Posts on Anything About IT

Exploring IdentityAccountInfo - Building a KQL Query to Assess Identity Password Security Posture

Sat, 06 Dec 2025 12:27:02 +0000

Recently Microsoft Defender XDR introduced a new table called IdentityAccountInfo, and this one immediately caught my attention. It brings several interesting attributes into Advanced Hunting, including LastPasswordChangeTime and even the sensitivity classification of an identity.

Naturally, my first thought was: this is perfect material for some hunting logic, so let’s build a KQL query out of it.

Why am I excited about this? Because it finally allows us to query identity hygiene data straight from Defender. No external inventory dumps, no AD scripting, just KQL.

Modern Security for Legacy Systems

Sun, 30 Nov 2025 12:43:15 +0000

Despite rapid OS refresh cycles, many organizations continue to run older systems such as Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2. In many cases, critical line-of-business applications only run on older frameworks, specialized production machines rely on vendor-locked drivers, or long hardware replacement cycles make immediate upgrades unrealistic. Some companies also operate regulated or validated environments where any OS change requires extensive re-certification.

Until now, these legacy endpoints posed a persistent security risk because unsupported or limited protection allowed attackers to exploit vulnerabilities with little resistance.

Defender for Identity - Automatic Windows Event Auditing Configuration

Sat, 22 Nov 2025 14:29:46 +0000

One of the most common issues we encounter during Defender for Identity assessments is misconfiguration. Many organizations assume that installing the sensor is the final step, but proper post-installation configuration is just as important.

In particular, enabling the required Windows event auditing policies is essential for full detection capabilities. Without these settings, functionality is degraded and health notifications start to appear.

Defender for Identity relies on specific Windows audit categories and subcategories to capture critical events.

Collect Microsoft Entra Connect Sync Audit Events

Sat, 06 Sep 2025 15:32:18 +0000

Microsoft Entra Connect Sync now includes an admin audit logging capability that is enabled by default. This gives organizations visibility into configuration changes performed by Global Administrators, Hybrid Administrators, and local server administrators.

In this post, we walk through how to forward those Microsoft Entra Connect Sync audit events into Microsoft Sentinel for centralized monitoring and investigation.

Check the Microsoft Entra Connect Sync Version

In the Entra portal, go to Entra Connect > Connect Sync > Microsoft Entra Connect Health > Sync Services > your service > Microsoft Entra Connect Servers > your server > Properties > Synchronization.

Shedding Light on Dormant Sensitive Accounts

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:34:54 +0000

Dormant sensitive accounts are a high-risk identity exposure. In Microsoft Defender XDR, the recommendation Remove dormant accounts from sensitive groups helps surface these accounts, including whether they are inactive, disabled, or have expired credentials.

You can export the detected entities, but the export often contains limited context. In many cases, you only get entity names or SID values, which makes remediation harder when you need ownership and organizational details.

A practical approach is to use the SID values to enrich the result set with identity attributes from IdentityInfo. You can quickly build a SID variable list using KustoVars, then query Defender XDR for additional context.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint - Security Settings Management Internals 0x1

Sun, 28 Apr 2024 12:25:01 +0000

In this post, we take a closer look at how Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Security Settings Management works behind the scenes, especially for Windows Server scenarios.

Entra ID Device Registration

Because Intune policy assignment is group-based, devices need an object in Entra ID. If a server already has an existing registration (for example Hybrid Join), that object is reused. If not, a synthetic device identity is created in Entra ID so the device can retrieve policy.

Monitoring Windows built-in local security Groups with Microsoft Defender XDR or Sentinel

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 21:50:36 +0000

Windows Built-in local security groups

Windows has several built-in local security groups that are designed to manage permissions and access rights on a computer. These groups are predefined by Windows, and each group has specific rights and permissions. The exact groups available can vary depending on the version of Windows you’re using or the features that are enabled, but here’s a general overview of the most commonly found built-in local security groups in Windows systems:

Users can create AzureAD tenants

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 22:13:09 +0000

Hello there,

In this blog post we look at a setting within the Azure AD portal: “Users can create Azure AD tenants”. Unfortunately, this setting is enabled by default. Most organizations will probably want to turn this off. You can find it in the Azure AD portal under Settings > Users > User settings > Tenant creation.

Yes allows default users to create Azure AD tenants. No allows only users with the Global Administrator or Tenant Creator roles to create Azure AD tenants. Anyone who creates a tenant becomes the Global Administrator for that tenant.

Microsoft Defender for Identity - Npcap driver Update

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 15:48:36 +0000

Hello everyone,

In July 2021 Microsoft announced that starting with MDI version 2.156 they included the OEM version of the Npcap executable in the Sensor deployment package. The reason for doing so is because WinPcap is no longer supported and since it’s no longer being developed, the driver cannot be optimized any longer for the Defender for Identity sensor. Additionally, if there is an issue in the future with the WinPcap driver, there are no options for a fix. More details can be found here.

Assessment and Control of Browser Extensions

Sun, 19 Jun 2022 21:38:01 +0000

In this blog post we take a look at browser extensions and how Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, Microsoft Defender Threat and Vulnerability Management and system configuration policies can help us to gain control over the use of browser extensions.

What is a Browser Extension?
Where are Extensions installed
Browser Extension Permissions
Using advanced hunting to identify browser extension downloads
Browser Extension inventory in Microsoft Defender Threat and vulnerability Management
Controlling the use of Browser Extensions

What is a browser extension?

A browser extension is a small software module for customizing a web browser. An extension improves a user’s browsing experience. It usually provides a niche function that is important to a target audience.

How to analyze Microsoft Sentinel Daily Cap Alerts - AADNonInteractiveUserSignInLogs

Fri, 20 May 2022 20:18:50 +0000

To avoid unplanned costs for Microsoft Sentinel, it is recommended to set a daily cap and create an analytics rule that triggers an alert when the daily cap is reached. Microsoft has published general guidance for monitoring costs here.

In the past months I have deployed a number of Microsoft Sentinel instances and in many cases the root cause for reaching the daily cap was related to data ingested into the AADNonInteractiveUserSignInLogs table. When analyzing the data we often found an individual user that created an unusually high amount of events. This can happen for various reasons such as:

How To Detect the Log4Shell Vulnerability (CVE-2021-44228) with Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 21:25:13 +0000

Hello there,

These days everyone is trying to identify devices that are vulnerable to the Log4Shell Vulnerability (CVE-2021-44228). If your only systems management tool is Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager this blog is for you.

You can of course create device collections based on installed programs, however log4j-core.jar files can be found in several locations in and outside the Program files folder. So in order to identify these files, we have to search for them on the entire disk. Here’s the script I prepared for that.

Defender for Endpoint – unified solution for Windows Server 2012 R2 and 2016 (Part2)

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 20:28:53 +0000

Hello everyone,

In my previous post (Part1) I provided an overview of the new Microsoft Defender for endpoint unified solution for Windows Server 2012-R2 and 2016 and how to deploy the solution manually to a new provisioned server. In this blog post I would like to walk you through the process of migrating a Windows 2016 server to the new unified solution using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager.

For this we will be using the upgrade script that Microsoft provides. But let’s go through this step by step.

Defender for Endpoint - unified solution for Windows Server 2012 R2 and 2016 (Part1)

Sun, 24 Oct 2021 16:20:59 +0000

Hello everyone,

Just in case you missed this, earlier in October, Microsoft announced the public preview for the Microsoft Defender for endpoint, unified solution for Windows Server 2012 R2 and 2016 that enables additional protection features and brings a high level of parity with Microsoft Defender for endpoint on Windows Server 2019. The unified solution also provides a much simpler onboarding experience.

Before taking a closer look at the new unified solution, let’s briefly look at how things worked until now. Onboarding Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019 is simple, all you need to do is run an onboarding script that basically enables the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint component that is already built-in the operating system, i.e. there’s no need to deploy and install any additional software. Things are different with Windows Server 2012-R2 and Windows Server 2016 though.

Detect Audit Policy Modifications with Microsoft 365 Defender

Sun, 26 Sep 2021 20:15:06 +0000

Hello there,

In today’s blog post I want to share with you an advanced hunting query to detect audit policy modifications using Microsoft Defender 365 advanced hunting. Following the MITRE ATT&CK framework this would be T1484.001 Domain Policy Modification: Group Policy Modification.

Microsoft Defender for Endpoint can help us detect audit policy modifications by running the following query:

Detailed information about the audit policy changes is displayed in the AdditionalFields data. Now all we need to do is to translate these values into human readable data.

Deploying Windows 11 in minutes with AutomatedLab

Thu, 26 Aug 2021 19:01:10 +0000

In this blog post I am going to show you how you can quickly (in 5 minutes) deploy Windows 11 in Hyper-V using the AutomatedLab PowerShell module. In fact the process is no different than when deploying other Windows operating systems, but just in case you haven’t heard of AutomatedLab yet and plan to install Windows 11 in a VM, this might be a good opportunity to get familiar with it.

Use advanced hunting to Identify Defender clients with outdated definitions

Wed, 25 Aug 2021 15:21:28 +0000

In an ideal world all of our devices are fully patched and the Microsoft Defender antivirus agent has the latest definition updates installed. Unfortunately reality is often different. When using Microsoft Endpoint Manager we can find devices with outdated definition updates through the Microsoft Endpoint Manager portal as shown in the example below.

Now in my opinion it must be the IT infrastructure operations team’s responsibility to ensure that devices get their patches installed and Defender gets its platform and definition updates. But sometimes the reason for devices not getting updates is because the platform used to manage the deployment of these updates might have an issue, be on the backend or client side.

Use Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager to Configure the Windows Print Spooler Service

Sat, 10 Jul 2021 15:07:17 +0000

Hello there,

In my earlier post Use Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager to stop the Windows Print Spooler Service – Anything about IT (verboon.info) I explained how to stop the Print Spooler service using Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager leveraging CMPivot to identify servers where the Print Spooler is running and the Run Script function to stop and disable the service. This method was intended as a first response action, however as new servers get deployed, we want to make sure the print spooler remains disabled, so we need a more permanent solution.

Use Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager to stop the Windows Print Spooler Service

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 13:23:55 +0000

Hello there,

I guess by now, everyone has heard of the Windows Print Spooler Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2021-34527). At this time Microsoft recommends disabling the Print Spooler service on domain controllers and on servers where it is not needed or to Disable inbound remote printing through Group Policy. In this short blog post I will demonstrate how you can use Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager to identify systems where the print spooler service is running and how to stop and disable the service.

How to remediate Defender for Endpoint onboarding with ConfigMgr

Thu, 25 Feb 2021 18:57:49 +0000

During the past 5 years I have onboarded a couple of thousand devices into Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and can say that, provided that you done your homework with regards to network connectivity, onboarding devices into Defender for Endpoint usually just works. But as always in IT, there are exceptions.

Should you ever run into an issue with onboarding devices, I recommend checking the guidance provided here: Troubleshoot Microsoft Defender for Endpoint onboarding issues. Now if you have just a couple of devices to manage you will most likely spot any missing device within the Defender for Endpoint management portal, but what if you have several hundred or even thousands of devices? How would you find out that that particular device Computer0073 in Building D1 on the 6th floor is not correctly onboarded?

Collecting AzureAD User Authentication Method Information

Sun, 07 Feb 2021 13:28:44 +0000

Hello everyone, last Friday I received an email from one of my customers, asking how to identify users in Azure AD that have enabled passwordless sign-in with the Microsoft Authenticator app. Previously I usually made use of the Script for Azure MFA authentication method analysis but that script uses the MSOnline PowerShell module where the Get-MsolUser cmdlet does not expose the information about these newer authentication methods.

So heading over to Microsoft Graph and there we can grab all authentication methods for users as shown in the example below.

Preparing my Application Guard for Office test lab

Sat, 21 Nov 2020 17:24:13 +0000

Hello everyone, today I wanted to see application guard for office in action. If you are not familiar with application guard for office, I suggest you read the following articles / documentation.

And now let me walk you through the steps to get application guard for office working in your test lab.

Deploy Windows 10 20H1 or 20H2
When running your test client in Hyper-V you have to enable nested virtualization so that we can later enable Application Guard
Next, we turn on the Microsoft Defender Application Guard. Now if your system does not meet the minimum requirements the option is greyed out as shown in the screenshot below. But luckily there is a workaround described here. Once you have added these registry keys, you will be able to enable Application Guard
Now we have to enable Microsoft Defender Application Guard in managed mode, so that it can be used for Microsoft Edge and Office. Open the Group Policy editor and navigate to: Computer Configuration \ Administrative templates \ Windows Components \ Microsoft Defender Application Guard and open the setting: Turn on Microsoft Defender Application Guard in Managed Mode and set the value to 3 If you want to enable Application Guard for Edge and Office or 2 for Office only.
Now that we have Defender Application Guard ready, let us move on to Office. The official documentation mentions Office Beta Channel Build version 2008 16.0.13212 or later, however as per this announcement it should work with the Insider current channel as well. Configure the following group policy settings for Office 365 Apps for Enterprise to enable insider releases:User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Microsoft Office 2016 \ miscellaneous \ Show the option for Office Insider

Monitoring Service principal sign-ins with AzureAD and Azure Sentinel

Sat, 10 Oct 2020 14:14:12 +0000

Here is a conversation between Jeffrey (Developer) and Marc (IT Admin) working for ECorp Ltd.

Looks familiar? Take a look in your Azure Active directory, how many applications do you have there? In an ideal world you maintain an inventory of all these applications somewhere in your asset management database so that you know who is the owner of the Application and what it is used for and what API permissions are granted. As for the client secret, this should be stored in a Vault.

MTP Advanced Hunting – Public free E-Mail services

Tue, 22 Sep 2020 22:06:48 +0000

Today I received an e-mail from a customer explaining to me that at times they have false positives with e-mail Impersonation. Depending on your configuration the e-mail will end up being moved to the user’s junk folder or into quarantine. When releasing such a message and have safety tips turned on, you might see the following message at the top of the message.

Reading Tip: Protect yourself from phishing schemes and other forms of online fraud

Hunting for Local Group Membership changes

Sun, 06 Sep 2020 08:22:11 +0000

Hello there,

A couple of days ago, someone in a forum asked whether it would be possible to detect changes to the local administrator’s group using Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat protection. Before I continue why would you want to monitor such changes? Well here is what comes to my mind:

An attacker tries to maintain persistence, creates an account, and adds it to the local administrator’s group. T1136.001 - Create Account: Local Account
A user obtained a LAPS password and misuses the temporary permission to add their own account to the local administrative group
Local IT support works on fixing an issue, adds the user to the local administrator’s group, but forgets to remove the account after the issue is being resolved
In the days of COVID19, IT sometimes is in a rush and does anything to enable their users to work, a user is quickly added to the local administrators or remote desktop users group to enable them to use Remote Desktop Services (RDP)

Now the good news is, yes changes to local groups can be detected. As you can see from the screenshot below Microsoft Defender ATP exposes UserAccountAddedToLocalGroup ActionType in the DeviceEvents table.

Generating Advanced hunting queries with PowerShell

Fri, 10 Jul 2020 23:21:46 +0000

I was recently writing some advanced hunting queries for Microsoft Defender ATP to search for the execution of specific PowerShell commands. If you are just looking for one specific command, you can run query as sown below

// Find all machines running a given Powersehll cmdlet.
let powershellCommandName = "Invoke-RickAscii"; 
DeviceEvents 
| where ActionType == "PowerShellCommand" 
| where AdditionalFields contains powershellCommandName

But if you are looking for several functions, then there is going to be a lot of manual editing, and so the idea was born to use PowerShell to help me generate an advanced hunting query. The below function can do the following:

Defender ATP Advanced hunting with TI from URLhaus

Sun, 21 Jun 2020 14:57:47 +0000

Hello everyone, in today’s article we are going to take look at how we can use Threat Intelligence (TI) data from URLhaus with Microsoft Defender ATP advanced hunting.

URLhaus

URLhaus is a project from abuse.ch with the goal of sharing malicious URLs that are being used for malware distribution. https://urlhaus.abuse.ch/ The project provides several ways to find and retrieve information about malware URLs.

You can browse the URL database interactively through https://urlhaus.abuse.ch/browse/

Managing Time Zone and Date formats in Microsoft Defender Security Center

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 15:49:25 +0000

When you receive security alerts or are investigating security related events , the aspect of time is important element. By default, date and time is displayed in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) within the Microsoft Defender security center portal.

In todays’ blog post, I want to provide you with some insights and tips how to manage Timezone and the date time format within the Microsoft Defender security center.

Time zones

You can use the Time zone menu to change the time to your local time.

Advance your Microsoft Defender ATP hunting skills using the Atomic execution framework

Fri, 05 Jun 2020 12:38:56 +0000

Hello everyone, during the past months I took a closer look at MITRE ATT&CK to advance my hunting skills using Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection. For those not familiar with MITRE ATT&CK, in short, it is a knowledge base knowledge base of adversary tactics and techniques based on real-world observations.

To familiarize myself with MITRE ATT&CK, I first started reading through all the tactics and techniques, to be honest while reading, I often couldn’t resists to get my hands on the keyboard and try things out, but I kept discipline and completed studying all the content first.

Meet the new Microsoft Defender ATP evaluation lab

Sun, 24 May 2020 14:23:52 +0000

This week Hadar Feldmann, senior program manager and security researcher at Microsoft announced the public preview of the new Microsoft Defender ATP evaluation lab that now includes two attack simulation solutions from AttackIQ and SafeBreach. The term ’evaluation’ might indicate that the lab is only intended for new customers hat are in the process of evaluating Microsoft Defender ATP, but that’s not the case, personally I think that it is also a perfect playground for existing customers to advance their investigation and hunting skills using Microsoft Defender ATP.

Windows 10 2004 - What is new in the Windows Security App

Thu, 21 May 2020 13:10:05 +0000

When all goes well, Microsoft will soon release the next version of Windows 10 aka as Windows 10 2004. I am an active Windows Insider user and noticed a few little changes within the Windows 10 Security App that I think are worth sharing.

I used the following Windows 10 builds to identify changes, new features:

Windows 10, 1909, Version 10.0.18363.836
Windows 10, 2004, Version 10.0.19628.1

Windows Security App Icon

First thing you will notice is that there is a new tray icon. Windows 10 – 1909 Windows 10 - 2004

How to create your Defender ATP Admin Audit Log Dashboard

Sat, 11 Apr 2020 20:11:07 +0000

Hello everyone,

In today’s blogpost I will walk you through the process of creating an admin audit log dashboard for Defender Advanced Threat Protection. During my past customer engagements, I was often asked if there is a way to show device actions taken by Defender ATP admins. The answer is yes, this is possible. First the information is available through the Defender ATP API, second the information is also stored within the Windows event log of the device itself.

How to deploy your jump host in Azure

Sun, 29 Mar 2020 14:49:33 +0000

Due to the current CODV 19 pandemic, governments are urging their citizens to stay at home. For many people this means finding alternative ways to continue their work from home. This article is primarily aimed at IT administrators or IT consultants who do not have an existing solution in place and who are looking for a simple but secure solution to access their IT infrastructure remotely.

When saying existing solutions, I’m referring to remote access solutions like Citrix, Windows Virtual Desktop or corporate owned and security hardened Windows 10 notebooks with a VPN client, However not all companies have such solutions in place because maybe until recently there was no need for people to work remotely. With COVD 19 this all changed overnight.

User Spam & Phish Submissions configuration in Office 365 – Part 1

Sun, 19 Jan 2020 13:54:51 +0000

Yesterday I noticed a tweet from @Pawp81 about a new feature being rolled out in Office 365 to configure user submissions. So, let’s have a look at this. When enabling the ‘Report Message’ add-in in Office 365, users can report misclassified email, whether safe or malicious, to Microsoft and its affiliates for analysis. Until now IT admins had to deploy the ‘Report Message’ add-in to their end users by configuring the centralized add-in deployment within the Microsoft 365 admin center as described here Furthermore when IT admins wanted to receive a copy of a reported message, a transport rule had to be created as described here.

Microsoft Threat Protection – Using advanced hunting to see what's going on with your mail

Wed, 15 Jan 2020 22:09:35 +0000

Last December Microsoft introduced Microsoft Threat Protection (MTP) including advanced hunting that allows us to run queries across multiple data sources i.e. Microsoft Defender ATP and Office 365 ATP. If you haven’t heard yet about MTP I recommend reading Christian Müller’s blog post Microsoft Threat Protection – unified huntingNow while the primary purpose of the unified hunting capability is to find information about indicators and entities, we can also use it to get an overview of what’s going on inside the systems that feed information into MTP i.e. Office 365. So, I created a few simple queries that summarizes various attributes from the EmailEvents table.

PowerShell 7 – Group Policy Settings and Eventlogs

Mon, 30 Dec 2019 11:54:36 +0000

On December 16th Joey announced the availability of the PowerShell 7.0 release candidate. Time to look at the configuration options. Since I’m interested in the aspects of managing these settings within an enterprise environment, I closely followed the discussions on GitHub here https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/pull/10468 and here https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/issues/9309 and the outcome of these discussions is documented here https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell-RFC/blob/master/4-Experimental-Accepted/RFC0041-Policy.md

Installation

Now let’s look what options we have for the configuration of logging PowerShell 7 events. Let’s start with installing PowerShell 7.0 RC1. All download packages are listed here https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases/tag/v7.0.0-rc.1 There are multiple options available for installing PowerShell 7 on Windows (AppX, ZIP, MSI) but for this demonstration I use the MSI based installer. https://github.com/PowerShell/PowerShell/releases/download/v7.0.0-rc.1/PowerShell-7.0.0-rc.1-win-x64.msi

Setting up Kali in Windows 10 WSL 2.0

Fri, 27 Dec 2019 20:19:41 +0000

Since Microsoft introduced WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) I’ve been playing with it occasionally, in the beginning however some of the tools I wanted to use like nmap and hping3 would not work due to issues with networking in WSL 1.0, however with WSL 2.0 these issues seem to be resolved so gave it another try earlier this year in June and all worked as expected.

What’s nice about running kali in WSL is that you get easy and quick access to linux tools without having to setup and start a complete virtual machine.

Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection – Respond Actions Events

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 22:10:23 +0000

Hey there, to be honest I had some difficulties to find the right title for todays blog post, so if you are still wondering here’s what this is all about. I had a customer asking me “how can we see what MDATP Respond actions were taken on a particular machine both from a Console and client perspective?”. At the time of writing this blog post we have the following machine response actions that trigger a remote action available for MDATP managed devices.

How to identify orphan Group Policy content within the Sysvol folder

Tue, 19 Nov 2019 22:22:16 +0000

G’day everyone. Today I was working on a Microsoft Security Configuration baseline implementation and while browsing through the Sysvol folder I got the impression that there are less GPO objects stored within AD compared to the number of GPO content folders located within the Sysvol\Policies folder. As we speak about several hundred folders here, too many to count manually, and so another PowerShell script was born.

Now if the terms SYSVOL, policies folder doesn’t mean anything to you, I suggest you first read this article from Darren (@grouppolicyguy) Understanding Group Policy Storage.

How to generate a monthly Defender ATP Threat and Vulnerability Report

Sun, 10 Nov 2019 23:00:53 +0000

Update 11 January 2020 - Microsoft has updated the Advanced Hunting Schema, so ComputerName is now DeviceName in the queries.

Just recently Microsoft announced that the Defender ATP advanced hunting schema was extended with the following tables:

DeviceTvmSoftwareInventoryVulnerabilities
DeviceTvmSoftwareVulnerabilitiesKB
DeviceTvmSecureConfigurationAssessment
DeviceTvmSecureConfigurationAssessmentKB

This allows us to run advanced hunting queries to find and extract Defender ATP TVM data.

https://gist.github.com/alexverboon/d22727c0c8f0d8ca32953b5e2c79ba7f

Now the people in your organization who are responsible for threat and vulnerability management might not necessarily have the knowledge of using the advanced hunting query language or are provided access to the Defender ATP console. So why not just send them a monthly report? Following is how to create a monthly Defender ATP TVM report using advanced hunting and Microsoft Flow.

Windows Defender, More than just Antivirus – Part 2

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 15:22:03 +0000

In the previous post I provided an overview of the history of Windows Defender and an overview of the various features that have the name Windows Defender in them. When then looked at Windows Defender SmartScreen and Windows Defender Cloud based protection. Today I’d like to continue with my notes from the field and personal experiences and take a look at Windows Defender Exploit guard. Again, the objective of this blog post is to inspire you getting the most out of the Defender feature set to improve your security posture.

Microsoft Defender ATP Advanced Hunting – Who's logging on with local admin rights?

Tue, 29 Oct 2019 16:00:07 +0000

Note: I have updated the kql queries below, but the screenshots itself still refer to the previous (old) schema names

If you’re among those administrators that use Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, here’s a handy tip how to find out who’s logging on with local administrators’ rights. But first when would you want to run this? Well here are some scenarios I can think of:

You want to find users that have local administrator rights on their devices.

Windows Defender, More than just Antivirus – Part 1

Sat, 19 Oct 2019 15:35:26 +0000

Due to my professional activity as a Cyber Security Consultant, I regularly speak with customers about Windows Defender and find that many are not fully aware of all the features and capabilities that Windows Defender offers. Also, when reviewing existing implementations, I’ve noticed a pattern of some common issues.

I guess the blog post title ‘Windows Defender, more than just Antivirus’ says it all. The objective of today’s blog post is to provide you with a brief overview of Windows Defender and provide some advice on how to get the most out of it.

Importing GPO Security Baselines with PowerShell

Mon, 07 Oct 2019 19:00:42 +0000

Okay there’s this rule , if you do something manually for the third time, it’s about time to think of automating it. Here’s a script that I created to create Group Policy Objects and import the security baseline settings. The script will work with any security baseline that is provided with Group Policy backups e.g. Microsoft Security baseline, CIS, NSA.

Let me show you this with an example:

First download the latest Microsoft Security baseline which is included in the Microsoft Security Compliance Toolkit. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=55319 there download Windows 10 Version 1903 and Windows Server Version 1903 Security Baseline - Sept2019Update.zip and Office365-ProPlus-Sept2019-FINAL.zip (or just the latest versions available).

Extract ConfigMgr Script Status Results with PowerShell

Mon, 09 Sep 2019 18:18:44 +0000

During a recent customer engagement I had to collect the size of user profiles across a large number of devices. I was first thinking of using a script that would collect the information we need, store it into a custom WMI table and then collect the data using ConfigMgr hardware inventory, but since we only needed a one time snapshot of this information I decided against that idea. The next option would be to go old school and run the script through Group Policy processing and store the results in a central location, but hey it’s 2019, no more logon scripts please And then the idea came up to run the script on the target clients via ConfigMgr.

How to accelerate your Microsoft Defender ATP Evaluation

Tue, 06 Aug 2019 20:09:12 +0000

As with almost any solution, one of the time consuming activities is to get the prerequisites in place until you get things up and running, this is no different with Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection. Although the solution itself is entirely hosted in the cloud, there are a few prerequisites on the client side that must be put in place before you can get your hands on MDATP. Getting these prerequisites in place is no rocket science but depending on the organization, even getting a few Windows 10 test clients prepared and a few service URLs approved to go through the firewall/proxy can trigger a lot of internal processes that must be reviewed, approved and executed. Going through such processes makes perfect sense when conducting a proof of concept / pilot or production deployment within an organizations production environment, but what if you have little time and just want to get an idea of how Microsoft Defender ATP works and want to see it in action?

ConfigMgr CMPivot, the PowerShell Script, the Events

Thu, 18 Jul 2019 21:57:46 +0000

While working with CMPivot this week, I wanted to find out how locally on the client the data is collected, I already knew that when you execute a CMPivot query from the ConfigMgr console, it will run the query on the target device and returns the result back to ConfigMgr. While investigating I also came across this blog post CM Pivot Internals that describes how things work, nevertheless I wanted to dig a bit deeper. So here we go.

Monitoring Windows Defender Cloud Protection Service connectivity with ConfigMgr

Fri, 12 Jul 2019 14:30:04 +0000

Hello everyone, earlier this week I wrote a blog post how to test Microsoft Defender Cloud Protection Service (MAPS) with PowerShell. Today I would like to share a possible approach how to actively monitor MAPS Connectivity across all your devices using ConfigMgr configuration baselines.

As mentioned in my earlier blogpost in order to take full advantage of Microsoft Defender protection capabilities, it’s important that clients can communicate with MAPS, if the client cannot communicate with MAPS the client will be unable to provide near-instant, automated protection against new and emerging threats, meaning that Windows Defender will only be using the latest protection updates installed locally, depending on the strategy how you deploy these, these might be a couple of hours if not days old.

Testing Windows Defender MAPS Connectivity with PowerShell

Mon, 08 Jul 2019 22:33:36 +0000

Whenever I work with customers on Windows Defender or Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, one of the first things I usually review are the current Windows Defender settings. Having Windows Defender properly configured is key, because otherwise you might not be able to make use of all the capabilities Defender and Defender ATP provides. One of them is MAPS (Microsoft Active Protection Service) or also known as Windows Defender Antivirus cloud-delivered protection service. Quite often I notice that clients have no connection to MAPS, this can be validated by running the following command from an elevated command prompt:

The case of Running the Device and Credential Guard Hardware Readiness Tool and unknown architecture

Fri, 31 May 2019 15:47:53 +0000

To close this week, let me share my findings with you about running the Windows Device and Credential Guard Hardware Readiness Tool and the unknown architecture error.

Believe it or not, there are still people, probably more than I assume, that run Windows in their native language instead of English. I can understand when end users do so, but honestly when administrating an infrastructure? Anyway, I recently worked for a client where the UI is set to German language, well after 10 minutes I felt so lost that I had to install the English language pack to become productive. While supporting the client to get ready for the Deployment of Windows Defender Credential Guard, following best practices I executed the Device Guard and Credential Guard Hardware Readiness Tool on one of their devices and got the following error:

Managing Role Based Access (RBAC) for Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection

Fri, 24 May 2019 13:00:49 +0000

I spend quite some time during the week travelling to and from customers, to make the best use of travel time, I usually read blogs and tweets or take online trainings to keep myself up to date about whatever interests me. Yesterday I noticed a tweet from someone regarding MDATP Portal access “Security Administrator can’t be assigned to staff in my org. It’s too powerful.” Maybe not everyone is aware of the RBAC capabilities in MDATP so I through it might be worth a blog post. Here we go.

Exploring Microsoft Cloud App Security with PowerShell – Part1

Sun, 05 May 2019 13:45:37 +0000

Last Friday I was given the opportunity to present at the Configuration Manager Community Event (CMCE1905) in Bern, Switzerland. Although Microsoft Cloud App Security is not really related to ConfigMgr, many of the attendees are dealing with managing classic and modern workplaces and security is almost on everyone’s list of interest. During my session “Unleash the power of Microsoft Cloud App Security” I also demonstrated how one can explore information within Microsoft Cloud App Security through PowerShell. So, for all those interested how to do that, here we go.

Retrieving Windows Defender Exploit Guard Windows Event logs with PowerShell

Thu, 02 May 2019 15:14:57 +0000

Most of the features included in Windows Defender Exploit Guard can be enabled in audit or block mode. The impact can then be analyzed either by looking at the corresponding Windows Event log entries or through advanced hunting queries in Windows Defender ATP.

Today, I’ll share a script I recently wrote to quickly pull Windows Defender Exploit Guard related events from the Windows Event log. Anytime soon I will share some Kusto queries for the advanced hunting method through MDATP.

How to Configure Splunk to pull Windows Defender ATP alerts

Thu, 28 Mar 2019 15:17:22 +0000

Windows Defender ATP provides SIEM integration, allowing you to pull alerts from Windows Defender ATP Security Center into Splunk. The SIEM integration uses the Windows Defender ATP Alerts Rest API. Since I have an actual customer demand for such an integration, I thought it’s about time to get a feel for how this works.

Prerequisites

An active Windows Defender ATP subscription with portal admin access
Windows Defender ATP SIEM integration enabled within the portal.

Configuring Windows Defender Credential Guard with ConfigMgr

Wed, 27 Mar 2019 21:23:16 +0000

I’m currently engaged in multiple customer projects where Windows 10 is already in production, but unfortunately without Windows Credential Guard enabled. For those who think “Credential ….what?”

Windows Defender Credential Guard uses virtualization-based security to isolate secrets so that only privileged system software can access them. Unauthorized access to these secrets can lead to credential theft attacks, such as Pass-the-Hash or Pass-The-Ticket. More details can be found here.

Some of you might think, why wasn’t it enabled in the first place when they deployed Windows 10? From speaking to several people, here are some of the reasons.

Windows 7 Hybrid Join and MFA ramblings

Tue, 05 Feb 2019 19:36:58 +0000

Today I ran into an issue where Windows 7 would not hybrid join as expected. Before going into the details, for those who might not be aware like Windows 10 and Server 2016, you can also hybrid join down-level devices. The functionality is of course not built into Windows so you need to install the “Microsoft Workplace Join for non-Windows 10 computers” software.

One reason why you want to hybrid join Windows 7 devices is Conditional access. Let’s assume you plan to introduce Conditional access for your users where you want to enforce MFA when using a non-corporate device.

How to enable DKIM in Office 365

Thu, 17 Jan 2019 18:17:14 +0000

Just in case you are not familiar with what DKIM is all about but still interested, I suggest you first read Use DKIM to validate outbound email sent from your custom domain in Office 365 If you’re looking for detailed instructions how to enable DKIM in Office 365 continue reading.

Prerequisites

Windows PowerShell
PowerShell Script Validate-DkimConfig.ps1 download from here
Access to Exchange Online through PowerShell
Access to DNS

Update 23.3.2020 The above link to the script is no longer working, so you can get the script from here: https://gist.github.com/alexverboon/cbe8c6964b5af01bfb3f43dd605acee4

How to manage LAPS DebugLogging with PowerShell

Mon, 14 Jan 2019 19:10:39 +0000

If you need to troubleshoot the Local Administrator Password Solution **LAPS **you can configure how much information is written into the Windows Event log.

Logging options are set through the following REG_DWORD values described below under:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\GPExtensions{D76B9641-3288-4f75-942D-087DE603E3EA}\ExtensionDebugLevel

Value
Meaning

Silent mode; log errors only When no error occurs, no information is logged about CSE activity This is a default value

Log Errors and warnings

Verbose mode, log everything

How to monitor your Azure AD emergency account with Cloud App Security

Wed, 09 Jan 2019 21:11:35 +0000

As a best practice you should have at least one or two emergency accounts in your Azure Active Directory. You would use these accounts in the event where due to a configuration mistake you inadvertently locked yourself out of the Azure Active Directory or when for some reason you can’t use MFA that should be enabled on all administrative accounts.

For more guidance about creating emergency accounts I suggest you read Manage emergency access accounts in Azure AD.

Stay in Control of AzureAD Enterprise Application registrations with Cloud App Security

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 22:33:04 +0000

Azure Active Directory provides a simple process that provides users with a single sign-on (SSO) experience for accessing cloud-based applications using their AzureAD identity. This is a great capability as it removes the need for users to manage multiple identities while enterprises keep visibility and if needed control over which applications are used by their employees.

By default, all users within Azure Active Directory have the rights to register an application and users can allow consent to apps accessing company data on their behalf.

Azure Information Protection Scanner & Analytics – Resource Collection

Wed, 31 Oct 2018 18:42:25 +0000

Hey there,

This might sound like a bad excuse for not writing up a whole blog post, but in fact I had planned to write a few words about the Azure Information Protection Scanner and the recently announced Azure Information Protection Analytics that provides a central reporting capability for the AIP Scanner. Those that have used the AIP Scanner before, will agree that, gathering scanner results data was quite tedious as you had to grab plain text files from the local system and then process them manually or though some home-brew scripting to visualize the results.

Anything About IT turns 10 today

Thu, 10 May 2018 14:50:47 +0000

On the 10th of May 2008, I wrote my first blog post here “Growing WIM files”. I recently read through the archive and thought of all those moments where sometimes I spend just a few minutes, hours and sometimes even days preparing for a new blog post.

By writing this blog I learned a lot about various tools, products and scripting and hope that now and then, one or the other blog post has helped someone else to solve a problem or expand their knowledge. Looking back at the very first blog layout it feels like wen watching movies from the 80’s, how on earth could I have chosen such a blog layout?

It’s never too late to start learning PowerShell

Tue, 27 Mar 2018 10:34:53 +0000

It’s 2018 now and you might think who doesn’t know PowerShell yet. Although I’ve seen the number of people using PowerShell increasing over the past years, there’s still plenty of people out there that have the learning curve for PowerShell ahead of them. A few years ago, when the use of PowerShell got traction amongst many IT professionals the web was full of learning resources by means of blog posts, podcasts and online trainings. It seems that nowadays we expect everyone to be past the beginner’s level and so the type of content that is shared within the community is slightly changing to more advanced topics as well and that’s good for those that are riding the PowerShell wave already. However, let’s take into consideration that even in 2018, twelve years after PowerShell (Monad) arrived there are people that just start their journey into PowerShell. Think of the younger generation of IT professionals who spend the last ten years in school or the senior IT pro who’s changing their career into a field where PowerShell knowledge becomes inevitable.

Backup Office 365 sign-in data with Azure Log Analytics and Logic App

Fri, 16 Mar 2018 19:59:59 +0000

The Office 365 solution in Operations Management Suite (OMS) allows you to monitor your Office 365 environment in Log Analytics. Like with any solution that you setup in OMS you have to think of the data retention time.

At present the maximum retention time can be set to two years, but this of course will affect your Azure billing. In today’s blog post I walk you through a possible solution how to backup just a subset of data into a custom log. The idea is that you can keep the retention period for the large amount of data low and only keep the data that is important for you for a longer period. The solution uses Azure Log Analytics and Azure Logic App Services.

How to get started with Azure log Analytics

Sun, 11 Mar 2018 16:55:36 +0000

If you’re interested in getting your hands dirty with Azure Log Analytics, here’s a few resources and tips on how to get started.

**The Video’s **

If you’re looking for some imagination of what Azure Log Analytics is all about and what you can do with it, here’s a couple of videos I recommend watching.

Azure Log Analytics (13 minutes) https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Azure-Friday/Azure-Log-Analytics?ocid=player
What’s changed in Azure Log Analytics? (5 minutes) https://channel9.msdn.com/Blogs/Azure/Whats-changed-in-Azure-Log-Analytics
The improved Azure Log Analytics: A powerful query language with machine learning, and more (1 hour) https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Ignite/Microsoft-Ignite-Orlando-2017/BRK3269

Data Collection Tier in Azure Security Center

Sun, 25 Feb 2018 17:22:05 +0000

Within the Azure Security Center, Security Policy node, you can select a workspace and there define the data collection configuration for security events.

All Events
Common
Minimal
None

More details about the Azure Data Collection and the data collection tier can be found here. The page also has a list of all the Event IDs that are being collected within each tier.

To better understand the exact meaning of each Event ID, I’ve created the below lists containing the Event ID, Description, Event Provider and Event Level information.

OMS Security and Audit Baseline Assessment

Mon, 19 Feb 2018 20:53:31 +0000

The Microsoft Operations and Management Suite, Security and Audit Solution includes a Baseline Assessment component. The Baseline configuration definition includes a set of Registry, audit policy and security policy settings rules that are recommended to configure to achieve a secure operating environment.

Within the Console we get an overview of “Rules” that have failed, because the servers don’t have the recommended configuration applied. While looking at this, I wondered where I can find the complete set of rules that are used when performing the baseline assessment.

Collecting NetTcpConnection and Process information with PowerShell

Thu, 08 Feb 2018 14:28:19 +0000

if you need information on active TCP connections, you probably start with the netstat command When using the -b or -o parameter netstat will also list the executable involved in creating the process respectively the owing Process ID.

The output then looks as following.

In PowerShell we can use Get-NetTCPConnection to retrieve TCP connection information.

