Jean-Pierre Paradis's Blog

Group Policy Preferences best practices

2012-01-27T07:59:00.001-05:00

This article introduces Group Policy Preferences, explains how they differ from Group Policy settings, compares Preferences to logon scripts, and covers a few Group Policy Preferences gotchas.

The introduction of Group Policy Preferences into Group Policy seems to have quite a few people confused. I think that confusion has been compounded by all of the people who skipped Windows Vista, stayed with Windows XP, and are just now starting to implement Windows 7 on the desktop.

Source : 4sysops

Microsoft goes public with plans for its new Windows 8 file system

2012-01-17T09:54:00.001-05:00

Microsoft officials are finally sharing publicly details about “Protogon,” the new file system that the company is developing as part of Windows 8.

Officially named ReFS — for Resilient File System — the new file system will be made available via a staged “evolution,” according to a January 16 post on the “Building Windows 8″ blog.

Source : www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft
Building Windows 8 Blog : Building the next generation file system for Windows: ReFS

How to add a custom search provider to Internet Explorer 9

2012-01-12T14:49:00.001-05:00

Thanks to Microsoft, the ‘Add custom search provider’ button was remove from the IE Gallery site.

If your want to create a custom search provider for any site just go to http://www.enhanceie.com/ie/searchbuilder.asp

Microsoft launches HTML5 version of 'Cut the Rope' at CES 2012

2012-01-12T08:37:00.001-05:00

Microsoft unveiled a HTML5 version of Cut the Rope at CES 2012 today. Created with the help of ZeptoLab, the game includes 25 levels in total for Internet Explorer 9 users — seven of which are exclusive when the site is pinned. Gabby Hegerty, Internet Explorer lead in the UK, explained to us that the web app is part of Microsoft's IE9 beauty of the web promotion, something that helped launch the web browser in March 2011.

Microsoft previously demonstrated Cut the Rope on Windows 8, and Hegerty revealed there are discussions around a Windows Phone 7 app. Although the latest effort is HTML5, it doesn't work correctly on Windows Phone's browser, and there's no plans to fix that. Microsoft's Cut the Rope for IE9 follows a similar effort by Google, Chrome Angry Birds, and does let Safari, Firefox, and Chrome users play the game. However, If you want access to the special seven levels you'll have to use Internet Explorer 9 and pin the site to your taskbar.

Source : www.theverge.com
Play : www.cuttherope.ie

VW R models' new ESP system

2011-12-13T09:52:00.001-05:00

Volkswagen has equipped its most potent Golf GTI and R models and its entire Scirocco range with a new ESP system that allows the driver to fully disable electronic aids.

VW has responded to criticism from media and customers that said the models were not adjustable or sporting enough, were too sensible compared with rivals and did not allow the driver full control of the vehicle

What about the Jetta GLI ?

Source : www.autocar.co.uk

On consumer PCs, crapware is still a performance-sapping nuisance

2011-12-05T11:26:00.001-05:00

Are PC makers finally getting the message that their customers don’t want crapware? A close look at three consumer PCs delivers a mixed answer.

See the accompanying image gallery:
12 ways hardware makers screw up a perfectly good Windows PC

Source : The Ed Bott Report

Firefox faces uncertain future as Google deal apparently ends

2011-12-05T10:45:00.001-05:00

It hasn’t been a good year for Firefox. Mozilla has lost share to Google, it’s lost the loyalty of enterprise customers, and it’s lost key talent. And a deal with Google that supplied 84% of its revenue last year was scheduled to end in November. Can Firefox avoid a slide into irrelevance?

Source : Th Ed Boot Report

2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI Autobahn

2011-12-02T14:11:00.001-05:00

The Jetta We've Been Waiting For

The motoring press hasn't had the greatest of relationships with the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta. When the sedan debuted, critics slammed the newest generation as a Walmart interpretation of a model many of us had grown up loving. The nicer-than-expected materials, playful handling and quiet cabin had all been scrapped in favor of a bargain basement price tag wrapped in styling as risky as sunblock in summer. The machine simply felt like the latest casualty of the Volkswagen campaign to become the world's largest automaker. To make matters worse, buyers didn't seem to care.

Despite a tide of vitriolic ink that's risen around the 2012 Jetta, the model has seen an explosion of sales that's left plenty of critics tapping their microphones and asking, "Is this thing on?" If anything, the exercise has proven that when it comes to moving vehicles in the now fiercely-competitive compact segment, price is still king no matter what the critics say. So, when Volkswagen promised to satiate the model's longtime fans with a new GLI, the rank smell of skepticism came wafting through newsrooms across the country.

But with a stylish exterior, sporty indoor appointments and an upgraded suspension, the 2012 Volkswagen GLI seemingly makes up for the base model's deficiencies, at least on paper

Read the complete article : www.autoblog.com

Microsoft to drop Desktop App from Windows 8 ARM tablets?

2011-12-02T08:25:00.001-05:00

Microsoft may have done an about-face and decided against offering the Desktop App and thus non-Metro-style apps, on Windows 8 ARM tablets.

Source : All about Microsoft Blog RSS | ZDNet

Android-x86 Project - Run Android on Your PC

2011-12-02T08:18:00.001-05:00

This is a project to port Android open source project to x86 platform, formerly known as "patch hosting for android x86 support".

Project Goal : To provide complete solution for Android on Eee PC platforms first and then to provide solutions for common x86 platforms as well.

Source : www.android-x86.org

Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (SCM)

2011-12-02T08:14:00.001-05:00

Security Compliance Manager 2 (SCM 2) is a free tool from the Microsoft Solution Accelerator team that enables you to quickly configure and manage your desktops, traditional datacenter, and private cloud using Group Policy (GPO) and System Center Configuration Manager.

Links :

MDT 2012: New Features– GPO Packs

2011-12-02T07:58:00.001-05:00

There are many new features of MDT 2012 but one that I particularly like is the ability to apply GPO Packs created using Security Configuration Manager (SCM) during the deployment process.

Source : The Deployment Guys

Setting an aspnet.config File per Application Pool

2011-12-01T16:53:00.001-05:00

The aspnet.config file is a little known config file which is supported by ASP.NET 2.0 and greater

Source : Scott Forsyth's Blog

Samsung Mocks Apple Sycophants in Latest Ad

2011-11-24T09:03:00.001-05:00

This is just precious. A new Samsung advertisement goes after the trendy hipster types that stand in line for hours to buy new Apple products, even though in this case--with the iPhone 4S--there are superior devices out there already. The ad nicely parodies the whole Apple Store line experience--you know, because they may not make enough of them, so you better get in line.

