ArcServe Backup Errors - EC=-2005

Recently began to receive errors from Arcserve (11.5) - it would complete a backup, then all future backups would fail with error:
Failed to login to database.(EC=-2005)
At this point, even the Server manager would fail (just hung on startup) - the only resolution was a reboot, but this would only last for the first backup.


Some googling turned up the fault - a corruption with the database that Arcserve uses.
There are a few tools you can use to correct the errors (run from the Arcserve installation directory): dbdiag.exe and dbfix.exe.
The format is:
dbcheck -a -L casdb;admin;secret DBNAME
or 
dbfix -a -L casdb;admin;secret DBNAME
where DBNAME is one of the following: asjob, asmedia, asobject, asrhost, astape, astpdrv or astpsdat .
Confusingly, the servername, username (admin) and password (secret) don't actually appear to be customisable - they look like they're hardcoded values for every installation - I'll admit to spending a while trying to use our specific server details :P


Our faults were primarily in the astpsdat and asobject databases - the fix took around 30 mins to complete (the astpsdat db seemed *really* bad).

Tracking down Windows license Keys

I had the unfortunate requirement the other day to track down the license keys for some Windows servers we administer (long story, don't ask). The OEM keys were (as per usual these days) stuck to the machines - but the machines are located in a co-lo across town.


So Magical Jelly Bean keyfinder to the rescue - we were able to track down all the keys and save the hassle of a trip across town... Nice.


Note that you need an earlier version 1.x if you need NT keys (tragically, we *still* have some NT machines hanging around)...

Picasa = Good

Clearly I'm a little behind the times and out of the loop, since I only just tripped over Picasa from Google.


Very nifty free software for photo editting and (helpfully) removing red-eye from photos. While Vista / Win 7 has red-eye removal built in to some packages, Picasa is a good alternative or helpful if you're on XP.

Adobe Flash upgrades & Citrix - entertainment for all...

Ah Citrix. 
And Flash. 
And a locked down user environment that prevents Active-X installs.
It all adds up to a recipe for entertainment when upgrading Flash ( in this case Flash 9 to 10) on Citrix 4.5.


As it turns out, an upgrade as administrator was enough for things to kick on happily enough for admin users, but not clients. Post 'upgrade' clients effectively had no flash at all - a nice backwards step.


The trick with this one was registry permissions - administrators had them on the updated registry keys, but everyone else missed out. I tracked down some assistance at: http://www.brianmadden.com/forums/t/32557.aspx .
Admittedly I skipped most of the instructions - the critical ones (for me) were the registry permissions - namely:


1. Find the key HKCR\CLSID\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000} (on 64-bit Windows this one is located under HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000}) and grant READ permissions (include child keys) to the appropriate groups (usually everyone).
2. Rinse and repeat the permissions change for HKCR\CLSID\{D27CDB70-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000} .


This was pretty much a instant fix, restart IE as a user and everything was happy once more.