When suspecting that something malicious is running on a device, I look at the TCP connections and want to know more about the executable that owns the process. I am also interested in who’s owning the domain and where it’s geographically located. And so another cmdlet was born. Get-NetConnectionDetails

Automating CIS-CAT Pro with PowerShell

Tue, 06 Feb 2018 20:34:49 +0000

CIS-CAT stands for Center for internet Security Configuration Assessment Tool. The CIS-CAT tool is used to perform configuration and vulnerability assessments. The Pro version is only available to CIS members, however if you want to try out the software, you can download the CIS-CAT Lite version from here: https://www.cisecurity.org/introducing-cis-cat-lite/ Note that the Lite version does not include the command line interface, so you won’t be able to use the automation described in this blog post. But you’re still welcome to continue reading this blog post. An overview of the CIS-CAT Pro can be found here: https://www.cisecurity.org/cybersecurity-tools/cis-cat-pro/

PowerShell Core logging configuration

Tue, 16 Jan 2018 22:41:16 +0000

After having browsed through the PowerShell code a bit, found some references as to how to configure PowerShell Core logging options through GPO or via a configuration file.

There are no GPO Templates available for PowerShell Core, but the same settings as are written for Windows PowerShell also apply for Core, they just live within another registry key.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft*PowerShellCore*

So when you apply the folllowing registry settings , you can enable ScriptBlock logging and Transcripting for PowerShell Core.

Enabling PowerShell logging for PowerShell Core 6 (Workaround)

Sat, 13 Jan 2018 02:02:41 +0000

By default, PowerShell Core does not log events to the Windows Event logs. From a security perspective this isn’t ideal, but that’s something I’ll take a closer look at later. To enable PowerShell logging you have to run RegisterManifest.ps1 which is located in the "C:\Program Files\PowerShell\6.0.0" folder. But unfortunately running that command would not work for me. Now this is the beauty of PowerShell being open sourced, the code as well as the comments from developers is publicly available. So after a short search within the GitHub repo of PowerShell Core I found references about the issue.

Retrieving Windows Defender ATP query API data with PowerShell

Tue, 09 Jan 2018 20:45:15 +0000

I am currently working on some automation around Windows Defender, so started to look at the Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection query API.

Note that this API is still in preview. I wrote two functions for this.

Connect-WindowsATP is used to get an access token. Note that you will need to first register the API in Azure Directory so that you get an Application ID that you have to include at the top of the script.

Exploring the Blockchain – Part1

Sat, 06 Jan 2018 12:10:42 +0000

A few days ago I decided that I wanted to learn more about the Blockchain. So I started reading various documentations, browsed through GitHub, watched video’s online and finally took the online training at the Microsoft Virtual Academy “Microsoft Blockchain as a Service”. I guess this is only the beginning as there is so much more to explore in this field. But today I want to share with you the first steps I took trying to understand how this all works.

Exploring Microsoft Security Update information with PowerShell

Fri, 29 Dec 2017 13:36:30 +0000

Nowadays regular deployment of security updates is a must, whether at home or within the enterprise. If you are responsible to keep systems up to date you deploy the latest updates as soon as possible. But it is equally important to understand the vulnerabilities being addressed by these updates.

The Microsoft Security Update Guide allows you to find detailed information about security updates. Go to https://portal.msrc.microsoft.com/en-us/ and select “Go to the security update Guide”

PowerShell script Update-PoshModule

Sun, 17 Dec 2017 20:14:52 +0000

With nowadays rapid development and release cycles it’s a good practice to regularly check whether you have the latest available module versions installed. Using native PowerShell cmdlets you would first list the module installed locally and then search for the latest module online.

When you have several modules installed, this becomes a laborious task. So I wrote a cmdlet that does all this work for me and you if you like.

PowerShell Script Get-BatteryChargeStatus

Sun, 30 Jul 2017 15:05:03 +0000

Update 01.08.2017

*I have updated the script to ensure that the Windows.Devices.Power.Battery class is properly loaded, as this wasn’t the case in a PowerShell 64 bit session. *

A little script i wrote to retrieve the Battery Charge status. The script makes use of the BatteryReport class that agregates the information should the device have more than one battery like the Surface Book.

function Get-BatteryChargeStatus
{
<#
.Synopsis
 Get-BatteryChargeStatus
.DESCRIPTION
 Get-BatteryChargeStatus shows the Battery Charging status,
 the remaining Battery capacity in percent and if the system
 is running on Battery.

 The Battery Status can have one of the following values:
 Charging, Discharging, Idle or NotPresent
.PARAMETER Detail
 Displays additional Battery Information

.EXAMPLE
 Get-BatteryChargeStatus

Status Utilization PowerOnline
------ ----------- -----------
Charging 99 True

.EXAMPLE
 Get-BatteryChargeStatus -Detail

ChargeRateInMilliwatts : 3052
DesignCapacityInMilliwattHours : 68902
FullChargeCapacityInMilliwattHours : 70222
RemainingCapacityInMilliwattHours : 69689
Status : Charging
Utilization : 99
PowerOnline : True

.NOTES
 30/07/2017, Initial version, Alex Verboon
 01/08/2017, added class init to check that Windows.Device class is available. 
 
 For more information see: 
 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/uwp/api/windows.devices.power.batteryreport
 
#>
 [CmdletBinding()]
 Param
 (
 [switch]$Detail
 )

 Begin
 {
 Try{
 # First ensure Windows.Devices class is available 
 $BattAssembly = [Windows.Devices.Power.Battery,Windows.Devices.Power.Battery,ContentType=WindowsRuntime] 
 #[Windows.Devices.Power.Battery].Assembly
 }
 Catch
 {
 Write-Error "Unable to load the Windows.Devices.Power.Battery class"
 }
 
 Try{
 $Report = [Windows.Devices.Power.Battery]::AggregateBattery.GetReport() 
 }
 Catch{
 Write-Error "Unable to retrieve Battery Report information"
 Break
 }

 If ($Report.Status -ne "NotPresent")
 {
 $pbmax = [convert]::ToDouble($Report.FullChargeCapacityInMilliwattHours)
 $pbvalue = [convert]::ToDouble($Report.RemainingCapacityInMilliwattHours)
 $Utilization = [int][math]::Round( (($pbvalue / $pbmax) *100))
 $PowerOnlineStatus = (Get-CimInstance -ClassName batterystatus -Namespace root/WMI).PowerOnline

 # Check if at least one battery reports running on power
 If ($PowerOnlineStatus -contains "True")
 {
 $PowerOnline = $true
 }
 Else
 {
 $PowerOnline = $false
 }
 }
 Else
 {
 [int]$Utilization = 0
 $PowerOnline = ""
 }
 }

 Process
 {
 If ($Detail -eq $true)
 {
 $Properties = [ordered] @{
 ChargeRateInMilliwatts = $Report.ChargeRateInMilliwatts
 DesignCapacityInMilliwattHours = $report.DesignCapacityInMilliwattHours
 FullChargeCapacityInMilliwattHours = $Report.FullChargeCapacityInMilliwattHours
 RemainingCapacityInMilliwattHours = $Report.RemainingCapacityInMilliwattHours
 Status = $Report.Status
 Utilization = $Utilization
 PowerOnline = $PowerOnline
 }
 $BatteryChargeStatus = (New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property $Properties)
 }
 Elseif ($Detail -eq $false)
 {
 $Properties = [ordered] @{
 Status = $Report.Status
 Utilization = $Utilization
 PowerOnline = $PowerOnline
 }
 $BatteryChargeStatus = (New-Object -TypeName PSObject -Property $Properties)
 }
 }
 End
 {
 $BatteryChargeStatus
 }
}

How to check if Control Flow Guard is enabled

Sat, 29 Jul 2017 10:53:56 +0000

How to check if Control Flow Guard is enabledControl Flow Guard helps mitigate exploits that are based on flow between code locations in memory. Control Flow Guard (CFG) is a mitigation that requires no configuration within the operating system, but instead is built into software when it’s compiled. So how to check if an Application is Control Flow Guard is enabled? For my own testing purposes I created two executables one called ConsoleApplication1.exe that has CFG enabled and ConsoleApplication1_NO_CFG.exe. One way to find out whether a running application has CFG enabled is to use the sysinternals process explorer utility. If you have Visual Studio installed, the you can use dumpbin.exe with the /HEADERS flag, then look for the DLL characteristics section. Another nice utility I found is PELook from bytepointer.com Now while the above described methods are fine to look at an individual application, what if we wanted to scan an entire system with software installed? Use PowerShell!Luckily, I didn’t have to do all the work from scratch. I found the Get-PESecurity module from Eric Gruber on GitHub here. The Get-PESecurity module checks if a Windows binary has been compiled with ASLR, DEP, SafeSEH, StrongNaming and Authenticode. But it didn’t show the Control Flow Guard information. After I familiarized myself a little bit with the PE format specification on MSDN I learned that the information whether an image supports Control Flow Guard is stored in the DLLCharacteristics constant “GUARD_CF” with a value of 0x4000. So I extended the Get-PESecurity module here and there to add support for CFG. You can find my forked version of the Get-PESecurity PowerShell module which includes support for CFG here: https://github.com/alexverboon/PESecurityIf your company has in-house software developers encourage them to compile their applications with Control Flow Guard enabled. Additional resources I found while exploring CFGhttps://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/mt637065(v=vs.85).aspx http://sjc1-te-ftp.trendmicro.com/assets/wp/exploring-control-flow-guard-in-windows10.pdf https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/threat-protection/overview-of-threat-mitigations-in-windows-10 https://lucasg.github.io/2017/02/05/Control-Flow-Guard https://github.com/NetSPI/PESecurity https://blog.trailofbits.com/2016/12/27/lets-talk-about-cfi-microsoft-edition https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/askpfeplat/2017/04/24/windows-10-memory-protection-features

Creating and Managing Azure Storage Tables with PowerShell

Sat, 01 Jul 2017 23:36:39 +0000

Today’s mission was to get more familiar with Azure Storage Tables and to manage them with PowerShell. On GitHub I found the AzureTableEntity module from Tao Yang. Below are a number of code snippets I used to get my hands dirty with Azure Storage tables and the module.

Install the Module

Install-Module -Name AzureTableEntity

Next we create an Azure Resource Group and an Azure Storage Account

# Create ResourceGroup
$Location = "Westeurope"
$ComputerInventory_ResourceGroup = "rg_CompComputerInventory"
New-AzureRmResourceGroup -Name $ComputerInventory_ResourceGroup -Location $Location
# Create StorageAccount
$SkuName = "Standard_LRS"
$ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName = "sacomputerinventory"
New-AzureRmStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName $ComputerInventory_ResourceGroup -Name $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -SkuName "$SkuName" -Location $Location,
```powershell
We will need the Storage Account key later so let’s get that one as well.

```powershell
# Retrieve the first StorageAccountAccessKey
$StorageAccount = Get-AzureRmStorageAccount -ResourceGroupName $ComputerInventory_ResourceGroup -Name $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName
$StorageAccountAccessKey = (Get-AzureRmStorageAccountKey -ResourceGroupName $ComputerInventory_ResourceGroup -Name $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName).Value[0]
```powershell

Next we create a new Table with the name “Computerinventory”

```powershell
#Create Table
$TableName = "ComputerInventory"
$context = New-AzureStorageContext -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountKey $StorageAccountAccessKey
New-AzureStorageTable -Name $TableName -Context $context
```powershell
Now that we have the table created, we can start adding data to it, let’s start with adding just one row first.

```powershell
# Add one entry
     $data = @{
     RowKey = ([guid]::NewGuid().tostring())
     PartitionKey = "Inventory"
     ComputerName = "Computer000001"
     Location = "Amsterdam"
     dtDate = [datetime]::UtcNow
     }
New-AzureTableEntity -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountAccessKey $StorageAccountAccessKey -TableName $TableName -Verbose -Entities $data
```powershell

Let’s take a look what’s in the table now

```powershell
$querystring = "(PartitionKey eq 'Inventory')"
$result = Get-AzureTableEntity -TableName $tableName -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountAccessKey $StorageAccountAccessKey  -QueryString $querystring -ConvertDateTimeFields $true -GetAll $true -Verbose
$result
```powershell
![image](images/image_thumb.png)

Next let’s add some more data to it, the below code creates some random computer inventory data.

# Generate some demo data for PC inventory

 

```powershell
   $locations = @("Amsterdam","Paris","Stockholm","London","New York","Seatle","Singapure","Hong Kong","The Hague","Barcelona","Madrid","Stockholm","Rome")
     $data = @()
     $count = 2
      While ($count -le 100)
      {
         $obj = @{
             RowKey = ([guid]::NewGuid().tostring())
             PartitionKey = "Inventory"
             ComputerName = "Computer" + $count.ToString("000000")
             Location = ($locations)[(Get-Random -Minimum 0 -Maximum $locations.Count )]
             dtDate = [datetime]::UtcNow
         }
         $data += (New-Object -TypeName PSCustomObject -Property $obj)
         $count++
     }
```powershell

# Add rows to Azure Storage Table

```powershell
New-AzureTableEntity -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountAccessKey $StorageAccountAccessKey -TableName $TableName -Verbose -Entities $data

```powershell
If all went fine, we should now have all the data in the table.

```powershell
$querystring = "(PartitionKey eq 'Inventory')"
$result = Get-AzureTableEntity -TableName $tableName -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountAccessKey $StorageAccountAccessKey  -QueryString $querystring -ConvertDateTimeFields $true -GetAll $true -Verbose
$result.Count
$result | Group-Object Location
```powershell

We now have 100 records in the table, with “**11**” computers located in Amsterdam

![image](images/image_thumb-1.png)

Now let’s look at Computer000001

```powershell
$querystring = "(ComputerName eq 'Computer000001')"
$result = Get-AzureTableEntity -TableName $tableName -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountAccessKey $StorageAccountAccessKey  -QueryString $querystring -ConvertDateTimeFields $true -GetAll $true -Verbose
$result
```powershell
![image](images/image_thumb-2.png)

It’s located in Amsterdam. Now let’s have a look at how to update a record, let’s say we want to change it to “Rotterdam”

```powershell
$NewLoczation = "Rotterdam"
$data = @{
PartitionKey = $result.PartitionKey
RowKey       = $result.RowKey
Location = $NewLoczation
ComputerName = $result.ComputerName
dtDate = $result.dtDate
}
Update-AzureTableEntity -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountAccessKey $StorageAccountAccessKey -TableName $TableName -Entities $data
```powershell

Let's retrieve the record again.

 

```powershell
$querystring = "(ComputerName eq 'Computer000001')"
$result = Get-AzureTableEntity -TableName $tableName -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountAccessKey $StorageAccountAccessKey  -QueryString $querystring -ConvertDateTimeFields $true -GetAll $true -Verbose
$result
```powershell
and there we go, it's now registered in Rotterdam.

![image](images/image_thumb-3.png)

Let’s query the entire database again.

```powershell
$querystring = "(PartitionKey eq 'Inventory')"
$result = Get-AzureTableEntity -TableName $tableName -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountAccessKey $StorageAccountAccessKey  -QueryString $querystring -ConvertDateTimeFields $true -GetAll $true -Verbose
$result.Count
$result | Group-Object Location
```powershell

![image](images/image_thumb-4.png)

and finally, let’s remove the Computer000001

I query the information again, as i will re-use the return values to build the remove properties.

```powershell
$querystring = "(ComputerName eq 'Computer000001')"
$result = Get-AzureTableEntity -TableName $tableName -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountAccessKey $StorageAccountAccessKey  -QueryString $querystring -ConvertDateTimeFields $true -GetAll $true -Verbose
$Remove = @{
PartitionKey = $result.PartitionKey
RowKey = $result.RowKey
Computername = $result.ComputerName
}
Remove-AzureTableEntity -StorageAccountName $ComputerInventory_StorageAccountName -StorageAccountAccessKey $StorageAccountAccessKey -TableName $TableName -Entities $Remove

Retrieving Office 365 roadmap information with PowerShell

Mon, 12 Jun 2017 21:51:12 +0000

Here’s a small cmdlet I wrote today to pull the Office 365 roadmap information with PowerShell.

Office 365 Centralized Deployment service

Sat, 10 Jun 2017 14:25:04 +0000

Just recently Microsoft announced the general availability of the Office 365 centralized deployment service. I have tested it and it really makes deploying Office Add-ins super easy. The add-in configuration and deployment can be managed through the Office 365 portal or using PowerShell.

For a quick overview watch the video “How to Deploy Office Add-ins within Your Organization”.

Now since I like using PowerShell, here’s a quick example how to enable and deploy an Office Add-in.

ConfigMgr Client Policy Settings - Get-CMclientpolicysettings

Sat, 04 Mar 2017 13:04:23 +0000

Here’s a function i wrote recently to retrieve the ConfigMgr Client Policy settings. To use the function you must have the System Center Configuration Manager Cmdlet library installed.

Untitled Draft 6973

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:00:53 +0000

Untitled Post 6973

Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:00:53 +0000

Deploying ConfigMgr Current Branch in Azure Dev Test Lab

Fri, 10 Feb 2017 21:36:02 +0000

Remember the days when you spend hours if not days just to get a lab environment in place and any time you wanted to use the environment again, you spend another couple of hours to get It updated. About 3 years ago I started to make more use of Azure based compute to run my virtual machines, that I use for technology learning and research activities. Initially created the virtual machines through the portal, but then soon started to use Azure Resource Manager based provisioning techniques and PowerShell which speeded up provisioning times quite a bit.

How to link an OMS Workspace with an Azure Automation Account

Thu, 09 Feb 2017 21:14:19 +0000

When adding solutions to your OMS workspace you might get prompted to specify an Azure Automation account which then results in a link being created between the OMS workspace and the Azure Automation account. Now let’s assume you don’t need a specific OMS solution but you still want to create a link to an Automation account. While there is an “unlink workspace” option in the Azure portal, there is no “link workspace option” .

OMS Log Analytics HTTP Data Collector API – Work notes

Wed, 08 Feb 2017 13:08:44 +0000

I believe that the Microsoft Operations Management Suite is yet another example of how cool Cloud based solutions can be. Instead of first having to spin up an entire backend infrastructure before you can actually start collecting data, with the Microsoft Operations Management Suite you can directly start focusing on the task of collecting and visualizing your data. This blog post is basically a summary of my notes and scripts that I created while exploring the OMS Log Analytics HTTP Data Collector API, that allows you to submit any type of data to an OMS Workspace.

Retrieve Azure Virtual Machine Size information with PowerShell

Tue, 07 Feb 2017 19:46:07 +0000

One important topic to consider when deploying virtual machines in Azure is the size of the virtual machine as this affects the pricing, but beware that not only virtual machine sizing has a pricing impact other factors like storage and optional features like IP address options add to the costs as well.

A good starting point to get an understanding of virtual machine costs is the Azure pricing calculator: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/pricing/calculator/

Be aware that when selecting SSD disks, storage costs will be noticeable higher than when using HDD disks. To get a better understanding of the available Azure virtual machine sizes I strongly recommend to the read the following documentation:

Download and Install the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit with PowerShell

Tue, 07 Feb 2017 16:22:42 +0000

Back in June 2012 I posted the Automated download and Installation for the Windows Assessment and Deployment kit article. Not a lot has changed since then,i.e. you still need to first download the sources before you can install them. Nevertheless since using batch scripts isn’t really state of the art anymore these days,I decided to rewrite the script in PowerShell.

Downlload source from GitHub

Select-MyAzureRmSubscription

Tue, 07 Feb 2017 15:08:07 +0000

I have multiple Azure subscriptions linked to my account, so anytime I connect to Azure in PowerShell I have to make sure i am working in the right context. To simplify this I wrote a little helper function called Select-MyAzureRmSubscription.

After entering the -SubscriptionName parameter the script enumerates alll the subscriptions I have access to and generates a dynamic parameter option.

Script location on GitHub: https://github.com/alexverboon/posh/blob/master/Azure/Utilities/select-MyAzureRmSubscription.ps1

Microsoft Operations Management Suite - Notes

Sun, 18 Dec 2016 18:54:58 +0000

Below are a number of resources

TechNet Inside the Microsoft Operations Management Suite [e-book]

PowerShell Script - Get-MsolUserInformation

Sun, 18 Dec 2016 18:27:57 +0000

The Get-MsolUserInformation cmdlet provides an easy way to retrieve all users that are a member or guest and/or are registered in Azure Directory or Active Directory.

PowerShell Script - Get-MsolRoleMemberDetails

Sun, 20 Nov 2016 23:33:08 +0000

To get a list of all users that belong to a given role, the Microsoft Azure Active Directory module has a cmdlet Get-MsolRoleMember, however to run the cmdlet you must use the RoleObjectId parameter and provide a value. The possible values for RoleObjectId can be retrieved by running the Get-MsolRole cmdlet.

To simplify this, I wrote the Get-MsolRoleMemberDetails cmdlet. As you can see from the below screenshot, the list of available roles is dynamically populated.

PowerShell Script - Get-WinBuildInfo

Sat, 12 Nov 2016 16:19:36 +0000

Here’s a script I wrote that retrieves all the Windows 10 build information, including Insider level when enabled.

And here’s a list of sites that provide information about the builds, releases, version numbers etc.

http://changewindows.org/platform/desktop

https://buildfeed.net/

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-info.aspx

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12387/windows-10-update-history?ocid=client_wu

Windows 10 Upgrade Analytics – Notes and PowerShell snippets

Mon, 03 Oct 2016 22:55:04 +0000

I am considering using the Windows 10 upgrade analytics for our Windows 10 project that we’ve just started just recently. Below you find some random notes and references I have gathered during my exploration journey.

The Upgrade Analytics Blog

Here is where you find the latest information from the Upgrade Analytics team: https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/upgradeanalytics/

Upgrade Analytics on TechNet

Information about the Architecture, deployment techniques, prerequisites and more can be found here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/itpro/windows/deploy/manage-windows-upgrades-with-upgrade-analytics

If you have concerns about data privacy, this document describes in detail what data is being collected and send to Microsoft Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 appraiser telemetry events and fields

Clean up unused Azure Resources with PowerShell

Sun, 02 Oct 2016 00:25:26 +0000

Today when I opened my Azure portal I had a little surprise. The monthly MSDN subscription credit was much lower as I expected it to be. Did I eventually forget to turn off a virtual machine? Curious to find out where the cost had come from, I drilled into the subscription details and noticed that the higher costs had come from the Premium storage that I had used recently to deploy a virtual machine using an SSD disk instead of a HDD disk. But still it wasn’t clear why just that one virtual machine would be that expensive, so i drilled into the premier storage account and noticed that there were several orphaned VHD disks there. A clean up was required.

PowerShell script to run the Windows App Certification Kit

Sat, 24 Sep 2016 19:18:21 +0000

The Windows App Certification Kit is an easy to use tool to check whether an application has potential compatibility issues when running on Windows 10. The tool can be executed in GUI mode and in command line mode. I wrote a PowerShell script that runs the Windows App Certification Kit in a more or less automated way.

I say more or less, because the application installation process of the application itself might still prompt for input. Also the final report generation of the App Cert Tool itself requires manual interaction that i was unable to suppress. , Nevertheless I hope you find the script useful and saves you a bit of time when testing applications.

ToolTip: IEDigest

Mon, 04 Jul 2016 19:49:26 +0000

IEDigest is collecting all relevant Internet Explorer settings and generates a well formated HTML report. In addition to this there is an XML output as well which can be taken for comparing reports coming from different environments. This is helpfull for troubleshooting purposes when having working and non-working machines.

IEDigest can also be executd in commandline mode.

IEDigest can be downloaded from the Microsoft download center here. Although not fully up to date, documentation can be downloaded from here

Office 365 PowerShell script to retrieve AccountSku license information

Mon, 25 Apr 2016 21:00:39 +0000

A small PowerShell script that lists all users that have the specified Office 365 AccountSkuid enabled on their account.

PowerShell Script - Get-IscMSSecBulletinInfo

Wed, 06 Apr 2016 22:03:52 +0000

Hey there, the Internet Storm Center recently extended their Rest API with some features for Microsoft Patch Data. So where there is a REST API, there’s an opportunity for a PowerShell Script. The Get-IscMSSecBulletinInfo can be found here: https://github.com/alexverboon/posh/blob/master/Security/Get-IscMSSecBulletinInfo.ps1

Cheers

/Alex

Creating a Virtual Network using Azure Resource Manager – Part 2

Tue, 01 Mar 2016 14:50:01 +0000

In the previous article (Part1) I walked through the steps of creating a Virtual Network using Azure Resource Manager and Visual Studio. In this article, we’ll look at using the Azure PowerShell cmdlets the some options for using parameters.

For this walkthrough you need the following:

An Azure Subscription that allows you to deploy resources
Azure PowerShell 1.0 or great, download and installation details can be found here

First login to Azure using the Login-AzureRmAccount command.

Creating a Virtual Network using Azure Resource Manager – Part 1

Mon, 29 Feb 2016 22:41:51 +0000

A few weeks ago I wondered why in the Azure Portal some of the resources where flagged as “classic”. The article Understanding Resource Manager deployment and classic deployment provided the answer I was looking for and was the start of an interesting journey into Azure Resource Manager.

If you haven’t heard of Azure Resource Manager yet, I highly recommend reading the Azure Resource Manager overview or watch the Introduction to Azure Resource Manager video available on Channel9 or Deep Dive into Azure Resource Manager Scenarios and Patterns on MVA.

A little helper script for the Azure Set-AzureRmVMSourceImage cmdlet

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 23:00:48 +0000

To keep a long story short, today i started looking into Azure PowerShell and Azure Resource Manager and quickly found out that if I wanted to make use of ARM, i have to change some scripts I have used so far to deploy my Azure VMs. More on that in a later post.

One cmdlet that I find paticularely annoying to use is Set-AzureRmVMSourceImage as it has a couple of mandatory parameters and to find the right values for these, you have to run the follwoing three cmdlets first.

The GroupPolicy Xtended PowerShell Module

Thu, 11 Feb 2016 09:42:48 +0000

Good day everyone. Today I would like to share with you the Group Policy Xtended PowerShell module that i’ve written recently. Histrocially I used to have various cmdlets stored in individual files and ran them when needed, I also shared them among my peers and with the public via my blog and the Microsoft Script repository. The challenge with this approach is that it’s hard to ensure eveyone has the latest versions of the cmdlets available and that when someone needs a cmdlet that he’s actually able to find it or actually knows that there’s one available.

ToolTip: Policy Analyzer

Sat, 30 Jan 2016 15:27:20 +0000

Aaron Margosis recently released Policy Analyzer, a utility for analyzing and comparing sets of Group Policy Objects (GPOs). Here’s a brief description on how to use the tool to compare two Domain GPOs.

I created two GPOs in my test domain, both starting with the name “Foo” and then configured some settings. The Policy Analyzer can import GPO settings based on a GPO backup so as a next step we create a GPO backup. The quickest way is to do this via PowerShell.

PowerShell Script to remove Office 365 Service Plans from a user

Sun, 13 Dec 2015 21:09:16 +0000

When assigning an Office 365 license to a user, by default several service plans are enabled. When assigning an Office 365 E3 license to a user, the following service plans are enabled by default:

Azure Rights Management
Office 365 Pro Plus
Skype for Business Online (Plan 2)
Office Online
SharePoint Online (Plan 2)
Exchange Online (Plan 2)

From an end user perspective the user will see the following options when logging on to Office 365.

PowerShell Script to remove Office 365 Service Plans from a user

Sun, 13 Dec 2015 20:36:06 +0000

When assigning an Office 365 license to a user, by default several service plans are enabled. When assigning an Office 365 E3 license to a user, the following service plans are enabled by default:

Azure Rights Management
Office 365 Pro Plus
Skype for Business Online (Plan 2)
Office Online
SharePoint Online (Plan 2)
Exchange Online (Plan 2)

From an end user perspective the user will see the following options when logging on to Office 365.

Group Policy Template file for Windows 10 Wi-FI Sense

Mon, 19 Oct 2015 20:20:48 +0000

Wi-FI Sense is a new feature in Windows 10 that automatically connects you to suggested open hotspots or networks shared by your skype or outlook.com contacts or facebook friends. Sounds like a nice feature, but I’m sure Enterprise Security won’t be to keen about it.

Microsoft has published a KB - How to configure Wi-Fi Sense on Windows 10 in an enterprise that describes the registry settings to configure for disabling Wi-FI sense. The recently publsihed Security Compliance Baseline for Windows 10 “ DRAFT” now also provides a custom Group Policy template for Wi-FI Sense.

The “This website needs Internet Explorer” Message

Tue, 15 Sep 2015 21:45:51 +0000

As you probably know by know, Microsoft Edge is now the default Browser on Windows 10, but IE11 can still be used. While using the Microsoft Edge browser I’ve noticed that now and then when opening a website, the following message is displayed.

So where does this message come from, and how does Microsoft Edge know that the page works best in Internet Explorer? For Enterprise users Microsoft has extended the functiionality of the Enterprise Mode Site list manager.

Group Policy Settings for Microsoft Edge Browser in Windows 10 Build 10.0.10240

Fri, 17 Jul 2015 09:00:34 +0000

Continuing exploring the Windows 10 preview builds for new Group Policy settings, I come across some new settings for the Microsoft Edge browser.

**Location** **Setting** **Description** Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Microsoft Edge Allows you to run scripts like Javascript This setting lets you decide whether to let people run scripts, like JavaScript. This setting is enabled by default.

If you enable this setting, scripting is turned on for all your computers.

Installing Microsoft Azure AD Connect

Wed, 01 Jul 2015 18:34:37 +0000

Last week Microsoft anounced GA for Azure AD Connect. To get a better understanding of how this all works, I installed it in my Cloud based lab that is hosted in Azure.

I was supposed to demonstrate this to a colleague at work this week, but simply couldn’t find time for it, so here’s a short description on how to get started for him and for anyone else.

First I recommend to read through the documentation and also watch the presentation Extending On-Premises Directories to the Cloud Made Easy with Azure Active Directory Connect

Citrix Receiver 4.3 now with ADMX support for Receiver group policy, well almost

Wed, 01 Jul 2015 17:53:36 +0000

Last night Citrix released Citrix Receiver 4.3 that includes ADMX templates to manage Citrix Receiver Group Policy settings. Microsoft introduced the ADMX templates when Vista/Server 2008 was introduced in 2006, so it was about time for Citrix to come up with template files in that format instead of the old ADM based files.

After installing the Citrix Receiver 4.3 that can be downloaded from here you’ll find the new ADMX/ADML files in the following location:

The System Center Configuration Manager Cmdlet Library

Wed, 17 Jun 2015 18:21:01 +0000

Hey there, usually when I post something I try to post something new, something that ideally hasn’t been posted before. Today, I’ll make an exception. This becasue when recently speaking to others dealing with ConfigMgr I noticed that not everyone is aware yet that back in April the ConfigMgr team released the System Center Configuation Manager CmdLet Library. So i believe it’s worth to spread the word again.

So here we go:

Group Policy Settings in Windows 10 Build 10.0.10130

Fri, 05 Jun 2015 12:25:54 +0000

Windows 10 build 10.0.10130 brought a couple more new Group Policy settings, here they are:

 **Location** **Setting** **Description** Computer Configuration

Administrative Templates
Windows Components
Windows Update Defer Upgrade If you enable this policy setting, in Pro and Enterprise SKUs you can defer upgrades till the next upgrade period (at least a few months).
If you do not have it set you will receive upgrades once they are available that will be installed as part of your update policies.

Group Policy Settings in Windows 10 Build 10.0.10074

Sat, 16 May 2015 13:29:30 +0000

Like with every new version of the Windows operating system we can expect new Group Policy settings. Today I took a look at Windows 10 build 10.0.10074 and found the follownig settings.

 **Location**

Setting

Description

Computer Configuration Windows Components DataCollectionAndPreviewBuilds

Disable user control over preview builds

This policy setting determines whether users can access the preview build controls in the Advanced Options for Windows Update. These controls are located under “Choose how preview builds are installed,” and enable users to make their devices available for downloading and installing Windows preview software. If you enable or do not configure this policy setting, users can download and install Windows preview software on their devices. If you disable this policy setting, the item “Choose how preview builds are installed” will be unavailable.

How to troubleshoot a Windows-based Azure Virtual Machine

Sun, 05 Apr 2015 22:52:41 +0000

When a physical device running Windows has problems, you have all sorts of possibilities to fix it, when virtual machine hosted within your on-premise virtualization infrastructure runs into issues, you still have all options to fix it. But the first time when a virtual machine hosted in Azure gets into trouble you might feel a little bit lost. But there’s hope. When I ran into an issue myself recently I found the following article “Troubleshoot Remote Desktop connections to a Windows-based Azure Virtual Machine”

Get-CMTSAgentSetupInfo (Get ConfigMgr Task Sequence Agent Setup Step Info)

Sat, 04 Apr 2015 11:49:35 +0000

We recently performed an upgrade of our ConfigMgr 2012 R2 Infrastructure and due to way how we install the Agent and Agent patches, we had to update the “Setup Windows and ConfigMgr” step within a number of our Task Sequences. I therefore wrote the below Get-CMTSAgentSetupInfo.ps1 PowerShell script which dumps all the ConfigMgr Agent Setup step information from all or specified task sequences.

The script retrieves the following information:

Task Sequence Name

PowerShell Script: Retrieve all Office 365 URLs and IP Ranges

Thu, 05 Feb 2015 23:21:03 +0000

This week I took the Office 365 Performance Management course on the Microsoft Virtual Academy. If you have any plans using Office 365 I strongly recommend taking this course. One of the topics that was often highlighted is the importance of having all Office 365 URLs and IP Ranges configured on the outbound allow list. The Office 365 URLs and IP Ranges are documented here and the changes to the list are described here.

Installing Software using Collection Commander

Wed, 31 Dec 2014 12:25:00 +0000

In the past days I had to provision a number of clients for testing purposes. A specific set of software also needed to be installed on these clients. At our company when deploying software to computers, the deployment for none mandatory software is always set to “Available” so that users can choose themselves when to install the software via the Software Center.

I did not want to logon to each machine and initiate the installation manually nor did i want to create a separate “required” deployment to install the software on these systems. Instead I wrote a few lines of PowerShell code and triggered them using collection commander. I must admit its a bit of a quick and dirty approach but it did the job in just a few minutes.

PowerShell Script to Retrieve Internet Explorer Telemetry Data

Sat, 29 Nov 2014 15:27:40 +0000

During the past days I have been busy deploying the Internet Explorer Site Discovery Toolkit to our Internet Explorer 11 test clients. I will write about the deployment of the Toolkit in a separate post. Today I would like to share with you a PowerShell script I put together that allows you to retrieve the collected Internet Explorer Telemetry data from local or remote computers.

Internet Explorer Telemetry data is stored into the following WMI Classes

Group Policy Management expanding into MDM

Sat, 01 Nov 2014 11:36:11 +0000

During the Channel 9 session “Windows 10 Client Goodness with Joe Belfiore” (at 12 minutes 04 of the recorded session) there was an interesting comment from Joe about Group Policy Management in Widows 10. If you’re dealing with Group Policy Management today, the following comments from Joe might be of interest.

*What we’re trying to do in Windows 10. And here’s another case where you think of a core operating system that shares among a bunch of
different devices. Today many companies are using Group Policy to manage PCs and companies are using MDM systems as they are getting from
a wide range of vendors to manage their diverse populations of tables and phones and so on. Well with Windows 10 we want to make sure that
all of our customers can have the flexibility to pick the system that makes sense for them so we are going to continue to have terrific group
policy support for PC’s as you would expect but we are also going to enable MDM systems to manage PCs as well. So if you have an MDM system that you like and you are managing phones and tablets, you can use that MDM system and now manage your PCs as well. *

How to solve “The RPC server is unavailable” when loading the ConfigMgr PowerShell Module

Wed, 29 Oct 2014 17:03:43 +0000

Since a few weeks, I received the below error message when importing the ConfigMgr module in PowerShell, but everything I ran afterwards worked fine, so I kept ignoring it for a while.

But now it was about time to get rid of this annoying message. My friend Claude Henchoz gave me a hint a while ago that helped me solve the issue. Looking at the error message more closely, I noticed the name of our old meanwhile decommissioned POC environment for ConfigMgr 2012 R2.

ToolTip: Collection Commander

Fri, 24 Oct 2014 14:34:05 +0000

Collection Commander

Hey there, today I’d like to talk about an awesome tool called Collection Commander. If you’re working with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager you probably know Client Center. Now Client Center is also a very cool tool, but it only allows you to work on one client. Collection Commander allows you to do things on multiple clients at the same time. Oh and before I forget, Collection Commander is created by System Center MVP Roger Zander, the same guy who creates Client Center. Just in case you are not using System Center Configuration Manager, don’t walk away. While Collection Commander plays nicely with the System Center Configuration Manager Console, it also works without it.

Use PowerShell to find all collections where the specified device has a membership

Tue, 14 Oct 2014 18:44:28 +0000

Yesterday I deployed a computer with ConfigMgr and then wondered why it got certain software installed. And so another script was born.

The Get-CMCollectionOfDevice command retrieves all collections where the specified device has a membership

The Script can be downloaded from here

<#
.SYNOPSIS
 Get-CMCollectionOfDevice retrieves all collections where the specified device has a membership

.DESCRIPTION
 The Get-CMCollectionOfDevice retrieves all collections where the specified device has a membership

.PARAMETER Computer
 The name of the computer device

 Example: Client01

.PARAMETER SiteCode
 The Configuration Manager Site Code

 Example: PRI

.PARAMETER SiteServer
 The computer name of the Configuration Manager Site Server

 Example: Contoso-01

.EXAMPLE
 Get-CMCollectionOfDevice -Computer Client01

 CollectionID Name Commnent LastRefreshTime 
 ------------ ---- -------- --------------- 
 SMS00001 All Systems All Systems 14.10.2014 14:25:57 
 SMSDM003 All Desktop and Server Cli... All Desktop and Server Cli... 14.10.2014 14:30:02 
 PR100011 ALL Contoso Workstation Lim. Limiting collection used f... 14.10.2014 16:37:53 
 PR100014 Zurich Location Zuerich 14.10.2014 14:45:53 

 The above command lists all collections where computer Client01 is a member of. The default
 parameter values for SiteCode and SiteServer defined in the script are used. 

.EXAMPLE
 Get-CMCollectionOfDevice -Computer Client01 -SiteCode PRI -SiteServer Contoso-01
 
 The above command lists all collections where computer Client01 is a member of within the
 Configuration Manager site PRI connecting to Site Server Contoso-01

.NOTES
 Version 1.0 , Alex Verboon
 Credits to Kaido Järvemets and David O'Brien for the code snippets
#>

function Get-CMCollectionOfDevice
{
 [CmdletBinding()]
 [OutputType([int])]
 Param
 (
 # Computername
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=0)]
 [String]$Computer,

 # ConfigMgr SiteCode
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=1)]
 [String]$SiteCode = "PRI",

 # ConfigMgr SiteServer
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=2)]
 [String]$SiteServer = "contoso-01.corp.com"
 )
Begin
{
 [string] $Namespace = "root\SMS\site_$SiteCode"
}

Process
{
 $si=1
 Write-Progress -Activity "Retrieving ResourceID for computer $computer" -Status "Retrieving data" 
 $ResIDQuery = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $SiteServer -Namespace $Namespace -Class "SMS_R_SYSTEM" -Filter "Name='$Computer'"
 
 If ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($ResIDQuery))
 {
 Write-Output "System $Computer does not exist in Site $SiteCode"
 }
 Else
 {
 $Collections = (Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $SiteServer -Class sms_fullcollectionmembership -Namespace $Namespace -Filter "ResourceID = '$($ResIDQuery.ResourceId)'")
 $colcount = $Collections.Count
 
 $devicecollections = @()
 ForEach ($res in $collections)
 {
 $colid = $res.CollectionID
 Write-Progress -Activity "Processing $si / $colcount" -Status "Retrieving Collection data" -PercentComplete (($si / $colcount) * 100)

 $collectioninfo = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $SiteServer -Namespace $Namespace -Class "SMS_Collection" -Filter "CollectionID='$colid'"
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "CollectionID" -Value $collectioninfo.CollectionID
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Name" -Value $collectioninfo.Name
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Commnent" -Value $collectioninfo.Comment
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "LastRefreshTime" -Value ([Management.ManagementDateTimeConverter]::ToDateTime($collectioninfo.LastRefreshTime))
 $devicecollections += $object
 $si++
 }
} # end check system exists
}

End
{
 $devicecollections
}
}

Analysing the file content of Windows Installer files using PowerShell

Sun, 05 Oct 2014 18:59:14 +0000

A few weeks ago we have started with the preparation for introducing Microsoft Office 2013 and Internet Explorer 11. As with every introduction of new software it’s all about compatibility. During the course of testing applications we were informed that some of them caused an issue due to hard coded paths. Each application is going to be installed anyway so that application owners can conduct testing, but at the same time I thought, it would be nice if we could identify potentially affected applications upfront without having to go through an actual install.