My favorite sequence is the hipster who dismissively says, "I could never get a Samsung. I'm creative." To which the guy next to him responds, even more dismissively, "Dude, you're a barista." LOL.

Classic because it's true.

Source : Paul Thurrott

How To Run Android Apps On Windows

2011-11-24T08:54:00.001-05:00

I've often imagined a computing environment in which you could run mobile apps on a full desktop OS. For example, I figured it made sense for Apple to replace the widgets capabilities in Mac OS X with the ability to run iOS apps. Or, Microsoft could provide a way to run Windows Phone apps on Windows instead of gadgets. Well, someone has brought this dream to life: Via a utility, you can now run Android apps on Windows.
The utility, called BlueStacks, is available in an early, pre-beta release right now. And while I've only just started testing it on the Windows 8 Developer Preview slate PC, I was so surprised by how well it's working already that I wanted to get the word out. This thing appears to be the real deal. For example, I was able to easily and seamlessly use the Pulse mobile app, full-screen, on the PC with full touch support.

You gotta check this out. It looks very interesting.

Thanks to Sheldon D. for the tip.

Source : Paul Thurrott

Exploring MDT 2012 Beta 2

2011-11-24T08:49:00.001-05:00

A good 10 parts series of articles about MDT 2012 by Manoj Nair :

blogs.technet.com

Managed Service Accounts in Windows Server 2008 R2

2011-11-21T09:18:00.001-05:00

Here’s the situation: You are called into consult for a client, and in examining their IT infrastructure you observe no organization as to how service accounts are deployed. For instance, some line-of-business (LOB) applications are using the domain Administrator as their service account identity, while others use the Local Service or Network Service identity.

Recently, the client began associating application services with dedicated domain user service accounts. However, because domain password policy forces password changes every 60 days, the manual reassignment of service account passwords created organizational headaches for the IT support staff.

How can you resolve this mess of a real-world situation?

Source : 4sysops.com

Majority Of Owners Use iPad Exclusively At Home

2011-11-18T09:18:00.001-05:00

Released earlier this week, a new survey pegs the eminently mobile iPad as much more of a homebody than previously thought. After gathering usage data from 15,000 iPad owners across more than a dozen countries, research firm McKinsey & Company were surprised to find that 62 percent of those polled never take their iPads out of the house.

Source : appadvice.com

Log Parser Lizard

2011-11-17T15:30:00.001-05:00

I’ve always been a little bit reluctant to use Microsoft Log Parser. I know it’s really powerfull, but it’s command line interface is not really fun to use.

Last week I decided to give it another try and I discovered Log Parser Lizard (better late than never). It’s a FREE GUI Tool to use the Log Parser API. It’s a must have !

Dedicated Administrator Connection (DAC) in SQL Server 2008 R2

2011-11-15T15:50:00.001-05:00

In Microsoft Windows, we have Safe Mode. In SQL Server 2008, we have the Dedicated Administrator Connection, or DAC. We can use DAC to obtain emergency access to a SQL Server 2008 database instance in cases where the instance is blocked up, locked up, or just plain hosed.

Full article : 4sysops.com

Bank of America's Google+ page is "brand-jacked"

2011-11-15T15:06:00.001-05:00

Google+ launched its business pages a week ago. One of the highest profile sites is from Bank of America. Or is it? Judging by the biting satirical content, Google has been thoroughly punked.

Complete article : www.zdnet.com/blog/bott

BlackBerry losing its cool even among owners

2011-11-14T10:32:00.001-05:00

Faster iPhones and Android devices have been taking market share from Research in Motion's once-addictive BlackBerry, but analysts and its executives are not ready to count the smartphone out yet.

Interesting article from the LA Times.

Source : www.latimes.com

Internet Explorer 9 Keyboard shortcuts

2011-11-11T16:18:00.001-05:00

Here’s my favorites shortcuts in Internet Explorer (IE) 9 :

Ctrl + W	Close the current window (tab)
Ctrl + F	Find on this page
Ctrl + I	Open Favorites
Ctrl + E	Open a search query in the address bar (with last query string)
Ctrl + click	Open links in a new tab in the background
Ctrl + Shift + click	Open links in a new tab in the foreground
Ctrl + P	Print

Complete IE 9 keyboard shortcut list :
windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Internet-Explorer-9-keyboard-shortcuts

Putting the “room” in “vroom”: Practical fun in the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI

2011-11-11T08:26:00.001-05:00

If you’re like most people, the terms “roomy and practical” don’t exactly call to mind performance-driven fun. The 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI might just change your mind.

Source : blogs.vw.com/jetta

Troubleshooting the “Network accounts are unavailable” error in Mac OS X Lion

2011-11-10T10:16:00.001-05:00

there are serious integration problems between Apple Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS). Specifically, we are seeing (a) sluggish binding between the Macs and AD; (b) super-slow domain logons; and (c) completely blocked domain logons.

Source : 4sysops.com

ZTI MDT Debugger 1.0

2011-11-08T10:00:00.001-05:00

The original MDTDebugger that I wrote is a great help for debugging tasks running in a litetouch (LTI) deployment task sequence, but it doesn't work for zerotouch (ZTI) deployments. The reason for this is that it needs to be able to display a window on the desktop of the computer that is running the task sequence; something that Systems Center Configuration Manager actively prevents. Well, this is no longer a problem because now there is a version of the MDTDebugger for ZTI deployments! This tool works in the same way as the LTI version but with a key difference: you open the debugging window on a different computer. In order to achieve this, I split the tool into two parts, the first part is the launcher that runs from the task sequence, and the second is the GUI that you use to help with the debugging.

Source : blogs.technet.com/b/deploymentguys

Bill Gates, not Steve Jobs, is the real hero

2011-11-07T09:23:00.001-05:00

Steve Jobs was a great CEO, but Bill Gates has moved beyond technology and is trying to save the world. Why isn't he getting more recognition?

Also forgotten has been a simple yet critical bit of history: Jobs, in his second and more successful period as Apple's CEO, stood on the shoulders of Bill Gates. Had Microsoft not made computing ubiquitous, there wouldn't be any reason to have an iPod, or an iPhone, or an iPod. In fact, they simply wouldn't exist.

