I accidentally deleted all of the public folders today from a public folder database. Pretty silly yeah? But this is the reason I am always going on about having a solid backup routine.

So I have my backup which I took right before I started working.

I thought now I just need to find the walk through on how to actually restore a public folder database. This wasn’t very easy to find and I actually ended up just trying something and it worked.

I found one that said to use PFDAVAdmin to restore them but when I tried it just wouldn’t find any. It would just crash out when you tell it to Show Deleted Subfolders. I would get the following error:

Unhandled exception has occurred in your application. if you click Continue the applicaiton will ignore this error and attempt to continue. If you click quit, the application will close immediatley.

Name cannot begin with the ‘0’ character, hexadecimal value 0x30. Line 1, position 441

 

Error when try to see deleted public folders
Error when try to see deleted public folders

 

The method I used to Recover the Public Folder Database

  • Restore Exchange to a different location from a backup using Windows Server Backup
  • Open the Exchange Management Console
  • In the left menu thing navigate to Microsoft Exchange > Server Configuration > Mailbox
  • In the center it will have the Server list. Select the Server
  • Below where you selected the Exchange Server select the public folder database you want to restoredismount exchange public folder database
  • Then you need to dismount the database by selecting Dismount Database on the right hand actions panel
  • Now the Public Folder Database is dismounted select the Properties button just under where you selected to dismount the database
  • At the bottom there is a check box that says “This database can be overwritten by a restore” check that box and press apply.Allow restore of public folder database
  • Now open windows explorer and go to the directory that you have restored the exchange database to and find the public folder database. It is usully located under <Drive Letter>:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\Mailbox\<Storage Group Name>\ but it should tell you the path under database file path in EMC
  • Copy the restored copy of the Public Folder Database
  • Navigate to the public folder database that you just dismounted
  • Rename the original database (I usually just put a .old at the end of the filename)
  • Paste the restored Public Folder Database file and make sure the name is the same
  • Now go back to Exchange Management Console and select re-mount

If Mounting The Public Folder Database Fails

  • Open the Exchange Management Shell (the powershell command for exchange)
  • Navigate to the folder that your public folder database is in
  • Repair the database by running the command (replacing <PFD name> with the name of your public folder database file name)

eseutil -p <PFD name>.edb

  • Open the Exchange Management Console and mount the public folder database
Output of the eseutil -p command
Output of the eseutil -p command

 

 

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I tried to add a user mailbox on an Exchange 2007 Server and got the following error:

The Exchange server address list service failed to respond. This could be because of an address list or email address policy configuration error.

Exchange Management Shell command attempted:
New-MailUser -Name ‘user’ -Alias ‘user’ -OrganizationalUnit ‘domainname.local/Users’ -UserPrincipalName ‘[email protected]’ -SamAccountName ‘user’ -FirstName ‘user’ -Initials ” -LastName ‘name’ -Password ‘System.Security.SecureString’ -ResetPasswordOnNextLogon $false -ExternalEmailAddress ‘SMTP:[email protected]

 

This had happened just after I disconnected an old Exchange Server during the migration process to Exchange 2013. Turns out this error can be caused by the default Public Folder Database being pointed in the wrong location or just your a problem with Microsoft Exchange System Attendant Service.

If it is a problem with the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant Service then you need to restart it by:

  • Typing “services.msc” in the run box
  • Then find the Microsoft Exchange System Attendant service
  • Select Restart

Check where the default public folder database is by:

  • Go to Organization Configuration > Mailbox.
  • Select the mailbox database that you want to change the default public folder database.
  • Right click the database and select properties
  • In <Mailbox Database Name> Properties, click the Client Settings tab.
  • Next to the Default public folder database box, click Browse.
  • In Select Public Folder Database, select the public folder database from the list of public folder databases, and then click OK.

Now if you add the user mailbox again it should have resolved the list service failed to respond error.

Related Posts:

How to restore a public folder database manually in Exchange

Administrator Does Not Have Exchange Admin Rights

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Why Harden Windows Security On Your Network

Having a secure environment can significantly reduce the amount of break/fix work that you need to do. Things that securing your computers can help prevent are:

  • Viruses
  • Bloatware
  • Securing files and company data
  • Protecting against accidental data loss

This article will discuss how to secure Windows computers that are members of Active Directory and we will discuss securing these workstations using group policy settings. We will also discuss ideas on educating users so they have some awareness of computer security concepts.

