Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer + IE10 + Windows 7

The title of this article itself suggesting the exact problem description, still here are the details:

The machine on which windows 7 is running along with internet explorer 10 throws an exception when you select “Open with Explorer” in SharePoint Server 2010.

Error Message#1: Your client does not support opening this list with Windows Explorer.

Error Message#2: We're having a problem opening this location in File Explorer. Add this web site to your Trusted Sites list and try again.

Another Symptom:

You try to map a network drive to the SharePoint Document Library and the operation fails with the following error:

The mapped network drive could not be created because the following error has occurred:

Access Denied. Before opening files in this location, you must first add the web site to your trusted sites list, browse to the web site, and select the option to login automatically.

Resolution:

Let me provide you some update on this / let me give you some good news as Microsoft has released a fix for this issue by means of KB: 2846960

Fix can be downloaded from: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2846960

Millions thanks to Microsoft Windows team to find out the root cause behind this and comes up with a concrete fix.

Happy SharePoint to all of you…

How to Open PDF files in a web browser -SharePoint 2010

One of my clients has reported an issue that they are facing some problems while opening PDF files. Further probing reflected the fact that PDF files are opening but they are getting the prompt of Open, Save and Cancel. In contradictory, the actual requirement is PDF files has to open in browser mode directly rather than saving it to the desktop.

Problem description: SharePoint 2010 prompts to save PDF documents when opening.

Now the question is: Is there a way to open a PDF in a web browser, just like Office Web Apps?

This problem is quite annoying as every time we need to save the documents to the desktop!

Started my troubleshooting to explore the options in central administration

Let me tell you the fact why this is happening? In SharePoint 2010, browser handling has been classified into 2 types:

1)   Strict

2)   Permissive

So the next obvious question will be- what are the differences between these above mentioned types? Here are the details:

Strict specifies the MIME types which are not listed in a Web Application’s AllowedInlineDownloadedMimeTypes property (more on this in a bit) are forced to be downloaded.

Permissive specifies that the HTML and other content types which might contain script are allowed to be displayed directly in the browser. In other words, no matter what the type of content, if it lives within SharePoint, the file will open in your browser.

By default, the option is strict in Central administration so that’s why getting prompt is quite obvious.

Resolution#1 / now the question is how to change this?

1)   Open the central administration

2)   Application management

3)   Under web applications- Manage web applications

4)   Select the web application for which you want to change the settings

5)   General Settings (Top-Ribbon section)

6)   This will be open web application general settings

7)   There is a section named as ‘Browser File Handling’

8)   You will see two radio buttons as Strict and Permissive

9)   Change it to Permissive and Click OK

 No needs to do any iisreset so please go ahead and check the results!

-You should be able to open the PDF files directly in browser-

Resolution#2 – Same functionality as Resolution1, only thing is by means of Power Shell:

$webApp = Get-SPWebApplication http://webapplication_URL

$webApp.BrowserFileHandling = "permissive"

$webApp.update()

If you have some security concerns and don’t want to change the option from strict to permissive then here is the resolution:

By means of Powershell:

[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName(“Microsoft.SharePoint”)

$webapp = [Microsoft.SharePoint.Administration.SPWebApplication]::Lookup(“http://web application_URL”)

If ($webApp.AllowedInlineDownloadedMimeTypes -notcontains “application/pdf”)

{

Write-Host -ForegroundColor White “Adding Pdf MIME Type…”

$webApp.AllowedInlineDownloadedMimeTypes.Add(“application/pdf”)

$webApp.Update()

Write-Host -ForegroundColor White “Added and saved.”

} Else {

Write-Host -ForegroundColor White “Pdf MIME type is already added.”

}

Now your PDF documents will be displayed in the browser even if Browser File Handling is set to Strict.

One last point, in fact important point is you may face the problem with the list or site templates. How? – We are all aware that site as well as list/libraries can be saved as templates to transfer from one location to another.

I would like to thanks to Nico Martens for publishing this article for all of us:

http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/Change-Browser-File-e60b46c9

Thank you.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know. I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues.

Happy SharePoint to all of you…

Product Applies to:

1)   SharePoint Server 2010

2)   SharePoint Foundation 2010

References:

Open PDF files in the browser from SharePoint: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULfIEmoq-F0

Installing Windows 2012 from Windows 7 (32-bit) failed.