Source : www.infoworld.com

Office 2007 and SharePoint 2007 Service Pack 3 Availability

2011-10-26T09:42:00.001-04:00

We are pleased to announce the availability of Service Pack 3 (SP3) for our 2007 family of products.

Source : blogs.technet.com/b/office_sustained_engineering

Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3

2011-10-19T08:44:00.001-04:00

Microsoft iSCSI software target 3.3 is available for download at Microsoft.com

The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target 3.3 is an economical solution suited for a development or test environment and a small, medium, or branch office production environment. It enables storage consolidation and sharing on a Windows Server by implementing the iSCSI (Internet Small Computer Systems Interface) protocol, which supports SCSI-block access to a storage device over a TCP/IP network.

Download : www.microsoft.com/download

FREE: WPKG – Software deployment tool

2011-10-19T08:41:00.001-04:00

WPKG is an Open Source software deployment tool that allows you to install software, upgrade and remove applications on remote Windows computers.

Source : 4sysops.com

How to create an HTML Application to configure your WebDAV Redirector settings

2011-10-12T09:27:00.001-04:00

Excellent post from Robert McMurray :

I've mentioned in previous blog posts that I use the Windows WebDAV Redirector a lot. (And believe me, I use it a lot.) Having said that, there are a lot of registry settings that control how the Windows WebDAV Redirector operates, and I tend to tweak those settings fairly often.
I documented all of those registry settings in my Using the WebDAV Redirector walkthrough, but unfortunately there isn't a built-in interface for managing the settings. With that in mind, I decided to write my own user interface.

Source : blogs.iis.net/robert_mcmurray
Related : using-the-webdav-redirector

Firefox 7.0 is out, but wait …

2011-09-28T10:08:00.001-04:00

Cool Firefox 7.0 is available (see release notes)

But wait, where is the Java support ?

Hackers break SSL encryption used by millions of sites

2011-09-21T09:04:00.001-04:00

Researchers have discovered a serious weakness in virtually all websites protected by the secure sockets layer protocol that allows attackers to silently decrypt data that's passing between a webserver and an end-user browser.

The vulnerability resides in versions 1.0 and earlier of TLS, or transport layer security, the successor to the secure sockets layer technology that serves as the internet's foundation of trust. Although versions 1.1 and 1.2 of TLS aren't susceptible, they remain almost entirely unsupported in browsers and websites alike, making encrypted transactions on PayPal, GMail, and just about every other website vulnerable to eavesdropping by hackers who are able to control the connection between the end user and the website he's visiting.

Source : www.theregister.co.uk

Running Windows 8 Developer Preview in a virtual environment

2011-09-20T09:08:00.001-04:00

We wanted to do a quick post on compatibility with respect to virtualization technologies. We know there were some initial challenges and we've seen the community support process kick in and many people are unblocked as "how to" posts have gone up in various places. As this is a developer preview we expect to see other classes of issues related to app or device compatibility—the full breadth of our testing was not done (or intended to be done) for the Preview. Obviously this one was found early and we could have done a bit better. Sue Bohn, David Hicks, Cornel Lupu of our ACDC team (App Compat, Device Compat) authored this quick post. -- Steven Sinofsky

Functional:

Hyper-V in Windows 8 Developer Preview

Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2

VMware Workstation 8.0 for Windows

VirtualBox 4.1.2 for Windows

Non-functional:

Microsoft Virtual PC (all versions)

Microsoft Virtual Server (all versions)

Windows 7 XP Mode

VMWare Workstation 7.x or older

Source : Building Windows 8

FREE: WMI Explorer – Browse WMI classes and execute any WMI query

2011-09-15T16:03:00.001-04:00

A must have tool for any Windows Administrator.

Ref :

Hyper-V to be in Windows 8 client, Microsoft acknowledges officially

2011-09-07T16:15:00.001-04:00

In building Windows 8 we worked to enable Hyper-V, the machine virtualization technology that has been part of the last 2 releases of Windows Server, to function on the client OS as well.

Really cool ! I can’t wait to install Windows 8 on my Thinkpad.

Sources :

Why complex passwords may be less secure than you think

2011-09-07T09:40:00.001-04:00

I'll be rethinking passwords in this blog, and what you can do to make authenticating with passwords more secure.

Technically, adding a single non-letter character to an English word would indeed prevent a dictionary attack. Yes, a bad one!

"I needed a password eight characters long so I picked Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."

Very good article : www.eventlogblog.com

2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI

2011-09-02T16:49:00.001-04:00

What we've really been waiting for is this, the 2012 Jetta GLI. Packing VW's ubiquitous turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, a six-speed manual or optional DSG and an independent rear suspension, the GLI is here to assuage enthusiasts' fears that VW has lost the plot in its relentless pursuit of global market dominance.

Read the complete “Jette GLI First Drive Review ” on autoblog.com

Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Self-study Guides

2011-09-01T08:17:00.001-04:00

Microsoft just published two new self-study guides for Sharepoint 2010 :

HP's Inability to Communicate Dooms webOS, Mortally Wounds PC Business

2011-08-23T17:08:00.001-04:00

It was the biggest tech news of the year so far, but last week's revelations by HP about its PC and mobile OS businesses was so badly bungled by the computing giant that we all got the wrong message. The net effect, of course, is that HP has accomplished what it never intended: It has killed any future for its webOS mobile system. And it has possibly mortally wounded its thus-far dominant PC business as well.

The headlines earlier this week were clear enough: "HP Kills webOS" and "HP to Sell, Spin Off PC Business" are representative. But amazingly, neither of these is accurate.

Firefox 6.0 is here !

2011-08-17T10:13:00.001-04:00

Check the release notes.

Alleviating pressure caused by component store (WinSxs) size

2011-08-17T10:01:00.001-04:00

I just wanted to make you all aware of a new KB article myself and a couple of teammates put together around component store growth and remediation. I wanted to have something short and to the point and I think a lot of you might find this more useful than sifting through the blog trying to piecemeal together the same information. I'll probably try to put together something a little more verbose here that goes more into the internals of some of this but I am busy working on a new project and dont have tons of time. If you have any questions or comments about the material please ask them here.

