Author Archives: Kirby Witmer

Barracuda Firewall Command Line (SSH) Speed Test

Sometimes when you are trying to diagnose an internet speed or performance issue, it’s helpful to be able to run a speedtest from the router itself. We use Barracuda NextGen F Series Firewalls a lot, and the following command works like a charm. Simply login in via SSH into the router and run this command. […]

Comcast Home Wireless Gateway Default Password ( TC8305C )

For years now I’ve always used the following username and password for Comcast modems. Username: cusadmin Password: highspeed Recently though it seems like some of the newer modems like the wireless gateway TC8305C use the following combination. Username: admin Password: password  

Quickbooks 2015 will NOT install on Windows XP

For all the folks out there still running Windows XP, you will be in for a surprise when you go to upgrade Quickbooks. Starting with Quickbooks 2015, you can not install it on Windows XP. I haven’t tried all the possible workarounds yet, but the installer will check to see if you are running Windows […]

Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Invalid XML, the view cannot be loaded.

I had a customer call me to say that his computer seemed to freeze for him, so he did a hard restart on it. Once it booted back up, Microsoft Outlook 2010 would not start but give the following error message. Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window. Invalid XML, the view cannot […]

Updates for Office are ready to be applied, but are blocked by one or more apps.

I have a customer who is getting the following error message in Office 2013. “Updates for Office are ready to be applied, but are blocked by one or more apps.”   The problem is when the Update Now button is clicked, you get a notice saying you’re up to date! Restarting the program will bring […]

Using a new generic domain name (gTLD) with Office 365

Its been very interesting to me seeing all the changes that are occurring in the domain space, especially with all hundreds of generic top level domains that will be flooding the market this year. I’ve been experimenting with a new gTLD domain name and seeing if its possible to setup in Office 365. Unfortunately, there […]

Restoring Deleted Active Directory User fails with Error 0x2077 Illegal Modify Operation

I was attempting to restore an Active Directory User that was accidentally deleted on a SBS 2011 server using the steps outlined in this Microsoft KB Article, however I kept coming up short with the following error message. [note]”Error 0x2077 Illegal modify operation. Some aspect of the modification is not permitted.”[/note] I was a bit […]

After Windows Update, Outlook 2013 Folder List Pane is Empty

Yesterday Microsoft released a few updates for Windows & Office. One of the updates, KB2817630, appears to break Outlook 2013. The screenshot to the right is what happened to one of our customers after the update was automatically installed. Absolutely no folders appear in the folder pane. At this point it appears the fix is […]

No Internet Access on Windows 7 caused by Bonjour Service

After installing Extensis Portfolio Desktop Client software on a few Windows 7 desktops today, we noticed that after rebooting the computers would no longer connect to the internet. They could access local files & services, but the network connection was local only. After a bit of digging, we discovered that a service called Bonjour was […]