David Overton's Blog : Support and Tools

How to find out about service disruption for Office 365, BPOS, Windows Azure and Windows Intune

David Overton — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 08:16:14 GMT

Hi, I got this e-mail from Microsoft, but wanted to share with all should you ever need to get this information. The key elements are: 1. Today: Educate Yourself 2. During the Event: Stay Informed 3. After the Event: Understand the Situation 1. View service status via the Service Health Dashboards BPOS: Americas: https://health.noam.microsoftonline.com Europe: https://health.emea.microsoftonline.com Asia/Pacific: https://health.apac.microsoftonline.com Windows Azure Service Health Dashboard Windows Intune Service Service Status 2. Office 365 Within the Dashboard, Click on "Service Health" in the left column of the Admin Overview under Support 3. Sign up for Windows Azure and BPOS-S RSS Feeds via the Service Health Dashboards 1. Track customer updates on the service dashboards 2. Subscribe to Twitter Handles: @MSOnline @Office365 @Windows Intune @Windows Azure The Microsoft Online Services Team will convey the latest updates via the above Twitter Accounts. 1. Request the Post Incident Report (PIR) from Support. 2. Meet with your customers to assess the impact. 3. Provide your feedback and feedback on behalf of your customers around the event and communication process. Thanks David Technorati Tags: Windows Intune , Intune , Office 365 , Azure , BPOS , Microsoft...(read more)

How to get help from Microsoft - on Office or in general

David Overton — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:54:27 GMT

I saw in my latest e-mail from Microsoft that there are some additional ways to get help from Microsoft, so I thought I would share them since I was unaware of the twitter route until today.

Need some help? Give us a Tweet...
If you've got a query give @MicrosoftHelp a Tweet and you'll get a direct response from the team looking after the feed. If you're not already on Twitter, you'll have to join but it's quick and it's free. Start following now.

... or drop into Microsoft Answers
The Office forum on Microsoft Answers will give you answers on Word, Excel and PowerPoint topics. Community members help each other out, and Microsoft experts provide their advice free. A problem shared really is a problem halved! Check it out.

ttfn

David

Windows and other products coming End of Support information

David Overton — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 08:26:33 GMT

Microsoft has an industry leading support lifecycle for it's products with business software generally getting 10 years support and consumer products 5 years, but even then the end of support surprises some individuals and you need to be aware to ensure you are not caught out. Our support also requires people to adopt service packs within 12-24 months of them being released, depending on the products.

here along with all the obsolete products here.

Why do I mention all this now, after all, this is not new information, well, we have some significant Windows End of Support (EoS) dates coming up.

With these date looming reminding your customers that moving to Windows 7 and utilizing the many features built into the product can help you achieve simplier support and them a more secure and compliant platform for your users, reduce your help desk costs, and increase performance and reliability for your end users. Remember that a Windows 7 user can record the steps of a problem and send them through to you using the Problem Step Recorder which simplifies support.

Here are some key dates to remember:

March 1, 2010 – Windows 7 RC pre-expiration shut downs begin.

Beginning March 1, the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) will start to shut down every two hours in preparation for its expiration on June 1, 2010. That means you will need to migrate your RC systems to a released to manufacturing (RTM) version of Windows 7; or your previous operating system. Remember to back up all your data as either option will require a clean installation. For more information, read this post on the Windows Team blog.

April 13, 2010 – Support for Windows Vista RTM ends.

To help ensure your Windows Vista PCs stay secure and up to date, make sure they are running Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) or Service Pack 2 (SP2).

July 13, 2010 – Support for Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2000 ends.

If you are running Windows XP, stay more secure by moving to Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) or migrating to Windows 7. Updating your Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Vista–based PCs before the end of mainstream support dates will ensure that your PCs stay supported and receive security updates. Migrating to Windows 7 provides the longest support lifecycle for your organization, helping to ensure protection, support, and timely updates.

http://www.microsoft.com/eos.

If you or your customer needs more time to test your application and hardware compatibility in Windows 7? If so, the Windows 7 Enterprise 90-Day Trial provides a great opportunity for you to finish critical testing with a full version of Windows 7 Enterprise.

Also, don't forget that you have the ability to deploy Windows 7 through your partner program memebership. The exact details depend on your level, but more details can be found here along with other benefit information.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Windows,Window 7,Windows XP,Windows Vista,Support

How to get SBS 2008 to "fix" managing WSUS after you have manually upset it

David Overton — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 08:08:06 GMT

Today's post covers what to do when SBS says it no longer can change the WSUS settings from the console. The exact message is "Windows Small Business Server Update Service is not running because it automatically turns off if you customize Windows Server Update Services (WSUS)".

One way round this problem is to manually change all the settings in the WSUS console (from Administrator Tools, select Microsoft Windows Update Services 3.0 SP1) and change the settings as per instructions found at http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2006/07/13/441594.aspx. I'm a sort of "quick fix" kind of guy, so the easier way is to go to the same tool, but then run the wizard. The steps are:

Start the Wizard

Click through the first two screens and set the updates to come from Microsoft Update

Configure the proxy if required and press next. Then press Start Connecting. When done, press Next again.

Select the language(s) you want to download

Make sure "All Products" has been ticked

Tick all the classifications - you can optionally leave out "Drivers" if desired

Set the schedule - for me, 5am is a good quiet time on my server

Tick to begin sync and press Finish. Now SBS Console will be back on the case for you.

Ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Small Business Server 2008,Microsoft,SBSC

SBS 2008 Migrations from SBS 2003 – Keys to Success from the Official SBS Blog

David Overton — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 02:05:00 GMT

I started to write about this at SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 migration thoughts and issues and Active Directory Health Checks, but after some discussion with the SBS team at Microsoft we now have much more:

The Official SBS Blog : SBS 2008 Migrations from SBS 2003 – Keys to Success

The purpose of this post is to help you complete your SBS 2003 migrations to SBS 2008 successfully on the first attempt.

……………… much, much more

Use this information if you have a non-standard implementation or are concerned about the success of a migration.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,SBS 2003,SBS 2008,Migration,SBSC,Small Business Server 2008

Outlook Anywhere (RPC over HTTP) not working or slow with SBS 2008

David Overton — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:08:00 GMT

I’ve been working with the Microsoft support teams to diagnose non-connection and very slow syncing for someone who uses SBS. The team came up with a fix and while there is no KB article on this yet, below is a link to a workaround that made logging on go to a few seconds from what was about 5 hours :-)

Slow Connectivity for Outlook Anywhere and Sites that use the SBS Web Applications App Pool

[Today's post comes to us courtesy of Wayne McIntyre, Justin Crosby, and Damian Leibaschoff]

We are currently investigating an issue where connections to Outlook Anywhere are extremely slow or fail completely. This issue also affects other sites that use the SBS Web Applications app pool. If you notice these symptoms and wish to verify you are experiencing this problem, open IIS management console and check the worker process queue for the SBS Web Applications app pool as shown below.

The Official SBS Blog : Slow Connectivity for Outlook Anywhere and Sites that use the SBS Web Applications App Pool

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Exchange 2007,RPC/HTTP,Outlook,Outlook Anywhere,Microsoft

Catalog of Windows Small Business Server 2008 Installation Error Messages

David Overton — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 05:05:00 GMT

So there I was talking about migration issues and Chris Pucket pointed to this GREAT store of error messages and resolutions for SBS installs. I've copied the links for now, but expect them to be updated over time!! Still let me know Migration issues on the link above!

Catalog of Windows Small Business Server 2008 Installation Error Messages

This topic links to information about errors that you might encounter while installing Windows SBS 2008.

If you encounter an error that does not appear on this page, see “Troubleshooting Windows Small Business Server 2008” in the Windows Small Business Server Technical Library (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=111318).

Click a link to view information about that error message.

An error occurred while installing or configuring a Windows SBS 2008 application

An error occurred while promoting the server to a domain controller

Anti-spam agents for Exchange Server 2007 cannot be installed

Anti-spam automatic updates for Exchange Server 2007 cannot be configured

Anti-spam settings for e-mail cannot be configured

Cannot create the Active Directory structure required to create users, groups, and computer accounts for Windows Small Business Server 2008

Cannot enable network discovery

Configure Windows SBS SharePoint Site

E-mail antivirus template settings were not applied

E-mail distribution groups cannot be created

E-mail notifications about the folder quota are not configured

Exchange ActiveSync mailbox policy settings cannot be configured

Exchange Server 2007 backup and recovery cannot be configured

Exchange Server 2007 cannot be installed

Exchange Server 2007 tasks cannot be configured

Folder Redirection is not configured

Gadgets are not configured

HTTP Proxy is not installed

Incoming and outgoing e-mail for Windows SharePoint Services cannot be configured

Internet Information Services (IIS) was not configured

Organizational units in Active Directory Domain Services cannot be configured

Organizational units in Active Directory Domain Services cannot be created

Remote Web Workplace was not configured

Services for Exchange Server that are not required cannot be disabled

SSL settings for Exchange Server 2007 cannot be configured

Terminal Services (TS) gateway is not configured properly

Terminal Services was not installed

The Certificate Authority component cannot be configured

The certificate template cannot be added to the Certificate Authority component

The Client Certificate installation package cannot be created

The Client Side Extensions for Windows Small Business Server 2008 cannot be installed

The Connect Computer Web site (http://connect) cannot be configured

The connectors for Exchange Server 2007 cannot be configured.

The directory permissions for Connect Computer cannot be installed

The DNS dynamic update service is not installed

The DNS forwarders cannot be removed

The Dynamic DNS update service cannot be disabled

The Exchange Administrators security groups cannot be configured

The Exchange E-mail address policy cannot be configured

The Folder Redirection Group Policy setting cannot be configured

The Group Policy setting for virtual private networking cannot be created

The Group Policy settings for software updates were not applied

The inbound Windows Firewall rules cannot be enabled

The IP address for core networking services is not configured

The monitoring and reporting data store was not installed and configured properly

The Move Data Folders cmdlets cannot be installed

The Outlook Profile file (*.prf) cannot be configured

The public shared folder is not created

The registry settings for Forefront Security for Exchange Server were not applied.

The schema extensions for Windows SBS could not be installed

The schema is not extended for the Licensing service

The software update for virus protection for e-mail was not applied

The status for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 could not be configured.

The storage settings for Exchange Server 2007 cannot be configured

The synchronization source for the Windows Time service could not be configured

The Users' Shared Folders is not created

The Volume Shadow Copy Service is not configured

The Web certificates for Remote Web Workplace cannot be created

The Windows Firewall for the network discovery protocols could not be configured

The Windows SBS Console does not start automatically after logon

The Windows SBS logging component did not install successfully

Unable to configure Windows Small Business Server default password policies

User and computer accounts cannot be redirected to the Windows SBS organizational units

Virus protection for e-mail cannot be installed

Web applications for Exchange Server 2007 cannot be configured

Windows Live OneCare for Server is not installed

Windows Server Update Services cannot be configured.

Windows SharePoint Services backup and recovery is not configured

Windows SharePoint Services is not configured

Windows Small Business Server group policies cannot be configured

You receive an “invalid certificate” error message, when you try to use Remote Web Workplace, when you run the Internet Address Management Wizard, or when you run the Fix My Network Wizard

Your existing network cannot be detected

thanks

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Install Error Messages,Microsoft,Partners,Community,Tips and Tricks,Support,SBSC,If you only read one post today

SBS 2008 Update Rollup 1 Released to fix Vista AV reporting issue and GoDaddy domain registration issue

David Overton — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:02:00 GMT

Hi everyone, the first roll-up of fixes for SBS 2008 shipped today. It addresses some minor issues, which is good, but always worth being aware of. From the Official SBS 2008 blog

SBS 2008 Update Rollup 1 Releases Today

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Update Rollup 1 releases today. This rollup package addresses the following issues in Windows Small Business Server 2008.

Issue 1

The Security tab in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Console incorrectly reports the spyware and malware status of Windows Vista Service Pack 1-based clients that are joined to a domain. Specifically, some security applications are reported as incompatible in the antivirus and malware status that is reported.

Issue 2

The Internet Address Management Wizard exits unexpectedly when you register a domain name. This issue occurs when you select GoDaddy.com as the provider, and then you click Register Now

How to obtain this update

This update will be available from the Microsoft Update Web site:

http://update.microsoft.com

More Information

http://support.microsoft.com/KB/958715

The Official SBS Blog : SBS 2008 Update Rollup 1 Releases Today

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Vista,Windows Vista,Updates,GoDaddy,Anti-virus,Anti-Malware,System Updates,Microsoft,SBSC,Community

Active Directory Health Check - Make sure your AD is healthy before you migrate SBS 2003 to SBS 2008

David Overton — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:30:00 GMT

[updated 29/9/12 with new link]

Given the recent comments about AD validation I thought I would share this excellent document on verifying your AD before you begin a migration (or at any other time)

Active Directory Health Check - Active Directory

This document outlines a basic procedure for validating the health of your domain and is a good practice for iterative maintenance and an excellent pre-check before doing any potentially dangerous domain operations

I would add a couple of extra tests to the list in this document, which would be placed after the 1st DCDIAG test, also perform:

DCDIAG /test:DNS /DNSALL /e /v

DCDIAG /test:DcPromo /e /v

DCDIAG /test:RegisterInDNS

If you system passes these tests then it is a good indication of health.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003,Windows Server 2008,Active Directory,migration,Microsoft,SBSC,Partners

SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 migration thoughts and issues

David Overton — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:03:00 GMT

I've been part of a lively debate on the Yahoo UK SBS Group about how to migrate from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 and what the issues are. The information I have so far is good, but I need much more to take it to the product teams.

For sure, the issues so far are:

Concerns around the "state" of AD before a migration is started - how do you check it - look at this blog post
Concerns around the Exchange migration in terms of time taken and failure scenarios - how to remove the chances of this?
Concerns around "on-site" versus "off-site" strategies
Concerns around recovery options in the event of failures (restore from backup not being ideal if you want it diagnosed)

My problem is that I have no data to take to the Microsoft product teams, which means I can't ask them to fix things so this is a two fold open invitation.

If you have had an issue, share it via comments below, but also PLEASE e-mail (doverton@microsoft.com) as well so I can get in touch with you and potentially the product teams too. If you put your mail in the blog then others can see it. You are also welcome to just e-mail me, but then there will not be discussion in public, which might be a shame.
Share other concerns so I can get them documented and addressed, but also use the Microsoft support - you can always send me the SR numbers if you want me to tie them together.

That is it - may the knowledge sharing continue!

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003,SBS 2008,migration,Microsoft,Small Business Server,SBSC,Community,Partners

How to upgrade (migrate) from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 on the same system without using a swing migration

David Overton — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:33:00 GMT

Someone posted this question on a discussion group at work and it got me thinking. If you bought a nice new system over the last 2 or so years in preparation for SBS 2008 (Cougar as was or even SBS v.Next) and had it installed with SBS 2003 you've probably heard that SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 is a 2 box migration and needs the Swing technique to do an on box migration.

I've come up with a much simpler solution, but your hardware might need some additions to make it work. So here is what you need:

Box with 6GB of RAM minimum (4GB for SBS 2008, 1GB for SBS 2003 and 1GB for Hyper-V server).
1 new disk for SBS 2008 system disk and 1 disk to hold Hyper-V (which could be small if desired or temporary)
System that meets the minimum system requirements of Hyper-V (http://www.microsoft.com/servers/hyper-v-server/system-requirements.mspx)
You need to ensure your hardware is really up to spec and is fit enough that you want your new SBS 2008 system to run on it for the next 2+ years, otherwise this may well be a false economy.

The process in outline is below. If you need more detailed information, let me know and I'll knock something up (as well as this may possibly end up in the book)

Take a full system backup before starting
Take existing system and add RAM and 2 disks
Install Hyper-V Server onto 1 disk
Install Hyper-V manager onto a client PC (see here for details)
Configure the network to all nodes can connect to a real physical network that has your internet router and firewall on it
Configure a virtual machine with pass-through disks that point to each of your SBS 2003 disks. To make a disk visible in Hyper-V console as a pass-through see here. Only configure approx 1GB of memory as you only need it to run well enough to perform a migration.
Start and boot the SBS 2003 VM. Check that all services start (or can be started if there is a timing issue) and that all data is available.
Install the integration Services Setup disk, run the setup and reboot when asked
Create another virtual machine with 4GB of RAM that points to the other new disk, again as a pass-through volume. This will be the SBS 2008 boot disk and can be booted with or without Hyper-V later
Perform the Migration as per my book (not yet published) or Whitepaper
Start migration process, including creating the answer file.
Create a VFD with the answer file on it and boot SBS 2008 to start the migration
Finish the migration to the point where the SBS 2003 box is downgraded
Turn off SBS 2003 VM and store, recycle or dispose of disks
Choose to either make the machine book natively boot to the SBS 2008 partition (in the bios) or continue to use Hyper-V

That is it. Much simpler than a swing if your box is good enough to run Hyper-V server. If you intend on keeping SBS 2008 running under Hyper-V, have a look at this Technet article.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003,SBS 2008,Microsoft,Migration,SBSC,David Overton

Hyper-V Management console stops working after a month or so with error “Cannot connect to the RPC service on Computer ‘xxx’. Make sure your RPC service is running.

David Overton — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:47:00 GMT

[updated with net accounts command 20/2/2009]

This can help diagnose and resolve the issue if like me, it was running fine and then it suddenly stops about 4-5 weeks after it all got started. My initial thought was that some update had changed things as the blog post here documented the initial setup where the same error was seen. The error once again looked like this:

However checking all the same firewall and other settings revealed nothing. Finally I discovered that the user I had created had a password setting that meant the password had expired. Simple, yet checking from the command line is a right royal pain. To fix, these were the commands I used:

net user <username> “<new or existing passsword>” /active:yes /expires:never /passwordchg:no

net accounts /maxpwage:unlimited

Simple, yet the cause of so much time trying to fix.

Hopefully this will solve it for you too.

Thanks

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Hyper-V, Error, User, Password

SBS 2008 Forefront Virus protection for e-mail Errors or Warnings - “At least one of the engines enabled for update has not been updated in the last week” – how to solve

David Overton — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:18:00 GMT

My SBS 2008 installation is pretty good, but one area I’ve noticed some problems was with ForeFront. I either had errors or at best warnings all the time about the scan engines. I would go and hit a manual update, but the bar would be 30-90% across and suddenly stop.

When I looked in the event log I could see errors like these below.

Searching the internet delivered me the KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/939411/en-us which talks about timeout issues, however even with the recommended change things did not resolve themselves.

Source:        GetEngineFiles
Event ID:      6014
Level:         Error
Description:
Microsoft Forefront Server Security encountered an error while performing a scan engine update.
   Scan Engine: AhnLab
   Update Path: http://forefrontdl.microsoft.com/server/scanengineupdate/x86/AhnLab
   Proxy Settings: Disabled
   Error Code: 0xC0001F58
   Description: The operation timed out.

Source:        Microsoft Forefront Security
Event ID:      7003
Level:         Warning
Description:
Not all of the selected engines enabled for updates successfully updated at the last attempt

Source:        GetEngineFiles
Event ID:      6012
Level:         Error
Description:
Microsoft Forefront Server Security encountered an error while performing a scan engine update.
   Scan Engine: Kaspersky5
   Error Code: 0x80070102
   Description: Unable to acquire the scan engine update mutex within the designated timeout period.

The fix was to realise that the timeout value in the KB was still too slow. The KB recommended creating a DWORD called EngineDownloadTimeout in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Forefront Server Security\Exchange Server and setting the value to 600 decimal for 10 minutes. I’ve now set mine to 900 (384 hex) for 15 minutes and finally all the updates have succeeded.

While the console has not shown the change just yet, looking at the events in the event log show that indeed everything is now up to date.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, ForeFront, Security, Updates, Tips, Support

How to resolve errors like "Cannot connect to the RPC service, make sure your RPC service is running" with Hyper-V Server and Hyper-V Manager

David Overton — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:04:21 GMT

In my last post on installing Hyper-V for my home setup I said I had a number of issues. One was that the Hyper-V Manager kept on showing the error "Cannot connect to the RPC service, make sure your RPC service is running". This turned out to be several issues.

To start with my Hyper-V box is in a workgroup, so security is manually configured. Then there is the connection ID security - by hand and finally there is the client setup too. I spent a long time with John Howard's blog which got me the following commands for the Hyper-V server:

netsh advfirewall set currentprofile settings remotemanagement enable

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule group="Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)" new enable=yes

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule name="Remote Administration (RPC-EPMAP)" new enable=yes profile=domain

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule name="Remote Administration (NP-In)" new enable=yes profile=domain

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule name="Remote Administration (RPC)" new enable=yes profile=domain

netsh advfirewall firewall set rule name="remote desktop (tcp-in)" new enable=Yes profile=domain

net localgroup “Distributed COM Users” /add David

There was then a few things to do on the client PC where it would not connect. Again the postings at http://blogs.technet.com/jhoward/archive/2008/03/28/part-2-hyper-v-remote-management-you-do-not-have-the-requested-permission-to-complete-this-task-contact-the-administrator-of-the-authorization-policy-for-the-computer-computername.aspx helped me solve the problems.

I've put all this here as a reference really, because John has been a busy boy and now has a tool that does this for you called HVRemote.

So, learn from my pain and use John's tool. You should be able to add a user and set the permissions very quickly.

One thing I will say is that I use OneCare on my OC client and I had to add some rules in the OneCare firewall:

- Port 135 for RPC

- \windows\System32\wbem\unsecapp.exe

- \program files\hyper-v\vmconnect.exe

- Possibly (can't remember) - \windows\system32\WUDPhost.exe

I hope that helps. You should see a screen like this once it is installed, with no error message where my VM's are showing:

thanks

David

Technorati Tags: Hyper-V, Microsoft Hyper-V Server, Virtualisation, Virtualization, OneCare, Hyper-V Manager

Get a RSS feed from Microsoft about what is new for partners (UK at the moment)

David Overton — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

I saw this RSS Hub and decided it had to be shared. Go to https://www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/rss/default.aspx. [updated with fixed url - thanks for the comments]

It enables the following segmentation:

What roles are you interested in?

Management

Sales and Marketing

Technical

What areas are you interested in?

Partnering

Events

Programme Information

Public Sector

Sales and Marketing

Small Business Specialist

Training

West Midlands

Type of Business

Hosting

Independent Software Vendors

System Integrators

Web Solutions

Products and Solutions

Dynamics AX

Dynamics CRM

Dynamics GP

Dynamics NAV

Dynamics RMS

Licensing

Microsoft Financing

Software-plus-Services

Enjoy!!

Thanks

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,Sales,Marketing,Technical,Community,RSS,Partner Program

Nick King – Microsoft corp SBS God in the UK on 7th November!!

David Overton — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 22:09:09 GMT

Hopefully you have seen this elsewhere, but if not…..

7^th November 2008, Reading: TechNet Exclusive! Hear from the guy that brought you Microsoft’s enterprise computing to small and medium businesses

An exclusive opportunity to meet Nicholas King, Technical Product Manager from Microsoft Corporation before the launch of the Windows Essential server solutions offerings, Small Business Server 2008 and Essential Business Server 2008 on November 12^th . Hear Nicholas and Jamie Burgess advise on why these solutions have been created and why it is still important to invest in solution infrastructure in economic uncertainty. With the assistance of Jamie they will go into some technical detail around the two products that make up Windows essential server Solutions.

1. Windows Small Business Server (SBS) 2008 is an all-in-one server solution designed to help you keep your data more secure and your company more productive. It provides many of the features used by larger companies, such as e-mail, Internet connectivity, internal Web sites, remote access, support for mobile devices, file and printer sharing, backup, and restore—all at one affordable price Premium version also provides advanced support for line-of-business applications.

2. Windows Essential Business Server (EBS) 2008 is an all-in-one integrated multi-server solution designed and priced specifically for midsize businesses. EBS provides the essential technology needed for a highly secure and reliable infrastructure. Powered by Windows Server 2008 technology, it combines software for management, messaging, and security features into one integrated server solution that is designed to dramatically reduce IT complexity and improve efficiency across the business, putting IT in control with a centrally-managed network platform. Join us to get a technical overview of Windows EBS 2008, learn about the server requirements, and find out more about the integrated technologies and architecture.

Finally after covering the key ways to deploy and manage the server infrastructure, Nicholas and Jamie will take you through how to keep ahead of the game and customise your solutions to make the most out of your server.

08.45 – 9.30 Registration

09.30 – 09.45 Windows Essential Server Systems – why should we invest in infrastructure in economic uncertainty

09.45 – 10.45 Deploying and managing Small business Server 2008

10.45 – 11.00 Break

11.00 – 12.00 Essential Business Server – Planning, Design, Installation and Migration of this multi server solution .

12. 00 – 12.30 Virtualising and customising your server solution.

12.30 – 12.45 Q&A

I hope to see you there!!

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008,Small Business Server 2008,Microsoft,Partners,SBSC

SBS 2008 now available for download on MSDN

David Overton — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:35:00 GMT

Hi there folks, so following on from my recent post on the fact that SBS 2008 has released to manufacturing (which means it will be in the shops soon), I saw today that SBS 2008 is now available to download from MSDN:

I did notice that there is currently a slight mis-print in that it appears there are two disks for the x86 Windows Server 2008 disk, where as the 2nd one is actually the x64 disk (as noted in the ISO number).

It is also worth stating that for SBS 2008, to remove any issues around “Compatibility”, for those applications that are fussy, simply run them on the premium server which is Server 2008, so runs anything that you could run on Server 2008.

Go grab if you can’t wait to get it any other way … note that you only need disk 1 to install, but the rest to understand recovery and Premium solutions.

Thanks

David

Technorati Tags: SBSC,SBS,Small Business Server 2008,Small Business,Developer,MSDN,Partners,Microsoft,Download,SBS 2008

How long is the grace period on SBS 2008 (how long can you evaluate SBS 2008 without entering a product key)

David Overton — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:18:09 GMT

I saw this one come up internally and externally, so I thought I would share the answer. Remember that SBS 2008 is built on Windows Server 2008, Exchange 2007 and SQL 2008 (for the premium edition). This means that you are bound by the limits of those products. For SBS Standard this is Windows Server 2008, which is 60 days that can be extended to up to 240 days using the rearm process documented in the KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948472. SQL2008 has a trial period of 180 days, so if your evaluating SBS 2008 Premium edition you are limited by that.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SQL 2008,Windows Server 2008,SBS 2008,SBSC,Partners,Microsoft,Eval,Evaluation,Trial

Can't find the WSS (Windows SharePoint Services) sales and marketing toolkit for SBS 2003 - here it was

David Overton — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:18:58 GMT

I've had someone ask me about the WSS toolkit that was referenced at How to Sell, Deploy, and Build Business with Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 and SBS 2003 R2. The download location has moved to http://www.partnersalesresources.com/Pages/sbskit.aspx#.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows SharePoint Services, WSS v3, SBS, SBS 2003 R2, Microsoft, Partners

SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 and the Action Pack

David Overton — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:58:13 GMT

I’ve been asked many, many times “Will Small Business Server 2008 or Essential Business Server 2008” be in the Action Pack. The simple answer is “YES”. As to when, well that depends on the RTM of the actual products, however, we’re trying to get them in as early as possible.

Thanks

David

Technorati Tags: Action Pack, SBSC, Microsoft, SBS 2008, EBS 2008, Partners, Support and Tools

How to migrate from SBS 2003 to Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008)

David Overton — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:06:00 GMT

I’ve spoken about migration several times now for SBS 2008. The short answer is that migration from one box to another is vital. If a customer wants to do migration on the same box, then this is either expensive (and a very long process) or something that requires moving the server temporarily to another system, or as I prefer, virtualising it. Of course, SBS 2003 is not necessarily supported in a virtual environment, but since all we want to do is migrate from it, not “run it”, this should help you get over this.

The details of the process can be found in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 technical library. One of the MOST IMPORTANT things to understand is to create the answer file. This is covered in the migration help below:

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Migration Help (Download)

Provides step-by-step instructions for migrating from Windows SBS 2003 or 2008 to Windows SBS 2008. Last Updated on June 30, 2008

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Product Help (Download)

Provides step-by-step instructions for using the Windows SBS 2008 server software. Last Updated on June 30, 2008

Downloadable documentation for Windows Small Business Server 2008

Before you start – what you need to remember

SBS 2008 is a 64-bit solution requiring x64 capable hardware
There is NO 32-bit to 64-bit “in-place” upgrade solution
SBS 2008 Standard is a single server solution, while SBS 2008 Premium includes the license and software for a 2nd Windows Server system (as part of the domain)
SBS 2008 Premium edition does NOT have ISA as part of the solution.

SBS 2003 Premium customers with Software Assurance will be able to “make good” their ISA licenses for a limited amount of time after SBS 2008 is released.

SBS 2008 Premium edition has the option to use SQL 2008 Standard edition on either server.
SQL 2008 can be downgraded

Migration options at high level

Add a new server to existing SBS 2003 domain and either

Remove old SBS 2003 server
Purchase SBS 2008 Premium edition and make old server 2nd server using the license as part of SBS 2008 Premium edition

Using the rights of Software Assurance / Full Packaged Product, move physical SBS 2003 to an virtual machine and migrate from it to the existing x64 capable hardware

Note that SBS 2003 running in a Virtual Machine is not supported!

Load onto existing server, reloading all data and rejoining all PCs to the domain

Option 1 - Process to add new server

Backup up SBS 2003 server

Tidy up the SBS 2003 system

Remove unwanted software, files, users etc

Install the new SBS 2008 system

Create the answer file and install the new hardware with SBS 2008

The answer file tool looks like this:

Complete the setup

Set up web site information, security and so on
Be aware that the migration process is an interactive process, not a click and go process

Turn off old server

Confirm all client applications, printers, shares etc work

If you have SBS 2008 Premium edition, rebuild old server

Windows Server 2008 Standard or downgrade to Windows Server 2003 Standard for application compatibility reasons (x86 or x64 server)

Finally, share how to use SBS 2008

Option 2 – Move from physical to virtual to do 1 box migration

You need to do this part before you go to the steps above, starting at step 3

Purchase P2V (Physical to Virtual) software, such as SCVMM or PlateSpin solution
Backup SBS 2003 server
Tidy up SBS 2003 server as before and remove all unnecessary files
Run P2V software
Turn off SBS 2003 system and re-start SBS 2003 virtual machine
Continue migration process as if installing a new server

Option 3 – Blow away existing server and rebuild all PCs

Just don’t do this unless you really need to pretend you or your customer never had a network before!

