*Solved* MS Exchange 2013 : OWA login fails / error message: '.', hexadecimal value 0x00 is an invalid character. row 1, column 1

When running Exchange 2013 it might happen, that Login on Outlook Web App suddenly Fails with error message: '.', hexadecimal value 0x00 is an invalid character. row 1, column 1 Additionally EventID 1309 Source: ASP.NET 4.0.30319.0 is logged in application log. Detailed error message:

[XmlException: '.', hexadecimal value 0x00 is an invalid character. row 1, column 1] System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.Throw(String res, String[] args) +163 System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseRootLevelWhitespace() +7569814 System.Xml.XmlTextReaderImpl.ParseDocumentContent() +62 System.Xml.XmlReader.ReadToFollowing(String name) +112 Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ApplicationLogic.Extension.KillBitHelper.ReadKillBitXmlContent(XmlReader reader, Int32& refreshRate) +185 Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ApplicationLogic.Extension.KillBitHelper.TryReadKillBitFile(Int32& refreshRate, DateTime& lastModifiedTime) +668 Microsoft.Exchange.Data.ApplicationLogic.Extension.KillBitTimer.Start() +193 Microsoft.Exchange.Clients.Owa2.Server.Core.OwaApplication.Initialize() +485 Microsoft.Exchange.Clients.Owa2.Server.Core.BaseApplication.ExecuteApplicationStart(Object sender, EventArgs e) +1319 [HttpException (0x80004005): '.', hexadecimal value 0x00 is an invalid character. row 1, column 1] System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.EnsureAppStartCalledForIntegratedMode(HttpContext context, HttpApplication app) +12864365 System.Web.HttpApplication.RegisterEventSubscriptionsWithIIS(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context, MethodInfo[] handlers) +175 System.Web.HttpApplication.InitSpecial(HttpApplicationState state, MethodInfo[] handlers, IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context) +304 System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.GetSpecialApplicationInstance(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context) +404 System.Web.Hosting.PipelineRuntime.InitializeApplication(IntPtr appContext) +475 [HttpException (0x80004005): '.', hexadecimal value 0x00 is an invalid character. row 1, column 1] System.Web.HttpRuntime.FirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +12881108 System.Web.HttpRuntime.EnsureFirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +159 System.Web.HttpRuntime.ProcessRequestNotificationPrivate(IIS7WorkerRequest wr, HttpContext context) +12722297

On the same time ECP and Mailflow are running without issues.

Solution:

On the Exchange Server (CAS) go to directory \Exchange\ClientAccess\owa\15.0.516.30\owa2\ext\killbit

and verify, if the file killbit.xml is present and delete or cut it.

Afterwards run iisreset.

IIS6: SSL certificate renewal of domainvalidated certificates

When renewing ssl certificates in IIS 6, you cannot use the option "renew certificate" within IIS console.
Reason: Within the CSR (certificate request) only the domain information will be stored.

Following action is required:
1. Create a new website inside IIS
2. Create the CSR from this website
3. Finish the request by applying the certificate.
4. Remove the certificate from this website (the certificate will stay on the webservers certificate store!)
5. Replace the new certificate with the old one on your website
6. Remove the website you created within point 1

Remote Desktop Easy Print : hieroglyphics - part II

Easy Print does not support all printers.
On some printers hieroglyphics may appear on the print, or the print job may even get stuck inside the spooler.

some workarounds:

-PDF print as image
=> open any pdf file
=> in Adobe Reader mneu open File/Print
=> Click on advanced
=> Select option print as image

-Use the manufactur printer driver instead of Easy Print driver
=> Install the manufactur driver on the system
recommended action:
=> open start / devices and printers
=> click add a local printer
=> select LPT1
=> select the printer driver via option file.
=> Finish the installation. The printer driver is now prepared. The printer can be deleted at this point.
=> Add a new Group Policy object on the server.
=> Activate the following policy:

Zoom

Zoom
=> After activating the policy, the easy print driver will not be used first inside of the rdp session.

Exchange Server 2010: Hub Transport service will not start without TCPIP v6

When Exchange HubTransport service will not start and setup of Exchange will not complete, please verify whether the TCPIP v6 option is enabled or disabled inside network interface properties.

If it is disabled, it is necessary to add an additional dword32 inside the following registry path to completely disable TCPIP v6:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CURRENTCONTROLSET / SERVICES / TCPIP6 / PARAMETERS

Disabled Components : FFFFFFFF

Next the server needs to be rebootet.
After reboot setup can be completed and HubTransport service will start.

