I’m posting this here because I had so much trouble finding the solution that I wanted to share with the search engines.

The short of it was that I had a backup glitch on Small Business Server 2003 (SBS2003) this week and my CALs were reset from 20 down to 5, the original number that comes with the SBS2003 installation.

After Google searching, I could only find people with the same problem, but no fixes. Not wishing (that is DREADING) to call the original person who installed it to find if he had the license codes still, I did the next worse thing. I called Microsoft.

After getting transferred 5 times and explaining rather harshly to the last person AGAIN what my problem was, I had to apologize for taking it out on her. I didn’t get too nasty, I just let her know how dissatisfied I was with their product and support and their “Certified” professional that did us as much harm as good with original installation of the server…

So, expecting another day of waiting on the phone to find out I had to speak with another department, I first Google searched again before making the call.

This time, to my surprise, I actually found someone with the same problem, only this time with a resolution! And a simple resolution at that.

here’s the ORIGINAL POST FROM Chris Knight:
http://blog.chrisara.com.au/2006/09/small-business-server-2003-dreaded-5.html

Small Business Server 2003 – The Dreaded 5 CAL Reset Issue
A runaway process on SBS2003 decided to fill up all the disk space on C: in the early hours of the morning. The fallout from this was the System log was corrupt and the SBS license data was reset to the default 5 CALs.
The System log was easy to fix – reboot the server.
The SBS license data was an absolute pain. I’d never run the “Back up licenses” utility in the Licensing section of Server Management. Microsoft have KB article 888818 discussing this, which is either re-enter the licenses, restore the C:\WINDOWS folder or restore a backup of the licenses.
The first wasn’t an option as I was offsite and the person with the key to the safe wasn’t in. The second was just not viable – why Microsoft couldn’t specify which file/folder needed restoring I don’t know. The third would have been OK if ever I had run it.
After much stuffing about I found that the SBS2003 licenses are kept in the licstr.cpa file in the WINDOWS\system32 folder. Thankfully, Microsoft actually keep an automatic backup of this in autolicstr.cpa. The simple process was to stop the License Logging Service, rename licstr.cpa to licstr.cpa.old, then copy autolicstr.cpa to licstr.cpa. After this I started License Logging Service and used Server Management to confirm that the licenses had been restored.

http://blog.chrisara.com.au/2006/09/small-business-server-2003-dreaded-5.html

Literally. Thanks to some special people, we have a natural evergreen wreath on our front door. It’s filling up the house with CHRISTMAS smell! If there is such a thing as “Christmas smell” it must be this.

We are so slow here at work today that we have only had maybe two phone calls all day. Praise God I have a boss who will let us work even in the slow times. So slow here actually that as I write this I am listening to the sounds of this joyous season from a fellow co-worker who is playing Smule Magic Piano on their Iphone. Rather nice actually…

Mercy Hill decided to go a different route with the videos because of time constraints. May do something in the future for them.

Still a couple potential web site clients out there, but they are too busy this time of season to get anything setup right now. Maybe after the first of the year.

Also have another upcoming video for KASA in February.

Recently finished up rebuilding a laptop for someone. All I really had to do was replace the hard drive and reload Vista, but getting to that point was rather hectic. I finally got the drive recovered to the original setup with help from a RescueMe utility DVD. But then after installing all the Windows updates, it crashed on reboot. Dead… Nothing could recover the drive then. Replaced and reinstalled after much searching for the correct Vista Home Premium disc. Whew! Well worth it for a couple extra bucks for the season. … Interestingly, during my posting, he just stopped by asking why he cannot connect to the internet at home. I think we resolved he just needs to reset his wireless router. Laptop works fine here. We’ll know tomorrow…

Oh yeah. I was reminded this week of how much fun a kidney stone is… So much so that I actually went to the doctor this time for some pain meds. The first time in several years and several stones that I have had to have pain meds. Only needed one pill so far though.

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IF YOU NEED ANY WEB SITE DESIGN/HOSTING OR VIDEO WORK DONE, PLEASE CALL!! I am always looking for work. My services are VERY affordable! I can custom design a site for you quickly and offer hosting as well. Custom email, blogging, photo galleries, online shopping carts. I can make most anything work on your site in some form or fashion.

Take a look at some examples on the right side menu here to see what I have done and can do for you. Most are WordPress based, but are hosted on my server with your own domain name (no more sitename.wordpress.com, simply sitename.com). WordPress has a very easy to learn back office so you can maintain your site yourself, or I can do that for you as well.

I’m also available for video editing/producing work if you have any need.

Please pass my name along if you know of anyone needing Web design or video work.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

More KASA videos have been produced since last posting. Including annual Fred Award videos and New Superintendent Training menu driven DVD. Both of these were filmed by KASA staff and I edited and produced the final product.

May be working on three videos for Mercy Hill Baptist Church in the next few weeks. If so, they will be posted here after November 20, 2011.

An old sample site was hacked and account was shut down for a couple of days and then a few days later the same sight was reported for spamming. I’ve deleted that sight completely. No big loss.

Camp Bethel Day Care Center now has their own site apart from Camp Bethel Ministries. Still working on content, but for the most part it’s running smoothly. It will include a way for staff to post updates via text messaging and picture messaging. We’ll see how that works out after I teach the staff how it works.

A couple other sights you may see in the Design menu also.

Ministry work is in full swing. We are currently working on a fund raising letter and continuing to follow God’s lead in everything. Including seeking more Board of Director members.

Also currently working on a “Thank You” video for our summer mission supporters. Annual newsletter for TUM will be next. Both will be posted on the TUM website when finished.