can have full control of your replication paths. If you require backup links you can add these using a link cost of say 200. I decided to have sites that connected to the same MPLS core networks link together. This means that your replication traffic will only traverse the network via the core hub sites and not all the other sites. This cuts down on unnecessary bandwidth usage.

You should have no more than default satellite sites connected to one hub site. If you do you ether need to make sure the hub site has the resources in bandwidth and server performance to take the load or create another hub site and move some sites across to the new site.

You will also need to decide on replication intervals and schedules. This can be decided by how often you make changes and how quickly you need them to replicate.

To monitor your replication system I would recomend installing Ultrasound from Microsoft it is free and will monitor and debug any issues you might get in the future.

I mainly use windows for gaming and want the performance of my raid disks in windows. So here is what you need to do.

Firstly I unplug all my disks apart from the one I want to install my Linux on in my case Ubuntu and install on to the selected disk and install grub to this as well (I am a bit paranoid that I might trash the wrong drive you see). Then I connect all the disks back in again and make sure the machine boots from the BIOS to the Linux disk. Then I go in to the distro and edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst I then add the following lines to boot windows:

title Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista (loader1)
map (hd0,0) (hd1,0)
map (hd1,0) (hd0,0)
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
makeactive
chainloader +1

If you have a lot of disks you might want to add several options to boot into windows like this:

title Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista (loader2)
map (hd1,1) (hd2,1)
map (hd2,1) (hd1,1)
rootnoverify (hd2,1)
makeactive
chainloader +1

title Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista (loader3)
map (hd2,2) (hd3,2)
map (hd3,2) (hd2,2)
rootnoverify (hd3,2)
makeactive
chainloader +1

title Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista (loader4)
map (hd3,3) (hd4,3)
map (hd4,3) (hd3,3)
rootnoverify (hd4,3)
makeactive
chainloader +1

Once you know which loader works you can make a note and remove the excess code from the file.

This works for SATA as well as PATA drive. I have tried it with XP and vista and it works great.

This is because the software needs to run with admin rights to perform the update. It does not check however when doing an on-line update or try to gain the elevated rights. To make it install for the time being you need to right click on a short cut to the app or the exe itself and select to run as administrator. Problem solved until Mozilla get Vista compliant.

Here is the list of the services I have stopped what they do and why I have stopped them.

Service: EMDMgmt
Nice Name: ReadyBoost
Does: This is a bit of technology that uses USB memory sticks or flash embedded hard disks to speed up access to system files by making a fast cache of the files.
Why turn off: I am not going to use this as I don’t have (they aren’t available yet) a disk that uses this technology and the USB pen drive option does not actually increase performance by a noticeable amount. I recommend setting the service to manual just in case another app tries to call it.

Service: NM Indexing service
Does: I would guess this is some sort of file index for media files managed by Nero not a windows default service bet as the program is so common thought I would include it.
Why turn off: I am not a fan of indexing I believe you should put it some ware sensible in the first place not use the “loose as” feature and I don’t use Nero for anything more that burning disks.

Service: iPod Service
Does: It looks for iPods being connected to windows.
Why turn it off: As Vista doesn’t like iPods I turned it off the only safe way to remove your iPod is through iTunes and I don’t mind having to open the app to sync my iPod. I believe this is to be fixed in ver 8 of iTunes or just buy a Mac for your music. Your still better off with an iPod than a Zune though…

Service: WinHttpAutoProxySvc
Nice Name: WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service
Does: This is an api for dhcp so admins can configure proxies through the dhcp service. Doesn’t rely on group policy so non domain hosts are controlled through the proxy.
Why turn it off: I don’t have a proxy. And if I connect to a network with one on I don’t want to be auto configured to go through it as I don’t know what it will be doing and weather I want to trust it. I will reconfigure Firefox myself.

Service: WSearch
Nice Name: Windows Search
Does: It is an indexing service you might have seen the green bar pass over a folder when you make a change. It enables you to access files by typing the name in the run box ass well as making folders that contain search content. It also indexes your email.
Why turn it off: Windows active file search was hammering my disks and was using 100% CPU. As I have said before I like to put files were they are supposed to go instead of loosing them and relying on an index service. This might become an important service in the future though so it might have to be turned back on but I will try to hold out till a service pack or update for it.

Service: TermService
Nice Name: Terminal Services
Does: This gives admins and users the ability to remote the desktop (take control from another host).
Why turn it off: I don’t feel this is needed in the home (especially of a techie) if you are going to use the remote assistance options you will need to have this not disabled. I feel it leaves a howl that could be attacked if available to an attacker.

Service: TabletInputService
Nice Name: Tablet PC Input Service
Does: This is used to control input devices like pens and gesture pads on tablet pc’s.
Why turn it off: Not needed on a normal pc.

To access all the services on Vista right click on your “My Computer” icon and select manage. In the Left pain you will see a list at the bottom is the services tab. this will list all the services you can play with.
There are probably a lot more tweaks to come for Vista and I will put them up as I find them.