Microsoft Word : How to restore default settings

To restore default settings in Microsoft Word, open a registry Editor and navigate to the following key and delete it:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Office \ Version number \
Word \ Data

On the next start of Microsoft Word the key will be recreated again.

RemoteFX : AMD Radeon 5770 compatible

Based on recent testing, the AMD Radeon 5770 is compatible with RemoteFX. Corresponding benchmark results will be published.

No connectivity via Remote Desktop Services after Server reboot

In some cases, it might happen you are not able to connect to a server via Remote Desktop or Terminal Services shortly after a reboot.
In this case, restart the Firewall service from the local console and try again.

RDS Host: Disable Automatic Java Updates

To disable Java Updates on a RDS Host (2008 x64 or 2008 R2) it is not enough to disable the update check in the control panel of the administrator session. Users will still get annoying Java update messages.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy\

Create a new DWORD value called EnableAutoUpdateCheck, and set it to 0.

Change the key EnableJavaUpdate to 0.

Additionally you can stop the update process from starting by deleting the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\SunJavaUpdateSched

Microsoft Excel 2010 : Cut button greyed out

Suddenly the cut button could not be available any more in Excel 2010. It might be greyed out and not functional.

Resolution:
An Excel file is damaged. Close Excel, search for the file "EXCEL14.XLB" and delete it.
In normal case the file is located at C:\users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\
Die cut button should now work again.

This workaround does work with Excel 2007 to (corresponding to the file EXCEL12.XLB which has to be deleted)

RDS Host: Requested session access is denied

A user trying to connect to a RDS host 2008 R2 (workgroup environment) got the error message "requested session access is denied". The user is member of the local remotedesktop user group and
the permission "Allow logon via Remotedesktop servies" is granted.
When granting administrative rights the issue will not appear.

Solution: Remove the /admin parameter in the remote desktop connection. The user was trying to connect to the RDS host console session. This of course will not work with user rights.

Hardware: Bluescreens on Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3 0x00000050 / 0x000000109

A system with a motherboard Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3 and 12 GB RAM (modules: 2x KVR1333D3N9K2/8G and 2x KVR1333D3S9/4G) runs into blue screens reproducable when in full load:

0x00000050
0x000000109

Doing changes on the memory timings (CL), frequency (1333 Mhz) or voltage did not solve this issue. A defective hardware could also be excluded.

Lets take a look at the placement of the dimms:
Slot 0 : 2GB module
Slot 1 : 4GB module
Slot 2 : 2GB module
Slot 3 : 4GB module

The change to the following placement solved the issue:
Slot 0 : 4GB module
Slot 1 : 2GG module
Slot 2 : 4GB module
Slot 3 : 2GB module

System running stable now.

Hyper-V remote connection: delayed keystroke

When a virtual machine is controlled via Hyper-V manager, the user can run ínto a keystroke delay. This occured on one of our virtual Windows Server 2008 R2 servers with Exchange 2010 SP1.
This problem only occurs on direct access from HyperV manager. When using RDP connection this issue will not occur.
New installation of integration services did not solve the problem.

Following workaround did solve the problem:

- shut down the virtual machine
- decrease assigned cpu cores from 4 to 1
- start virtual machine and shut down again
- increase assigned cpu cores back from 1 to 4

RemoteFX: GeForce GTX 465 / GTX 560Ti / GeForce 310

Following GPUs have been tested successfully with RemoteFX using latest Nvidia drivers:

Nvidia GeForce GTX 465 1GB
Nvidia GeForce GTX 560Ti 1GB
Nvidia GeForce 310 1GB

Exchange 2010 OWA : blank screen on logon

After you installed Exchange 2010 (with or without SP1) out-of-the-box, you might run into a blank screen on Outlook Web App login.
Outlook Web App redirects to the following URL:

https://servername.domain.local/owa/auth/logon.aspx?url=https://servername.domain.local/owa&reason=0

Reason :
The exchange installer does not install all necessary prerequisits.

Resolution:
-Open the windows powershell (run as administrator)
-Enter the following commands:
1. Import-Module ServerManager
2. Add-WindowsFeature NET-Framework,RSAT-ADDS,Web-Server,Web-Basic-Auth,Web-Windows-Auth,Web-Metabase,Web-Net-Ext,Web-Lgcy-Mgmt-Console,WAS-Process-Model,RSAT-Web-Server,Web-ISAPI-Ext,Web-Digest-Auth,Web-Dyn-Compression,NET-HTTP-Activation,RPC-Over-HTTP-Proxy -Restart

OWA will now run properly again.