Use PowerShell to Troubleshoot Group Policy

Thu, 04 Sep 2014 21:44:17 +0000

While I was on vacation last summer Ed Wilson aka Microsoft Scripting Guy asked me if I would like to write a guest post for the Hey Scripting Guy Blog. Of course !! was my immediate response.

And here it is: Weekend Scripter: Use PowerShell to Troubleshoot Group Policy

The script referenced can be downloaded from here http://gallery.technet.microsoft.com/scriptcenter/Get-GPProcessingTime-a124aaf5

How to identify ConfigMgr collections that take long to refresh

Sat, 30 Aug 2014 09:54:14 +0000

I’ve put together the below PowerShell script this week to identify collections in ConfigMgr that require the longest time to refresh. If you ever experience a decrease in ConfigMgr collection update performance, you might want to run this script to find potential collections that have a long refresh duration.

Function Get-CMCollectionRefreshDuration
{
<#
.Synopsis
 Get-CMCollectionRefreshDuration displays the duration of Configuration Manager refresh cycles
.DESCRIPTION
 Inefficient queries can cause long collection refresh cycles. Use the Get-CMCollectionRefreshDuration
 cmdlet to identify collections with long refresh cycles. 
.EXAMPLE
 Get-CMCollectionRefreshDuration -DataSource sqlsrv01\instance1 -Database CM_DB1

 Collection EvaluationStartTime LastRefreshTime Duration
 ---------- ------------------- --------------- --------
 Collection1 30.08.2014 09:20:11 30.08.2014 09:22:45 00:02:33
 Collection2 30.08.2014 09:27:31 30.08.2014 09:30:05 00:02:33
 Collection3 30.08.2014 07:01:23 30.08.2014 07:03:56 00:02:33
 Collection4 30.08.2014 07:20:38 30.08.2014 07:23:11 00:02:33
 Collection5 30.08.2014 07:05:00 30.08.2014 07:07:33 00:02:33 

.EXAMPLE
 Get-CMCollectionRefreshDuration -DataSource sqlsrv01\instance1 -Database CM_DB1 -ShowTopCollections 100

 Lists the top 100 collections
.PARAMETER DataSource
 The name of the SQL Server that hosts the configuration manager database

 <servername\instance>

.PARAMETER Database
 The database name of the configuration manager database

.PARAMETER ShowTopCollections
 The number of collections to show that have the longers collection refresh cycle duration

#>
 [CmdletBinding()]
 Param
 (
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
 Position=0,
 HelpMessage="Enter the SQL Server datasource name <server\instance>")]
 [string]$DataSource="server01\instance1",
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
 Position=1,
 HelpMessage="The database name of the ConfigMgr database")]
 [string]$Database="CMDB1",
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
 Position=2,
 HelpMessage="The number of top collectons to show")]
 [ValidateRange(1,10000)]
 [int]$ShowTopCollections="5" 
 )

Begin{
 # connecting to SQL server
 Try{
 $Connection = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection
 $Connection.ConnectionString = "Data Source=$DataSource;Integrated Security=True"
 $Connection.Open()
 }
 Catch [Exception]
 {
 write-output "Unable to connect to $DataSource"
 Write-Output $_.Exception
 Throw
 }
 $query = "
 SELECT TOP $ShowTopCollections
 [CollectionName],
 [EvaluationStartTime],
 [LastRefreshTime],
 CAST([LastRefreshTime] - [EvaluationStartTime] as datetime) as Duration
 FROM [$Database].[dbo].[Collections]
 ORDER BY CAST([LastRefreshTime] - [EvaluationStartTime] as datetime) DESC"

 $command = $connection.CreateCommand()
 $command.CommandText = $query
 $result = $command.ExecuteReader()

 $table = new-object “System.Data.DataTable”
 $table.Load($result)
 $Connection.Close()
}

Process{
 $colupdateduration = @()
 ForEach($cud in $table)
 {
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Collection" -Value $cud.Collectionname
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "EvaluationStartTime" -Value $cud.EvaluationStartTime
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "LastRefreshTime" -Value $cud.LastRefreshTime
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Duration" -Value ($dur = Get-date $cud.Duration -Format "HH:mm:ss")
 $colupdateduration += $object
 }
}

End{
 $colupdateduration
 }
}

Thanks to Roger Zander and Claude Henchoz for the SQL query to find these collections.

PowerShell Script to retrieve content from Internet Explorer ActiveX blocking log

Wed, 13 Aug 2014 23:12:50 +0000

In preparation of the Internet Explorer out of date ActiveX control blocking activities I wrote the below script that retrieves the content of the log stored under LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AuditMode\VersionAuditLog.csv

You can download the script from here

function Get-ActiveXControlLog
{
<#
.Synopsis
 Get-ActiveXControlLog
.DESCRIPTION
 Get-ActiveXControlLog retrieves the content of the Internet Explorer ActiveX control log stored locally. 
.EXAMPLE
 Get-ActiveXControlLog
 Shows all entries in the log file
.EXAMPLE
 Get-ActiveXControlLog -Show Allowed
 Shows only entries with status "Allowed"
.LINKS
 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/dn798785.aspx
.NOTES
 version 1.0 by Alex Verboon
#>
 [CmdletBinding()]
 Param
 (
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
 Position=0)]
 [ValidateSet("All","Allowed","Blocked")] 
 $Show="All"
 )

 Begin
 {
 # the default location of the log file
 $VersionAuditLog = [Environment]::GetFolderPath('LocalApplicationData') + "\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\AuditMode\VersionAuditLog.csv"
 # check if the log file is present
 If (Test-Path $VersionAuditLog)
 {
 Write-output "ActiveX out of date blocking control log found"
 }
 Else
 {
 Write-Verbose "ActiveX out of date blocking control log not found"
 # let's check if the logging policy is enabled at all
 $lm = (Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Ext" -Name "AuditModeEnabled" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).AuditModeEnabled 
 $cu = (Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKCU:Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Ext" -Name "AuditModeEnabled" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue).AuditModeEnabled
 
 If ($lm -le 0)
 {
 write-output "ActiveX control logging policy is not enabled at the computer level"
 }
 Else
 {
 Write-Output "Active control logging policy is enabled at the computer level, but there's no log: $VersionAuditLog"
 }

 If ($cu -le 0)
 {
 write-output "ActiveX control logging policy is not enabled at the User level"
 }
 Else
 {
 Write-Output "Active control logging policy is enabled at the user level, but there's no log: $VersionAuditLog"
 }
 Throw 
 }
 }
 Process
 {

 # Get the content of the log file
 $axlog = Import-csv -Delimiter "," -Path $VersionAuditLog -Header URL, Path, ProductVersion, FileVersion, Action, Reason, EPMCompat
 $axlogdata = @()
 ForEach ($entry in $axlog)
 {
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name URL -Value $entry.URL
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Path -Value $entry.Path
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name ProductVersion -Value $entry.ProductVersion
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name FileVersion -Value $entry.FileVersion
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Result -Value $entry.Action
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Reason -Value $entry.Reason 
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name EPMCompatible -Value $entry.EPMCompat
 $axlogdata += $object
 }
 }
 End
 {
 If ($Show -eq "All")
 {
 $axlogdata
 }
 Else
 {
 $axlogdata | Where-Object {$_.Result -eq "$Show"}
 }
 }
}

New IE Group Policy Settings for blocking out-of-date ActiveX controls

Sun, 10 Aug 2014 20:26:04 +0000

As anounced by Microsoft last week on their IEBlog Internet Explorer will start blocking out of date ActiveX controls For managed environments there are updated administrative templates for Internet Explorer to control the behaviour of the ActiveX blocking feature.

Although the link brings you to a site called “Administrative Templates for Internet Explorer 11” the settings are set to work for Internet Explorer 8,9, 10 and 11. If you haven’t updated your administrative templates since a while, beware of the missing IE maintenance settings.

test

Sun, 10 Aug 2014 15:47:14 +0000

	get-process

PowerShell Script - Get-CMInstalledSoftware

Fri, 08 Aug 2014 19:23:05 +0000

ConfigMgr 2012 comes with a lot of build-in reports, but often it just does not contain all the information I want. Creating a custom report takes more time than just writing a script.

The Get-CMInstalledSoftware script retrieves all computers that have the specified software installed. Like it? Get your copy of the script from here

<#
.Synopsis
 Get all computers that have the specified software installed
.DESCRIPTION
 Get-CMInstalledSoftware retrieves all computers where the specified software is installed on. 
 The function queries SMS_G_System_INSTALLED_SOFTWARE which contains both 32 and 64 bit software
 installations.

 The following information is collected
 
 Computername,OperatingSystemNameandVersion InstallDate, InstalledLocation, Productname, ProductVersion
 Publisher, UninstallString

.EXAMPLE
 Get-CMInstalledSoftware -ProductName "Client Center for Configuration Manager%"

 Computername : Client01
 OperatingSystemNameandVersion : Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 6.1
 Productname : Client Center for Configuration Manager 2012
 ProductVersion : 1.0.1.0
 Publisher : Zander Tools
 InstallDate : Friday, 1. August 2014 00:00:00
 InstalledLocation : C:\Program Files\Client Center for Configuration Manager 2012\
 UninstallString : MsiExec.exe /X{B299EE26-A664-42A2-8D4E-6BF005EB5E75}

.PARAMETER -ProductName
 The Name of the Software. Use % before or after the productname as a wildcard. 
 
#>

Function Get-CMInstalledSoftware
{
 [CmdletBinding()]
 [OutputType([int])]
 Param
 (
 # Software Product Name
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=0)]
 $ProductName,

 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=1)]
 $SiteCode = "SR1",

 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=2)]
 $SiteServer = "chrv0300.corp.gwpnet.com"
 )

Begin
{
 [string] $Namespace = "root\SMS\site_$SiteCode"
}

Process
{
 $arsw = Get-WmiObject -Namespace $Namespace -ComputerName $SiteServer -Query "SELECT * FROM SMS_G_System_INSTALLED_SOFTWARE where ProductName like '$ProductName'" # and ProductVersion = '11.0.61030.0'"
 $clientswithsw = @()

 ForEach ($res in $arsw)
 {
 $CMResource = (Get-WmiObject -Namespace $Namespace -ComputerName $SiteServer -Query "SELECT Name, ResourceID,Active, SMSUniqueIdentifier,OperatingSystemNameandVersion FROM SMS_R_SYSTEM WHERE ResourceID = '$($res.ResourceID)'")

 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Computername" -Value $cmresource.Name
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "OperatingSystemNameandVersion" -Value $cmresource.OperatingSystemNameandVersion
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Productname" -Value $res.ProductName
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "ProductVersion" -Value $res.ProductVersion
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Publisher" -Value $res.Publisher
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "InstallDate" -Value ([Management.ManagementDateTimeConverter]::ToDateTime($res.InstallDate).DateTime)
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "InstalledLocation" -Value $res.InstalledLocation
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "UninstallString" -Value $res.UninstallString

 $clientswithsw += $object
 }
}

End
{
 $clientswithsw
}
}

PowerShell Script - Get Group Policy events by CorrelationID

Thu, 17 Jul 2014 15:00:44 +0000

Update: 22. August 2014: I have posted an updated version of the script here.

During his Group Policy: Notes from the Field - Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting session at TechEd Group Policy MVP Jeremy Moskowitz demonstrates how to filter the event log using the correlation ID. Now because I love using PowerShell I thought I create a function for that using Jeremy’s XMLquery.

function Get-GPEventByCorrelationID
{
<#
.Synopsis
 Get Group Policy Eventlog entries by Correlation ID
.DESCRIPTION
 This function retrieves Group Policy event log entries filtered by Correlation ID
.EXAMPLE
 Get-GPEventByCorrelationID -CorrelationID A2A621EC-44B4-4C56-9BA3-169B88032EFD

 TimeCreated Id LevelDisplayName Message
 ----------- -- ---------------- -------
 7/17/2014 3:00:27 PM 5117 Information Group policy session completed successfully.

#>
 [CmdletBinding()]
 Param
 (
 # CorrelationID
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=0)]
 [string]$CorrelationID 
 )

 Begin
 {
 $Query = '*[System/Correlation/@ActivityID="{CorrelationID}"]'
 $FilterXML = $Query.Replace("CorrelationID",$CorrelationID)
 }
 Process
 {
 Get-WinEvent -FilterXml $FilterXML
 }
 End
 {
 }
}

ConfigMgr - How to find the Application Name for a ContentID

Tue, 03 Jun 2014 21:51:08 +0000

While reviewing ConfigMgr status messages for clients reporting problems acquiring package content (Message ID 10025) I found some code snippets on sccmfaq.ch that maps the ContentID to the name of the application. As i had to do several lookups, I decided to create a function for it.

function Get-xCMContentIDforApp
{
<#
.Synopsis
 Get-xCMContentIDforApp
.DESCRIPTION
 This function retrieves the Application name for the provided ContentID. 
 Use this when analyzing status messages (10025) for clients reporting problems
 acquiring package content 

.EXAMPLE
 Get-xCMContentIDforApp -SiteServer cmsrv01 -SiteCode lab -ContentID Content_4783c44a-3f5c-4bf3-a130-a89e5520173a, Content_1d336090-12e4-445b-9c15-718ee5ddf40a

 Application ContentID 
 ----------- --------- 
 Mozilla Firefox_SW10012130 Content_4783c44a-3f5c-4bf3-a130-a89e5520173a 
 Microsoft Excel 2010 x64_SW10011686_V Content_1d336090-12e4-445b-9c15-718ee5ddf40a 

 The above example retrieves the Application name for each contentID provided. 

.NOTES
 Credits to sccmfaq.ch where i found the code snippets
#http://sccmfaq.wordpress.com/2014/03/11/sccm-2012-get-from-content-id-to-the-name-of-an-application-with-powershell/
 Version 1.0 by Alex Verboon
#>

[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$true)]
 Param
 (
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=0)]
 $SiteServer,
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=1)]
 $SiteCode,
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=2)]
 [string[]]$ContentID
 )

Begin{}
Process
{
 $CIDApps = @()

 ForEach ($cid in $ContentID)
 {

 If ($PScmdlet.ShouldProcess("Retrieving Application Name for $cid"))
 {
 $ContenId01 = (("$cid").Split("."))[0]
 $ApplicationID = (Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\sms\site_$SiteCode -ComputerName $SiteServer -Class SMS_Deploymenttype -Filter "ContentID = '$ContenId01' and PriorityInLatestApp = '1'").AppModelName
 $App = (Get-WmiObject -Namespace root\sms\site_$SiteCode -ComputerName $SiteServer -Class SMS_Application -Filter "CI_UniqueID like '$ApplicationID%' and IsLatest = 'True'").LocalizedDisplayName

 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Application" -Value $App
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "ContentID" -Value $cid
 $CIDApps += $object
 }
 }
}
End
{
 $CIDApps | Select-Object Application, ContentID 
}
}

ConfigMgr - PowerShell Script to list Image Binary Delta Replication Setting

Sun, 18 May 2014 22:15:09 +0000

Here’s a script that lists all Boot and Operating system images stored within Configuration Manager and shows whether the Binary Delta Replication Setting is enabled or not.

<#
.Synopsis
 List Binary Delta Replication Setting for ConfigMgr Boot and Operating System images
.DESCRIPTION
 This cmdlet Lists ConfigMgr the Boot image and Operating System image Binary Delta Replication Setting
.EXAMPLE

.EXAMPLE
 Another example of how to use this cmdlet
.NOTES
 #http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh948196.aspx
 Version 1.0 by Alex Verboon

#>
function Get-CMImgBDRSetting
{
 [CmdletBinding()]
 Param
 (
 # Param1 help description
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=0)]
 $SiteCode,
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 Position=1)]
 $SiteServer
 )

 Begin
 {
 [string] $Namespace = "root\SMS\site_$SiteCode"
 $allImages = Get-WmiObject -Namespace $Namespace -ComputerName $SiteServer -Query "SELECT Name, Description, Version,PkgFlags, PackageType FROM SMS_PackageBaseclass Where PackageType = '258' OR PackageType = '257' "
 $USE_BINARY_DELTA_REP = "0x04000000"
 }
 Process
 {
 $bdr_images = @()
 ForEach ($img in $allImages)
 {
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Name" -Value $img.Name
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Version" -Value $img.Version
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Description" -Value $img.Description
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Binary_Delta_Rep" -Value ($ubdr = if($img.PkgFlags -band $USE_BINARY_DELTA_REP) {"Enabled"} Else {"Disabled"})
 $bdr_images += $object
 }
 }
 End
 {
 $bdr_images | Sort-Object Name
 }
}

New Group Policy Settings for Office 365

Fri, 02 May 2014 17:58:18 +0000

On April 28th 2014 Microsoft finally released an fix for the Office 2013 SP1 Office customization tool as the version released with SP1 caused some issues with Lync 2013 and OneDrive for Business. But there’s more in this update.A few new Group Policy settings for Office 365 are included as well.

Important. These new Group Policy settings only apply to Office 365 (click to run installations) and not to Office 2013 MSI based installations. The reason for this is because the settings relate to the update mechanism that’s build in to the Office 365 product.

PowerShell Script - List Scheduled Tasks

Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:43:55 +0000

Here’s a simple script I put together to list the scheduled tasks including the description, status and whether the task is set to hidden or not. When deploying a new operating system I find it important to understand what scheduled tasks are enabled to run, as sometimes there might be some potential to improvie the systems performance by disabling those you feel are not needed in your environment.

$schtasks = @()
$st = Get-ScheduledTask
ForEach ($SchTask in $st)
{
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "TaskName" -Value $SchTask.TaskName
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Description" -Value $SchTask.Description
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "State" -Value $SchTask.State
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Hidden" -Value $SchTask.Settings.Hidden
 $schtasks += $object
}
$schtasks | Sort-Object "Hidden" -Descending | Format-list

Within the Scheduled Tasks UI, by default you will not see the contents of Tasks that are set to hidden. But this can be enabled. Open the Task Scheduler with taskschd.msc and within the View Menu select “Show Hidden Tasks”.

Managing Windows Defender / System Center Endpoint Security with PowerShell

Tue, 08 Apr 2014 13:17:21 +0000

I just read a blog post from Ed Wilson (Scripting Guy) about Use PowerShell to Configure Windows Defender Preferences and wondered if there’s more here. And yes there is. If you have a default insallation of Windows 8 and have defender enabled or work in an enterprise environment and use Configuration Manager with the System Center Endpoint Security agent deployed on your clients then you the below listed cmdlets available.

Windows Defender

To get a list of all available Defender cmdlets just run the following command within a powershell console

How to export third-party driver packages using PowerShell

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 19:43:09 +0000

Windows 8.1 Update introduces a new cmdlet that allows you to export third-party drivers that are located within the driver store of a Windows client.

$ExpDrv = Export-WindowsDriver -Online -Destination c:\temp\3rdpartydrivers 

```powershell
The result, all drivers exported into the provided destination directory

![2014-04-04_21h36_47](images/2014-04-04_21h36_47_thumb.png)

Now we have a whole bunch of folders, but what drivers did we actually export?

```powershell
$ExpDrv | Select-Object ClassName, ProviderName, Date, Version | Sort-Object ClassName

Good to know: System Center 2012 Configuration Pack for Microsoft User Experience Virtualization

Tue, 14 Jan 2014 20:59:28 +0000

Based on a conversation I had yesterday at the ConfigMgr Community event here , it appears that few people know about the existance of the ConfigMgr pack for Microsoft UE-V. There’s one for UE-V version 1.0 and just a few weeks ago one for UE-V 2.0 was released.

After Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) and its required components are installed, UE-V must be configured. This UE-V Configuration Pack provides a way for administrators to use the Compliance Settings feature of System Center Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 to apply consistent configuration across sites where UE-V is installed. The UE-V Configuration Pack for UE-V 2.0 provides tools to do the following: The UE-V Configuration Pack provides tools to do the following: 1. Create UE-V template distribution baselines. a. Defines UE-V templates to be registered or unregistered b. Updates UE-V template configuration items and baselines as templates are added or updated. c. Distribute and register UE-V templates using standard Configuration Item remediation

PowerShell - Finding ConfigMgr Collections and Members

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 00:42:00 +0000

The below script provides a simple and quick method to find ConfigMgr Collections and its members. The script has a -Name parameter that accepts the exact or part of the collection name. Next all collections that match the name are listed. After selecting a collection, its members are listed.

Function Get-CMColContent()
{
<#
.Synopsis
 Get Configuration Manager Collections and Members
.DESCRIPTION
 This script provides an interactive way to find collections and collection members within 
 Configuration Manager. 
.PARAMETER Name
 The exact or partial collection name. 
.EXAMPLE
 Get-CMColContent -Name All
#>

 Param(
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 HelpMessage="Enter Collection Name or part of collection Name",
 Position=0)]
 [String]$Name
 )

# Change Site Server Name and Site code so it fits your environment
[string] $SiteServer = "servername"
[string] $SiteCode = "010"
[string] $Namespace = "root\SMS\site_$SiteCode"

$CollectionItem = Get-WmiObject -Namespace $Namespace -ComputerName $SiteServer -Query "SELECT Name,LimitToCollectionName,MemberClassName, MemberCount, CollectionType FROM SMS_Collection WHERE Name LIKE '%$Name%'" | Select-Object Name,LimitToCollectionName,MemberClassName, MemberCount, CollectionType, ResourceID | Sort-Object CollectionType| Out-GridView -Title "Collections" -OutputMode Single

$CollectionType = $CollectionItem.CollectionType
$CollectionName = $CollectionItem.Name
$MemberClassName = $CollectionItem.MemberClassName

If ($CollectionType -eq 2) # Computer collections
 {
 Write-Output "Please wait, this can take a while..."
 $colcontent = Get-WmiObject -Namespace $Namespace -ComputerName $SiteServer -Query "SELECT Name, Active, OperatingSystemNameandVersion, ResourceID FROM SMS_R_SYSTEM where ResourceID in (Select ResourceID from $MemberClassName)" | Select-Object Name, Active, OperatingSystemNameandVersion -wait | Sort-Object Name 
 $colcontent = $colcontent | Out-GridView -Title "Collection: $CollectionName Member Class: $MemberClassName" -OutputMode Multiple
 #return $colcontent
 }
Elseif ($CollectionType -eq 1) # User Collections 
 {
 Write-Output "Please wait, this can take a while..."
 $colcontent = Get-WmiObject -Namespace $Namespace -ComputerName $SiteServer -Query "SELECT UserName, UserPrincipalName, ResourceID FROM SMS_R_USER where ResourceID in (Select ResourceID from $MemberClassName)" | Select-Object Username, UserPrincipalName, ResourceID -wait
 $colcontent = $colcontent | Out-GridView -Title "Collection: $CollectionName Member Class: $MemberClassName" -OutputMode Multiple 
 #return $colcontent
 }
Else
 {
 Write-output "No support for other Collection Type $Collectiontype"
 }

return $colcontent
}

Example:

PowerShell - Retrieve System Startup Time Information

Mon, 06 Jan 2014 20:02:18 +0000

The below script gathers the following system startup time information from a local or remote client.

Computername
Last Wakeup time (from Sleep, Hibernate or Fast boot on Windows 8x clients) The last wakeup date/time is converted from UTC into the client local time.
Last Boot time
The Time Zone of the client
The system wakeup / sleep message from the Windows event log

Important: the script uses PowerShell remoting, it’s therefore required that the targeted clients have WinRM enabled.

PowerShell - Creating Dummy files

Thu, 02 Jan 2014 17:16:27 +0000

Here’s a function I wrote to create a large dummy file either filled with zero’s or random characters. The -Target parameter must be eitehr a file including the path or just the path. If the path does not exist, it will be created. If only a path is provided a file with a random file name is generated.

Function New-BigFile {
<#
.Synopsis
 Creates a large dummy file with or without random conntent
.DESCRIPTION
 Creates a large dummy file with or without random conntent 
 Credits for the randome content creation logic goes to Robert Robelo
.PARAMETER Target
 The full path to a folder or file. If the target is a folder a random file name is generated
.PARAMETER MegaByte
 The size of the random file to be genrated. Default is one MB
.PARAMETER Filecontent
 Possible values are or When is specified the file is filled with
 random values. The value fills the file with nulls. 
.PARAMETER ShowProgress
 This parameter is optional and shows the progress of the file creation. 
.EXAMPLE
 New-Bigfile -Target C:\Temp\LF -Megabyte 10 -Filecontent random
.EXAMPLE
 New-Bigfile -Target C:\Temp\LF\bigfile.txt -Megabyte 10 -Filecontent random
.EXAMPLE
 New-Bigfile -Target C:\Temp\LF -Megabyte 10 -Filecontent empty
#>

[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$True)]
param(
 [Parameter(Mandatory = $true, Position = 0)]
 [String]$Target,
 [Parameter(Mandatory = $false, Position = 1)]
 [ValidateRange(1, 5120)]
 [UInt16]$MegaByte = 1,
 [Parameter(Mandatory = $true,position = 2)]
 [ValidateSet("random","empty")]
 [string]$FileContent,
 [Switch]$ShowProgress
)

If ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty([System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName("$target")) -eq $True)
{
 Write-Output "Specify a directory or file including path!"
 Throw
}

If([string]::IsNullOrEmpty([System.IO.Path]::GetExtension("$target")))
{
 Write-Verbose "Provided input $target has no file extension, target is a folder"
 $fname = ("" + ([guid]::NewGuid()) + ".LF")
 Write-Verbose "Random generated filename: $fname"
 $Target = Join-path $Target $fname
 $folder = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($target)

 If ((Test-path $folder) -eq $false)
 {If ($PSCmdlet.ShouldProcess("Directory does not exist, creating directory $folder ")) 
 { New-Item -Path $folder -ItemType Directory | Out-Null}}
}
Else
{
 If ((Test-path -Path $target) -eq $true)
 {Write-verbose "File $Target already exists, exiting to prevent overwrite"
 Break}
 Else
 {Write-Verbose "File $target does not exist yet"}

 # Check if the directory actually exists, if not create it
 $folder = [System.IO.Path]::GetDirectoryName($target)
 If ((Test-path $folder) -eq $false)
 {If ($PSCmdlet.ShouldProcess("Creating folder $folder")) 
 {New-Item -Path $folder -ItemType Directory | Out-Null}}
}

$path = $Target
$total = 1mb * $MegaByte
$strings = $bytes = 0

If ($FileContent -eq "random")
{
If ($PSCmdlet.ShouldProcess("Creating random file $path with $Megabyte MB")) 
{

# create the stream writer
$sw = New-Object IO.streamWriter $path

# get a 64 element Char[]; I added the - and _ to have 64 chars
[char[]]$chars = 'azertyuiopqsdfghjklmwxcvbnAZERTYUIOPQSDFGHJKLMWXCVBN0123456789-_'
1..$MegaByte | ForEach-Object {
# get 1MB of chars from 4 256KB strings
1..4 | ForEach-Object {
# randomize all chars and...
$rndChars = $chars | Get-Random -Count $chars.Count
# ...join them in a string
$str = -join $rndChars
# repeat random string 4096 times to get a 256KB string
$str_ = $str * 4kb
# write 256KB string to file
$sw.Write($str_)
# show progress

 if ($ShowProgress) {
 $strings++
 $bytes += $str_.Length
 Write-Progress -Activity "Writing String #$strings" -Status "$bytes Bytes written" -PercentComplete ($bytes / $total * 100)
 }

# release resources by clearing string variables
Clear-Variable str, str_
}
}
$sw.Close()
$sw.Dispose()
# release resources through garbage collection
[GC]::Collect()
}
}

Else 
{
 If ($PSCmdlet.ShouldProcess("Creating empty file $path with $Megabyte MB")) 
 {
 # write 4K worth of data at a time
 $bufSize = 4096
 $bytes = New-Object byte[] $bufSize
 $file = [System.IO.File]::Create("$path")
 # write the first block out to accommodate integer division truncation
 $file.Write($bytes, 0, $bufSize)
 for ($i = 0; $i -lt $Megabyte*1MB; $i = $i + $bufSize) { $file.Write($bytes, 0, $bufSize) 

 if ($ShowProgress) {
 Write-Progress -Activity "Writing String #$strings" -Status "Bytes written" -PercentComplete ($i/($megabyte*1MB)*100 )
 }
 }
 $file.Close()
} 
} 
} 

```powershell
Run the following command to create a dummy file of 10 MB with random content

```powershell
New-bigfile c:\temp\lf 10 random -Verbose 

```powershell

Run the following command to create a dummy file dummy10mb.txt with random content

```powershell
New-bigfile c:\temp\lf\dummy10mb.txt 10 random -Verbose 

```powershell
Run the following command to create a dummy file of 20 MB filled with zeros

```powershell
New-bigfile c:\temp\lf 20 empty-Verbose

If you prefer to see what is going on, add the -Showprogress option. And last but not least the function also supports the -whatif option.

PowerShell - Using the WordPress Rest API

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 19:07:27 +0000

I just found out that meanwhile (since October last year) the Rest API for wordpress now also works on self-hosted wordpress sites. So i can now access the content of my blog through PowerShell.

$posts = Invoke-RestMethod -uri "https://public-api.wordpress.com/rest/v1/sites/www.verboon.info/posts/?number=50"
$posts.posts | Select-Object @{"Name" = "Title";"e"= {($_.Title)-replace "–","-"}}, @{"Name" = "Date"; "Expression" = {get-date ($_.Date) -Format "yyyy-MMM-dd"}} | ft

More details abou the WordPress Rest API can be found here

PowerShell - Creating Scheduled Tasks with PowerShell version 3

Sun, 29 Dec 2013 17:45:30 +0000

I am currently working on a script where I need to create a scheduled task that runs a powershell script at a given time. With PowerShell 4.0 a scheduled task can be easily created with the new cmdlets New-ScheduledTaskAction, New-ScheduledTaskTrigger and Register-ScheduledTask, but unfortunately i have to create a solution that works on clients running PowerSshell version 3.0.

When searching the web for examples how others have solved this I found many examples where people invoke the schtasks.exe command but in order to further improve my PowerShell skills I wanted to avoid calling external executables and do as much in PowerShell as possible. So after a bit of further searching I found an interesting post from @letitknowblog who uses the Task Scheduler’s com object for creating a scheduled task.

PowerShell - Get latest Microsoft KB information

Tue, 17 Dec 2013 00:36:24 +0000

I frequently visit kbupdate.info which is a great resource for finding latest KB updates, but still you have to manually click through the various lists. Now that I am learning PowerShell anyway, i thought i’ll give myself another task to further improve my PowerShell skills. So here we go, below you find a script that retrieves the latest KB update information for various products and displays them on screen so that I can quickly browse through them and directly launch the article of interest in Internet Explorer.

PowerShell - Get Stock Quote Information

Sun, 15 Dec 2013 13:29:17 +0000

The below script makes use of a webservice hosted by webserviceX.net and provides stock quote information.

<#
.Synopsis
 Retrieve stock information
.DESCRIPTION
 Retrieve stock information 
.PARAMETER Symbol
 Stock symbol of one or more companies
.EXAMPLE
 Get-StockInfo -Symbol MSFT,INTC
.LINK
 
.NOTES
 Version 1.0, by Alex Verboon
#>
 
[CmdletBinding()]
Param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,
 HelpMessage= 'Stock Symbol for the company')]
 [String[]]$Symbol
)

begin{}
process{

if ([string]::IsNullOrEmpty($Symbol))
 {Write-Output "You must provide a Symbol"
 Exit}
 
ForEach ($stock in $Symbol)
 {
 [xml][/xml]$sq = Invoke-WebRequest -uri http://www.webservicex.net/stockquote.asmx/GetQuote?symbol=$stock
 $sqdetail = [xml][/xml]$sq.DocumentElement.'#text' 
 $sqdetail.StockQuotes.stocK
 }
}

End{}

ConfigMgr OSD - Enable .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 8.1

Sat, 14 Dec 2013 01:17:13 +0000

Windows 8.1 has the .NET Framework 4.5.1 enabled by default. If you need .NET Framework 3.5 which also includes support for .NET 3.0, and 2.0, then you must enable the feature as it is not enabled by default.However to enable it you need access to the content of the Sources\SXS folder that resides on the Windows 8.1 installation media. More details are described in the MSDN article Installing the .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 8 or 8.1

PowerShell - How to qukckly access the Azure Management Portal

Mon, 09 Dec 2013 23:42:33 +0000

Whenever I worked with Azure, first thing i usualy did was fire a web search to get the url for the Azure Management portal. I know I could bookmark it……..it’s just that I already have way too many bookmarks. But today I discovered a nice cmdlet in PowerShell called Show-AzurePortal** **which gets you automatically to the right place.

Show-AzurePortal

Note: You must install the Azure PowerShell cmdlets. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/jj156055.aspx

Windows 8.1 - Shutdown and Shutdown

Mon, 09 Dec 2013 22:00:54 +0000

Hey there, when i watched the last edition of “The Defrag Show” this week-end Gov Maharaj gave an interesting explanation about the difference in behaviour when using the Shutdown option within the charms bar or the Widnows X-menu.

To keep a long story short. When you have fast boot enabled, the shutdown option in thr charms bar will perform a so-called hybrid shutdown, but when using the shutdown option in the x-menu a full shutdown is performed meaning that the next time you turn on the machine a cold boot happens.

PowerShell - Retrieve App-V 4.6 Package Information

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 21:44:12 +0000

Today we’ve been looking at App-V 4.6 package settings before and after migrating them from ConfigMgr 2007 to ConfigMgr 2012, so after opening the App-V mmc console 3x manually…..another script was born.

The below Get-Appv4PkgInfo.ps1 script retrieves information from the App-V Package WMI class. You can run the script against one or more computers and the optional –View parameter lets you define what information you want to see.

<#
.Synopsis
 Retrieve local App-V 4.6 Package information
.DESCRIPTION
 Retrieve local App-v Package Information from root\Microsoft\appvirt\client
.PARAMETER Computer
 One or multiple computernames
.PARAMETER View
 Specifies the information that is displayed for the identified App-V Package
 Valid options for the view parameter are Default,Path, Cache, Inuse, Size, GUIDS, Locked,All
.EXAMPLE
 Get-Appv4PkgInfo.ps1 -Computer TestClient1, TestClient2

 Shows the same output as when providing the -View Default parameter

.EXAMPLE
 Get-Appv4PkgInfo.ps1 -Computer TestClient1 -View Default

 Computer AppVname Version 
 -------- -------- ------- 
 TestClient1 SCCM Client Center 2.0.4.1 x64 R1 5

.EXAMPLE
 Get-Appv4PkgInfo.ps1 -Computer TestClient1,Testclient2 -View Path 
 
 Computer AppVname SFTPath 
 -------- -------- ------- 
 TestClient1 SCCM Client Center 2.0.4.1 x64 R1 FILE://c:\windows\ccmcache\7\sccm client.
.LINK
 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc843631.aspx
.NOTES
 Version 1.0, by Alex Verboon
#>
[CmdletBinding()]
Param(
 [Parameter(Mandatory=$true,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,HelpMessage="Enter Computername(s)",
 Position=0)]
 [Alias("ipaddress","host")]
 [String[]]$Computer, 

 [Parameter(Mandatory=$false,
 ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,HelpMessage="Select the type of information to display",
 Position=1)]
 [ValidateSet("Default","Path","Cache","Inuse","Size","GUIDS","Locked","All")] 
 $View="Default"
)

Begin{}

Process{
$appv =@()
ForEach($c in $Computer) 
{
 $applications = get-wmiobject -ComputerName $c -query "SELECT * FROM Package" -namespace "root\Microsoft\appvirt\client" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
 ForEach($app in $applications)
 {
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Computer" -Value $c
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "AppVname" -Value $app.Name
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Version" -Value $app.Version
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "SFTPath" -Value $app.SftPath
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "PackageGUID" -Value $app.PackageGUID
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "VersionGUID" -Value $app.VersionGUID
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Locked" -Value $app.Locked
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "LaunchSize" -Value $app.LaunchSize
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "InUse" -Value $app.InUse
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "CachedSize" -Value $app.CachedSize
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "CachedPercentage" -Value $app.CachedPercentage
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "CachedLaunchSize" -Value $app.CachedLaunchSize
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "TotalSize" -Value $app.TotalSize
 $appv += $object
 } # end foreach application
} # end foreach computer
} # end process 

End{
# Define the properties to display based on -View parameter option
switch($view)
 {
 Default {$selcol = "Computer", "AppVname","version"}
 Inuse {$selcol = "Computer", "AppVname","Inuse"}
 Size {$selcol = "Computer", "AppVname","LaunchSize","TotalSize"}
 Cache {$selcol = "Computer", "AppVname","CachedSize","CachedPercentage","CachedLaunchSize"}
 GUIDS {$selcol = "Computer", "AppVname","PackageGUID","VersionGUID"}
 Path {$selcol = "Computer", "AppVname","SFTPath"}
 Locked {$selcol = "Computer", "AppVname","Locked"}
 All {$selcol = "*"}
 }
$appv | Select-Object -Property $selcol 
}

PowerShell - Yet another Sysinternals download script

Sun, 01 Dec 2013 22:10:33 +0000

Today I completed the Microsoft Virtual Academy Advanced Tools & Scripting with PowerShell 3.0 Jump Start course. If you haven’t looked at it yet, I realy recommend you do so, lots of good stuff there. So for the purpose of applying some of the stuff I’ve learned there regarding the use of -Whatif and -verbose messages i wrote the below script which downloads the sysinternals tools.

<#
.Synopsis
 Download Sysinternals Tools
.DESCRIPTION
 Download the Sysinternals tools from live.sysinternals.com to the local machine
.NOTES
 version 1.0
.EXAMPLE
 Get-Sysinternals -Path C:\Data|sysinternals
.EXAMPLE
 Get-Sysinternals.ps1 -Path C:\Data\Sysinternals -Whatif -verbose
#>

[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$true)]
Param(
[Parameter(Mandatory=$true,ValueFromPipelineByPropertyName=$true,ParameterSetName="Directory",
 HelpMessage= 'The local download folder')]
[String]$Directory
)

Begin
 {
 Write-Verbose "Starting Sysinternals Tool download"
 $url="http://live.sysinternals.com/tools/"

 if ((Test-path -path $Directory) -eq $False)
 {
 Write-Verbose "Creating Directory $Directory"
 if ($PScmdlet.ShouldProcess("Creating folder $Directory","",""))
 {New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $Directory}
 } 

 $siuri = Invoke-WebRequest -Uri $url -EA SilentlyContinue
 if ($siuri.BaseResponse.StatusCode -eq "OK")
 {
 $sfiles = $siuri.Links | Where-Object {$_.href -ne '/'} | Select-Object -ExpandProperty innerText
 }
 Else
 {
 Write-Verbose "Unable to reach $url"
 Exit 1
 } 
 }

Process
 {
 ForEach ($st in $sfiles)
 {
 $downloadfile = $url+$st
 #Write-Verbose -Message "Downloading $downloadfile to $Directory\$st"
 if ($PScmdlet.ShouldProcess("Downloading now $downloadfile to $Directory\$st","",""))
 {Start-BitsTransfer -Description "SysinternalsDownload - $st" -Source $downloadfile -Destination "$Directory\$st"}
 }
 }

End
 {
 Write-Verbose "Download complete"
 }

PowerShell Script–Set App-V 4.6 Cache Size

Fri, 29 Nov 2013 18:13:07 +0000

Background: As part of our migration process from Configuration Manager 2007 to Configuration Manager 2012 R2 we also adjust the App-V Cache Size that is currently set to 6GB to 11GB because the ConfigMgr Agent Cache is set to 10GB, this by following the best practice described in Microsoft’s whitepaper Virtual Application Management with Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5/4.6 and System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2**** where it says.