I hope this makes sense.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008, Microsoft, Partners, Community, SBSC, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008

Microsoft wants to know what you want for the UK SBS 2008 Launch? Time to stop saying you want it better and time to start saying what you actually want and would use!!

David Overton — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 18:38:26 GMT

One thing I have never been accused of is holding back my opinion and on the Yahoo Groups recently there has been some discussions around what Microsoft has done for partners. As part of the discussion this blog post from Sonal, the UK Product Manager for SBS 2008 and EBS 2008, came up with a question around what do partners want to see in a UK launch. I thought people who read this blog might like to pop over to Sonal's blog and give a voice to their wants. I've seen suggestions from free beer, which was a Joke I was later told, to license pricing, features and benefits, how to up-sell/cross-sell.

The problem with the later items is that they are simply personal to the business doing the selling - why have an upsell to mobile devices if your business can't facilitate it?

What do you want to see at the UK SBS 2008 Launch?

In May 2006 we had a server event for guys (and gals) who sell server - specifically Small Business Server. We split the event into two - the morning event was for those who were new to selling SBS and the afternoon track was for those who already have a great deal of experience in selling SBS. Both sessions went down a storm where we covered off all sorts from market analytics to Windows Mobile with SBS. With the learnings from that event and feedback from YOU, we're hoping to do it again - but better.
So, while James tries to uncover how you want your content delivered, I'm keen to understand what exactly it is that you need from us. And it may seem obvious to you. But tell me anyway. As we plan the UK launch event for around the September/October timeframe, it would be really helpful to hear from you on what you need from us - either at the potential launch event, or before that via webcasts.
<snipped - contact details on Sonal's blog>

SBS stuff and then some... : What do you want to see at the UK SBS 2008 Launch?

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, SBS, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008, Marketing, Community, SBSC, Partners

Performance monitoring tools to go with Windows Vista Magazine article

David Overton — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:11:16 GMT

In my latest article for Windows Vista Magazine I spoke about performance tuning a system and more importantly how to diagnose performance issues. One of the tools I recommend using to do this is the Windows Performance Tools kit. This can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/sysperf/perftools.mspx. It includes a getting started document. The tools are described as:

The Windows Performance Tools (WPT) Kit contains performance analysis tools that are new to the Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5. The WPT Kit is useful to a broad audience, including system builders, hardware manufacturers, driver developers, and general application developers. These tools are designed for measuring and analyzing system and application performance on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and later.
The tools currently include an xperf trace capture tool, an xperfview visualization tool (also known as Performance Analyzer), and an xbootmgr boot trace capture tool. The tools are designed for the analysis of a wide range of performance problems including application start times, boot issues, deferred procedure calls and interrupt activity (DPCs and ISRs), system responsiveness issues, application resource usage, and interrupt storms. The MSIs containing these tools are available in the SDK bin directory (one per architecture).

The tools are built on top of the Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) infrastructure. ETW enables Windows and applications to efficiently generate events. Events can be enabled and disabled at any time without requiring system or process restarts. ETW collects requested kernel events and saves them to one or more files that are referred to as "trace files" or "traces."
These kernel events provide extensive details about the operation of the system. Some of the most important and useful kernel events that are available for capture and analysis are context switches, interrupts, DPCs, process and thread creation and destruction, disk I/Os, hard faults, processor P-state transitions, registry operations, and many others.

<snipped>

What's new in Version 4.1.1
This version is an update to WPT Kit v.4.1.0, which was released as part of the Windows Server 2008 SDK. Version 4.1.1 contains a fix for the following issue:

Windows Performance Analyzer does not perform power state transition analysis.

On/Off Transition Performance Analyzer

Using this tools you can get a huge amount of information, but at the same time, it can be very confusing. I got plenty of my useful information from these articles from Pigs Can Fly : XPerf Articles:

Xperf, a new tool in the Windows SDK
The SDK team just shipped the latest version of the Windows SDK which supports Windows Server 2008 and Vista SP1. The SDK now includes an important new tool; the Windows Performance Tool Kit from the Windows performance team (we call them the xperf tools for short...)
Xperf Tools Landing Page and Update
The WHDC folks now have web page setup for the Windows Performance Toolkit (aka the 'xperf tools'). The page includes downloads for updates to the versions that ship in the SDK. In the near future, this page will include pointers to updated documentation, and discussion forums.
Using Xperf to take a Trace (updated)
Lets get to it! Here is how to take a basic trace then look at CPU and disk utilization. Its really simple, just three commands to turn on tracing, turn it off, and then view the trace.
Xperf support for XP
"Do the xperf tools support XP or Windows Server 2003?" is a frequently ask question. The answer is no mostly, and yes for a few things.
Using the Windows Sample Profiler with Xperf
Using the xperf tools, ETW, and the kernel sample profile interrupt all together provides a very effective and easy to use sample profiler for the analysis of both application and system wide performance. At each sample interrupt, the ETW sub-system captures the instruction pointer and the stack. This data is lazily and efficiently logged to an ETL file. Once the data is saved, it can be analyzed with Performance Analyzer.
So just what is in a trace? Using the xperf trace dumper
There is a lot of information in a typical kernel trace. While the Performance Analyzer tool is quite powerful and makes it easy to view a trace graphically, sometimes you just need to see what is in the trace directly. Xperf makes this easy.

Besides these, I can recommend the articles at Windows Performance Toolkit (WPT)

Trace Capture, Processing, and Command-Line Analysis tool
Xperf.exe
Captures traces, post-processes them for use on any machine, and supports command-line (action-based) trace analysis.

Visual Trace Analysis tool
Xperfview.exe
Presents trace content in the form of interactive graphs and summary tables.

On/Off Transition Trace Capture tool
Xbootmgr.exe
Automates on/off state transitions and captures traces during these transitions.
This documentation introduces procedures that guide you to use these tools to capture and analyze traces. It contains a complete reference of the commands that are used in the command-line environment to perform various tasks. It also covers the Event Tracing for Windows (ETW) subsystem.

I hope this helps, but if not, let me know.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Windows Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Performance, Windows XP, Performance Tuning, Microsoft

Moving SBS 2003 to new hardware or performing a migration – Update (QFE) to give you longer to do it (21 days up from the 7 days)

David Overton — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 22:46:41 GMT

From The Official SBS Blog : Small Business Server 2003 Migration Update 943494 Released, a slightly old post, but something work highlighting – how to have 2 SBS boxes on the same network for 21 days.

Small Business Server 2003 Migration Update 943494 Released

[Today's post comes to us courtesy of Justin Crosby]
The software license terms for Windows SBS enforce a limitation that permits the presence of only one Windows SBS server in the domain. However, there is a grace period where you can have a second SBS server in “join domain” type migration scenarios. This grace period is 7 days. In some situations, this grace period may not be long enough to properly complete the migration.
This software update extends the allowable grace period for the supported scenarios from 7 days to 21 days. Please plan accordingly, aim to complete your migration within 7 days and only use this update for situations where it is needed. Remember, if you hit the 21 day limit there is nothing that can be done to extend the limit any further.
Important: We strongly recommend that you complete all migration tasks before you demote the Windows SBS domain controller to a member server. Once you demote the Windows SBS domain controller to a member server, the grace period is reset back to 7 days or whatever is left from the 21 days (whichever is less).
The update is available at: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=64903D3C-3264-418D-9199-2963A599E268
The KB is available at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;943494
For more information on migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to new hardware please see: http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServerSolutions/SBS/en/library/62e2094e-ad4e-4227-b20e-97a716ed7c861033.mspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003, SBS 2008, Small Business, Microsoft, SBSC, Updates, Tips

SBS 2008 systems limitations and functions are the same as Windows Server 2008

David Overton — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:00:02 GMT

With SBS 2003 R2, some of the Windows Server 2003 R2 features were not included. I asked today where we were with SBS 2008 and the CPU, Memory and feature lists are, so I am told, the same.

On the page http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/compare-specs.aspx it talks about the max number of procs, memory etc for Windows Server 2008 Standard. You should use these to represent SBS 2008, however, note SBS 2008 has it’s own minimum requirements. See below for the important points

KEY: = Not Available = Available

Specification	Standard	Enterprise
X64 Sockets	4	8
X64 RAM	32 GB	2 TB
Failover Cluster Nodes (Nodes)		16
Fault Tolerant Memory Sync
Cross-File Replication (DFS-R)
Network Access Connections (RRAS)	250	Unlimited
Network Access Connections (IAS)	50	Unlimited
Terminal Services Gateway	250	Unlimited
Virtual Image Use Rights	1	4

The features of Windows Server 2008 that are in Standard Edition can be found here - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/differentiated-features.aspx which should also be a list of what is in SBS 2008. Bear in mind that the product has not released yet, but it appears to be going this direction.

ttfn
David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008, Small Business Server 2008, Small Business, Limitations, Windows Server 2008, SBSC, Microsoft

System Center Essentials 2007 on Windows Server 2008

David Overton — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:05:26 GMT

I got a question the other day asking in SCE was available on Windows Server 2008. From the System Center Essentials 2007 hope page I noticed that is states that with SP1 Windows Server 2008 is supported.

Service Pack 1 Is Now Available!
System Center Essentials just got better and faster: The new improvements include up to 70% less memory consumption, faster console, support for workgroup joined computers, SNMP v1 devices, improved setup, new update approvals rules, enhanced third-party update experience, and support for Windows Server 2008. Download the trial or update your existing Essentials server. For more information on what’s included, visit the SP1 Resource Page.

Now, I’ve not installed this on Server 2008, but apparently there are a few tricks that you need to learn – I’d suggest that you have a look at Permanent Link to Installation Guide for System Center Essentials SP1 on Windows Server 2008 (x8 and Permanent Link to Reinstalling System Center Essentials 2007.

Thanks

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Management, Windows Server 2008, System Center Essentials, SCE, System Center Essentials 2007, SP1, Service Pack 1

Update for Media Center for Windows Vista available for download

David Overton — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 23:27:49 GMT

I saw over on Aaron’s blog that Microsoft has posted an update for Media Center. I’ve loaded this on the machine under the TV, but there again, I was not seeing issues, except those caused by network congestion as all our PCs and extenders connect via a wireless network.

June 2008 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista available for download

A new cumulative update package for Windows Vista Media Center has been released this week. This update is called the June 2008 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista and is also known as KB950126. It is available for download in x86 and x64 versions. It can be installed on systems running the original version of Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate Editions and the SP1 version of Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate Editions.
The June 2008 Cumulative Update includes the following fixes:

All of the fixes previously included in the February 2008 Cumulative Update
Improvements to the TV recording experience on systems that use analog tuners, do not have a set-top box and do not have any digital tuners installed.
Blank screen that can occur when you switch between full-screen mode and windowed mode while playing a video.
Empty removable media devices may be displayed in galleries (this issue was introduced in Windows Vista SP1 and only affects those systems).
Client ID may not be set correctly if you use the Express setup option when launching Windows Vista Media Center.
Memory leak in extender sessions.
Updated frequency table for China.
Channel names in Simplified Chinese are shown as unrecognizable characters.

Downloads on Aaron’s site

Aaron Stebner's WebLog : June 2008 Cumulative Update for Media Center for Windows Vista available for download

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Media Center, MCE, Windows Vista, Vista, Microsoft, System Update

Upgrade Windows Search to Version 4.0 and improve your PC (for Windows Vista, XP, Server 2003 and 2008)

David Overton — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 12:41:52 GMT

If you have have Office 2007 or a Windows Vista or Windows Desktop Search (WDS) then you probably have V2.6 or V3 of this fantastic search product. Version 4 has a wealth of updates, but most importantly, is more stable and faster. One of the things I love about this is that if you put this on a client and server, and then search a network share, if the contents are indexed on the server then WDS uses the remote index to search, making it super fast. It can even be used with SBS 2003 / 2008 to speed up access to the shares there too.

Description of Windows Search 4.0 and the Multilingual User Interface Pack for Windows Search 4.0

Windows Search 4.0
Windows Search 4.0 lets you perform an instant search of your computer. Windows Search 4.0 helps you find and preview documents, e-mail messages, music files, photos, and other items on the computer.
The search engine in Windows Search 4.0 is a Microsoft Windows service that is also used by programs such as Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 and Microsoft Office OneNote 2007. You can use this search engine to index a program's content and to obtain instant results when you search in a particular program.
Windows Search 4.0 includes the following improvements:

Support for indexing encrypted documents of local file systems
Reduced affect on Microsoft Exchange when you index e-mail in online mode, and there is no local cache (.ost)
Support for indexing online delegate mailboxes
Support for client-to-client remote query to shared indexed locations
Improved indexing performance
Faster previewer updates for Windows XP
Per-user Group Policy settings
Windows software updates for Watson errors
Support for the following new enterprise Group Policy objects:

Computer policies

Prevent adding Universal Naming Convention (UNC) locations to index from Control Panel
Prevent customizing indexed locations in Control Panel
Prevent automatically adding shared folders to the index
Allow for indexing of encrypted files
Disable indexer back-off
Prevent clients from querying the index remotely
Allow for indexing of online delegate mailboxes
Prevent adding user
Specified locations to the All Locations menu
Enable throttling for online mail indexing

Per-user policies

Prevent adding UNC locations to the index from Control Panel
Prevent customizing indexed locations in Control Panel
Prevent indexing certain paths
Default indexed paths
Default excluded paths

Windows Search 4.0 Administrator's Guide
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/f98696ed-6e3e-47b7-ab38-511439bce7ae1033.mspx?mfr=true
Windows Search 4.0 Troubleshooting Guide
http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/library/84c1c305-baaa-4352-b55a-45daaebf18df1033.mspx?mfr=true
The following files are available for download from the Microsoft Download Center:

Download the 32-bit Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 package now.

Download the 64-bit Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 package now.

Download the 32-bit Windows XP package now.

Download the x64-based Windows XP package now.

Download the 32-bit Windows Server 2003 and Windows Home Server package now.

Download the x64-based Windows Server 2003 package now.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Windows Client, Windows XP, Windows, Windows Server, Windows Home Server, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Desktop Search, Search, Windows Desktop Search, Support and Tools, Microsoft

Configuring OneCare for Servers in SBS 2008

David Overton — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:02:00 GMT

The Console setup process (Once SBS is set up, how to do the basic configuration through the management console) sets up SBS 2008 for use. OneCare for Servers provide anti-malware capabilities and is an important part of the system integrity. SBS 2008 comes with a trial of OneCare and so far I’ve found it very effective. Setup today requires two updates that it downloads and applies itself:

Notice that the initial configuration immediately informs you that you need to update

Start the process, tell OneCare which country you are in and and accept the EULA.

The download starts, updates and finishes

If you have an activation key, or wish to purchase one you carry on through the process, switching to a web site to complete the process

Note, DO NOT try to activate your trial in the Technical Preview unless you have already been provided with a key

If you have been going through the Console in order then this is it baring the enabling of Office Live. Finally, all the SBS 2008 entries can be found at http://davidoverton.com/blogs/doverton/archive/tags/SBS+2008/default.aspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, SBS, Tips, SBSC, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008, Community, Partner, Console, One Care, Security, Anti-Virus, Anti-spam

Set up Microsoft Office Live Small Business Web sites

David Overton — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:01:00 GMT

The Console setup process (Once SBS is set up, how to do the basic configuration through the management console) sets up SBS 2008 for use. One of the options is for a spit personality Office Live for Small Businesses solution. Why split, well the e-mail items are held on the SBS 2008 Exchange server, as will the report site services, but the public web site and WSS external collaboration sites will be hosted on the Office Live servers. This means that things like DNS need a bit more management, but that can all be handled for you.

This is how I configured mine:

Start the process from the console and say I want a new site. Since SBS 2008 already knows the external address of the SBS box, it offers to enable the DNS to be redirected to Office Live for the www.mydomain.com address

We then get into the Office Live sign-up process via the web. One word of note here, I had installed the box as a US system, not a UK system, so it took me to the US site. If you change the language settings in the browser (Tools/Options/Language) to EN-GB, then you will get the UK site. You can see form the pictures below that the sign-up process is simple and secure.

Once you have finished on the web site it all you need to do is to complete the sign in details below.

Now for me, that was not the end of the story – the verification e-mail was simply not arriving, even though I requested it to be resent several times. Eventually I discovered it was the spam filter settings rejecting the mail. I have reported this as a bug into Microsoft, but in the mean time, to overcome the situation, have a look at How to change spam settings on Exchange 2007 / SBS 2008 to enable some / all / more spam to be delivered to an account for analysis to see how I resolved it.

One again that is it for this stage. Finally, all the SBS 2008 entries can be found at http://davidoverton.com/blogs/doverton/archive/tags/SBS+2008/default.aspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, SBS, Tips, SBSC, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008, Community, Partner, Console, Office Live, Office Live Small Business

EBS 2208 and SBS 2008 Upgrades & Migrations from SBS 2003 and SBS / EBS 2008

David Overton — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:07:00 GMT

I saw over on Nicholas's blog post - Nicholas King : EBS/SBS Upgrades & Migrations that he has started to answer some of the questions around system upgrades and migrations. Below are some snippets of key information he has shared. Read his blog post for more. However, key thoughts for me are:

1) no in box SBS 2003 -> SBS 2008 upgrades. This is a box to box migration process. If you have SA or FPP copies of SBS 2003 then you can potentially do a P2V and then migrate from the virtual image. If not, I would consider running a VM of Windows Server to enable you to move the domain at least

2) Moving from one box to another (eg hardware upgrades in the future) are now supported. This can potentially be used to go from a RC0 build to RTM, but it is not tested or supported, however that does not mean it will not work!!

3) There is a GREAT document linked below that describes a migration in glorious detail

EBS/SBS Upgrades & Migrations

Recently I had several people ask me whether it is possible or supported to do a build to build migration or upgrade from the RC0 of either SBS or EBS to RC1 or even RTM.
Migration and Upgrade are two words often used interchangeably. Technically as you know they have some very specific meanings. Upgrade means to take the existing code base and then lay binaries over the top of, or underneath of (believe it or not this is how Vista does it!) the existing installation effectively taking the old installation and making it the new, whilst maintaining the existing configuration. Migration means setting up a completely new environment and then transferring the settings, user data and environment functionality to the new setup.
Upgrades are not something we design, test or develop for either SBS or EBS. For RTM our research points to the fact that most installations have new hardware on site, and added to that the SBS architecture change from 32-bit to 64-bit prohibits us from doing in place upgrades. EBS is V1 so no upgrade requirement there.
This leaves migrations, I need to be very clear that it IS NOT SUPPORTED from any build to build. Code can and does change from each of these milestones and we focus our resources on shipping a quality product for RTM. Now that that's out of the way, let's cover if it's possible..
Yes it is possible to do such a migration. We do this for our TAP customers using the same migration document that is on TechNET (we add some more details to it to cover the changes we make, but for the most part it is the same doc). Both products have focused heavily on migration scenarios. I'll break this into two sections to make it read easier.
Small Business Server 2008 Migration
Migration is one of the killer workloads for SBS 2008. We've built so much from SBS 2003. An SBS 2008 migration is based off of a domain join side-by-side configuration where you migrate the user accounts and settings from the old machine to the new using a 21 day trust we create. It is also answer file based so you'll need to kick off the tool found in the SBS 2008 binaries. You can read more by following the migration guide found here
<snipped>

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003 R2, SBS 2008, EBS 2008, Microsoft, SBSC, Partners, Small Business

SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 video recordings of presentations from the SMB Summit 2008

David Overton — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:53:00 GMT

If you have looked at the information on setup and install at SBS 2008 Install process (in pictures) and wanted more information then these presentations will be of extreme use to you. They cover both SBS 2008 and EBS 2008. I particularly liked the setup and migration and messaging sessions.

SBS 2008 product related sessions

SBS 2008 Overview	SBS 2008 Setup and Migration	Networking Setup and Getting Started Tasks

Administration and Management	Networking	Messaging

Storage Management - Backup, Restore, and Server Storage	Health and Monitoring	Client Experience

EBS 2008 product sessions

Essential Business Server Overview	Installation and Migration	Administration and Management

Security and Messaging	Implementation Differences (between EBS 2008 and SBS 2008)

If you want to see more of the information on SBS 2008, click the link on the left

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, EBS 2008, Small Busines Server, SBS, Essential Business Servers, Event, SMB Summit, Partner, Community, Small Business, SBSC

If you are a Microsoft partner who sells SBS, then please fill in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Community Survey

David Overton — Sat, 31 May 2008 23:18:06 GMT

Kevin asked a couple of weeks ago if I could share this – so I’m sharing :-)

The Windows Small Business Server 2008 WW Community Survey is live

This is the third year we have published an SBS WW Community Survey to the SBS Community.
Because of the previous surveys, we have made some adjustments in our community engagement. To name a few; we really worked on putting more focus on the Official SBS Blog. Our Sustaining Engineering team runs mini betas with our MVPs before KB's and Bug Fixes are released via Windows Update. We try to get more involvement in our techbetas from our User Groups. The list does go on.
To the survey, the SBS Product Team would like to hear from the Windows SBS Community again. This survey is completely anonymous. In fact, some of you may have to sign out from Live in order to take the survey. So, if you get a PAGE NOT FOUND error message, please log out of Live and click on the link to the survey again.
We want to know how valuable your experience is with the community resources and information that is available to you today as a member of the Windows SBS Community. We also want to know what you think could be done to improve your Windows SBS Community Experience. Please take a couple of minutes to provide us your candid feedback via this survey and let us know what you think.
SBS WW Community Survey 2008
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
Kevin Beares
Community Lead - WSSG

The WSSG Community Lead Blog : The Windows Small Business Server 2008 WW Community Survey is live

Please fill it in

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2008, SBS 2003, Small Business, SBSC, Partner, Microsoft, Community

How to configure server backup in SBS 2008

David Overton — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:21:00 GMT

[updated due to Vlad's link] - to see the rest of the articles on SBS 2008 click here

SBS 2008, like SBS 2003, comes with a server backup tool. Unlike SBS 2003, this one supports USB drives as a great removable solution,but does not support tapes. Tapes are not really required unless you need good archival solutions as keeping a rotation of tapes in a warehouse for 10 years would be more cost effective than keeping a stack of USB drives.

The Console setup process (Once SBS is set up, how to do the basic configuration through the management console) sets up SBS 2008 for use. As you work down the list in the console you will come to backup. The process to enable this is all quite simple:

The 1st time I ran the tool I did not have a removable drive attached to the system, so it failed to start the process properly

I then attached my 500GB external drive and started again. I picked my device and gave it a name:

Chose what got backed up (note that everything from the system drive gets backed up!), when and then confirm everything

Since the backup drives are formatted, you are given one last chance, then off it goes

That completed the process before you move down the list. Finally, all the SBS 2008 entries can be found at http://davidoverton.com/blogs/doverton/archive/tags/SBS+2008/default.aspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, SBS, Tips, SBSC, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008, Community, Partner, Console, Backup and Restore, Backup

How to configure a Smart Host for Internet e-mail in SBS 2008

David Overton — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:48:00 GMT

The Console setup process (Once SBS is set up, how to do the basic configuration through the management console) sets up SBS 2008 for use. Once the internet facing services are set up you might have to enable “Smart Hosts” – which basically means that your e-mail is sent out via your ISPs mail server. This is a simple process which I have documented below:

Since I am using NTL / Virgin media as my provider, I had to send via mail.ntlworld.com. Do this and and hit next and then the system will send mail this way. That is it.

One again that is it for this stage. Finally, all the SBS 2008 entries can be found at http://davidoverton.com/blogs/doverton/archive/tags/SBS+2008/default.aspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, SBS, Tips, SBSC, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008, Community, Partner, Console, E-mail, Smart hosts

Setting up services for the internet in SBS 2008 console (domain name, web site, Remote web workplace, e-mail)

David Overton — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:07:00 GMT

The Console setup process (Once SBS is set up, how to do the basic configuration through the management console) sets up SBS 2008 for use. Once the internet settings are completed, the next big steps is setting up the internet facing services. This is the process I followed:

1) The 1st time I had to create a domain for my server

2) I chose to do this using the provided tools (this then provides DNS management of www.domain.com going to Office Live, but remote.domain.com going to this server and the MX record pointing to the SBS box too.

3) Once you have chosen your provider you go off to a web page to purchase the domain

4) Then you enter your login details

It you already have a domain then the process looks like this:

1) Enter your domain and provider details

2) confirm the details and enter them as per step 4 above

Continue the process from above as the tool configures the system. Note that if your router does not accept UPnP (or it is turned off, as per mine), then you will get the warning and errors shown in the middle picture below

One again that is it for this stage. Finally, all the SBS 2008 entries can be found at http://davidoverton.com/blogs/doverton/archive/tags/SBS+2008/default.aspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, SBS, Tips, SBSC, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008, Community, Partner, Console, Set up internet services

Setting up your internet connection in SBS 2008 console

David Overton — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:03:00 GMT

The Console setup process (Once SBS is set up, how to do the basic configuration through the management console) sets up SBS 2008 for use. One of the first steps is setting up the internet connection. This is the process I followed:

The routines automatically detected the router IP address – I had not set it anywhere

Then finished off

The process of enabling others to communicate with SBS and setting up firewall etc can be found here . Finally, all the SBS 2008 entries can be found at http://davidoverton.com/blogs/doverton/archive/tags/SBS+2008/default.aspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, SBS, Tips, SBSC, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008, Community, Partner, Console, Connect to the internet

Simple items in the SBS 2008 Console setup

David Overton — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:28:00 GMT

The Console setup process (Once SBS is set up, how to do the basic configuration through the management console) has a few items that are just one or two screens, so rather than dedicating a separate post to them, here they are by themselves:

There are then the following steps that took me about 20-mins to complete:

1. Read the document on how to use the SBS console

3. Accept the Customer feedback option

5. Adding a trust certificate (I don’t have one, but I’ll show you the screen shot)

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, SBS, Tips, SBSC, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008, Community, Partner, Console

Once SBS is set up, how to do the basic configuration through the management console

David Overton — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:26:00 GMT

[updated 5th June 2008 - as last 2 sections now online]

I saw Vijays’s post on SBS 2008 RC0 Installation Walkthrough (which points to this post – walkthrough) and while this article has much good information, I had grabbed the install process in screen shot again :-) There were a few interesting points that I thought I would share too:

Once the install has finished, you need to do the post install configuration:

If you have done it right you will see a screen like this:

If you have had a number of problems in the install then you will see something like this:

and then . I got this by hitting the power button on the keyboard while the setup was running and while I said “no” to the “do you want to shutdown” prompt, it appears it killed the setup process in the background. If you get this sort of setup, I spent a few hours trying to resolve and while I did re-install exchange and then load ForeFront, it was easier to just re-format and start again.

OK, so if it is working the console should look like this:

There are then the following steps that took me about 20-mins to complete:

Finally, all the SBS 2008 entries can be found at http://davidoverton.com/blogs/doverton/archive/tags/SBS+2008/default.aspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS 2008, SBS, Tips, SBSC, Small Business, Small Business Server 2008, Community, Partner

How to change spam settings on Exchange 2007 / SBS 2008 to enable some / all / more spam to be delivered to an account for analysis

David Overton — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:07:00 GMT

One of the settings I wanted to change in SBS 2008 was the spam filter settings – some mails that I was receiving were being deleted without any option for me to review them. Since I had to go and read the manual on this, I thought I would share the answer on this.

Open the Exchange Management Console
Select the Organization Configuration and then Hub Transport
Select the Anti-spam and look at Content Filtering
By default the “Reject messages” SCL rating is set to 7. I change this to 8, enable "Quarantining messages” for messages above a level of 6
Finally, you need to enter the e-mail of a mailbox to receive the quarantined e-mail

You can see how this impacted the e-mails themselves in the daily report – notice the number of mails still rejected / quarantined:

That is it. See all the other SBS 2008 items at http://davidoverton.com/blogs/doverton/archive/tags/SBS+2008/default.aspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, SBS, SBS 2008, Small Business Server 2008, Exchange 2007, Tips, Spam, Content Filtering

How to get DNS and DHCP working on a Windows Server from behind the Windows Firewall

David Overton — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:55:00 GMT

I have a Windows Home Server at home and I decided I wanted it to be responsible for handing out DHCP and DNS addresses in the house. All very good, but when I set up the services none of it worked because of the built in Windows Firewall. While I could have just turned off the Firewall I decided to learn how to put the holes into the firewall to make it work with the firewall, thus maintaining better security.

A quick search of the web showed me many settings, but it did not seem to cover the whole picture – then I came across the MS site Windows Firewall Settings which has things broken down into these four handy sections that shall for ever more be my guides to ports and firewalls in the Microsoft world. What is more, as you will see later, the tips in here as to how to get things working, getting over common hurdles is quite stunning too:

Windows Firewall Settings: Optional Components
Windows Firewall Settings: Remote Administration Tools
Windows Firewall Settings: Server Roles
Windows Firewall Settings: Services

The two key entries for me are below – DHCP and DNS. Note that the DHCP entry has a wonderful tip saying that you will need to ensure 0.0.0.0 is included in the scope of the acceptable ports – i.e. you can not just set the scope to local network only. This was my 1st mistake

Windows Firewall: DHCP server

Add UDP ports 67 and 2535 to the Windows Firewall exceptions list on the DHCP server.
Important:

When you create a Windows Firewall exception for the DHCP protocol on a DHCP server, you must set the scope for the exception to Any computer including those on the Internet. If you leave it set to My network (subnet) only, all inbound DHCP Discover packets from client computers are dropped because the IP address of the packet is 0.0.0.0, which is not recognized by the computer as being part of the local subnet. This causes the DHCP process to fail and clients do not receive IP addresses.
Windows Firewall: DHCP server

On the DNS entry the thing which grabbed me was the ports other than 53 that were needed:

Windows Firewall: DNS server

Add UDP port 53 and TCP ports 53, 139, and 445 to the Windows Firewall exceptions list.
Windows Firewall: DNS server

Invaluable information!