I am not saying that you need to do every single item on this list, you can just pick what is right for your domain and what your users will accept. I am also not saying that doing these things will protect you 100% from security breaches but doing them will keep your network more secure than what it is without any of these domain security tips.

How To Secure Windows On Your Domain

Not Allowing Local Administrator Rights

By not allowing users to have local administrator rights this will not only stop them from installing unwanted software on their computers but it will also stop any websites that are compromised using the local user account to install malware or viruses.

Remove The Control Panel

You can remove users from having access to the control panel. This will stop users trying to customise their workstations or changing settings that they just shouldn’t be messing with.

You can disable users to have access to the control panel or you can just allow the users to have access to specific parts using group policy. To change these settings you need to go to the group policy editor and edit the policy (Or create a group policy object and deploy it to users that you want to restrict) that is for the users that you want to restrict.

Under the policy node:

User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel

There will be 4 options:

  • Always open All Control Panel items: This setting allows users full access to the control panel
  • Hide specified Control Panel items: This setting will hide control panel items that you specify in this setting.
  • Show only specified Control Panel items: This will hide all control panel items except the ones that you specify.
  • Prohibit access to the Control Panel: This will remove users rights completely to the control panel. They will not even see the option to open the control panel in the start menu.

Anti-Virus

Use a good Anti-Virus software. Make sure the software is kept up to date and that users do cannot disable or edit any of the settings in the Anti-Virus.

Spam Filter

Using a good spam filter is very important. Lots of malicious attacks are done using email, some are phishing scams and some are links to viruses or malware. If you have exchange there are many different spam filters available that will link directly on your exchange server, if you are using a hosted email solution than most email hosts will have a spam filtering service.

Firewall

Make sure the Standard Windows Firewall is enabled and that users do not have permissions to edit the firewall settings. This will stop users from making their own firewall rules to allow programs through. You can disable users access to the firewall and specify domain wide firewall rules in group policy.

I also recommenced using a hardware firewall on the edge of your network to protect the whole network from outside attack sources.

UAC – User Account Control

Make sure users have UAC enabled. If on a domain environment you can enable UAC through group policy. The settings to do this are under “Computer Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options

Internet Explorer Security Zones

Internet Explorer is often used as an attack vector. You can set up domain wide Internet Explorer security zones under “User Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Internet Explorer Maintenance\Security“, in the security zones. Be sure to add any sites that you want to trust.

You can specify the home page under “User Configuration\Policies\Windows Settings\Internet Explorer Maintenance\URLs“, this will stop users being able to use different sites for their homepage. This also stops other software hijacking your users homepage and setting it to a fake search engine.

Set Up Software Restriction Policies

A software restriction policy only allows users on your domain to run software that is approved or it can be used to disable software from running in a specific folder. This can help to:

  • Fight viruses
  • Regulate which ActiveX controls can be downloaded
  • Run only digitally signed scripts
  • Enforce that only approved software is installed on system computers
  • Lockdown a machine

Read here for an in depth description of software policies.

Disabling users from running programs from the %appdata% folder in the users profile is a good step and can help prevent viruses like cryptolocker( See here for how to defend against cryptolocker) and malicious software running from emails. You can find the settings for software restriction policies in group policy under “Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Software Restriction Policies”.

Only  Allow Users To Log Onto Specific Computers

In Active Directory you can specify users to only be allowed to log on to certain computers. You can lock this down to specific users on specific computers or you can only allow certain groups to log onto the computers.
Example: You only allow Accountants to log onto computer in the finance department.

Keeping Third Party Software Up To Date

Alot of commonly used software have security holes in them. Software like java, acrobat reader and adobe flash should all be kept up to date. This can be done though group policy. However you cannot install EXE files through group policy, but luckily most commonly used software is available as an MSI package which can be installed via group policy.

To do this:

  • Put the MSI package in a shared folder.
  • Create a GPO that is linked to the computers that you want the package deployed to.
  • Then edit the GPO and navigate to “Computer Configuration\Policies\Software Setting\Software installations“.
  • Right click inside the empty space and select “New>Software Package
  • Select your MSI package and check assigned
  • Close the group policy editor

 

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Sometimes the .camrec file from Camtasia Studio can get corrupted. When this happens you can recover the recording from the file.