Problem:  The version of this file is not compatible with the version of windows you’re running. Check your computer system information to see whether you need an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) versions of the program and then contact the software publisher. 

Background: I was trying to install windows 2012 on my Notebook the Dell Latitude Series E6230.   

However realized I came with the 32-bit Windows 7 operating system. As any normal IT Pro first I tried to run the setup.exe and then got the above error. Sooner or later I realized that 32 bit version O.S doesn't support 64 bit versions application. I was not having any DVD or CD drive where I can burn ISO of Windows 2012.

Resolution: I tried a new method; by converting my USB flash drive to bootable flash drive using Windows 7 USB DVD Download Tool downloaded from MS store for free.

You just need to run the set-up.exe and rest the tool do everything for you.

Go to BIOS by pressing F10 or F12 and boot your PC from the Flash/Thumb Drive your set-up will automatically launch.

Thanks for Mr Bob hunt for his reference below:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/blainbar/archive/2012/09/05/step-by-step-booting-windows-server-2012-rtm-from-thumb-drive-creating-a-new-bootable-virtual-hard-disk-from-scratch-by-blain-barton.aspx

Other references:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/bobh/archive/2012/09/04/the-simplest-was-to-create-a-bootable-windows-server-2012-or-windows-8-usb-key.aspx

http://arstechnica.com/business/2009/12/the-usb-flash

-drive

Manual way to make bootable drive and install the O.S.

Applies to: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, and Windows Server 2012.

Unable to create a secure URL cache + site could not be created + Group cannot be found + Verify that the file exists in the Layouts directory - SharePoint 2010

Recently I worked on language packs requirement and faced some problems. I would like to share some reviews with all of you so that it would be beneficial to all of you. One of my business owner has requested me to install the language packs (French and German) so we have downloaded the language packs from the following links:

Plain language pack

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=3411

Language pack with service pack1

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=26621

So by this way we have successfully installed the language packs on every server of the farm i.e. on every app as well as on every WFE.

Note: Make sure you run the psconfig on every server of the farm.

till this point, we are good without any problems.

But the problem started after this- We start creating the site collection by using this installed language packs example French! and it failed with the following ERROR MESSAGE:

The site /sites/French could not be created.  The following exception occurred: Error adding custom access permissions. Group cannot be found. 
   at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPGroup.InitMember() 
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPGroup..ctor(SPWeb web, SPSecurableObject scope, SPUser user, String GroupName, Object[,] arrGroupsData, UInt32 index, Int32 iByParamId, SPGroupCollectionType groupCollectionType)
at Microsoft.SharePoint.SPGroupCollection.get_Item(String name) 
 at amolsharepoint.CustomPermission.Features.amolspCustomPermission.amolsharepointCustomPermissionEventReceiver.FeatureActivated(SPFeatureReceiverProperties properties).

So the problem is: not able to create the site collection

Tried creating the site collection by means of central administration as well as by PowerShell but got the same error as mentioned above.

From the error message, it’s quite clear that the problem is with specific solution/event receiver. Let me tell you that we have custom permissions in our environment and separate solution for that.

Involved developer and reviewed the specific solution and he has stated that the solution has been created & deployed with respect to English locale only so we need to make provisions for the other language packs.

Developer has made that provision and we deployed the solution again!

Tried creating the site again and it works this time.

So now one issue has been resolved regarding site creation! After this, we tried browsing the site collection and got the following error:

Unable to create a secure URL cache "1036/styles/customCOREV10_0020.CSS", file not found. Verify that the file exists in the Layouts directory.

From the error message, its quite clear what will be the next action plan!

What we did?

Simple copy the above mentioned .css file from english folder i.e. 1033 to French folder i.e. 1036.

That’s it- Try browsing the site now and it will open without any issues…

Thank you.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know. I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues, Thank you once again.

Product applies to:

1)   SharePoint Server 2010

2)   SharePoint Foundation 2010

References:

Language Packs for SharePoint Server 2013

http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=37140

Language packs in SharePoint Server 2013

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff463597.aspx

Language Packs for SharePoint Foundation 2013

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35492

Authentication provider disabled sharepoint 2010

While doing some deployments today, there was necessity to check the authentication provider section in central administration but unfortunately this section is greyed out or you can call it as disabled.