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: DNS, DHCP, Windows Server, Firewall, Windows Firewall, Ports, Port, Microsoft, Windows Server 2003

Available to everyone (well almost) - Windows Vista SP1 Released to Windows Update

David Overton — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 17:46:13 GMT

Today Windows Vista SP1 has made it to Windows Update for the 5 lead languages with the rest to follow over the following weeks. Lots of details at Windows Vista Team Blog : Windows Vista SP1 Released to Windows Update. Perhaps some of the most important points from the blog entry for me are listed below, but read the blog entry for all details:

If in running Windows Update you do not see Windows Vista SP1 listed, there are a number of good reasons for this (Eight in fact, see the whole list)
If You have a pre-release version of SP1 and need to uninstall it before installing SP1. This is quite a chore - expect the uninstall to take 30 to 90 mins depending on hardware, then start the whole install process again!!
Back in February we announced that we'd be using Windows Update to help make the update as seamless as possible for our users. Windows Update will detect drivers that we know may be problematic when updating to SP1 and will not offer the service pack until an update has been installed. More details about the drives on the blog
There is a standalone installer at the Microsoft Download Center here. Windows Update will help ensure a better experience, so if you do choose to visit the Microsoft Download Center make sure that you read these KBs before installing.

I've noticed the benefits on my PC with regard to wireless networks, resume from stand-by, performance of things like file copies and more.

Enjoy the SP1 world.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista SP1, SP1, Vista SP1, Windows Client, Vista, Service Pack

Action Pack Subscribers get Full Windows Vista DVDs - not upgrades and they also get a copy of Ultimate too, plus a stack of materials to sell the product

David Overton — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:43:00 GMT

Full, not Upgrade Vista product

Well anyone who says we don't listen is just talking rubbish!! What am I talking about - I'm talking about the Action Pack and Windows. We moved to non OEM media and boy did it cause a stink, but that has changed again.

According to Important changes for Action Pack Subscribers regarding Windows Vista while you are still required to have a legal license for a machine (FPP or OEM) you can now apply full copies (i.e. do a bare metal install) without having to do a double install. There are also a stack of sales materials coming too (I've copied some of the points from the link below):

Partner feedback has enabled Microsoft to make the Windows Vista operating system even better. Now you can reap the benefits. Sell more with hardware, software and services built around Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1). And learn how we're making it easier than ever for you to learn, use and sell Windows Vista.

Based on partner feedback, we've taken action to improve the partner experience in support of Windows Vista:

Mid-March 2008 delivery of Microsoft Windows Vista Business with SP1 in a special Action Pack shipment to partners worldwide. To make it easier for you to deploy the final release of Windows Vista SP1 for internal use, all subscribers will receive full code*. Not currently an Action Pack subscriber? Find out how to subscribe. New subscribers will receive Windows Vista with SP1 as part of the April 2008 Welcome Kit.

One licence for Windows Vista Ultimate with SP1 (full code*) for internal use, so you can discuss this product's benefits and features with customers who need a single PC to fulfil their work, travel and entertainment needs. This software will be delivered in the regular Action Pack quarterly update (April 2008) for current subscribers and for new Action Pack subscribers starting in April 2008.

A comprehensive set of readiness resources to arm you to sell and support Windows Vista SP1 solutions for your small- or medium-size-business customers as momentum builds.

Exciting incentives and promotions that reward you for learning, using and selling SP1.

*Note: You will receive full code, but the licence is an upgrade to Windows Vista with SP1. This means that you must have licenced a qualified full desktop PC operating system on the device before you are eligible to install the full version of Windows Vista Small Business with SP1 on that same device. This software is for your organisation's internal installation only and may not be installed on any other computer outside your organisation on either a permanent or a temporary basis.
By installing the Window Vista code, you acknowledge that you will install this full version of Windows Vista for your organisation's own internal use, only on desktops for which your organisation has acquired one of the following:

A full licence for Windows XP Professional (or earlier version of Vista) through an OEM, a retail source (full packaged product), or an active Microsoft Action Pack subscription.

A qualifying operating system licence and a Volume Licensing Windows XP Professional Upgrade licence.

Any other installation of this software is in violation of your Action Pack initiative agreement and applicable copyright law.

Help to sell Vista

I hate it when people say "I've heard Vista is bad" when they have not tried it. OK, so I would not run it for anything but a light weight user with 1GB of RAM, but my wife and daughter love it, as does my mum and Dad. To help overcome some of the rumours, besides making it easier for you to install the software, Microsoft have released a number of other tools to help you sell it:

For small Businesses

Learn It

Windows Vista Opportunity Sweepstakes
Do you know your opportunity promoting the Windows Vista operating system? Take a 10-question quiz to find out and you'll be instantly entered to win a cooler or an Amazon.com gift certificate valued at US$75. Official rules.
Overview of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Whitepaper
Consult this in-depth whitepaper to explore enhancements found in Windows Vista SP1.
Windows Vista SP1: Notable Changes
Find in-depth information about enhancements in Windows Vista SP1, such as increased reliability and support for new types of hardware.
Partner Opportunities with Windows Vista Course
Take this course to get a better understanding of the value that Windows Vista offers you and your customers. Learn to identify the new features and capabilities of Windows Vista. How to leverage these capabilities to best address customer needs. And how to handle licensing and deployment issues.
Windows Vista 101 Course
Get step-by-step training in the basics of the Windows Vista operating system.
Try It
SP1 Technical Deployment Guide
Prepare to plan for and deploy Windows Vista SP1. Guide walks you through various deployment methods for Windows Vista SP1 and which download vehicle is best for your scenario.
Windows Vista SP1 Activation Guide Consult this guide for a quick overview of basic configurations and best practices for activating the Windows Vista operating system in an extended enterprise.
Windows Vista Volume Activation for Customers FAQ
Windows Vista Volume Activation for Partners FAQ
Prepare for customer questions and increase your knowledge of the Volume Activation process for the Windows Vista operating system with these lists of frequently asked questions.
Sell It
Get up to date on the latest features of Windows Vista SP1 and find new selling opportunities that it offers. Take advantage of the most recent marketing tools, collateral and communications material to start selling Windows Vista immediately. Make sure to check back regularly to get the latest items, like ad flyers, posters and email templates.
Windows Vista SP1 Execution Guide
This guide discusses how you can use the marketing materials provided to sell more software and services related to Windows Vista SP1, as well as PCs preinstalled with Windows Vista with SP1.
Windows Vista Quick Reference Card
Get an at-a-glance list of the top-five reasons to upgrade to Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate - and always have it at your fingertips.
Windows Vista SP1 FAQ
Find answers to your customers' most common questions about Windows Vista SP1.
Windows Vista Customer Brochure
Showcase the value of the Windows Vista operating system to customers. Brochure compares features and functionality of Windows Vista and Windows XP Professional.

For Medium sized businesses and Enterprises

Learn It

Overview of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Whitepaper
Consult this in-depth whitepaper to explore enhancements found in Windows Vista SP1.
Windows Vista SP1: Notable Changes
Find in-depth information about enhancements to Windows Vista with SP1, such as increased reliability and support for new types of hardware.
Will Windows Vista SP1 Change the Game? IT pros: Get straight answers to your questions about changes found in Windows Vista SP1, explore application and hardware compatibility considerations and find deployment process guidance.

Try It
Windows Vista SP1 Technical Deployment Guide
Prepare to plan for and deploy Windows Vista SP1. Guide walks you through various deployment methods for Windows Vista SP1 and which download vehicle is best for your scenario.
Windows Vista SP1 Activation Guide Consult this guide for a quick overview of basic configurations and best practices for activating the Windows Vista operating system in an extended enterprise.
Windows Vista Volume Activation for Customers FAQ
Windows Vista Volume Activation for Partners FAQ
Prepare for customer questions and increase your knowledge of the Volume Activation process for the Windows Vista operating system with these lists of frequently asked questions.
Windows Desktop Deployment Specialisation Data Sheet
Explore your opportunity to capitalise on the US$59 billion partner-services opportunity around the Windows Vista operating system. Learn how enrolling in the Windows Desktop Deployment specialisation - within the Advanced Infrastructure Solutions competency - can help.
Sell It
Windows Vista SP1 FAQ
Find answers to your customers' most common questions about Windows Vista SP1.
Windows Vista SP1 Partner-Customer Discussion Guide
This guide can help you understand Windows Vista SP1 components and advantages, hone your sales pitch and respond to sales objections.
Windows Vista Partner Value Proposition
Get the latest sales and market-readiness numbers - just in time for Windows Vista SP1.
Windows Vista Deployment Case Studies Learn what customers are saying about their Windows Vista deployment experiences, benefits and returns on investment. Get ready to show your customers how upgrading can benefit their organisations.
Windows Vista SP1 and Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack
Bundle your Windows Vista deployments with Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack to meet your customers' needs and increase your profit margins.

Anyway, that is the good and great news, now back to my weekend

David

Technorati Tags: Action Pack, MAPS, Vista, Windows Vista SP1, SP1, OEM. SBSC, Partners, Microsoft, If you only read one post today

How to Report a Problem Page in IE8 with the Report a Problem Webpage for Internet Explorer 8.0 Beta Add-On

David Overton — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 21:53:05 GMT

I've spent the day using IE8 and while it is faster, some pages have problems. If your seeing this, download this add-on to submit to Microsoft.

Report a Webpage Problem Internet Explorer 8.0 Beta Add-On

The Microsoft Report a Webpage Problem Internet Explorer Add-on allows the user to submit a report to Microsoft for webpages they believe are having rendering problems, scripting errors, or various other types of problems

Download details: Report a Webpage Problem Internet Explorer 8.0 Beta Add-On

To use, go to the tools menu and select Report a Webpage Problem

Then you get to submit a page like this:

thanks

David

Technorati Tags: Beta, Microsoft, IE8, Internet Explorer, Application Compatibility, Support

Office Live Workspace Update for Windows Vista to enable "Open From" and "Save to" menu items in Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint

David Overton — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 07:24:31 GMT

One little feature that others might have missed with the new release of Office Live Workspace is the two nifty buttons for Office to enable direct access from the

Office Live Workspace Update for Windows Vista

The Office Live Workspace Update installs three Windows Vista updates (KB945435, KB945145, KB933860) and one Office 2007 update to ensure optimal performance on Windows Vista when using Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint with Office Live Workspace. The update improves the performance of opening and saving Workspace documents from these Office programs. In some cases, the update also resolves problems with "Open from Office Live" and "Save to Office Live" functions of the Office Live Add-in. This update is only needed for computers running Windows Vista.

Download details: Office Live Workspace Update for Windows Vista

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Live, Office Live Small Business, Office Live, Office Live Workspace, Vista, Windows Vista, Save to, Open From

Latest news, events and downloads in the Security world from Microsoft - Windows Server 2008, Mobile, employee habits, Antigen, IPSEC, ForeFront, NAP, XP Firewall, System Center

David Overton — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:55:40 GMT

Each month the TRM blog product this great summary of the Microsoft world in various product areas. The blog can be found here http://blogs.technet.com/trm/

News

Help your customers securely deploy Windows Server 2008 with the Windows Server 2008 Security Guide! http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=92550
Every day, adversaries attempt to invade your customers’ networks and access their servers—to bring them down, infect them with viruses, or steal information about customers or employees.
Your customers are looking to Microsoft and Windows Server® 2008 to help them address these threats. To assist customers in taking full advantage of the rich security features in Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has developed the Windows Server 2008 Security Guide.
The Windows Server 2008 Security Guide provides IT professionals with best practices, predefined security templates, and an automated deployment tool to help strengthen the security of servers running Windows Server 2008.
Supporting Your Family, Friends, and Neighbours http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287993
By Steve Riley, Senior Security Strategist, Trustworthy Computing Have you become a support professional outside of the workplace? Read this article and learn how to discuss security with your family, friends, and neighbours to better help them stay safe and secure online.
More Security and Control for Mobile Devices http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287995
Learn how to add, manage, secure, and update Windows Mobile devices like you do Windows-based laptops and PCs. Microsoft System Center Mobile Device Manager 2008 provides robust security features and a comprehensive device management solution that helps safeguard your corporate data, reduce the cost and complexity of mobile deployments, and centralize and simplify Windows Mobile device management.
Island Hopping: The Infectious Allure of Vendor Swag http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287996
The technique of island hopping -- penetrating a network through a weak link and then hopping around systems within that network -- has been around for years, but it continues to take on new dimensions. This article discusses the beginning steps of using a USB flash drive to attack a network and why the least privilege approach really matters.
Help Employees Develop Better Security Habits http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287997
Your biggest vulnerability is not necessarily your computers. It's your users. See how to educate them.
Get a Free Trial of Forefront Security for SharePoint http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8250906
Find out how to help protect your Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 collaboration environments with Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP1, and download free trial software.
Learn About Forefront Edge Security and Get Free Trial Software http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8250907
The Forefront edge security and access products provide enhanced network edge protection and application-centric, policy-based access to corporate IT infrastructure. Find out more by visiting the Forefront edge security Web site. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8250953

Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for February, 2008
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms08-feb.mspx
Security Bulletin Feed http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3992479 RSS http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=3992480

Events/WebCasts

Microsoft Security Webcast Series: Upcoming and On-Demand
Security Webcast Calendar http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=37910
Find security webcasts listed in an easy-to-use calendar format.
Upcoming Security Webcasts
http://www.microsoft.com/events/security/upcoming.mspx
Register for the following Webcasts on the link above
IT Manager Webcast: Dynamic IT and Security (Part 5 of 5): Data Protection (Level 200)
Tuesday, March 04, 2008 11:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. Pacific Time
TechNet Webcast: Information About Microsoft March Security Bulletins (Level 200)
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 11:00 A.M.-12:00 P.M. Pacific Time
On-Demand Security Webcasts
http://www.microsoft.com/events/security/ondemand.mspx

Documents

Help Friends and Family Prevent Identity Theft, Spyware, and Viruses http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287998
Microsoft Security at Home provides easy-to-understand guidelines to help people protect their computers, themselves, and their families.
Security Quiz http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8287999
Know a friend or family member with a small business? Help them assess what they know and what they ought to know about protecting their businesses from security risks.
Virus Protection and Security Checklist http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288000
Virus protection is a two-stage process. First, you need to educate your users, and then strengthen your network's security defenses. Review this checklist to see if your employees and systems are covered.
Strong Passwords: How to Create and Use Them http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288001
This article discusses what makes a strong password, password strategies to avoid, the importance of keeping passwords secret, and how to create a strong, memorable password in six easy steps.
Password Checker http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288002
Use this tool to help you gauge the strength of your password.
Malicious Software Removal Tool http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288003
The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool checks computers running Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software -- including Blaster, Sasser, and MyDoom. It also helps remove any infection you find. When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed.
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288004
Detect computer vulnerabilities with the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer, a free tool that you can download and use to scan your stand-alone or networked computers for security vulnerabilities.
Partner Security: Establish a Strategy to Protect Shared Data http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288005
Although many companies focus on the security of their internal systems, it's important to examine the external supply chain as well. Here's how to work with business partners to establish a comprehensive security strategy.
Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=8288006
Learn how to optimize two key encryption technologies already available to you in Windows XP and Windows Vista: the Encrypting File System (EFS) and Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption.

Downloads

Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with Service Pack 1
Help protect your Exchange server from viruses and other malware.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2ceb14d4-404b-4d8f-8a21-ebfc71b2e82b&DisplayLang=en
EHS Filtering Datasheet
This datasheet outlines the Filtering service from Exchange Hosted Services.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7793ba73-50c0-4e07-9cd9-211558cbd890&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Antigen 9 with SP1 Readme
The Messaging Security Suite includes Antigen for Exchange, Antigen for SMTP Gateways, and Antigen Spam Manager, and provides server-level protection against the latest e-mail threats.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7793ba73-50c0-4e07-9cd9-211558cbd890&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft IPsec Diagnostic Tool
Microsoft IPsec Diagnostic Tool assists Network administrators with troubleshooting network related failures, focusing primarily on IPsec. It is applicable on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1d4c292c-7998-42e4-8786-789c7b457881&DisplayLang=en
Security Configuration Wizard Manifest for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Security Configuration Wizard (SCW) is an attack surface reduction tool introduced with Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0ab396e0-4333-4621-95fa-313230dcd946&DisplayLang=en
ILM 2007 Password Management Collection
The Password Management Collection introduces users to the Password Change Notification Service (PCNS) in ILM 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ae09d2f5-8ac2-4769-ab6a-48fe35a25c63&DisplayLang=en
ILM 2007 Design Concepts
The ILM 2007 Design Concepts document set provides discussions and recommended solutions for specific challenges that are encountered during the design phase of ILM 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=40a52201-a297-4c35-82e9-f0b4ca05daeb&DisplayLang=en
Office Communications Server 2007 Document: Security Guide
The security guide provide guidelines for assessing and managing security risks to your Office Communications Server 2007 deployment.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2d1ea693-25e0-43d9-8c5c-0822ef83955a&DisplayLang=en
Office 2007 Security Certificates
This download includes security certificate (.cer) files and a Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 package definition (.sms) file for the Microsoft 2007 Office system.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=590b8eb2-9eda-441b-a972-b38e17883063&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Forefront Server Security Management Console Documentation
Forefront Server Security Management Console allows administrators to easily manage Forefront Security for Exchange Server, Forefront Security for SharePoint, and Microsoft Antigen.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ae4ce23b-9e1e-455c-87a4-36167fe43107&DisplayLang=en
Internet Protocol Security Enforcement in the Network Access Protection Platform
This white paper describes the Network Access Protection (NAP) platform, how IPsec protects traffic, and how IPsec Enforcement in NAP provides system health policy enforcement for IPsec-secured communication.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=144cc69f-790f-4f52-8846-3f3b8584d7cd&DisplayLang=en
Introduction to Network Access Protection
Read this white paper for an overview of the NAP business scenarios, an outline of the components of NAP, and a description of how NAP works.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5d5e243a-23a8-479c-9f2d-37d6d79153e7&DisplayLang=en
IEEE 802.1X for Wired Networks and Internet Protocol Security with Microsoft Windows
This white paper examines and compared 802.1X for wired networks and IPsec.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d9aef757-f528-41be-a01f-99a60c9a855d&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Antigen SP1 Documentation
Microsoft Antigen SP1 Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7d00160e-4d15-4459-98a3-89f393ac008e&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with SP1 Documentation
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with SP1 Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5cd4e36e-2dab-44d6-990e-3b8184b1cb1b&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP1 Documentation
Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP1 Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=125efb1e-7ff8-4cc8-934a-28fc7c7e59f0&DisplayLang=en
Protecting Your Business from Online Threats
Prescriptive advice on how businesses can protect their domains, customers, and assets
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=53903d69-9449-426b-b393-e031716a7368&DisplayLang=en
Committed to Protecting Your IT Infrastructure - Microsoft Investments In Security
Committed to Protecting Your IT Infrastructure - Microsoft Investments In Security
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e4e0d998-ba3e-4865-a4bb-09d812c0244c&DisplayLang=en
Screencast: Deploying SSTP Remote Access
This screencast provides detailed information about how you can use three computers to create a test lab with which to configure and test virtual private network (VPN) remote access with Windows Server® 2008 and Windows Vista® with Service Pack 1 (SP1).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=fc4d7d3f-0376-45bf-9544-ec35329a2fc1&DisplayLang=en
Network Access Protection Platform Architecture
Read this white paper for a detailed description of the components of the NAP architecture and how it allows third-party software vendors and system integrators to create complete solutions for system health validated network access.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/4/6/946958ef-7b86-4ddc-bfdb-c7ed2af4ce51/TCPIP_Fund.pdf
Deploying Windows Firewall Settings for Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2
Windows XP Service Pack 2 provides Windows Firewall, an enhanced firewall that is enabled by default. This white paper describes the methods used to deploy Windows Firewall settings in a managed environment.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/4/6/946958ef-7b86-4ddc-bfdb-c7ed2af4ce51/TCPIP_Fund.pdf
Deploying Windows Firewall Settings for Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2
Windows XP Service Pack 2 provides Windows Firewall, an enhanced firewall that is enabled by default. This white paper describes the methods used to deploy Windows Firewall settings in a managed environment.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4454e0e1-61fa-447a-bdcd-499f73a637d1&DisplayLang=en
Troubleshooting Windows Firewall in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
This article describes how Windows Firewall works, the common problems with using Windows Firewall, and the set of tools used to troubleshoot Windows Firewall issues.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a7628646-131d-4617-bf68-f0532d8db131&DisplayLang=en
Network Access Protection Policies in Windows Server 2008
You configure NAP health requirements and enforcement behaviors with Network Policy Server in Windows Server 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8e47649e-962c-42f8-9e6f-21c5ccdcf490&DisplayLang=en
System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 System Requirements
DPM 2007 System Requirements lists the minimum DPM hardware and software requirements for the DPM server and the computers and applications it is going to protect.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=961659c7-a66c-410d-a69d-064888db05b3&DisplayLang=en
Deploying System Center Data Protection Manager 2007
Deploying DPM 2007 provides information about installing and configuring DPM 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2812640f-a4a7-4ff8-b4c9-0d73b828328d&DisplayLang=en
System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 Operations Guide - English
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ffa07fd4-bdee-418b-a228-ed8c76c97ab4&DisplayLang=en
Step-by-Step Guide: Demonstrate NAP IPsec Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP IPsec enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=298ff956-1e6c-4d97-a3ed-7e7ffc4bed32&DisplayLang=en
Step-by-Step Guide: Demonstrate NAP DHCP Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP DHCP enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ac38e5bb-18ce-40cb-8e59-188f7a198897&DisplayLang=en
Step-by-Step Guide: Demonstrate NAP 802.1X Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP 802.1X enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8a0925ee-ee06-4dfb-bba2-07605eff0608&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft DPM 2006 Management Pack
This DPM management pack for Operations Manager 2007 supports monitoring for Data Protection Manager 2006. Requires OpsMgr 2007 MOM 2005 Backward Compatibility MP Update 6.0.5000.16
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a3e0a46d-aad9-4ebf-9ce8-c5242d0e596c&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with SP1 Documentation
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server with SP1 Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5cd4e36e-2dab-44d6-990e-3b8184b1cb1b&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP1 Documentation
Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint with SP1 Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=125efb1e-7ff8-4cc8-934a-28fc7c7e59f0&DisplayLang=en
Extended Security Update Inventory Tool
The Extended Security Update Inventory Tool is used to detect security bulletins not covered by MBSA including MS04-028, February 2005 bulletins, and future security bulletins that are exceptions to MBSA.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2c93da1d-48a0-4e5c-991f-87e08954f61b&DisplayLang=en
Deploying System Center Data Protection Manager 2007
Deploying DPM 2007 provides information about installing and configuring DPM 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2812640f-a4a7-4ff8-b4c9-0d73b828328d&DisplayLang=en
System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 System Requirements
DPM 2007 System Requirements lists the minimum DPM hardware and software requirements for the DPM server and the computers and applications it is going to protect.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=961659c7-a66c-410d-a69d-064888db05b3&DisplayLang=en
Backup Operations Service for Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 with Data Protection Manager 2007 Datasheet
This offering helps customers to validate, envision, and plan the architecture and the design for an effective, rapid, and reliable recovery of their Office SharePoint Server farms.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d423e7dd-4029-447c-ad26-031adfa41265&DisplayLang=en
Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) Tool
The ISA Server Best Practices Analyzer Tool is designed for administrators who want to determine the overall health of their ISA Server computers and to diagnose current problems. The tool scans the configuration settings of the local ISA Server computer and reports issues that do not conform to the recommended best practices.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=d22ec2b9-4cd3-4bb6-91ec-0829e5f84063&DisplayLang=en
Step-by-Step Guide: Demonstrate NAP VPN Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP VPN enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=729bba00-55ad-4199-b441-378cc3d900a7&DisplayLang=en
Network Access Protection Platform Architecture
Read this white paper for a detailed description of the components of the NAP architecture and how it allows third-party software vendors and system integrators to create complete solutions for system health validated network access.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2f37651e-1749-45c3-996e-53de05d44ef7&DisplayLang=en
Introduction to Network Access Protection
Read this white paper for an overview of the NAP business scenarios, an outline of the components of NAP, and a description of how NAP works.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5d5e243a-23a8-479c-9f2d-37d6d79153e7&DisplayLang=en
Internet Protocol Security Enforcement in the Network Access Protection Platform
This white paper describes the Network Access Protection (NAP) platform, how IPsec protects traffic, and how IPsec Enforcement in NAP provides system health policy enforcement for IPsec-secured communication.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=144cc69f-790f-4f52-8846-3f3b8584d7cd&DisplayLang=en

thanks

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Security, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, ISA, ForeFront, SharePoint, IIS, Firewall

More ways to engage with customers using the Microsoft advertising campaigns

David Overton — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 21:00:00 GMT

[updated 4th March]

Many people congratulated Microsoft after the Mr Busy campaigns allowed partners to drive their customers back to them using a MS campaign. Well, this is now being repeated for a number of campaigns. Today I found the click and go site to get them all (http://www.campaigns.arvato-services.com/). You can get 200 post cards or 1,000 e-mails for free and then a low price for additional cards/ e-mails if required. The campaigns covered include:

Business Productivity
Customer Acquisition and Retention
Security and Reliability
Small Business PC
Mr Busy

This method of engaging is not new to the Small Business team and others have covered this before (eg Susanne here), but it is worth re-highlighting this now as some of the campaigns have been renewed, so go back and visit the site!!

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Marketing, Campaigns, Business Productivity, Customer Acquisition and Retention, Security and Reliability, Small Business PC, Mr Busy, Partner, SME, Small Business Server 2008, Mid-Market

Technical RollUp : March 2008 - Technical Rollup Mail - Platforms (Windows, virtualisation, Active Directory, Core, Debugging, Terminal Services, Vista SP1 changes / new / implementation guides)

David Overton — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 09:37:03 GMT

As always, from the Technical RollUp : March 2008 - Technical Rollup Mail - Platforms blog posting. I've removed all the KB article stuff and it is worth pointing out that towards the end of the list are all the docs associated with what has changed with Windows Vista SP1:

Blogs and information

Windows Virtualization Team Blog
http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/
The World Simplified is a Virtual World
http://blogs.technet.com/virtualworld/
Ask the Directory Services Team
http://blogs.technet.com/askds/
Ask the Performance Team
http://blogs.technet.com/askperf/
Microsoft Enterprise Networking Team
http://blogs.technet.com/networking/
Ask the Core Team
http://blogs.technet.com/askcore/
Microsoft Advanced Windows Debugging and Troubleshooting
http://blogs.msdn.com/ntdebugging/
Terminal Services Team Blog
http://blogs.msdn.com/ts/
The Hot Blog
http://blogs.technet.com/hot/