How to Alleviate Disk Space Pressure Caused By a Large Windows Component Store (WinSxS) Directory
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=2592038

Source : The Windows Servicing Guy

Kerberos and Load Balancing

2011-08-10T10:35:00.001-04:00

Hi guys, Joji Oshima here again. Today I want to talk about configuring Kerberos authentication to work in a load-balanced environment. This is a more advanced topic that requires a basic understanding of how Kerberos works. If you want an overview of Kerberos, I would suggest Rob’s excellent post, Kerberos for the Busy Admin. In this post, I will be using a load balanced IIS web farm as the example, but the principal applies for other applications.

Read the complete article : blogs.technet.com/b/askds

AT&T partners with universities, brings campus applications to mobile devices

2011-07-29T09:30:00.001-04:00

AT&T has announced that they will be partnering with 2,000 campuses across the country to bring mobile applications to the attendees instead of handing out campus maps and other paperwork. The applications are designed to enhance the experience of the people attending, giving them easy access to campus maps, phone directory, courses, and campus events

AT&T* is the first carrier to offer this type of mobile platform, an affordable, leading-edge technology for higher education institutions. The AT&T Campus Guide app, which users can download for free, works with any service provider and on most major mobile operating systems. AT&T is working with DubMeNow, a pioneer in mobilizing higher education, to bring AT&T Campus Guide to schools all over the country.

Colleges and universities using AT&T Campus Guide can customize the app, adding school colors and banners to make it their own. And with its quick and easy set-up, AT&T Campus Guide is ready to go in a matter of weeks rather than months.

www.att.com
www.blackberryos.com
crackberry.com

THE IMPACT OF FSMO ROLES NOT BEING AVAILABLE

2011-07-29T09:01:00.001-04:00

AD uses a multi-master replication mechanism, meaning that updates can originate on any RWDC. For all kinds of services AD is highly redundant assuming you have more than one RWDC. Within AD some operations cannot operate using the multi-master principle, but rather use the single-master principle to ensure consistency. The roles for those operations are the so called Flexible Single Masters of Operations (FSMO). From a forest perspective two forest wide FSMO roles exist and from a domain perspective three domain wide FSMO roles exist. Below you will find which one is which.

Complete article : blogs.dirteam.com/blogs/jorge

Why McAfee is still at the top of my Not Recommended list

2011-07-29T08:46:00.001-04:00

Over the years, when I’ve had to deal with McAfee products, I have been known to unleash torrents of invective that would make a pirate blush.Over the past month I tried the latest McAfee release. Here’s why it’s still on my Not Recommended list.

Read the complete article : www.zdnet.com/blog/bott

Access Is Underrated: Your Hatred Of Microsoft Access Is Largely Unjustified

2011-06-08T09:18:00.001-04:00

Luke Chung of FMS, Inc. has published an interesting article on the Enterprise Features site that discusses some of the negative perceptions about Access, especially within enterprise settings. Luke argues that Access can be a big productivity booster for individuals and teams in the enterprise, and that IT departments should not put restrictions on the use of Access. Here's an excerpt:

"Organizations should recognize end users and line of business managers can create a lot of solutions on their own and are best equipped to do so (like giving bullets to infantry). These solutions should be considered tactical (special forces) not strategic (nuclear weapons) and should not be held to the same standards. Get things done quickly and moving on is the key to being nimble."

See Luke's article here.

Source : blogs.office.com/b/microsoft-access

FREE: Microsoft Safety Scanner – Portable antivirus program

2011-05-13T15:49:00.003-04:00

The Microsoft Safety Scanner was just released a few days ago. The free portable antivirus tool only comes as a simple EXE file and is available as a 32-bit and 64-bit version. The EXE file contains all the virus signatures.

Source : 4sysops.com

FREE: TMnetSim Network Simulator – Simulate network latency and packet loss

2011-05-13T15:49:00.001-04:00

The free portable tool TMnetSim Network Simulator enables you to simulate a poor or slow network connection in your lab.

TMnetSim sits between the client and the server and allows only as much network quality as you admit.

Source : 4sysops.com

down right now

2011-05-13T15:48:00.003-04:00

downrightnow monitors the status of your favorite web services, combining user reports and official announcements to tell you when there's service trouble.

Great way to find out if service is up. Currently monitor the follwing services :

Facebook
Foursquare
Google Mail (Gmail)
Tumblr
Twitter
Windows Live Hotmail
Yahoo! Mail
Youtube
Blogger
LinkedIn
LiveJournal
Netflix
Ning
PayPal
Skype
TypePad

Link : downrightnow.com

IE9 Compat Inspector

2011-05-13T15:48:00.001-04:00

Compat Inspector is a JavaScript-based testing tool that analyzes your site while it runs. Compat Inspector reports patterns of interaction which cause issues in standards mode. This allows you to identify problems quickly without memorizing a bunch of documentation or searching through the entirety of your site's code. We developed Compat Inspector during the course of IE9 to speed up the process of recognizing common issues across different sites. Along the way many members of the IE team contributed to the set of test cases that make up the rules in Compat Inspector. Now we're making it all available to you. Check out the Compat Inspector Test Drive to try it out before using it on your own site.

Source : IEBlog

Why malware for Macs is on its way

2011-05-06T07:54:00.001-04:00

Oh, the rationalizations people come up with to explain away what they don’t want to hear.

Last week, when I wrote Coming soon to a Mac near you: serious malware, I expected to get an earful from Mac partisans telling me how wrong I was. They didn’t disappoint.

In this post, I want to respond, in detail, to the arguments that I heard in response to that post. They’re the same ones that come up over and over again when the topic turns to Macs and malware.

Source : Ed Bott's Microsoft Report

IE9 versus Chrome: which one blocks malware better?

2011-04-26T11:24:00.001-04:00

Last week I looked at a fascinating sample of malware that specifically targeted users of Google Chrome. Over the past few days, I’ve been looking more closely at this particular malware attack, which appears to be widespread and extremely persistent.

Source : Ed Bott's microsoft report

Microsoft Access Power Tip: Improve the security of database connections

2011-04-14T09:36:00.001-04:00

This post about making ODBC connections more secure is provided by Access MVP Ben Clothier.

Now and then, we come to a point where we decide to upsize an Access database to a server-based RDBMS. The reasons for upsizing can vary, but a common theme is security. With a server-based RDBMS, we have more options for security than when we are working with a file-based data source. Even if security wasn’t the reason for upsizing, we do have an obligation to ensure that we develop a “good citizen” application and protect the company’s assets contained in the RDBMS. When our RDBMS supports Windows authentication (e.g., SQL Server, Oracle, FireBird), we have it easy – no username or password needs to be stored. But unfortunately, we don’t always have Windows authentication available, and even when it is supported, it may not be practical. This article focuses on the case where we have to pass in a username and password as a part of the connection string and we want to do so in a secure manner. The article also assumes we are using ODBC and DAO.