You will be able to tell when the Camtasia Studio recording is corrupted because when you go to open the file with Camtasia Studio it crashes. When it crashes you will get an error message saying:

Camtasia Studio has stopped working

Windows is checking for a solution to the problem

This happened to me for quite some time before I figured out that my camtasia recording was corrupted.

Camtasia Studio actually records in the AVI format and then puts it in a file with the extention of <filename>.camrec.

 

To recover the file you will need to download and install 7Zip File Manager which is a free program and available here.

Once you have installed 7Zip you will need to open the camrec file that is corrupted with it.

To do this

  • Open 7Zip File Manager
  • Navigate to the folder the camrec file is
  • Right click on the file and select open
  • Find the .AVI file
  • Select the .AVI file
  • Click the Extract button in the ribbon at the top

Now if you go back to windows explorer the .AVI file that is the actual Camtasia recording will be recovered from the camrec file.

 

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Why Do We Need This Guidewindows xp

Now lets just get started with the fact that this guide is intended to be used as a last resort. Please try to get away from Windows XP as soon as possible.

Microsoft have killed support for Windows XP as of the 8th of April 2014. This means that Microsoft will not release any updates to Windows XP and that will leave systems running XP more and more vulnerable as times go on.

This guide is created for people using line of business software that does not support anything newer than Windows XP. Please try to run your software in a newer operating system it will make life a lot easier and reduce the security risks on your computer and network. You can also contact your software vendor and see if there is a version that does support newer operating systems and then migrate over to the new version.

 

Securing Windows XP

 

Remove Local Admin Rights

Removing users from the Local Administrators group is the first thing you should do.

This will stop users being able to install applications and also disable any software that is running under the local user account from changing system files and accessing the registry.

To do this you will just need to remove the users from the local administrator groups either through group policy or through local users and groups manager.

 

Use An Anti-Virus And Firewall That Supports Windows XP

Many of the major anti-virus software vendors are still supporting Windows XP even though Microsoft isn’t. Make sure that you have an anti-virus installed and that it is still supporting Windows XP and getting regular updates. This will help protect your Windows XP from viruses.

Using a strong firewall that supports Windows XP will also help you combat security threats. These can block unwanted network traffic that can potentially be harmful to your system. Make sure that the firewall is working both on inbound communication and outbound.

Both Symantec and Sophos are still releasing virus protection updates to Windows XP. These are not the same as the updates that Microsoft release for the operating system.

 

Put Your Windows XP Computers On A Sepperate Network

You should have your windows XP computers on a different network than all of your other computers or even better not connected to a network at all. Putting them on a different network isolates them from the rest of your environment that way if they get compromised the rest of your computers should not be affected.

Taking your XP computers off of a network completely will isolate them and then the Windows XP computers will not be exposed to anything that could infect or compromise the system.

 

Change Proxy Settings On Internet Explorer

Changing the proxy settings on Internet Explorer to 127.0.0.1 will disable users from browsing the internet. Browsing the internet is not safe on Windows XP and I do not recommend you allow users to browse the internet at all on the Windows XP machines.

 

Disable The Guest Account

Make sure the Guest account is disabled.  This will stop users without a user account on the computer being able to log on to the computer.

To do this:

  • Open the control panel
  • Open User Account Settings
  • Click Guest
  • Select Turn Off Guest Account

The guest account will be deactivated.

Disable Unnecessary Services

You can help secure Windows XP by disabling services like:

  • Telnet
  • Universal Plug and Play Device Host
  • IIS (not installed by default)
  • Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
  • Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
  • Remote Registry
  • Routing & Remote Access
  • SSDP Discovery Service
  • Error Reporting Service
  • Messenger Service

These services can be disabled if you do not use them. Any other unnecessary services may be disabled too. The more services disabled the less attack vectors there are on your XP system.

Use Software Restriction Policies

Software restriction policies provide administrators with the ability to control what software they want to allow to run. By using a software restriction policy to lock down Windows XP, an administrator can prevent unwanted programs from running; this includes viruses and Trojan horses, or other software that is known to cause conflicts when installed. You can set up a software restriction policy both through group policy on a domain network or using the local security policy on a standalone computer.

