Posted on August 12th, 2011%
“Microsoft Dynamics CustomerSource is an information-packed, password-protected site for customers who use Microsoft Dynamics products.” (Microsoft’s words, not mine.) I decided to use this information-packed, password-protected site to get my recently purchased product keys for Dynamics CRM 2011.
Below is a summary of my experience.
First, I go to the Product & Service summary page on the My Account page.
Then, I click on Registration Keys.
Then, I choose the appropriate version (2011) and upgrade option (No) and get the following message: “The keys you are trying are of Volume license, hence they will not be shown from MBS.” (I have no idea what MBS is.)
Frustrated, I try getting support by clicking the support link on the “Contact Dynamics Operations” page.
Which yields a very unhelpful support page that tells me, “Our apologies…An unexpected error occurred.” At least they are apologetic.
Despairingly, I click the ROC Contact Information at the bottom of the page (I have no idea . . .
→ Read More: An exercise in frustration: Getting product keys and support using the Microsoft Dynamics CustomerSource web site
Posted on March 2nd, 2010%
In the news this morning, I stumbled across an article, EU: 100 million Microsoft users to choose browser. Reading this, there were a few instances of questionable logic.
The first instance (emphasis added):
Microsoft is starting this month to send updates to Windows computers in Europe so that when computer users log on, they will see a pop-up screen asking them to pick one or more of 12 free Web browsers to download and install, including Microsoft.
Microsoft is allowing users to choose one of more than 12 free web browsers, because the EU didn’t like Microsoft bundling its own free web browser into Windows. Call me strange, but punishing a company to give something away for free because it blocks out other companies from giving their own products away for free strikes me as odd.
The second instance (emphasis added):
The EU’s executive commission said giving consumers the chance to try an alternative to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser that comes with the widely used . . .
→ Read More: Forcing users to choose a browser other than Internet Explorer doesn’t help them
Posted on March 26th, 2008%
Go to http://www.asp.net and do a search to see a nifty AJAXy popup search results box, powered by Live Search and including some advertising (which I deliberately grayed out below). Look closely, and you’ll see the URLs in the search results (circled in red) have spaces where spaces just shouldn’t be. No surprise, this happens Firefox but not in Internet Explorer.
About the only thing missing is a "Best viewed with Internet Explorer" logo, circa 1998. This really inspires me to click the "Get my own Search Box!" for my site — I’d just love this bug to be reflected in my own work, too.
. . .
→ Read More: Live search’s extra spaces (only for Firefox, of course)
Posted on December 12th, 2007%
I received an email today from Microsoft, “Introducing MSDN Online Subscriptions!” Very exciting for sure; I had no idea this is something new, as I’ve been downloading things from my MSDN subscription for years. But I digress. The “stupid thing to say” in this email is:
Point your favorite browser to http://msdn2.microsoft.com/subscriptions
Do you expect people to choose their least favorite browser? Or any browser other than their favorite? Or, does it even matter? Why even bother adding those words — why not just say, “Go to http://msdn2.microsoft.com/subscriptions“. This is an MSDN subscription e-mail; the users are likely to know what you mean.
To digress again… my subscription expired months ago. Why are they telling me to update my subscription to online only — shouldn’t they be trying to get me to create a new subscription? Oddly, the email includes my old (expired) MSDN subscriber number, which is meaningless as I can’t use it or renew it.
. . .
→ Read More: Stupid things to say: “Point your favorite browser to…”
Posted on October 23rd, 2007%
I’m trying to evaluate Microsoft’s Systems Center Essentials 2007. I say “trying” because every time I install it, I get an error in the setup log file.
The specified domain does not exist or cannot be contacted.
This makes no sense, because I’m logged in with a domain administrator account and the setup program is validating the domain-level service account. What gives? After two failed tries, I searched Microsoft’s web site, and I found this:
(KB 937831) The installation of System Center Essentials 2007 fails during the Reporting part of Setup and the following information is logged: “The specified domain does not exist or cannot be contacted”
- Fixes a problem that occurs if the computer’s NetBIOS domain name does not match the domain or if the computer’s domain suffix does not match the domain.
There’s a hotfix for the setup program (go figure) that fixes the problem. Unfortunately, the symptom (NetBIOS name discrepancies) is not the case in my situation, but the . . .
→ Read More: Installing Systems Center Essentials fails: “The specified domain does not exist or cannot be contacted.”