“The App-V Client cache free disk space threshold parameter should be set to ensure that the available disk space on the client PC is at least 1 GB larger than the Configuration Manager Client cache size.”

PowerShell App Deployment Toolkit– How to make the message Font size larger

Fri, 22 Nov 2013 14:32:33 +0000

I have had a request this week to make the font size of the Message text displayed by the PowerShell App Deployment Tookit function **Show-InstallationPrompt **a bit larger.

To make the font of the message larger, all you need to do is adding 2 lines of code to the Function Show-InstallationPrompt that is embedded within the AppDeployToolkitMain.ps1 file.

Add the following code just above the “#button left” section.

#custom - Bigger text size $Font = New-Object System.Drawing.Font(“Arial”,14,[System.Drawing.FontStyle]::Regular) $labelText.Font = $Font #custom - Bigger Text Size

PowerShell Desired State Configuration - My first experiences

Sat, 16 Nov 2013 20:44:28 +0000

During the past weeks I have been reading and listening about PowerShell Desired State Configuration a new feature introduced with PowerShell 4.0 which ships with Windows 8.1 and Server 2012R2 but is also available for Windows 7 SP1 and Server 2008 R2 as part of the Windows Management Framework 4.0

To keep things simple at first, I have only focused at running DSC on a local client and only used two built-in configuration resources. What i wanted to achieve was not only to get a DSC running, but also understand how things work.

PowerShell Script - Are we running as Admin?

Fri, 08 Nov 2013 20:19:16 +0000

While exploring some of the new cmdlets that come with Windows 8.1 I came across Test-NetConnection. and noticed that it has a property called IsAdmin. When running the cmdlet in an elevated PowerShell session the property returns True otherwise False. So I put together a very simple script to check whether we are running as admin or not.

<#
.Synopsis
 Checks if we run as administrator
.DESCRIPTION
 This script uses the Test-NetConnection cmdlet that contains a IsAdmin Property to check if we ar running as admin
.EXAMPLE
 Check-Admin.ps1
#>

$AmIAdmin = Test-NetConnection localhost 
 if ($AmIAdmin.IsAdmin -eq "True") {write-host "Running as Admin"} Else {write-host "NOT Running as Admin"}

Other (and probably more reliable) ways to determine whether we are running as admin are described here by Ed Wilson and here by Ben Armstrong.

ConfigMgr PowerShell Script to check if Application or Program is allowed to run in TS without being deployed

Thu, 07 Nov 2013 23:54:46 +0000

Kind of a long title for a blog post, but I could not come up with something shorter to describe the content of this blog post. The below script shows the status of the “Allow this Application / program to be installed from the Application / program install task sequence action without being deployed” setting.

<#
.Synopsis
 Get Application and Package - Program information regarding Task Sequence support
.DESCRIPTION
 The script checks all applications and packages if they are allowed to be installed from a TS without being deployed
.EXAMPLE
 Get-TSInstallEnabled -Site Lab
.NOTES
 Version 1.0
 Written by Alex Verboon
#>

[CmdletBinding()]

param( 
 # ConfigMgr Site
 [Parameter(Mandatory = $true, ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
 [String[]] $Site
 )

if ($Site.Length -eq 0)
 { 
 Throw "ConfigMgr Site code required"
 } 
Else
 {
 $SiteCode = $Site
 }

function Get-TSInstallEnabled ()
{

# Check that youre not running X64
if ([Environment]::Is64BitProcess -eq $True)
 { 
 Throw "Need to run at a X86 PowershellPrompt"
 } 
# Load ConfigMgr module if it isn't loaded already
if (-not(Get-Module -name ConfigurationManager))
 { 
 Import-Module ($Env:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH.Substring(0,$Env:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH.Length-5) + '\ConfigurationManager.psd1')
 } 
 
# Change to site
Push-Location
Set-Location ${SiteCode}:

 function Get-AppTSInfo()
 {
 $Apps = @() 
 foreach ($Application in Get-CMApplication)
 {
 $AppMgmt = ([xml][/xml]$Application.SDMPackageXML).AppMgmtDigest
 $AppName = $AppMgmt.Application.DisplayInfo.FirstChild.Title
 $AllowTs = $AppMgmt.Application.AutoInstall
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Application Name" -Value $Appname

 if ($AllowTs -ne "true") {$AllowTs = "false"}

 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Allowed TS Install" -Value $AllowTs
 $Apps += $object
 }
 $Apps 
 }

 Function Get-PackageTSInfo()
 {
 $Progs = @() 
 foreach ($Prog in Get-CMProgram)
 {
 $ProgName = $Prog.ProgramName
 $PackageName = $prog.PackageName
 $AllowTs = $Prog.ProgramFlags -band [math]::pow(0,0)
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Program Name" -Value $ProgName
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Package Name" -value $Packagename

 if ($AllowTs -ne "1") {$AllowTs = "false"} Else {$AllowTs = "true"}

 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "Allowed TS Install" -Value $AllowTs
 $Progs += $object
 }
 $progs 
}

Get-AppTSInfo | Format-Table -AutoSize 
Get-PackageTSInfo | Format-Table -AutoSize 
Pop-Location
}

Get-TSInstallEnabled

Additional Information

PowerShell Script to detect ConfigMgr Task Sequence unfriendly Software Updates

Tue, 05 Nov 2013 23:58:55 +0000

Update: 15 Une 2014 - Added KB2965788

If you’re dealing with ConfigMgr and OS Deployment task sequences you’re probably aware of the KB article recently published by Microsoft called “Task sequence fails in Configuration Manager if software updates require multiple restarts”.

Let’s hope the list of KBs causing this issue isn’t going to grow too much over time, in any case we’ve decided that we would continue to review the article whenever we add new patches to our infrastructure. To simplify the task of checking whether one of the affected KBs has slipped into a software update group, I created the below script.

PowerShell Script - Get-ComputerGeolocation

Sun, 27 Oct 2013 13:35:01 +0000

28-OCT-2013 Update: I have updated the script to retry when the status of the location provider is in initializing mode.

The below script uses the Windows Location provider and the Google Geocoding API to retrieve the geographical location of the computer. The accuracy of the information retrieved depends on the source used to determine the location which are:

Wi-Fi triangulation
IP address resolution
Cell phone tower triangulation
Global Position System (GPS)

Windows automatically uses the best source, so when accessing the Windows Location provider you don’t need to tell it which source to use.

How to build a site Windows 8.1 tile for your blog

Sun, 20 Oct 2013 10:51:24 +0000

With just a few clicks and pasting 3 lines of code you can create a Windows 8.1 live tile for your blog. Here’s what you need to do.

Navigate to http://www.buildmypinnedsite.com/en and fill in the requested information.

Copy the code.

Next copy the code into your website. I added the code to the header.php of my WordPress site. If you use another blogging platform, just add to the other meta tags of your website.

ConfigMgr - PowerShell Script to collect remote log files

Sun, 13 Oct 2013 14:35:41 +0000

Looking at a client’s ConfigMgr Agent log files is inevitable when managing a Configuration Manager infrastructure. If you are working within a local area network only, then you will most likely just connect to the remote systems configuration manager log folder and drag and drop the appropriate log files into CMTrace.exe. But if your clients are distributed across a WAN network with slow network links opening the log file from a remote location is probably not the most efficient way for analyzing the log files content. And because troubleshooting typically requires looking at multiple log files you finally end up copying multiple log files or just the whole log folder to your client to open them locally.

ConfigMgr–Failed to get following optional attributes warning in adsysdis.log

Wed, 09 Oct 2013 16:27:57 +0000

Should you ever get a warning message in your adsysdis.log that starts with

WARN: Failed to get following optional attributes

then you have probably added an additional active directory object attribute to your Active Directory System Discovery but the value of that attribute of the discovered object is empty.

Let’s look at this in more detail. Within the configuration manager console under Administration \ Hierarchy Configuration \ Discovery Methods \ Active Directory System Discovery the Active Directory computer object property “company” was added.

ConfigMgr–Compliance Baseline for BranchCache on Windows 8

Tue, 08 Oct 2013 14:14:03 +0000

Here’s a ConfigMgr Compliance baseline that checks the BranchCache configuration on Windows 8 clients. With the release of Windows 8 and Server 2012 Microsoft also made available PowerShell cmdlets for BranchCache, so creating a script based configuration item in ConfigMgr becomes a pretty straight forward task.

The below Compliance Baseline checks the following 3 things.

Is BranchCache Enabled
Is the Service Running
Is BranchCache operating in Distributed Cache mode

The following PowerShell commands are included within the configuration items.

Theme Configuration Group Policy support for Office 2013

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 21:29:49 +0000

As announced on the Office IT Pro blog a few days ago, there are updated Office 2013 administrative templates and Office updates that allow an administrator to pre-configure the Office 2013 Theme.

The term pre-configure is important, because the setting only applies as long as the user has not changed the theme before themselves via the GUI. When configuring the Theme via Group Policy, User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Microsoft Office 2013 \ Global Options Customize \ Default UI Theme, the setting is stored under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\office\15.0\common\default ui theme

How to add your preferred Topics to your TechNet Forums profile

Mon, 23 Sep 2013 22:27:15 +0000

Not too long ago Microsoft introduced a new look and feel of the TechNet forums. I am not going to comment here whether this was a good move, but do know that lots of folks have challenges in getting to their preferred forums. While attending the System Center Universe conference last week, someone again mentioned having trouble finding their content in the new TechNet forums. Reason enough to provide a brief explanation how things work.

List ConfigMgr Software Update Group members with PowerShell

Sun, 22 Sep 2013 20:47:18 +0000

The below script allows you to select a Configuration Manager software update group and then lists the software updates that are assigned to it.

<#
.Synopsis
 Lists assigned software updates in a configuration manager 2012 software update group
.DESCRIPTION
 Lists all assigned software updates in a configuration manager 2012 software update group that is selected 
 from the list of available update groups or provided as a command line option
.EXAMPLE
 Get-UpdateGroupcontent.ps1
.EXAMPLE
 Get-UpdateGroupcontent.ps1 -UpdateGroup "Win7x64_12_11_15"

#>

[CmdletBinding()]

param(

 # Software Update Group
 [Parameter(Mandatory = $false, ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
 [String] $UpdateGroup
 )

$SiteCode = "POC"

Function Get-UpdateGroupcontent
{

# Check that youre not running X64
if ([Environment]::Is64BitProcess -eq $True) 
 { Throw "Need to run at a X86 PowershellPrompt"
 }

# Load ConfigMgr module if it isn't loaded already
if (-not(Get-Module -name ConfigurationManager)) {
 Import-Module ($Env:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH.Substring(0,$Env:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH.Length-5) + '\ConfigurationManager.psd1')
 }

# Change to site
 Push-Location
 Set-Location ${SiteCode}:

#Set-CMQueryResultMaximum -Maximum 5000

if ($UpdateGroup.Length -eq 0) {
 $UpdateGroup = Get-CMSoftwareUpdateGroup | Select-Object LocalizedDisplayName | Out-GridView -Title "Select the Software Update Group " -PassThru 
 }
Else
 {
 $UpdateGroup = Get-CMSoftwareUpdateGroup | Where-Object {$_.LocalizedDisplayName -like "$($UpdateGroup)"} | Select-Object LocalizedDisplayName 
}

$info = @()

ForEach ($item in $UpdateGroup)
{
 Write-host "Processing Software Update Group" $($item.LocalizedDisplayName)
 forEach ($item1 in (Get-CMSoftwareUpdate -UpdateGroupName $($item.LocalizedDisplayName)))
 {
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 #$object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name UpdateGroup -Value $item.LocalizedDisplayName
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name ArticleID -Value $item1.ArticleID
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name BulletinID -Value $item1.BulletinID
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Title -Value $item1.LocalizedDisplayName
 $info += $object
 }
}

$Title = "Total assigned software updates in " + $item.LocalizedDisplayName + " = " + $info.count
$info | Out-GridView -Title "$Title"
}

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*
# Get the list of software updates in the selected update group
Get-UpdateGroupcontent

Windows 8.1 Command Prompt or PowerShell

Mon, 09 Sep 2013 22:38:04 +0000

If you have used the Windows 8.1 preview build, you will have noticed that the X-Menu by default had PowerShell enabled instead of the Command Prompt.. However within the RTM release of Windows 8.1 Microsoft changed this, so now the command prompt is the default again as it was in Windows 8.

To change the default back to PowerShell open the Taskbar and Navigation Properties and enable “Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right click the lower left corner or press Win +X”

MBSA 2.3 Preview Release Available

Sun, 08 Sep 2013 13:05:08 +0000

Based on a statement made by Microsoft in the August 2012 security bulletin, I wrote a short blog post back in November 2012 that there would be no MBSA version available for Windows 8. But it looks like plans have changed as Microsoft has now released a preview version of MBSA 2.3 that does provide support for Windows 8, Windows 8.1 as well as the new server editions.

MBSA 2.3 release adds support for Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, and Windows Server 2012 R2. Windows 2000 will no longer be supported with this release. The final release of MBSA 2.3 is expected to be available in Fall 2013. Due to the remaining short product cycle, we will be unable to implement any design change requested for this release.

Some Tech Videos you might enjoy as well

Tue, 27 Aug 2013 20:16:56 +0000

Below you find some links of Tech related video’s I enjoyed watching, so thought I’d share them for those who love to go down the memory lane as well.

Enjoy!!!

Microsoft Windows 3 and NT, 1991, part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuMeqcuTjSY&feature=youtube_gdata_player Microsoft Windows 3 and NT, 1991, Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eenDjMXfVBQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player DEC - Glimpse of the Future, 1994 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1l6aBgX5UY&feature=youtube_gdata_player **HAL-PC 1993 OS/2 vs NT Shootout Part 1 **http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnLmtuA42N8

1993 OS/2 vs NT Shootout Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jucRkF4kW7g

1993 OS/2 vs NT Shootout Part 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOKUuNg8JEg

ToolTip: ImpelLaunch

Sat, 24 Aug 2013 11:38:24 +0000

If you are using Windows Intune, this little FREE utility from Impeltec might be of interest to you. ImpelLaunch was created to overcome the following Application deployment challenges when deploying Software with Windows Intune. .

For Windows clients you can only Windows Intune - Adding Software Packages with a. EXE, MSI or .APPX file extension.
Distribute Applications which source files are already stored on a local network share
Allow the Windows Intune Agent that runs in the system context to access local network shares

Although created to work around the described challenges when using Windows Intune, the utility can be used with in any other environment such as Configuration Manager or just in standalone mode.

How to enable Group Policy Preferences Logging via the Local Group Policy Editor

Wed, 21 Aug 2013 15:54:44 +0000

When opening the local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) you will notice that on a default Windows 7 SP1 Enterprise client there is no logging and tracing node for Group Policy Preferences logging underneath the Group Policy node.

The reason for this is because Group Policy Preferences can only be managed within domain based Group Policy objects and therefore a Windows 7 SP1 client does not have the Group Policy Preferences related administrative template GroupPolicyPreferences.admx installed that also includes the logging settings.

ConfigMgr 2012 - Troubleshooting a Software Update Package

Mon, 19 Aug 2013 18:25:42 +0000

Last week I had an issue with a Software Update package in Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 that wouldn’t update properly after i had changed it’s source location. Below a step by step description of what i did to resolve it.

The Content status of the Software Update Package called “Windows 7 Functional Updates” indicated that there was a problem with the package.

The detailed message was as following.

The folder ….\swupd$\workplace\win7upd is the root folder where all Windows 7 functional updates are stored. So i took a look into the distmgr.log on the server and noticed the below shown error message.

ConfigMgr 2012 local GPO settings

Tue, 13 Aug 2013 22:26:06 +0000

When configuring ConfigMgr 2012 client settings, notice that some of these settings result in Local Group Policy Settings being applied to the client. If you’re sure that you have not configured any other local GPOs, then a simple way to find out what settings are applied by ConfigMgr is to open the Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc( and filter for configured settings.

When configuring the Background Intelligent Transfer Settings within ConfigMgr, the settings are applied into a local GPO.

ConfigMgr 2012 Script for Incremental Collection threshold

Mon, 05 Aug 2013 20:07:46 +0000

As described within the ConfigMgr 2012 Best Practices Wiki on TechNet it’s recommended to keep the number of collections with incremental updates enabled to around 200, this to prevent evaluation delays. So I thought it might be a good idea to keep an eye on collections with incremental updates enabled within our infrastructure using a PowerShell script.

The property RefreshType within the SMS_Collection WMI class defines how Configuration Manager refreshes the collection. According to the documentation on MSDN the property can have the following 3 values.

ConfigMgr 2012 Script to retrieve source path locations

Sun, 28 Jul 2013 14:16:44 +0000

Here’s a PowerShell script we recently wrote to show the source path location for all the content that we put into ConfigMgr. The Script lists all the content source paths for the following CM objects.

Applications
Driver Packages
Drivers
Boot Images
OS Images
Software Update Package Groups
Packages

The output is as shown in the example below.

before executing the script, connect to your site.

clear-host

function GetInfoPackages()
{
$xPackages = Get-CMPackage | Select-object Name, PkgSourcePath, PackageID
$info = @()
foreach ($xpack in $xPackages) 
 {
 #write-host $xpack.Name
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Package -Value $xpack.Name
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name SourceDir -Value $xpack.PkgSourcePath
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name PackageID -Value $xpack.PackageID
 $info += $object
 }
$info
}

function GetInfoDriverPackage()
{
$xPackages = Get-CMDriverPackage | Select-object Name, PkgSourcePath, PackageID
$info = @()
foreach ($xpack in $xPackages) 
 {
 #write-host $xpack.Name
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Package -Value $xpack.Name
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name SourceDir -Value $xpack.PkgSourcePath
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name PackageID -Value $xpack.PackageID
 $info += $object

 }
 $info
}

function GetInfoBootimage()
{
$xPackages = Get-CMBootImage | Select-object Name, PkgSourcePath, PackageID
$info = @()
foreach ($xpack in $xPackages) 
 {
 #write-host $xpack.Name
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Package -Value $xpack.Name
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name SourceDir -Value $xpack.PkgSourcePath
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name PackageID -Value $xpack.PackageID
 $info += $object
 
 }
 $info
}

function GetInfoOSImage()
{
$xPackages = Get-CMOperatingSystemImage | Select-object Name, PkgSourcePath, PackageID
$info = @()
foreach ($xpack in $xPackages) 
 {
 #write-host $xpack.Name
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Package -Value $xpack.Name
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name SourceDir -Value $xpack.PkgSourcePath
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name PackageID -Value $xpack.PackageID
 $info += $object
 
 }
 $info
}

function GetInfoDriver()
{
$xPackages = Get-CMDriver | Select-object LocalizedDisplayName, ContentSourcePath, PackageID
$info = @()
foreach ($xpack in $xPackages) 
 {
 #write-host $xpack.Name
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Package -Value $xpack.LocalizedDisplayName
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name SourceDir -Value $xpack.ContentSourcePath
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name PackageID -Value $xpack.PackageID
 $info += $object
 
 }
 $info
}

function GetInfoSWUpdatePackage()
{
$xPackages = Get-CMSoftwareUpdateDeploymentPackage | Select-object Name, PkgSourcePath, PackageID
$info = @()
foreach ($xpack in $xPackages) 
 {
 #write-host $xpack.Name
 $object = New-Object -TypeName PSObject
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name Package -Value $xpack.Name
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name SourceDir -Value $xpack.PkgSourcePath
 $object | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name PackageID -Value $xpack.PackageID
 $info += $object
 
 }
 $info
}

function GetInfoApplications {
 
 foreach ($Application in Get-CMApplication) {
 
 $AppMgmt = ([xml]$Application.SDMPackageXML).AppMgmtDigest
 $AppName = $AppMgmt.Application.DisplayInfo.FirstChild.Title

 foreach ($DeploymentType in $AppMgmt.DeploymentType) {

 # Calculate Size and convert to MB
 $size = 0
 foreach ($MyFile in $DeploymentType.Installer.Contents.Content.File) {
 $size += [int]($MyFile.GetAttribute("Size"))
 }
 $size = [math]::truncate($size/1MB)
 
 # Fill properties
 $AppData = @{ 
 AppName = $AppName
 Location = $DeploymentType.Installer.Contents.Content.Location
 DeploymentTypeName = $DeploymentType.Title.InnerText
 Technology = $DeploymentType.Installer.Technology
 ContentId = $DeploymentType.Installer.Contents.Content.ContentId
 
 SizeMB = $size
 } 

 # Create object
 $Object = New-Object PSObject -Property $AppData
 
 # Return it
 $Object
 }
 }
 }

# Get the Data

Write-host "Applications" -ForegroundColor Yellow
GetInfoApplications | select-object AppName, Location, Technology | Format-Table -AutoSize 

Write-host "Driver Packages" -ForegroundColor Yellow
GetInfoDriverPackage | Format-Table -AutoSize 

Write-host "Drivers" -ForegroundColor Yellow
GetInfoDriver | Format-Table -AutoSize

Write-host "Boot Images" -ForegroundColor Yellow
GetInfoBootimage | Format-Table -AutoSize

Write-host "OS Images" -ForegroundColor Yellow
GetInfoOSImage | Format-Table -AutoSize

Write-host "Software Update Package Groups" -ForegroundColor Yellow
GetInfoSWUpdatePackage | Format-Table -AutoSize

Write-host "Packages" -ForegroundColor Yellow
GetInfoPackages | Format-Table -AutoSize

Thanks to Claude Henchoz for helping me out with the the Applications function.

Configuration Manager - DCM Import Error

Thu, 04 Jul 2013 11:28:35 +0000

While importing a Configuration Manager Configuration Baseline within our lab infrastructure that I had previously exported from our production environment I received the following error:

“The following files could not be imported because they contain incorrect or missing configuration data:

…..CAB - The cab file references missing content or contains a circular reference”

This configuration baseline contains several configuration items, but sadly the error message doesn’t provide a clear message about which item causes a problem.

New Integration Service “Guest Service” in Windows 8.1 Hyper-V

Sun, 30 Jun 2013 18:28:23 +0000

When opening the Virtual Machine Settings Integration Services node in Hyper-V running on Windows 8.1 Preview, you will notice that there is now an additional Integration Service listed called Guest Services. By default the service is not enabled,

With this integration service enabled, you can now directly copy a file from a remote system into the VM without utilizing a network connection. A new PowerShell cmdlet Copy-VMFile has been added for this new feature.

TechEd 2013 Hands-On Labs

Sat, 15 Jun 2013 14:42:41 +0000

The issue with learning new stuff is that often you have to spend a lot of time in getting a test environment up and running before you can actually start testing out things. I was therefore very pleased to see that Microsoft has made the Hands-On labs from TechEd 2013 available online.

The Hands-On labs are prepared within less than 30 seconds. Awesome!

Below a list of Hands-on labs now available for Windows Client, Access and Management. Check for updates directly on Channel 9 – TechEd North America 2013
http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/NorthAmerica/2013#fbid=6pQTUrStsWU

SCCM 2012 SP1 Client Settings only configurable within the Default Client Settings

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 20:14:48 +0000

While preparing and documenting the System Center Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 Client settings for our clients and servers I noticed that there are a few settings that cannot be configured within custom client settings meaning they can only be configured within the Default Settings.

The following table lists the settings I identified as only configurable within the Default Client Settings.

 **Agent** **Setting** Compliance Settings Schedule compliance evaluation Hardware Inventory Maximum custom MIF File Size in KB   Collect MIF Files Software Inventory Configure the display names for manufacturer or product Related content: [About Client Settings in Configuration Manager](http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg682067.aspx#BKMK_Compliance)

How to configure system volume with PowerShell

Wed, 29 May 2013 16:53:47 +0000

Back in 2011 I wrote a blog post on how to mute Windows System Volume programmatically. This week I found another approach on GitHub using PowerShell.

The PowerShell Module WindowsAudioDevice-Powershell-Cmdlet** **provides a number of cmdlets to control the Windows System volume.

Get-DefaultAudioDevice
Get-AudioDeviceList
Set-DefaultAudioDevice [-Index]
Set-DefaultAudioDevice [-Name]
Set-DefaultAudioDevice [-InputObject]
Set-DefaultAudioDeviceVolume -Volume
Get-DefaultAudioDeviceVolume
Set-DefaultAudioDeviceMute
Write-DefaultAudioDeviceValue [-StreamValue

I wrote the below PowerShell script to solve a request to set the system volume to mute.

How to reapply a Group Policy Preference that is configured to Apply Once

Sat, 25 May 2013 11:03:43 +0000

When creating a Group Policy Preference you can configure it to only apply once. The exact wording is “Apply once and do not reapply”. But when you are implementing such a GPP you most likely want to test the setting prior moving it into production. So here’s a brief explanation how to reapply a GPP when it’s configured to apply once.

The below screen shot illustrates a GPP that is configured to write a registry key to HKLM\Software\Demo\RunIT with the value set to True.

Tip: PowerShell Script to create Shutdown/Restart/Logoff Windows 8 Tile for the Start menu

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:52:36 +0000

A PowerShell script shows how to create a Shutdown, Restart or Logoff Windows 8 tile for the Start menu.

Script source and documentation can be downloaded from here

Bill Gates announcing the Surface in 1991

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:28:48 +0000

Being interested in computer history, now and then I look at old recordings and found Bill Gates announcing the Touch Sensitive Surface 21 years before Steve Ballmer made the announcement in 2012.

Bill Gates mentions “Surface” near 2.22 mins.

How to change the SCCM 2012 Package Source Path with PowerShell

Mon, 13 May 2013 20:08:57 +0000

Let’s assume you’ve just created a larger number of packages within SCCM 2012 and then you’re asked to move the package sources to a different location. I guess no-one on earth would want to visit each package and update the data source manually, So I wrote 2 scripts that automate this task. It could actually be done with one script, but when it comes to changing such things I prefer to validate things.

PowerShell: Script to Retrieve SCCM 2012 Client Settings

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 22:16:54 +0000

4/3/2017 - Update: here’s a better version: https://www.verboon.info/2017/03/configmgr-client-policy-settings-get-cmclientpolicysettings/

To make documenting the configured SCCM Client configuration settings a bit easier I wrote a small script that retrieves all the configured settings for the Default and custom configuration settings.

To run this script the Configuration Manager powershell module must be loaded and connected to the site.

# Get the different Client settings Names
$a = Get-CMClientSetting | select Name

foreach ($a in $a ) 
{
	# Get all possible values for the Get-CMClientSetting -Setting parameter
	$xsettings = [Enum]::GetNames( [Microsoft.ConfigurationManagement.Cmdlets.ClientSettings.Commands.SettingType])

	# dump the detailed configuration settings
	foreach ($xsettings in $xsettings ) {
 	#write-host $a.Name
	 Get-CMClientSetting -Setting $xsettings -Name $a.Name | format-table
 }

}

Integrating DaRT 8.0 SP1 Remote Connection into the SCCM 2012 OSD Process

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:13:09 +0000

While preparing for an SCCM 2012 upgrade, I thought it might be a good idea to consider implementing some of the best practices that are around such as integrating the DaRT Remote Connection tool into the OSD deployment process. I’m sure it comes in handy when having to troubleshoot OSD related tings, as it allows us to access the client remotely without having to give lengthy instructions to an onsite engineer.

How to automate SCCM 2012 Task Sequence Media Creation

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 20:46:29 +0000

Just recently I went through the CM12 Console Task Sequence media creation wizard several times a day, so at some point I thought, this is a good candidate for automation.

If you have CU1 for SCCM 2012 SP1 already installed, you can take advantage of the new cmdlet **New-CMTaskSequenceMedia **Below an example.

CreateTaskMedia.ps1

import-module ($Env:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH.Substring(0,$Env:SMS_ADMIN_UI_PATH.Length-5) + '\ConfigurationManager.psd1')
cd NL1:

New-CMTaskSequenceMedia -BootableMediaOption -MediaInputType CDDVD -ProtectPassword $false -BootImageId NL100002 -DistributionPointServerName labsccm01.labhome.local -ManagementPointServerName labsccm01.labhome.local -MediaMode Dynamic -MediaPath C:\Sources\TSMedia\batchcreatedmedia1.iso -MediaSize SizeUnlimited -EnableUnknownSupport $false  -CreateMediaSelfCertificate $true -AllowUnattendedDeployment $false -UserDeviceAffinity DoNotAllow

If you haven’t installed CU1 yet, no worries. the command line tool CreateMedia.exe located in the SCCM Administrator Console’s bin directory does the same thing.

How to install System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection on a standalone client

Sun, 24 Mar 2013 14:48:33 +0000

Suppose you have a need to deploy System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection to a number of clients that later run in standalone mode, meaning that they are not joined to a domain, can’t be managed by SCCM and operate in a network that is not connected to your corporate network.

The installation source scepinstall.exe for the System Center Endpoint Protection agent is stored within the SCCM 2012 client installation folder on the SCCM 2012 SP1 server under C:\Program Files\Microsoft Configuration Manager\Client. Within that same directory we also find the endpoint protection default policy settings stored as ep_defaultpolicy.xml, but we won’t use this , as we are going to prepare our own policy that meets our requirements for a standalone unmanaged client.

How to add custom registry keys to the Windows Embedded / ThinPC Registry Filter

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 21:55:26 +0000

When running Windows Embedded Standard 7 or Windows ThinPC with the Enhanced Write Filter (volume based protection) or File Based Write Filter (File based protection) enabled, the system returns to its original state upon every reboot. This is a good thing, but as always there are exceptions, one of them is Antivirus Software. When after a reboot a system is reset to its original state, it means that any changes such as the installation of engine updates are lost, to avoid this from happening file and registry exclusions can be set. I am going to focus on the registry filter as I made some findings I believe is worth sharing and might save you some time getting it to work. Registry Filter settings are stored within the Registry Filter Service located under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\RegFilter\Parameters\MonitoredKeys

Group Policy changes included in the Windows Management Framework 3.0

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 06:48:22 +0000

While creating a new Group Policy object to enable WinRM (Windows Remote Management) on clients, I noticed some Group Policy changes that are introduced with the Windows Management Framework 3.0. The Windows Management Framework 3.0 contains the following updates:

Windows PowerShell 3.0
Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) 3.0
Windows Remote Management (WinRM)
Management OData IIS Extension
Server Manager CIM Provider

I became aware of the changes as I was referring to a blog post I had written a while back about how to enable Windows Remote Management via Group Policy.I noticed that the name of the Group Policy setting located under Computer Configuration \ Windows Components \ Windows Remote Management (WinRM) \ WinRM Service \ Allow automatic configuration of listeners was changed to Allow Remote Server management through WinRM

How to create a custom antimalware policy in SCCM 2012 for your App-V sequencing clients

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:33:44 +0000

Today I wanted to start sequencing an application for App-V within my lab environment where I have deployed SCCM 2012 SP1 including Endpoint Protection. As I went through the Sequencing Wizard I got the well-known warning that I have Antivirus software running.

Not an issue, just turn it off right?. Well since I have configured a custom Antimalware policy that is applied to all my clients to not allow configure the real-time protection settings, this setting can’t be changed. .

How to generate random computer names for lab deployments using SCCM OSD

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 11:22:32 +0000

For my lab environment I use the below described approach to generate random computernames for my clients. The script does the following:

Read the Task Sequence Package Name
Based on the name set the appropriate prefix
Generate a random number between 100 and 1000
Generate the new computer name based on Prefix + random number

To implement this do the following:

Put the script listed below into a package
Add the script to the TS by adding a Run Command Line task after Partition Disk and before Apply Operating System

How to convert registry files (.reg) into XML for Group Policy Preferences import

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 10:50:26 +0000

Creating registry settings manually within the Group Policy Preferences editor can become a cumbersome task, especially when you need to create many of them. Although the Group Policy Management console allows you to import registry keys stored within an XML formatted file, unfortunately out of the box Microsoft doesn’t provide any tooling to export and convert registry settings into xml.

A couple of days ago I found an online “FREE” Registry to Group Policy Preferences XML converter that looks pretty promising. It’s still under development but definitely worth a try before starting a lengthy manual task.

How to create a SCCM 2012 SP1 Configuration Baseline with Security Compliance Manager (SCM) 3.0

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:56:59 +0000

Most enterprises take advantage of Group Policies to manage security configuration settings across their server and desktop infrastructure. Usually once tested and implemented it’s assumed they get applied correctly. But can we be 100% sure that our clients and servers do actually receive these settings?

With the help of the Microsoft Security Compliance Manager 3.0 and SCCM 2012 SP1 we can configure a security baseline to monitor security group policy settings compliance. To do so we need the following:

How to disable Java add-ons in Internet Explorer with Group Policy

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 12:20:58 +0000

Follow the below steps to disable Java in Internet Explorer with Group Policy.

Open Internet Explorer, then from the Tools menu select Manage Add-ons. Locate the Java add-on, select and double click on it.

Click on the Copy button to copy the content and paste it into notepad

Name: Sun Java Console

Publisher: Oracle America, Inc.

Type: Browser Extension

Architecture: 32-bit

Version: 7.0.100.18

File date: ‎Today, ‎January ‎13, ‎2013, ‏‎15 minutes ago

How to check the status of BIOS & UEFI & Secure Boot with PowerShell

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 14:22:06 +0000

During the past weeks I spend a bit of time deploying Windows 8 to UEFI enabled clients. With PowerShell 3.0 on Windows 8 you will find some new cmdlets that provide information about the status of your system’s BIOS/UEFI/Secure boot configuration.

The below table shows the return values depending on whether the system’s firmware is using BIOS, UEFI and if Secure boot is enabled or not.

 **BIOS / UEFI Setup**

 BIOS

 UEFI with CSM

 UEFI native

 Secure boot enabled

 UEFI native

 Secure boot

 disabled


 **PowerShell Command**

 Result

 Confirm-SecureBootUEFI

 Cmdlet not supported on this platform

 False

 True

 False

 Get-SecureBootUEFI –Name SetupMode

 Cmdlet not supported on this platform

 1

 0

 1

 Get-SecureBootUEFI –Name SecureBoot

 Cmdlet not supported on this platform

 0

 1

 0

 Executing any of these cmdlets on a Windows 8 system that uses BIOS generates an error.

The return value of the SetupMode variable tells us if the system is operating in Setup mode or in UserMode meaning that the platform key is enrolled. (For more details read the Firmware/OS Key Exchange: creating trust relationships chapter within the UEFI Specification that can be found here)

ToolTip: Windows 8 Update Notifier

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 10:35:18 +0000

With the introduction of Windows 7 Microsoft started to pay attention to remove unnecessary noise from the Windows Desktop meaning reducing the number of system notification balloons. For details read the Action Center blog post on the Engineering Windows 7 blog.

As you can see from the screenshot below, in Windows 7 the user can still receive notification messages about available Windows Updates.

But in Windows 8 this option has disappeared, meaning that in Windows 8 there are no Windows Update messages shown anymore on the desktop but only on the logon screen. The below screenshot shows the Action Center in Windows 8 and you’ll notice the Check for Updates option under Maintenance Messages is gone.

Exploring the functions included in Microsoft.BDD.Utility.dll

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 15:33:45 +0000

While browsing through the MDT 2012 scripts, I noticed that here and there MDT uses functions included in the Microsoft.BDD.Utility.dll which is loaded by ZTIUtility.vbs. A good example is the ZTIGather.wsf where the following function is used to determine whether the system is running UEFI or native BIOS.

’ Determine if we are running UEFI

bIsUEFI = FALSE

On Error Resume Next

bIsUEFI = oUtility.BDDUtility.IsUEFI

On Error Goto 0

So I took Nir Sofer’s DLL Export Viewer to find out what other functions are included in Microsoft.BDD.Utility.dll

List Task Sequence Variables and Values Script

Fri, 21 Dec 2012 13:31:36 +0000

For years I have been using the following script from myITforum to list Task Sequence Environment Variables and Values

Set oTSEnv = CreateObject(“Microsoft.SMS.TSEnvironment”)
For Each oVar In oTSEnv.GetVariables
WScript.Echo oVar & “=” & oTSEnv(oVar)
Next

Because there are so many variables, the only useful way to use the script is to pipe the output into a file, then open that file and search for the variable and its value.

So I have created the created the script below that can do the following:

How to detect if Windows Touch is enabled

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 19:15:54 +0000

While I was actually looking for something totally different, I stumbled over the **IsTouchEnabled.exe **that is stored within the MDT 2012 \Tools\OSDResults folder. The name says it all, it detects whether the device supports Touch or not. So I copied the utility and ran it on a Samsung Tablet with Windows 7 installed, a HP Workstation with Windows 7 installed, on a HP Mobile workstation with Windows 8 installed and on the HP ElitePad with Windows 8 installed. On both the Tablet devices the utility correctly detected touch being enabled.

How to access data from your Bitlocker enabled Windows To Go Workspace

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 13:32:38 +0000

Yesterday we looked at How to access data from the local disk when running a Windows To Go Workspace today we’re going to do the opposite. So let’s assume you’ve been working in your Windows To Go Workspace at home and saved a document locally. Now you are back in the office but didn’t start your Windows To Go Workspace but are working on a corporate Windows 7 client and require access to that file. Now you can either boot your Windows To Go Workspace and save the file from there on a shared location or just copy the data directly from the Windows To Go drive right?

How to access data from the local disk when running a Windows To Go Workspace

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 23:24:24 +0000

When provisioning a Windows To Go Workspace using the Windows 8 build-in Windows To Go creator or following the step by step instructions described within the TechNet Wiki a SAN policy is applied that prevents the Windows To Go Workspace from bringing online any internally connected disks from the host system. The result is that you cannot access any data that is stored there.

There are two reasons why this SAN policy should be applied. First it prevents accidental data leakage between Windows To Go and the host system. This makes totally sense because you might run Windows To Go on someone else’s computer and you don’t want your data somehow ending up being stored on their local disk nor does the other person want you to see what they have stored locally. The second reason is that if the internal drive contains a hibernated Windows 8 OS, mounting that drive will lead to loss of the hibernation state which might also result in the loss of any unsaved data there.

How to configure and deploy local Group Policy settings for ThinKiosk

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 11:36:27 +0000

In my previous post Repurpose PCs with Windows ThinPC I used Andrew Morgan’s ThinKiosk to replace the default Windows Shell to limit the user’s access to the local machine. ThinKiosk can be configured via the command line, the Registry and via Group Policy. Now unless you like to write lengthy registry manipulation scripts, configuring the settings via Group Policy is definitely the way to go.

When clients are member of a domain we would of course use domain based group policy settings, but when not joined to a domain must use local Group Policy settings. In this blog post I describe in detail how to prepare and deploy a local GPO Pack. Note that the hereunder described process is not limited to the use of ThinKiosk but can be used for any local Group Policy configuration task for Windows ThinPC (Embedded 7), Windows 7 and Windows 8. (Note that for Windows 8 you’ll have to wait until SCM 3.0 comes out which is currently in beta).