Source : blogs.office.com

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (SP1)

2011-04-14T09:03:00.001-04:00

Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows® 7 with SP1 enables IT administrators to manage roles and features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server® 2008 R2, Windows Server® 2008, or Windows Server® 2003, from a remote computer that is running Windows 7 or Windows 7 with SP1.

Download : www.microsoft.com/downloads

Premiere U.S. consumer magazine calls the new Jetta 'a shadow of the agile, well-finished car it once was.'

2011-04-08T15:41:00.001-04:00

Top-notch consumer magazine Consumer Reports has given a very negative review to the 2011 North American VW Jetta.

"The new Jetta is unimpressive. In an effort to bring the car's starting price down, VW cheapened the previous Jetta's interior and suspension, making it less sophisticated and compromising handling."

Source : www.worldcarfans.com

The new for 2011 Volkswagen Jetta received a new, far lower base price tag of $15,995, but Consumer Reports evidently feels that the more affordable sticker has come at too high of a cost to the vehicle itself. The buyer-centric organization ranked the Jetta dead last among 11 small sedans tested for the April edition of its magazine.

Source : www.autoblog.com

Microsoft iSCSI Software Target is now available for public download

2011-04-04T15:47:00.001-04:00

For the last few years, I’ve been blogging about the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target and its many uses related to Windows Server Failover Clustering, Hyper-V and other server scenarios. Today, Microsoft has made this software publicly available to all users of Windows Server 2008 R2.

Source : Jose Barreto's Blog

Deployment Options for UEFI based Computers

2011-03-31T10:23:00.001-04:00

Today’s blog will discuss support for UEFI with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and other deployment tools.

How to use DISM to install a hotfix from within Windows

2011-03-02T16:05:00.001-05:00

Hello, my name is Emmers Presson. I am a Support Escalation Engineer for Microsoft in the Windows Core team.

The purpose of this blog is to give you the steps to install a hotfix (or any other “package”) on the currently running operating system using the Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) command.

Source : Ask the Core Team blog

System Update Readiness Tool for Windows Vista, for Windows Server 2008, for Windows 7, and for Windows Server 2008 R2

2011-03-02T13:39:00.001-05:00

This article describes the System Update Readiness Tool for Windows Vista-based computers, for Windows Server 2008-based computers, for Windows Server 2008 R2-based computers, and for Windows 7-based computers. Microsoft released the System Update Readiness Tool to resolve certain conditions that could cause installing updates and other software not to work. You do not have to manually run this tool. This tool is offered automatically through Windows Update to computers that have a condition that the tool could resolve.

After you download the System Update Readiness Tool, it runs a onetime scan for inconsistencies that might prevent future servicing operations. This scan typically takes less than 15 minutes to run. However, the tool might take significantly longer on some computers. The Windows Update progress bar is not updated during the scan, and progress seems to stop at 60% complete for some time. This behavior is expected. The scan is still running and you should not cancel the update.

Source : support.microsoft.com

Web Pros Series video – Week 9 - URL Rewrite, ServerVariables, URL Parts, HTTP to HTTPS Redirect

2011-03-02T08:25:00.001-05:00

Web Pro Series / Week 9 / URL Rewrite, ServerVariables, URL Parts, HTTP to HTTPS Redirect

Source : Scott Forsyth's Blog

Error 0xC000022 when installing Service Pack 1 for Win7/2008R2

2011-03-02T08:16:00.001-05:00

You may receive the following error when installing Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2:

0xC0000022 (STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED)

This can be due to McAfee Host Intrusion Protection being installed on the system. To workaround this problem, disable the following option in McAfee: Startup IPS Protection Enabled

More information is available on this thread: https://community.mcafee.com/message/177267#177267

Source : The Windows Servicing Guy

Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 Released

2011-03-02T08:05:00.002-05:00

Some of you probably noticed a new download showed up today:
The Windows® Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows® 7 SP1

Be sure to read the “readme” that goes along with this at:
Windows Automated Installation Kit for Windows 7 Readme

A quick Q&A that I assembled from information in this readme and our own MDT testing ...

Source : Michael Niehaus' Windows and Office deployment ramblings

[OS X 10.6] CreateMobileUserAccount error 4100

2011-03-01T22:38:00.001-05:00

If you tried to logon on a MacBook Pro (OS X) with an Active Directory account you may have seen the following error in the system.log :

createmobileaccount[4146]: MCXCCacheMCXRecordAndGraph(): [localNode createRecordWithRecordType:dsRecTypeStandard:Users name:"paradisj"] == 4100 (Unable to set value or values for dsAttrTypeStandard:Password in the record.)

First of all, many thanks to Travis J. Garrison who pointed me in the right direction.

The problem was that I had two accounts in our Active Directory with the same value for the email attribute. The logon with the first account worked fine, but I wasn’t able to logon with the second one (on the same Mac).

The DirectoryServices.Error.log gave me the identity of the first account :

T[0x0000000102281000] - CDSLocalPluginNode::AttributeValueMatchesUserAlias(), alias exists in file /var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/users/paradisjtest.plist

I had to change the email attribute (AD) of the first account and refresh the cache (MCX_cache) of the first account :

mcxrefresh -n paradisjtest -a

After that I was able to logon with both accounts.

Question :

Why does Apple used the email and displayName attribute as an alias of an account when those two attributes are not unique in Active Directory ?

(It’s not a bug, it’s a documented feature)

Microsoft Anwsers

2011-03-01T09:06:00.001-05:00

A few days ago Microsoft launch a redesigned “Microsoft Answers” site. The new version introduces a “reputation model” that helps identify “good” answers provided by experts.

The new site had a performance issue which now seems to be resolved. Maybe they should post a question about it

Source : www.zdnet.com

How to install RSAT on Windows 7 SP1

2011-02-25T16:58:00.001-05:00

I guess those of you who are responsible for patch management have heard of the trick before. I tried it with RSAT on Windows 7 SP1, and it appeared to work fine.

In the description of this workaround, I assume that you want to install x86fre_GRMRSAT_MSU.msu. If you need amd64fre_GRMRSATX_MSU.msu, you have to change the file names accordingly. I also assume that you downloaded the RSAT MSU file to c:\tmp.The workaround description is slightly different than in chibisuke’s comment.