Remove Any Unnecessary Programs And Add-ons

Remove programs like:

  • Java
  • Flash
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • Internet Browser Toolbars
  • Silverlight

If you do not need these programs for your computers to run uninstall them. These can all act as attack vectors and without security updates they will become an easier target for hackers and malicious programs.

Any other programs that try to interact with the internet should also be removed.

 

You may also want to read this article on locking down domain computers.

If you have any other suggestions please let us know in the comment section below.

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Seems like Microsoft keeps taking ideas from Linux, which is a good thing as now we can install and remove the Graphical User Interface or add it on a server core installation.

You may want to do this if when you installed your server you installed the Graphical version and now you no longer need it. This will make your server run lighter then it does with the GUI enabled. If you have a server core you can also install the GUI with a simple PowerShell command.

There are two ways to remove the graphical user interface from your Server 2012 or Server 2012 R2 installation. You can do it from both by  the shell using Powershell and graphically by using Server Manager

Removing GUI From Server 2012 R2 Using Server Manager

  • Open Server Manager
  • Select “Manage” (on the top right hand corner)
  • Select “Remove Roles and Features”
  • Then you will need to select your server and click “Next”
  • Then you will be greeted by the Remove Roles page since the GUI is not a Server Role you can just select “Next”
  • Now you are on the Remove Features page. Unselect the “User Interfaces and Infrastructure” and hit the “Next” button
  • The next page you can select the server to reboot automatically. If you want it to reboot automatically then leave it checked, if you want to reboot your server manually then uncheck the check box.
  • Once your server boots up you will be in Windows Server 2012 R2 Core version

 Removing GUI From Server 2012 R2 Using PowerShell

  • Run PowerShell as administrator
  • Run the command Uninstall-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Shell, Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra
  • Now reboot your server (You can do this from PowerShell by running the command Shutdown –r -t 0)
  • Once your server boots up you will be in Windows Server 2012 R2 Core version

 

Adding GUI In Server 2012 R2 Core Installation

  • Run the command powershell that will open powershell in server core
  • Run the command Install-WindowsFeature Server-Gui-Shell, Server-Gui-Mgmt-Infra
  • Reboot the Server by running the command Shutdown –r -t 0
  • Once your server boots up you will be in the graphical version of Windows Server 2012 R2
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This error will show up when you go to run a powershell script in your PowerShell ISE or on the PowerShell terminal.

If you get an error similar to this:

Disabled Powershell Script Error
File C:\Users\jake\Documents\test.ps1 cannot be loaded because running scripts is
disabled on this system. For more information, see about_Execution_Policies at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=135170.
+ CategoryInfo : SecurityError: (:) [], ParentContainsErrorRecordExcept
ion
+ FullyQualifiedErrorId : UnauthorizedAccess

To fix this powershell error you need to activate powershell scripts on your system.

Run the powershell terminal as administrator by right clicking on the powershell terminal shortcut and selecting run as administrator.

Then run the following command:

  • set-executionpolicy remotesigned

  • Then type “Y” for yes and press enter

allow powershell scripts to runNow you will be able to run PowerShell scripts in both your PowerShell ISE and in the PowerShell Terminal.

Now the message that running scripts is disabled on this system will not appear anymore.

Do you know what a cmdlet is? If not read this post entitled what is a cmdlet.

Related Posts:

Scripting a mapped network drive

Restart All Exchange Services With PowerShell Script

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This Exchange error happens when you try to access Outlook Web Access or browse the URL http://servername/OWA. This error can happen when install patches on your server or if you have had some issues with your SSL certificate(which is how it was caused for me).

When you browse the Outlook Web Access you get greeted with a message saying

Outlook Web Access did not initialize. An event has been logged so that the system administrator can resolve the issue. Please contact technical support for your organization.
The Exchange Topology service on server localhost did not return a suitable domain controller.

To fix this issue you need to:

  • Open IIS and find the site “owa”.
  • Click on the “edit settings…” button on the right hand menu bar
  • Look at the Physical Path box and copy the path(see picture below)

 

Exchange 2007 fix OWA not working
On this server it is: “C:\Program Files\Microsoft\Exchange Server\ClientAccess\owa”
Allow anonymous access to OWA exchange 2007
Change the permissions for folders to allow read access for ANONYMOUS LOGON

Open Windows Explorer and then browse to the same location that the OWA Physical Path is located and change the permissions for the numbered folders listed below to allow ANONYMOUS LOGON to have read access to the folders.