Problem description:

1)   Authentication provider is disabled in Central Administration

2)   Authentication provider is greyed out in Central Administration

Error Message:

This control is currently disabled.

Make sure you have right mode of access / the exact credentials by which you can access the Central Administration / login to the server with SharePoint domain admin rights.

Make sure you are trying to open the central administration in IE and not in any other browser.

There are two resolutions are available to access this path:

Resolutions:

Resolution#1:

1)   Login to the server-shift+right click on IE

2)   select ‘Run as a Administrator’

3)   Try opening the CA now and

4)   check the authentication provider section

5)   it should be enabled now.

Resolution#2: This will be workaround- follow these steps:

1)   Open the Central Administration

2)   Security

3)   Specify authentication providers

Product applies to:

-SharePoint Server 2010

-SharePoint Foundation 2010

Reference:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc709691%28WS.10%29.aspx

The server could not complete your request. For more specific information, click the Details button – SharePoint 2010

One of my user has reported an error that he is facing some problem while publishing the workflow. I probe this issue further and got the following details:

OS: Windows 7

IE version: 9,32-bit

Workflow type: reusable

Publishing at which level: Subsite

SP version: SharePoint 2010

Problem description: Trying to make a custom Publishing Approval workflow for a document library but whenever I try to make a copy I get this message ”The server could not complete your request”

Error message:

This workflow is read-only. Would you like to make a copy of this workflow to open or edit?

After pressing the yes button I get the following error message:

The server could not complete your request. For more specific information, click the Details button.

Details:

Below is the message that the server returned. For more information, contact your Internet service provider or web server administrator.

Troubleshooting done:

1)   Tried publishing the workflow at the root site- worked.

2)   Tried publishing on different site collection as well as in development environment- worked

3)   Checked the managed blocked file types by means of Central Administration-security- for the files .xoml & rules but there were not there.

4)   Checked in IIS by means of request filtering for the extensions .xoml and rules but there were not a part of it.

5)   Checked the OOTB workflow and no problems with the same.

Its been pretty much clear that it’s only occuring at the subsite level and using SharePoint Designer.

Resolution:

Million thanks to this Microsoft technet thread who helps me to understand the issue and design nature of this functionality.

Please refer this: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/sharepoint/en-US/1a241b83-56fc-499e-b4a3-be57b50da204/sp-designer-workflow-error-message-subsites-only

As per this thread- This is by design that we can only copy and modify the OOB global Reusable workflows from the top site. And it is because there is a limitation to create global reusable workflows from a subsite in SharePoint 2010, so we can't create and edit a global reusable workflow from subsites.

Thank you. Hope this article will helps you to get the insight on this issue.

Remove/Delete user from all SharePoint groups in the web application/site collection – SharePoint 2010

This is one of the requirement in which one of our admin changed the project so it means he will no longer be a part of any SharePoint site collection or any web application.

By considering this requirement, we need to remove this specific users across all site collections, all groups, all web applications…

Here is the script for the same:

$URL="https://Sharepoint2010SiteURL"

$site =Get-SPSite($URL)

$web = $site.OpenWeb()

$groups = $web.sitegroups

$user = $web .AllUsers.Item("name of user")

foreach ($spgroup in $groups)

{

   $spgroup.RemoveUser($user)

   $spgroup.Updae()

}

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know, Thank you.

Copy documents between libraries by preserving their metadata – SharePoint 2010

Copying documents as well as list items across list’s and libraries is very easy but preserving metadata is the main concern.

No need to worry about anything as this blog will provide you the answer for the same.

There are two options are available to achieve this functionality:

1)   Content and Structure

2)   Export and Import

I have already written articles for the same and this process will preserve the metadata.

Here is the link for the content and structure: http://sharepointknowledgebase.blogspot.in/2013/09/copymove-document-between-web.html

Here are the links for the Export and Import:

Export: http://sharepointknowledgebase.blogspot.in/2012/06/backup-restore-in-sharepoint-2010.html

Note: Please refer sections: Backup of the list and Backup of the library

Import: http://sharepointknowledgebase.blogspot.in/2012/06/sharepoint-2010-backuprestore-with.html

Note: Please refer section: How to Restore the List/Document Libraries

If you have any queries/questions regarding anything then please let me know. I would be more than happy to help you as well as resolves your issues, Thank you.

