MSTerminalServices.org Monthly Newsletter of April 2007 Sponsored by: SecureIDA

Welcome to the MSTerminalServices.org newsletter by Stefan Vermeulen, MVP and Citrix CTP. Each month we will bring you interesting and helpful information on MS Terminal Services and server based computing. We want to know what all *you* are interested in hearing about. Please send your suggestions for future newsletter content to: SVermeulen@MSTerminalServices.org

1. What's up?

Hi there!

This month's special is due to the surprise Microsoft dropped on us. Windows 2003 server SP2 has been released without any prior notice and it is not completely without issues when it comes to terminal server solutions.

I am finalizing this newsletter from Chicago where Briforum is being held - an event that looks at terminal server, Citrix, virtualization and application delivery. Hopefully I may meet some of you that read this letter. If you do, make sure to tap me on the shoulder for a chat.

That's all for now!

See you later!

2. KB Articles of the Month

Here are some interesting and useful Terminal Services related articles posted by Microsoft in the last month:

• Index.dat files are not deleted from the server when a user logs off a Terminal Services session to a Windows Server 2003-based computer.
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933562
• You experience slow file server performance and delays occur when you work with files that are located on a file server.
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822219
• Standard users cannot turn off the Internet Explorer Enhanced Security feature on a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server.
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933991
• A user who is logged on to a Windows Server 2003-based Terminal Server cannot configure a printer as the default printer.
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933996
• Recommended TCP/IP settings for WAN links with a MTU size of less than 576.
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900926

• You receive a "The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted" error message when you try to establish a new Terminal Services connection to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/902336
• Event ID 2020 and event ID 1000 are logged and the registry size limit is exceeded on a computer that is running Terminal Services in Application Server mode and Windows Server 2003 or Windows 2000
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906952
• A Terminal Services client computer may make beep sounds after you connect to a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based computer
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/901115
• The session redirection function does not work correctly on Windows Server 2003-based servers that have Terminal Server enabled
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913948
• Terminal Servers cannot locate the license servers when you use the "Use the specified Terminal Server license servers" policy setting
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922508
• You cannot connect to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server when the Remote Desktop Web Connection ActiveX control screen resolution is higher than 1600 by 1200 pixels on a client computer
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/915947
• You cannot connect to a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server when the screen resolution for the Remote Desktop Web Connection ActiveX control is higher than 1600 by 1200 pixels
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918679
• A terminal server cannot obtain a license from a licensing server that is running Windows Server 2003
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917915
• A Windows Server 2003-based terminal server stops responding to new connection requests, and the logon window does not appear
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923630
• When a user logs off a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based terminal server, the terminal server may stop responding for several seconds
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927182
• A leak occurs in the Netbt.sys file on Windows Server 2003 Terminal Server that has many NetBT connections
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916508
• The Windows Language bar closes unexpectedly when you start a Citrix Presentation Server-published application on a Windows Server 2003 SP1-based computer that runs Terminal Services
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918184
• Print spooling operation in Windows Server 2003-based Terminal Services (TS) computer is slow when Remote Desktop Connection thin clients use printer redirection
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/900090
• A Windows Server 2003-based terminal server in a forest cannot obtain a license from a license server in a different forest
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/905687
• Terminal Services Licensing Manager may stop when you add a new license on a computer that is running the Brazilian Portuguese version of Windows Server 2003
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906207
• An IBM DB2 program stops responding on a Windows Server 2003-based computer that is running Terminal Services
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/916667
• Error message when you try to create a database connection to SQL Server Express in a Windows Server 2003-based terminal server session: "Failed to spawn a user instance of SQL Server"
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921498
• Event ID: 26 occurs when you log off from a server that has Terminal Server enabled in Windows Server 2003 SP1
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891194
• FIX: The "% Processor Time" counter of the Terminal Services Session performance object reports a value of more than 100 percent
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922595
• Print jobs take longer to finish than you expect in a Terminal Services session in Windows Server 2003
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924663
• The Winlogon.exe process uses excessive CPU resources when a user reinserts a smart card to log on to a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based terminal server
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/919578
• When you use a Terminal Services session to access redirected local hard disk drives on a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based computer, you may experience a delay
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/922297
• Error message when you try to log on to a terminal server that is running Windows Server 2003: "STOP 0x000000C2 0x00000007, 0x00001163, 0x42040001, 0x88990be8
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918120
• FIX: In the .NET Framework 1.1, you may randomly receive System.NullReferenceException exceptions when a Windows Forms application displays a modal dialog box in response to an event
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899511
• You may experience a 20-second delay when you try to access a redirected folder by logging on to a Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1-based computer or to a Windows XP Service Pack 2-based computer
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/899409
• A custom wave driver is unloaded when a remote client computer connects to a Windows Server 2003-based computer that is running a TAPI program
  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928046