Explore the Microsoft Open Specifications

Tue, 11 Dec 2012 07:59:42 +0000

If you’re interested in reading how things really work, the Microsoft Open Specifications are a great resource. Microsoft Open Specifications is primarily intended for software developers but can also be of interest for anyone else who works with Microsoft products. The reason why these documents are little-known is because it isn’t easy to find them on MSDN where they are published.

This has changed now. On the Microsoft Open Specifications Developer Center you can now easily find the open specification documents through an intuitive Tiles or Pivot explorer.

Repurpose PCs with Windows ThinPC

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:50:04 +0000

Many companies nowadays take advantage of some sort of VDI type solutions. In some cases where all of the users applications are made available within this environment, there is no need for providing them with a fully loaded desktop or notebook hence the reason why companies are considering the use of Thin Clients. In the long run the use of real thin clients definitely makes sense, not only are they usually cheaper than normal desktops but also do they consume less power and require less management. However a valid option for transitioning into thin client computing can be to repurpose existing desktops.

ToolTip: System Sherlock Lite

Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:46:48 +0000

Came across a nice FREE standalone utility called System Sherlock developed.by zetConsultants System Sherlock allows you to take snapshot of the file system and registry and compare the changes. You can run the GUI or command line version. The command line version can come in handy when you want to integrate a before/after snapshot into a script.

The tools is easy to use. First define what you want to include into the snapshot and define the location of the dump file. Then click on the Create button to create the first snapshot.

Script for dumping DHCP subnet scope options

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 15:12:41 +0000

Here’s simple script I’ve put together as I was in need of one that dumps the DHCP subnet scope options into a text file.

The script first queries the DHCP servers it can find and then dumps the scope options of each subnet it finds on each DHCP server.

Copy the below code and save it as dhcpsubnetscopeoptions.cmd

@echo off

echo %date% %time% >%~dp0\dhcpsubnetscopeoptions.txt

echo —————————————————————– »%~dp0\dhcpscopeoptions.txt

Echo Dumping DHCP Subnet Scope options

ToolTip: DirCreator

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:29:04 +0000

Are you an Administrator tired of manually creating folder structures for new projects? Then DirCreator is just what you need. DirCreator is an enterprise-proven tool to automatically generate structured, template-based directory structures, along with groups, members and ACLs.

You can either create a template from scratch or create a template based on an existing folder structure. For this demonstration I first create a template folder structure on my home lab data share.

No MBSA for Windows 8 planned

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 18:55:21 +0000

Many companies and individuals use the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) to assess the security state of their Windows Clients. But according to a statement from Microsoft in their August 2012 Security Bulletin, there are currently no plans to release an updated version for Windows 8.

Q: Will the current version of MBSA support Windows 8?

A: No, the current version of MBSA will not support Windows 8 and Microsoft currently has no plans to release an updated version of the tool.

Windows 8 – Script to automatically show the desktop

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 10:16:13 +0000

A few weeks ago I came across a blog post from Brandon where he provides a solution how to automatically show the Windows Desktop when logging on to Windows 8. The solution is actually quite straight forward, all you need to do is to add a shortcut that points to explorer.exe to the Start Menu startup folder. When a user logs on, Windows processes the items stored within the Startup folder and executing explorer.exe then causes Windows to switch to the Desktop.

Windows To Go Startup Options

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 16:26:35 +0000

Windows To Go is another new feature introduced with Windows 8 but only available to users that run Windows 8 Enterprise. With Windows To Go users can create a Windows 8 workspace that can be booted from a USB drive. So simply said with Windows To Go, there’s no need to carry around a laptop if you’re going somewhere. If you have your Windows To Go workspace stored on a compatible USB drive, you can just boot your Windows 8 from any device that meets the Windows 7/8 hardware requirements.

Windows 8 - Where Mobile Broadband will just work

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 21:41:04 +0000

Windows 8 comes with a number of enhancement for mobile broadband functionality. If you’re interested in the details I recommend you read the content I have referenced at the end of this blog post. But in short if your mobile broadband device meets the Mobile Broadband Interface (MBIM( specification then Windows 8 will load the inbox class driver (MBCD) so there is no need to install 3rd party drivers. If then the operator in a given country has submitted their connection information to Microsoft you can just establish a connection to the internet without the need of installing additional software or entering connection details.

Windows 8–Metered Connections

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:26:17 +0000

One of the new features in Windows 8 is that we can configure WLAN and WWAN cost settings. In the Windows UI this is called a metered connection.

Why are these settings important? Well, when a Network is configured to be a Metered Connection, Windows will make several changes to the way that it uses the network to reduce overall network traffic through that connection, including the following:

·Only Critical Windows Updates are downloaded.

The eBook every Windows Engineer should read – Deploying and Supporting Applications on Windows 64-Bit

Mon, 15 Oct 2012 09:22:01 +0000

While only a few years ago the 64-bit version of the Windows client would only be installed on special purpose systems, nowadays it has become the de facto standard for most OEM’s and Enterprises. In 2010 Microsoft published some numbers on their Windows blog indicating that in June 46% of the clients running Windows 7 and use Windows Update were running Windows 7 64-Bit. At the same time Gartner published a report saying that by 2014 75% of all business PCs will be running a 64-Bit edition of Windows. Despite doing some searches on the web, I wasn’t able to get some actual figures, but if I just take into account the various customers I have worked with in the past 3 years supporting them moving to Windows 7, I can say that nearly all of them made their decision in favor of the 64-Bit edition of Windows.

How to find latest Microsoft Knowledge Base articles for Windows 8 and Server 2012

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 23:00:36 +0000

A great resource I am using for years already to proactively read through the Microsoft KB’s is kbupdate.info a monitoring system that scans the entire Microsoft Knowledge Base every night. Now that Windows 8 and Server 2012 are out and Microsoft starts publishing KBs for it, you can track them easily via kbupdate.info

Below just some random KB’s I found interesting to know about.

Remote Group Policy updates are visible to users
ADM files are not present in SYSVOL in the GPMC Infrastructure Status option
Unpredictable behavior if you migrate a roaming user profile from Windows 8 to Windows 7
You can only log on as “Other user” when the “Do not display last user name” Group Policy setting is enabled in Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012
Group Policy preparation is not performed when you automatically prepare an existing domain for Windows Server 2012

Don’t forget to update your WSUS for Windows 8 and Server 2012

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 12:05:48 +0000

If you’re running a WSUS Server you might want to update it to support Windows 8 and Server 2012. There is Windows 8. Windows RT and Server 2012

Additional Reading:

An update for Windows Server Update Services 3.0 Service Pack 2 is available (KB2734608) Additional note on KB 2734608 regarding WSUS, Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

Windows 8: Boot Time in BGINFO

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 11:41:22 +0000

Last week I noticed that the Boot Time shown on my BGInfo generated desktop wallpaper had a date of several days ago. This is because of the new Fast Startup feature introduced with Windows 8.

In short, when you shutdown Windows 8 the kernel session is hibernated, so the next time you power on your computer the system starts from that hibernated session. When you initiate a Restart then the system does not hibernate the kernel session but really performs a cold boot. The default boot time shown in BGInfo only shows the cold boot time.

ReadTip: PolicyPak Whitepapers

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 08:53:27 +0000

Jeremy Moskowitz, Group Policy MVP and founder of Policy Pak Software wrote up 3 Whitepapers I recommend reading.

Why Group Policy Admins need PolicyPak

Why SCCM Admins need PolicyPak

7 Dumb Things IT Pros do With Windows 7 & 8 Rollouts

Detect SSD and Advanced Format Disk on HP Notebooks

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 20:59:50 +0000

In case you’re looking for a command-line tool that detects the presence of an SSD (Solid State Drive) or whether the hard disk uses advanced disk format then here’s a nice utility from HP called the HP Advance Format Check tool.

Note that the tool only works on HP notebooks. A list of supported models can be found here

The software can be downloaded from the HP Software and Drivers website and includes a 32 and 64 Bit version of the AF-CHECK utility as well as a vbscript and detailed documentation.

Windows Server 2012 Data Deduplication–A must have

Mon, 20 Aug 2012 21:15:24 +0000

During my summer vacation I’ve watched several TechEd video’s and there were plenty of interesting things I have seen, but the Data Deduplication feature in Server 2012 definitely belongs to one of my favorite ones. There are plenty of use cases were the Data Deduplication feature can help you save storage space. To try out this feature I created a folder on my test server and created 4 folders.

The folders Source1 and Source2 contained a copy of the Windows 8 Enterprise ISO file and in folder Source3 and Source4 I copied the install.wim from the Windows 8 Enterprise client installation source.

ToolTip: FindUninstallString

Mon, 06 Aug 2012 19:48:26 +0000

‘FindUninstallString’ is a utility program that searches through the Registry and displays a list of programs that have an uninstall command. It’s FREE and does not require installation.

More details and download from here

How to partially remove the SkyDrive option in Office 2013 using Group Policy

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 19:05:46 +0000

If you have tried out the Office 2013 Preview you probably noticed the SkyDrive integration within the File Open and Save dialogs in Word, Excel and other Office Applications. Personally have started using SkyDrive all the time, but I can imagine that some companies rather do not want to see their users storing sensitive data on SkyDrive. So I wondered if this option could be disabled.

Well apparently there is a Group Policy setting for this called “Show SkyDrive Sign in” located under User Configuration / Policies / Administrative Templates / Microsoft Office 2013 / Miscellaneous

How to prepare an Office 2013 Click-to-Run deployment

Mon, 30 Jul 2012 22:22:38 +0000

With the release of the Office 2013 preview Microsoft also made available the Office Deployment Tool for Click-to-Run deployments. Although we here a lot about Click-to-Run these days, it’s not something totally new. Microsoft first introduced this with Office 2010 but it didn’t get that much attention within enterprise environment. For Office 2013 I can imagine that this will change.

Microsoft describes Click-to-Run as following:

Office 2013 Preview Click-to-Run is a technology that reduces the time that is required to download and use Office 2013 Preview client products. Click-to-Run is based on core virtualization and streaming Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) technologies. The streaming technology lets you use a Click-to-Run program before the complete program is downloaded and installed on your computer.

How to setup KMS on Server 2012 for activating Office 2013 Preview

Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:17:59 +0000

Hey there, it’s been a while since I wrote the last blog post, but that is because I spend 2 excellent weeks at an Italian beach with my family and enjoyed “dolce far niente”. Now and then I did read some tweets so of course got notice of the Office 2013 Preview Microsoft released earlier last week. So now that I’m back I have started reading through the various documentations and so I came across the Microsoft Office 2013 Preview Volume License Pack that Microsoft released to activate Office 2013 Preview using KMS or Active Directory based activation.

ToolTip: .NET Version Detector

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 17:25:18 +0000

Curious about what .NET versions you have installed? Here’s a nice small FREE standalone utility that tells you what .NET versions are included by default within what Windows operating system version and what versions you have actually installed on your client / server.

.NET Version Detector can be downloaded from here

Microsoft User Experience Virtualization – Part 3: Creating and using Templates

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 20:32:52 +0000

As explained in Part 2 Setting up UE-V out of the box UE-V has build-in support for various Windows Settings and the Office 2010 suite. But to take full advantage of UE-V you will most likely want to have you other applications roam their settings as well. For that you will have to create so called UE-V Templates.

Once you have created an application template you store it into the settings template catalogue, in the example I described in Part 2 this would be \SRV010\DATA\UEVTEMPLATES that I have configured using the UE-V Group Policy Setting Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / User Experience Virtualization / Settings Template Catalog path

Microsoft User Experience Virtualization – Part 2: Setting up UE-V

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:16:09 +0000

As a follow up on my earlier post Microsoft User Experience Virtualization – Part 1: The Road to UE-V in todays’ post I am going to describe how to get UE-V up and running in just a few steps.

To conduct this mini proof of concept, you need the following:

Access to Active Directory (Group Policy Management and the Users and Computers Console)
Access to a File Server to create 2 shares

Microsoft User Experience Virtualization – Part 1: The Road to UE-V

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:03:16 +0000

Many IT Administrators will agree that managing Windows user profiles can be somewhat of a challenge especially when using roaming user profiles where data and settings can follow the user across multiple Windows Clients. The term roaming profiles was introduced in Windows NT 4.0 but my experience is that roaming profiles weren’t used much then because in these days most users just had their own dedicated desktop anyway and if roaming profiles were used then it was more for backup reasons. User data was typically stored on a home or group share and most applications were still using INI files instead of using the Windows registry. Some of you might remember the fun with mapping INI files into the Registry. Furthermore in these days many applications would not separate user data from application data hence the benefits of using a roaming profile were pretty limited.

The Group Policy Setting “Verbose vs normal status messages” has a new name in Windows 8

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 15:45:04 +0000

If you want to show your users more details of what is going on during start, logon, logoff and shutdown of a system you can enable a Group Policy setting that is called “Verbose vs normal status messages’ in Windows 7 and earlier versions of Windows, but in Windows 8 the setting has a new name and is now called “Display highly detailed messages”.

You can find the setting under Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / System.

How to RDP from a Mac to Windows

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 19:34:09 +0000

A friend of mine, an ultimate Mac user had recently bought a Windows PC to run an application not available on Mac. He asked me how he could remotely connect from his Mac to a Windows PC. I have little experience with Mac computers, but being interested in anything about IT, I remembered having seen something about a Remote Desktop client on the Office for Mac website.

Once installed you can easily connect to a remote Windows client.

ToolTip Diagnostic Tool for the WSUS Agent

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 17:56:05 +0000

If you’re looking for a more advanced version of the WSUS Client Diagnostic Tool then have a look at the Diagnostic Tool for the WSUS Agent provided by Solarwinds. As for most of the Tools I mention on this blog, it’s FREE.

Here are the highlights:

The Diagnostic Tool runs on x64 and x86 systems
Additional validation tests on key configuration options, such as syntax checking on the WSUS URL, and validating the installed version of the Windows Update Agent against the installed version of Windows

TechEd North America 2012 Sessions available now

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 13:09:42 +0000

Last week TechEd 2012 North America took place in Orlando so now there’s a wealth of webcasts available on the TechEd 2012 website where you can register yourself to get access to all content (even if you didn’t attend the event) or if you like to download the sessions and watch them offline I recommend reading TechEd 2012 Orlando Download Sessions – Offline Viewing posted by Stefan Roth who blogs at SCOMfaq.ch.

How to run TechNet Virtual Labs on Windows 8 with IE10 and get around the “Cookie” error

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 20:34:43 +0000

A few weeks ago I wanted to run a TechNet Virtual Lab, but ran into an issue where I would get an error message saying “This site requires that your browser can accept cookies”. So tried to change the settings within Internet Explorer settings, but with no luck, so gave up to do this on Windows 8 CP with IE10 assuming that’s one of the side effects of using Beta software. Now today having loaded the Release Preview I gave it another try, but again same error.

How to use Group Policy to configure default Library definition files in Windows 8

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 14:52:23 +0000

There is a new Group Policy setting for Windows 8 and Server 2012 called “Location where all default Library definition files for users/machines reside”. The policy can be found under Computer or User Configuration / Administrative Templates / Windows Components / Windows Explorer.

If you enable this policy setting, administrators can specify a path where all default Library definition files for users reside. The user will not be allowed to make changes to these Libraries from the UI. On every logon, the policy settings are verified and Libraries for the user are updated or changed according to the path defined.

How to upload content from an IPad to Microsoft SkyDrive

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 15:14:58 +0000

Most of the time I use my IPad (Until I get a Windows 8 Tablet) for reading manuals, whitepapers etc. but then I often used to e-mail the links to myself so I could download the content on my PC later as well. But now that there’s SkyDrive for the IPad this has an end. So far I had only used SkyDrive on the IPad to access content I had uploaded form my PC, but yesterday I actually figured out how I can also easily upload content from my IPad. So just in case you had not figured that one out yet, here’s how it goes.

Automated Download and Installation for the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK)

Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:13:55 +0000

Since I am going install the ADK on several clients and servers, I decided to automate that process based on the information found in the MSDN article Installing the Windows ADK

Because downloading all the ADK sources from the Microsoft web can take a while, the first task is to only download them and save the locally.

Create a folder on your local drive, let’s say C:\DATA\ADKSETUP
Then download the ADKSETUP.EXE from the Microsoft download page here and store it into C:\DATA\ADKSETUP (Note that this link will change once the RTM version is released).
Create a batch file called ADK_Download.cmd that has the following content:

@ ECHO OFF
cd %~dp0 adksetup.exe /quiet /installpath %~dp0 /layout %~dp0
Pause

Group Policy setting's behavior related to reboots, logoffs and schema extensions

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 20:33:40 +0000

The Group Policy Settings Reference for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 now includes 3 additional columns providing additional information about each policy setting’s behavior related to reboots, logoffs, and schema extensions.

Reboot Required: A “Yes” in this column means Windows requires a restart before it applies the described policy setting.
Logoff Required: A “Yes” in this column means Windows requires the user to log off and log on again before it applies the described policy setting.

Windows 8 – Script for customizing WinPE 4.0 – Part 2 - Customizing the Wallpaper

Mon, 28 May 2012 22:09:35 +0000

As a follow up on my earlier post Windows 8 – Script for customizing WinPE 4.0 – Part 1 I want to share with you how to customize the WinPE wallpaper. Credits go to blog reader “Max” who responded on a question from reader Carl H.

In WinPE 4.0 the wallpaper is not called winpe.bmp as in previous versions of WinPE but winpe.jpg. Also the winpe.jpg has special permissions so overwriting the file would require changing them. An easier approach is to add your custom WinPE wallpaper file to the WinPE sources and change the appropriate registry value in WinPE.

ToolTip: Microsoft Download Manager

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:07:40 +0000

If you’re looking for a simple to use Download Manager, have a look at the Microsoft Download Manager. It does not have that many specialized features as many other download managers out there, but it’s a nice FREE and simple to use tool. You must install the software, but it only uses about 1.3 MB.

The Microsoft Download Manager can be downloaded from here

Windows 8 - Troubleshooting Licensing with licensingdiag.exe

Mon, 14 May 2012 19:32:05 +0000

Should you encounter problems with activating Windows 8 or Server 2012 then have a look at the new added command-line tool licensingdiag.exe.

To run licensingdiag.exe open a command prompt and enter the following command:

licensingdiag.exe -report c:\data\licensing\licenserep.xml -log c:\data\licensing\license.cab

This will create a log file and a CAB file. The log file is an XML type file that contains various information about the client, the OS and its licensing status. The CAB file contains a copy of the log file, a file called tokenstore.dat (I was unable to find any information about its purpose) and a Diagevents.evtx that contains a dump of License related events and can be opened using Eventviewer.

ToolTip: Port Listener

Mon, 07 May 2012 17:14:30 +0000

Today I want to share with you a nice FREE tool I’ve just used recently while troubleshooting some networking issues on one of our customers network. The problem I had was that I couldn’t get my backend infrastructure talk to the client and vise versa. To keep this post generic I won’t use any products name, but both the backend and client that has an agent require that some ports are open in either one or both ways.

Windows 8 the Comeback of 3rd Party DVD Player Software?

Thu, 03 May 2012 14:00:09 +0000

Microsoft recently confirmed that Windows Media Center will not be included by default within Windows 8 but will be available as an economical “media pack” add-on to Windows 8 Pro. One of the reasons for not including it anymore as a build-in feature is because according to the data Microsoft has collected via it’s Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) only a small percentage of users are actively using Media Center on Windows 7. Another reason is that nowadays more users are streaming video content over the internet instead of playing a local DVD. And finally, I guess that in just a few years the same will happen with DVD players as happened with the floppy drives, they will disappear.

Script for finding Executables that are command-line programs

Wed, 02 May 2012 22:11:57 +0000

I recently came across a FREE utility called IsCommandLineApp from Helge Klein, a little command-line tool that can be used to determine whether a specific executable is a command-line program. To run this against multiple executables manually is a kind of a pain, so I decided to write a PowerShell script that runs IsCommandLineapp against a defined Folder and all it’s subfolders.

To run the script, first download the IsCommandLineApp from here) and then edit the variable $IsCommandLineApp so that it points to the location where you have stored the tool. If you want to search through another folder than C:\Windows change the variable $StartPath

Windows 8 - File History Feature replaces “Previous Versions” and Backup and Restore

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:36:33 +0000

While reading the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and Windows Server “8” Beta Compatibility Cookbook I came across the topic Volume Shadow Copy Service UI Removed. Due to the fact that this feature was obviously rarely used by end users and it’s negative impact on Windows performance, Microsoft decided to removed this feature from Windows 8. In addition Microsoft also decided to deprecate the Windows 7 Backup and Restore feature, again because this functionality appears to be rarely used.

Saturday morning ramblings with Windows 8 Hyper-V and Sun VirtualBox

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:43:56 +0000

Yesterday I prepared a new system with Windows 8 CP that has the latest Intel I7 processor and 8GB of RAM. My initial plan was to use Hyper-V which is now also included as a feature on the Client.

So on this beautiful Saturday morning I continued with the setup of this HP 8760w Elitebook. But because I ran into several network related issues, others have also reported about on the Microsoft forums, I decided to switch back to Sun VirtualBox for now as that has worked fine on Windows 8 so far.

Microsoft UE-V and PolicyPak - Better Together

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:19:42 +0000

In this video Group Policy MVP Jeremy Moskowitz demonstrates why customers planning using Microsoft User Environment Virtualization (UE’V) might also want to consider using PolicyPak.

More details about PolicyPak and the video transcript can be found here

How to access Microsoft Management Summit 2012 content

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:52:08 +0000

If you haven’t been able to attend MMS2012, here’s how to access the recorded content.

Step 1 Go to Digital MMS

Step 2 Create an account:

Step 3 Login and enjoy the sessions.

ToolTip: Known Folders Browser

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 09:39:34 +0000

Are you finding all the “special folders” in Windows Vista/7/8 a bit overwhelming? Which are real folders and which are virtualized? Which are profile-specific and which are common to all users? Which are rooted and which are relative? The Known Folders Browser can help.

The Known Folders Browser written by Kenny Kerr can be downloaded from here

Windows Services, what changed from Windows 7 to Windows 8

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:02:48 +0000

Nearly 3 years ago I wrote a blog post about the Windows Services changes between Windows Vista and Windows 7. Assuming that we won’t see any big changes with regard to Services when Windows 8 will be released I repeated the exercise by looking at what has changed between Windows 7 Enterprise and the Windows 8 Consumer Preview Build.

To obtain the services data from each system, i executed the following PowerShell command:

How to remove the system reserved partition

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:33:27 +0000

Today I worked on something where I needed a Windows 8 client that does not have a system reserved partition. To avoid a fresh installation of Windows I decided to re-use one of my Virtual Machine templates and apply the process described below.

I’m sure I’m not the first one that blogs about this but I’ve seen so many lengthy and over-complicating descriptions (including instructions of loading the registry, use of 3rd party tools and rescue discs) that I decided to write this down anyway, even if it’s just for YOU who just stumbled over this blog post.

How to register a custom Assessment Job within the Windows Assessment Console

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:00:26 +0000

In the Scaling And Extending Windows Assessments To Improve System Quality (Part I & II) presentation shown at the //BUILD conference in September Jason Cohen a Senior Software Development Engineer at Microsoft demonstrated how to create a custom Assessment job using a Ping test as example.

Excited about the idea of extending the Windows Assessment Console with self-defined tests, I have since spend quite some time reading the related documentation on MSDN. I can imagine that one day I would be able to automate a large amount of system validation and certification tests that nowadays are performed manually or with individual scripts can be fully integrated into the Assessment Console that not only takes care of the automation but also provides a nice reporting interface.

GPO Template for UE-V SettingsTemplateCatalogPath configuration

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:58:35 +0000

To simplify my testing activities with Microsoft’s User Experience Virtualization (UE-V( Beta, I created a Group Policy template that configures the User’s SettingsTemplateCatalogPath. The SettingsTemplateCatalogPath is the location where UE-V looks for new or updated templates once a day.

The SettingsTemplateCatalogPath setting is stored within the Windows Registry under
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\UEV\Agent\Configuration

To get the GPO working I had to create another “custom” registry value called GP_SettingsTemplateCatalogPath_Set which defines whether the setting is enabled or disabled. (Well possible that this workaround isn’t required, but I couldn’t find another way to get my home-brew policy working).

Copying command-line tools from Windows into WinPE, don’t forget the localization files

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 20:43:07 +0000

To keep the footprint of WinPE as small as possible many services or tools usually found within a full Windows installation are not available within WinPE. So if you need a command-line tool from Windows such as icacls.exe you just copy the executable into your WinPE sources and you’re done.

But hey, when booting into WinPE and executing icacls.exe, nothing is displayed, the command itself however works.

Unfortunately just copying the the executable alone isn’t enough since it is language neutral, you must also copy the corresponding localization file. These can be found under C;\Windows\System32<locale> so for English C;\Windows\System32\en-US. For icacls.exe we would copy the file ICacls.exe.mui into the WinPE’s \Windows\System32\en-US folder.

Windows 8 ADK Assessments OS and Architecture Support Overview

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:11:49 +0000

Along with Windows 8 Microsoft also provides a new tool for System Builders and IT Professionals called the Windows Assessment Toolkit. The Windows Assessment Toolkit allows to determine the quality of a running operating system or a set of components with regard to performance, reliability, and functionality.

Now since I’m sure Windows 7 will be around for a while, I wondered whether some of these Assessments would also run Windows 7 so I started reviewing each Job and Individual Assessment listed within the Assessment Console. My findings are listed below.I have also indicated whether the Assessment is designed to run on the x86,x64 and/or ARM architecture.

ToolTip: LightScreen (Screen Capture Utility)

Sun, 08 Apr 2012 16:04:27 +0000

Here’s yet another FREE screen capture utility I’ve come across. LightScreen allows you to capture the entire screen, just a Window or an area of the screen.

LightScreen can be downloaded from here

Adobe introduces new Update Mechanism for Adobe Flash Player

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 22:54:32 +0000

A few days ago Adobe released a security update for Adobe Flash player and with that update Adobe also introduced a new mechanism for Flash Player updates. When deploying Adobe Flash player within a controlled corporate environment you most likely want to prevent the player from automatically updating itself or show notifications about a new version being available.

When installing Adobe Flash Player 11.2 you will find the following:

A new Scheduled Task called Adobe Flash Player Updater

Microsoft releases DaRT 8 Beta

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:20:32 +0000

Microsoft has released a Beta for DaRT 8. You find more details in the articles listed below. I’ve only been looking at it shortly, but here’s what I liked most:

DaRT 8 now comes with full PowerShell support and some of the cmdlets added can also be used beyond DaRT.
A complete new version of the DaRT image build wizard.
UEFI support

MDOP: DaRTing to the Future

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/business/archive/2012/03/28/mdop-darting-to-the-future.aspx

Microsoft DaRT 8 Beta Q&A

How to Reboot or Shutdown WinPE

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:03:11 +0000

Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 include the shutdown.exe command-line tool that can be used for shutting down or rebooting a system within a script or just from the command prompt. WinPE however is only a minimal operating system primarily designed to act as a preinstallation or recovery environment.

To keep the footprint of WinPE as small as possible many services or tools usually found within a full Windows installation are not available within WinPE. The same applies for the shutdown.exe command.

ToolTip: .NET Framework Setup Verification Tool

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 11:32:30 +0000

This .NET Framework setup verification tool is designed to automatically perform a set of steps to verify the installation state of one or more versions of the .NET Framework on a computer. It will verify the presence of files, directories, registry keys and values for the .NET Framework. It will also verify that simple applications that use the .NET Framework can be run correctly.

More details and download links can be found on Aaron Stebner’s blog here

Windows recommends PowerPoint Viewer 2007 though there is a 2010 version

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 21:42:35 +0000

While working on my Windows 8 test client, I downloaded a PowerPoint file and because I don’t have Office installed Windows prompts me how I would like to open this file. Knowing that it will point me to the PowerPoint Viewer I choose to look for an app on the web.

But surprisingly the Windows File Association information site recommendation lists Microsoft Power Point 2007 and PowerPoint Viewer 2007.

So I start to wonder whether there might be a 2010 version as well and indeed there is one it’s just not called PowerPoint Viewer 2010 but just PowerPoint Viewer.

Windows Explorer context menu for managing WIM files

Sun, 18 Mar 2012 15:16:32 +0000

Mounting and un-mounting Windows Images (wim files) is a simple task using dism.exe or imagex.exe at the command prompt, but if you do this every day you might get annoyed by typing the same string of commands over and over again. A few years back my colleague Claude Henchoz shared a script to add some WIM management options to the Windows Explorer context menu.

I have now taken these scripts and updated them so that they use dism.exe exclusively and also added a 3rd party utility that runs the commands in elevated mode, so now we can also use the Explorer context menu options with UAC on.

How to get the SQLCMD standalone for Microsoft SQL Server Management

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 10:50:39 +0000

In the days that I was an Oracle database admin (long long time ago) the two most important applications I used to manage a database were SQLNet and SQL Plus. SQL-Net for providing database connectivity and SQL Plus as the command line interface. For Microsoft SQL Server the kind of equivalent to Oracle’s SQL Plus is SQLCMD. But for a long time this utility was only available with a full SQL Server installation or as part of the SQL Server Admin Studio install.

Windows 8 Consumer Preview Support Bulletins Feb 29–March 13, 2012

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:26:33 +0000

Below are the Windows 8 Consumer Preview support bulletins I was able to capture since the release of the Consumer Preview build.

The BITS service crashes during the installation of Windows 8 Consumer Preview
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2680336

Windows 8 Consumer Preview language packs are available for computers that are running Windows 8 Consumer Preview
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2607607

Windows Internet Explorer 10 Consumer Preview is now available for Windows 8 Consumer Preview
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2650043

An update for PlayReady PC Runtime for Windows Media Center on a Windows 8 Consumer Preview-based computer is available
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2658597

Windows 8 – Script for customizing WinPE 4.0 – Part 1

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:48:55 +0000

Today I want to share with you a small script I’ve put together for customizing WinPE 4.0 that will ship with Windows 8. I’ve rewritten the script based on some existing script code we already use today, but wanted by purpose a small independent script that I can hook in between the standard scripts provided within the ADK sources, mainly for familiarizing myself with anything new within WinPE 4.0.

When you install the Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) on a 64 bit system, you will find the WinPE 4.0 sources stored under C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\8.0\Assessment and Deployment Kit\Windows Preinstallation Environment.

ToolTip: Portable WinCDEmu

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 19:32:22 +0000

One of the first things I usually do when setting up a new system that I plan to use for longer is to install an ISO mount tool. My favorite FREE tool for that is still Virtual CloneDrive. Today I came across another utility that does the same thing, but is portable, meaning there is no need to really install the software, this might come in handy when you can’t or don’t feel like you want to leave behind a system with all of your tools installed.

Windows 8 – Scheduled Maintenance Task won’t delete Desktop Shortcuts anymore

Sat, 10 Mar 2012 20:28:04 +0000

On Windows 7 many users suffer from disappearing shortcuts on their desktop. I wrote about this in Control Windows 7 Scheduled Maintenance Behavior Through Group Policy. On Windows 8 this shouldn’t happen anymore, since Microsoft has removed the related scripts and Tasks from the Diagnosis troubleshooting pack (DiagPackage.diagpkg)

The following files have been removed from the C:\Windows\diagnostics\scheduled\Maintenance folder:

RS_RemoveShortcuts.ps1
RS_RemoveUnusedDesktopIcons.ps1
TS_BrokenShortcuts.ps1
TS_UnusedDesktopIcons.ps1

How to add drivers to the Windows Defender Offline Tool

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:39:40 +0000

Back in January I wrote a post about how the Windows Defender Offline Beta Tool works and mentioned that the preparation wizard does not have an option to inject drivers. This can be a problem when WinPE does not recognize the disk or when you wish to have network connectivity. I had promised to explain how to add drivers to the Windows Defender Offline Beta tool, but actually forgot about writing a follow up post until I was kindly reminded by a blog reader to do so.

Microsoft Fixit Center Pro (Beta)

Tue, 06 Mar 2012 00:00:20 +0000

If you haven’t heard of this yet, I recommend taking a look at recently launched Microsoft Fixit Center Pro (Beta). This is an online service developed by the Microsoft Customer Service and Support organization that can help you with troubleshooting problems.

To learn more about Microsoft Fixit Center Pro, I recommend reading the following:

Microsoft Fix it Center Pro Now Available!
Microsoft Fix it Center Pro automated diagnostic portal

Windows 8 – AutoPlay Configuration

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 21:31:11 +0000

While continuing my journey through Windows 8 I noticed some changes in the AutoPlay configuration. Compared to Windows 7, the AutoPlay configuration in Windows 8 is now clearly categorized by device / media type. A separate configuration option is now available for Camera storage and an additional option was added for blank blue-ray discs.

(don’t be surprised about the two separate scrollbars in the above picture, I just pasted two screenshots together).

Running Windows 8 To Go on a Thin Client Device

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 15:46:52 +0000

Yesterday I tried out the Windows 8 To Go feature which allows you to run Windows 8 form a USB drive or USB stick. If you’re looking for a step by step guide, I suggest you look at the Microsoft TechNet Wiki here.

Having booted Windows 8 To Go on nearly every desktop and notebook device I have at home I wondered whether this would work as smoothly on a Thin Client. And yes it does. Below you see a picture of Windows 8 32 Bit booted from USB on a HP Thin Client T5740e that normally runs Windows Embedded Standard 7.

Windows 8 – Closing Metro Style Apps

Sun, 04 Mar 2012 21:03:13 +0000

Back in September 2011 I wrote a blog post called Windows 8–Why you don’t close a Metro Style application. Well with the Consumer preview things have changed because now you can directly close a running Metro Style app without going through the task manager.

In the below example I have started a few Metro Style apps and have just switched back to the Task manager,

On the Metro Start screen or Windows Desktop when pointing the mouse to the upper left corner it will first display the last used app, when moving the mouse down (keep the pointer at the edge of the screen) any other running app will appear as well.

ToolTip: GPO Deny Finder

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 15:11:17 +0000

GPO Deny Finder is a FREE tool from sdmsoftware that helps you to find GPOs that have deny ACEs. The below video explains how to use the tool.

More details about the tool can be found here or just download the tool directly from here

How to prevent a Metro App from running using Applocker

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 22:12:22 +0000

In Windows 8 the Applocker feature has been extended to support management of metro style apps. Enterprise administrators can define a Packaged app Rule to allow or deny the installation and/or use of a particular metro style app. When opening the Group Policy editor under Computer Configuration / Windows Settings / Security Settings / Application Control Settings / Applocker there is a new node called Packaged app Rules.

To create a new rule, right click on the Packaged app Rules and select Create New Rule…

New Group Policy Settings in Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:45:24 +0000

Today, oh that was yesterday already, Microsoft released the Windows 8 Consumer Preview, so I did what I always do when there is a new Windows Operating system and that is looking for any new Group Policy settings. I do that by simply opening the group policy editor (gpedit.msc) select the Administrative Templates node and then go to All Settings, sort them alphabetically by Setting name and just go down the list and look for any policies where the requirement is defined to “At least Windows 8”. And this is what I have been doing for the last 3 hours. The task might look boring but I can tell you this is a good way to learn about new things.

Roadmap for Windows Embedded v.Next

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 22:49:27 +0000

While talking about Windows Embedded with a customer last week, a question came up about the next major release of the Windows Embedded operating system. From past experience we know that usually the Embedded version is released a few months after the release of the full version of the operating system. Looking at the current release of the Embedded operating system, Windows 7 was formally released on 22.10.2009, and Windows Embedded Standard 7 was released on 29.07.2010 so nearly 9 months later.

ToolTip: Overlay Message Box

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:42:43 +0000

Overlay Message Box is a tiny utility that shows a message box or task dialog on a dimmed desktop. This ensures the attention of the user and makes it a great app for any script that needs to inform a user. All options (Title, Text, Icons etc.) can be set using command line parameters.

Overlay Message Box can be downloaded from here

Managing Windows 8 Metro Style Apps with DISM

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 21:55:52 +0000

As mentioned in my earlier post Windows 8 – What’s new in the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool (DISM) the DISM tool now also contains commands for managing metro style applications. When running dism.exe /online /? we find the following APPX servicing commands.

/Remove-ProvisionedAppxPackage - Removes AppX packages from the image. AppX packages will not be installed when new user accounts are created.
/Add-ProvisionedAppxPackage - Adds AppX packages to the image and sets them to install for each new user.

How to use vbscripts in BGINFO

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:47:45 +0000

Out of the box BGINFO includes a number of predefined fields that can be used to display information on the desktop such as Computer name, IP Address etc. But if the standard fields aren’t enough,BGINFO allows creating custom fields that can pull data from various sources like WMI, Registry, File content, Environment variables or VBScript.

The below example shows how to embed VBSCRIPT code output in BGINFO. First we create a VBSCRIPT file called comp.vbs that has the following content. (Credit for the script goes to Moral Volcano)

ToolTip: Simple IP/IP Range Ping

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:52:20 +0000

I guess the name says it all, Simple IP/IP Range Ping is a small FREE standalone utility to scan an IP range.

Simple IP/IP Range ping can be downloaded from here

How to avoid KMS becoming a challenge in your Windows 7 deployment project

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:44:30 +0000

I’ve been involved in Windows 7 deployments since the Beta came out in 2009 and before Windows 7 there was Vista, XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT and even Windows 3.11 and although over time the technology has changed the basic challenges of every migration remained the same.

If today someone asks me what I consider as being one of the top 10 challenges I’ve seen in Windows 7 deployment projects I must mention KMS. Yes despite the fact that in theory this is nothing more than just a service you install on one or two servers in your datacenter and publish an SRV resource record in DNS, this is something that keeps people busy in nearly any project I’ve been involved so far.

How To test if your Antivirus program is working

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:29:38 +0000

I was doing some Antivirus stuff this afternoon now let me share with you how to test if your Antivirus program is working, e.g. alerts you in the event of a virus. Of course you can go to certain places on the internet where it won’t take long until you get a real virus, but that’s probably not what you want to do, so here’s a brief description how to use the “Test-Virus”.

Protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:54:39 +0000

ToolTip: Adding your AD stored picture to your profile picture with ADUserTile

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:25:54 +0000

Back in august 2011 I wrote about a utility called AD Photo Edit which allows you to upload your personal picture into Active Directory. Today I want to share with you another utility I came across called ADUserTile.

ADUserTile checks if you have a picture stored within the Active Directory thumbnailPhoto attribute and sets that picture as your profile picture within Windows 7 so it becomes visible at the logon screen and the Windows Desktop.

Windows 8 – What’s new in the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool (DISM)

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:43:03 +0000

On my journey discovering the new features within Windows 8 I’ve come across a bunch of new options within the Deployment Image Servicing and Management Tool aka DISM. When running launching the DISM command we get an overview of all the commands and options. The blue coloured commands and options below are the new ones added compared to Windows 7. At first we see a whole new command group being added called “Generic Imaging Commands. While the Windows 7 DISM command is used to service the current running operating system or WIM images, in Windows 8 the DISM tool has been extended with commands to service VHD type images.

ToolTip – HTTPCopy

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:15:45 +0000

HTTPCopy is a FREE standalone executable that allows you to directly copy a web file or web page locally. Rather than going to a website and download content manually, you can automate this using the HTTPCopy utility. Below you see an example I am personally using to download the Maxmind GeoLiteCity database I use for one of my blog plugins.

HTTPCOPY.EXE http://geolite.maxmind.com/download/geoip/database/GeoLiteCity.dat.gz GeoLiteCity.dat.gz

You can download HTTPCopy from here

How to Reset Windows 8 without external media

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 11:46:21 +0000

Yesterday I’ve talked about the Windows 8 Refresh Your PC feature, today I’d like to show how you can reset Windows 8 without using external media. When performing a Reset on a Windows 8 client, you are going to run a complete fresh installation of Windows 8 without preserving any user data or settings. You would use this option before you give back your system to anyone else and want to make sure that there is no personal data or settings left on the system.

