SSMS 2008 Not Allowing Changes at 11:15 AM

By default SQL Server Management Studio does not allow changes to be made to tables if they need to be dropped and recreated.  This is frustrating in a development environment since changes are made quite often.  Again, Microsoft enables a feature to protect a production environment and does not make a fix for it well known.  Here is the error you will receive:

Here is the fix… go to “Tools > Options”:

Then expand “Designers” then click on “Table and Database Designers”.  Uncheck the box next to “Prevent saving changes that require table re-creation”:

SSMS 2008 Connecting to SQL 2005 at 11:15 AM

When trying to connect to a SQL 2005/2000 Server from SQL Server Management Studio 2008 you will get this error when trying to view the list of databases:

There is a very quick way to resolved this.  Click on the “View” menu and select “Object Explorer Details”:

Right click the column header and deselect “Collation”:

Now refresh the database list and all should be good.

Changing Domains with Vista & Win 7 at 2:38 PM

When a primary domain controller goes down and you do not have a BDC or a system state backup there is not a lot you can do to bring active directory & DNS back online cleanly.  I searched and searched for a solution but found nothing.  So I learned my lesson, always do a system state backup when completed with DC setup AND backup at regular intervals to ensure an easy recovery.

But since I did not do that, I had to go about it the hard way… reinstall DC and disjoin PC’s from old domain then join PC’s back into the newly set up domain.  The trouble with that is keeping the user profiles active on the local machine without disrupting their settings & customizations.  And I also don’t want user folders called c:\users\[DomainName].[UserName]… I just want c:\users\[UserName] to keep it clean.  Luckily there are a few quick tools that Vista/Windows 7 provides to assist with that.

First there is the Windows Easy Transfer tool.  Great tool for getting all of your desktop settings, Outlook accounts, background images, and you can customize the files you transfer.  The wizard is very simple and allows for backup to disk, DVD, or external drive.  Because I was not moving to another PC and I was not reinstalling the OS on these machines, I just backed up to a local folder.

Second I needed to log into the local machine administrator account and remove the user & their profile.  A full restart will ensure that there is no locked files for this step.  To remove the user go to Control Panel > User Accounts, then click Manage User Accounts.  You can see a list of the users both local and domain here:

Click the user you want to remove, then click Remove.  This only deletes the account, now we needed to delete the profile from the local computer.  Go to Control Panel > System > Advanced System Settings > Advanced [TAB] > User Profiles section.  Click Settings.  Click the user you want to delete the profile, click Delete.

Just to verify that the user profile directory was deleted go to C:\Users\.  Delete the folder if left behind (typically only happens if a restart was not done after the first step).

Now you can rejoin the domain, add the user, and restore the settings using the same Windows Easy Transfer tool used before.  With the exception of passwords not being saved (for very good reason) the user will have little or no impact.

Server 2008 Activation DNS Error at 1:25 PM

Last night I was finishing up with the installation of 2 servers (PDC & BDC).  After completing all of the updates and configurations I needed to activate the product… DNS Error!  After doing a little searching I found the KB article from Microsoft (KB929826) which states that with volume licenses or multi-activation keys you may need to run this first at the command prompt:

slmgr –ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

[xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx is the product key]

Then you should have no problem activating.  Nice to know for the future!

Leapster 2… broken? at 11:45 PM

I am glad to say no.  But it had us a little upset earlier.  About 10 months ago we replaced our sons Leapster LMAX with a new Leapster 2 (see link: Leap Frog Site).  He plays with this learning toy non-stop.  The other day he told us it was broken… turns out he dropped it on the carpet and it just stopped working.  A kids toy should not break when dropped on the carpet… oh well.  Anyway, after calling the Leap Frog support number I found that not only was it out of warranty but it was also not covered because it was dropped.  So I took it apart… DOH!

Here is what I found… it would turn on if a jiggled it a little and held it still.  As soon as I moved it or squeezed it at all it would turn off.  Something loose right?  I looked at it and saw nothing loose… but then it hit me that when I pressed on the battery cover it would turn off.  I checked that the terminals were in contact with the battery and they weren’t…  I bent them towards the battery and voila! … it works perfect.  Happy son, happy pocketbook.  :)

Picture 1 – Take off the 5 screws on the back…

Picture 2 – Bend the battery contacts away from the edge (towards center)…

 

That’s it!  Just be careful with the ribbon cable that runs from the backing to the main board.

Style Issues with IE8 at 1:31 PM

As with most web developers I am sure we get frustrated when Microsoft releases a new browser. When IE7 was released it was a style disaster until they released some updates that fixed the issue... now we are at it again with the release of IE8 earlier this year.

One of the most frustrating things that I have encountered while developing for IE8 is its inability to recognize certain CSS attributes. DIV's, SPAN's, and just about anything that you position absolute on the screen gets all tweaked. I did some searching and found a fix to it... force IE8 to run in IE7 compatibility mode instead of making the user click the compatibility icon next to the address bar. 

Add this line to the HEAD section in your HTML:

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=EmulateIE7" />

I finally created a blog... at 12:45 PM

For a few years now many people have been telling me to start my own blog. I guess they think I have something good to say every now and then! Most of the stuff I blog about will probably be nerdy things like coding or gadgets... but some may find that interesting! At the very least I can document some of the things I do from day to day.