Remote Desktop Easy Print: hieroglyphics in printing

When using Remote Desktop Easy Print with Server 2008 R1 and R2 it can result in an error of printing hieroglyphics, wrong font and size aswell as strange symbols.

This error will only occur on client systems of Windows XP, when using Vista or Windows 7 this issue will not occur.

Possible Workarounds:

1. Use Vista or Windows 7 clients
2. Copy the document using \\TSCLIENT mapping to the local computer and print the document from the local system
3. When possible, configure the printer as a network printer

Remote FX : Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Quad not compatible

Using RemoteFX with older CPU series like Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Quad will not be possible, due to the fact of missing SLAT technology inside Core 2 processors. For use of RemoteFX SLAT is required and available since Nehalem.
Amongst others these cpu´s are not compatible with RemoteFX:
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, Q6700, QX6800, Q8200, Q9300
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600, E6700, E7600, E6750, E6850, E8200, E8300, E8400, E8500, E8600

Remote FX : GeForce 7300 GT not compatible!

When adding a RemoteFX-Videocard to a VM, when a non DirectX 10 - compatible 7300GT is inserted into the host system, the VM will not start and the following error message will be displayed:

Accordingly this test result might be valid also for the following video cards: GeForce 7600GT, 7800GT, 7800GTX, 7900GT, 7900GTX, 7900GTO. This needs to be checked though.

Remote FX : GTX 275, GTX 285 and Radeon 6850 compatible

Good news on RemoteFX GPU support :
The following GPU were successfully tested with RemoteFX and are fully compatible:

Nvidia GeForce GTX275 (Device driver 266.58)
Nvidia GeForce GTX285 (Device driver 266.58)
AMD Radeon HD 6850 (Device driver Catalyst 11.2)

The following GPU´s will be tested in near future:
amongst others:
Nvidia GeForce GTX280
Nvidia GeForce GTX260
Nvidia GeForce GTX460
AMD Radeon HD 5850
AMD Radeon HD 4890

RemoteFX using internet / WAN connection

RemoteFX was tested using a WAN ADSL connection. Speed of connection is not enough for presenting a smooth working. Even Windows 7 AERO is bucking a lot. Playing videos smoothly also is impossible
The following connections were used:
ADSL 6000Kbit down / 640kBit up
ADSL 16000kbit down / 1024kBit up

Retro hint : Bug in IAS console on server 2003

There´s a bug inside IAS Console of Server 2003. When you attempt to restart the IAS service via the IAS console, the state of the service may vary from the state of the service displayed.
This can affect working as the service can be stopped while displayed as running.

Workaround : Use services snapin for mmc to restart services

Remote FX: AMD Radeon HD 6870 compatible !

The AMD Radeon HD 6870 was tested with RemoteFX successfully and is compatible.
The driver version used is Catalyst 11.2

Remote FX : No access to VM from Hyper-V-Manager

With enabled Remote FX setting, Hyper-V-Manager doesn´t allow to connect to the virtual machine. You are forced to connect to the virtual machine by remote desktop service.
When trying to connect to the virtual machine, Hyper-V-Manager shows the following message:

Terminal Services: Easy Print on domain controller might not work / no error feedback

Running Easy Print on a Remote Desktop Session Host (Terminalserver), which is currently a domain controller, use of Easy Print via RDP Session might stuck.
Probably you won´t receive an error code just running document into the spooler disappointing somewhere.

To fix this known Microsoft issue, set the following security permission:

Everyone - full access

on folder

\Windows\System32\spool

RemoteFX: Consfusing about SLAT

Second-Level Address Translation (SLAT), as Microsoft describes the technology, is required to be supported from the CPU. SLAT is called Nested Page Tables (NPT) on AMD CPU side or Rapid Virtualization Indexing (RVI). Intel does call it Extended Page Tables (EPT).
Server sizing will need to consider about these technology required.

Remote FX GPU compatibilty test

The Nvidia GeForce 8600GT and the GeForce 9500GT have been tested with Hyper V´s RemoteFX technology and failed the tests. After adding the VGA card to the virtual machine it will not boot.
The tests were run with latest forceware graphics driver 266.58

Service pack 1 now available at Windows Update

Finally Windows Server 2008 R2 service pack 1 is available at Windows Update.
Several improvements special to Hyper-V services make this update very important to IT specialists.