Folders to change permissions on:

  • 8.1.240.5
  • 8.3.83.4
  • 8.3.279.5
  • 8.3.342.1
  • 8.3.342.2

Now that is done open your internet client and browse to the Outlook Web Access URL. You should see the normal OWA page not the “Outlook Web Access did not initialize.” error page.

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Building your own PC is a fun little project and it gives you the satisfaction of building something. Another good thing about building your own computer is that you will know that the parts you have put in your PC are good quality as many desktop manufacturers use low quality parts to keep their costs down.

Even though it is not that difficult I often get asked how to build a computer and where do you start.

Some things your should know before building your own computer:

  • Its not that hard!! The parts all go in quite simply, most of the work is in the research to make sure you get the right parts. If you want to do it just do it.
  • Benchmarks are the tests that people do on their hardware to see how much stress they can take and how powerful the hardware is. This can be very useful in comparing different parts against each other. Don’t just rely on benchmarks though you will need to read reviews and research parts also.
  • SET A BUDGET!! If you don’t set a budget I guarantee you will end up spending heaps. Set a budget and make sure you stick to it.

Choosing Your New Computers Parts

CPUcpu for building your own computer

I like to start by choosing the CPU (Central Processing Unit) because that is the component that does all the processing(or thinking) and will determine how long it takes for your computer to do tasks.
When choosing a CPU don’t just go for the fastest one. Figure out your needs before you just pick the fastest one. If you are just going to use the computer for internet browsing, word processing or emails you are nit going to need to get the top of the line model.

With the CPU may come a CPU fan or you may need to get one as an extra item. If you are planning on overclocking you may want to look into an after market CPU fan or cooling system as when you overclock your CPU can get to hot and need extra cooling.

A good place to check out CPU benchmarks is http://www.passmark.com/

Mainboard

The mainboard (used to be known as a motherboard) is the board that everything plugs into. You will need to make sure that the Mainboard for building your own PCCPU is compatable with the mainboard. You can figure this out by looking at the socket type, they will need to match (eg. If you have a 1155 CPU you will need a 1155 socket on tour mainboard).
Some key factors in choosing a motherboard are:
FSB(Front Side Bus) Speed: This is often overlooked by people but the FSB is the component that moves all of the data from your CPU to your RAM. The speed of this can be a bottle neck if your data cannot move from your CPU to your memory quick enough.
CPU Socket: You are going to need to make sure that the CPU socket on the mainboard is the same as your socket on your new CPU.
Memory Socket: This will determine what memory you can put into your PC build, now days most boards have DDR3
Output Ports: These are the actual output plugs on your motherboard. Eg. USB Ports, VGA, Serial, etc. If you need a lot of USB ports make sure that you get a mainboard that has a lot of USB ports on it and if you need a serial port make sure you get a mainboard with a serial port on it and so on and so on.
Card Ports: These will be the slots expantion slots on your board eg. PCI and PCI-e. These will determine what addon cards you can put into your PC build. If you already have some cards(maybe graphics card) that you want to reuse make sure that your mainboard has a slot that can fit it.

RAM

Memory for building your own PCChoosing your RAM(Random Access Memory) is pretty easy. For all you that don’t know RAM is your memory. Do not think that more is always going to be better. You need to pay attention to the frequency of the RAM because that will determine the speed that data can tavel in and out of your memory cache, if you have 8GB of DD2 667mhz ram than that is not going to be as quick as 8GB of DDR3 1333mhz RAM.

You will also need to make sure that your mainboard is compatible with the frequency of the RAM.

A good place for Memory benchmarks is http://www.memorybenchmark.net/

Storage

building your own computer with ssdOften the hard drive is a big bottle neck in computer performance. So you need to pay attention to what sort of storage drive you get. I recommend reading some reviews and benchmark tests on the drives you are looking at.

Now if you can afford an SSD(Solid State Drive) I highly recommend getting one. The performance increase that you get with with a solid state drive over the a hard disk drive is definitely worth it. If you do go for a SSD i recommend using your SSD for your operating system(windows, linux, etc) and a HDD(Hard Disk Drive) for your storage space.

If you do not want to get an SSD and choose to go with a HDD pay attention to both the cache and the spin speed. The more for these the better as they will help with performance of your drive.