Install RSAT on Windows 7 SP1

Launch a command prompt with Administrator rights.

Execute the following commands:
md c:\rsat
expand -f:* c:\tmp\ rsat-windows-7-x86fre_GRMRSAT_MSU c:\rsat
cd c:\rsat
pkgmgr /n:Windows6.1-KB958830-x86.xml /l:log.txt

Wait until this line appears in c:\log.txt: DISM Provider Store: PID=1120 Releasing the local reference to DISMLogger. Stop logging….

Reboot.

Launch the “Turn Windows Feature on or off” applet in the Control Panel under Programs, and enable the Remote Server Administration Tools or Role Administration Tools you need.

Source : 4sysops.com

Web Pro Series videos

2011-02-25T13:53:00.001-05:00

Scott Forsyth has started a new series of walkthrough videos about web technologies. It’s worth watching.

Web Pro Series / Week 1 / Ping and Tracert walkthroughs

Web Pro Series / Week 2 / Understanding DNS Zone Records

Web Pro Series / Week 3 / Nslookup–the Ultimate DNS Troubleshooting Tool

Web Pro Series / Week 4 / Three Tricks For Capturing Command Line Output

Web Pro Series / Week 5 / Understanding IIS Bindings

Web Pro Series / Week 6 / The SSL Bindings Issue

Web Pro Series / Week 7 / Setting Host Headers for SSL Sites in IIS

Web Pro Series / Week 8 / An Intro to IIS URL Rewrite–plus redirecting URLs to www

Good job Scott, can’t wait to see more. I will check your blog regularly.

Windows 7/2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Fail with …

2011-02-24T13:42:00.001-05:00

Il you have exprienced an error with SP1 for Windows 7 / Windows 2008 R2 installation you should take a look at the Ramblings of a Support Engineer blog from a Microsoft Engineer.

Source : www.zdnet.com/blog/bott

FREE: EMCO WakeOnLan – Wake-on-LAN utility for large networks

2011-02-24T11:50:00.001-05:00

If you’ve ever tried to use Wake-on-LAN technology, you may know that its configuration can be confusing sometimes. You have to enable WOL in BIOS and motherboard settings and correctly specify the WOL command parameters. Wake-on-LAN utilities (see a review for one of them) usually allow waking up one remote PC and require that you specify its IP and MAC addresses in order to generate and send a magic packet to it. In order to wake up multiple PCs, you have to write scripts to detect MAC addresses of remote PCs and execute a WOL utility to send the magic packet to every PC. A free Wake-on-LAN tool from EMCO is specially designed to wake up multiple remote PCs and allows automating all required operations.

Source : 4sysops.com

Service Pack 1 public download for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

2011-02-23T08:23:00.001-05:00

It is officially out !

Download details Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 (KB976932)

Source : Bink.nu

Install RSAT on Windows 7 SP1?

2011-02-22T08:25:00.001-05:00

When you try to install RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7) on Windows 7 SP1, you will get this error message: "This update is not applicable to your computer".

Source : 4sysops.com/archives/install-rsat-on-windows-7-sp1

Reflector PowerShellLanguage add-in

2011-02-21T10:06:00.001-05:00

This language add-in allows you to see the corresponding PowerShell script for static methods on classes. Most of the common language structures are supported.

Source : reflectoraddins.codeplex.com

Why would an engineer want to work at Google instead of Apple?

2011-02-08T11:51:00.001-05:00

Very interesting :

Google and Apple are very different. Apple has a design DNA. Google has a technology DNA.

Apple has a different feel. Its the, I'm cool, feel. Its the look, we made this thing look cooler and prettier and now there are too many people vying for your employee discounted stuff.

My manager at Apple told me that it is a hardware company, and that software is not the chief priority. This affects Apple, and software engineering is, without question, a second class citizen.

Working at Apple is like working in the Army. Sure you can ask why you should jump into the river, but you better be soaking wet before you ask that question

Source : www.quora.com/Why-would-an-engineer-want-to-work-at-Google-instead-of-Apple

Apple in the enterprise: Living without Xserve

2011-02-07T15:10:00.001-05:00

Apple officially called an end to its server line on Tuesday and it’s a bitter pill for some Mac stalwarts in the data center. Part of the problem is that enterprise customers have a comfort-level problem when it comes to living with questions about Apple’s product and strategic plans like the rest of us. Cupertino’s cone of silence is absolute, whether it’s the details of the next iPad or the continuing support for Mac OS X Server.

Source : The Apple Core Blog RSS | ZDNet

Rumormill: European Volkswagen Jetta could come to the U.S. in 2014

2011-01-31T15:38:00.001-05:00

The 2011 Volkswagen Jetta that we get in the United States is a different animal than the one enjoyed throughout Europe. European Jettas are fitted with a multi-link rear suspension setup, upgraded wiring harness to handle more complex optional features and more upscale interior materials. Why don't we get these things? The main answer is cost.

Strong sales would show that the Jetta is in high demand, meaning Volkswagen could realistically introduce the upgraded European features by way of a mid-model change, perhaps by 2014. Will it happen? Somehow, we tend to doubt it... but a lot can happen in three years.

Source : Autoblog

How to integrate F5 with Web Farm Framework?

2011-01-24T15:45:00.001-05:00

Web farm framework has in built extensibility to work with any load balancer. The intent of this article is to show how you can use a load balancer like F5.

Integration with a load balancer like F5 is great with WFF because it allows you to simplify the management and deployment of your web farm (in presence of a load balancer) without having to do these operations manually. These benefits and provisioning details are discussed in more details in WFF detailed walkthroughs.

Through its extensibility model, the Web Farm Framework is able to communicate with the F5 BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) through the LTM's open SOAP/XML based API. This API allows WFF to make dynamic configuration changes on the load balancer, such as creating pools, disabling nodes, and re-enabling to make sure connections are not being sent to servers as WFF is updating them. F5 has wrapped their iControl SDK in a .net assembly (icontrol.dll), making integration into WFF a simple procedure.

Source : The Official Microsoft IIS Site

FREE: Account Lockout Tools – View lockout status and unlock account

2011-01-20T23:21:00.001-05:00

With the free Microsoft utilities LockoutStatus and Acctinfo of the Account Lockout and Management Tools, you can quickly access a user account’s lockout status, unlock the account, and reset the password.

