SQL Server 2008 Installer Fails on Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Have you tried rebooting?

I ran across an issue on Windows Server 2008 R2 but also found the issue to happen on Windows 7 installations.

Apparently this will be fixed in the R2 releases of SQL but since those aren’t available yet for the enterprise and similar versions, there’s a pretty simple fix.  I found an article that references a few fixes that I’ll link to here in case the fix that I have doesn’t work.

The error states that “Invoke or BeginInvoke cannot be called on a control until the window handle has been created.”

Get Windows 7 Working with your Terastation

Windows 7, along with Windows Vista, both have issues interacting with Buffalo Terastation and similar Buffalo products.  This is due to updated NTLM security settings in both Windows 7 and Vista.  The un-patched behavior is continued prompts to log in / authenticate to the NAS.

Buffalo has released a registry patch that allows Windows 7 and Vista to connect to their Terastation NAS products, by lowering the security level to Windows XP compatible NTLM security.  This is a downgrade, but I have thus far had no problem with it.  Check out the readme below that’s included in the download:

This registry patch files enables Windows(R) Vista(TM) PCs to
work with Buffalo NAS products.  This patch is installed
directly onto Windows Vista PCs.

WARNING:  This file is only for use on Vista PCs, it is NOT
required or supported on any other operating system.

Compatibility:
This patch is only required when using one of the following
Buffalo NAS products:- LinkStation (HD-HLAN)
– Gigabit LinkStation (HG-HGLAN)
– LinkStation Home Server (HS-DGL)
– TeraStation (HD-DTGL/R5)
– TeraStation Home Server (HS-DTGL/R5)
– TeraStation Pro (TS-TGL/R5)

Instructions:
1)  Double click on the Buffalo_NAS_Vista_Support.reg file
2)  Press the ‘Yes’ button when prompted.
3)  Press the ‘OK’ button to exit the patch file.
4)  Restart your Vista computer.

SECURITY NOTICE:
Applying this patch lowers the NTLM authentication
level to be compatible with some of Buffalo’s NAS products.
This NTLM authentication level is equivalent to the level
used in Windows XP.

Keep reading…

VMware Workstation 7, Unity

For anyone that hasn’t downloaded the RC for VMware Workstation 7, you’ve got to give it a try, and since it’s free right now, you have no excuse.  Worst case scenario is you have to reinstall Workstation 6.  Like Nike, Just Do It!

Anyway, one of the coolest features in VMware Workstation 7 is Unity.  If you don’t know what that is, you can have a VM running in the background, but you’re able to access applications that are running on it without having to enter the VM itself.

Keep reading…

Windows 7 – Initial Usage Review

Whenever Microsoft releases a new OS, I try to at least install it in a VM and poke around with it.  With Windows 7 however, I jumped, both feet in and installed it on my laptop and desktop.  The installation was quick and easy, on my desktop all the devices were recognized and on my laptop, I only needed to download two or three things from Dell.  I still need one or two more for the laptop, but it seems to be functioning very well so far, and I’ve yet to figure out what the few devices that it didn’t recognize are.  Maybe my smartcard reader… ???

There are a few features that I want to touch on in this review that make this OS a significant step after the relative fiasco with Vista.  I wasn’t a Vista hater by any means, but the OS was pretty slow compared to XP, and the features it added tended to slow it down more.  I still think Vista is an OK operating system, but Windows 7 is kicking butt so far.

Keep reading. 🙂

Add NAS folders to Windows 7 Libraries

I found this entry in a forum: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/4617-libraries-include-network-folder.html and wanted to keep easy access to the information.

As people begin to use Windows 7, Power Users and even regular users will eventually get around to wanting to expand their Windows 7 Libraries, which I think is an incredible feature, to include NAS locations.  Household NAS’s are now less than $200 for a terabyte, and home users and business users alike are going to be looking for this functionality.

Currently, Windows 7 does not support adding NAS locations to libraries.  I’m not sure why, but hopefully Microsoft deploys that functionality some time very soon.  Apparently, these locations break the Windows 7 backup functionality for that library.

Here’s the quick and dirty for the method I used.

Get the vSphere Client Running on Windows 7

I found an article in the VMware forums that had these steps so I decided to document them a little better and blog about it so that I have it.  Until VMware releases the officially supported Windows 7 version of the VI Client, I guess this hack will have to do.

Make sure you have the VI / vSphere Client installed.  The typical installation works just fine.  You can also download the files attached at the end of this post, to make the process a little easier.

When I tried to run the client without following these steps, I got an error, as I’m sure many others have, upon trying to log in to the server.

Error reads: Error parsing the server “[server]” “clients.xml” file. Login will continue, contact your system administrator.

After a little research, I came across this solution…