Downloads

Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP1
Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 (WSUS 3.0 SP1) delivers updates to corporate environments from Microsoft Update. This release fixes issue found since the release of the product.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=1&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3df87b4c5e-4161-48af-9ff8-a96993c688df%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP1 Overview
This paper introduces Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 (WSUS 3.0 SP1) and provides information about features, and server and client computer requirements.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=2&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d1b5eac37-bd48-41fd-869b-f9b06fa64a61%26displaylang%3den
Release Notes for Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP1
These release notes describe known issues affecting Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 (WSUS 3.0 SP1) and include recommendations and requirements for installing the application.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=3&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d8a283ea4-1545-47d5-a86c-5ca379bafb9c%26displaylang%3den
Step-by-Step Guide for Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP1
This guide provides instructions for getting started with Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 (WSUS 3.0 SP1).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=4&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dc8fa2fd1-72f6-4f19-a1b0-f689dae14be6%26displaylang%3den
Deploying Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP1
This paper describes how to deploy Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 (WSUS 3.0 SP1).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=8&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d208e93d1-e1cd-4f38-ad1e-d993e05657c9%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 SP1 Operations Guide
This paper documents the major tasks involved in administering and troubleshooting Microsoft Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 1 (WSUS 3.0 SP1).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=9&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d66d250fa-670f-4a49-95ec-2ffda7691f55%26displaylang%3den
Volume Activation 2.0 Technical Guidance
Technical documentation for planning, deployment, and operations of Volume Activation 2.0 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Includes the Volume Activation 2.0 Overview Guide, Planning Guide, Deployment Guide, Operations Guide, Resources, FAQ and Technical Attributes.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=11&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d9893f83e-c8a5-4475-b025-66c6b38b46e3%26displaylang%3den
TCP/IP Fundamentals for Microsoft Windows
This online book describes the fundamentals of TCP/IP in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=12&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dc76296fd-61c9-4079-a0bb-582bca4a846f%26displaylang%3den
Windows SDK for Windows Server 2008 and .NET Framework version 3.5
The Windows SDK for Windows Server® 2008 and .NET Framework 3.5 provides documentation, samples, header files, libraries, and tools designed to help you develop Windows applications using both native (Win32®) and managed (.NET Framework) technologies.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=13&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3de6e1c3df-a74f-4207-8586-711ebe331cdc%26displaylang%3den
Windows Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guides
These step-by-step guides help IT Professionals learn about and evaluate Windows Server 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=17&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d518d870c-fa3e-4f6a-97f5-acaf31de6dce%26displaylang%3den
Changes in Functionality from Windows Server 2003 with SP1 to Windows Server 2008
Describes features and technologies in Windows Server 2008 added or changed since Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=18&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d173e6e9b-4d3e-4fd4-a2cf-73684fa46b60%26displaylang%3den
Infrastructure Planning and Design
The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides are the next version of Windows Server System Reference Architecture. The guides in this series help clarify and streamline design processes for Microsoft infrastructure technologies, with each guide addressing a unique infrastructure technology or scenario.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=19&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dad3921fb-8224-4681-9064-075fdf042b0c%26displaylang%3den
Windows Media Services for Windows Server 2008
These Microsoft Update Standalone Package (MSU) files install the latest version of Windows Media Services and related remote administration tools for the Windows Server 2008 operating system.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=20&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d9ccf6312-723b-4577-be58-7caab2e1c5b7%26displaylang%3den
Windows Server 2008: Release Notes and Installation Information
Release documentation that contains known issues for the Windows Server 2008 operating system.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=22&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d1087a498-40ad-46ba-9ada-f32a58a94a85%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft IPsec Diagnostic Tool
Microsoft IPsec Diagnostic Tool assists Network administrators with troubleshooting network related failures, focusing primarily on IPsec. It is applicable on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=23&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d1d4c292c-7998-42e4-8786-789c7b457881%26displaylang%3den
Windows Server 2008 Security Guide
This Solution Accelerator helps organizations efficiently create, deploy, and maintain a secure environment for a variety of servers running Windows Server® 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=24&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dfb8b981f-227c-4af6-a44b-b115696a80ac%26displaylang%3den
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise
Windows Server 2008 helps IT professionals to increase the flexibility and reliability of their server infrastructure while offering developers a more robust web and applications platform for building connected applications and services.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=25&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d13c7300e-935c-415a-a79c-538e933d5424%26displaylang%3den
Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows Server 2008
This spreadsheet lists the policy settings for computer and user configurations included in the Administrative template files (.admx/.adml) delivered with Windows Server 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=26&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d2043b94e-66cd-4b91-9e0f-68363245c495%26displaylang%3den
Demonstrate NAP DHCP Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP DHCP enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=30&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dac38e5bb-18ce-40cb-8e59-188f7a198897%26displaylang%3den
Planning and Deploying Group Policy
This guide provides the information needed to successfully plan and deploy Group Policy using Windows Server 2008 and the Group Policy Management Console.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=32&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d73d96068-0aea-450a-861b-e2c5413b0485%26displaylang%3den
Windows Server 2008 Technical Overviews
These technical overviews provide IT Professionals with information about how a Windows Server 2008 technology works.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=33&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d46dc26d6-af47-43f0-b3de-521831fe09d6%26displaylang%3den
Windows Server 2008 Standard
Windows Server 2008 helps IT professionals to increase the flexibility and reliability of their server infrastructure while offering developers a more robust web and applications platform for building connected applications and services.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=37&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3db6e99d4c-a40e-4fd2-a0f7-32212b520f50%26displaylang%3den
Demonstrate NAP 802.1X Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP 802.1X enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=40&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d8a0925ee-ee06-4dfb-bba2-07605eff0608%26displaylang%3den
System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007
This download comes as a pre-configured VHD. This download enables you evaluate Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=41&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dd4e8bc52-3c3b-4bae-b937-987da892fad7%26displaylang%3den
Demonstrate NAP IPsec Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP IPsec enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=42&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d298ff956-1e6c-4d97-a3ed-7e7ffc4bed32%26displaylang%3den
Windows Server 2008 KMS Setup Demonstration
This video demonstrates how to implement the Key Management Service (KMS) in your organization. The demo walks through setting up the KMS host on a Windows Server 2008 computer, how KMS clients activate with the KMS host, and how to review activation status using the slmgr.vbs command.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=43&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dbbf2eb61-2b30-4f2d-bccd-df53e220b8e9%26displaylang%3den
Internet Protocol Security for Microsoft Windows Server 2003
Intenet Protocol security (IPSec) support in Windows Server 2003 allows you to secure network traffic at the Network layer.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=45&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3de6590330-d903-4bdd-9655-81b86df655e4%26displaylang%3den
IEEE 802.1X for Wired Networks and Internet Protocol Security with Microsoft Windows
This white paper examines and compared 802.1X for wired networks and IPsec.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=47&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dd9aef757-f528-41be-a01f-99a60c9a855d%26displaylang%3den
Network Access Protection Policies in Windows Server 2008
You configure NAP health requirements and enforcement behaviors with Network Policy Server in Windows Server 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=48&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d8e47649e-962c-42f8-9e6f-21c5ccdcf490%26displaylang%3den
Demonstrate NAP VPN Enforcement in a Test Lab
Test lab to demonstrate NAP VPN enforcement
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=49&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d729bba00-55ad-4199-b441-378cc3d900a7%26displaylang%3den
Introducing Windows HPC Server 2008
Learn more about Windows HPC Server 2008, and how it brings the power of high-performance computing (HPC) to mainstream while enhancing end users' and cluster administrators' productivity.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=50&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d360b83fb-4000-43e2-b6e8-be4373ad9c94%26displaylang%3den
SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP1 Beta for ADO.Net Entity Framework Beta 3
SQL Server Compact 3.5 SP1 Beta release for the Windows Desktop platform to support the ADO.Net Entity Framework Beta 3 and the ADO.Net Entity Framework Tools December 2007 CTP
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=6&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d68539fae-cf03-4c3b-aeda-769cc205fe5f%26displaylang%3den
Windows XP SP3 RC2
Windows XP Service Pack 3 Release Candidate 2 is available to the public. Specific registry settings will allow you to be offered SP3 via Windows Update. You can also choose to download standalone update packages.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=1&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d114f3599-12af-42b2-aab1-b969a62c68a7%26displaylang%3den
Release Notes for Windows XP Service Pack 3
Release documentation that contains known issues for Windows XP Service Pack 3.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=2&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d60807c3a-8969-4ddf-beb2-8bfac9ed416b%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Assessment and Planning
The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator is a tool that makes it easy for you to assess your current IT infrastructure for a variety of technology migration projects. It includes the features previously provided with the Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Solution Accelerator.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=5&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d67240b76-3148-4e49-943d-4d9ea7f77730%26displaylang%3den
Deploying Windows Firewall Settings for Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2
Windows XP Service Pack 2 provides Windows Firewall, an enhanced firewall that is enabled by default. This white paper describes the methods used to deploy Windows Firewall settings in a managed environment.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=13&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d4454e0e1-61fa-447a-bdcd-499f73a637d1%26displaylang%3den
Troubleshooting Windows Firewall in Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2
This article describes how Windows Firewall works, the common problems with using Windows Firewall, and the set of tools used to troubleshoot Windows Firewall issues.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=16&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3da7628646-131d-4617-bf68-f0532d8db131%26displaylang%3den
GPOAccelerator
The GPOAccelerator creates all the Group Policy objects (GPOs) that you need to deploy recommended security settings for your environment to save you hours of work that you would otherwise need to configure these settings. This Solution Accelerator includes guidance to assist you with this tool.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=18&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3da46f1dbe-760c-4807-a82f-4f02ae3c97b0%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft App Virt 4.5 Trial Guides
Trial guide that walks a user through the setup and use of the Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 system in standalone mode or with full infrastructure
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=22&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3daa787491-8d08-4d2f-8960-9e9f00226c7e%26displaylang%3den
Notable changes in Windows Vista SP1
Notable changes in Windows Vista SP1
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=1&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dd69c4e1b-c81a-41be-b1f5-66e615ba5912%26displaylang%3den
Overview of Windows Vista SP1
Overview of Windows Vista SP1
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=3&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d39b802ea-b2cf-4585-8cea-2cc6a6247cb3%26displaylang%3den
Automated Installation Kit (AIK) for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008
The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is designed to help corporate IT professionals customize and deploy the Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 family of operation systems.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=4&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d94bb6e34-d890-4932-81a5-5b50c657de08%26displaylang%3den
Windows Vista SP1 Guides for IT Professionals
These guides provide instructions for evaluating and deploying Windows Vista SP1.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=5&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3de71f0083-1013-4f9c-a3f9-c56e7120a5e9%26displaylang%3den
Update for Windows Vista (KB943302)
Install this update to resolve a set of known application compatibility issues with Windows Vista.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=7&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d4758433b-11dd-49fc-9529-f8d7a914e1bf%26displaylang%3den
Update for Windows Vista (KB937287)
Install this update to enable future updates to install successfully on all editions of Windows Vista.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=8&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d5639710d-dfbf-4527-806e-9a1634d0cc8e%26displaylang%3den
Release Notes for Windows Vista Service Pack 1
Release documentation that contains known issues for Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=9&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3db5b681f5-f366-4ad2-ba10-6a7d209de7bd%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization MCS Sequencing Guide
MCS Guidelines on sequencing with Microsoft SoftGrid Application Virtualization
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=40&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d1c6a73b8-5da8-4a1a-838b-a41ca492c488%26displaylang%3den
TCP/IP Registry Values for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008
Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 allow you to modify TCP/IP behavior with registry values.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=41&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d12ac9780-17b5-480c-aef7-5c0bde9060b0%26displaylang%3den
Windows Server 2008 Developer Story
An executable containing the Windows Server 2008 Developer Story
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=46&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d056bb5f7-65ff-4c42-bdae-65754d96b021%26displaylang%3den
Windows AIK 1.1 Readme Document (February 2008 Update)
Updated readme document for Windows Automated Installation Kit 1.1 (Windows AIK) for Windows Vista.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=49&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d051091e8-51ea-4d2c-96b3-dc9863edebd9%26displaylang%3den
Testing Prep and Implementation
Setting up a testing environment, known issues and tools available - 2 page PowerPoint Presentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=50&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d02e01c4d-49a2-43e6-a9c5-8b174d1f089a%26displaylang%3den

thanks

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista SP1, Vista SP1, Virtualisation

Application Resources for Windows Server 2008 Launch (2 days to go)

David Overton — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 13:59:31 GMT

I was asked the other day about how to make sure if an application is likely to work on Vista or Windows Server 2008 and this blog entry has some of the answers. You may notice things like the App Compatibility toolkit and the cookbook. Between these, you should get all the information you need to ensure applications that work on current and future platforms.

Resources for Windows Server 2008 Launch

We at Microsoft are on the verge of releasing one of the most powerful and reliable products in the history of the company, Windows Server 2008. Containing numerous improvements and new features, Windows Server 2008 is a product everybody can be proud of. As an ISV, what’s the best way you can get up to speed and research these many improvements, and be aware of any possible application compatibility issues you might run into? Here are some resources to help you with these questions:

Windows Server 2008 Product Page: This is the main Microsoft home for Windows Server 2008 as a product. You can find the many links to other Microsoft online properties regarding Windows Server 2008 on this page.
Windows Server 2008 MSDN Developer Center: If you are a developer targeting the Windows Server 2008 platform, this is your one-stop-shopping center for all things “Developer” with Windows Server 2008. This dev center will continue to be updated going forward, so make sure to stay tuned for more great content coming to you in the future.
Windows Server 2008 Application Compatibility: Although this is simply a part of the Dev Center above, I want to call it out specifically. Application Compatibility is such an important topic for ISVs and Customers alike, that I believe this is a very important collection of resources to be aware of. Especially be aware of the Application Compatibility Cookbook if you are interested in this topic.
Innovate On: If you desire more information regarding the Windows Server 2008 Logo Program, this is the place to go. You can find everything from the actual certification requirements, to automated tools to make your certification testing easier.
Dev Readiness: This site is dedicated to assisting the developer community develop high quality applications for new Windows platforms.

Now is a very exciting time to be a server developer. And with such a plethora of online resources coming from Microsoft, you should have no problem getting up to speed with this great platform. Welcome to Windows Server 2008!
Jason Olson

Microsoft on ISVs : Resources for Windows Server 2008 Launch

thanks

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Server 2008, Application Compatibility, App Compat, ISV, ISVs, Launch

Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer Updated - from the Official SBS Blog

David Overton — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 08:39:00 GMT

Yesterday we announce SBS 2008 and now there is the updated best practice analyzer for SBS 2003 - The Official SBS Blog : Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer Updated - the updates are below

Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer Updated

The SBS 2003 Best Practices Analyzer configuration file has been updated with new rules. There are approximately 100 new rules and many pre-existing rules have been improved based on your feedback.
To check to see if you have the latest configuration file go to Start>All Programs>SBS Best Practices Analyzer, then click on the About the Best Practices Analyzer link. The updated configuration file version is 2.1.18.0.
If you still have the old version (2.1.4.0), click on the Updates and Customer Feedback link. Then click on the Check for Updates Now link.
Some of the new rules include:

Expanded checks for Blue Shield issues relating to WSUS
Checks for the .Net Framework version for Companyweb
Resolved some issues with the WSS and DST update checks
Checks the SQL Default instance for service pack level/version
Information messages regarding Forest/Domain Functional Levels and Exchange Functional level
Checks that KB 911829 is installed for OWA/Vista compatibility
DNS Forward lookup zones are set to allow secure dynamic updates
Verifies IIS keep-alives are enabled
Checks ISA 2004 service pack level, and if ISA 2000 is installed recommend that it be upgraded to ISA 2004 using SBS 2003 SP1 media
Verifies that no restrictions have been placed on the IWAM or IUSR accounts for workstation or logon hours
Checks to see if the LANNIC guid appears to be the internal interface
Checks for MSFW instance for service pack level/version
Warning if NIC drivers are over a year old
Verifies that the reverse lookup zone is configured for allowing secure dynamic updates
Verifies that WSUS is integrated with SBS R2
Informational message to show the AD schema version level
Attempts to ping other domain controllers to test connectivity to them
Verifies that SSL is not required on the /exchange-oma virtual directory
Checks that the server has been updated with KB 926505 for Outlook/Vista compatibility
Checks for Windows SharePoint Services v3.0 SP1
Checks for Windows Server Update Services v3.0 SP1

Note: Please remember if you see the error that Windows SBS 2003 Service Pack 1 not installed that SBS 2003 SP1 is made up of 5 parts (Windows, Exchange, Windows SharePoint Services service packs, XP SP2 update, and the SBS 2003 service pack itself). If you are getting this error then you may have Windows Service Pack 2 installed but would appear the SBS 2003 SP1 itself is still not installed. For more information see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=50694.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003, SBS 2003 R2, Best Practice, Microsoft

What has happened in management over the last 2 months - downloads and information for System Center, MOM, SMS, Forefront and even a bit of ITIL

David Overton — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:48:23 GMT

This informaiton can be found (and more) at the TRM blog can be found here http://blogs.technet.com/trm/.

News

SMS&MOM
http://blogs.technet.com/smsandmom/default.aspx
Nexus SC: The System Center Team Blog
http://blogs.technet.com/systemcenter/
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 International Client Packs released
Two ICP packs for ConfigMgr have been released.
ICP1 contains the following languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish
ICP2 contains all languages from ICP1 plus the following: Chinese (Simplified),Chinese (Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Swedish, Turkish

Webcasts

TechNet Webcast: Client Monitoring with System Center Operations Manager 2007 (Level 200) - Friday, February 29, 11:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
In this session, we show you some of the new features that we have built into Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007. By the end of this session, you will have a good understanding of what we are doing with client monitoring. We start off with a look at some customer challenges around client monitoring and then explain the Microsoft short-term and long-term vision for client monitoring. Next, we discuss the approach that we have taken to make client monitoring as flexible as possible with features like Agentless Exception Monitoring, Aggregated Client Monitoring, and Critical Client Monitoring. We wrap up the webcast with a look at the management packs we are delivering specifically for client monitoring.
TechNet Webcast: Client Monitoring with System Center Operations Manager 2007 (Level 200)

Downloads

SMS and Configuration Manager

SC Configuration Manager 2007 ICPs
International Client Packs (ICPs) contain international-language clients to use with System Center Configuration Manager (SC Config Mgr) 2007. ICP downloads contain only the Config Mgr client files, not the English-language SC Config Mgr 2007, which is required.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=1&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d9df19109-c067-46c7-89f6-1b3d17d6f615%26displaylang%3den
SC Config Mgr 2007 Offer Status Summarizer fails to process status
System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SCCM) Offer Status Summarizer fails to process status
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=6&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d8b910427-c591-466b-83d3-6632099ac186%26displaylang%3den
Systems Management Server 2003 Inventory Tool for Dell Update
SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Dell Updates is an add-on to SMS 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) that enables customers to use the SMS 2003 Software Update Management feature to update their Dell servers.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=7&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d92a9bb94-1806-487b-a697-92492bf8cc8e%26displaylang%3den

System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Documentation Library (November 2007)
Download an updated version of the documentation for Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 for a computer running the Configuration Manager console.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=10&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d81997356-7f18-48b2-a53a-d6f995a47f35%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server 2000 Assessment Configuration Pack for Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Windows 2000 servers in order to support your Gramm-Leach Bliley Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=1&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d9fe205c9-dff6-4acd-b437-e33df2a991cd%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Assessment Configuration Pack for Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Windows 2003 servers in order to support your Federal Information Security Management Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=2&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3db6f61bdf-cb9c-4a1b-960d-3d99fca87837%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Assessment Configuration Pack for European Union Data Protection Directive (EUDPD)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Windows 2003 servers in order to support your European Union Data Protection Directive compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=3&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d0d61b34c-b655-4e63-bddd-b809742d1e18%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Assessment Configuration Pack for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Windows 2003 servers in order to support your Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=4&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d71c5619c-3b48-4fb5-91da-bd0ae8db63f1%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Assessment Configuration Pack for Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Windows 2003 servers in order to support your Gramm-Leach Bliley Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=5&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d7d86c340-03cb-4f3a-895e-d5a8dff7a440%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server 2000 Assessment Configuration Pack for Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Windows 2000 servers in order to support your Federal Information Security Management Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=6&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d639100ae-6cfc-4812-882d-a3d718ff2d48%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 MSIT Basic Configuration Pack for Configuration Manager 2007
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to manage your SharePoint Server 2007 server roles, and was developed based on settings used by Microsoft IT in the configuration of these server roles.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=7&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3da04acc13-b719-4f5c-9567-f865b05f73b6%26displaylang%3den
System Center Operations Manager 2007 Configuration Pack for Configuration Manager 2007
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to manage your Operations Manager 2007 server roles, and was developed based on recommendations from the System Center Operations Manager Product Group regarding the configuration of these server roles.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=8&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3de9643fd9-a184-431c-b807-de7561f92e89%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2007 Configuration Pack for Configuration Manager 2007
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to manage your SharePoint Server 2007 server roles, and was developed based on recommendations from the Microsoft SharePoint Product Group regarding the configuration of these server roles.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=9&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3de67b8d7b-ec3a-46b8-8460-c8a34f0b2287%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 MSIT Basic Configuration Pack for Configuration Manager 2007
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to manage your SharePoint Portal Server 2003 server roles, and was developed based on settings used by Microsoft IT in the configuration of these server roles.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=10&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dc75d9d43-6293-4dbd-b1fd-14dcbfa6ec84%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 MSIT Comprehensive Configuration Pack for Configuration Manager 2007
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to manage your SQL Server 2000 server roles, and was developed based on settings used by Microsoft IT in the configuration of these server roles.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=11&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dae5e69a9-357d-4a23-ba6d-35e4b84149f9%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 MSIT Intermediate Configuration Pack for Configuration Manager 2007
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to manage your SQL Server 2000 server roles, and was developed based on settings used by Microsoft IT in the configuration of these server roles.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=12&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d33afd9c9-f0b7-4f0f-89ee-62859b7066fb%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 MSIT Intermediate Configuration Pack for Configuration Manager 2007
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to manage your SharePoint Portal Server 2003 server roles, and was developed based on settings used by Microsoft IT in the configuration of these server roles.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=13&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d0ddc1c1f-5d09-4b28-9868-de850e5e82be%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 MSIT Basic Configuration Pack for Configuration Manager 2007
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to manage your SQL Server 2000 server roles, and was developed based on settings used by Microsoft IT in the configuration of these server roles.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=14&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dd702688f-7af1-4107-a70a-2a19f6afdcab%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Assessment Configuration Pack for Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your SQL 2005 servers in order to support your Gramm-Leach Bliley Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=15&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dfe3a2b70-4ac7-49ee-ba18-748133feead1%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Assessment Configuration Pack for Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Windows 2003 servers in order to support your Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=16&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dfe7308e4-a12b-4f47-a82c-3d04efec2613%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server 2000 Assessment Configuration Pack for European Union Data Protection Directive (EUDPD)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Windows 2000 servers in order to support your European Union Data Protection Directive compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=17&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d65dfe5d8-e867-4945-bb7d-e19b7e7e820f%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Assessment Configuration Pack for Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your SQL 2005 servers in order to support your Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=18&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d976df931-a3cf-40e3-802e-3281b1451835%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Assessment Configuration Pack for Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your SQL 2005 servers in order to support your Federal Information Security Management Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=19&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d14862939-4bb0-4e26-b43a-a5953b484239%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Assessment Configuration Pack for European Union Data Protection Directive (EUDPD)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your SQL 2005 servers in order to support your European Union Data Protection Directive compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=20&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d7050d56c-7e5a-479f-b94c-419ede535608%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Assessment Configuration Pack for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your SQL 2005 servers in order to support your Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=21&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d312505ac-f51c-4642-9a36-78e6974bc5ee%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 MSIT Comprehensive Configuration Pack for Configuration Manager 2007
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to manage your SharePoint Portal Server 2003 server roles, and was developed based on settings used by Microsoft IT in the configuration of these server roles.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=22&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d2720df81-c585-42cf-af80-016e5786f53b%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Assessment Configuration Pack for Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your SQL 2000 servers in order to support your Federal Information Security Management Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=23&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d79d68fb7-f471-4bf2-aefd-cd60c75546f0%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Assessment Configuration Pack for Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your SQL 2000 servers in order to support your Gramm-Leach Bliley Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=24&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d83519002-4ed9-43f2-84e3-3ab1956a173e%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Assessment Configuration Pack for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your SQL 2000 servers in order to support your Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=25&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d24cd5c8f-e176-433d-b75d-18c06e5f6f76%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Assessment Configuration Pack for Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your SQL 2000 servers in order to support your Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=26&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dd8757847-8ba8-4de2-b7a6-b6f1f610a28c%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Assessment Configuration Pack for European Union Data Protection Directive (EUDPD)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your SQL 2000 servers in order to support your European Union Data Protection Directive compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=27&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d1629d04c-c5a5-4752-a06f-4bc4584ae1b7%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft and ITIL v3
This paper describes how Microsoft supports and extends the service life-cycle approach of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=28&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dedcaad48-1414-4447-8b1a-a866a146565d%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server 2000 Assessment Configuration Pack for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Windows 2000 servers in order to support your Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=29&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d730d685d-5873-433e-ae99-476a6cca64ae%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Windows Server 2000 Assessment Configuration Pack for Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Windows 2000 servers in order to support your Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=30&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d852469e5-f195-4c16-82d6-86b2cc915223%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Assessment Configuration Pack for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Exchange 2003 servers in order to support your Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance efforts
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=31&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d12f480f7-4ef7-4573-bd37-4065bf45b8de%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Assessment Configuration Pack for Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Exchange 2003 servers in order to support your Federal Information Security Management Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=32&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dd0534cbe-753a-449e-81ca-c2237b6c18b8%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Assessment Configuration Pack for Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Exchange 2003 servers in order to support your Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=33&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dc0e9de62-8c7a-4697-aec8-a31538177c8e%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Assessment Configuration Pack for European Union Data Protection Directive (EUDPD)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Exchange 2003 servers in order to support your European Union Data Protection Directive compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=34&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d9babab34-c78d-4634-af3c-4164a20ee504%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Assessment Configuration Pack for Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your Exchange 2003 servers in order to support your Gramm-Leach Bliley Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=35&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d4d3875ac-84c1-4e56-8886-a20f98dcd210%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Assessment Configuration Pack for Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your IIS 6.0 servers in order to support your Federal Information Security Management Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=36&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dfe44701d-11dc-44c6-a75c-102a692c490a%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Assessment Configuration Pack for Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your IIS 6.0 servers in order to support your Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=37&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3ddb25b733-481c-49fa-9e18-62836d0c96be%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Assessment Configuration Pack for Gramm-Leach Bliley Act (GLBA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your IIS 6.0 servers in order to support your Gramm-Leach Bliley Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=38&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d1f68a273-728e-48d3-b2d0-1965905d8952%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Assessment Configuration Pack for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your IIS 6.0 servers in order to support your Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=39&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d418e6a72-02c5-4949-8d85-010d2baec298%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0 Assessment Configuration Pack for European Union Data Protection Directive (EUDPD)
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to help you establish and validate a desired configuration for your IIS 6.0 servers in order to support your European Union Data Protection Directive compliance efforts.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=40&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d0409ff6f-27aa-48a6-ab27-aa67e3b7bf33%26displaylang%3den

MOM and Operations Manager

Notification Workflow Solution Accelerator
This solution accelerator contains the guidance and executable needed to extend notification functionalities of Microsoft® Operations Manager (MOM) 2005.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=3&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d8d25c80d-c978-4b23-825a-7ae7b4775b0f%26displaylang%3den
Server Virtualization Management Pack
This guide helps you deploy and use the Server Virtualization Management Pack on System Center Operations Manager 2007 (OpsMgr). The management pack monitors the availability and health of virtual machine hosts running Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2, the virtual machines deployed on the hosts, and all components of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007 (VMM).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=4&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3db89be314-6924-4d83-9550-13c3c153ccf8%26displaylang%3den
SQL Server 2000/2005 Management Pack
The SQL Server 2000/2005 Management Pack monitors Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=1&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d8c0f970e-c653-4c15-9e51-6a6cadfca363%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft® System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 Management Pack for Microsoft® Operations Manager 2005
The DPM Management Pack monitors the state of data protection and recovery for DPM servers and protected computers. It monitors key health and performance indicators on DPM servers.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=2&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3db55e4072-01c4-42d9-8cf6-050b631f6d50%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft® System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007
The DPM Management Pack monitors the state of data protection and recovery for DPM servers and protected computers. It monitors key health and performance indicators on DPM servers.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=3&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dfe7b09bd-cef0-4b96-9ffd-910e6be7fcea%26displaylang%3den

System Center Operations Manager 2007 Documentation
This download contains documentation for System Center Operations Manager 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=5&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dd826b836-59e5-4628-939e-2b852ed79859%26displaylang%3den
SharePoint Monitoring Toolkit
This Solution Accelerator provides a set of System Center Ops Manager 2007 Management Packs for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (including SP1). The Toolkit also includes user documentation for each of the Management Packs.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=6&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3de4600fd9-f53d-4ded-88bf-6bb1932794f9%26displaylang%3den

OpsMgr 2007 Key Concepts
This guide describes the key concepts required to understand Operations Manager. It describes modeling, how modeling is implemented in Operations Manager, and key changes between Operations Manager 2005 and 2007.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=9&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d3a633532-1dde-49b6-930f-7df50b69b77b%26displaylang%3den
Operations Manager 2007 Performance and Scalability Whitepaper
This document describes performance and scalability guidelines to consider when planning a Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 deployment.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=10&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3da1b7610d-3dbe-4e51-bcb3-446d50dadf14%26displaylang%3den
System Center Operations Manager 2007 SP1 Videos
System Center Operations Manager 2007 is next version of Microsoft’s award winning event and performance monitoring solution Microsoft Operations Manager.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=1&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3df4bf4a65-2574-4bf9-b412-234aec418f04%26displaylang%3den

Windows Client 2000/XP OS Management Pack
Microsoft Windows Client 2000/2003 Operating System provides the fundamental monitoring basics for computers running the Windows Client 2000 and XP Operating System.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=3&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3df55f1803-eae6-4ed5-b2d2-9e1adf98e325%26displaylang%3den
System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Update
The Microsoft System Center Operations Manager Management Pack update is an update to the previously released System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007. This update addresses few enhancements, updated content for rules and monitors and bug fixes.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=4&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d0d7fc438-4eb9-496e-a664-54d43a577576%26displaylang%3den
Windows Server 2000/2003 OS Management Pack
Microsoft Windows Server 2000/2003 Operating System provides the fundamental monitoring basics for computers running the Windows Server 2000 and 2003 Operating System.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=5&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d3529d233-5e3e-4b51-8f66-5d6f27005ec3%26displaylang%3den
WSS 2.0 (2003) Management Pack
The Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 Management Pack monitors the Windows SharePoint Services application on Windows Server 2003.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=6&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d3c6c7a37-82cb-46c4-a300-902d184c9d96%26displaylang%3den
Terminal Services 2000/2003 Management Pack
The Terminal Services Management Pack monitors the individual Terminal Services components on Windows Server 2000 and 2003.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=7&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d1428ecfd-8c3e-4779-a383-4c491d2684f3%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Information Worker Management Pack
The Microsoft Information Worker Management Pack monitors the health, reliability, and performance of Microsoft Office applications and certain Microsoft Windows applications.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=8&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dd898d5fe-1ff2-4c91-abbe-63adc3bfa1c4%26displaylang%3den
SPS 2003 Management Pack
The SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Management Pack monitors the SharePoint Portal Server 2003 Management Pack application on Windows Server 2003.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=9&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3ddb3e6fb0-880e-4086-bdef-1d45327f6a84%26displaylang%3den
IIS 2000/2003 Management Pack
The IIS Management Pack monitors Internet Information Services on Windows Server 2000 and 2003 systems.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=10&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dd351bca8-182b-4223-8c9e-627e184ba02b%26displaylang%3den
Exchange 2003 Management Pack
The Exchange 2003 Management Pack monitors Exchange 2003 deployments and monitors Exchange Server Back-end and Exchange Server Front-End systems (5000.11)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=11&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d9ff454f4-6d34-4fb9-9e0b-f5b68c6edc4f%26displaylang%3den
AD Management Pack 2000/2003 Management Pack
The AD Management Pack monitors Windows Server 2000 and 2003 Domain Controllers, as well as providing a Client Perspective monitoring of an AD deployment.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=12&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d008f58a6-dc67-4e59-95c6-d7c7c34a1447%26displaylang%3den
System Center Operations Manager 2007 Configuration Pack for Configuration Manager 2007
This configuration pack contains configuration items intended to manage your Operations Manager 2007 server roles, and was developed based on recommendations from the System Center Operations Manager Product Group regarding the configuration of these server roles.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=8&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3de9643fd9-a184-431c-b807-de7561f92e89%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft and ITIL v3
This paper describes how Microsoft supports and extends the service life-cycle approach of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=13&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dedcaad48-1414-4447-8b1a-a866a146565d%26displaylang%3den

Other

Microsoft and ITIL v3
This paper describes how Microsoft supports and extends the service life-cycle approach of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=2&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dedcaad48-1414-4447-8b1a-a866a146565d%26displaylang%3den

Inside Microsoft - Running the IT Infrastructure at Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=5&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d8ae7be79-90be-48e6-b1ca-a8e3451af562%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Forefront and System Center Demos
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=8&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dc6d3339d-c07f-4a68-a188-1485baaf7964%26displaylang%3den
How Microsoft IT Streamlined the SAP Unicode Conversion Process to Minimize User Impact and Enhance Performance
Data Protection Manager 2007 optimizes and speeds disk-based backup and recovery, delivers consistent data protection, and increases an IT organization’s operational efficiencies.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=9&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3d565096cc-9c76-495e-b3e5-352d75438ed9%26displaylang%3den
SCCP 2007 Datasheet
Datasheet for SCCP 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=8&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dca0b78d0-6bbf-4b33-b4ab-06c3829509bd%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft System Center and Windows Server 2008: Better Together
Whitepaper covering how System Center helps better implement Windows Server 2008.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=DEEDD56C-46E0-4351-A31D-8669132FE1BB&displaylang=en

TRM contributors this month were Ian Dearing and Garry Meaburn

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Management, System Center, SMS, MOM, Microsoft, Technet

Security Vulnerability Research & Defence blog - worth a read for sure - eg MS08-001 - The case of the Moderate, Important, and Critical network vulnerabilities

David Overton — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 11:13:20 GMT

My background covers security and I've started reading this blog (Security Vulnerability Research & Defense) - it is excellent and definitely worth a read to understand how vulnerabilities work and how to mitigate them!!

