SteveOH

I recently came across this error within an Server 2008 Active Directory Environment where I attempted to add a domain user account to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 x64.

As you may see on the internet, the problem is in fact related to SID, but in my situation it was not the SSID of the user, but of the actual server.  The instance of Server 2008 x64 is running in VMWare Workstation 7 and was created by cloning another VM.  This, of course, makes them identical, such that changing the computer name only results in what ‘appears’ to be disparite systems.  In a workgroup this shouldn’t be an issue, but once Active Directory is introduced, it gets wacky.  AD relies on SID’s, and thus, acts unpredictably when 2 machines / users / groups have the same SID.  This is further exagerated when SQL Server is involved, since it creates and / or stores its own SID for the user.

Here are the steps I followed to solve this issue:

1. Remove the server running SQL Server from the domain.  Reboot.
2. Verify the AD Computer Account has been deleted for the system (on a domain controller).
3. Run newSID.exe (found here) and change the SID of the server running SQL Server to a new random SID.  Reboot.
4. Add server back to the domain and verify the account is created within AD.

Once I did all that, the user added with ease.

Good luck.

This is a great piece of code I found for removing duplicates from Outlook 2007.  Unfortunately, the code I posted months ago no longer functions with Outlook 2007, or at least, stopped working for me.  So just in case, Jean-Claude Stritt wrote this code.  I’ve tested it, it works, and it’s free.  Love it.

You can get it here or from me here (compressed with 7z).

DirectX 7.0a SDK Download

DirectX 7.0a SDK Include and Header Files (Vista)

This is the entire DirectX 7.0a SDK install cd compressed using 7-zip (link).  You’ll thank me for making you install that compression application, as it cut the size of the compressed file by 30 MB.
It is no longer available from Microsoft’s websites at all, but still remains valid technology.
Microsoft no longer supports the DirectX 7.0a SDK… however it all works well and requires little support.

The DirectX 7.0a SDK is incredibly powerful, but normally only works with Visual C++ and Visual Basic, not with Borland C++ Builder.

If you would like to experience the magic of RAD DirectX 7.0a for Borland C++ Builder, you will also need to download the TDx_Library.

Why you would use the DirectX 7.0a SDK without the TDx_Library is beyond us, it’s too hard, and RAD DirectX just makes it all pathetically easy…

Other DirectX Resources

And the winner is…. 7z, consistently.

I’ll add more on my review later, but needless to say, I’m switching from WinRAR to 7z.  To be honest, I’ve used WinRAR for the past 10 years or so and wanted it to be the best. While great, it’s not the best, 7z (in my tests which would mimic my use, this is in no way scientific) beat WinRAR in almost all the scenarios, except for JPG images (I believe WinRAR has a special algorithm for that, while 7z does not, but don’t quote me).  Below are the restuls and the set ups.

The first 2 tests are of the first, which consists of all my files from my collegiate carreer (undergraduate, masters, doctoral and the undergraduate work for my fiance), including powerpoints, images, word documents, pdf, movies, images, sound files, zip files, etc.  There’s a good assortment of files.

The second is of a very large website and intranet I’ve designed and managed, consisting of an even larger mix of files.  I will update the file types soon.