Copy/Move a document between Web Applications + Site Collections + subsites - SharePoint 2010

Lists and Libraries are being extensively used in SharePoint as it’s a collaboration product. Common functionalities that we do on regular basis includes create document libraries and lists, uploading documents, create items, manage permissions at the library level / list level / Item level , manage versions and so many things…

Today’s article is based on the same as how to transfer/copy/move items between web applications/site collections/subsites.

Note: Make sure this feature ‘SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure’ should be activated before applying the following steps.

How to check this:

1)   Open the site

2)   Site actions

3)   Site settings

4)   Site collection administration

5)   Site collection features

6)   Activate this feature ‘SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure’

Note: If you can’t see the site collection administration then it’s because of permissions, you should be listed as ‘site collection administrator’ to view that option. If you don’t have rights then please contact the assigned site collection administrators to activate that feature.

Coming back to the main article where we are going to see the actual process:

Would like to explain this by means of example:

Suppose there are two sites: site A and site B

Site A: Root site and site B: subsite

1)   Open the site A

2)   Site actions

3)   Site settings

4)   Site administration

5)   Content and structure

6)   Select the list or document library from the left hand side- click on it.

7)   Associated items will be reflected in the right hand side pane.

8)   Actions

9)   You will get the options as Move, copy and delete.

As soon as you will click on copy/move, you will get another dialogue box to select the destination site/ site B + library/list.

Select it and click OK

Items will be successfully moved to destination house.

Note: If you have any confusion regarding this process then i would request you to select the COPY option as it will not completely rid-off the source library items and only replicate it to the destination library. Once items will be successfully moved then you can delete the source library/list as per your requirements.

If you have any queries/questions regarding the above mentioned information then please let me know, Thank you.

This page contains content or formatting that is not valid. You can find more information in the affected sections - SharePoint 2010

Problem description:

You have an ASP.NET control that contains validation controls in the masterpage or page layout for a publishing site (an ASP.NET login control for example). When you try to edit and check in a publishing page you receive the following error.

Error message:

This page contains content or formatting that is not valid. You can find more information in the affected sections.

Resolution:

Million Thanks to Ari Bakker's SharePoint Config blog who helped me to resolve this issue. Please have a look, it’s too fabulous:

http://www.sharepointconfig.com/2007/09/asp-net-validation-controls-prevent-publishing-pages-from-saving

Product applies to:

-SharePoint Server 2010

-SharePoint Foundation 2010

References:

http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/justguy/archive/2008/08/13/checking-if-a-publishing-page-is-in-edit-mode.aspx

http://rhythmiccoding.blogspot.in/2010/09/this-page-contains-content-or.html

http://fahadzia.com/blog/2009/08/this-page-contains-content-or-formatting-that-is-not-valid-you-can-find-more-information-in-the-affected-sections/

http://junooni.wordpress.com/2011/02/08/error-this-page-contains-content-or-formatting-that-is-not-valid-you-can-find-more-information-in-the-affected-sections-important-statuspublication-start-date-immediately-important-statusstatus

http://sharepoint.stackexchange.com/questions/75664/error-this-page-contains-content-or-formatting-that-is-not-valid-you-can-find

Cannot change item-level permissions because this list or document library contains a column that enforces unique values - SharePoint 2010

User wanted to make some permission level changes on the survey. So that Users can read or edit only their surveys.

We went to the advanced settings. Tried to change it to

We got an error

"Cannot change item-level permissions because this list or document library contains a column that enforces unique values"

We then tried researching and then found that one column "Title"

had that option set to yes as below

We tried to make some changes in the same column from choice to single line of text and enforce unique values to no

However we got one more error.

"The type of this column cannot be changed because it is currently being indexed”

Ahhh... Now we first took a backup of the survey list.

We then created a new column which worked fine. Then deleted the Title Column

And we were able to make the changes.

We were able to now make the changes in the advanced settings. As there was only one column which had that option checked.

Product applies to:

SharePoint Server 2010

SharePoint Foundation 2010