Source : 4sysops
Download : Microsoft’s Account Lockout and Management Tools.

FREE: Group Policy Search – Find Group Policy settings

2011-01-20T23:17:00.001-05:00

Group Policy Search is a free online tool from Microsoft that allows you to find Group Policy settings easily.

When I discovered the power of the System Policies in Windows NT 4, I wondered why Microsoft didn’t offer a search tool that allows to me find all policies easily. I had to wait only 15 years until I stumbled across the Group Policy Search service.

Source : 4sysops

OneNote Mobile for iPhone now available, what’s next?

2011-01-20T22:58:00.001-05:00

Microsoft released its very first official Office app for iPhone today – OneNote Mobile, which is available in the U.S. iTunes app store only and free for a limited time.

OneNote Mobile for iPhone is a note taking and organizing app. It allows you easily create and edit notes that can include text, photo and list. With automatic SkyDrive cloud sync capability, you can always keep your OneNote notes up to date on your iPhone, and access them from anywhere – your phone, your PC and browser.

Source : LiveSide.net

Copy and Merge GPOs through Powershell

2011-01-20T22:54:00.001-05:00

Ashley McGlone has a great script up for merging GPOs together through powershell.

I wish I had this script five years ago. At the time I was searching for a way to combine or merge GPOs, but there simply wasn’t a way to do it. And today there still isn’t a way to do it… until POWERSHELL! Almost every environment I see (including my own former environment) has a collection of GPOs that have evolved over time and really need to be consolidated and cleaned up.

In Windows Server 2008 R2 we released a new PowerShell module for Group Policy administration. I haven’t seen much written about it, and I don’t think many people realize it is there.

Check it out!

Source : Group Policy Team Blog

Can Apple, Linux, and other non-MS operating systems connect to DFS Namespaces?

2011-01-20T22:49:00.001-05:00

Excellent wrap-up of DFS on non-MS OS

Hi all, Ned here again. I’ve been asked a few times if other operating systems can utilize DFS Namespaces running on Windows Server. It’s a sticky wicket; as a “voice of Microsoft” my statements carry a lot of weight - deserved or not. It’s not smart or ethical for me to say that something not made by Microsoft works well, works better than something else, or doesn’t work at all. In some cases, lawyers may be summoned from Vhoorl.

Complete article : Ask the Directory Services Team

VS 2010 SP1 (Beta) and IIS Express

2011-01-18T09:05:00.001-05:00

Earlier this summer I blogged about IIS Express. IIS Express is a free version of IIS 7.5 that is optimized for developer scenarios. We think it combines the ease of use of the ASP.NET Web Server (aka Cassini) currently built-into VS today with the full power of IIS. Specifically:

It’s lightweight and easy to install (less than 5Mb download and a quick install)

It does not require an administrator account to run/debug applications from Visual Studio

It enables a full web-server feature set – including SSL, URL Rewrite, and other IIS 7.x modules

It supports and enables the same extensibility model and web.config file settings that IIS 7.x support

It can be installed side-by-side with the full IIS web server as well as the ASP.NET Development Server (they do not conflict at all)

It works on Windows XP and higher operating systems – giving you a full IIS 7.x developer feature-set on all Windows OS platforms

Source : weblogs.asp.net/scottgu

FREE: WSUS Offline Update – Update Windows and Office without an Internet connection

2011-01-18T08:51:00.001-05:00

WSUS Offline Update is a free portable tool that allows you to download updates for Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, and all Office versions and install those updates on computers with no Internet connection.

Source : 4sysops

Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5 Express

2011-01-16T22:25:00.001-05:00

IIS 7.5 Express is a simple and self-contained version of IIS 7.5 that is optimized for developers.

IIS 7.5 Express enhances your ability to develop and test web applications on Windows by combining the power of IIS 7.5 with the convenience of a lightweight web server like the ASP.NET Development Server (also known as Cassini). The benefits of using IIS 7.5 Express include:

The same web server that runs on your production server is now available on your development computer.

Most tasks can be done without the need for administrative privileges.

IIS 7.5 Express runs on Windows XP and all later versions of Windows.

Many users can work independently on the same computer.

Download details Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5 Express

Source : Bink.nu

Microsoft Web Deploy v2.0

2011-01-16T22:23:00.001-05:00

Migrate Web applications between IIS 6.0 and IIS 7.0 with ease

Synchronize your server farm efficiently

Package, archive and deploy Web applications more easily
For more information, see the following articles:

Web Deployment Tool Overview

Installing the Web Deployment Tool

Source : Bink.nu

Orchard 1.0 – Open source ASP.NET CMS

2011-01-16T22:12:00.001-05:00

Microsoft also is releasing the 1.0 version of its free, open-source “Orchard” content-management system (CMS). Like WebMatrix, Orchard’s goal is to require users to do less coding, making the product appealing for a less techie audience, Microsoft is hoping.

Source : www.zdnet.com
Ref : orchardproject.net

WSUS ClientManager for Workgroups

2011-01-11T11:18:00.001-05:00

The free Microsoft tool WSUS ClientManager allows you to add Windows workgroup computers to a WSUS server. To add multiple computers to WSUS, you can use the REG file that WSUS ClientManager creates.

Source : 4sysops.com
Download : wsusworkgroup.codeplex.com

Webfarm and IIS configuration tips/tricks

2011-01-06T11:10:00.001-05:00

I was recently talking with some good friends about tips for performance and what an IIS Administrator could do on the server side. I also see this question from time to time in the forums @ http://forums.iis.net . Of course, you should test individual settings in a controlled environment while performing load testing before just implementing on your production farm. IIS Compression enabled (both static and dynamic if possible, set it to 9) If you are running IIS 6, check this article out by Scott...(read more)

Source : The Official Microsoft IIS Site

New SharePoint planning documents from Microsoft Download

2011-01-06T11:09:00.001-05:00

Source : microsoft.com/downloads

Free e-books for Windows administrators

2011-01-06T10:44:00.001-05:00

This is a list of free e-books that are useful for Windows administrators. It will be regularly updated.

Source : 4sysops

FREE: GDism ELDI – A GUI for managing WIM images

2011-01-04T09:22:00.001-05:00

GDism ELDI is a free GUI for DISM of the WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit) that allows you to manage WIM images.

GDism ELDI

Source : 4sysops

Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.0 is released!