3. Ask our MVPs a question

QUESTION: Will the Windows Server 2007 release (Longhorn) be the version that I can use without any extra add-ons like Citrix?

Regards, Terminal Server Theo.

ANSWER: Dear Theo,

Microsoft has always positioned, and probably will keep doing so for a long time, the Terminal Server release as a platform for the OEM's to built upon. Whereas each release gets better, it will never be a match for the add-ons like Citrix, Provision Networks, Tricerat, etc. Only if you are happy enough with the functionality that comes with the base product can it be enough to give it a try, but based on my experience you will encounter the need for functionality quite early on. If you make a good inquiry before starting such a project with your future users, you will be far better capable of making the decision for pure TS only or maybe with one or two add-ons. Good luck with the decision!

Cheers!

4. Learning Zone

We have a great group of articles in the Learning Zone that will help you get a handle on your most difficult configuration issues. Here are just a few of the newer and more interesting articles:

• An overview of the Citrix Web Interface 4.5
  Date - April 04, 2007; Author - Duane Bradley; Section - Articles :: General
  In this article Duane takes a deep dive into Citrix Web Interface 4.5 and all that's new. Find out here if it's worth the upgrade!
• Windows Terminal Services Printing
  Date - April 12, 2007; Author - Patrick Rouse; Section - Articles :: Printing
  In this article Patrick goes over all the basics and issues you will encounter when using basic Terminal Server printing on your server.

5. Windows 2003 SP2 special

A few weeks ago Microsoft surprised us with the release of Service Pack 2 for Windows Server 2003. No big drums or anything, it was suddenly there. (Auto update will install it if you don't read carefully)

A real strange one is that specific customers have had to uninstall up to 26 hotfixes and replace them with new versions, before being able to install SP2. According to Microsoft this is only valid for about 200 customers worldwide. Hopefully you're not one of them.

Read the full story here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932132

Using Citrix?

SP2 includes MMC 3.0 and that will take over your existing MSC files and should you uninstall MMC 3.0 they will fail. Read the full story and what else to watch when installing SP2 here.

So before even thinking about updating to SP2, make sure to:

• Check out the release notes.
• Test the update on an isolated easy to restore box if possible.
• Check the list of applications you have running with the official MS SP2 approved list.

Is there any positive news about SP2 other then "be careful?" Yes, Microsoft has added 2 new pieces of functionality with SP2:

• Scalable Networking Pack
• XMLLite

Now the xmllite is not so interesting, as it targets developers, but the "Scalable Networking Pack" can be an interesting one. For those interested, make sure to check out:

• The Scalable Networking homepage.
• The Introduction whitepaper.
• The FAQ.

6. Rumors on the SBC Space

The biggest news is the release of Longhorn Beta 3 at the beginning of this month. This beta has a lot of the final functionality in working order, like the load balancer and the new XPS printing engine. If you have access to it via MSDN, make sure to test it!

If you have plans on going over to Longhorn TS, make sure to check out the licensing. The team from Microsoft has put together a 3 part tutorial on the Longhorn license model: Part 1, part 2 and part 3.

The team from Ctrl-Alt-Del IT Consultancy has come up with another free killer tool. This time it's a tool to replace the msg.exe on a terminal server. Their version is called TSMSG and enables the administrator to send a message to all users on a server, or a bunch of servers. You can download the tool here.

See you next month!