MS08-001 - The case of the Moderate, Important, and Critical network vulnerabilities

Security bulletin MS08-001 addresses vulnerabilities described by two separate CVE numbers, as you can see in the bulletin. This post provides an overview of the two issues, the affected platforms and notes on the severity. We’ll be following this post up with two further entries that look at each issue in more detail.
CVE-2007-0066 describes a vulnerability in parsing ICMP router advertisement packets. These packets are not processed by default on any supported version of Windows. If a computer is configured to process router discovery protocol packets and encounters this type of malformed packet, the Windows kernel will bugcheck (blue screen of death) and reboot. A separate blog post goes into more detail about the registry keys governing this behavior on each supported platform.
CVE-2007-0069, the more serious of the two vulnerabilities, involves the way the TCP/IP stack handles IGMP protocol packets. Mark researched the exploitability of this issue and you'll find his research and more detail about the vulnerability in the next blog post.
For those of you readers who are more visual, here's a picture describing the exposure of the vulnerabilities addressed in the security bulletin, by CVE:

Security Vulnerability Research & Defense : MS08-001 - The case of the Moderate, Important, and Critical network vulnerabilities

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Security, MS08-001

Where to go to study for SBSC exam 70-282 - help from the community by the community

David Overton — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 07:51:03 GMT

This comment was added to my blog the other day, but I think it deserves posting as a blog entry in it's own right:

Hi Dave,
We've worked up a 70-282 set of resources on a live.space. The effort is thorough and a good starting point for anyone looking at the 70-282 exam. Two particularly useful URL's are:
http://wigital.spaces.live.com AND
70-282examteam.events.live.com
You are welcome to contribute and/or comment if you have time.
Warm Regards,
Mark

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBSC, 70-282, Exam, SBS Server, Community

Announcing the Retirement of the Partner TDT and Release of New Product Demos Resource

David Overton — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 17:53:37 GMT

Chris Parkes sent a mail round internally telling us about MORE resources & demos etc available to partners. Chris has written about it on his blog (discovered this after I wrote this - here, there may be some comments on his worth reading, so double check!!)

The Demo Showcase has been extended to include Deep Dive/Product virtual environments *which are available to all partners* Only Demo Showcase remains as the Gold/Cert benefit moving forwards...
The following are now available for immediate download:
2007 Microsoft Office System

47 Hands-on Labs

25 demonstrations

Microsoft Forefront and System Center Demonstration Toolkit

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager

Microsoft System Center Operations Manager

Intelligent Application Gateway

Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server

Forefront Client Security

Microsoft Business Intelligence Demo (Data warehousing, reporting and analysis, performance management)

Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Microsoft Office 2007

Microsoft SQL Server 2005

Download location is here:
https://partner.microsoft.com/global/salesmarketingsection/smsalesdemos/sdproductdemos

As for the difference between the two, the web site says:

"This collection of Microsoft software product demonstrations is designed to complement the business-scenario-based Demo Showcase sales tool. These demos illustrate product-specific features and functionality in detail, while the Demo Showcase tool helps illustrate how a full range of integrated Microsoft software platform solutions work together in business scenarios. Use the links in the table to download or order the product demos you need."

However I was able to access the demo content online at https://partner.microsoft.com/global/salesmarketingsection/smsalesdemos/sddemoshowcase - perhaps as I am a SBSC partner!!

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Demo Showcase, Technical Demonstration Toolkit, TDT, Demos, Partner, Microsoft

How does Home Server do Remote Access, Media Sharing, Drive Extending (Raid without Raid), Backup of desktop machines and networking without a domain

David Overton — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:10:55 GMT

For those who need to know:

If you haven't seen them yet, there are now 5 technical briefs available on the Windows Home Server web site. They are:

Remote Access

Media Sharing

Drive Extender

Home Computer Backup

Home Networking

Windows Home Server Team Blog : More tech briefs

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: WHS, Windows Home Server

Heroes Happen Here - Where are you?

David Overton — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:50:53 GMT

If you don't know about the Heroes Happen Here :: Home campaign then you are very much behind the times. The Launch events for SQL Server 2008 (errrm), Visual Studio 2008 and Windows Server 2008 are fast approaching and so is your customers ability to buy and use them - do you understand what, why and when? If not, go to the website and see how your customers can benefit and why you should learn more about the product and what you can do to improve your business with these products.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Heroes happen here,Heroes happen {here},Heroes,Windows Server 2008,SQL Server 2008,Visual Studio 2008

Get a Microsoft Certification - its easier and there is more on offer

David Overton — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:44:21 GMT

Why get Certifications?

Customer satisfaction - Sixty-six percent of managers believe that certifications improve the level of service and support offered to customers.

Revenue results - “Financially successful companies typically invest more in certifying their internal technical team.” Cushing Anderson, Vice President, IDC’s IT Education and Certification research.

Project outcomes - High-level performance is achieved when 40% to 55% of a team are Microsoft Certified Professionals.

Things that make getting a certification easier

You can take advantage of partner-exclusive, training and certification offers available through Partner Skills Plus. These offers can benefit you by enabling you to become certified more quickly and do so at a savings. Here are some of the things I saw:

Second Shot - pay for one exam at full price and get two chances to pass. Offer ends 30^th June 2008.
IW Skills Accelerator – helping partners get skilled on the Office 2007 technologies. Offer ends 31^st July 2008.

Start saving now by visiting www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/partnerskillsplus

The launch of Partner Skills Plus, with special offers, can help you prepare, practice and achieve certification success:

PREPARE - Training Offer:
Exam COACH from Global Mentoring Solutions - Over 60% savings on 60 days of real-time mentoring + 30 free additional days if an exam re-take is required. In order to take advantage of Exam COACH services you will need to request a voucher - you can also view an exam COACH demo.
PRACTICE - Practice Test Offer:
Practice Test from MeasureUp - Free practice tests on selected exams. Learn more.
ACHIEVE - Testing Offer:
Certification Exam Savings redeemable at Prometric - 32% savings on all Partner Skills Plus (PS+) exams for Microsoft new generation and Microsoft Dynamics exams.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Certified Professional, Exams, Training

New build of Vista SP1 RC Preview to load and rumour that Vista SP1 Confirmed for February 15

David Overton — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 18:49:22 GMT

I've been running Vista SP1 builds for a while and I like them. I don't like the process of changing builds which is "simply" a case of uninstalling the old build, letting it reboot twice, updating the registry, doing find updates in windows update, reboot, do it again, reboot, do it again, wait 15 mins, do it again, then let it install for a chunk of time, reboot twice more. Now, you won't have this fun when the "real" update comes out, but us testers simply enjoy this process!!

To get the latest preview go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=529d992a-d69e-4c73-9213-7a7f3852c0ca&DisplayLang=en

Vista SP1 Confirmed for February 15 – XP SP3 Too?

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 is just around the corner. Despite the fact that Microsoft continues to point to the first quarter of 2008 as the deadline for the delivery of Vista's first service pack, it appears that the refresh will drop as early as next month.
According to the Redmond company, Vista SP1 is planned for release by the end of March 2008. Microsoft has not shifted from the official timetable and failed to update it in accordance with the development of the operating system. However, it appears now that February 15 was confirmed as the RTM date for Windows Vista SP1.
Mid February 2008 is a more realistic date for the launch of Vista SP1, and one that is at the end of the natural course of evolution of the service pack's development process. Taiwanese news outlet DigiTimes, doing a story on the DRAM industry in 2008, cited Pei-lin Pai, a spokesman for DRAM manufacturer Nanya, saying: "the PC market will rebound in the second quarter. The launch of an updated version of Microsoft Vista on February 15, if its prices do not go up too much compared to its previous version, may help boost DRAM sales," (emphasis added).

Vista SP1 Confirmed for February 15 – XP SP3 Too? - KezNews.com

I can't comment on the date, but mid-Feb is Q1 calendar year 2007.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Service Pack, betas

Windows Small Business Server 2003 at risk from critical flaw

David Overton — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 23:32:07 GMT

Hopefully everyone has seen this, but if not:

Windows Small Business Server at risk from critical flaw
Microsoft initially omitted Small Business Server from its list of critically affected OSes, but is now offering patches via its automatic update services
In an update to its MS08-001 security bulletin, Microsoft said that the latest release of Windows Small Business Server was also critically at risk from a bug in Windows' networking software.
The flaw is also considered critical for Windows XP and Vista users. Microsoft did not say why it had initially omitted Small Business Server from its list of critically affected operating systems, but it said that the product's users were being offered patches via Microsoft's various automatic update services. "Customers with Windows Small Business Server 2003 Service Pack 2 should apply the update to remain secure," Microsoft said in its updated bulletin.
The bug lies in the way Windows processes networking traffic that uses IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) and MLD (Multicast Listener Discovery) protocols, which are used to send data to many systems at the same time. Microsoft said that an attacker could send specially crafted packets to a victim's machine, which could then allow the attacker to run unauthorized code on a system.

Windows Small Business Server at risk from critical flaw | InfoWorld | News | 2008-01-24 | By Robert McMillan, IDG News Service

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003,SBS 2003 R2,SBS,Security,System Updates

Got Lotus ... "Microsoft's ISVs Cashing In On Lotus Exodus" - CRN and VARBusiness - where are the tools

David Overton — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:24:32 GMT

It is always nice to see good news and SharePoint and Exchange are providing lots of it at the moment. I thought I would share this story and also some tools.

Microsoft: ISVs Cashing In On Lotus Exodus

Microsoft earlier this week released an updated version of its Transporter Suite for Lotus Domino, a set of tools that helps organizations migrate from IBM Lotus Notes and Domino to Microsoft products.
As interest builds around unified communications, Microsoft in the last six months of 2007 saw more than 300 enterprise customers -- representing some 2.8 million users -- begin making the movie to Exchange Server, Office SharePoint Server and the Office suite, according to Clint Patterson, a director with the unified communications group at Microsoft.
This groundswell of interest has spawned a whole ecosystem of Microsoft ISVs offering products that ease the migration process. For example, companies that have large amounts of information stored in a Notes database have found it difficult to capture that data and move it over to Sharepoint, said Patterson
"There are Microsoft partners of all shapes and sizes engaged in the transition from Notes and Domino. The opportunities for the channel really do span organizations of all sizes," said Patterson.

Microsoft: ISVs Cashing In On Lotus Exodus - Software - IT Channel News by CRN and VARBusiness

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Migration Wizard for Lotus Notes
The Migration Wizard for Lotus Notes is a tool designed for organizations that are migrating from Lotus Notes/Domino to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=4&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dc105b3e4-3beb-4f1e-8f52-e345af6c3e50%26displaylang%3den

Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Connector for Lotus Notes
The Connector for Lotus Notes/Domino is a tool designed for organizations that need to coexist during a migration from Lotus Domino to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=7&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dd9f3a35e-1046-47b5-b09b-bda9de60cd9d%26displaylang%3den
Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Calendar Connector for Lotus Notes
The Calendar Connector for Lotus Notes is a tool designed for organizations that need to coexist during a migration from Lotus Domino to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=8&srcdisplaylang=en&srccategoryid=&srcfamilyid=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3ffamilyid%3dc14932a1-55f4-4256-af7e-617639d46024%26displaylang%3den

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Lotus Notes, Exchange 2007, Migration

Simple Office / Excel information to share with customers

David Overton — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 23:49:23 GMT

This is a fab tool - for example, the page has:

Inside Microsoft Office Excel 2007
Stop the Press -Microsoft Office Excel 2007 - making working with numbers easier than ever!

Where minutes are kept and hours are wasted
Well-planned and organised meetings can be very useful. However, not all meetings leave attendees feeling like their time has been well spent!

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Excel, Tips

Unlocking my Windows Mobile 6 device (HTC / Virgin Lobster 700tv / Orange E650) to load non-signed applications

David Overton — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:26:48 GMT

I wanted to load Navizon onto my phone to give me GPS type capability even when I don't have a GPS using wireless access point and Mobile Phone Cell triangulation (and it pays me $$'s when I feed it information), however there was an issue with the locked down nature of my E650. Upon searching the web, this page was the one that had the real answer - note you need to sign up to the site to be able to download the magic program:

xda-developers - View Single Post - Application unlock for HTC Monet (Virgin Lobster 700tv)

Application unlock for HTC Monet (Virgin Lobster 700tv)

Been trying everything on the Internet and managed to make some headway with Monet (Virgin Lobster 700tv) unlock (this might work for Meteor/C700 as well).
1. Firstly you need to get rid of the 'registry security policy' lock.
Download cert install sp.zip:
[see attachment]
a. copy "SP_AllowCertificateInstall.cab" to the root of Monet memory or card
b. Use file explorer on monet to navigate to file. Click to run. Should run ok.
c. Unzip "SDA_ApplicationUnlock.zip" on PC and run "SDA_ApplicationUnlock.exe" whilst Monet is connected via activesync
<snipped>

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Mobile, Developer, Applications, Unlocking

Want to make life easier developing databases apps against SQL, XML and other databases (Oracle, MySQL, PostgreSQL) - look at the Beginning LINQ development articles

David Overton — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:03:27 GMT

LINQ looks like another amazingly simple move for app developers (I've written a few DB apps myself over the years). While Microsoft provides support for Objects, SQL and XML, others provide for other platforms such as Oracle, MySQL and PostgreSQL (http://code2code.net/DB_Linq/). The reason why it is so nice is because the gap between the process of writing SQL queries and then programming them into your code is considerably removed. For example, a query might now look like:

var q = from p in db.Products where p.ProductName == "Pen" select p.ProductID;

I think that looks very much like a SQL query, which is really good for developers and database peeps alike, especially since the underlying execution is very efficient. To make understanding all this easier there has been a number of articles written including...

Beginning LINQ development, Part 1

Brian Eastwood, Site Editor

The Language Integrated Query, or LINQ, is one of the most important of the new features afoot in VB 9.0 and C# 3.0.Developers can use LINQ to query to data sources like ADO.NET, SQL and XML. The idea, of course, is that data queries are now an integrated part of Visual Basic and C# and an immeasurable improvement over data integration in the days of preprocessors.
LINQ first emerged at PDC 2005, and though it is intended for the next version of Visual Studio, code-named "Orcas," LINQ is available for use with Visual Studio 2005.
A good starting point for learning more about LINQ is Hooked on LINQ, a wiki for anyone interested in dipping his toe in the water. Among the site's resources are "five-minute overviews" of using LINQ with objects, SQL and XML.
For more on LINQ-to-SQL queries, which were previously called DLINQ queries, check out the Scott Guthrie post Understanding LINQ to SQL Query Translations. (Guthrie is the head of ASP.NET development at Microsoft.) Here you can find hints for working with stored procedures, Where clauses and mathematics functions.

Beginning LINQ development, Part 1

and

Beginning LINQ development, Part 2
LINQ, the Language Integrated Query, dramatically changes database programming in Visual Studio 2008. Here we examine the ins and outs of LINQ to SQL queries.

Beginning LINQ development, Part 3
LINQ works well for managed code and for RAD, but the language enhancements it brings to the .NET Framework should be considered carefully.

Visual Studio 2008 Learning Guide: LINQ
This section of the Visual Studio 2008 Learning Guide looks at LINQ, which is arguably the most important new feature of VS 2008.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: LINQ, Visual Studio 2008, SQL, Database, Developer

App support could be the party pooper that spoils the virtualisation bash

David Overton — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 01:10:50 GMT

People ask me what I think of Virtualisation and whether I would virtualise SBS or Cougar or 10 desktops or more. If we are talking about OS virtualisation, rather than application virtualisation then many people miss what virtualisation is - the running of more operating systems on one single piece of hardware. This means that before you had, for example, 3 OSs to manage and now you have 4 (the OS running the virtualisation technology / layer and the 3 OSs that you now virtualise). Now you do have to manage less hardware, but a single hardware failure now will stop 4 OSs rather than 1, so you need to plan around this. Obviously virtualisation gives you benefits in portability and resources management as well as potentially increased hardware specs without the same increase in costs, but you also need to be aware of the issues.

I see two major issues outside of those people often think about (as above):

Not enough resources. The process of virtualising an OS costs some tax in terms of performance of CPUs, disk and memory. If you take an OS (such as SBS) that can take 4GB of RAM and 2 x dual core Xeons and eat them for breakfast, then trying to put this cat inside a box bound by virtual limits will have bad consequences.
Support. Some Microsoft technology breaks / is not supported inside virtual machines (eg ISA), but don't just think about Microsoft. This little snippet from Computerworld shows that many ISVs see trouble trying to support virtual - App support could be the party pooper that spoils the virtualization bash

December 18, 2007 (Computerworld) -- Server virtualization feels unstoppable these days. The worldwide market for virtualization platform software grew 69% last year to $1.1 billion, according to market research firm IDC, which predicts average annual growth of 27% through 2011, when global sales are expected to total $3.5 billion.
But several factors could still stall the technology's growth, according to analysts. For instance, software licensing terms often remain too restrictive or expensive for users that want to run their databases or applications on virtualized servers. In addition, finding IT workers who have virtualization experience can be a challenge for companies.
Another factor that has been less recognized thus far is the dearth of formal support for virtualization on the part of application developers and other independent software vendors.
When an application that hasn't been certified to run on virtual servers encounters technical issues that prevent it from working properly, a user can be left in a bind if none of the involved parties -- the virtualization or operating system vendors, or the software vendor -- is willing to step up and fix the problem.

Virtualisation is an amazing solution for many problems, but like any piece of technology you need to ensure that all layers to the solution are tested and work - a single link in the chain that is unsupported is not something you want to talk to a business owner 6 months after you "saved him some money" - downtime often exceeds the benefits gained by cutting a support corner!!

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Virtualisation,Virtualization

How to Disable Internet features of Office 2007

David Overton — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 14:25:48 GMT

I saw this go around on a thread at work and I have seen it requested for those security conscious partners, so here is the answer (courtesy of Eric Ellis):

1) Via the Office Customisation Tool (OCT) and a custom MSP:

— or —
2) Via Group Policy:

The difference between the two is that using the OCT will preset the desired configuration during the initial installation (or in a maintenance mode change), but users can change the settings if they desire. Group policy enforces the desired configuration, and if a user makes a change to the setting, they will revert back to the settings defined in the policy during the next application session.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Office 2007, Security, Internet, Group Policy, Office Customisation Tool, OCT

Post Install Issues with MS07-069 (IE6 on XPSP2) - Internet Explorer 6 crashes on launch

David Overton — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 14:53:38 GMT

Just a quick one for those of you on XP SP2 with the latest security updates. There is a risk of seeing IE start crashing following this update. You have two choices:

Don't install the security update - always a bad idea
Install the update and deploy a registry fix to solve the problem.

The IE team have documented it at Post Install Issues with MS07-069 (IE6 on XPSP2)

After downloading the Internet Explorer Cumulative Security Update for December 2007, some customers using IE6 on Windows XP Service Pack 2 have experienced an unexpected crash or hang upon launching Internet Explorer.
This might occur while navigating to a website hosting considerable media content (for example: http://msn.com) resulting in Internet Explorer displaying a dialog that states “Internet Explorer has experienced a problem and needs to close”. If you experience this issue, implement the applicable workaround provided in the following knowledge base article:

Microsoft Knowledge Base article 946627

For your security, we strongly recommend that you deploy the Internet Explorer Cumulative Security Update for December 2007.
Terry McCoy
Program Manager
Internet Explorer Security

The KB article has the following information in it (Internet Explorer 6 crashes after you install security update 942615 on a computer that is running Windows XP Service Pack 2)

Internet Explorer 6 crashes after you install security update 942615 on a computer that is running Windows XP Service Pack 2

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To work around this problem, follow these steps:

Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.

Locate and then click the following registry subkey: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\

On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click Key.

Type FEATURE_PROTECT_DECOMPRESSION_FILTER_FROM_ABORT_KB942367, and then press ENTER.

Right-click FEATURE_PROTECT_DECOMPRESSION_FILTER_FROM_ABORT_KB942367, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.

Type an asterisk (*), and then press ENTER.
Note The asterisk (*) represents any process name that uses the Urlmon.dll file. If you want to make this change for an individual application that uses the Urlmon.dll file, use the name of that application instead of the asterisk. For example, use Appname.exe.

Right-click the asterisk, and then click Modify.

In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.

Exit Registry Editor.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Internet Explorer, IE, IE6, XP, XP SP2, Windows XP, MS07-069, Security Update

Mobile browsers and devices that are supported in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and in SharePoint Server 2007

David Overton — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 21:27:29 GMT

I saw this pointed out today and had to share. With SharePoint Service v3 & 2007 you can enable simple mobile access. This is covered in the Knowledge Base article Mobile browsers and devices that are supported in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and in SharePoint Server 2007 of which the key items are:

INTRODUCTION

This article discusses the mobile browsers and devices that are supported in Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. Mobile pages refer to the pages that you can access by using any of the following URLs:

http://URL/m/

http://URL/_layouts/mobile/default.aspx

Note To use the http://URL/m/ URL, you must enable it by using the following command:
stsadm -o activatefeature -name MobilityRedirect -URL http://URL
By default, the http://URL/_layouts/mobile/default.aspx URL works without any additional enabling.

I saw this when David Copeland posted this to a question on an internal alias, so thanks to David for pointing it out.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Mobile, SharePoint, WSS v3, WSS

Service Availability and what it mean, or have a consumer broadband line and get consumer availability (10 hours downtime)

David Overton — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 18:13:48 GMT

The UKSBSGUY.com server is on my home broadband connection and this means it does not get business availability. Last night I had another 10 hours downtime and 8 hours earlier in the month. This all sounds bad, but here is where you need to understand SLAs and what availability statistics mean.

If I have a 24x7 contract and I want high availability then this is how much downtime I can have through the year:

Availability	365 days	31 days	1 day
99%	3.65 days	7.44 hours	14.4 minutes
99.9%	8.76 hours	44.64 minutes	1.44 minutes
99.99%	52.56 minutes	4.46 minutes	0.14 minutes
99.999%	5.26 minutes	0.45 minutes	0.01 minutes

From this you can see that I am somewhere between 99% and 99.9%. If I assume 24 hours downtime this year then I am at about 99.7%, which on a consumer service is pretty amazing. Now, if someone offers you a service rebate then you need to consider the service period. For example, if someone offers 99.9% every day and you have a whole days outage, that is 1 day in 365 that they have failed, so any rebate might be very small. Also bear in mind that if the service hours reduces (eg 9-5) then the amount of down time that is in spec reduces, but the service could be available or closed outside the service hours.

Hopefully this helps point to what you need to know when offering or signing up to SLAs:

Over what period is the availability measured (remember it is possible to offer 99.99% from 9-5 and then 0% outside this, so beware)
What is the recourse that is offered if a SLA is missed and how does it fit in the bit picture
What is the cost / impact of taking an SLA
How do they manage with existing customers
What are the exceptions (eg telling you 2 weeks in advance that the service will be down for 8 hours might exclude that service from SLA measures)

that is it. Obviously there are a couple of SLA and managed services kings out there such as Karl - http://smallbizthoughts.blogspot.com/2007/09/final-thoughts-managed-services-in.html and the two PALs in the UK (Vijay and Gareth)

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Service Availability, SLAs

Do you want a Microsoft Architecture Poster?

David Overton — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:17:30 GMT

I saw this at Chris's site and thought I would share:

Chris Bowen's Blog : Got Tech Posters?

There are plenty of technology posters and charts for developers available on MSDN. I didn't realize just how many until I searched for "poster" on MSDN downloads.
Here's a list of the more recent ones: [Edited list by David - more on Chris's blog]

.NET 3.5 Namespaces Poster
The .NET Framework 3.5 Common Namespaces and Types Poster
Exchange Component Architecture Poster
This poster highlights the architecture and feature set of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.
Visual Basic 2008 Keybinding Poster
Printable wall poster containing list of useful keyboard shortcuts for Visual Basic 2008 developers
Visual C++ 2008 Keybinding Poster
List of keybindings for Visual C++ language within Visual Studio and Visual C++ Express 2008
Visual C# 2008 Poster
Wall chart showing useful keyboard shortcuts for Visual C# programming language
2007 Office System: Developer Posters
Download these posters to learn more about the new features and enhancement to the 2007 Microsoft Office System.
Windows Server 2008 Component Posters
Windows Server 2008 Component Posters, originally printed in the July 2007 issue of TechNet Magazine.
Microsoft Silverlight 1.1 (Ed: Make that 2.0) Developer Reference Poster
Microsoft Silverlight Developer Reference Poster

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Developer, .Net Framework, Visual C#, Visual C++, Office System, Silverlight, Windows Server 2008

If you are a developer, what can Windows 2008 do for your developments... lots maybe

David Overton — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:40:00 GMT

Sorry to sound so vague, but I have to start by saying that Windows Server 2008 is a server platform, not a cure for cancer, so lets put it in perspective and set our expectations high, but not stupidly high expecting it to be revolution. Server 2008 is a quality evolution of Windows Server 2003 and extends and enhanced the Server 2003 offerings. However, if you plan on building applications for the future then Server 2008 will be the place to be.

Microsoft have released a document called the "Windows Server 2008 Developer Story" that has a wealth of information on Server 2008 developer directions and how they combine to offer something greater than the sum of the parts. The download site describes itself as:

Windows Server 2008 Developer Story

An executable containing the Windows Server 2008 Developer Story

The Windows Server 2008 Developer Story introduces users to new features of the Windows Server 2008 operating system by providing a cohesive story about how the features fit together to make a compelling platform for developers. The Developer Story topics explain how to take advantage of a new feature or solve a problem using the new Windows technologies. The topics include conceptual information for context and technical specifications for practical application of each scenario.
This download contains the Windows Server 2008 Developer Story (ServerDevStory.chm).

Download details: Windows Server 2008 Developer Story

If you look inside the help file it loads then you get this list of the top 7 ways to take advantage of Windows Server 2008.

Top 7 Ways to Light Up Your Apps on Windows Server 2008

Whether you are building Web applications or writing core server-based system services, Windows Server® 2008 provides many new features that you can leverage to build more secure, flexible, and innovative applications.

Build More Flexible Web Applications on Internet Information Server 7.0 (IIS7)

Extend IIS7 through modules

New unified configuration model

Administration capabilities using Microsoft.Web.Administration Managed API

Build Connected Systems

Windows Communication Foundation

Windows Workflow Foundation

Windows Process Activation Service

Microsoft Message Queue 4.0

Develop Federation-Aware Applications

Active Directory Federation Services

Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services

Windows Authorization Manager

Design Highly Manageable Applications

Windows Eventing 6.0

Windows Installer 4.0, ClickOnce

Windows PowerShell™, Microsoft Management Console 3.0, and Windows Task Scheduler 2.0

Develop More Reliable Applications

Application Recovery and Restart API

Restart Manager

Transactional NTFS, Transactional Registry, and Kernel Transaction Manager

Build Scalable Applications

Thread Pool API enhancements

Thread Ordering Service

Wait Chain Traversal

Leverage Virtualization on Windows Server 2008

Server Consolidation

Business Continuance

Testing and Development

Branch Office

The information presented here and in the downloadable compiled help (.chm) file is designed to help developers prepare for Windows Server 2008.

As an example, we have sample extensions to the IIS7 administration page as shown below:

My IIS 7.0 Administration UI Extension Page

The UI extension option in IIS 7.0 is an exciting feature for any .Net developer. You can write your own custom UI pages and can add various features to it to manage IIS on Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. I have written an UI extension and is attached with this post.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Server 2008, Developer

How to get Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC (legitimately) via the Public Availability Program

David Overton — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:01:00 GMT

I knew this was coming, but I've not seen it shouted too much. My machine feels more responsive and some operations as mentioned before are faster. If you read the Windows Vista team blog Windows Vista SP1 RC now available for public download you would think it is only available to MSDN and Technet customers. It does have some good pointers though.

We're making available today the RC release of Windows Vista SP1, found here on MSDN and here on TechNet, with an FAQ here. I invite you to download, install and use the SP1 RC and let us know about your experience by providing your feedback here.
Before you install SP1 RC, please bear in mind the following points of advice, detailed in this short article:

If you have a prior version of SP1 Beta installed, you must uninstall it prior to installing RC.
This is pre-release code and will change before the final release.
This pre-release software is provided for testing purposes only. Microsoft does not recommend installing this software on primary or mission-critical systems.
Microsoft recommends that you backup your data prior to installing any pre-release software.
Windows Vista SP1 Release Candidate is time-limited software. It will no longer operate after June 30, 2008 and should be uninstalled prior to that date.
Support is through self-help and peer support via the Windows Vista SP1 forum. Assisted support (phone, email and online chat) is not available from Microsoft Support for this RC release of SP1. Support is not available via this blog.
If you install the Service Pack 1 Release Candidate, it is strongly recommended that you also plan to install the final version of Windows Vista SP1 when it is released in the first quarter of 2008. To do this, you will be required to uninstall this pre-release code.
You must have a genuine copy of Windows Vista installed on the computer prior to installing the Windows Vista SP1 update.

Thanks to all of you who've expressed interest in testing the RC!

To get on the programme for Windows Updates based SP1 RE, have a look here Download details: Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC Public Availability Program:

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC Public Availability Program

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC is available through Windows Update.

File Name:
SP1RC_Public_Availability_WURelease.exe
Version:
936330
Knowledge Base (KB) Articles:
KB936330
Install Windows Vista SP1 Release Candidate through Windows Update
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) Release Candidate (RC) is available through Windows Update. Please read the following instructions before you install.
Before You Install

You must uninstall any previous versions of Windows Vista SP1 before installing Windows Vista SP1 RC
To uninstall previous version of Windows Vista SP1

Open the Programs and Features control panel and select View installed updates. In the Microsoft Windows section, righ-click Service Pack for Windows (936330) and select Uninstall.
Your system will now uninstall the previous version of Windows Vista SP1 Beta and may reboot multiple times.
Please wait one hour after uninstalling a previous version of Windows Vista SP1 before installing Windows Vista SP1 RC. The installer service needs to clean up and complete the uninstall prior to installing the RC. Failing to do this can result in installation errors when installing the RC version.

