Telnet not working on Windows Server 2008

While trying to test my SMTP server connectivity i wanted to use telnet on my Windows Server 2008 box. So i did the usual thing i.e. went to command prompt and typed "telnet servername port" and voila i got an error which said "'telnet' is not recognized as an internal or external command,operable program or batch file."


Now that's unfair because telnet is supposed to work. Well the good part which microsoft has done with Windows Server 2008 is that they have given everything but its disabled. So to fix it you need to go to Server Manager -> Features -> Add Feature. Select the Telnet client in the wizard which comes up and you are good to go. 


~Abhishek

Disabling Enhanced Security in IE 8 on Windows Server 2008

I have to install some pre reqs on windows server 2008 and i started with browsing the intranet sites to find the pre reqs.
Now the problem on a windows server 2008 is that all kind of security features are installed by default and hence none of the intranet sites were working. I am unable to download any file either.
The quick fix for this is to disable enhanced security feature of IE8 on Windows Server 2008. And this can be done by going to
appwiz.cpl -> Turn Windows Features on or off-> Security Information snap in-> Configure IE ESC
and disable it.

And now the IE works normally. Its a good trick to work in development environment and definitely not recommended on a production server .

Happy coding :)

~Abhishek