Windows Tips & Tricks UPDATE--November 1, 2004

Windows Tips & Tricks UPDATE, November 1, 2004, —brought to you by the Windows IT Pro Network and the Windows 2000 FAQ site
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FAQs

Commentary
by John Savill, FAQ Editor, [email protected]

This week, I tell you about the err.exe tool, which can help you identify error codes, explain the Dfs target-selection methods in Windows Server 2003, and explain how to enable the Dfs restricted same-site target selection option. I also tell you the maximum size of a Dfs namespace, explain how to check the size of a Dfs namespace, and discuss the differences between the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 editions.

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FAQs

Q. Does Microsoft provide a tool to help you determine the meanings of error codes?

A. Microsoft provides a useful command-line tool called err.exe that can help you find the meanings of error codes. When you run err.exe and specify an error code, the program searches all the error-code definitions from the various header files that Windows uses to generate a list of possible error meanings. You can download err.exe at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=be596899-7bb8-4208-b7fc-09e02a13696c&displaylang=en. (Although the Web page is called "Exchange Server Error Code Look-up," err.exe actually handles Windows OS error codes.)

You can use err.exe in several ways. Entering the command

err

with no parameters returns a list of all the header files that the command checks. If you run err.exe and specify an error code--for example,

err 1645

the output looks like this:

D:tempErr># for decimal 1645 / hex 0x66d :ERROR_INSTALL_REMOTE_PROHIBITED winerror.h# The Windows Installer does not permit installation from a# Remote Desktop Connection.# for hex 0x1645 / decimal 5701 :NELOG_NetlogonFailedToUpdateTrustList lmerrlog.hSQL_5701_severity_10 sql_err# Changed database context to '%.*ls'.# 3 matches found for "1645"

Notice that err.exe searches for the value you entered in both its hexadecimal and decimal forms.

Q. What are the Dfs target-selection methods in Windows Server 2003?

A. Windows 2003 provides three options for directing Dfs clients to targets for a link:

Q. How do I enable the Dfs restricted same-site target selection option?

A. To enable the restricted same-site target selection option, you need to use the Dfsutil tool on each root server. First, run dfsutil.exe to obtain a list of roots in the domain. For example, to obtain a list of the roots in the domain demo.test, you'd enter the command

dfsutil /domain:demo.test /view

After you've determined the root name, you enable same-site Dfs target selection by running the Dfsutil command with the /insite switch. The command you use should look similar to this:

dfsutil /root:\demo.testshared /insite /enable

Here, the Dfs root is \demo.testshared. To check whether same-site Dfs target selection was enabled successfully, run the Dfsutil command again:

dfsutil /root:\demo.testshared /insite /display

This command should display the message "Insite Referrals ENABLED."

To disable same-site Dfs target selection, run the second command again, but use the /disable switch instead of the /enable switch. You must restart the Dfs service on each Dfs root server to effect this change. Be aware that for links that point to another Dfs domain-based namespace, the Dfsutil command ignores the /insite setting so that clients can access links outside of their local site.

Q. What's the maximum size of a Dfs namespace?

A. An Active Directory (AD)-integrated Dfs namespace has a maximum size of 5MB, which is space enough for approximately 5000 links. A standalone Dfs namespace has a supported limit of 50,000 links.

Q. How can I check the size of a Dfs namespace?

A. You use the Dfsutil command and specify the /view switch to display the current size of a Dfs namespace, for example

dfsutil /root:\demo.testshared /view

where \demo.testshared is the root name. After you execute the command, you'll see messages on screen similar to these:

Domain Root with 2 Links[Blob Size: 922 bytes]

You can estimate the size of a Dfs namespace by using the following values as guides:

Of course, comments will increase Dfs namespace size, so if disk space is a problem, try to keep comments as short as possible.

Q. What's the difference between the Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 editions?

A. Virtual Server 2005 comes in two editions: Standard and Enterprise. Both versions have the same functionality but support different numbers of processors. Standard Edition supports up to four processors, and Enterprise Edition supports up to 32 processors.

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