Windows Vista SP1 RC is pre-release software and will change before the final release. Windows Vista SP1 RC is for individuals, organizations, and technical enthusiasts who are comfortable evaluating pre-release software and is provided for testing purposes only. Microsoft does not recommend installing this software on primary or mission critical systems. Microsoft recommends that you have a backup of your data prior to installing any pre-release software.
Windows Vista SP1 RC is time-limited software.
Windows Vista SP1 RC will no longer operate after June 30, 2008 and should be uninstalled prior to that date. After installation your desktop will show the text “Evaluation Copy”. This does not mean that your system is no longer genuine but that you have installed a test version of software which is time-limited. The “Evaluation Copy” text will appear on your desktop after the second reboot after installing the service pack. Likewise, the “Evaluation Copy” text will remain on your desktop during the first reboot after uninstall the service pack, but will disappear after the next reboot.
If you install Windows Vista SP1 RC it is strongly recommended that you install the final version of Windows Vista SP1 when it is released. To do this, you will be required to uninstall this RC version of Windows Vista SP1.
Assisted support (phone, email and online chat) is not available from Microsoft Help and Support for this RC release of Windows Vista SP1. Self-help and peer support is available through the Windows Vista SP1 forum.
You must have a genuine copy of Windows Vista installed prior to installing Windows Vista SP1 RC.

The Windows Update Experience
Windows Vista SP1 RC requires the installation of either two or three prerequisite updates prior to installing the service pack itself. These prerequisite updates will be delivered to most users over Windows Update as part of regularly scheduled monthly updates prior to the release of the service pack. This will help ensure that reboots required by the prerequisite updates occur with other updates that require a reboot. However, because these prerequisite updates have not been released, installing Windows Vista SP1 RC will require 3 to 4 separate installations over Windows Update. Please note that the instructions below are primarily required for the RC installation and will not be required for most users using Windows Update to install the final Service Pack.
The prerequisite updates consist of two updates which service specific Windows components prior to the installation of the service pack and a third update which services the installation software built into Windows Vista. The following are the prerequisite updates.

KB935509 This updates is only required on Windows Vista Enterprise and Windows Vista Ultimate editions (which have Bitlocker capabilities). This update is required prior to installing KB938371, the second prerequisite update and is required to prevent potential loss of data on Bitlocker encrypted systems during updating.
KB938371 This update consists of fixes for several components (including the TrustedInstaller), increases the success rate for installing the service pack and enables the service pack to be uninstalled successfully.
KB937287 This is an update to the “Servicing Stack” or the Windows Vista component installer technologies built into Windows Vista. This update enables the built-in installer to properly and successfully install the service pack.

Installing the Sevice Pack
There are two ways to install the service pack, first, as a pop-up notification that the service pack is ready to be installed (this is the method in which most users will install the service pack) and using multiple manual installations from Windows Update. The first method is the simplest, but may take up to four days for the Windows Update Automatic Update feature to deliver each of the 3 prerequisites and the service pack. Windows Vista SP1 distributed through Windows Update will be applicable to Windows Vista machines that are running on any of the 36 languages supported by Windows Vista RTM.
Method 1: Automatic Update
You can install Windows Vista SP1 RC using the Automatic Update process by following these steps.

Save the included SP1cppRK.cmd script to your machine.
Right-click on the script and select Run as administrator. The script will set a registry key on your machine that allows Windows Update to offer Windows Vista SP1 RC to your machine.
From the Windows Update control panel, select Change settings.
Verify that Install updates automatically (recommended) is selected. This enables the Automatic Update feature to download and install the prerequisite updates and service pack automatically.
Windows Update Automatic Update will automatically update your machine over the next several days with the prerequisites updates. When the service pack has downloaded a pop-up notification will inform you that updates are ready to be installed. You must click on this notification and choose to install the service pack at this point. The service pack will not silently or automatically install itself.

Method 2: Manual Installation using Windows Update
To intall Windows Vista SP1 RC as quickly as possible, follow the steps below.

Save the included SP1cppRK.cmd script to your machine.
Right-click on the script and select Run as administrator. The script will set a registry key on your machine that allows Windows Update to offer Windows Vista SP1 RC to your machine.
Windows Update Automatic Update will automatically update your machine over the next several days with the prerequisites updates provided you have the Windows Update Automatic Update feature enabled. When the service pack has downloaded a pop-up notification will inform you that updates are ready to be installed. You must click on this notification and choose to install the service pack at this point. The service pack will not silently or automatically install itself.
To manually install the service pack, start by installing all Important updates applicable to your system and the prerequisite updates. You may have to repeat this several times to fully update your system by opening the Windows Update control panel and selecting Check for updates. Note: If your system is managed by a administrator and has a Windows Server Updates Services (WSUS) server for updates, you need to use the Check online for updates option of the Windows Update control panel. If this option is not available, your administrator may have disabled this functionality.
If you have Windows Vista Ultimate or Windows Vista Enterprise, Update for Windows Vista (KB935509) should be in this list. If you have any other version, Update for Windows Vista (KB938371) should be in this list. Install these updates and reboot your machine when prompted.
If you do not have Windows Vista Ultimate or Windows Vista Enterprise Update for Windows Vista (KB938371) should be in the list first and Update for Windows Vista (KB935509) is not required. Note: If you reboot and immediately check for updates you may not see all updates. This may be caused by the installer service completing the installation of the prior update. Please wait 5-10 minutes and check for updates again.
Install Update for Windows Vista (KB937287). Update for Windows Vista (KB937287) does not require a reboot.
Wait for 10-15 minutes before checking for updates again to enable the installer to complete its installation.
Check for updates again and install Service Pack for Windows (KB936330).

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Service Pack, Service Pack 1, Windows Vista, Vista, Betas, Release Candidate

Office 2007 SP1 is here and it does more than just update the desktop - SharePoint gets AJAX for example

David Overton — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:05:00 GMT

I'm sure you have heard that the Office 2007 Service Pack is here. Darren Strange has documented what is in it and how to get it at Office 2007 sp1 ready for download today and OfficeRocker! : More detail about sp1. In answer to Susanne's post at here, hopefully this post has some more info in it

One of the little things he puts that I like is:

Some other factoids about sp1

There are roughly 2500 fixes in SP1. This an average size for a service pack, but the issues fixed are very important to our customers.
Almost 20% of those fixes are direct result of customer requests.
Over 500 of those fixes focused on security.
There are a total of 24 different releases in 38 languages. There are 683 distinct packages. All have released simultaneously today.

If you get the whitepaper then you would be keen to see the information below. Notice that SharePoint amongst other things a developer update to support Ajax and that other server products (Groove and Project Server) are also updated.

Stability

Microsoft continues to improve its software products by listening to customers and acting on customer requests. With the 2007 Microsoft® Office system Service Pack 1 (SP1), Microsoft demonstrates this commitment by fixing at least the top five software bugs in each application that caused crashes, resulting in an even more stable product. The 2007 Office system SP1 also addresses many minor annoyances and distracting problems that users had to contend with in the initial release. Many of these minor usability and stability fixes are in response to customer requests as well. The following section lists summaries of some of the most notable stability improvements delivered with the 2007 Office system SP1.
Access 2007

For third-party applications that use Data Access Object code to synchronize replicated information in a Microsoft Office Access™ 2007 database, Office Access 2007 no longer returns a run-time error that causes the application to close or time out.
Communicator 2007

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 now presents more accurate presence information and does so with consistent visual cues.

The icons used to display presence are modified so that users who are red-green colourblind can determine people’s presence status.
Office Communicator 2007 no longer causes presence icons to flicker when multiple people appear simultaneously.
Presence information in Office Communicator 2007 and other Microsoft Office applications is consistent in all scenarios.
Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007 no longer starts in the background along with Office Communicator 2007.

Excel 2007

Several stability, general usability, and compatibility improvements have been incorporated into Microsoft Office Excel® 2007.

Office Excel 2007 no longer stops responding in some instances when opening a workbook containing calculations.
Office Excel 2007 workbooks that are saved in Page Break Preview mode and opened in Microsoft Office Excel 2003 no longer produce an error when switched to Normal view.
When inputting calculations that should result in numbers 65,534 through 65,536, Office Excel 2007 no longer returns the display error of 100,001.
Office Excel 2007 now retains custom colours on shapes in Excel 2003 worksheets.
Office Excel 2007 no longer misplaces or wraps labels in charts when the workbook is reopened.

Groove 2007

For Microsoft Office Groove® 2007, issues surrounding the activation of new and previously retired accounts have been resolved.

Office Groove 2007 no longer places a 60-day limit on retired accounts that are stored in backup files.
When the auto-activation feature is turned on and invited users open an invitation file (.grv), they are no longer prompted for an activation key or notified of an unconfigured account.

InfoPath 2007 and InfoPath Forms Server

Microsoft Office InfoPath® 2007 benefits from a more consistent user experience, especially with online forms.

When users input data into an Office InfoPath 2007 form using a Web browser, the saved changes are now retained after closing and reopening the form.
Font size no longer increases when pasting from one rich text box in Office InfoPath 2007 to another.

Outlook 2007

Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 benefits from a number of fixes and enhancements that make the popular messaging client more stable and easier to use.

Office Outlook 2007 no longer closes unexpectedly when the junk e-mail rule is set to null.
Body content in HTML-formatted e-mail messages now appears properly in the preview pane or when the message is opened.
Items moved from an offline folder file (.ost) to a personal folder file (.pst) now display properly in the preview pane.
In search folders, Office Outlook 2007 now shows the accurate count for unread items that are hidden.
When scheduling a resource such as a meeting room in meeting requests, the public free/busy information for the resource is now complete and visible in Office Outlook 2007.
When users forward plain-text e-mail messages with attachments, the body text is now retained.
If the Mailbox Cleanup wizard starts while the user is dragging a message into a folder, Office Outlook 2007 no longer closes unexpectedly.

PowerPoint 2007

Fixes in Microsoft Office PowerPoint® 2007 make the presentation application even more reliable, especially when used in conjunction with Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access, Web sites that use forms authentication, or event macros.

Users who have started an event macro in Office PowerPoint 2007 can now advance slides by right-clicking and then choosing Next or Previous.
When users try to open a presentation in Office PowerPoint 2007 from a Web site using forms authentication, the presentation will now appear properly.
Users can now open presentations in Office PowerPoint 2007 from e-mail attachments in Office Outlook Web Access.
Office PowerPoint 2007 no longer crashes when the user programmatically accesses the parent property of the Hyperlinks Collection Object in the Office PowerPoint 2007 object model.
Text formatting now behaves similarly to previous versions of PowerPoint, where new text retains the formatting of the deleted text instead of using the formatting of the character to the left.

Project 2007 and Project Server 2007

The 2007 Office system SP1 eliminates instances when either Microsoft Office Project 2007 or the accompanying Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 crashes due to a software error.

Office Project 2007 no longer crashes when users click to view Windows account or Details in the Resources Information dialog box and then perform any other action.
Office Project 2007 does not produce an error message when a link from one task accesses a task in a different project stored on Office Project Server 2007. This error only occurred when the linked project was renamed.
Microsoft Office Project Web Access now makes task IDs available and allows users to enter a work estimate when creating a new task.

SharePoint Server 2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 has improved manageability and compatibility.

Office SharePoint Server 2007 now has the ability to be installed on Windows Server 2008 providing compatibility and support.
ASP.NET AJAX has compatibility and support with Office SharePoint Server 2007 including examples for customer web parts build the AJAX 1.0 Control Toolkit and the AJAX 1.0 Extensions for ASP.NET (KB 941955)
New manageability with STSADM commands for consolidating or repartitioning your content databases, renaming host named site collections, and the ability to scope the people picker to a specific active directory organizational unit.
Advanced search results now include results with spaces in file names.
The View by Modified Date function now works correctly in search results.
Office SharePoint Server 2007 is now able to crawl case-sensitive Web content on computers not running the Windows® operating system.
Office SharePoint Server 2007 can now index a public folder on a Microsoft Exchange Server with a backslash in the subject.

Visio 2007

Microsoft Office Visio® 2007 now properly redraws shapes when users apply a dynamic connector that is part of a group of shapes in Office Visio 2007.
Word 2007

By taking care of several small stability and usability details, Microsoft Office Word 2007 is a more useful and reliable tool for everyday document creation tasks.

With Office Word 2007, users can now open and edit embedded objects that contain other embedded objects.
When using smart documents in Office Word 2007, the Document Actions task pane no longer disappears when moving the pointer into the Reviewing pane. Additionally, task panes opened earlier no longer appear unexpectedly.
Office Word 2007 properly creates and updates a table of contents in unprotected sections of documents that also contain sections protected for forms.
Office Word 2007 no longer prints an extra page when users choose a printer with the duplex option enabled.

Performance

Many of the improvements delivered in the 2007 Microsoft® Office system Service Pack 1 (SP1) boost application and search performance. The service pack includes performance enhancements for some of the most commonly used applications in the 2007 Microsoft Office system, such as Microsoft Office Access™ 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook® 2007. Additionally, users that rely on server components for the 2007 Office system and the Japanese Input Method Editor (IME) will see a significant performance increase.
General Performance Fixes

Applications in the 2007 Office system work more effectively with the Japanese IME released by Microsoft, especially when inputting Japanese characters and converting those characters to kanji. In addition, computers that simultaneously run the Japanese IME and a security solution no longer use up to 100 percent of CPU resources.
Access 2007

Project files (.adp) no longer run slower than expected when opened in Microsoft Office Access 2007.
Outlook 2007

Improved performance in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 eliminates frustrating delays when opening large mailbox files and frees office workers to focus on important business tasks. The 2007 Office system SP1 makes it easier to open large offline folder files (.ost) and personal folder files (.pst) that are located directly on the user’s machine.
Project 2007 and Project Server 2007

When adding multiple values to a lookup table in Microsoft Office Project 2007, the application no longer searches for duplicate values in a way that unexpectedly slows performance. Also, users can now quickly retrieve lists of projects from a Microsoft Office Project Server 2007 database.
SharePoint Server 2007

With the 2007 Office system SP1, the performance of Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 improves general server activities and search functionality. An Office SharePoint Server that experiences heavy use no longer slows when a Microsoft .NET Framework hotfix (greater or equal to build 2.0.50727.832) is installed. The service pack also helps reduce the lag time before the start of a document library crawl during a document search in SharePoint.
Security

The 2007 Microsoft® Office system was built from the ground up, with security and privacy as driving design considerations. The 2007 Microsoft Office system Service Pack 1 incrementally improves security in the 2007 Office release by incorporating the latest security research and responding to ongoing application testing results. Individual application fixes that protect people’s privacy complement these improvements to baseline security.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: If you only read one post today, Office 2007, Office System, SharePoint Server 2007, Windows SharePoint Services, Service Pack, Service Pack 1, Outlook 2007, Project 2007, Word 2007, PowerPoint 2007, Excel 2007, Access 2007, Groove, Communicator 2007

Windows platform news (Hyper-V pricing, Technet Edge, HPC 2008)

David Overton — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 08:19:06 GMT

The TRM blog can be found here December 2007 - Technical Rollup Mail - Platforms

Microsoft outlines pricing, packaging and licensing for Windows Server 2008, Including the new Microsoft Hyper-V Server product.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/nov07/11-12HyperVPR.mspx
Microsoft announces new virtualization offerings, Windows Server 2008 details, System Center product availability at TechEd IT Forum 2007
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/nov07/11-12ITForumPR.mspx
Solution Accelerators
Take the guesswork out of your deployments. Use these tested and proven automation tools and guides to assess your network and confidently roll out new services employing architectures with baked-in security and manageability.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/solutionaccelerators/default.aspx
The TechNet Team have launched Technet Edge, a new community site where IT professionals can go to get the inside scoop on the latest and greatest technologies.
http://edge.technet.com/Default.aspx
Introducing Microsoft Search Server 2008
http://www.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch/serverproducts/searchserver/default.aspx
A successful enterprise search solution gives users efficient access to unstructured data, structured information, and expertise. It helps keep sensitive information secure; is easy to set up, administer, and manage; leaves room for scalability; and allows you to customize and extend your search experience. Search doesn’t have to be complicated. You can deliver it to your organization quickly and easily with Microsoft Search Server 2008
A successful enterprise search solution gives users efficient access to unstructured data, structured information, and expertise. It helps keep sensitive information secure; is easy to set up, administer, and manage; leaves room for scalability; and allows you to customize and extend your search experience. Search doesn’t have to be complicated. You can deliver it to your organization quickly and easily with Microsoft Search Server 2008
Download the Express Edition Free: http://www.microsoft.com/enterprisesearch/serverproducts/searchserverexpress/download.aspx
Microsoft Unveils Windows HPC Server 2008
The first public beta of Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008, a server operating system and tools designed for the fast-growing high performance computing (HPC) market has been released.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/ccs/hpcplus.aspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Server 2008, Virtualisation, Technet

SQL Server Web casts (Preparing for SQL Server 2008, New T-SQL features, migrating from Access, Policy based management framework, BI, certifications, reducing hardware and maintenance costs)

David Overton — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:31:54 GMT

From the TRM Blog at November 2007 - Technical Rollup Mail - SQL

SQL 2005 Webcasts and Virtual Labs

SQL Server 2005 is data management and analysis software that delivers enhanced security, availability, and scalability to mission-critical data applications—while making them easier to develop, deploy, and manage. Choose from a wide range of live and on-demand webcasts. Or take part in a virtual lab, which allows you to cut your teeth on the new platform by experimenting with its different capabilities.

SQL Server 2005 Webcasts

TechNet Webcast: Prepare Yourself for Windows Server 2008 (Part 1 of 8): Product Workload Scenarios (Level 300) – Monday, December 03, 2007 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

In this first session of our series, we discuss how Windows Server 2008 addresses key deployment scenarios for customers. We start with an overview of the key product workload scenarios for Windows Server 2008. We cover as many as 10 different scenarios, and we discuss how each scenario can be categorized into one of three different design pillars. While examining the scenarios, we take a closer look at the specific technologies used within the scenario, describe how they are used, and explain why they are needed. We show which technologies comprise each scenario and the value propositions they deliver. Finally, we see how the scenario adds value to Windows Server 2008 and, in some cases, we provide real-world examples of usages for the scenario.

TechNet Webcast: Prepare Yourself for Windows Server 2008 (Part 1 of 8): Product Workload Scenarios (Level 300)

MSDN Webcast: New T-SQL Programmability Features in SQL Server 2008 (Level 300) – Tuesday, December 04, 2007 1:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Join this webcast on new T-SQL programmability features in Microsoft SQL Server 2008, an extension from last year's presentation on top Microsoft SQL Server 2005 T-SQL features. We cover exciting new features such as:

New data types (i.e. date/time, filestream, HierarchyID, large UDT, sparse columns)
Dependency management for database objects
Procedure programming (i.e. table value parameter)
Data warehousing enhancements (i.e. Merge data manipulation language (DML) statement, grouping set, filtered indexing)
Supportability (i.e. Data Definition Language (DDL) trigger)
MSDN Webcast: New T-SQL Programmability Features in SQL Server 2008 (Level 300)

Momentum Webcast: Migrating from Access to SQL Server (Level 100) – Wednesday, December 05, 2007 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Technical audiences currently using Microsoft Office Access will benefit from this tutorial on how to easily migrate databases from Microsoft Office Access 97 through Microsoft Office Access 2003 to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 using Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant (SSMA). In this webcast, Dmitry Balin, director of SQL Server marketing, explains different methods of upsizing Access applications to SQL Server (linked tables, Access projects , rewriting to the Microsoft .NET Framework) and shows how SQL Server Migration Assistant automates, streamlines, and simplifies this process. SSMA for Access converts Access database objects to SQL Server database objects, loads those objects into SQL Server, and then migrates data from Access to SQL Server. Dmitry also shares experiences from other customers who have benefited from using SSMA and SQL Server to improve their business processes.

Momentum Webcast: Migrating from Access to SQL Server (Level 100)

TechNet Webcast: Using the New Policy-Based Management Framework in SQL Server 2008 (Level 300) – Thursday, December 06, 2007 11:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 introduces a new policy-based framework for database administrators, which can significantly improve administrative productivity and reliability. Database administrators declare their administrative intent through policies that are then applied by the system. This approach reduces the potential for administrative error and enables the framework to monitor or enforce the policies in an automated fashion. Not only can policies be applied to individual databases or tables on a single server, but they can also seamlessly be scaled to include large collections of objects spanning many server instances.

TechNet Webcast: Using the New Policy-Based Management Framework in SQL Server 2008 (Level 300)

Momentum Webcast: SQL Server 2008 (Part 2 of 3): Expanding Business Intelligence Capabilities (Level 100) – Thursday, December 06, 2007 1:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Join us for this second webcast in our three-part series on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to learn all about its new features. SQL Server 2008 builds on the strong momentum in the business intelligence (BI) market by providing a scalable infrastructure that enables IT to drive BI throughout your organization and deliver intelligence where users want it. SQL Server 2008 makes great strides in data warehousing, providing a comprehensive and scalable platform that lets organizations integrate data into the data warehouse faster and to scale and manage that data while delivering insight to all users. With the more scalable BI infrastructure provided by SQL Server 2008, you can easily manage reports and analysis of any size or complexity, and at the same time, empower users through the deeper integration with Microsoft Office programs. SQL Server 2008 also delivers improved performance in many areas, including data warehousing, reporting, and analytics. Join us to learn how you can use SQL Server 2008 to get the right information to the right people in the right format on the right device.

Momentum Webcast: SQL Server 2008 (Part 2 of 3): Expanding Business Intelligence Capabilities (Level 100)

MCP Live Meeting: SQL Server 2008 and Your Microsoft Certifications (Session 1) – Wednesday, December 12, 2007 7:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Join the Microsoft Certification team for guidance on your certification path for SQL Server. In this meeting, we will introduce our plans for SQL Server 2008 training and certification, review the SQL Server 2005 certifications, and answer your individual questions about the path that is right for you, in Business Intelligence, Database Development, or Database Administration.

MCP Live Meeting: SQL Server 2008 and Your Microsoft Certifications (Session 1)

Momentum Webcast: SQL Server 2008 (Part 3 of 3): Reducing Hardware and Maintenance Costs with Server Consolidation (Level 100) – Wednesday, December 12, 2007 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Join us for this final webcast in our three-part series on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 to learn all about its new features. SQL Server 2008 can help reduce hardware and maintenance costs by providing a flexible server consolidation solution. Organizations can centralize data services on fewer servers through server virtualization and support for multiple service instances on a single physical server, along with the tools and functionality to migrate distributed data to a consolidated data center. By providing a centralized data services management interface and declarative, policy-based configuration management, SQL Server can make it easy for organizations with multiple data stores to reduce management overhead. Finally, the enhanced performance in SQL Server 2008 and the ability to explicitly control how your server resources are used enable you to consolidate your data services while providing the scalability and performance your applications need. Join us to learn how you can use SQL Server 2008 to get the right information to the right people in the right format on the right device.

Momentum Webcast: SQL Server 2008 (Part 3 of 3): Reducing Hardware and Maintenance Costs with Server Consolidation (Level 100)

TechNet Webcast: Microsoft SQL Server and FileMaker Pro 9 Interoperability (Level 200) – Wednesday, December 12, 2007 1:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Microsoft SQL Server works seamlessly with FileMaker Pro version 9. FileMaker is more than database software; it is a rapid-application development environment that anyone can use to quickly create solutions for collecting, managing, and reporting data. Join this webcast to understand how developers can benefit from connecting FileMaker Pro 9 and Microsoft SQL Server. We also show a technology demonstration of FileMaker Pro 9 connecting with Microsoft SQL Server.

TechNet Webcast: Microsoft SQL Server and FileMaker Pro 9 Interoperability (Level 200)

MCP Live Meeting: SQL Server 2008 and Your Microsoft Certifications (Session 2) – Wednesday, December 12, 2007 5:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Join the Microsoft Certification team for guidance on your certification path for SQL Server. In this meeting, we will introduce our plans for SQL Server 2008 training and certification, review the SQL Server 2005 certifications, and answer your individual questions about the path that is right for you, in Business Intelligence, Database Development, or Database Administration.

MCP Live Meeting: SQL Server 2008 and Your Microsoft Certifications (Session 2)

Further on-demand webcasts are available here: http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/technetsqlserver2005.mspx

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SQL Server 2008, Webcasts, Preparing for SQL Server 2008, New T-SQL features, migrating from Access, Policy based management framework, BI, certifications, reducing hardware and maintenance costs

Things that have fixed peoples problem running Office on Vista

David Overton — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 07:33:38 GMT

From the blog entry I published on How to get rid of the installer / configuration dialog when running Office 2007 and Office 2003 on the same system - for Vista and other versions of Windows I still get people e-mailing me with problems. While I have not been able to solve them all, but here are some solutions that I have seen success with:

Problem: POP3 e-mail starts sending then gets stuck/hangs/stops:

I have seen your blog at uksbsguy.com and it seems you are my only hope. Brand new laptop, small sized PST file, Vista Home Premium, Outlook 2007 Ultimate. I set up an account in Outlook 2007 to my bog standard POP3 account that has always worked. It starts to download my first email and slowly reaches 3 or 4KB then just hangs. Surprisingly I can sent (SMTP) absolutely fine.
If I use another internet connection (dial up modem) instead of LAN then I can receive POP3 as well. But the same LAN connection works for my old laptop (XP/Outlook 2003) all settings same.
I also tried the netsh command and the result is as follows:
C:\Users\sparekh>netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=disabled
Set global command failed on IPv4 The requested operation requires elevation.
Sachin

The solution: elevated netsh command

You need to run an “elevated” command prompt. Find "command prompt" on your start menu, right click it and select “run as administrator” – then try the command "netsh interface tcp set global autotuning=disabled" (without the double quotes)

Response:
David,
Magic!
It worked! I elevated command prompt and netsh worked.
My IT team spent so many hours and days for this.
Thank you very much.

Problem: Error code Ox800CCC0E when receiving email Vista running Outlook 2007

I get a Ox800CCC0E error everytime I try to receive email on my vista business machine running Outlook 2007. This problem just started this week. I have had no such problems with outlook since I purchase the machine 5 months ago.
I have tried all the troubleshooting steps on your blog : http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2007/02/26/outlook-2007-pop3-performance-issues-and-potential-fixes-roundtrip-solutions-blog.aspx
I downloaded Windows Live mail and it works fine (it took about 3 seconds to configure). I also have another computer on my network (also attached to my dlink 604 router) and Outlook 2007 works fine on that machine.
I have disabled the anti-virus programs,etc. etc. etc.. Still not working.
Very frustrated.
Can you help ???

Frank

The Solution: Re-check your non-Microsoft firewall settings

I suggested Frank tried the items mentioned in How to turn on e-mail logging in Office 2007 and ensure that your ports are open. Having said he had "disabled all his anti-virus programs, etc. etc" - he responded with "The problem was the firewall settings in Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security. I disabled the personal firewall and everything then worked."

Windows Mobile not-Syncing with Outlook 2007

I just purchased the Outlook 2007 standalone version and installed in on XP Sp2 with Activesync 4.5. I am unable to sync my Windows Mobile 5.0 device to Outlook.
Amos

The Solution: ZoneAlarm Firewall again

Thanks, David. I figured it out -- a problem with the Zone Alarm firewall.

I've had the mails sat in my "blog about" folder (ok, so it is a category and I use search folders) in Outlook for a while, so I thought I should get them out there :-)

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Outlook, Office 2007, Troubleshooting

How to turn on e-mail logging in Office 2007 and ensure that your ports are open

David Overton — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 06:50:15 GMT

I was asked about this a while back and thought I would share. This person has e-mail receiving problems, so I wanted to turn on logging and check that the network ports were really open on his PC:

To get a mail log for more details – go to Tools/Options – then the advanced tab/Other button/Enable logging.

(mine is not checked – put a tick in yours). The location of the log file can be found at:
MAPI (Exchange), POP3, and SMTP transports - The log file has the name OPMLog.log and is located in one of the following locations: c:\Users\user name\AppData\Local\Temp\Outlook Logging - note this is the location on Windows VISTA

You might also want to look at http://www.webpipe.net/howto/Outlook_0x800CCC0E. You will need to install at telnet, but this is documented as:
By default, Telnet is not installed with Windows, but you can install it by following the steps below.
To install Telnet Client
1. Click the Start button , click Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Turn Windows features on or off. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
2. In the Windows Features dialog box, select the Telnet Client check box.
3. Click OK. The installation might take several minutes.
If the telnet works, but Outlook cannot get mail, try running “outlook /safe” and see if the same problem happens. If it does not, then it is an add-in.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Office 2007, Windows Vista, logging

SQL Server documentation (Reporting Services, XML in 2008, Spatial Data, Security for DBAs, Consolidation, Synchronisation, Compact Edition books, Scale out Analysis Services)

David Overton — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 04:01:16 GMT

From the TRM Blog at November 2007 - Technical Rollup Mail - SQL

Reporting Services in SQL Server 2008

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services provides a complete server-based platform that is designed to support a wide variety of reporting needs including managed enterprise reporting, ad-hoc reporting, embedded reporting, and web based reporting to enable organizations to deliver relevant information where needed across the entire enterprise. Reporting Services 2008 provides the tools and features necessary to author a variety of richly formatted reports from a wide range of data sources and provides a comprehensive set of familiar tools used to manage and secure an enterprise reporting solution. Reports are processed and delivered quickly and effectively, enabling users to either receive reports automatically through subscriptions, to access reports from a central report repository on an ad-hoc basis, or to consume reports in context of their business processes through reports directly embedded into their business or web applications.

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_ssrs.mspx

What's New for XML in SQL Server 2008

Microsoft introduced XML-related capabilities in Microsoft SQL Server 2000 with the FOR XML and OPENXML Transact-SQL keywords, which enabled developers to write Transact-SQL code to retrieve a query result as a stream of XML, and to shred an XML document into a rowset. SQL Server 2005 extended these XML capabilities significantly with the introduction of a native xml data type that supports XSD schema validation, XQuery-based operations, and XML indexing. SQL Server 2008 builds on the XML capabilities of previous releases and provides enhancements to meet the challenges that customers have faced when storing and manipulating XML data in the database.