2011-01-03T10:20:00.001-05:00

Configuring FreeNAS for CIFS storage connectivity

2011-01-03T08:21:00.001-05:00

Organizations are always on the prowl for cost-effective storage solutions. In a number of previous posts, whenever a free storage product is mentioned, TechRepublic members frequently suggest FreeNAS as an alternative to StarWind, Openfiler and other software storage solutions. By its name, FreeNAS is a free solution. In this gallery, FreeNAS will be installed as a virtual machine and provisioned as a Windows file resource using the common internet file system (CIFS) storage protocol.

Source : TechRepublic

Windows Live launches new plug-ins website

2010-12-20T16:09:00.001-05:00

This week we are introducing a new Windows Live plug-ins website, which allows you to download and submit plug-ins for Windows Live Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, and Writer.

Source : Inside Windows Live

Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 released

2010-12-20T16:06:00.001-05:00

Microsoft Security Essentials, released back in September 2009 as a free replacement for the subscription-based Windows Live OneCare, has been updated to version 2.0 today. The final release carries the build number 2.0.657 and includes new features such as:

Windows Firewall integration – During setup, Microsoft Security Essentials will now ask if you would like to turn the Windows Firewall on or off.

Enhanced protection for web-based threats – Microsoft Security Essentials now integrates with Internet Explorer to provide protection against web-based threats.

New protection engine – The updated anti-malware engine offers enhanced detection and cleanup capabilities with better performance.

Network inspection system – Protection against network-based exploits is now built in to Microsoft Security Essentials.

You can download Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 at Microsoft Download Center.

Source : LiveSide.net

How to use MDT 2010 + WDS with VirtualBox

2010-12-17T11:05:00.001-05:00

I wanted to setup a virtual lab with a Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 server and a PXE client in Virtual Box. I finally got it to work !

The main problem is that the Intel PRO/1000 network card in VirtualBox does not seems to work with PXE (I dont know why) and the PCnet-FAST adapter is not supported (by default) in Windows PE (and no driver available in x64).

My solution is to simply define 2 network adapters in your virtual machine (the PXE client) :

PXE will use the first adapter (PCnet-FAST) and Windows PE will use the Intel PRO/1000 because it doesn’t know about the other one (no driver).

Here’s a step-by-step guide :

Ensure that the boot order of you VirtualBox machine allow it the boot from the Network :

You should also check that APIC is ON (Windows PE wont boot without it).

Boot you virtual machine, a screen like this should appear :

Open your "Windows Deployment Services” (WDS) console and approve the new pending device :

To avoid confusion in Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) I prefer to use the Computer UID instead of the MAC address to identify the computer (because we have two network adapters). To get the Computer UID at this stage, open “Active Directory Users and Computers” and display the properties of the new Computer object that WDS created when you approved the pending device.

On the Remote Install tab, copy the ‘Computer’s unique ID’ without the bracelets {}.

Open the ‘Deployment Workbench’ and create a new computer in the database (Advanced Configuration)

Enter a description and paste the ‘Computer’s unique ID’ in the UUID field. Complete the computer configuration the match your MDT setup (Assign a role or a TaskSequenceID).

That's it, reboot your virtual machine and your deployment should start.

Note : This article does not cover all your MDT/WDS setup, you have to install and configure those by yourself before using this solution. But if you used MDT before that should not be a problem.

Solutions for Virtualizing Domain Controllers

2010-12-15T16:16:00.001-05:00

When it comes to building a virtual datacenter, perhaps no topic is as controversial as domain controller placement. Server virtualization has been around for a long time now, and with several mature virtualization products on the market, one would think that the ground rules for virtualizing network servers would have been firmly established by now. For the most part there are clear and concise guidelines for server virtualization. This is not necessarily the case when it comes to virtualizing domain controllers though. It absolutely amazes me how many different philosophies there are as to how domain controllers should be dealt with in a virtual environment. Since there are pros and cons associated with each of these different philosophies, I decided to take a critical look at domain controller placement in a virtualized environment.

Solutions for Virtualizing Domain Controllers (Part 1)

Solutions for Virtualizing Domain Controllers (Part 2)

Solutions for Virtualizing Domain Controllers (Part 3)

Solutions for Virtualizing Domain Controllers (Part 4)

Solutions for Virtualizing Domain Controllers (Part 5)

Solutions for Virtualizing Domain Controllers (Part 6)

Solutions for Virtualizing Domain Controllers (Part 7)

Source : www.virtualizationadmin.com

Deployment Walkthrough Videos Now Fully Posted

2010-12-10T23:07:00.001-05:00

Thanks you all for your patience waiting for the full set of deployment walkthrough videos to be posted on TechNet Edge. As per my previous post, over the past few months I have been updating the deployment walkthrough videos and I am pleased to announce that the whole video series has now been posted. In all there are seven videos (around 10 hours of content) - you can see the full list of videos here or you can link to the individual videos below:

DEPLOYMENT PLANNING:

Exploring the Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) 2.0

Exploring the User State Migration Toolkit (USMT) 4.0

Exploring the Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.5

OFFICE DEPLOYMENT:

Deploying 2007 Office System (I'm working on the Office 2010 deployment video – will be out early January)

IMAGE ENGINEERING AND SERVICING:

Windows 7 Image Creation and Lite Touch Deployment using MDT 2010

Image Servicing with DISM

IMAGE DEPLOYMENT:

Windows 7 Zero Touch Image Deployment With Configuration Manager and MDT 2010

Source : The Deployment Guys

Visio shapes for SharePoint Server, Project Server, Search Server, and Office posters

2010-12-10T23:02:00.001-05:00

Visio shapes to use to create models of server deployment environments.

Download this zip file of Microsoft Visio stencils to create your own diagrams for models of server deployments. For examples of how the IT pro content publishing team for Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft Project Server 2010, Microsoft Search Server 2010, and Microsoft SharePoint Foundation used these shapes, see these pages:

Office 2010 technical diagrams

SharePoint Server technical diagrams

SharePoint Foundation technical diagrams

Download details Visio shapes for SharePoint Server, Project Server, Search Server, and Office Posters

Source : Bink.nu

Snippet manager in PowerGUI Script Editor

2010-12-01T16:16:00.001-05:00

Browse, edit, and create new code-snippets in rich UI without leaving your scripting IDE – this is what you can now do with the add-on just posted by Denniver here:

Source : Dmitry's PowerBlog: PowerShell and beyond