I've lost count how many times a bad time setting on a server has caused havoc on a Windows server. It is quite often the simple underlying problem when we are called in to sort out a badly maintained network. This is a shame because it is quite simple to set up.

Here are the basic steps:

Open a command prompt on the server and type the following commands:

w32tm /config /manualpeerlist:”0.pool.ntp.org 1.pool.ntp.org 2.pool.ntp.org”,0×8 /syncfromflags:manual /reliable:yes

w32tm /config /update

net stop w32time && net start w32time
w32tm /resync /rediscover

That should be all you need to do - just check in the event logs to make sure all is well.

Just spoken to a client who asked which version of internet explorer they were running. Easy I thought - just go to help about or click on the question mark and select about. Well, not so simple if the explorer installation on the client machine has been messed with and you don't see these options.

Fortunately there is another way!

Copy the following line of text:

cmd /k reg query "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer" /v Version

Now click on start and then run (or search programs and files in Vista/Windows 7). Paste the above line into the field and press enter.

You should see a command prompt window open up with a dump of the Explorer version straight out of the registry.

Ever wondered what would happen if the disk in your Mac suddenly died?

There is a great utility out there for very little money that will take care of this.

It's called SuperDuper. It's available from a company called Shirt Pocket here

You can use the free trial copy of the product right away but I would recommend digging into your pocket to enable all the great features like scheduling and smart updates.

Using the product couldn't be easier - in it's simplest form all you need is a firewire disk, which can be purchased at our online store at www.youritsupplier.co.uk (Remember to choose a disk with firewire!), and a copy of superduper.

Just choose your source disk and new destination disk and SuperDuper does the rest.

So what happens if the disk in your Mac fails? Take your newly created external bootable disk and startup your Mac with the Alt key held down. You will get a list of available disks to boot from. Choose your new disk and you are up and running.

You can even use SuperDuper to transfer the disk contents back to your primaary disk once you have replaced it.

There have been some instances where the above update renders the owa virtual directories inoperable. After much trawling about I discovered that the rollup doesn't update the owa directories too make them compatible. To do this open up Windows Power Shell and type the following command:

updateowa.ps1

This should update the directories and make them workable again.

Ignore the MS advice of deleting and re-creating the owa virtual directories unless this does not work.

We have had a number of requests from our clients and partners to keep them up to date with product reviews, hints & tips and general company news.

We thought the best way to do this was to put a blog on our site. We have a number of contributors lined up to add items to this blog. We hope you find it useful and would welcome your comments so we can make this better experience for you!