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_xml.mspx

Managing Unstructured Data with SQL Server 2008

The proliferation of digital content has significant implications for the way in which organizations store and access business data. Increasingly, databases that are at the core of business applications must be integrated with unstructured data in the form of documents, images, video content, and other multimedia formats. Organizations increasingly need to be able to store and manage digital data of all formats in order to manage the information lifecycle, meet compliance requirements, and implement content management solutions. Microsoft SQL Server™ 2008 provides a flexible solution for storing unstructured data and combining it with relational data to build comprehensive solutions that encompass the full range of data across an organization.

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_unstructured.mspx

Delivering Location Intelligence with Spatial Data

The growing ability of businesses and consumers to quickly absorb large volumes of data, together with the increased availability of digital maps and spatially-enabled applications has created an unprecedented opportunity to incorporate geographic factors into decision making processes and analysis. The new spatial support in Microsoft SQL Server™ 2008 can help you to make better decisions through visual analysis of location data that can be stored and manipulated in a SQL Server database.

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/spatialdata.mspx

SQL Server 2008 Security Overview for Database Administrators

SQL Server 2008 is secure by design, default, and deployment. Microsoft is committed to communicating information about threats, countermeasures, and security enhancements as necessary to keep your data as secure as possible. This paper covers some of the most important security features in SQL Server 2008. It tells you how, as an administrator, you can install SQL Server securely and keep it that way even as applications and users make use of the data stored within.

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/SQL2008_Sec_Overview.mspx

Server Consolidation with SQL Server 2008

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 supports multiple options for server consolidation, which provides organizations with the flexibility to choose the consolidation approach that best meets their requirements to centralize data services management and reduce hardware and maintenance costs. By providing centralized management, auditing, and monitoring capabilities, SQL Server 2008 makes it easy to manage multiple databases and data services, which significantly reduces administrative overheads in large enterprises. Finally, SQL Server 2008 provides the reassurance of industry-leading performance and scalability, and unprecedented control over server resource to maximize the performance of consolidated data services.

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_srv_consol.mspx

Microsoft Synchronization Services for ADO.NET Books Online

Synchronization Services lets you synchronize data from disparate sources over two-tier, N-tier, and service-based architectures. Instead of only replicating a database and its schema, the Synchronization Services application programming interface (API) provides a set of components to synchronize data between data services and a local store. Applications are increasingly used on mobile clients, such as portable computers and devices, that do not have a consistent or reliable network connection to a central server. It is important for these applications to work against a local copy of data on the client. Equally important is the need to synchronize the local copy of the data with a central server when a network connection is available. The Synchronization Services API is modelled after the ADO.NET data access APIs and gives you an intuitive way to synchronize data. It makes building applications for occasionally connected environments a logical extension of building applications where you can depend on a consistent network connection.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=02989f70-49aa-43d7-81b8-a651120f8d65&DisplayLang=en

Microsoft SQL Server Compact 3.5 Books Online and Samples

SQL Server Compact 3.5 Books Online provides in-depth information about the features of the product. In addition to the Books Online, the sample applications helps to ramp up quickly on SQL Server Compact technology and an easy way to build applications rapidly. For information about Microsoft Synchronization Services for ADO.Net v1.0 download the Books Online

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1ff0529a-eb1f-4044-b4b7-40b00710f7b7&DisplayLang=en

Scale-Out Querying with Analysis Services Using SAN Snapshots

This SQL Server Best Practices white paper describes the use of virtual copy SAN snapshots in a load-balanced scalable querying environment for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services to increase the number of concurrent queries to Analysis Services servers with a rapid response time per query. Load-balanced querying distributes the load of all queries among the available servers. The use of the virtual copy SAN snapshots eliminates the need to copy data between an Analysis Services processing server and one or more dedicated Analysis Services query servers. This paper supplements the Scale-Out Querying with Analysis Services white paper.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=7AC8E03D-BF1F-4733-93E0-BC0F6E567608&displaylang=en

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SQL Server 2008, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server, Reporting Services, XML, Spatial Data, Security for DBAs, Consolidation, Synchronisation, Compact Edition books, Scale out Analysis Services

Download the "How to Sell, Deploy, and Build Business with Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 and SBS 2003 R2" now

David Overton — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 12:11:51 GMT

I have been asked about this loads of times, but for those of you who want to know more about using WSS v3 and SBS 2003, the guide is finally here at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=59acc518-023e-43c3-b8f3-378c5e387461.

How to Sell, Deploy, and Build Business with Microsoft Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 and SBS 2003 R2

Partner tool to create solutions using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2.

File Name: Selling_WSS_and_SBS_Kit.zip
Date Published: 11/15/2007
Overview

A new partner enablement tool helps you create solutions using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2. Access the toolkit’s resources—including a process cookbook, technical documentation and marketing materials—to learn how to build your business by selling and deploying customized solutions.

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David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003 R2, SBSC, WSS v3, WSS, SharePoint, Windows SharePoint Services

How to make Office 2007 always save in Office 97-2003 format

David Overton — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:23:08 GMT

This is another area I get a lot of questions, so I thought I would share the answer. While my person preference is to tell people to load the tools onto Office 2000/XP/2003 machines as documented at How to open Office 2007 (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007) files on Office 2000, Office XP and Office 2003 by downloading the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for File Formats - David Overton's Blog for some people this is not an option.

So, how do you force Office to save in the older format? If you want to do it to lots of machines then look at http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2007/07/14/default-save-as-doc-and-xls.aspx. If you want to do it on your own personal machine, try this:

Go the the "Opal" or the round Office button, and select Word Options

Then go to the save tab and choose the file format you want, so Word 97-2003 for .doc files. You need to do the save in Excel and PowerPoint to get those too do it too.

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David

Technorati Tags: Office 2007, Office 2003, Office XP, Office 2000

MSDN Evaluation Center for Office system, Biztalk, SQL Server 2005/2008 and Windows Server 2008

David Overton — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 18:18:59 GMT

I just found the MSDN Evaluation Center online today to give you evaluation resources that you might develop against. These include BizTalk Server, Office Communication Server, Office Enterprise , SharePoint Server, SharePoint Designer, SQL Server 2005, 2008, Express 2005 SP2, Windows Server 2008. I've pasted much of the content, but all the download links etc are country specific, so I have removed those. Click on the link above to get to download this stuff!

MSDN Evaluation Centre

Welcome to the MSDN Evaluation Centre, the central location for all Microsoft developer product trials and beta evaluations. Try a product before you buy it or test the latest beta to see what is in store for the next release. Start at the beginning of the evaluation process and follow the new products as they go through to the final releases. Remember to check back often as new products will be added as they become available.

As you evaluate your software, we'll provide you with comprehensive and relevant insights and information delivered to your inbox. Resources like:

Webcasts | Virtual Labs | Community insight | White papers| E-Learning | Events

Featured Evaluations

BizTalk Server

BizTalk 2006 R2

Regardless of the size of your organization, you need best-in class infrastructure. BizTalk Server 2006 R2 delivers enterprise-class infrastructure that enables you to connect .NET applications and infrastructure with your non .NET applications and platforms, as well as those of your partners.

Office system

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

Microsoft’s unified communications platform enables developers to efficiently build secure, productivity enhancing applications on top of an extensible software foundation.

Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007

Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 provides a comprehensive suite of applications that developers can extend to deliver solutions that make data and processes more accessible and relevant to users. With Office Enterprise 2007 you can build solutions that give users the power to collaborate with others regardless of their location, collect and store virtually any type of information in one place, quickly find and manage needed content, and easily share and update information.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is an integrated suite of server capabilities that supports all intranet, extranet, and Web applications across an enterprise within one integrated platform. This collaboration and content management server provides IT professionals and developers with the platform and tools they need for server administration, application extensibility, and interoperability.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 is designed to help you create and customize Web sites and workflows built with SharePoint Products and Technologies (Microsoft Windows® SharePoint Services and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007). It provides all the tools that IT professionals and solution creators need to develop SharePoint-based sophisticated composite applications and workflow solutions that enhance organizational agility and business process automation.

SQL Server

SQL Server 2008

SQL Server 2008, the next release of Microsoft SQL Server, will provide a comprehensive data platform that is more secure, reliable, manageable and scalable for your mission critical applications, while enabling developers to create new applications that can store and consume any type of data on any device, and enabling all your users to make informed decisions with relevant insights.

SQL Server 2005 Enterprise

Download or order the SQL Server 2005 180-day Trial Software. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 is a data management and analysis solution that enables companies of all sizes to gain greater insight from their business information, apply that insight to enhance their decision-making process, and achieve faster business results for a competitive advantage.

SQL Server Express Edition SP2

Download SQL Server Express Edition SP2, SQL Server Express with Advanced Services SP2, or tools to help manage SQL Server Express.

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate

Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate provides developers with the most secure, flexible and connected web and applications platform, reducing the time to craft high-performing, standards-compliant applications and make network services available remotely.

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David

Technorati Tags: Office System, MSDN Evaluation Center, SQL Server 2008, Windows Server 2008

What is in Office Accounting for accountants... well, multiple account views, sharing, customisation and more, but it is not an practice management solution

David Overton — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:25:14 GMT

I saw that someone said on one of the online forums that there was not anything in Office Accounting for Accountants. I beg to differ. This product is not something that offers anywhere near the same capabilities of someone like Iris for Practice Management - it is not designed to do so, it is aimed at small businesses who want a simple to use accounting package and then a tool for accountants to simply extract and manage data from it.

I am not an accountant, but Microsoft offer several areas for Accountants with Office Accounting:

Ability to customise the product to brand it for a specific organisation, such as an accountant, ISV or partner
Ability to monitor several people's accounts from the one place and gather updates via an secure online process (through Office Live)
Client sends accounts to accountant, continues using them and then the changes are synchronised back from accountant without data loss
Run payroll for multiple clients
Single Journal entry with VAT that spans multiple dates, customers and suppliers
Full audit on transactions and modifications to spot fraudulent actions easier
Ability to produce a number of the reports that accountants may well want to automate
A Microsoft backed network designed to listen to the needs of accountant and deliver further benefits for them - aka Microsoft Professional Accountants' Network which also provides the following software and support benefits:

Free Support

Free unlimited support until September 2009
Access to managed newsgroups
Access to invitation-only training events specifically for accounting professionals

Free Software

One complimentary license of Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2008
One complimentary license of Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2007

All in all I would say that was quite a lot for something that is potentially free for customers and free for accountants!!

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David

Technorati Tags: Microsoft Office Accounting, Office Accounting, Office System, MPAN, Microsoft Professional Accountants Network, Accounting, Accountant

What has Visual Studio 2008 got for developers of applications for Windows Mobile devices

David Overton — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:19:18 GMT

I saw the story at Visual Studio 2008 adds mobile application features that summarised the new features in Visual Studio 2008 for mobile application developers and realised that developing for the small platform is getting easier and easier. I plan to see a master at work in a couple of weeks on using the .Net Micro framework, which is even smaller, but the stuff you can produce with the stuff for mobile is amazingly flexible. Eric has an update on training available for Visual Studio 2008 which includes the Compact Framework stuff at Visual Studio 2008 Training Kit updated for RTM

Visual Studio 2008 adds mobile application features

<snipped>

Microsoft says, "developers will be able to build a mobile device client application that works [even] in a partially connected environment. The application will be able to send and receive data from a server, even if the device disconnects or roams."
New features for developers, summarized previously by a post on the Windows Mobile Team Blog, include:

Automated functional testing of managed code
An enhanced device emulator (version 3.0) that permits simulation of real-world changes in device state, such as signal dropoff or battery running dead
NET Compact Framework 3.5, introducing new features such as LINQ and as an implementation of the Windows Communication Foundation enabling device to device and device to server communication over the Exchange Activesync transport
The ability to build SQL Server 3.5 Compact Edition applications using the Visual Studio 2008 designer experience
Mobile developers need to use Visual Studio 2008 above to build Windows Mobile applications, according to the blog post. Those who already have the Windows Mobile 6 SDK or SDK Refresh installed will need to reinstall it after they're done with installing Visual Studio 2008.
Visual Studio 2008 supports the following platforms:

.NET Compact Framework 3.5
.NET Compact Framework 2.0
.NET Compact Framework 1.0 (projects will be upgraded to 2.0)
Windows Mobile 6 (by installing the Windows Mobile 6 SDK Refresh)
Windows Mobile 5.0
Pocket PC 2003 (managed and native code)
Smartphone 2003 (native code only)
Windows CE 6.0
Windows CE 5.0

<snipped - more at Visual Studio 2008 adds mobile application features>

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David

Technorati Tags: .Net compact framework, .Net, Developers, Windows Mobile

New reliability, compatibility, USB and MCE Updates to Windows Vista available via Windows Update now. The USB update fixes 1-2% of all Vista crashes!!

David Overton — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:40:13 GMT

I saw this on the blog and thought I would tell you all about it. I'm testing SP1, so I did not see it on my updates, but SP1 has this in it, so I think it is worth getting!!

New Updates to Windows Vista available via Windows Update this week

As you probably know and as we’ve mentioned in previous posts, we use Windows Update to periodically deliver updates for Windows Vista. We do this so that customers need not wait for a service pack or another or larger release to benefit from the ongoing improvements we make to Windows. With Windows Update, we can regularly service Windows as quickly, effectively and unobtrusively as possible, so that keeping your Windows OS up-to-date is easier and more convenient for you. All you have to do is make sure you are signed up to have updates installed automatically, and you’re good to go. Continuous improvement is the name of this game.
The non-security updates planned for release through Windows Update this week include:

An update on system compatibility, reliability and stability: extends the battery life for mobile devices, improves stability of wireless network services, and shortens recovery time after Windows Vista experiences a period of inactivity, among other fixes.
An update to USB core components: mainly affects systems returning from sleep or hibernation, fixing problems causing 1-2% of all crashes reported.
An update to Windows Media Center: among other things, affects interaction issues occurring between Media Center PC and Microsoft Xbox 360 when Xbox 360 is used as a Media Center Extender.

The links in the above list will lead you to the KB article related to each update in case you want more information on them. And, when they’re made available via Windows Update (expected to occur Tuesday 13th), you can also right-click each entry in Windows Update to get its 400-word summary description.
These and similar updates will be wrapped into SP1 for those of you considering installing them in one fell swoop. We’ll let you know here on the blog when we have more news in this vein.

Windows Vista Team Blog : New Updates to Windows Vista available via Windows Update this week

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David

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Updates, Vista

Whitepaper on Migrating SBS 2003 to New Hardware

David Overton — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 21:18:07 GMT

It is funny how things happen. I was debating with my dad which was better - building a new server and re-joining the clients, migrating via AD in a VPC to give the server the same name or adding the server and dealing with the fact that the "server" has a name change. I then told my dad that I had blogged about this and he should have read the document, only to discover that I had not. I've seen it covered in a few places. I'm always open to feedback on this sort of information. I am pro-VM based migrations but people seem to think they are too hard, so more on that would be really good.

Microsoft has released a new whitepaper and set of worksheets entitled:

”Migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to New Hardware“
Sections include:

Migrating Windows Small Business Server 2003 to New Hardware
Worksheet 1 Source and Destination Computer Information
Worksheet 2 SMTP Connector Settings
Worksheet 3 Exchange Server 2003 Global Settings
Worksheet 4 Location of Data for Line-of-Business Applications and Location of General User Data
Worksheet 5 Windows Small Business Server 2003 Settings
Worksheet 6 Shared Folder Information

The whitepaper outlines the following steps for migrating from an existing computer running Windows SBS 2003 to new hardware:

Evaluate the current status of the source server.

continued at Whitepaper - Migrating SBS 2003 to New Hardware | NoGeekLeftBehind.com

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David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003 R2, Migration, Tips

UK SMB Girl » DemoShowcase goes SBSC

David Overton — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:47:27 GMT

This is old news, but in-case you have not seen it, here we go. The Demo Showcase is an extremely valuable sales and learning tool, but it is also a benefit of the being a Certified Partner. Most SBSC partners are not Certified partners though, so this is a great win.

DemoShowcase goes SBSC

October 25th, 2007
Great news! Microsoft Corp. have finally allowed one of the greatest tools that bridges the gap between the techies and the sales teams.
Vijay announced it on his blog after the much anticipated Worldwide SBSC PALs meeting.
Thank you to Nigel Postings and Chris Parkes for taking the feedback the Community has been generating over the last few months regarding this and helping to make a difference with the big guns.
Keep an eye out for it in your Action Packs (I assume?)

UK SMB Girl » DemoShowcase goes SBSC

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David

Technorati Tags: SBSC, Demo Showcase

Fixing the last 2 problems with my Search Server Express - DCOM error 10016 (application settings do not grant Activation Permission form COM) and Gather warning 2436 for Search Services on my home server

David Overton — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 09:03:00 GMT

Obviously when I wrote the last blog entry on installing search server, not quite everything was working, although I did not realise it until a few errors appeared in the event log. The errors appear below - one is a DCOM permissions error and the other is a Gather error.

The DCOM error

Event Type:	Error
Event Source:	DCOM
Event Category:	None
Event ID:	10016
Date:		09/11/2007
Time:		06:35:26
User:		NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE
Computer:	HOMESERVER
Description:
The application-specific permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID {61738644-F196-11D0-9953-00C04FD919C1}
 to the user NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE SID (S-1-5-20).  This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

Fixing the DCOM error is all about setting permissions in the DCOM system. The magical application was IIS WAMREG admin Service. I worked this out by following the instructions in the KB article at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920783.

The Gatherer error

Event Type:	Warning
Event Source:	Windows SharePoint Services 3 Search
Event Category:	Gatherer 
Event ID:	2436
Date:		09/11/2007
Time:		06:50:19
User:		N/A
Computer:	HOMESERVER
Description:
The start address <sts3://homeserver/contentdbid={d067c159-4b98-4bb4-85d9-0d440121788b}> cannot be crawled.
Context: Application 'Search index file on the search server', Catalog 'Search'

Details:
	The object was not found.   (0x80041201)

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

This error relates to the fact that we have removed the search from http://<servername> and added a different virtual server name. If you look at http://www.kevincornwell.com/blog/index.php/windows-sharepoint-services-wss-30-search-setup-notes/ then you will see that you need to also change the Alternate Access Mappings. Do this and your event viewer errors will go!

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David

Technorati Tags: Search, Windows Home Server, Search Server Express Edition 2008, Windows Sharepoint Services

How to install Microsoft Search Server 2008 Express - including how to install on Windows Home Server

David Overton — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 23:43:58 GMT

I wrote about the search products the other day, but I then decided to take it for a spin. The easiest server for me to install on was a Windows Home Server, so here is the process.

Download the software and run the setup program and run the preparation tool:

Now run the installation tool. For me, I don't want much installed on the C drive, but I do have some drives known as E and F.

Once this is done, now go via the web to configure it. I asked for it to crawl my file shares, web sites and more

I then did a test search and it all worked :-)

Now, when I went back to the WHS sites, things were not so good. I discovered that the new site that Search Express clashed. There was 2 things I needed to do. One was to change the host header for the search site so that it did not clash with the default site. This is done in IIS admin and if you need instructions on how to do this, just drop a comment for me to know. Anyway, do this, but that was not enough. It enabled the default web site to start, but now search was broken. To fix that I had to set up SharePoint so that it knew about the new name for the site.

The place that documents this is http://store.bamboosolutions.com/kb/article.aspx?id=10460. Use the information to create a new site for "SharePoint - 80". Use the new host header you put in for the site and don't forget to add an entry to the DNS if needed!

That was it, Search installed and WHS back to normal.

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David

Technorati Tags: Windows Home Server, Search Express Edition 2008

SQL Server November Events and Webcasts (Data mining, spatial applications, performance tuning, reporting, overview and troubleshooting)

David Overton — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 06:24:29 GMT

This is an extract from the TRM blog which can be found here http://blogs.technet.com/trm/.

I have removed the KB article list and some items which I don't think are relevant to small business / ISV partners, however the full info can be found on the blog page too

Events / WebCasts

SQL 2005 Webcasts and Virtual Labs
SQL Server 2005 is data management and analysis software that delivers enhanced security, availability, and scalability to mission-critical data applications—while making them easier to develop, deploy, and manage. Choose from a wide range of live and on-demand webcasts. Or take part in a virtual lab, which allows you to cut your teeth on the new platform by experimenting with its different capabilities.
SQL Server 2005 Webcasts

TechNet Webcast: Deliver Actionable Insight Throughout Your Organization with Data Mining (Part 1 of 3): Your First Project with SQL Server Data Mining (Level 200) – Thursday, November 01, 2007
8:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Many users are intrigued and excited to see data mining available in the Microsoft SQL Server product, but many don't know how to start using these features. In this webcast, we lead you through the first steps to success for your data mining projects. We look at the overall architecture of data mining and the kinds of problems that can be solved. We also look at important points for your first project, such as choosing the right algorithms and testing your mining models.
TechNet Webcast: Deliver Actionable Insight Throughout Your Organization with Data Mining (Part 1 of 3): Your First Project with SQL Server Data Mining (Level 200)
MSDN Webcast: Building Spatial Applications with SQL Server 2008 (Level 300) – Thursday, November 01, 2007 9:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 delivers new spatial data types that enable you to consume, use, and extend location-based data through spatial-enabled applications. Attend this webcast to learn how to use spatial functionality in next version of SQL Server to build and optimize spatial queries.
MSDN Webcast: Building Spatial Applications with SQL Server 2008 (Level 300)
TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2008 Performance and Scalability Technologies (Level 300) – Thursday, November 01, 2007 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 supports very large databases, enterprise-scale reporting systems, and data warehouses. It provides growing database systems with tools and features to optimize performance, scale up individual servers, and scale out very large databases. SQL Server 2008 is designed to take advantage of the latest hardware technologies to support server consolidation. Throughout this presentation, we look into SQL Server 2008 performance and scalability technologies and show how you can use these technologies to provide optimal performance and responsiveness for your large data solutions.
TechNet Webcast: SQL Server 2008 Performance and Scalability Technologies (Level 300)
TechNet Webcast: Rich Report Design with SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services (Level 200) – Thursday, November 01, 2007 1:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Join this webcast to learn more about the report authoring capabilities to be delivered with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services. We provide a deep dive on designing reports with SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services. Learn about all of the new features and usability enhancements in report design. Have you heard about Tablix? Come find out exactly what it is and how it will make report authoring much easier and more powerful.
TechNet Webcast: Rich Report Design with SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services (Level 200)
MSDN Webcast: Build Smart Web Applications with SQL Server Data Mining (Level 200) – Friday, November 02, 2007 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Web applications typically generate large quantities of data, often capturing important aspects of your customers' behavior. What you may not realize is that this data can be excellent for data mining, and the results can be extremely useful in building out smarter applications and Web interfaces. In this session, we introduce the concept of a "smart application" and walk through specific examples of how to build these compelling technologies in for your own Web audience.
MSDN Webcast: Build Smart Web Applications with SQL Server Data Mining (Level 200)

MSDN Webcast: Building Adaptive Applications with SQL Server Data Mining (Level 300) – Thursday, November 08, 2007 1:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
There are many interesting and well-known uses of data mining for business analysis. However, for the application developer, data mining can also be useful for building adaptive, "intelligent" applications. In this webcast, we demonstrate how to build a simple application with Microsoft SQL Server Data Mining that collects data about usage as it goes along, and then uses that data to offer smart defaults—a truly adaptive application.
MSDN Webcast: Building Adaptive Applications with SQL Server Data Mining (Level 300)

Momentum Webcast: A "Sneak Peek" Overview of SQL Server 2008 (Level 100) – Tuesday, November 13, 2007 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Join us for this Microsoft SQL Server 2008 webcast to learn all about its new features. SQL Server 2008, the next release of Microsoft SQL Server, provides a comprehensive data platform that is more secure, reliable, manageable, and scalable for your mission-critical applications. We explain how SQL Server 2008 enables developers to create new applications that can store and consume any type of data on any device, empowering all your users to make informed decisions with relevant insights. For organizations to be successful and thrive in today's world of data, they need a vision that addresses key data trends. The Microsoft data platform vision enables organizations to meet these data explosion needs and the next generation of data-driven applications. Discover how SQL Server 2008 can help you get the right information to the right people in the right format on the right device.
Momentum Webcast: A "Sneak Peek" Overview of SQL Server 2008 (Level 100)

MSDN Webcast: SQL Server 2008 Advanced Troubleshooting with Extended Events (Level 200) – Wednesday, November 14, 2007 9:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Diagnosing production issues affecting Microsoft SQL Server can be difficult and time consuming. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 introduces Extended Events, which provide deep visibility into the inner workings of SQL Server and give the power to diagnose what were once impossible problems while having minimal impact on a running system. In this webcast, we introduce the SQL Server Extended Events features, describe the architecture of Extended Events, and explain how you can use Extended Events to diagnose real issues.
MSDN Webcast: SQL Server 2008 Advanced Troubleshooting with Extended Events (Level 200)

Microsoft Webcast: Business Solutions with SQL Server 2008 (Level 100) – Wednesday, November 14, 2007 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Learn more about how Microsoft SQL Server 2008 provides customers with a trusted, productive, and intelligent platform for business applications. See how SQL Server 2008 can be used to provide a reliable platform with lower cost for key business scenarios like business intelligence, data warehousing, mission-critical applications, and server consolidation.
Microsoft Webcast: Business Solutions with SQL Server 2008 (Level 100)
TechNet Webcast: Deliver Actionable Insight Throughout Your Organization with Data Mining (Part 2 of 3): Understand SQL Server Data Mining Add-ins for the 2007 Office System (Level 200) – Thursday, November 15, 2007 11:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Microsoft SQL Server Data Mining Add-ins for Excel empower information workers with an easy-to-use, yet remarkably complete, set of tools for predictive analysis, directly within their tool of choice – Microsoft Office Excel. Attend this webcast to understand how add-ins can enable your employees to utilize this simple and powerful technology to perform advanced analysis.
TechNet Webcast: Deliver Actionable Insight Throughout Your Organization with Data Mining (Part 2 of 3): Understand SQL Server Data Mining Add-ins for the 2007 Office System (Level 200)
Further on-demand webcasts are available here: http://www.microsoft.com/events/series/technetsqlserver2005.mspx
New KB’s
<snipped>
This content is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties express or implied, as to the information in this document. If you are a customer of Microsoft, please refer to the terms and conditions which cover the provision of support and consulting services to you/your organization. If you are not corresponding in the course of, or in connection with a Microsoft contract or program with its own terms and conditions, please note that no liability is accepted by Microsoft for the contents of this document.
TRM contributors this month were Mark Hawkins, Justin Zarb, Gareth Ford

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David

Technorati Tags: SQL Server 2008, data mining, spatial applications, performance tuning, reporting Services, web cast, events

SQL Server 2008 new documentation (Overviews, development, OLTP, tuning for 2000/2005, SOA, Oracle and Sybase migration) and downloads (JDBC, PHP)

David Overton — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 02:21:47 GMT

This is an extract from the TRM blog which can be found here http://blogs.technet.com/trm/.

I have removed the KB article list and some items which I don't think are relevant to small business / ISV partners, however the full info can be found on the blog page too

Documents

SQL Server 2008 Product Overview
For organizations to be successful and thrive in today’s world of data, they need a vision that addresses key data trends. The data platform vision of Microsoft helps organizations meet these data explosion needs and the next generation of data-driven applications. Microsoft will continue to invest in and evolve the following key areas to support their data platform vision: mission-critical enterprise data platform, dynamic development, relational data, and business intelligence. Read this paper to learn about the Microsoft Data Platform Vision and how SQL Server 2008 meets the needs of the next generation of data-driven applications.
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql2008Overview.mspx

Business Intelligence in SQL Server 2008
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 makes business intelligence (BI) available to everyone through deep integration with Microsoft Office, providing the right tool, to the right user, at the right price. The result is that employees at all levels of an organization can see and help to influence the performance of the business by working with tools that are both easy to use and powerful. Integration with the 2007 Microsoft Office System enables users to view business performance in a way that they understand and which feels comfortable; and the introduction of PerformancePoint Server 2007, helps customers to gain actionable insight into the entire organization so they can monitor, analyze, and plan their businesses, as well as drive alignment, accountability, and actionable insight across the entire organization.
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_bi.mspx
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and Microsoft Data Platform Development
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 and the Microsoft data platform provide developers with a comprehensive programming framework in which to create data centric solutions that target mobile devices, desktops, Web servers, and enterprise servers. This data programming environment improves developer productivity by integrating data access and management into the business logic of an application. It provides a comprehensive platform for data access and management from disparate data sources and a scalable solution for data storage and applications.
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_dp.mspx

Online Transaction Processing in SQL Server 2008
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 provides a database platform that is optimized for today’s applications, and that can scale for any size of business. It drives cost-efficiencies by dramatically reducing downtime and enabling dynamic and proactive management that significantly reduces administrative overhead. Finally, SQL Server 2008 provides a highly secure platform that you can trust with your organization’s sensitive, business-critical data.
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techinfo/whitepapers/sql_2008_oltp.mspx
SQL Server 2000: Performance Tuning and Optimization Datasheet
This 4-day workshop provides information on SQL 2000 index and page structures, performance troubleshooting tools, memory architecture, programming efficiency, and optimization techniques.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0556317d-66c3-4a6d-a128-4d6f873a28b3&DisplayLang=en
SQL Server 2005: Performance Tuning and Optimization Datasheet
This 4-day delivery provides participants with in-depth technical knowledge on performance tuning and optimization techniques for SQL Server 2005. Performance tools such as SQLdiag and Performance Monitor are covered in detail.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9b180e91-34e7-4274-9a4f-78562b926358&DisplayLang=en
SQL Server White Papers: Migration from Oracle or Sybase to Microsoft SQL Server
Guide to Migrating from Oracle to SQL Server 2005
This white paper explores challenges that arise when you migrate from an Oracle 7.3 database or later to SQL Server 2005. It describes the implementation differences of database objects, SQL dialects, and procedural code between the two platforms. The entire migration process using SQL Server Migration Assistant for Oracle (SSMA Oracle) is explained in depth, with a special focus on converting database objects and PL/SQL code.
Guide to Migrating from Sybase ASE to SQL Server 2005
This white paper covers known issues for migrating Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise database to SQL Server 2005. Instructions for handling the differences between the two platforms are included. The paper describes how SQL Server Migration Assistant for Sybase, the best tool for this type of migration, can help resolve various migration issues.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=3f0f2a3f-dff9-49cd-8ea7-581aa7a303a4&DisplayLang=en
Aligning Business and IT for Greater Corporate Agility (through SOA)
For a very long time, IT and Business has communicated. While they may be speaking in the same language, are they speaking in the same "dialect”? In this session, William Tay will share his field experience as well as explore Microsoft's vision for service-oriented architecture:

what are the best implementation approaches so that instead of being led by the business, IT strategies are driven by business needs
how Microsoft supports this vision by way of an integrated platform, etc.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=71f2a2ec-9149-41e1-91bb-184a94a25160&DisplayLang=en

Downloads

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver 1.2
In its continued commitment to interoperability, Microsoft has released a new Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver with SQL Server 2005. The SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver 1.2 download is available to all SQL Server users at no additional charge, and provides access to SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 from any Java application, application server, or Java-enabled applet. This is a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides database connectivity through the standard JDBC application program interfaces (APIs) available in J2EE (Java2 Enterprise Edition). This release of the JDBC Driver is JDBC 3.0 compliant and runs on the Java Development Kit (JDK) version 1.4 and higher. It has been tested against all major application servers including BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, JBoss, and Sun.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c47053eb-3b64-4794-950d-81e1ec91c1ba&DisplayLang=en

SQL Server 2005 Driver for PHP Community Technology Preview (October 2007)
In its continued commitment to interoperability, Microsoft has released a new SQL Server 2005 Driver for PHP. The SQL Server 2005 Driver for PHP Community Technology Preview (CTP) download is available to all SQL Server users at no additional charge. The SQL Server 2005 Driver for PHP is a PHP 5 extension that allows for the reading and writing of SQL Server data from within PHP scripts. The extension provides a procedural interface for accessing data in all editions of SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2000.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=85f99a70-5df5-4558-991f-8aee8506833c&DisplayLang=en

This content is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties express or implied, as to the information in this document. If you are a customer of Microsoft, please refer to the terms and conditions which cover the provision of support and consulting services to you/your organization. If you are not corresponding in the course of, or in connection with a Microsoft contract or program with its own terms and conditions, please note that no liability is accepted by Microsoft for the contents of this document.
TRM contributors this month were Mark Hawkins, Justin Zarb, Gareth Ford

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, SOA, PHP, JDBC, Oracle migration, OLTP, Overview

Microsoft Windows security tools, Server 2008 readiness, step-by-step guides, virtualisation updates, synctoy beta, VHDs and LOTS on the new Terminal Services

David Overton — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 08:11:24 GMT

This is an extract from the TRM blog which can be found here http://blogs.technet.com/trm/.