The Windows 8 Refresh Your PC Feature

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 16:30:13 +0000

As recently illustrated on the Windows 8 Build blog Windows 8 comes with new features to Reset or Refresh your PC. The Reset Feature basically triggers a complete new installation of Windows 8 without taking care of any personal data hence this option should only be used when you have your data backed up already or when you intend to hand-out the system to someone else and you want to ensure that the system doesn’t have any personal data or settings stored. The Refresh option allows you to re-install Windows 8 but it will take care of your personal data, settings and Metro Style applications e.g. once the Windows 8 operating system installation has completed the user will still have access to his data and personalization settings. Furthermore the Refresh Your PC feature allows you not just to install a clean version of Windows 8 but one that does already include some of your self-installed applications so that you don’t have to install them all from scratch again.

ToolTip: Move Mouse

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:15:22 +0000

Here’s a tool that has came in handy for me during the past 3 days, so let me share this one with you. Move Mouse is a simple application that generates mouse activity. You can either move the mouse pointer, click the left mouse button, send a keystroke, or any combination of the three.

For more details and download go to the Codeplex project page here.

How to prevent pending updates from installing when shutting down Windows

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:03:16 +0000

The meeting should have finished since 10 minutes but they keep on talking, you look at your watch and notice that you only have a few minutes until you need to leave the office so that you catch your train. Finally the call ended and you shutdown your machine, but then you get that message “Please do not power off or unplug your machine. Installing update 1 of 5”.

How the Windows Defender Offline Beta Tool works

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 00:21:02 +0000

In addition to the Microsoft Security Essentials software and the Microsoft Safety Scanner Microsoft just recently released another FREE antimalware removal product called the Windows Defender Offline Beta. While Security Essentials and Safety Scanner run within Windows, the purpose of the Windows Defender Offline Tool is to run offline from bootable USB or CD/DVD media.

In fact the tool isn’t really something new, those familiar with the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack Suite (MDOP) which includes the Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) have probably seen or used the Standalone System Sweeper tool before. Now when looking at the log files produced by the Windows Defender Offline tool, you’ll notice Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper tool entries rather than Windows Defender Offline.

Skype Group Policy Settings

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:26:34 +0000

Just recently one of our customers requested the Skype (Business version) Application to be packaged for software distribution, so I wondered what the status is these days with regard to locking down Skype with Group Policy. Well the results are sobering. Despite the fact that Skype is part of Microsoft since a while, there has not been much progress in making Skype more Group Policy aware.

The settings that can be configured using Group Policy are documented within the Skype IT Administrators Guide but note that this document relates to Skype version 4.2 and there isn’t a newer version for Skype version 5.x. Also note that the number of settings is rather limited, in fact the only setting I consider as useful for Enterprise Administrators is to disable the Check for Updates setting that prevents Skype form automatically checking for new versions and updates.

Reducing Energy Costs and Carbon Footprint with SCCM 2007 R3

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:59:02 +0000

Almost all companies I know do have some sort of a Green-IT policy in place but in my view this should go beyond just putting an e-mail footnote like “Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail”. Many companies use Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3, but don’t bail out its Power Management capabilities whereas it could help save energy costs and carbon footprint with just a few clicks.

The Internet Explorer Compatibility List

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 22:47:18 +0000

In today’s blog post I’d like to share some basic information I gathered today about the Internet Explorer Compatibility list option that is available within the Compatibility View Settings in Internet Explorer 8 and 9. By default this setting is enabled and causes websites that are listed within the Compatibility list to render properly in newer versions of Internet Explorer.

When you have the Include updated website lists from Microsoft option enabled, you should have a file called IECompatData.xml stored under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\IECompatData\

ToolTip: Mouse Without Borders

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 11:52:50 +0000

If you’re using more than one computer on your desk I strongly recommend you look at the Mouse without borders utility that came out of a Microsoft Garage project this year. With Mouse without borders you can just use one mouse and keyboard to control up to 4 Windows clients. Furthermore you can drag and drop files from one screen to the other, take screen captures or just copy and paste text.

ReadTip: Group Policy Central Access Policies Extension Specification

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:50:06 +0000

If you are interested in Group Policy stuff, here’s a new Open Specifications Documentation for Group Policy: Central Access Policies Extension that appears to be something new coming with Windows 8. To be honest with you, I guess I need to read this doc a few more times, until I could really explain in detail what this is all about, Some other articles mentioning this are Exploring Windows Server 8: Dynamic Access Control and Windows Server 8 Gets Serious about Security.

Running within an SCCM 2007 Tasksequence or not?

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:18:52 +0000

I’ve been working on a batch script that runs as part of an SCCM 2007 TaskSequence or simply as a regular program. Because there were different conditions whether I run the script as part of a TaskSequence or just as a program and did not want to create two separate scripts I needed a way to detect within what environment the script is running.

I was first thinking of looking for the existence of any _SMSxyz Task Sequence variables as they don’t exist when running a script within an advertised program, but that would have required some extra code I wanted to avoid. So I ended up with the code below.

The Windows SKU’s with a 7

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:06:41 +0000

I was listening to a podcast from RunAs Radio today and someone mentioned wondering about how many Windows SKU’s with a “7” there are. Well here we go.

Windows 7 Starter
Windows 7 Home Basic
Windows 7 Home Premium
Windows 7 Professional
Windows 7 Enterprise
Windows 7 Ultimate
Windows Thin PC (is based on Embedded Standard 7)
Windows Embedded Standard 7
Windows Embedded POSReady 7
Windows Embedded Automotive 7

 Windows 7 Professional SP1 for Embedded Systems

 Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 for Embedded Systems

Windows Embedded Compact 7

How to automate the creation of Windows Eventlog Custom Views

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 16:32:31 +0000

In the past couple of days I have been working on measuring system boot performance and you are probably going to see some posts from me on that subject soon. Today I want to share with you how you can automate the creation of a Windows Eventlog custom view.

While running these boot performance tests I reinstalled Windows several times on different systems and each time I wanted to collect the boot performance data from these clients I had to create a custom view within the Windows Event log to filter out the boot events. Well after doing that a few times manually I thought I would be better of to get that thing automated.

WatchTip: Triumph of the Nerds

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 16:36:29 +0000

Those who follow my blog since a while may have noticed that I have always been interested and fascinated about he history of how everything started around computers. Today I’ve come across this 3 part documentary called “Triumph of the Nerds”. A very interesting documentary how things started around the Personal Computer. Enjoy !

Triumph of the Nerds: Impressing Their Friends 1/3 Triumph of the Nerds: Impressing Their Friends 2/3

 Triumph of the Nerds: Impressing Their Friends 3/3

Microsoft Office 2010 System End User Training Toolkit

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 21:26:13 +0000

In addition to the Office 2010 Migration Guides that are available since a while Microsoft recently published the Microsoft Office 2010 System End User Training Toolkit. The Microsoft Office 2010 End User Training Kit is a set of end-user training content for Microsoft Office 2010 and includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. Users can either download the full Office 2003 to 2010 or 2007 to 2010 upgrade Toolkit or select a training toolkit for an individual Office Application only.

ToolTip: Attribute Changer

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:03:48 +0000

While writing a script that checks the number of days between now and when a particular folder is created I found this Windows Explorer extension called Attribute Changer. Very handy utility when you need to change the creation date of a file or folder to simulate an earlier or later date.

Attribute Changer can be downloaded from here

Tip: Remove Redundant Messages from Outlook 2010

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:10:23 +0000

The title says it all, if you’re suffering from too much e-mail Outlook 2010 provides a nice feature to get rid of redundant messages with just a few clicks. Before trying this out, I suggest you read this article so you understand what is happening here and if you have some time watch the demo here.

Enable Windows Remote Management through Group Policy

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 19:43:21 +0000

In today’s post I am going to show you how to enable Windows Remote Management through Group Policy.If you haven’t heard of Windows Remote Management yet I recommend you read the articles I have referenced below. When enabled and configured Windows Remote Management provides an easy way for IT Administrators to remotely access and manage Windows Clients and Servers. If you have used the Microsoft Sysinternals PSTools suite, you’re going to like this one as well.

Are my Windows Power Settings Energy Star compliant?

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 12:45:42 +0000

I am often asked by customers whether their Windows 7 Power Settings are Energy Star compliant.

The recommendations for Windows clients are:

Computers must enter system standby or hibernate after 30 to 60 minutes of inactivity.
Monitors must enter sleep mode after 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity

Windows 7 by default comes with 3 Power Plans. High Performance, Balanced (default) and Power Saver. If you have enabled the Balanced or Power Saver power plan then you are using the recommended Energy Star power settings.

Windows 8 Active Directory based volume activation

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:25:52 +0000

Windows Server 8 comes with a new role called Volume Activation Services. The Volume Activation Service allows IT administrators to enable volume activation for domain joined systems using a Key Management Service Host (KMS) or Active Directory based Activation. This means in theory that going forward there is no need anymore to install and manage a separate infrastructure for volume activation of Windows clients, servers and office, but according to the article “What’s new in Windows Server 8 Active Directory” from the Windows IT Pro magazine KMS will still be required for a while to support everything that uses KMS today, unless Microsoft would provide an update to enable current systems and applications to activate via Active Directory.

Performing a Windows Performance Assessment with the Windows ADK

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 23:43:46 +0000

By now most of you have probably looked at the Windows 8 client or server preview build and unfortunately the most attention is given to the new Metro look, but hey there’s more than that coming, in fact there’s some awesome stuff coming I’d like you to know about. With Windows Vista and Windows 7 Microsoft also released the Windows Automated Installation Kit known as WAIK. For Windows 8 this is now being rebranded into Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit in short ADK. Now don’t get confused by the word Assessment here as it has nothing to do with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) that is used to assess your current infrastructure.

Windows 8 Support for eDrives

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:39:49 +0000

I have just installed the Windows 8 Assessment and Deployment Kit and came across some information about Windows 8 support for eDrive also known as the Encrypted Hard Disk Drive..

The Windows Setup Reference mentions a new setting called Microsoft-Windows-EnhancedStorage-Adm / TCGSecurityActivationDisabled. By default, when Windows is installed on an eDrive, Windows automatically encrypts the drive by using TCG and IEEE 1667 transport standards.

More information:
eDrive Device Guide
Almost All Future Drives Will Self Encrypt, Says Tom Coughlin, in Industry’s First Forecast on SEDs
Building hardware-accelerated encrypted devices (eDrives) in Windows 8

Update for Google Toolbar available (fixes issues with Internet Explorer 8 and 9

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 14:54:53 +0000

If you’re using the Google Toolbar and Internet Explorer 8/9 you might have experienced bad browser performance (I did). There is an update from Google that seems to solve these issues. It did for me so far. The Microsoft KB can be found here but since that article only refers to the Google site, you can get the update directly from here

ToolTip: CBS Package Inspector

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 12:31:08 +0000

CBS Package Inspector (Package Inspector) is a GUI tool that allows you to open up a Component Based Servicing (CBS) package and view and examine its manifests. In simple words, with this utility you can open and view the content of Microsoft Security Update and QFE packages provided as MUS or a CAB file.

This tool becomes handy when you need to take a closer look what files or registry settings an update applies.

ToolTip: Remote Desktop remote configurator (RDRemote)

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 19:06:47 +0000

I’ve found another useful utility called RDRemote. The RDRemote Utility allows to enable the Remote Desktop connections from a remote computer using WMI.

RDRemote can be downloaded from here

New Defrag options in Windows 8

Sun, 13 Nov 2011 16:53:46 +0000

Looks like Windows 8 introduces some additional DEFRAG options.

 **Option** **Description** **Option Available** **Windows 7** **Windows 8** /A Perform analysis on the specified volumes Yes Yes /C Perform the operation on all volumes Yes Yes **/D** **Perform traditional defrag (this is the default)** No **Yes** /E Perform the operation on all volumes except those specified Yes Yes /H Run the operation at normal priority (default is low) Yes Yes **/K** **Perform slab consolidation on the specified volumes** No **Yes** **/L** **Perform retrim on the specified volumes** No **Yes** /M Run the operation on each volume in parallel in the background Yes Yes **/O** **Perform the proper optimization for each media type** No **Yes** /T Track an operation already in progress on the specified volume Yes Yes /U Print the progress of the operation on the screen Yes Yes /V Print verbose output containing the fragmentation statistics Yes Yes /X Perform free space consolidation on the specified volumes Yes Yes

There is little information yet about these options but I assume that they might have to do with the rumored new “protogon” file system and that there is more support for SSD included.

ToolTip: Boxcutter – A Command line screenshot utility

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:57:10 +0000

Boxcutter is a simple command line-driven screenshot program for Microsoft Windows. Below you find a short script I wrote that will take a screenshot of the full screen every 20 seconds until 100 screenshots are saved.

One usage scenario (I plan to use) is where you are running an OS installation within a Virtual Machine and want to take screenshots of the various stages of the installation without having to manually take a screenshot. You would just let the script run, it will probably produce more screenshots as needed, but these then can be deleted manually afterwards.

Tip: How to extract Office 2010 Customization file content (MSP)

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 22:33:56 +0000

If you have an Office 2010 installation that is customized by use of the Office customization tool the customizations are stored within an MSP file that uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) format.

To extract the content you can use a vbscript that Microsoft has published on TechNet - View Office Customization Tool output in Office 2010

Simply copy paste the code provided within the article into a file called ExtractOctXml.vbs and then run the following command to extract the content:

Collecting Internet Explorer Add-on information

Sun, 30 Oct 2011 13:12:51 +0000

The Windows 8 developer preview build installation media contains an executable called wicainventory.exe. Wicainventory tool collects application and device information. There is also a wica.ini file that contains 2 URLs. I assume that the Tool is used by Microsoft to collect telemetry data.

While there are plenty of other methods to collect software and hardware inventory data, wicainventory provides a nice way to collect Internet Explorer add-on information. For running wicainventory standalone the following files must be copied from the Windows 8 installation sources.

ToolTip: Updated version of lessmsi (View extract MSI content)

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 15:15:20 +0000

There is an updated version of the less misérables utility a utility with a graphical user interface and a command line interface that can be used to view and extract the contents of an MSI file.

The updated version now has explorer integration, that can be easily enabled / disabled via the preference menu setting.

Download lessmsi from [here](http://code.google.com/p/lessmsi/).

Windows 7 – MFU (Most Frequent Used Programs)

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:59:23 +0000

This week I found an interesting tool called UserAssist.exe written by Didier Stevens. The UserAssist tool lists the UserAssist registry keys stored under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\UserAssist. This is the location where Windows 7 (and earlier versions of Windows) retrieves the information about the execution frequency of applications started by users. If you are interested about the details of the UserAssist registry keys I recommend that you read some of Didier Stevens blog posts and his article he wrote for the Digital Forensics and Incident Response Magazine.

Changing the Windows 7 Scheduled Defrag Task

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:32:20 +0000

As you probably know Windows 7 has a build-in scheduled task to run Defrag every Wednesday every week. One of my clients asked me to have the day changed from Wednesday to Thursday. Well, hat I thought would be done in a few minutes ended up in a little journey, but finally I got it to work. As you can see from the below screenshot, by default Defrag is started every Wednesday every week.

ReadTip: Life After Windows XP: Windows Vista and Windows 7

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:54:01 +0000

A nice presentation highlighting the key technology and feature improvements from XP to Windows 7. Download the presentation from here

Microsoft Product Lifecycle – The year 2014 is not that far away anymore

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:19:07 +0000

The countdown has started in less than 1000 days Windows XP will definitely go end of life. However note that not only Windows XP reaches its end soon, Office 2003, Windows Server 2003, Exchange 2003, SCCM 2003 and some other products are about to reach their end of life within the same timeframe.

For my personal reference and yours if you like, I have put together a short overview of the end of life dates for the products we deal with mostly in a typical Windows SMB or Enterprise environment.

ToolTip: Webcam Diagnostics

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:02:26 +0000

Webcam Diagnostics is a simple assistant which gathers many system and webcam-related information in a single place. It makes it easy to identify driver installation problems or USB issues: red circles will signal serious issues and yellow triangles will signal minor issues. Right-click a reported issue to access the context menu and click the Fix menu (if available) so that the program attempts to fix the issue or shows you a possible way to fix it.

Windows 8 – How to check if your system can run Hyper-V

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 10:49:19 +0000

Many articles refer to the Sysinternals Coreinfo utility to check whether your system can run Hyper-V on Windows 8 or not. But just this morning I found out that the systeminfo command that is included in Windows provides some additional Hyper-V related information.

More Information about Hyper-V on Windows 8
Bringing Hyper-V to “Windows 8”
How to Check if Your CPU Supports Second Level Address Translation (SLAT)

Windows 8–Why you don’t close a Metro Style application

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 08:33:17 +0000

One of the first things I noticed when playing with the Windows 8 preview build was that you can’t close metro style applications. Almost instinctively I pressed the Alt+F4 keys when I wanted to close a running application but nothing happened, I then tried to find an option within the application to close it but couldn’t find an exit button there neither.

Well after some reading and watching the Fundamentals of Metro style apps: how and when your app will run presentation things became clear. You don’t close a metro style application.

Windows 8 – New GPO stuff

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 20:53:16 +0000

I have just compared the C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions folder on the Widows 8 preview build with a Windows 7 Enterprise build. And unless I missed one, the below ADMX/ADML files are new.

AppxPackageManager.admx
dam.admx
DeviceCompat.admx
EAIME.admx
EarlyLaunchAM.admx
EdgeUI.admx
ExternalBoot.admx
msched.admx
ProximityCommon.admx
srm-fci.admx
UserState.admx
WindowsHistoryVault.admx
WinStoreUI.admx
wlansvc.admx
WPN.admx
WPN.Provider.admx
wwansvc.admx

When you open the related ADML files stored under C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions\en-US you will find some interesting hints about what these new policies are supposed to do. You will find stuff about Windows to Go, the App Store, Profiles and more.

Windows 8 – How to disable the Metro logon screen

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 19:28:23 +0000

When starting Windows 8 you’ll see the Metro logon screen as shown in the picture below.

The user logon then looks like this.

If you prefer to get the Windows 7 style logon screen back, set RPEnabled to 0 the key is stored under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

The next time you logon the Metro style will be gone and you get back the classic logon screen.

By the way if you want the classic start menu back I suggest you read How to Enable Good Old Windows Vista and 7 Style Start Menu and Disable Metro UI in Windows 8 Developer Preview?

ToolTip: AmiProject–online MS Project Viewer

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:51:25 +0000

Today I received a project plan with the request to review it. Since I haven’t installed MS project yet on my new notebook that I just got last week, I replied that I would look at it as soon as I have installed MS Project. I thought I had a good excuse…… well it just took a few minutes until another colleague pointed me to AmiProject, an online viewer for MS Project files.

Group Policy Settings for Microsoft Lync 2010 Client

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 21:57:40 +0000

Just in case you missed this one, Microsoft released documentation and an ADM template for the Microsoft Lync 2010 client. The following settings can be configured.

Specify transport and server
Enable strict DNS naming for server name
Configure SIP security mode
Configure SIP compression mode
Prevent users from running Microsoft Lync
Allow storage of user passwords
Require logon credentials
Disable HTTP fallback for SIP connection
Disable server version check
Additional server versions supported

ToolTip: FTPStats for FileZilla

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 10:23:21 +0000

FTPstats is a log analyzer and stats compiler for FileZilla FTP Server. It generates usage statistics from log files and presents them in a user-friendly fashion.

FTPStats can be downloaded from here

ReadTip: Resources for Windows and Office license activation with XenDesktop

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 10:59:42 +0000

Below just a few resources I have collected related to Windows and Office license activation with XenDesktop. Licensing is not an exciting topic but we have to deal with it anyway.

KMS Configuration using Citrix Provisioning Services

Citrix Managing Microsoft KMS Volume Licensing

Citrix Configuring Microsoft MAK Volume Licensing

Citrix XenDesktop 5 Support Statement for Microsoft KMS activation with Machine Creation Services (MCS)

Licensing Windows for VDI environments

What is Microsoft VDA Licensing?

ToolTip: HIDECALC – Hiding Drives in Windows

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:00:28 +0000

Want to make a drive disappear in Windows or prevent users from accessing it? then here’s the tool you need. HIDECALC allows you to define the drives to hide or prevent access to. HIDECALC does not apply the change on the system itself, but provides various options for exporting the settings into the following formats:

Group Policy ADMX or ADM format
Registry File
Kix Script
PowerShell Script

So here’s how this works.

ToolTip: AD Photo Edit

Sat, 27 Aug 2011 15:10:18 +0000

Last night I came across this FREE utility called AD Photo Edit developed by Chris Wright which allows you to upload your picture into Active Directory. The result of doing that is that people who use Outlook 2010 can see your profile picture in the mail you send them.

Using AD Photo Edit is simple, just download and install the utility and launch it. Then enter your name and click the Search button. If AD Photo Edit finds your user object in Active Directory it will show your current Picture which is probably empty unless a picture was already uploaded.

Taking Group Policy beyond what’s in the box – Part2

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 10:01:29 +0000

In my previous post I provided a brief overview of how PolicyPak can take you beyond default Group Policy management. In today’s post I am going to show you how easy it is to get PolicyPak up and running in your test environment.

You can test PolicyPak on a local computer or within an Active Directory environment.

Now beside the awesome things PolicyPak can do, what I really like about this solution is that it just sits on top of what you already have, there is no need for any additional infrastructure to get PolicyPak going.

Using OpenSSH to access your Data @ Home

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:25:49 +0000

Today I want to show you one of the many possibilities to access your data remotely that you have stored on your home PC or Server using OpenSSH. Before going into the details let’s have a short look at my setup.

The Remote Network is can be at a friends place, in the office or a public hotspot where my notebook has either a public or private network IP address. Within the Home network we have an internet router that has a public and internal IP Address, the Home Server also has an internal IP address. So here’s what we need to get this up and running:

Taking Group Policy beyond what’s in the box – Part1

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:15:03 +0000

Group Policy is a fundamental part of a managed Windows infrastructure. Using Group Policy Objects (GPO) allows IT administrators to configure and lock down clients and servers providing a standardized and secure environment. But despite the fact that Group Policy technology is around since the introduction of Windows 2000 its use seems to be limited to the Windows operating system and Microsoft Application product suite. Unfortunately not many 3rd party software vendors provide built-in Group Policy based configuration support for their applications. If an application doesn’t provide native Group Policy support, the only possibility for IT administrators to configure and deliver application configuration settings is either by creating a custom ADM/ADMX template or use Group Policy Preferences. Here are the main problems with ADM/ADMX solutions:

ToolTip: Microsoft Screenrecorder

Mon, 08 Aug 2011 19:59:25 +0000

If you’re looking for a FREE and easy to use Screen Recorder then I suggest you head over to this TechNet Magazine March 2009 Utility Spotlight article. There you will find a description and download link for this little nice tool. If you’re using Windows 7, which I assume most of you do by now, read the note that the end of the article.

How to disable Office Ribbon Items using Group Policy

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:20:56 +0000

Today I am going to show you how to disable a Ribbon Item using Group Policy, Okay, what’s the deal you might think, simply find the item within the Office GPO settings and enable it. Right,almost, it’s just that Microsoft didn’t list all possible settings within the Office ADMX/ADML file, probably because there are too many of them. But there is a setting called “Disable command bar buttons and menu items” that you can enable and specify the Ribbon Policy ID.

All you need to know about Group Policy versioning

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 07:52:21 +0000

Ever wondered how the Group Policy versioning works? Below you find a number of articles and resources that provide a good insight how GPO versioning works.

Group Policy Team Blog – Understanding the Domain based GPO version number

TechNet - Displaying Version Properties of a Group Policy Object

MSDN - Group Policy: Core Protocol Specification (Details in section 3.3.5)

ToolTip: Copy Handler

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:26:27 +0000

You probably know that problem, you’ve started copying a bunch of files or folders from A to B and BANG at some stage you get an error or maybe you just have to move to another place and don’t have network connectivity for a short while. Copy Handler can help here.

Although Copy Handler also supports “moving” data, I do personally actually never move data, but rather first copy and then delete. Well possible that I am a bit conservative here, but I rather know something got copied properly before deleting something, if a move operation fails you might find yourself in an unpleasant situation.

Get the latest version of the GPOTool.exe

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 20:49:13 +0000

The latest version of the GPOtool is the one that is included within the Microsoft Windows 2003 Resource kit. That’s what we all used to know. BUT hey I just figured out a few days ago that there is actually an official newer version around it’s included within the Microsoft Product Reports Utility.

Here’s how to get it. When launching the mpsreports_x86.exe or mpsreports_x64.exe the utility extracts the files into the temp folder.

Have you checked your Group Policy Health lately?

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 20:19:35 +0000

Group Policies are an essential part of every Windows Client infrastructure and it’s therefore critical to regularly spend some effort to ensure that things are in a healthy state. I would define a healthy Group Policy infrastructure as following:

All Group Policies are correctly synched across all domain controllers
There are no unlinked Group Policies (unless it’s by purpose because we use them only ad-hoc for testing purposes)
There are no Group Policies that are completely disabled (unless it’s by purpose because we use them only ad-hoc for testing purposes)

ToolTip: Xperf123 simplify Windows Performance Data Collection

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:26:06 +0000

Those of you who have been using the Windows Performance Analysis Toolkit know of the many command line options xperf provides. Xperf123 solves that challenge by providing an intuitive user interface to configure and start a trace.

Xperf123 provides the following trace options:

General Base
Disk I/O
High CPU
Paged/Non Paged Pool
Working Set
Heap Leaks
Virtual Allocations (Memory Leak)
Wait Analysis
Shutdown
Reboot
Startup
Hibernation

Note that the Xperf123 download package has the 64 bit version included of the following tools. XPerf.exe, perfctrl.dll, xbootmgr.exe,
xbootmgrSleep.exe and xperf.exe. If you are running a 32 bit version of Windows 7 you must download the appropriate binaries from here

Tip: Quickest way to find out the installed Java version

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 16:44:16 +0000

To find out the Java version you have installed, simply open a command prompt and type

java –version

ToolTip: PwrTest (Testing Windows Power Management)

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 19:23:26 +0000

While reading the Microsoft Whitepaper Diagnosing Application Compatibility Issues Affecting Windows Power Management I came across a utility called PwrTest that can be used to diagnose sleep reliability issues and more… The below list shows the various options the tool provides.

 **Scenario**

 **Description**

 sleep

 for sleep/resume transition testing 

 battery

 for battery information testing 

 info

 for system capabilities information 

 es

 for thread execution state changes 

 idle

 for power idle statistics 

 ppm

 for processor power management testing 

 timer

 for system timer resolution statistics 

 disk

 for disk idle statistics 

 device

 for device idle statistics 

 monitor

 for monitor dimming and blanking statistics 

 requests

 for showing power requests 

 thermal

 for ACPI thermal zone monitoring 

 processidle

 for forcing idle/background tasks to be run 

 PwrTest.exe is part of the Windows Driver Kit that can be downloaded from [here](http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/confirmation.aspx?id=11800). You will need to download an ISO file that is approx. 620 MB, but no worries, no need to install the Full Driver Kit to get this utility. When launching the installer, just select the Tools.

The GatherNetworkinfo.vbs Script

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 20:17:37 +0000

I recently read the whitepaper“Using Windows Script Host and COM to Hack Windows” that is mentioning the GatherNetworkinfo.vbs script I hadn’t paid attention to yet. The gathernetworkinfo.vbs script comes by default with every Windows 7 installation and is located within the C:\Windows\System32\ folder.

The script does collect various networking information about the Windows 7 system and its configuration and dumps the information into the C:\Windows\System32\Config folder.

On a system where the script hasn’t been executed yet the Config folder looks as following:

Group Policy Settings for Silverlight 4 – FIXED

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:29:23 +0000

On the Microsoft Silverlight website you will find a page that describes the available Group Policy Settings for Silverlight as well as the content for the ADMX and ADML file. But… it doesn’t work because the code on the web contains a bug and a section is missing.

Within the silverlight.admx there is an unnecessary space and within the silverlight.amdl the section for SET_ALLOW_MAXIMUM_ISOLATED_STORAGE and ALLOW_MAXIMUM_ISOLATED_STORAGE_HELP is completely missing.

To get the Silverlight GPO working remove the space from ALLOW_MAXIMUM_ISOLATED_STORAGE_HELP and add the following section to the silverlight.adml file.

ToolTip: Path Copy Copy

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:05:13 +0000

During my bi-weekly CodePlex browsing session, I came across this nice little utility called Path Copy Copy which is an Explorer add-in for copying file or folder paths.

Download Path Copy Copy from here

Windows 7 Search Connector for Citrix eDocs

Tue, 24 May 2011 20:33:58 +0000

Here’s another Search Connector for Windows 7 I’ve just created. Start your Citrix eDocs search directly from the Windows Explorer.

Installing the Search Connector for Citrix eDocs

Download the citrixedocs.zip from here.
Extract the citrixedocs.osdx from the ZIP file
Double click on the osdx file
Click Add to install the Search Connector

To remove the Search Connector simply click on the Citrix eDocs Search Connector in Windows Explorer and select Remove. Then open windows explorer and navigate to C:\Users<user>\Searches (where is your username) and delete the file Citrix eDocs.searchConnector-ms

BGInfo Template for XenDesktop 5

Sun, 22 May 2011 22:48:26 +0000

During the past weeks I have spend a bit of time with Citrix XenDesktop 5 and while I was busy creating Desktop Groups, updating Master images, I thought i t could be helpful to see some information directly on the desktop. Show things on the desktop?, okay that’s a no-brainer, BGInfo from Sysinternals is what we need.

So I created a template for BGInfo that just shows the information I need when using XenDesktop.

ReadTip: AppLocker Technical Documentation for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Sat, 21 May 2011 11:18:16 +0000

The AppLocker Technical Documentation for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 provides technical guidance about understanding how AppLocker works and how to effectively plan and deploy AppLocker policies.

Download the documents from here

ToolTip: HDX Monitor for XenDesktop

Thu, 19 May 2011 23:00:07 +0000

If you experience poor performance using a XenDesktop session, video and audio is not playing nicely, the Windows Event log is showing messages as shown below, it’s time to take a closer look at what’s going on.

Network latency is above the level supported by HDX MediaStream for Flash. Server-side Flash rendering will be used if available.

Measured latency (milliseconds): 86

Citrix has a FREE tool available to validate the operation of HDX. The Tool is called HDX Monitor for XenDesktop and can be downloaded from here

Retrieve Windows Boot Time Script

Thu, 19 May 2011 00:42:14 +0000

Here’s a small batch script to get the Windows 7 Boot time shown in milliseconds.

@echo off
FOR /F “Tokens=4” %%a IN (’%windir%\system32\wevtutil.exe qe Microsoft-Windows-Diagnostics-Performance/Operational /rd:true /f:Text /c:1 /q:"*[System[(EventID = 100)]]" /e:Events ^| FIND “Duration”’) DO SET BTIME=%%a
ECHO Boot Time is : %BTIME%

Inspiration for this script came from the article Monitor System Startup Performance in Windows 7 written by Sean Wheeler for WindowsITPro.

ToolTip: Citrix Port Check (CtxPrtChk.exe)

Mon, 16 May 2011 15:22:37 +0000

Here’s a nice small and FREE utility from Citrix that allows you to test connectivity to a remote host on a specified port. In the example below I test if port 5900 (used for VNC) is open and listening.

Download CtxPrtChk from here

ReadTip: XenDesktop 5 MCS or PVS

Mon, 16 May 2011 06:51:02 +0000

If you’re planning to implement a XenDesktop 5 solution, you will have to think about using MCS (Machine Creation Services) or PVS (Provisioning Services). The XenDesktop Planning Guide for Image Delivery provides some guidance on this subject. The paper can be found here

Remote access to the XenServer Configuration Console GUI

Sat, 14 May 2011 13:07:04 +0000

The XenServer Configuration Console GUI can be accessed remotely by entering the following command at the prompt

xsconsole

ToolTip: Bits Monitor

Sat, 14 May 2011 09:40:48 +0000

Bits Monitor is a small FREE utility that displays BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service) activity.

Bits Monitor can be downloaded from here

Group Policy Settings to control BITS Bandwidth usage

Wed, 11 May 2011 23:32:59 +0000

I just read the article BITS – More Flexible Bandwidth Limit Policies on the Windows Management Infrastructure Blog which describes how BITS bandwidth usage can be configured through Group Policy settings. For Windows 7 (or computers with BITS 3.5 installed) there are 2 Group Policies that provide more granular control of BITS bandwidth usage during working / non-working days/hours and during scheduled maintenance days/hours.

The 2 GPOs can be found under Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Network -> Background Intelligent Transfer Service

PSExec launch script

Wed, 11 May 2011 15:10:32 +0000

Tired of typing the psexec command with all the command line options? Here’s a short PsExec launch script I wrote today. Using this allows you to just type the remote computer’s computer name or IP address and then launches the command prompt.

@echo off
Echo

SET user= *ADD USERNAME HERE
*SET pwd= ADD PASSWORD HERE

:START
SET /P Node=Computername or IP Address:
IF “%node%"==”" GOTO :START

Echo.
Echo Starting PSEXEC on %node%
Echo.
psexec -u %user% -p %pwd% \%node% cmd

ToolTip: CrystalDMI

Tue, 10 May 2011 15:09:14 +0000

The CrystalDMI utility allows you to read DMI (Desktop Management Interface) data. CrystalDMI is FREE and does not require installation. Download is available here

More information about DMI can be found here

ToolTip: Microsoft Safety Scanner

Sun, 08 May 2011 18:05:58 +0000

If you’re looking for a FREE Virus and Malware scanning tool that does not require installation, have a look at the Microsoft Safety Scanner tool. The software runs on Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista and Windows XP. I wonder why Server 2008 and 2008-R2 are not listed, but the fact that it does support Server 2003 makes it a perfect utility for my Windows Home Server.

Note that the Microsoft Safety Scanner does not provide Real Time protection, so consider this tool for scan and remove purposes when other software fails to remove a threat. Also note that the executable is about 70 MB and is only valid for 10 days, after that you must download the software again, witch contains the latest signature files.

Running a Custom Scan with Microsoft Security Essentials using a Batch Script

Sat, 07 May 2011 11:51:47 +0000

Here’s a small script I just wrote to perform an antivirus scan against a specified file.

@Echo off

FOR /F “Tokens=4” %%a IN (’“C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Client\AntiMalWare\mpcmdrun.exe” -Scan -ScanType 3 -File C:\TEMP\test1.wim -DisableRemediation’) DO SET THREAT=%%a
Echo.
if “%THREAT%"==“no” (
    color 2F
    Echo No Threats Found - All clean
    ) ELSE (
    color 4F
    Echo WARNING! Virus Found
)
Echo.
pause

If all is OK you get the following result

Tip: Broadcast your PowerPoint Presentation

Wed, 04 May 2011 18:59:09 +0000

Did you know that with PowerPoint 2010 you can broadcast your presentation over the internet? Well I didn’t. And I must say this is a really cool feature, especially when taking into account that sometimes it can be quite a challenge to get multiple participants join a virtual conference like Microsoft Live Meeting or similar live conference system. (especially when you collaborate with customers that work in a locked down environment and can’t install things themselves).

ReadTip: Group Policy for Beginners

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 06:41:23 +0000

Microsoft has released a document called Group Policy for Beginners which provides an overview of what you can do with Group Policies, the essential concepts and some step by step instructions to get you going. If you haven’t done anything with GPOs before and are just about to learn how this all works, this document is for you. I also recommend this document for project managers that haven’t done anything with GPOs in the past.

WatchTip: Dynamic Memory in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 21:37:17 +0000

There has been a lot of talk about Dynamic Memory in Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1. In this video Jeff Alexander provides an excellent 14 minute overview. Watch the video here

Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DART) Remote Connection Tool

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:07:58 +0000

Just a few weeks ago Microsoft released a public Beta version of the Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DART) 7. One of the new features of DART7 is the Remote Connection Tool. Okay, I agree this is not rocked science, actually I’ve written about this before using a VNC client, but now that it is included within the tool suite, it’s just there and ready to use.

Let’s have a look how this works. On the client side we boot the client into DART, this can be either from a DVD, USB, from the local disk or PXE boot. Note that when creating the DART media you must include additional network drivers for the clients you use, unless already supported by the out-of-the-box drivers included within PE.

Office Communicator–Do Not Disturb

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 06:15:17 +0000

Nowadays most enterprises use some sort of instant messaging solution like Jabber or Microsoft Office Communicator which now is called Microsoft Lync.

While there are many advantages in using an instant messaging client such as quickly asking someone for information instead of writing an e-mail, or check someone’s availability for a short phone call, there are also some disadvantages. First people always expect to get an immediate response, second there is a risk that people get too much sidetracked.

Windows 7 and Multilanguage Packs

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:34:43 +0000

Most of you actively dealing with Windows 7 deployments probably know about the Multilanguage Packs for Windows 7 , but since I do still get questions about this every now and then, I thought it’s worth to do a brief recap on this subject.

For the sake of simplicity I’ve created a Q&A based summary.

**Q: What is the default language of Windows 7
**A: The Windows 7 (as Vista) core operating system is language agnostic. In terms of licensing and language support Microsoft has the following definitions:

Extract Path with spaces from Registry value

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:38:05 +0000

I’ve been browsing through the Microsoft TechNet Forums to see whether I can learn something new or maybe give someone a helping hand. Now before I am going to show the solution I gave someone, let me first tell you this.

It was just before having diner that I read the question and already thought of a possible solution, but then it was time for diner, moving away from my laptop I thought it looks like the knowledge on the good old DOS scripting language is slowly disappearing. When I came back from diner I submitted the response (after creating a little test script first). Once I had submitted my response, I noticed that the question was already marked as answered so unfortunately someone was faster in responding than me. Now comes the funny part of the story, it was the person himself who had provided the answer by writing some** C#** Code to do the job. Now this makes me feel really old

Group Policy Settings for Windows Games

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:05:56 +0000

In Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise the Windows Games are not enabled by default. But if you have decided to include them in your corporate standard image or users with administrative rights enable them by themselves, you should consider using the following Group Policy settings.

 **Location** **Location** **Setting** **Description** Computer Configuration Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Game Explorer Turn off downloading of game information Manages download of game box art and ratings from the Windows Metadata Services.

 If you enable this setting, game information including box art and ratings will not be downloaded. 

 If you disable or do not configure this setting, game information will be downloaded from Windows Metadata Services.

 Computer Configuration Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Game Explorer Turn off game updates Manages download of game update information from Windows Metadata Services.

 If you enable this setting, game update information will not be downloaded. 

 If you disable or do not configure this setting, game update information will be downloaded from Windows Metadata Services.

 Computer Configuration Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Game Explorer Turn off tracking of last play time of games in the games folder Tracks the last play time of games in the Games folder.

 If you enable this setting the last played time of games will not be recorded in Games folder. This setting only affects the Games folder. 

 If you disable or do not configure this setting, the last played time will be displayed to the user.

ToolTip: Virtual CloneDrive

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 14:43:02 +0000

Here’s another FREE virtual CD/DVD clone drive utility. Virtual CloneDrive can mount and unmount most common image formats such as ISO, BIN and CCD.

 ![2011-04-25 16h43_50](images/2011-04-25-16h43_50_thumb.png) [

](images/2011-04-25-16h26_381.png)

Virtual CloneDrive can be downloaded from here

Scheduled Tasks for Windows Games

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:05:55 +0000

When opening the Windows Task Scheduler you might see a Task called “UpdateCheck_” located within the Games folder of the Task Scheduler Library.

To enable or disable this Task open the “Game Explorer” within Windows and then select options.

When selecting “Automatically check online for updates and news, then notify me when the’re available” a scheduled Task is automatically being created. When selecting “Never check online for updates or news, I’ll do it manually” the task if existed before is removed.

ToolTip: Dummy File Creator

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 13:01:34 +0000

A while back I wrote about how to create empty files using FSUTIL a windows build-in command line tool for managing FAT and NTFS file systems. Today I found a nice little free utility called Dummy File Creator created by Nikko Cheng.

You can use the GUI version (dummy.exe) or if you want to include generating dummy files within a script you can use the command-line based version (DummyCMD.exe).

Custom GPO Template for Start Menu–Highlight newly installed programs

Thu, 21 Apr 2011 12:18:49 +0000

This morning at the GP Answers community forum someone asked how to configure the Start Menu option “Highlight newly installed programs” via GPO. As it turns out this setting is not included within the out of the box GPO templates. Since I have a few days off I thought let’s give a little help here.

But before jumping into the custom ADMX template, let’s quickly look at the configuration setting itself. When installing an application the new created shortcut within the Start Menu is highlighted.

The Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program–Part 2

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 22:14:08 +0000

In Part 1 I explained the history, benefits and configuration of the CEIP. In part 2 we take a closer look at the SQM data processing and the involvement of the Windows Task Scheduler.

SQM Data processing

The following diagram was taken from the Corporate Customer Experience Improvement Program Client-to-Server Protocol Specification document and illustrates the CEIP data flow.

Once CEIP is enabled simply run a dir *.sqm /s command and you will see files with an SQM extension being stored in several locations. I haven’t been able to see the files while being processed, but according to the documentation, it should all go through the following folder before it gets uploaded to Microsoft.

Why a double click in the upper left corner closes the Window

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:02:36 +0000

Ever wondered why a double click in the upper left corner closes the Window although there is no close icon?

Well I have no proof for this, but assume that this is because in the early days of Windows, the only way to close a Window with the mouse was to DoubleClick on the Window Menu icon in the upper left corner as on the upper right side of the Window there were only buttons to minimize and maximize the Window.

The Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program–Part 1

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:53:38 +0000

The Microsoft Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP) collects information about how people use Microsoft products. The primary objective of this program is to solve problems and improve Microsoft’s products and features. During the past two days I have tried to get a better insight into what CEIP is really about, how it works and how it can be configured.

History

According to a blog post from Jensen Harris until the year 2003 the software design decisions at Microsoft were mostly supported by guesswork and that is not a shame because when looking around in these days, there are still many companies that make decisions based on a guess or an assumption. The MSN product group at Microsoft were the first that used the CEIP to collect data about the performance and usage of the MSN Client. Internally at Microsoft the CEIP is called SQM. Initially SQM was an acronym for Service Quality Monitoring but was later redefined as Software Quality Metrics. While SQM already existed in many Microsoft Applications, Windows Vista was the first Operating System where SQM was shipped as an OS component.

Windows 7–Windows System Assessment Tests (WinSAT)

Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:04:02 +0000

Hey there, today I am going to share some information I have gathered about the Windows System Assessment Tests aka as WinSAT. When WinSAT runs, various performance tests are executed for the following system components:

CPU
Memory
Graphics
Disk

Upon completion of the assessment tests, each component is given a score that is based on the Windows Experience Index. The overall score called “Base Score” is based on the lowest subscore of an individual hardware component. So what does the Base Score mean? Well Microsoft defines it as following:

Keep track of Global and Regional Windows 7 deployment status

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 17:54:18 +0000

During this week there have been various reports about Windows 7 passing Windows XP in the U.S. The numbers used come from StatCounter a web analytics service. While Windows 7 has passed Windows XP in the U.S, we’re not yet there globally.

Worldwide Windows 7 Deployment Status

Source: Global Stats

If you’re interested finding out how Windows 7 does in your region, simply go to StatCounter and select your region. Beside the operating system, you can also get statistics about Browser, Screen Resolution, Mobile Browser, Browser Version usage and a few more.

Using SUBST instead of a physical DVD or ISO mount utility

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 23:21:01 +0000

While running the BETA version of the Microsoft DaRT Recovery Image Wizard (part of the MDOP Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset) I get prompted to select the DVD Drive that holds the Windows 7 installation sources. Well unfortunately I have the ISO file available but not burned on DVD and since it’s already late I’m not really willing to find an empty DVD and burn one. Now one option is to use an ISO mounting tool like PowerISO, but while considering installing an ISO mounting utility another idea came to my mind. SUBST.

Running an Application as Administrator or in Compatibility Mode

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 22:55:43 +0000

Today someone in a forum asked how to programmatically configure an application so that it runs in compatibility mode. Configuring this manually is easy, just open the file’s properties, select the Compatibility tab and apply the required settings. On Windows 7 this then looks as shown in the picture below.

Now whatever we configure here, it all gets written to the following location in the Windows Registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers

ReadTip: BranchCache Learning Roadmap

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:30:34 +0000

Microsoft has published a BranchCache Learning Roadmap document. Download the document from here

This learning roadmap provides you with links to prerequisite information you need to understand and deploy BranchCache, and also provides links to BranchCache information from level 100 to level 300. In addition there are links to optional information that will enhance your ability to expand and manage your BranchCache deployment.

Online Windows Crash Dump Analysis

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 14:50:04 +0000

if you ever need to analyze a Windows Dump file but don’t have the Windows Debugging Tools available here’s a handy way of doing an online analysis of the dump file.

Get the Windows Crash Dump file from C:\Windows\Minidump, then ZIP the dump file and upload it on the OSR Online website via the Instant Online Crash Analysis Service.

http://www.osronline.com/page.cfm?name=analyze

After a while you get an online analysis report.

Using the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool with custom ISO files

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 15:51:32 +0000

Most of you are probably familiar with the Microsoft Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool which allows you to create a copy of your Windows 7 ISO file on a USB or a DVD. Now the Tool works great with the original Microsoft Windows 7 ISO files, but when you want to use the tool for your own customized Windows 7 installation ISO files you might get an error as shown below.

Using the Windows 7 Event log to check WLAN Link Quality

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:56:59 +0000

When using WLAN on a day to day basis we can see the WLAN signal strength via the Windows User Interface as shown in the screenshot below.

But there are other ways, and yes the approach might appear a bit inconvenient, but basically I want to demonstrate the Power of the Windows Event log. First open the Windows Event viewer (eventvwr.msc) and then within the View Menu enable the Show Analytic and Debug Logs option.

GPO Settings for Microsoft Security Essentials

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:52:34 +0000

With the release of the latest version of Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 in December 2010, Microsoft also changed the licensing terms.

***Small Business. *If you operate a small business, then you may install and use the software on up to ten (10) devices in your business.

Now although 10 PCs isn’t a lot, some Administrators might be interested in configuring their Microsoft Security Essential clients with a GPO. Fabien Duchene has created an Administrative template for MSE. Read more here

ToolTip: Test Poor Network Connectivity (TMNetsim)

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:56:41 +0000

A few days ago I found another utility for testing poor network connectivity. TMNetsim is a FREE utility provided by TMUrgent Technologies. TMnetsim is used to simulate a wide-area network for a single protocol. TMnetsim is primarily used to simulate network delay, however, in some (rare) cases it may be used to simulate packet loss or out-of-order delivery, as well as packet capture. (For more details read the provided tmnetsim.html file).

Observations for Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Error 0x800f0a12

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 19:02:38 +0000

During the past days I have been manually updating a few Windows 7 clients and on two of them I received the error 0x800fa12.

When clicking on the Go online link Microsoft mentions the several reasons that could lead to this error.

 The system partition isn’t automatically mounted, or made accessible to Windows, during startup.

 A hard disk containing the system partition was removed prior to beginning SP1 installation.

 Windows is running on a storage area network (SAN), and access to the system partition has been disabled.

```
 A disk management tool from another software manufacturer was used to copy (or clone) the disk or partition on which you’re trying to install SP1
```
Knowing my systems I could immediately exclude cause 2,3 and 4, so took a closer look at cause 1. Running the command MOUNTVOL /L showed the following result:

Microsoft Open Specifications Documentation for Group Policy

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:51:10 +0000

If you want to learn more about Group Policies then I suggest that you download and read the following documents:

MS-GPSOD]: Group Policy System Overview Document
http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/6/C/C6C3C6F1-E84A-44EF-82A9-49BD3AAD8F58/%5bMS-GPSOD%5d.pdf

MS-GPOL]: Group Policy: Core Protocol Specification
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232478(v=PROT.13).aspx

MS-GPDPC]: Group Policy: Deployed Printer Connections Extension
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232156(v=PROT.13).aspx

MS-GPEF]: Group Policy: Encrypting File System Extension
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232218(PROT.10).aspx

MS-GPFR]: Group Policy: Folder Redirection Protocol Extension
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232290(v=PROT.13).aspx

MS-GPIE]: Group Policy: Internet Explorer Maintenance Extension
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232356(v=PROT.13).aspx

MS-GPIPSEC]: Group Policy: IP Security (IPsec) Protocol Extension
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232415(v=PROT.13).aspx

MS-GPPREF]: Group Policy: Preferences Extension Data Structure
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc232587(v=PROT.13).aspx

Podcast: The Proper Fit for Desktop Virtualization

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 13:46:20 +0000

Last week I had a week off and went snowboarding with my family. Meanwhile my kids go too fast that I could follow them and my wife is a bit more fanatic in skiing than I am with snowboarding, so this leaves me with some time where I can listen to all those podcasts one downloads but never finds the time to listen to. Since I am rather a newbie within the Citrix space, it happened that I ended up listening to a podcast that is already 2 years old. This podcast however did in so many ways confirm my personal thoughts about Desktop Virtualization that I think it’s worth mentioning it again for those that haven’t listened to it yet.

Removing Backup Files Created during Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Installation

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 18:24:06 +0000

For the Windows Vista Service Packs there was vsp1cln.exe (SP1) and compcln.exe (SP2) to cleanup the backup files created during the Service Pack installation. For Windows 7 Microsoft did not provide a separate cleanup tool, but instead leverages the windows-build-in DISM tool.

To remove the backup files created during the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 installation run the following command from an elevated command prompt.

dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded

After successful completion you should get some disk space back.

ToolTip: CaptureScreen

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:33:47 +0000

Here’s another FREE Screen capture utility. Just download and run, no installation needed. Download and documentation can be found here

Exporting Windows Driver Store Information into Excel

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 21:16:51 +0000

To obtain detailed information about a particular driver that is prestaged within the Windows 7 driver store, you can run the following command.

Dism /online /get-driverinfo /driver: <path to driver inf file>

Now there is quite a lot of interesting information in here, imagine you are working on a Windows 7 project and you want to know if a particular device is supported by the Windows 7 build in drivers. Of course you can do a bulk export of all the drivers into text files (as explained in this earlier post) but wouldn’t it be nice if we could just have all the information consolidated in one Excel file or database?

Managing Wireless Configuration with NETSH

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:34:16 +0000

Today when I was using the netsh command to configure some firewall settings, I noticed that it also has options for WLAN. (Yes you never stop learning). When opening a command prompt and executing NETSH Wlan Help you get the following options.

add            - Adds a configuration entry to a table.
connect        - Connects to a wireless network.
delete         - Deletes a configuration entry from a table.
disconnect     - Disconnects from a wireless network.
dump           - Displays a configuration script.
export         - Saves WLAN profiles to XML files.
help           - Displays a list of commands.
refresh        - Refresh hosted network settings.
reportissues   - Generate WLAN smart trace report.
set            - Sets configuration information.
show           - Displays information.
start          - Start hosted network.
stop           - Stop hosted network.

ToolTip: Office 2010 Resource Kit Technical Library in Compiled Help format

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:10:42 +0000

For those that frequently need access to the Office 2010 Resource Kit, here’s an offline version available as downloadable CHM file. Download from here

In case you can’t open the CHM file, select file properties and Unlock the file.

A Security Baseline Resource for Windows 7–Internet Explorer and Windows 7 Firewall

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 20:51:35 +0000

If you are looking for some ideas how to secure your Windows 7 clients, have a look at the USGCB (The United States Government Configuration Baseline). The USGCB has been developed by the Department of Defense (DoD) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The documentation looks impressive and even if you aren’t going to apply all of these 1-1, it might give you some ideas on how to make your clients more secure.

Retrieve Group Policy size in SYSVOL folder with PowerShell

Mon, 24 Jan 2011 18:07:28 +0000

Needless to say that there are quite some benefits in using a central store for Group Policies, one of them is that you can prevent the so-called SYSVOL bloat. A good description of the SYSVOL bloat is described here. So how much size do my GPOs currently consume within the SYSVOL folder? I asked myself that question a few days ago and ended up with let’s say my first version of the GetGPOSize PowerShell script.

Wakeup Your Computer And Do Something

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 23:40:01 +0000

Assume you need to start a file transfer, a download or just execute a batch file once or on a regular basis in the middle of the night. What would you do? Most people will probably use some scheduling software and leave the system on until the task is scheduled to start in addition change the power settings so that the system doesn’t go into sleep or standby as this will prevent the scheduled task from running then.

BITSAdmin is deprecated in Windows 7 and 2008 R2

Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:38:07 +0000

Just recently when I created a script using BITSAdmin, I noticed the following text when running the BITSAdmin executable: BITSADMIN is deprecated and is not guaranteed to be available in future versions of Windows. Administrative tools for the BITS service are now provided by BITS PowerShell cmdlets.

So BITS with PowerShell landed on my to-look-at list, but just today I came across Ashley McGlone’s Blog – Big Downloads With Powershell which contains a sample script for BITS downloads using PowerShell. With all respect to PowerShell, I do hope Microsoft is not considering replacing all the handy command line tools with PowerShell cmdlets :-)

Restricting the use of Windows Virtual PC

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 18:38:34 +0000

Windows Virtual PC is a great feature of Windows 7, but unfortunately Microsoft did not consider to provide any Group Policy settings to control the use of it. In an enterprise or small business environment you might want to do the following:

Completely restrict the use of Windows Virtual PC (even if users have local administrative rights and can enable the feature)
Prevent the creation of additional Virtual machines other than the one you prepared for them such as an XPMode VM

ToolTip: Soluto–Improve your Windows Boot Performance

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 10:27:58 +0000

Hey here’s another cool application that can help improving Windows startup boot times. The Application is called Soluto and can be downloaded from here.

Using Soluto is a no-brainer, just install it, and reboot. Soluto will show you the applications that are executed during the Windows Boot process and then allows you to either pause or delay the application during future boots.

Mute Windows System Volume

Sat, 15 Jan 2011 17:46:36 +0000

I came across a forum post where someone asked how to programmatically mute the Windows System volume. So this is what I have found:

NirCmd

NirCmd from NirSoft is a small command-line utility that contains many smart functions like muting and unmuting the system volume.

To mute the system volume, simply run the following command

nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 1

and to unmute you run

nircmd.exe mutesysvolume 0

With VBScript

Another option is to use a VBscript, the following code I found here will mute or unmute the system volume

ReadTip: General (Windows) activation concepts (KMS/MAK)

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:37:38 +0000

A great article from Kevin Ledman - Microsoft Platforms Support, covering the following topics around Windows activation:

What is KMS?
What is MAK?
What do you consider your ‘current operating systems?
How do I know what I have available to me?
I see both keys on the volume website, so I guess I have both options. Now what?
I don’t have enough machines to use KMS, so I’ll use MAK. What do I do now?

ReadTip: Planning guide for Microsoft Office 2010

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:33:56 +0000

For anyone who is somehow involved in a Office 2010 deployment planning I strongly recommend reading the Planning Guide for Microsoft Office 2010. Microsoft just released an updated version. Don’t be shocked, the document counts 458 pages, but does contain a lot of useful and interesting information.

And in case you aren’t aware already about the KMS requirements for Office 2010, read the Office 2010 KMS Server Requirements blog post, I mention this often when speaking about Windows 7, Office 2010 and KMS, and it keeps being a big surprise.

Automated Microsoft Security Essentials Installation

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 22:30:08 +0000

For all those that frequently setup test machines and get tired of manually installing the Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0, here’s a straight forward batch file (even a regular user could use) that does the following:

Downloads the Microsoft Security Essential 2.0 (x86) installation source file
Installs Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0
Downloads and updates the virus definition signature file

[sourcecode language=“plain”] @ECHO OFF Echo Downloading Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 (x86) start /wait bitsadmin /TRANSFER MSE20 http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/en-us/x86/mseinstall.exe %TEMP%\mseinstall.exe

Inside the Windows 7 Driver Store–Part 2

Tue, 04 Jan 2011 01:03:03 +0000

Since I wrote my previous post Inside the Windows 7 Driver Store, I continued exploring the content of the Driver Store. The results are as following:

Classes & Unique Hardware IDs

 **Windows 7 Enterprise 32 Bit** **Windows 7 Enterprise 64 Bit** **Class Description** **Hardware Ids** **Class Description** **Hardware Ids** 61883 Device Class 4 61883 Device Class 4 AVC Devices 15 AVC Devices 15 Batteries 11 Batteries 11 Bluetooth Radios 69 Bluetooth Radios 69 Computer 2 Computer 1 Disk drives 31 Disk drives 31 Display adapters 499 Display adapters 500 DVD/CD-ROM drives 5 DVD/CD-ROM drives 5 Floppy disk drives 12 Floppy disk drives 12 Floppy drive controllers 1 Floppy drive controllers 1 Human Interface Devices 204 Human Interface Devices 205 IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers 87 IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers 87 IEEE 1284.4 compatible printer 100 IEEE 1284.4 compatible printer 100 IEEE 1284.4 devices 118 IEEE 1284.4 devices 118 IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers 17 IEEE 1394 Bus host controllers 17 Imaging devices 594 Imaging devices 594 Keyboards 136 Keyboards 136 Media Center Extender 4 Media Center Extender 4 Medium Changer devices 225 Medium Changer devices 225 Memory devices 1 Memory devices 1 Mice and other pointing devices 104 Mice and other pointing devices 104 Microsoft Common Controller For Windows Class 6 Microsoft Common Controller For Windows Class 6 Modems 3935 Modems 2695 Monitors 1797 Monitors 1797 Multifunction adapters 52 Multifunction adapters 52 Network adapters 3903 Network adapters 3641 Network Protocol 6 Network Protocol 6 Other devices 2 Other devices 2 PCMCIA adapters 98 PCMCIA adapters 98 Portable Devices 64 Portable Devices 64 Ports (COM & LPT) 100 Ports (COM & LPT) 92 Printers 2151 Printers 2151 Processors 55 Processors 55 SBP2 IEEE 1394 Devices 1 SBP2 IEEE 1394 Devices 1 SD host adapters 12 SD host adapters 12 Security Devices 4 Security Devices 4 Sensors 1 Sensors 1 Smart Card Filter 1 Smart Card Filter 1 Smart card readers 22 Smart card readers 22 Smart cards 4 Smart cards 4 Sound, video and game controllers 437 Sound, video and game controllers 413 Storage controllers 2085 Storage controllers 2086 Storage volume shadow copies 1 Storage volume shadow copies 1 Storage Volumes 1 Storage Volumes 1 System devices 1479 System devices 1448 Tape drives 303 Tape drives 303 Transfer Cable Devices 40 Transfer Cable Devices 40 Universal Serial Bus controllers 530 Universal Serial Bus controllers 530 Unknown device class 17 Unknown device class 17 Windows SideShow 6 Windows SideShow 6 **Total** **19'352** **Total** **17'789**

Manufacturers

The below table shows those Manufacturers that have the most unique Hardware IDs within the Driver Store. I had to do some data consolidation, as some vendors seem to use several ways for writing their company name within the INF file. (Some room for improvement here).

Windows 7 Device Installation Without Administrative Rights

Fri, 31 Dec 2010 02:00:07 +0000

This year I have had the opportunity to speak with many customers about Windows 7. One topic that came up in almost every discussion was about how mobile users can install their local devices without having to grant them local administrator rights. With previous versions of Windows (NT 4, Windows 2000 and XP) many companies ended up in granting their mobile users local administrator or power user rights, just because they needed to have the flexibility of installing drivers for their local devices. While in the past the need for installing a local device was primarily for local printers, nowadays where people use multiple devices there is also a demand to support mobile phones, headsets and cameras.

ToolTip: DriverStore Explorer

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:12:59 +0000

In my previous blog post Inside the Windows 7 Driver Store I explained how to retrieve information about the Windows in-box drivers. Beside the in-box drivers the driver store also hosts the drivers installed via Windows Update or the native OEM provided driver installation package.

The Driver Store Explorer utility provides a GUI interface for the Windows Driver Store. So instead of using pnputil (read Vijay’s post for details) or dism, the Driver Store Explorer allows you to list 3rd party drivers that are already installed within the driver store. Furthermore the tool also allows you to prestage, install or delete drivers from the driver store. The below screen shot is taken from a fresh Windows 7 installation running within a Citrix XenDesktop 5 environment.

Inside the Windows 7 Driver Store

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:37:19 +0000

The driver store is a trusted location of inbox and third-party driver packages. This means that before a driver can be installed it must first be injected into the driver store, this process is called staging. Today I want to take a closer look at what is inside the driver store specifically the drivers that are included within Windows 7. The driver store is located under C:\Windows\System32\Driverstore.

To get list of all drivers installed (staged) within the driver store, open an elevated command prompt and enter the following command:

Prevent the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool from formatting the USB flash drive

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 01:28:06 +0000

If you want to install Windows 7 from USB you can use Microsoft’s Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool which you can download from here. By default the tool requires that the USB disk is being erased before copying the Windows 7 installation media, hence you get the following messages.

This is a bit laborious, because sometimes you might want to store some additional files on your installation media, instead of having to store it elsewhere. I came across a small comment at the bottom of the Tools website about how to prevent the tool from erasing / formatting the USB drive prior copying the installation media.

Additional Windows 7 Search Connectors

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 15:39:54 +0000

One of my favorite features of Windows 7 is Federated Search allowing users to search remote data sources from within the windows Explorer. I wrote about this feature earlier in Windows 7 Search Provider and Finding Group Policy Settings through Windows 7 Search Connector. Today I created and found some additional Search Connectors for sites and blogs that I read frequently. You can download the Win7SearchConnect_collection1.zip from here

 ![2010-12-18 16h35_46](images/2010-12-18-16h35_46_thumb.png) The following Windows 7 Search Connectors are included

```
 GPO Guy 
```
```
 GP Answers 
```
```
 Group Policy Center 
```
```
 Group Policy Team Blog 
```
```
 Microsoft TechNet Windows 7 
```
```
 Anything About IT 
```
```
 Citrix Knowledge Base
```

ReadTip: How to use Group Policy Preferences to Secure Local Administrator Groups

Sat, 18 Dec 2010 14:27:41 +0000

As we come to the year’s end I was doing some housekeeping in my home lab. Too many unused VMs, ad-hoc created Accounts etc. In the end I thought why not apply the same methods we apply within our enterprise environments and so I did. I was actually just about to blog how I solved the local Administrators group management through group policy preferences, but before I started writing that down I thought let’s see if this has been blogged already on one of the well known Group Policy blogs, and so it was. Alan Burchill wrote a very good article about How to use Group Policy Preferences to Secure Local Administrator Groups. Now even if you already know about Group Policy Preferences and local Administrator group management, I recommend that you read the “How to add individuals to a single computer?” section, very smart approach I hadn’t considered yet.

ToolTip: Network Emulator for Windows Toolkit

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 23:01:11 +0000

While watching the Deep Dive on Designing a BranchCache Infrastructure presentation I noticed the Network Emulator for Windows Toolkit (NEWT) that Tyler Barton was using to simulate a slow network link during his BranchCache demo.

After a quick search I’ve found a compiled version for 32 and 64 bit here provided by Marco Pol. NEWT is a Very useful easy to use tool if you want to simulate a slow network connection for testing BranchCache, Group Policies, Software Distribution or just for demonstration purposes.

ToolTip: Windows Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit

Sat, 20 Nov 2010 17:13:40 +0000

As seen for previous service packs, Microsoft released an update of the Service Pack Blocker Tool Kit for those that would like to temporarily prevent installation of Service Pack updates through Windows Update. Download and details here

ToolTip: RAMMon–Retrieve Memory Module Information

Wed, 17 Nov 2010 21:44:52 +0000

Plan to add more RAM to your PC? What memory module do you need? Here’s a nice FREE (for personal use) tool called RAMMon.

RAMMon is an easy to use Windows based application that allows users to quickly retrieve the Serial Presence Detect (SPD) data from their RAM modules. It will allow users to identify a multitude of attributes, of which, includes the manufacturer, the clockspeed and other data of their DDR2, DDR3, XMP and EPP memory devices and even some older memory types.

Adding Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DART) to your Windows 7 boot menu

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:47:26 +0000

Last weekend I went through the Microsoft TechEd 2010 presentations and one of the presentations that got my attention was “Keeping Windows Running Effeciently with the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset”. Presentation video and slides from this session can be found here (TechEd USA) or here (TechEd Europe)

The Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset is part of the MDOP Toolset. If you’re not familiar I recommend watching the TechEd presentation or read more here. One interesting concept they speak about is to deploy DART to the client so that it can be started through the Windows 7 Boot menu. DART is a superset of the Windows Recovery Environment which is installed by default with Windows 7. Today I am going to show you how you can install DART on your local system and add an additional boot menu option. In a later post I plan to explain how to actually replace the Windows 7 default Recovery Environment with DART.

Control Windows 7 Scheduled Maintenance Behavior Through Group Policy

Sun, 07 Nov 2010 15:35:23 +0000

This week one of my customers send me the Microsoft support article KB978980 – Desktop Shortcuts disappear in Windows 7 and the request to make sure this wouldn’t happen to his clients. In short, if a user creates a shortcut that points to a location that isn’t available at the time when the weekly scheduled system maintenance task is running, the shortcuts are considered as broken and therefore automatically deleted.

In the support article Microsoft doesn’t really provide a fix to solve this problem but rather describes 2 workarounds that don’t sound feasible to me.

ReadTip: Microsoft Office 2010 - Under the Hood Investments for Hardware and Performance

Mon, 01 Nov 2010 19:04:57 +0000

This whitepaper highlights the broad range of hardware supported by Microsoft® Office 2010 and describes the significant improvements in performance available in Office 2010. Results from internal testing by Microsoft are included to demonstrate the measurable performance gains users can experience when performing common tasks using different Office 2010 applications. These results indicate that in some cases uses can expect performance gains of 90% or higher compared with using corresponding Office 2007 applications.

There’s no reason to wait for Windows 7 Service Pack 1

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 14:24:37 +0000

This week Microsoft released the Release Candidate (RC) of Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1. Some companies follow the rule of not deploying a new Windows operating system before the release of the first Service Pack, however for Windows 7 there is simply no need for postponing deployments because SP1 doesn’t add any new features but only addresses some minor usability issues. On the Windows client operating system side SP1 is basically a rollup of hotfixes and security updates released since Windows 7 RTM.

ToolTip: SMB BranchCache deployment Diagnosis script

Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:59:16 +0000

Just found this SMB BranchCache deployment diagnosis script on MSDN Code Gallery.

The Test-SMBBranchCache script is used to find common SMB BranchCache misconfiguration issues. It allows a user to verify the SMB BranchCache server or client configuration. When run on a server, it can test the state of a BranchCache-enabled network share. When run on a client, it can do an end-to-end validation of the SMB BranchCache functionality.

Download documentation and diagnosis script from [here](Diagnosing a BranchCache deployment for the SMB protocol)

Creating Group Policy Objects with PowerShell

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 16:52:03 +0000

In my previous post I wrote about how to create Group Policy reports using the Group Policy PowerShell CmdLets. Today I want to share with you my first hands-on experiences with creating a Group Policy using PowerShell.

But first, why would one use PowerShell to create Group Policies? Well here are a few use cases:

You are a Consultant and always start your Group Policy Implementation with a set of GPOs including your best practice settings.

ReadTip: Enhanced Branch Office Productivity and WAN Bandwidth Savings with Microsoft BranchCache

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 20:09:32 +0000

For those who are in the decision making process of using BranchCache, I strongly recommend to read the Enhanced Branch Office Productivity and WAN Bandwidth Savings with Microsoft BranchCache Report from Edison.

Microsoft commissioned the Edison Group to create and run a series of tests designed to provide quantified data to illustrate the effects of the file transfer acceleration provided by using Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with BranchCache enabled. The result of the testing shows that file downloads were, on average, 69 percent faster with Windows 7 with BranchCache than for Windows XP and 66 percent faster than for Windows Vista. Bandwidth utilization averaged 58 percent less for Windows 7 with BranchCache versus Windows XP and 53 percent less than Windows Vista. This document explains the tests and presents the test results.

ToolTip: UbitMenu for Office 2007 and 2010

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:46:29 +0000

For those that do still struggle with the Office Ribbon here’s a nice add-on from Ubit Software that brings back the classic menu for Office 2007 and Office 2010.

UbitMenu for Office 2007 and 2010 is free for private use. Download UbitMenu from here

Creating Group Policy Reports with PowerShell

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 19:14:43 +0000

I’ve had this on my “must do some hands on” list for months, finally found some time to play a bit with the new PowerShell Group Policy CmdLets that where introduced with Windows 7. For today i decided to work with the Get-GPO and the Get-GPOReport CmdLets.

The Get-GPO CmdLet allows you to list one or all GPOs that exist in a domain. If you know the name and want to know when it was last modified, simply type Get-GPO

Preparing the Bitlocker Partition

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:10:19 +0000

For the use of Bitlocker two partitions are required, this because pre-startup authentication and system integrity verification must occur on a separate partition from the encrypted operating system drive. Now let’s assume you started deploying Windows 7 with just a single partition, but a few months later your company decides to use Bitlocker Disk Encryption. Now you need that second partition!

Not t0o many years ago, when speaking about repartitioning disks most of us would immediately think of some smart 3rd party tools like Partition Magic, but nowadays that’s not necessary anymore Windows 7 provides that functionality natively. For more details on how to Shrink an existing partition read my other post Shrinking your System Drive.

Creating a Steady State for Windows 7

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 19:20:10 +0000

For those who manage Windows XP or Windows Vista computers in a school computer lab, internet cafe or library, Microsoft provides a tool called Windows SteadyState. If you want to know more about Windows SteadyState then I recommend reading the Windows SteadyState Handbook or FAQ.

But hey, who cares about Windows XP or Vista nowadays? What about Windows 7? Well unfortunately Windows SteadyState doesn’t support Windows 7 and it appears that Microsoft has no plans to provide a newer Version that does support Windows 7. But Microsoft did recently publish some guidance on how to get a Steady State for Windows 7.

Tip: How to troubleshoot KMS Activation problems

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:16:43 +0000

Here are some good resources for KMS troubleshooting:

MS KB 938450 How to troubleshoot Volume Activation error codes on Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista-based computers.

TechNet article How to troubleshoot the Key Management Service (KMS)

A quick look at the Windows PowerShell Module for Intel vPro

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 18:41:44 +0000

In a previous post Using Intel AMT Power Management @ Home I wrote about how to use Intel AMT Power Management at home or let’s say in an environment where you don’t have systems managed by an infrastructure that provides integrated support for Intel AMT.

Now Intel has released a PowerShell Module for Intel vPro. You find all the details in the following blog posts.

Intel Core vPro Processor PowerShell Module - Release & Introduction

Extracting CAB files from Microsoft Update Standalone Package (MSU)

Sat, 04 Sep 2010 13:08:01 +0000

When manually downloading a Microsoft Security Update or hotfix for Windows 7 (Vista) you typically get a file with an MSU file extension. A file with an MSU extension is a Microsoft Update Standalone package.

Microsoft Update Standalone Packages are installed through the Windows Update Standalone Installer WUSA.EXE which is located in the C:\Windows\system32 folder. If you need to install many updates you could create a script like the one below.

Finding Group Policy Settings through Windows 7 Search Connector

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:44:18 +0000

Since the release of Windows 7 and Server 2008-R2 we have about 3000 Group Policy Settings available to centrally configure and manage Windows clients and servers. Though some among us might have worked with GPO settings from the early days on, knowing about the existence of each and every available setting is nearly impossible. It still happens to me that while I am configuring a specific GPO setting, I do come across other GPOs I didn’t knew of yet.

ToolTip: Interactive menu to ribbon guide

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:58:07 +0000

Having difficulties finding menu and toolbar commands in Office 2010? Here’s a nice tool called the Interactive menu to ribbon guide. You can either download the offline versions here or access the guide directly from the web here.

Windows 95 turns 15, Windows 1.0 - 25

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 15:17:48 +0000

There’s a lot of talk about Windows 95 in these days as it’s 15 years ago when Windows 95 was launched. Well if all are so much in “Operating System Birthday” celebration mode, then let’s not forget that soon it will be 25 years ago since Microsoft released the very first version of Windows 1.0.

More Windows Desktop OS History can be found here. What happened in 1985 here and in 1995 here.

And believe it or not, Windows 1.0 still runs :-)

ReadTip: For IT professionals: Deployment guide for Microsoft Office 2010

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:33:09 +0000

Microsoft recently published a deployment guide for Microsoft Office 2010. The content in this book is a copy of selected content from the Office 2010 Resource Kit Technical library. Download the guide from here

XP Mode within the Enterprise

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 20:50:34 +0000

Last week I had a Windows 7 planning meeting with one of our clients and like in any other Windows 7 related meeting that i have had in the past months with other customers, the topic about XP Mode was brought up. It appears that when speaking about application compatibility, first thing people think of is XP Mode. To be honest I don’t blame them, because when XP Mode was first introduced in April 2009 during the Windows 7 Beta phase it was promoted as a possible workaround for Application Compatibility issues and therefore got a lot of attention. The message almost sounded like “There is no barrier to move to Windows 7 because if you run into an application compatibility issue, you can always use XP Mode”. So what’s your point? Well, while the statement as such is absolutely true, there are a few things to consider when we speak about computers that run in an enterprise environment.

WatchTip: AppTitude: Recorded Demo

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:11:07 +0000

Seeing is believing – watch this 20 minute recorded demonstration of the AppTitude application testing and application remediation platform to learn how to accelerate your Windows 7, Microsoft App-V, Citrix XenApp, 64x, Windows Server and IE8 projects. . Video here (one-time registration required).

NxTop – Managing Client Hypervisors becomes a reality

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:21:14 +0000

When I watched the VirtualComputer NxTop video on DABCC last week, I was pretty impressed about what Doug Lane was showing us there. Especially after the release of the XenClient from Citrix the bare metal client hypervisor got a lot of attention. Now while Citrix just released it’s first public version of a client hypervisor, VirtualComputer seems to be a big step ahead, especially when we take into account the management of hypervisor based clients.

ToolTip: Cool PDF Reader (only 650KB)

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:52:29 +0000

As written in my previous post, I have just finished installing a Server 2008 R2 to conduct a proof of concept. I have also some PDF documents that I will use for reference. So I was just about to install some PDF reader software, but then I thought, hey why “install” software, there must be something small out there that allows me reading a PDF file without having to install anything on my fresh installed server.

Enable Wireless (Wi-Fi) in Windows Server 2008 (R2)

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 18:14:29 +0000

I was just about to drop a post on how to enable Wi-Fi in Server 2008 (R2) as I just bumped into this when installing a Server 2008 R2 on a HP 8730p notebook and found out that by default this Service isn’t enabled, which makes sense as usually Servers don’t use a Wireless connection.

But why rewrite something others did already. Read more about enabling Wi-Fi on Server 2008(R2) here.

ReadTip: Is BranchCache right for remote, serverless software distribution?

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 08:46:58 +0000

BranchCache is a new feature available in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 that reduces WAN bandwidth usage and improves application responsiveness when workstations in a remote location access content from the head office or data center by downloading and caching content on the local network as it is requested, making it immediately available to other clients that subsequently request the same content.

This paper examines the BrachCache functionality specifically in the context of software distribution using System Center Configuration Manager 2007 to determine if it is an optimal solution for the deployment of software, patches and operating systems to remote, serverless branches.

There was a time…. (another one)

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:12:47 +0000

……. I’m in history mode again, here’s another nice Tech Commercial.

There was a time……

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:42:47 +0000

……..where you couldn’t just download forgotten or lost installation media from the internet or your company portal.

ToolTip: Domain Time LMCheck

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:21:00 +0000

Refreshing my knowledge a bit on Time Synchronization, NTP etc. and came across this utility. It’s FREE and doesn’t require installation.

The Domain Time LMCheck test tool lets you assess the current time of all the Windows machines on your network quickly and easily. It uses the built-in LAN Manager NetRemote TOD (Time of Day) function to check the time on all the machines in the browse list.

LMCheck can be downloaded from here

Windows 7 Compatibility Search

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 22:52:19 +0000

Just came across the Windows 7 Compatibility Search provider, allowing you to do a quick Windows 7 compatibility check for an application or hardware. Download and install the Windows 7 Compatibility Search Provider from here

Optimizations for Virtualized Windows 7 clients

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:18:51 +0000

Just found these two blog posts that describe some Registry and Services optimizations when running Windows 7 as a virtual client.

Windows 7 Registry Optimizations for Virtual Desktops

Windows 7 Optimization – Disable Services

Thanks to Daniel Feller for sharing this

Bring Your Own Computer – Part 1

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:04:02 +0000

The first time I became familiar with the term Bring Your Own was when I traveled through Australia with my wife and oldest son back in the year 2000. It basically means that you are allowed to bring your own bottle of wine to a restaurant and just pay a corkage fee.

Nowadays we hear a lot about companies that consider implementing a BYOC policy meaning that they allow their employees to bring their own computer to work. The idea behind this concept is that companies intend to save money by allowing their users to use their own personal computer instead of having to provide them with a company owned device. In simple words, companies give their employees some money and tell them: *Go buy yourself a PC with a 3 year warranty contract, if you have a problem later, fix it yourself. *

ReadTip: Best Practice: Active Directory Structure Guidelines

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:04:54 +0000

Alan Burchill author of the Group Policy Center blog has posted 2 great articles on Best Practices for Active Directory Structures.

Best Practice:Active Directory Structure Guidelines – Part 1

Best Practice: Group Policy Design Guidelines – Part 2

Least Privilege Security for Windows 7, Vista and XP

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 18:48:26 +0000

Yesterday I received a pre-release copy of Russel Smith’s book called Least Privilege Security for Windows 7, Vista and XP. The book is entirely dedicated to the subject of running Least Privilege Security (or standard user accounts) on Windows operating systems in the enterprise.

The book has 420 pages and covers the following topics:

Chapter 1, An Overview of Least Privilege Security in Microsoft Windows
Chapter 2, Political and Cultural Challenges for Least Privilege Security

ReadTip: How Microsoft IT deployed Office 2010

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 17:15:38 +0000

If you are planning deploying Office 2010 throughout an enterprise read this.

ToolTip: BootRacer

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:51:23 +0000

When Microsoft developed Windows 7 a dedicated team was assigned to focus on startup performance. For details, read the Engineering Windows 7 – Boot Performance blog post. So what about your startup performance? . My colleague Rudi vanden Dries has been using a utility called BootRacer since a few months which provides a simple way of measuring system startup performance.

Documentation, Download details and a short demonstration video can be found here

Head-to-head analysis of Citrix XenDesktop, Microsoft VDI, Quest vWorkspace, and VMware View

Fri, 02 Jul 2010 06:27:49 +0000

Ruben Spruijt has published an updated whitepaper “VDI Smackdown” which provides you with an overview of today’s VDI solutions. More details here

ToolTip: Network Delay Simulator

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:03:00 +0000

How long does it take to copy 1 GB over a slow network connection? How fast does my virtual application start? Today I came across a nice FREE utility called Network Delay Simulator.

Network Simulator tool allows you to perform network bandwidth and delay simulation (simulate slow/congested links between nodes) on any connection from your computer to any remote node (on the local LAN or remote over Internet).

More information and download links can be found here

ToolTip: checksum

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:50:37 +0000

Today’s ToolTip is about a utility called checksum and guess what, it can create and verify checksums. But beside all the other checksum utilities i came across so far this one has some nice features that make it worth mentioning it.

First it’s fast. I created a checksum for the Windows 7 x64 ISO file and it was about 15 to 20 seconds faster than other checksum utilities. Another feature that I like is that it can not only create checksums for individual files, but also for folders and it’s entire content. Checksum fully integrates into the Windows Explorer context menu but can also be launched from the command line.

Windows Mobile 6.1 Hot Fix for Sending POP and IMAP E-mail

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 19:26:33 +0000

Once again, there is always a solution for every problem, it’s just that it can take a while until you find the solution.

Since months I have had issues with “sending” e-mails from my Windows Mobile 6.1 device. I have several mail accounts configured on my mobile, but the one that is configured to use IMAP simply wouldn’t work.

Today I stumbled upon a patch that fixes this. If you happen to have the same problem then download the Windows Mobile 6.1 Hot Fix for Sending POP and IMAP E-mail from here

Troubleshooting Windows Update

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:04:06 +0000

Issues with installing Windows Updates? Then have a look at the following Microsoft Support Articles:

KB971058 How do I reset Windows Update components?

KB947821 Description of the System Update Readiness Tool for Windows Vista, for Windows Server 2008, for Windows 7, and for Windows Server 2008 R2

ToolTip: Screenpresso

Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:39:24 +0000

I have seen many FREE Screen Capture tools, but this one beats them all. Screenpresso is a small FREE Screen Capture utility that comes with a lot of nice features and doesn’t require an install.

Screenpresso can capture windows, regions, context menus and objects within dialog boxes. Furthermore the tool includes an integrated image editor that allows you to apply various effects such as adding Text, draw a rectangle, blur a selected region and add reflection.

Testing Network Speed – Another one

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:34:45 +0000

Back in April i posted an article about Testing Network Speed, here’s another nice utility that allows testing your network speed, and even more. The Utility is called DownTester and is part of the awesome tool collection from NirSoft.

DownTester allows you to test the download speed via HTTP, FTP, Remote File Shares and any local drives such as your local drive, DVD and USB.

The Tool is FREE and does not need to be installed.

What you should know about the Win32_Product Class

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 20:55:15 +0000

I just read this very interesting article “Why Win32_Product is Bad News!” and if you’re a Desktop Systems Administrator I strongly recommend to the read that article as well. To simulate what Darren is writing about, simply open an elevated command prompt (on a Test system) and type WMIC, once WMIC has started type Product and confirm with Enter.

All installed Products will be listed. Now open the Windows Event Viewer. (Eventvwr.msc) and open the Applications log. As shown in the picture below that simply query caused all installed applications to be reconfigured.

Saving on WAN Costs with BranchCache

Sat, 29 May 2010 19:48:52 +0000

In this video Oliver Rist, Technical Product Manager at the Windows Server group, talks about BranchCache, the Features, the usage modes and the benefits.

Watch the video here or download the Transcript from here

Windows 7 Search – Part2

Wed, 26 May 2010 20:43:36 +0000

Well this isn’t really the Part2 I intended to write, but I just stumbled upon some interesting content that relates to Windows 7 Search, and wanted to share this. Part3 will follow in the near future.

TechNet: Windows Browse and Organize Features
A post from Ray: Windows 7 Libraries: This network location can’t be included because it is not indexed

BranchCache Step by Step Guides

Wed, 26 May 2010 15:57:32 +0000

These two BranchCache Step by Step guides provide practical guidance for setting up BranchCache in Distributed or Hosted Cache Mode within a test network.

Download the BranchCache Hosted Cache Mode Step by Step Guide here
Download BranchCache Distributed Cache Mode Step by Step Guide here

XenApp Demos from the Cloud

Tue, 25 May 2010 11:41:54 +0000

In these days we hear a lot about Desktop Virtualization and Application Virtualization. Last week-end someone asked me what I was currently doing and I told him that beside my normal day job, I am doing a number of Citrix trainings. Now let me mention that this person is just a regular user who doesn’t know anything about managing an Enterprise IT infrastructure, leave alone he would understand what Virtualization technology is about. Heck… how to explain Application Virtualization, Streaming, VDI to an ordinary mortal?

WatchTip: History of Citrix

Mon, 24 May 2010 19:54:21 +0000

Those who are following my blog on a regular basis know that I am also interested in the history of IT. Since in these days Citrix (especially XenDesktop) has a high ranking on my personal list of interests, I spend some time today to find some information about the History of Citrix. So here we go:

A Deep Dive Into the 20 Year History and Technical Developments of Citrix Systems, a video from BriForum 2009 (Highly recommend this one, very interesting !).

WatchTip: Video demo of AppDNA AppTitude from MMS 2010

Mon, 24 May 2010 11:30:10 +0000

Application Compatibility in these days is a hot topic. Watch this Demo and find out how AppTitude from AppDNA can help you to speed up your Application Compatibility analysis and remediation effort.

Watch the video here Source: BrianMadden.com

Windows 7 Search - Part1

Sat, 22 May 2010 13:48:49 +0000

Federated Search is one of the new features introduced with Windows 7. A few weeks ago I wrote another post about the Windows 7 Search Provider and demonstrated how to use a search connector that allows searching web content from within the Windows Explorer. Today I want to demonstrate how to extend Windows Search to find content on a remote network location.

To allow users searching content that is stored on a remote File Server, Windows Search must be enabled. On Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 Windows Search can be configured through the File Services Role.

ToolTip: Microsoft Product Support Reports and Microsoft Product Support Reports Viewer

Tue, 18 May 2010 23:16:18 +0000

If you get tasked to do some system troubleshooting and you just want to get as many information possible from a client, then have a look at the Microsoft Product Support Report Tool and the Product Support Reports Viewer.

The Microsoft Product Support Reports Viewer 2.0 can be downloaded from here and the Microsoft Product Support Reports from here

First launch the Microsoft Product Support Tool, which is a self-extracting executable (no installation needed). Once launched you can select the diagnostics you want to execute, then select Next to get the Diagnostic (Data Collection) started. Note that depending on the diagnostics selected, this process can take a while (up to 25 minutes).

Windows 7 Product Activation Methods

Mon, 17 May 2010 19:44:17 +0000

Today I was asked whether Windows 7 Ultimate can be activated through KMS, since we’re primarily busy with Windows 7 Enterprise I couldn’t instantly provide an answer (I prefer to first check out things instead of providing an incorrect answer). So unless I have overlooked something…… only Windows 7 Professional and Enterprise can be activated using a KMS Infrastructure.

Source: Windows Partner Activation Guide

Frequently Asked Questions About Volume License Keys

Mon, 17 May 2010 19:29:35 +0000

A good FAQ about Microsoft Volume licensing. Details here

Support for Windows XP 64 Bit

Mon, 17 May 2010 17:11:25 +0000

As most of you probably know by now, support for Windows XP SP2 ends on July 13, 2010. Well that’s for the 32 bit version of Windows XP, but what about Windows XP 64 bit, knowing that there isn’t an SP3 for that one?

I found the answer within the End of Support FAQ where it states:

*Q: If I have 64-bit Windows XP, do I also need to apply Service Pack 3?
A: *No, you don’t. There is no Service Pack 3 for the 64-bit version of Windows XP. If you are running the 64-bit Windows XP with Service Pack 2, you are on the latest service pack and will continue to be eligible for support and receive updates until April 8, 2014

ToolTip: Win7 Library Tool

Sun, 16 May 2010 13:51:02 +0000

A nice FREE Tool to manage Windows 7 Libraries. Download from here

I also recommend reading Administratively Create and Modify Windows 7 Libraries.

Production of an SSD from start to finish

Thu, 13 May 2010 20:56:02 +0000

I’ve been reading a bit about SSD (Solid State Disks Today) and came across a video about the production of an SSD from start to finish. Interesting!

Video Source: TweakTown

XenClient – Bringing the Hypervisor to the client

Wed, 12 May 2010 23:03:24 +0000

I had the pleasure to look at the XenClient a few months ago when it was still under development, but now anyone can download it from the XenClient Citrix web site. Never heard of XenClient before? Well then watch the video, I’m sure one or the other is going to like this.

Office 2010 KMS Server Requirements

Wed, 12 May 2010 21:54:12 +0000

Although I have been working with Office 2010 for a while, I wasn’t aware of the KMS Server specific requirements until today when we were asked to load the Office 2010 KMS key into one of our customers KMS servers.

A dedicated server is not needed to run KMS for Office 2010. A KMS host is a lightweight service, and you can co-host an Office 2010 and Windows KMS host. However, only Windows Server 2003, volume editions of Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 R2 are supported as Office 2010 KMS hosts

BookTip: Group Policy – Fundamentals, Security and the Managed Desktop

Fri, 07 May 2010 16:34:15 +0000

Today I’ve received a signed copy of Jeremy Moskowitz latest Book “Group Policy – Fundamentals, Security and the Managed Desktop”, so instead of using my laptop I guess I’ll be holding a real book in my hands this weekend.

Jeremy also published 3 FREE chapters:

**Bonus Chapter 1 **- Scripting Group Policy Operations with Windows PowerShell (co-written with PowerShell MVP Jeff Hicks.)
**Bonus Chapter 2 **- Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPMv4)
**Bonus Chapter 3 **- Full Lockdown with Windows SteadyState

What you should know about Office 2010 64-bit

Thu, 06 May 2010 20:13:00 +0000

If you are in the process of deciding whether to deploy Office 2010 32-bit or 64-bit, I recommend to read through the following content. Note that Microsoft recommends installing Office 32 Bit even on Windows 7 64 bit.

TechNet - 64-bit editions of Office 2010
Understanding 64-Bit Office
Compatibility Between the 32-bit and 64-bit Versions of Office 2010
64-bit Client Installation of Microsoft Office 2010
Office Resource Kit Blog - Office 2010 64-bit editions
4SysOps - Office 2010 – 64-bit vs. 32-bit – Part 1: Installation
Microsoft Office 2010 Technology Guarantee: FAQ

Extending User Information in AD – 64 Bit support

Thu, 06 May 2010 19:31:30 +0000

Back in 2008 I wrote about Extending User Information in AD. Today I came across a blog post mentioning that there is now an unsupported 64 bit version available. More details and download here

ReadTip: Deployment guide for Microsoft Office 2010

Tue, 04 May 2010 19:43:34 +0000

This book covers information about the fundamentals of Deploying Microsoft Office 2010. Get it here

Choosing the right Server Edition for your BranchCache deployment

Mon, 03 May 2010 21:01:53 +0000

Windows Server 2008 R2 is available in multiple editions. If you’re planning to deploy BranchCache it’s important to consider installing the right server edition as there is a difference in the provided functionality between the different server editions.

**Windows Server 2008 R2 BranchCache Features
** Source: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/r2-differentiated-features.aspx

BranchCache Content Server
Source repository, located at the main office, for the content that is accessed by client computers in branch offices. Content may reside on either a file server with the BranchCache for Network Files role service of the File Services server role installed, or on a Web server or BITS-based application server with the BranchCache feature installed. Content servers transmit content to branch offices using the BranchCache-compatible protocols.

Palm Memories

Sun, 02 May 2010 19:27:21 +0000

This week HP announced to acquire Palm. Palm?, oh yeah those that created the Palm Pilot. I remember well, it was somewhere around 1996 and 1997 when several of our users users came up with this thing called Palm PDA and wanted to synchronize their calendars with our E-Mail system Lotus Notes. Nowadays we just connect our mobile phone to our PC and things magically start to synchronize, I can tell you this wasn’t the case then.

Where’s the ANY KEY

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:30:46 +0000

Go to the Where is the ANY KEY website and read tails on IT fails, Have fun.

Troubleshooting a printer problem:
Me: sorry your printer doesn’t work I need to get a driver from the internet
User: Is it far this internet?
Me: mmm?
User: I can drive you there
Me: ……………yea would be great

Source: tayduck

Migrating to Internet Explorer 8

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 21:12:44 +0000

Companies that are in the process of planning a Windows 7 migration, will be required to pay some attention to Internet Explorer 8 and web site compatibility. Chris Johnson aka “The App Compat Guy” put together two video’s about how to migrate from Internet Explorer 6 to 8. The videos talk about the potential challenges , testing methods, workarounds and solutions to support companies with a smooth migration. Thrive Live! Migrating from IE6 to IE8 (Part 1 of 2) and Thrive Live! Migrating from IE6 to IE8 (Part 2 of 2)

ToolTip: SuperFlow

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:36:31 +0000

Just learned about these SuperFlows, although some of them were already released a while ago, for some reason I missed that one, well you can’t keep up with everything. Just installed 3 of them, really cool stuff. If you’re dealing with SCCM or App-V, give it a try.

The SuperFlow interactive content model provides a structured and interactive interface for viewing documentation. Read more (SCCM) here and (App-V) here

**Available SuperFlows
**System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Software Updates Synchronization SuperFlow
Software Updates Synchronization SuperFlow
Software Update Deployment SuperFlow
SuperFlow for Operating System Deployment via PXE
Application Virtualization Sequencing SuperFlow

Office 2010 Administrative Template files and Office Customization Tool

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:06:40 +0000

Microsoft published the Office 2010 Administrative Template files (ADM, ADMX/ADML) and Office Customization Tool. Get it from here

Windows 7 – User Account Control

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:08:36 +0000

Today I spend a bit of time in refreshing my UAC knowledge, below a listing of the content I’ve been reading and watching.

Reading (Blogs & TechNet)
User Account Control in Windows 7 Best Practices
UAC Architecture
Inside Windows 7 User Account Control
The Windows 7 UAC Slider, and What You Can Do on Windows Vista Today
Engineering Windows 7 - User Account Control
UAC Prompt From Java: CreateProcess error=740, The requested operation requires elevation (ShellExecuteEx Runas Example)

ToolTip: XP-More

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 13:19:51 +0000

XP-More is a tool that helps manage Windows 7 Virtual Machines (XP Mode and any other). Specifically, it makes duplication of VMs a no brainer - no more raw XML editing and manually duplicating files.

More Information and download details can be found on the CodePlex XP-More project page

Testing Network Speed

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 15:34:34 +0000

There many tools out there that can measure the network speed between 2 computers, but either you have to pay for them or you need to go through a lengthy installation or configuration process. I want something that is FREE and easy to use. Here’s what I end up with after 30 minutes of browsing the web and doing some test installs of the various tools I found.

Test TCP Utility

ToolTip: Group Policy Search

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 11:44:37 +0000

Reading my e-mails near the end of my vacation I received a link to this great web based GPO Search Tool. The tool is quite self explaining, so if you’re dealing with Group Policies have a look here

Windows 7 Enterprise Training

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 08:46:15 +0000

One of the objectives of deploying a new operating system within an Enterprise is to provide end users with a state of the art Operating System that builds the foundation for adopting new technologies and to increase end user productivity.

IT departments usually spend months in preparing an enterprise wide desktop deployment and by doing so they automatically get familiar with all the new functionality and features of the new Operating System. But what about the end users? Most end users are not involved in all the preparation and planning activities, hence they will only see the new Operating System on the day their PC is being migrated.

Using Hard Links – Part Two

Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:40:38 +0000

In my previous post Using hard Links – Part One I explained how Hard Links work. Today’s post is about using hard links with USMT 4.0 in a Windows XP to Windows 7 migration scenario.

A typical client migration scenario for an end user usually consists of the following processes:

User Data and Settings backup
Operating System Migration
Application Installation
User Data and Settings Restore

When migrating to previous versions of Windows in most cases IT support personnel first had to copy the users data of the machine to an external USB device or network drive, this depending on the volume of data could consume quite some time, then when the new OS was installed that same data had to be restored back to the local device. With the release of USMT 4.0 IT Engineers can now design a migration process that leverages hard link functionality, which means that there is no need anymore to copy the data off the device that is being migrated. You can imagine that this will significantly speed up the overall duration of migrating a client to Windows 7.

Forefront vs. the competition

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 19:09:57 +0000

With two customers telling me within just one week that they both have plans to replace their existing client security solutions with Microsoft Forefront Client Security I thought it’s about time to get a better understanding of the FCS product. After having visited the Microsoft Forefront Client Security product page I continued searching the web for additional information and stumbled upon the Forefront vs. the competition blog post on Microsoft-NOW.

MED-V Trim Transfer

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:19:17 +0000

Today I have spend some time in taking a look at MED-V. I reviewed MED-V already about a year ago, but had not touched it since then. Microsoft just recently released an updated version of MED-V as part of the MDOP suite. While configuring a Workspace, my attention was caught by the “Clients should use Trim Transfer when downloading images for this Workspace” setting that is shown within the Virtual Machine Tab.

MED-V demo videos

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:01:17 +0000

If you’re planning to do some hands-on with MED-V I recommend that you have a look at these MED-V videos.

Windows 7 Search Provider

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:57:53 +0000

Inspired by the Windows 7 Federated Search blog post I created a Search Extender for my Anything about IT blog. You can download the Anything About IT Search Provider from here

Once you have downloaded the ZIP file, unpack aait.osdx and double click to install. You will see the following message. Click Add to install the Anything about IT Search Provider.

Once installed you can directly search for content on Anything about IT from your Windows Explorer.

RDP Copy Paste Ramblings

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:05:36 +0000

Today I had a problem with copy pasting some content from a RDP session to my local client. I was quite surprised that this didn’t work since I have been using this quite often recently. But as so often, the answer to my problem was quickly found in Google. It appears that I have become so used to work with Windows Server 2008 and 2008-R2 that I had simply forgotten that if you want to use the copy paste functionality to copy files between a Server 2003 RDP session and a local client, you must configure a local drive redirection.

End of Support for Windows XP SP2 – Deploy XP SP3

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 19:27:24 +0000

On July 12, 2010 Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack will reach end of support, for most companies this shouldn’t come as a surprise as this has been widely communicated when Microsoft released Windows XP Service Pack 3. however it appears that some companies didn’t took these message too serious then, but now suddenly realize that July 12, 2010 is just a few months ahead of them.

Many people have still in memory the challenges they faced with Windows XP Service Pack 2, this because this in fact was more than what people knew as being a Service Pack. Windows XP Service Pack 2 was not just a rollup of security and product fixes, but also contained various technology updates (Network protection, Memory Protection, Web Browsing security and Computer Maintenance). In these days the famous word was Trustworthy Computing and this was what Windows XP Service Pack 2 was about. From a technical and security perspective Windows XP Service Pack 2 was definitely a big step forward, but many companies faced quite some challenges in deploying it especially with regard to application compatibility.

ToolTip: Hardlink Scanner

Sun, 11 Apr 2010 14:31:55 +0000

Here’s another nice utility I found today called Hard Link Scanner. Hard Link scanner is a command line tool that scans directories for hard linked files.

Download Hard Link Scanner from here

ToolTip: Link Shell Extension

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 16:53:49 +0000

Earlier this week I wrote about using Hard Links. By doing my research on this subject I came across the Link Shell Extension utility. As the name says the utility extends the shell with additional options to create hard and symbolic links. So if you don’t want to type commands at the command prompt to create a hard link, this utility is just right for you.

Additional very detailed documentation and utility download links can be found here. Also look at the History of the utility, the first version was released in 1999 but the most recent version dates from February 2010.

NetWare Support Lifecycle

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:04:21 +0000

Remember this one? If not, it’s the Novell NetWare Console. Although I don’t consider myself as that old yet, i had the pleasure of working with Novell NetWare 3.11 and later editions until 4.1 myself until our customers started moving to Microsoft’s Active Directory as of the the year 2000.

Anyway the reason why I actually started this post, was just to make people aware (in case they weren’t already) of the the fact that Novell’s NetWare is facing it’s end.

Using Hard Links – Part One

Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:28:45 +0000

Nowadays we often hear the term Hard link in conjunction with Windows 7 deployments, this because the User State Migration Tool 4.0 aka USMT now provides support for hard links. The advantage of using hard links is that there is no explicit need to copy the data away from the machine before installing Windows 7. I plan to write about USMT 4.0 and the use of hard links in another post. The purpose of this article is to provide a practical understanding of what hard links are and how to create them.

Windows ActiveX Installer Service

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 21:55:01 +0000

Managing ActiveX Components within an enterprise sometimes can be a pain. Users with standard user privileges by default can’t install ActiveX components, hence whenever a larger group of users require an ActiveX component you usually end up creating a software package and distribute it via Software Distribution or you provide them with temporary Administrative rights. But if the clients are running Windows Vista or Windows 7 there is another solution available I noticed many people aren’t aware of, hence that’s why I am writing this article.

ToolTip: SoftPerfect Connection Emulator

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 17:29:58 +0000

Today’s ToolTip is about SoftPerfect Connection Emulator SCE. As the name says the software allows you to emulate different connection types. Unfortunately the tool is not for free, but I found the software nice enough to give it a try and eventually buy it especially since I haven’t been able to find a free alternative yet.

SCE allows you to simulate different network speeds such as modem, ISDN or DSL. You can either choose one of the predefined speed settings or configure your own. Furthermore you can configure the Latency and Packet loss rates. I tested SCE by configuring various network speeds and then used Speedtest.net to check the results and they were very accurate.

ReadTip: Optimizing Group Policy Performance

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 16:48:57 +0000

This is an excellent article written by Darren Mar-Elia author of gpoguy.com and founder of sdmsoftware. The article provides guidance for optimizing Group Policy Performance. Read the entire article here

ReadTip: What's New in Folder Redirection and User Profiles

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:31:46 +0000

Windows 7 introduces some improvements for Folder Redirection and User Profiles. If you are planning to use these technologies make sure to read the What’s New in Folder Redirection and User Profiles document.

Group Policy Script Processing Behavior

Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:18:11 +0000

If you are preparing for a Windows 7 deployment and use GPO based startup and logon scripts you should be aware of the default processing behavior in Windows 7. Read the details here

Source: Ask the Directory Services Team blog

ToolTip: Service Trigger Editor

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:56:13 +0000

if you found the previous post Windows 7 Service Triggers interesting, then you will like this utility too. The Service Trigger Editor provided by Core Technologies Consulting LLC is a FREE utility providing a UI to list and edit Service Triggers.

The Tool can be downloaded from here and is ready to run (no installation required)

Windows 7 Service Triggers

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:46:22 +0000

When taking a closer look at the Services in Windows 7 you will notice that many of them are configured to start manually but will be started when needed. For more details read my earlier posts Windows Services, what changed from Vista to Windows7 Part1 and Windows Services, What changed from Vista to Windows7 – Part2.

The technology behind starting Services when needed is called Service Triggers that were introduced with Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. If you want the full inside scoop on Service Triggers I recommend that you read through the content listed below.

BlogTip: Group Policy Center

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:49:20 +0000

Being generally interested in Group Policy Management I was more than happy to stumble upon this blog today called the Group Policy Center – A very nice blog with News, Tutorials, Tips and Tricks about Microsoft Windows Group Policy.

Redirect Computers Container in Active Directory

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:10:09 +0000

When joining a Computer to an Active Directory domain using the Domain Join UI in Windows or a command line tool such as NETDOM.EXE, by default the computer object is stored in the Computers container which is defined as the default Container in Active Directory for new created Computer objects.

The disadvantage of this is that you cannot link any Group Policies to the Computers container which prevents you from applying any Computer security or configuration settings to these clients.

Intel KVM Remote Control and VNC Viewer Plus

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:52:37 +0000

Back in December 2009 I posted Remote Management of AMT/vPro machine with WinPE and VNC which explained how to use VNC running in WinPE to remotely manage a vPro enabled device. For those that did try this themselves will have noticed that the process isn’t as comfortable as we would like it to be for day to day use.

But with the Introduction of Intel’s AMT version 6.0 which includes KVM Remote Control and VNC Viewer Plus the scenario of managing a remote device in any state without installing any software on them isn’t wishful thinking anymore, it’s there.

ToolTip: WSUS Workgroup ClientSettingManager

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 10:52:43 +0000

I just found another nice FREE Utility that any Systems Engineer should have who deals with WSUS. The Tool allows you to configure a client’s WSUS settings without having to manually apply any registry settings or you can use the Tool for Troubleshooting purposes. If your clients receive WSUS configuration through Group Policy Settings, you can use the tool to see if all settings are applied correctly.

The Tool also provides some additional useful functions such as:

Windows XP Mode no longer requires Hardware Virtualization Technology

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:43:14 +0000

Microsoft has released an updated version to run XP Mode on clients that do not have Hardware Virtualization Technology. Read the details here

WatchTip: Creating a Firewall Rule to Allow ICMPv4 Echo Requests

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:01:28 +0000

Windows 7 with the Firewall enabled by default does not allow ping requests, hence when you ping a remote Windows 7 client it will not respond.

In this WebCast John Baker explains how to configure the Firewall to respond to ICMPv4 Echo Requests.

Watch the WebCast here

App-V Management Server Setup and SQL Server Configuration

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:01:02 +0000

During the Installation of the App-V Management Server on a Windows Server 2008 with SQL Server 2008 Express installed I ran into an problem specifying the database server and got an error as shown in the picture below.

The installation program could not connect to the configuration data store. Please see the installation log file for more information.

I solved the problem by opening the SQL Server Configuration Manager and enabled TCP/IP in the SQL Server Network Configuration options.

Office 2010 Resources

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:48:15 +0000

On march 4th Microsoft communicated on their Office 2010 Engineering blog that they are on Schedule with Office 2010 and will release it to manufacturing next month. For Enterprise customers Office 2010 will be available as of May 12th, consumers will get Office 2010 in June.

Microsoft Office 2010 Site

Planning, configuration, deployment and compatibility guides can be found here

Microsoft Office ONRAMP Site

Office OnRamp is the BPIO execution package that launches Office 2010 to the Enterprise business. Office OnRamp helps you drive the conversations you need to have with TDMs, ITPros and end users to renew EAs, drive Office 2010 deployment and win new EA business. OnRamp provides a complete set of orchestrated activities and marketing materials that give you the tools you need to demonstrate the value of Office 2010 in the BPIO framework and WIN!

SQL Server 2008 Express Setup Challenge

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:46:58 +0000

I’ve spend about 2 hours tonight getting SQL Server 2008 Express installed on a Windows Server 2008 system…….. Launched the installation package, it started extracting it’s content, it made an attempt to launch the embedded setup.exe and then…..Nothing.

The temporary folder that holds the extracted installation files got deleted and all that was left was the below error log.

03/09/2010 23:22:48.079 ======================================================================
03/09/2010 23:22:48.235 Setup launched
03/09/2010 23:22:48.282 Attempting to determine media source
03/09/2010 23:22:48.329 Media source value not specified on command line argument.
03/09/2010 23:22:48.360 Setup is launched from media directly so default the value to the current folder.
03/09/2010 23:22:48.407 Media source: c:\3c583b87cb85226328b6ae0c9d\
03/09/2010 23:22:48.454 Attempt to determine media layout based on file ‘c:\3c583b87cb85226328b6ae0c9d\mediainfo.xml’.
03/09/2010 23:22:49.454 The folder ‘c:\3c583b87cb85226328b6ae0c9d' does not contain a valid media info file ‘mediainfo.xml’.
03/09/2010 23:22:49.517 Setup closed with exit code: 0x84C4001E
03/09/2010 23:22:49.579 ======================================================================

ToolTip: Rogue DHCP Server Checker

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:36:33 +0000

If you ever experience an issue where clients don’t get correct IP addresses or your PXE Service might not work or respond, then before knocking on the Network guy’s door, you might want to run the RogueChecker utility. The RogueChecker utility is a nice little FREE tool that can help detecting rogue (misconfigured or unauthorized) DHCP servers in your network.

To get the tool reporting a rogue server I enabled both the Microsoft DHCP server and the integrated DHCP Service on our Wireless Access point.

ReadTip: Making Applications Compatible with Windows 7 in a Virtualized Environment

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:14:13 +0000

Often people think that App-V is is an Application Compatibility Solution, it’s not. Chris Jackson has written an excellent article where he explains this in detail. Read the entire article here

The Argument against Disabling IPv6

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:09:54 +0000

Last Friday I met with some friends I used to work with in the past and we had some talk about Windows 7 and IPv6. One had mentioned that they would explicitly disable the IPv6 on the client systems, this because they would not use it and they wanted to avoid unnecessary network traffic on their LAN/WAN.

Back home I did some searches on the internet and found the below statement in the Support for IPv6 in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 Microsoft TechNet Magazine article.

App-V Visio Stencil

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 16:06:55 +0000

Just found a nice Visio Stencil for App-V on Kirx.org. Well done ! Get the stencil from kirx.org

SQL Server 2008 Express Installation Sources

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:31:27 +0000

I got a bit confused by all the different SQL Server 2008 Express downloads that exist, so spend a little time in getting some insight. If you want to download SQL Server 2008 Express you have the following options:

 **Package** **Download** Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Express Edition Service Pack 1 [Download](http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=01AF61E6-2F63-4291-BCAD-FD500F6027FF&displaylang=en) Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Express with Tools [Download](http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=7522A683-4CB2-454E-B908-E805E9BD4E28&displaylang=en) Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Express with Advanced Services [Download](http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=B5D1B8C3-FDA5-4508-B0D0-1311D670E336&displaylang=en#filelist)

Then I recommend reading the following blog posts. What’s up with SQL Server 2008 Express editions provides an overview of the supported feature of each distribution. The SQL Express 2008 family is getting bigger gives a good insight what the different installation packages do contain.

ReadTip: Choosing the right App-V Delivery Model

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:58:08 +0000

If you’re planning on deploying App-V, but still busy with thinking of how you will get the virtualized applications to your end users I strongly recommend that you read the whitepaper “Choosing the right App-V Delivery Model” from Ment van der Plas.

The document provides an excellent overview of the different App-V delivery scenarios and their pros and cons.

Compatibility pack for SMS 2003 SP3 adds Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 as supported clients

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:50:40 +0000

Looks like the statement “SMS 2003 does not support Windows 7” isn’t valid anymore. Through an internal e-mail I learned that Microsoft has released a Compatibility Pack for SMS 2003 that adds Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 as supported clients. However don’t get too excited, if you want to benefit from OS deployment features, you still need SCCM 2007. Also note that that Mainstream support for SMS 2003 ended on January 12,2010.

Updated MS10-015 Security Update and Kernel Update Compatibility Assessment Tool

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 22:49:20 +0000

During the past weeks we have seen quite some messages about the MS10-015 security update which can cause bluescreens after being installed. According to a recent post on the Microsoft Security Response Center blog there is a revised installation package for MS10-015 that prevents the update from installing if abnormal conditions exist such as an infection of a computer virus as the Alureon rootkit. More details about the updated MS10-015 security update can be found here

Configuring App-V Standalone Mode through Group Policy

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 00:17:58 +0000

If you plan to use the Microsoft App-V Stand-Alone Mode some Registry Settings are required for the Application Virtualization Client as described in detail on this App-V site here. But instead of setting these registry keys manually or through a custom script, you can also manage these settings through Group Policy.

First download the Microsoft Application Virtualization Administrative Template (ADM Template). The ADM Template provides configuration options for the App-V 4.5/4.6 Client settings such as Client Permissions, Client Interface behavior and Client Communication Settings.

ToolTip: SoftPerfect Network Scanner

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:00:43 +0000

Just found another nice FREE Utility. As the name says SoftPerfect Network Scanner allows you to scan your network and allows you to find any IP, NetBIOS or SNMP enabled devices. The tool also supports Remote WMI, Registry and Service access that can be customized to your own needs.

The Tool does not require installation. Download SoftPerfect Network Scanner from here

Collect BranchCache Bandwidth data using PowerShell

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:49:12 +0000

If you have BranchCache deployed within your enterprise environment you might be interested in the
BranchCache Bandwidth Saving Calculation PowerShell Script for the SMB Protocol which allows you to collect and measure the amount of WAN bandwidth that is saved by your BranchCache deployment.

Get the documentation and script from here

End of Support for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Vista (with no service packs installed)

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:14:58 +0000

Be aware of the upcoming End of Support for Windows Vista (RTM) and Windows XP SP2. More details here. Also read End of support for Windows 2000 and Extended Support phase transition for Windows Server 2003 here

Tip: Download more than 2 files at once (Internet Explorer)

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:19:19 +0000

I had thought that by now this is something everybody knows, but unfortunately that is not the case, so that is why I post this one today.

By default, Windows Internet Explorer 7 and earlier versions limit the number of files that you can download at one time to two. Windows Internet Explorer 8 limits the number of files that you can download at one time to six. More details here

Windows 7 RC Expiration dates

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:55:02 +0000

if you are still running Windows 7 RC you might have noticed the expiration notification, if not then be aware that as of March 1st 2010 your client will automatically reboot every 2 hours. Conclusion, it’s about time to move to RTM. More information here

ViewTip: Application Virtualization (App-V) Video Series

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:15:12 +0000

Learn how to configure App-V; create, publish, and update virtual applications; and create and manage policies for virtual applicationss. The videos can be downloaded from here

Intel AMT 6.0 KVM Remote Control

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:54:17 +0000

Back in December 2009 I wrote an article about Remote Management of AMT/vPro machine with WinPE and VNC the reason for using VNC is because until AMT 5.0 only text based console redirection is supported, hence AMT 5.0 does only support text based operating systems, so if we wanted to remotely manage a PC to fix a problem we ended up using DOS or Linux based recovery media or a solution as described in the above mentioned article.

ViewTip: Vista to Win7 transition bug

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:28:04 +0000

This week Jeremy Moskowitz wrote about a Vista/Win7 GPO bug in his weekly newsletter you should know about if you are transitioning to Windows 7.

If you are a systems administrator dealing with Group Policies I strongly recommend to sign-up to Jeremy’s Newsletter.

If you use Vista as your GP management station, and are transitioning to Windows 7 policy definitions, be careful of this bug !

Microsoft DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant (DCA)

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:12:36 +0000

For those of you that do already use Windows 7 DirectAccess or plan to do so in the near future have a look at the Microsoft DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant (DCA).

The Microsoft DirectAccess Connectivity Assistant (DCA) helps organizations reduce the cost of supporting DirectAccess users and significantly improve their connectivity experience. DCA informs mobile users of their connectivity status at all times; provides tools to help them reconnect on their own if problems arise; and creates diagnostics to help mobile users provide IT staff with key information if necessary—all to help customers operate with more efficiency, and at a lower cost.

ToolTip: Fiddler HTTP Debugging Proxy

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:36:48 +0000

During an Application Compatibility webcast I attended recently the presenter mentioned the Fiddler Tool. There are many network traffic monitoring Tools out there, but if you are just after capturing HTTP traffic, this one should get your attention.

Fiddler is a Web Debugging Proxy which logs all HTTP(S) traffic between your computer and the Internet. Fiddler allows you to inspect all HTTP(S) traffic, set breakpoints, and “fiddle” with incoming or outgoing data

Engineering Windows 7 still alive - Windows 7 Battery Notification Messages

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 23:01:54 +0000

After months of silence (last post was on August 10, 2009) a new blog post was added on the Engineering Windows 7 blog. Looks like there is something to say about Batteries. Read the full story about “Windows 7 Battery Notification Messages” here

Related articles:
ToolTip: Power Plan Assistant for Windows 7

Citrix XenClient a bare metal client hypervisor

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:26:42 +0000

Today Hypervisors are classified into two types. Type 1 is the so-called native bare metal hypervisor and type 2 the hosted hypervisor. Within the server based computing world there are various products available based on Type 1 (VMWare ESX Server, Citrix XEN Server) or Type 2 (Microsoft Hyper-V, VMWare Server).

Within the Desktop computing space most of us have rather been using Type2 based solutions such as VMWare Workstation or Microsoft VirtualPC.

Architectural blueprint for Desktop Virtualization

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:10:17 +0000

In this video Daniel Feller shares some best practices on how to design a Desktop Virtualization solution.

**Additional Resources
**Consulting Whitepapers for XenDesktop 3.0
Ask the Architect: Next-Generation Desktop

Pending FileRename Operations

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:36:28 +0000

When installing Applications or operating system hotfixes the installation process sometimes requires replacing or deleting files that are in use, if that is the case these files can only be replaced or deleted during the next system reboot.

When you plan to install multiple applications in a row you can run into the situation where an application cannot be installed due to a pending FileRename operation from a previous application installation. So if you plan to install several applications in a row without a reboot, it’s highly recommended to check if a given application does actually require a reboot or not. If you launch the installation process manually you will most likely get a “Reboot required” prompt at the end of the installation. But if you run your installation packages in silent mode with the REBOOT=ReallySuppress option you will not notice if a reboot is required or not.

ToolTip: Foxit PDF Reader

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:26:25 +0000

Yesterday evening I was reading Justin Rodino’s blog post “Dear Adobe, I Don’t Want Your Stupid Desktop Icon (nor your software anymore)” where he mentions the Foxit Reader which is an alternative PDF Reader.

Since the Adobe Reader has become the de facto standard for reading PDF files, most people don’t spend any thoughts on replacing it by another software product. Personally I don’t have much of an issue with the desktop shortcut it creates (Justin does..), but I have always been wondering why the Adobe Reader has such a large footprint. A fresh install of the Adobe Reader 9.03 takes approx. 213 MB, when removing the Setup Files which are left in the application installation folder, the Reader still consumes 99 MB. To install Adobe Reader you must first download the Adobe Reader installer which is 27 MB.

End-to-End WAN Optimization with BranchCache (External)

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 23:54:09 +0000

If you have an interest in Windows 7 BrachCache Technology I recommend reading the TechNet Magazine article “End-to-End WAN Optimization with BranchCache”.

Extending Wallpaper search locations

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:59:12 +0000

When opening the “Change Desktop Background” Control Panel Windows by default uses the “Windows Desktop Backgrounds” picture location which is the content stored under C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper

In addition to the Windows Desktop Backgrounds location Windows also let you choose a Wallpaper from other locations such as the Picture Library, Top Rated Photos, Solid Colors or you can simply browse and select a Wallpaper that is stored anywhere on your computer.

But there is another option, that I figured out today and wanted to share with you. To demonstrate this I have created the following folders and copied a wallpaper file in each of the folders.

AGPM Least Privilege Scenario (External)

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 21:41:01 +0000

Just going through an AGPM Installation (Advanced Group Policy Management) where I had to choose an Account for the AGPM Service which can be the Local System Account or a domain user account. Instead of just clicking next next…. I found some good guidance in the Ask the Directory Services Team blog - AGPM Least Privilege Scenario article. Also read Locking down AGPM fit for least privilege.

Never heard of AGPM before ? Then watch this 4-5 minute Tour on Advanced Group Policy Management. And finally here’s a video provided by Kurt Roggen showing how to install the AGPM Server.

Do I need to re-sequence my applications when I move to a new OS? (External)

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:29:56 +0000

The term App-V is often being brought in conjunction with Application Compatibility as some might believe that App-V is the general purpose OS compatibility solution. The App-V team clarifies this here

Shrinking your System Drive

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 23:10:54 +0000

I am currently doing some training on App-V and for the sequencing of Applications there is a requirement to have 2 Partitions running on the system on which you sequence the application. Unfortunately I had setup my Windows 7 lab PC with only one partition. A couple of years ago you would have ended up using some 3rd party tools to repartition your system but nowadays (actually since Windows Vista) this is something that takes no more than 10 minutes.

WSUS Client Diagnostic Tool

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 20:18:05 +0000

Having trouble with a client not getting updates from your Windows Update Services Server ? Then have a look at the WSUS Client Diagnostics Tool. The tool performs various system checks and tests the communication between your client and the WSUS server.

The Tool can be downloaded from the Windows Server Update Services Tools and Utilities site at Microsoft TechNet.

Symantec Endpoint Protection Support Tool

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 11:41:27 +0000

I’m currently busy with integrating the Symantec Endpoint Protection software into a Windows 7 build for one of our customers. I wondered if the Security team had really provided me with the latest and greatest version and ended up searching for that information on the Symantec web site where I came across a post mentioning the Symantec Endpoint Protection Support Tool.

For those that have a SEP 11 version prior RU5 the tool can be downloaded from here and as of RU5 (11.0.5002.333) the tool can also be downloaded from within the Symantec Endpoint Protection client by opening the Client user interface and selecting Help & