Remote Desktop (RDP) connection to Windows 8 login prompts "Connect a smart card". Also for Remote Web Workplace (RWW).

There have been a few hurdles getting users connected into Windows 8 machines via Remote Desktop (RDP) or Remote Web Workplace (RWW) from Small Business Server.

When you try to log in, you may see a message that says "Connect a smart card".  The issue seems to be caused by trying to "push" or "save" your credentials into the remote session as you are logging in.  I know in RWW, you should go back to the "connection options" and un-check the box the says something like "Login to this session as InsertUsernameHere".   This may also effect RDP - try not to save or send your credentials along with the initial launching of the session.  Try to wait and just enter them manually once you get to the Windows 8 login screen.

If that doesn't help, the other workaround is to click on the "Other user" avatar on the Windows 8 login screen, rather than clicking on YOUR avatar.  Then manually enter your username and password.  My users have had success with the "other user" trick if all else fails.

Error connecting to Remote Web Workplace (RWW) with Internet Explorer (IE) 10 and Windows 8 on SBS server

Recently one of my users had a problem connecting to their Remote Web Workplace portal on their Windows Small Business Server 2003 (SBS 2003).   I found that their browser at home had recently been upgraded to IE 10 which was the source of the problem.  I think this has also been causing issues for Windows 8 users as well.

Two steps helped to fix this issue :

1. Click the "Compatibility View" button up on the address bar when you first hit your RWW site. (It's the icon that looks like a torn piece of paper.)  Now try to connect again. If that doesn't work...

2. Add the domain name or IP address of your RWW site to the "Trusted Sites" list in your Internet Options in IE (click the little gear-shaped icon in the upper right corner and go to Internet Options. Then Security tab, then green Trusted Sites icon then Sites button).  Restart IE and try again.  This should fix the issue for you.  You may need to let it re-install the ActiveX plug-in again.

Can't activate Windows 8 Enterprise from Technet - Error 0x800700B or 0x8007007B

I'm using an installation of Windows 8 Enterprise 64bit from TechNet. I finally got around to activating my software and I received the following error message - "Code: 0x8007007B   Description: The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect."

It turns out the issue is pretty simple. There is a default license key that is baked into the software, you just need to change that key and input your key that you got from TechNet, MSDN, etc. and then activate it with that key in place.

1. Pull up the "Run" dialog box
2. Enter "SLUI 3"  (no quotes)
3. Enter your true license key in the window that pops up
4. Hit "Activate" button and you are done!

Windows 8 is fast on an SSD drive - installation, boot time, start time, shutdown time (OCZ Vertex 4)

So I bought myself an early Christmas present. I got a great Black Friday deal on an OCZ Vertex 4 512GB SSD (solid state drive). One of the top rated SSD's at the moment.  This was going into my laptop - a 3 year old HP Pavilion DV7 - Core i7 with 8GB of RAM.

I then installed a fresh build of Windows 8 Enterprise as part of this project. I had the Windows 8 ISO file extracted to a USB stick for installation to help speed up the process.

I know SSD's are blazing fast and I know Windows 8 has a ton of performance enhancements so I was really anxious to see how the pair would perform together. I was not disappointed!

It look less than 5 minutes to install Windows 8!!   I still had some setup questions to answer - selection of my wifi network, etc but the actually installation part was already done.  Wow!

Here are some other numbers for you...

Start up time to login screen - 15 seconds
Full reboot to login screen - 25 seconds
Shutdown time - 8 seconds
Sleep - 3 seconds
Wake - 1 second!