A good place for HDD benchmarks is http://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/

Graphics Card

When building your computer a graphics card can be a very important component of your PC build. If you play graphics intensive when building your own PC you need a graphics cardgames or you want to do video editing you will need to pay attention to what graphics card you get. If you are just using your computer of general use or non graphics intensive applications you may just be able to use the built in graphics from your mainboard. You can also just use the built in graphics and test out the applications then buy a graphics card later if you need it.

To choose your graphics card you can look up the recommended specifications from the applications that you want to use, eg. if you want to use adobe premier look up adobe premier recommended hardware. Then you will get a list of recommended hardware to use with the software.

For graphics cards don’t just go for the one with the best benchmark. Look up how the card will work on the software that you want to use. Especially if you want to do video editing or CAD work. Most benchmarking software is geared towards FPS(Frames Per Second) which is great for gaming but that is not what you want for CAD or video editing, you want quality of rendering.

You will also need to make sure that the video card will fit into the mainboard that you have bought. Most graphics cards are PCI-E nowdays, but you will need to make sure that you have the compatible slots on your mainboard for the card.

A good site for looking up graphics card benchmarks is http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/

Computer CaseDesktop build computer case

When building your own computer you may just want a case to hold all your components in or you may want a case that looks really cool. This is something that you are going to have to decide.

Some key things when choosing the case for your computer build are that it will fit the motherboard form factor(So an ATX case for an ATX motherboard), that the computer will fit where you need it to and that it has enough ventilation for your components to keep cool. If you have a high end computer with more powerful parts you will need more cooling as the more power used the more heat is outputted from the components.

Power Supply

Your case may have a power supply included and in most regular cases these will do. You will want to check your power supply Power supply for building your pcneeds on a power supply calculator.

Some power supply calculators are:

http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp

http://www.coolermaster.outervision.com/

http://support.asus.com/powersupply.aspx

These are just a few examples of the power supply calculators, there are many more just take your pick.

If you need a after market power supply make sure that it will fit in the case. The power supply’s descriptions will have measurements on them and you will need to make sure they fit into the case.

 

If you need any help when designing your computer build or want me to have a look at your plan just hit me up on google plus https://plus.google.com/+jakengardner/

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External USB drives that are over 2TB can have some issues using built in backup software. This is because drives over 2TB are using a larger sector size of 4096 bytes (commonly referred to as 4K sector size). Historically the drives have used 512 byte sector sizes.
This is not all bad news alot of the drives have a thing called 512e which is an abbreviation for 512 emulation, which like it sounds is the 4k sector size emulating a 512 sector size drive. This allows you to do backups on these disks using the standard Windows Server Backup software.

If you have this problem you can get the below event:

Microsoft-Windows-Backup Event ID: 517

Backup started at ‘xx/xx/xxxx xx:xx:xx PM’ failed with following error code ‘2155348010’ (One of the backup files could not be created.). Please rerun backup once issue is resolved.

How to find the drive sector size

Tofind out what sector size of your drives you can run the following command:

  • Fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo x: (where x: represents the drive that you are checking)

Outout of fsutil command

What is Microsoft doing about this issue

So apparently Windows Server 2012 has support for the 4K disks. I have not tested this but according to Microsoft it will work.

Microsoft says:
Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012
The below list summarizes the new features delivered as part of Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 to help improve customer experience with large sector disks.

Builds upon the Windows 7 SP1 support for 4K disks with emulation (512e), and provides full inbox support for disks with 4K sector size without emulation (4K Native). Some supported apps and scenarios include:

  • Ability to install Windows to and boot from a 4K sector disk without emulation (4K Native Disk)
  • New VHDx file format
  • Full Hyper-V support
  • Windows backup
  • Full support with the NT File System (NTFS)
  • Full support with the Resilient File System (ReFS)
  • Full support with Storage Spaces
  • Full support with Windows Defender
  • Inbox application support

They also have released an update (KB982018) that is meant to improve compatibility between the 4K drives and Windows but I have installed this and tried to backup onto the drives with no luck still just get the

I have been trying to find a way around this in Windows Server 2008 R2 but I have had no luck. I still get the Microsoft-Windows-Backup Event ID: 517 error in  the event logs and the backup fails.

If you have got this to work with Windows Server 2012 please let us know in the comments section.

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