I have removed the KB article list and some items which I don't think are relevant to small business / ISV partners, however the full info can be found on the blog page too.

News
Microsoft Security Assessment Tool 3.0
The Microsoft Security Assessment Tool (MSAT) is a risk-assessment application designed to provide information and recommendations about best practices for security within an information technology (IT) infrastructure.
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7623431
Start your Microsoft Windows 2008 Readiness Right Here
Focus on readiness for Windows Server 2008 now, and you can be the one who stands out when initiatives happen - and when promotion decisions are made. Let Microsoft Learning resources give you the head start you need to transition your skills and credentials to the latest Windows Server technologies - from free elearning clinics and free ebook downloads.
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7623432
Get an Extra Shot at Microsoft Certification
For a limited time, you can get an extra chance to pass any Microsoft IT Professional, Developer or Microsoft Dynamics Certification exam - free. Register for this offer before your first exam and you'll get two shots at success. Register now!
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7623434
The Windows Server 2008 Upgrade Exam Is Coming
Update your skills and get ready for the Windows Server 2008 certification exam with special offers on e-learning collections and classroom training.
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7623435

Documents
Windows Server 2008 Technical Overviews
These technical overviews provide IT Professionals with information about how a Windows Server 2008 technology works. They may also cover design and planning considerations and basic setup and operating instructions.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=46dc26d6-af47-43f0-b3de-521831fe09d6&DisplayLang=en
Windows Server 2008 Step-by-Step Guides
These step-by-step guides help IT Professionals learn about and evaluate Windows Server 2008. These documents are downloadable versions of guides found in the Windows Server 2008 Technical Library. (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=86808)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=518d870c-fa3e-4f6a-97f5-acaf31de6dce&DisplayLang=en
Managing Virtual Server Host Clustering using System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007
Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 2007 manages a virtualized data center running Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and provides unified management of physical and virtual machines, consolidation of underutilized physical servers, and rapid provisioning of new virtual machines. This document provides an introduction to the methods and concepts that Information Technology (IT) professionals can use to manage Virtual Server clustered hosts using VMM. Virtual Server host clustering allows you to use a small number of physical servers to provide a wide variety of services, while maintaining the availability of the services that you provide. If a physical host server requires scheduled or unscheduled downtime, another host server is able to quickly begin supporting services.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=75bd4642-b731-42a2-9770-ff8aeff9eed9&DisplayLang=en
Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines
Use this page to download a preliminary draft of the Windows Vista User Experience Guidelines (or UX Guide). These guidelines contain information on what’s new in Windows Vista, design principles, and guidelines for controls, commands, text, interaction, windows, aesthetics, and the Windows environment. They help designers and developers create high-quality Windows Vista applications with a consistent “look and feel.“
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e49820cb-954d-45ae-9cb3-1b9e8ea7fe8c&DisplayLang=en
White Paper: Virtualization From the Datacenter to the Desktop
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ec5b0718-114c-474d-be01-8a1186eb3cdb&DisplayLang=en
White Paper: The Road to Desktop Optimization
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=90e5f13d-f48d-4f94-9032-58af7550fde2&DisplayLang=en
White Paper: Optimizing Your Server Infrastructure
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5cb2a9ba-d830-4510-9729-78b43208f498&DisplayLang=en
White Paper: Remote Infrastructure Optimization
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e5f186fa-3cfe-477a-89c3-abd5f75d6eb7&DisplayLang=en
Hypervisor Functional Specification
Microsoft Windows Server 2008. This document is the top-level functional specification (TLFS) of the first-generation Microsoft hypervisor. It specifies the externally-visible behavior. The document assumes familiarity with the goals of the project and the high-level hypervisor architecture.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=91e2e518-c62c-4ff2-8e50-3a37ea4100f5&DisplayLang=en
Downloads
Internet Explorer Administration Kit 7
Internet Explorer 7 Administration Kit (IEAK 7) enables the most efficient way to deploy Internet Explorer 7 and manage Web-based solutions.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=36b932c2-a356-4ae5-8c09-1bac9f7a4fe9&DisplayLang=en
SyncToy v2.0 Beta
SyncToy 2.0 Beta for Windows is available as a free download from the Microsoft Download Center. The easy to use, customizable application helps you copy, move, rename, and delete files between folders and computers.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c26efa36-98e0-4ee9-a7c5-98d0592d8c52&DisplayLang=en
Windows Server 2008 Beta 3 VHD (Full Installation)
This download comes as a pre-configured VHD. This download enables you evaluate Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Beta 3.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9aa65956-4a13-46a3-9711-82939a041792&DisplayLang=en
WS-Management v1.1
WS-Management v1.1 delivers WS-Management functionality on Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1, Windows Server 2003 SP2, Windows 2003 Server R2
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=845289ca-16cc-4c73-8934-dd46b5ed1d33&DisplayLang=en
Windows Server 2008 RC0 Enterprise
Windows Server 2008 Release Candidate helps IT professionals to increase the flexibility and reliability of their server infrastructure while offering developers a more robust web and applications platform for building connected applications and services.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0818d425-cd47-4279-be8d-24aba14530a3&DisplayLang=en

Events/Webcasts
Momentum Webcast: Introductory Session to Microsoft Core Infrastructure Optimization Model and Virtualization (Level 100)
Thursday, November 01, 2007 9:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586057
TechNet Webcast: Optimize Your Data Center Using PlateSpin Solutions, Dell Servers, and Microsoft Virtual Server (Level 200)
Thursday, November 01, 2007 11:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586058
Configuring Windows Compute Cluster Server clusters for ANSYS software; Guidelines and Current Hardware Solutions
Tuesday, November 06, 2007 7:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586059
TechNet Webcast: Storage Best Practices for Virtual Server (Level 200)
Tuesday, November 06, 2007 8:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586060
Microsoft Webcast: Overview of Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services (Level 100)
Tuesday, November 06, 2007 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586061
TechNet Webcast: The Significance of the Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Release to Market (Level 200)
Thursday, November 08, 2007 8:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586062
TechNet Webcast: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Session Broker (Level 300)
Tuesday, November 13, 2007 1:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586063
Momentum Webcast: Windows Server 2008 - A Solid Foundation for Your Business Workloads and Security (Level 100)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586064
TechNet Webcast: Remote Desktop Protocol as a Presentation Remoting Platform (Level 300)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007 1:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586065
TechNet Webcast: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Licensing (Level 300)
Thursday, November 15, 2007 8:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586066
TechNet Webcast: The Virtues of Virtualization (Level 200)
Thursday, November 15, 2007 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586067
TechNet Webcast: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services RemoteApp and Web Access (Level 300)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007 1:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586068
TechNet Webcast: Developing for Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services (Level 300)
Monday, November 26, 2007 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586069
TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Is Providing an Improved Web and Applications Platform with Internet Information Services 7.0 in Windows Server 2008 (Level 300)
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586070
TechNet Webcast: Terminal Services Easy Print (Level 300)
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 11:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586071
TechNet Webcast: Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services Security and Authentication (Level 300)
Wednesday, November 28, 2007 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7586072

On-Demand Microsoft IT Webcasts for IT Managers
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7281008
On-Demand Microsoft IT Webcasts for IT Pros
http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7281009

Live Webcasts:
Full list can be found at: http://www.microsoft.com/events/default.mspx

Interactive Webcast Calendar
The interactive calendar will help you quickly find live webcasts that fit your schedule as well as on-demand webcasts to view at your convenience. You can choose your time zone and filter this list by audience, webcast series, product or topic, and presenter.
http://www.microsoft.com/events/webcasts/calendar/monthview.aspx

Monthly Archived Webcasts:
http://www.microsoft.com/events/webcasts/library/default.mspx
New KBs (approx 40 this month listed on the blog)

This content is for informational purposes only. Microsoft makes no warranties express or implied, as to the information in this document. If you are a customer of Microsoft, please refer to the terms and conditions which cover the provision of support and consulting services to you/your organization. If you are not corresponding in the course of, or in connection with a Microsoft contract or program with its own terms and conditions, please note that no liability is accepted by Microsoft for the contents of this document.
TRM contributors this month were Justin Zarb

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008

A comprehensive list of Microsoft Blogs and Web Resources about Security

David Overton — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 23:20:41 GMT

Ed Gibson pointed this out today - a "to be continually updated" list of Microsoft security blogs that relate to various products from Microsoft - Security Blog di Feliciano Intini : Microsoft Blogs and Web Resources about Security

1.0 Network Security
1.1 ISA Server
ISA Server Product Team Blog
1.1.1 ISA 2000
1.1.2 ISA 2004
1.1.3 ISA 2006
1.2 Remote Access & Quarantine Services
Routing and Remote Access Blog
1.2.1 ISA 2006 QS
1.2.2 Win2003 QS
1.2.3 Win2003 RAS/IAS
1.3 NAP Solution
Network Access Protection Blog
1.4 VPN Solutions
ISA Server Product Team Blog
Routing and Remote Access Blog
1.4.1 Win2003 RRAS VPN
1.4.2 ISA 2006 VPN
1.4.3 Internet Application Gateway 2007
1.5 Wireless Security
Windows Core Networking Blog
1.6 IPSEC
Windows Core Networking Blog
1.6.1 Win2003 IPSEC
1.6.2 Server & Domain Isolation Solution
2.0 Host Security
2.1 Client OS Security
2.1.1 Windows 2000 client security
2.1.2 Windows XP security
2.1.3 Windows Vista security
Windows Vista Security Blog
Windows Genuine Advantage Blog
2.2 Server OS Security
Windows Server Team Blog
2.2.1 Windows 2000 Server security
2.2.2 Windows Server 2003 security
2.2.3 Windows Server 2008 security
2.3 Windows Mobile Security
Windows Mobile Team Blog
2.4 Security Update & Compliance Management solutions
Microsoft Security Response Center
2.4.1 Windows Update, Microsoft Update & Automatic Update Agent
Microsoft Update Team Blog
2.4.2 WSUS
WSUS Product Team Blog
2.4.2.1 WSUS 2.0
2.4.2.2 WSUS 3.0
2.4.3 SMS & System Center Configuration Manager
2.4.3.1 SMS 2.0
2.4.3.2 SMS 2003
2.4.3.3 System Center Configuration Manager 2007
2.4.4 Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
2.4.4.1 MBSA 1.2.1
2.4.4.2 MBSA 2.0
2.5 Anti-Malware Solutions (for host systems)
Anti-Malware Engineering Team
2.5.1 Windows Defender
2.5.2 Forefront Client Security
Microsoft Forefront Client Security Team Blog
2.5.3 Windows Live OneCare
Windows Live OneCare Team Blog
Windows Live Safety Center Team Blog
3.0 Application Security
3.1 Application & Platform Core Security
The Security Development Cycle Blog
Microsoft Application Threat Modeling Blog
ACE Team (Security, Performance, and Privacy) Blog
3.2 Client Applications Security
3.2.1 Office Security
Microsoft Office Team Blogs
3.2.1.1 Office 2000 Security
3.2.1.2 Office XP Security
3.2.1.3 Office 2003 Security
3.2.1.4 Office 2007 Security
3.2.2 Internet Explorer Security
Internet Explorer Team Blog
3.2.2.1 IE 6.0 Security
3.2.2.2 IE 7.0 Security
3.2.2.3 IE 7.0 for Windows Vista Security
3.2.3 Instant Messaging Security
3.2.3.1 Windows Live Messenger Security
Windows Live Messenger Team Blog
3.2.3.2 Office Communicator 2007 Security
Microsoft Office Communicator Team Blog
3.3 Server Applications Security
3.3.1 Exchange Security
Microsoft Exchange Team Blog
3.3.1.1 Exchange 2000 Security
3.3.1.2 Exchange 2003 Security
3.3.1.3 Exchange 2007 Security
3.3.2 SQL Security
Microsoft SQL Server Support Blog
3.3.2.1 SQL 2000 Security
3.3.2.2 SQL 2005 Security
3.3.3 IIS Security
IIS.net Blogs
3.3.3.1 IIS 5.0 Security
3.3.3.2 IIS 6.0 Security
3.3.4 Sharepoint Security
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Team Blog
3.3.4.1 Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0
3.3.4.2 Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server 2007
3.3.5 Unified Communications Solutions
3.3.5.1 Office Communications 2007 Security
Microsoft Office Communications Server Team Blog
3.4 Anti-Malware Solutions (for Server applications)
3.4.1 Forefront Server Security
Microsoft Forefront Server Security Blog
3.4.1.1 Microsoft Antigen
3.4.1.2 Forefront Security for Exchange (Exchange 2007)
3.4.1.3 Forefront Security for Sharepoint (Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0)
3.4.1.4 Forefront Server Security Management Console
3.5 Online Services Security
3.5.1 Windows Live ID
Windows Live ID Team Blog
4.0 Data Security
4.1 Data Encryption solutions
4.1.1 EFS
4.1.1.1 EFS in Windows 2000
4.1.1.2 EFS in Windows XP/Server 2003
4.1.1.3 EFS in Windows Vista
4.1.2 RMS Solution
RMS: Protecting Your Assets.
4.1.2.1 Windows Rights Management Services for Win2003
4.1.2.2 Windows Rights Management Services for Win2008
4.1.3 BitLocker
4.1.3.1 BitLocker in Windows Vista
4.1.3.2 BitLocker in Windows Server 2008
4.2 Secure Messaging Solution
4.2.1 Exchange Hosted Services
4.3 Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET)
5.0 Security Foundations – Technology
Solution Accelerators - Security & Compliance
5.1 Identity & Access Solutions
5.1.1 Active Directory Security
5.1.2 Identity Lifecycle Manager 2007
5.1.3 Active Directory Federation Services (ADFS) in Windows Server 2003 R2
5.1.4 Certificate Services and SmartCard
Windows PKI blog
5.2 Security Monitoring & Auditing Solutions
5.2.1 System Center Operations Manager 2007
Operations Manager Product Team Blog
6.0 Security Foundation – Processes
MOF and Service Management at Microsoft
6.1 Organizational Security & Policies
6.2 Operational Security & Procedures

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Security

Microsoft is making more of it source code available for others to look at (Microsoft opening up .Net Framework libraries)

David Overton — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 00:24:21 GMT

Back in the days when I was a developer, Borland allowed me to see all the tips and tricks inside their Windows libraries. It gave me insight and examples on how to "do" things that I could see them doing, but was unable to replicate. Well this is now happening with the .Net framework.

Microsoft opening up .Net Framework libraries
By releasing the libraries under its Reference License and Shared Source Initiative, Microsoft has made the .Net source code viewable but unmodifiable
By Paul Krill
Opening up to developers, Microsoft is releasing its .Net Framework libraries under the Microsoft Reference License, which allows viewing of source code but not modification or redistribution, the company said on Wednesday.
The release gives developers the opportunity to better understand the inner workings of the framework's source code, Microsoft said. Microsoft's efforts fall under the company's Shared Source initiative, which allows for sharing of source code; Shared Source has been viewed as Microsoft's answer to open source, in which users can view selected source code.
Also, Microsoft will introduce a capability in the upcoming Visual Studio 2008 developer tools package to allow .Net Framework developers to debug into .Net Framework source code.
"One of the things my team has been working to enable has been the ability for .Net developers to download and browse the source code of the .Net Framework libraries and to easily enable debugging support in them," said Microsoft's Scott Guthrie, general manager in the Microsoft Developer Division, in his blog.
"Today I'm excited to announce that we'll be providing this with the .Net 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008 release later this year," he said.
The initiative begins with offering source code with source file components for the following technologies:
* Net Base Class Libraries (including System, System.IO, System.Collections, System.Configuration, System.Threading, System.Net, System.Security, System.Runtime, and System.Text).
* ASP.Net (System.Web).
* Windows Forms (System.Windows.Forms).
* ADO.NET (System.Data).
* XML (System.Xml).
* Windows Presentation Foundation (System.Windows).
"We'll then be adding more libraries in the months ahead, including Windows Communication Foundation, Windows Workflow, and LINQ (Language Integrated Query)," Guthrie said.

Microsoft opening up .Net Framework libraries | InfoWorld | News | 2007-10-03 | By Paul Krill

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Developer, Shared Source, .Net Framework

From the Official SBS Blog - SBS now has a Best Practices Analyzer!

David Overton — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 06:17:34 GMT

You have seen the Exchange, SQL, Security and Windows best practice scanners, well now we have all that SBS expertise wrapped up into an SBS scanner - enjoy!!

SBS now has a Best Practices Analyzer!

The Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Best Practices Analyzer examines a server that is running Windows Small Business Server 2003 (Windows SBS) and presents a list of information and errors that administrators should review.
The Windows SBS Best Practices Analyzer examines the server and collects configuration information from many sources including:

Active Directory
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
Registry
Metabase

After collecting information about server configuration, the Windows SBS Best Practices Analyzer verifies that the information is correct and then presents administrators with a list of issues sorted by severity. The list describes each issue and provides a recommendation or possible solution.

System Requirements
Supported Operating Systems: Windows Small Business Server 2003 (Any version of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003)
Links
KB article
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/940439
Download
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=3874527A-DE19-49BB-800F-352F3B6F2922&displaylang=en
So take a look and let us know what you think about it! (Feedback email address is in the KB article).

The Official SBS Blog : SBS now has a Best Practices Analyzer!

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003 R2, Best practices, If you only read one post today

Fix for Excel 2007 and Excel Services calculation errors

David Overton — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 14:24:29 GMT

I know that a few people had the pleasure of throwing a few pies at Microsoft when this was discovered, but a fix is now available.

Description of the Excel 2007 hotfix package: October 9, 2007
This hotfix package fixes the following issue that was not previously documented in a Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

When you perform a calculation in Excel 2007, the following behavior occurs:

The result of the calculation is a number from 65534.99999999995 to 65535. The calculation is performed correctly. However, the result is incorrectly shown as 100000.

The result of the calculation is a number from 65535.99999999995 to 65536. The calculation is performed correctly. However, the result is incorrectly shown as 100001.

To resolve this problem, apply this hotfix. After you apply the hotfix, recalculate the spreadsheets that are in manual calculation mode. When you do this, the values in the spreadsheet will be updated to the correct values.

Excel 2007

Download the Excel 2007 hotfix package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/1/3/61343075-aa12-4152-a761-fccc16d6cef4/office-kb943075-fullfile-x86-glb.exe)

Excel Services

Download the 32-bit Excel Services 2007 hotfix package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/d/c/cdcccd84-86cd-4199-b01c-1df2dac66534/office-kb943076-fullfile-x86-glb.exe)
Download the 64-bit Excel Services 2007 hotfix package now. (http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/d/c/cdcccd84-86cd-4199-b01c-1df2dac66534/office-kb943076-fullfile-x64-glb.exe)

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Excel 2007, Excel Services, Hotfix

Where to go to study for SBSC exam 70-282

David Overton — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 10:21:03 GMT

I have been asked a couple of times if there has been any updated info on the 70-282 exam and information on it. While looking through old blog entries I found this:

A free webcast series hosted throughout the month of May by David Fabritius is being offered at MSReadiness.com. More information is available here - http://msreadiness.com/study70-282r2.

The Official SBS Blog : Studying for 70-282?

This takes you to the MS Web site, where I found out that all the webcasts happened in the past, but the recording and blog are still there for you:

To access the Study Group blog, visit us at http://blogs.technet.com/BackRoom.
Using Self Test Software's great data bank of approved practice exam questions, we will review the material for the week on Fridays and help you check your preparedness for the actual exam. We will not only be looking at why an answer is correct, but also exploring why answers are wrong.
Syllabus for 70-282 Study Group
All of the sessions outlined below will be presented at 10 AM PDT on their respective days. The primary references for this webcast series are:
Small Business Specialist Primer & 70-282 Exam Preparation Guide
by Mulzer and Brelsford
Published by SMB Nation Press, ISBN-10: 0-9748-5803-X, ISBN-13: 978-0974858036
Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003 Administrator’s Companion
by Russel, Crawford, and Gerend
Published by MS Press, ISBN-10: 0-7356-2020-2, ISBN-13: 978-0735620209
Session 1, 5/7/2007
Analyzing the Existing Environment &
Designing a Business Technology Solution for a Small- to Medium-sized Company, Part 1
Primer, Chapter 3 & pp. 4-15 to 4-18; Companion, pp. 36-39
Session 2, 5/8/2007
Designing a Business Technology Solution for a Small- to Medium-sized Company, Part 2 &
Expanding the Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network
Primer, Chapters 4 and 9
Week 1 Practice, 5/11/2007
Sample questions and Q&A from sessions 1 and 2, Analysis & Design
Session 3, 5/14/2007
Installing Windows Small Business Server 2003
Primer, Chapter 5; Companion, Chapter 5
Session 4, 5/15/2007
Configuring SBS 2003 for Networking and Remote Connectivity
Primer, pp. 7-6 to 7-21; Companion, Chapters 6 and 15
Week 2 Practice, 5/18/2007
Sample questions and Q&A from sessions 3 and 4, Installation & Configuration
Session 5, 5/21/2007
Configuring SBS 2003 for Messaging and Collaboration
Primer, pp. 7-21 to 7-51; Companion, pp. 90-92, 178-199, 324-363, 444-489
Session 6, 5/22/2007
SBS 2003 Security
Primer, Chapter 6; Companion, pp. 150-197
Week 3 Practice, 5/25/2007
Sample questions and Q&A from sessions 5 and 6, Installation & Configuration
Session 7, 5/29/2007
Managing Small Business Server 2003
Managing SBS Clients / Troubleshooting SBS 2003
Primer, Chapter 8; Companion, pp. 200-231, Chapters 12 and 20
Session 8, 5/30/2007
Using Backup in SBS 2003
Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2003
Primer, pp. 8-32 to 8-38, Chapter 10; Companion, Chapters 13 and 21
Week 4 Practice, 6/1/2007
Sample questions and Q&A from sessions 7 and 8, Support & Maintenance

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: SBSC, 70-282, exam, study, webcasts

How to enable / disable / change the Task Manager on Windows Vista

David Overton — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 08:20:39 GMT

This question was asked in the forum, but after a bit of research I thought I would share this more broadly. Here is what I discovered:

There is a group policy object to enable / disable task manager
You can also replace the file that gets run when Task Manager is requested, but this is done using the debug options

Group Policy to enable / disable

For the Group Policy options, a quick search on Live Search takes me to http://www.infopackets.com/channels/en/windows/gazette/2003/20030821_enable_taskmanager_for_windows_2000_and_xp.htm which basically points to:

Open Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ System.
Look for: DisableTaskMgr.

Click on REG_DWORD.

Value: 1=Enable this key (disables TaskManager)
Value: 0=Disable (actually enables TaskManager)

Replace Task Manager with another program

Then for the how to replace the program you basically need to set the options for taskmgr.exe to replace it with another program using the debug options. This means that you want to do the following:

Open Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Image File Execution Options \ taskmgr.exe
Look for: Debugger - if it exists then the program listed gets executed, if it is not present then taskmgr.exe is executed

eg "Debugger"="C:\SOFTWARE\TOOLS\PROCESSEXPLORER\PROCEXP.EXE"

Now while this sounds simple, if you have UAC on and the program you are calling requires elevation then you will hit problems. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/replacing-task-manager-with-process-explorer-in-vista discusses how to work around them.

ttfn

David

Technorati Tags: Windows, Vista, Task Manager

Transition Pack Pointers for SBS 2003 peeps

David Overton — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 22:09:44 GMT

Just to recap on these links since I still get questions about the Transition Pack.

These are some good starting points for understanding Transition Pack (pay special attention to the registry key portion if they have Backup Exec installed):
http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2006/01/12/417350.aspx
and
http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2006/02/24/420521.aspx

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David

Technorati Tags: SBS 2003, Translation Pack

Vista whitepapers on implementation, Bitlocker, Application Compatibility

David Overton — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 01:22:00 GMT

Documentation

Windows Vista Step-by-Step Guides for IT Professionals

These step-by-step guides provide instructions for deploying or migrating to Windows Vista, and various management tasks, including configuring security, monitoring performance, and managing printers.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=21&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d311f4be8-9983-4ab0-9685-f1bfec1e7d62%26DisplayLang%3den

App Compat Prep and Implementation

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=24&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d02e01c4d-49a2-43e6-a9c5-8b174d1f089a%26DisplayLang%3den

ACT 5 Step by Step Guides

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=25&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3dbc931bfd-d279-4060-b370-08fa52f97a8d%26DisplayLang%3den

BitLocker Design and Deployment Guides

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/info.aspx?na=22&p=29&SrcDisplayLang=en&SrcCategoryId=&SrcFamilyId=&u=%2fdownloads%2fdetails.aspx%3fFamilyID%3d41ba0cf0-57d6-4c38-9743-b7f4ddbe25cd%26DisplayLang%3den

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David

Technorati Tags: Vista, whitepapers, BitLocker, Application Compatibility

SQL 2005 - BI, Search, Samples, Tuning and Virtual Labs

David Overton — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:14:31 GMT

Extending Enterprise Search Capabilities to your BI Applications

Quickly get up and running on the key concepts of delivering business intelligence search using features in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and SQL Server 2005. As an added bonus download the sample content below and walk through the process step-by-step with the whitepaper.

http://www.microsoft.com/bi/resources/whitepapers.aspx

http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/2/a/72ae11fe-564d-4756-a878-eccb2e0692d7/BI%20Search%20Technical%20White%20Paper.doc

ETL Performance: Unisys and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Speed Up the Process

Unisys and Microsoft prove SQL Server 2005 supports 64-bit parallel processing and delivers high levels of Extraction, Transformation and Loading (ETL) performance on Unisys ES7000 servers. This white paper summarizes the results of collaborative testing between Microsoft and Unisys running ETL processes on Intel® Xeon® (32-bit) and Intel® Itanium® 2 (64-bit) based ES7000 servers.

http://www.unisys.com/eprise/main/admin/corporate/doc/ELTSQL.pdf

SQL Server 2005 Samples and Sample Databases

SQL Server code samples and sample databases are now hosted on CodePlex. Codeplex is the project hosting site for Microsoft SQL Server Samples and Community Projects. The portal page for SQL Server on Codeplex catalogs samples included with Product Releases, samples from the community, and independent SQL Server Community projects.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e719ecf7-9f46-4312-af89-6ad8702e4e6e&DisplayLang=en

http://codeplex.com/SqlServerSamples

SQL Server 2005: Performance Tuning and Optimization Datasheet

This 4-day delivery provides participants with in-depth technical knowledge on performance tuning and optimization techniques for SQL Server 2005. Performance tools such as SQLdiag and Performance Monitor are covered in detail.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9b180e91-34e7-4274-9a4f-78562b926358&DisplayLang=en

SQL 2005 Webcasts and Virtual Labs

SQL Server 2005 is data management and analysis software that delivers enhanced security, availability, and scalability to mission-critical data applications—while making them easier to develop, deploy, and manage. Choose from a wide range of live and on-demand webcasts. Or take part in a virtual lab, which allows you to cut your teeth on the new platform by experimenting with its different capabilities.

SQL Server 2005 Webcasts

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David

Technorati Tags: SQL Server 2005

Windows Server 2008 Information on Branch Office solutions, Management, Security and Performance

David Overton — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 13:19:23 GMT

Managing Distributed Branch Office Environments with System Center and Windows Server 2008

Distributed branch office configurations within many enterprise organizations are increasing in number and growing in complexity. In this webcast, we highlight the Microsoft System Center portfolio of IT management solutions and Windows Server 2008. We discuss various IT solutions and architectures that can help you deliver quality IT service management for branch environments.

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7280989

Windows Server 2008: Management, Security and Improved Performance for Your Remote Infrastructure

Join us for a Q&A on the new features in Windows Server 2008 that will help you manage and secure your remote infrastructure as well as WAN performance improvements included in the new TCP and SMB protocols. Ask our experts about Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption, improvements in Active Directory, Server Core, the Next Generation TCP stack and SMB 2.0.

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=7280990

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David

Technorati Tags: Windows Server 2008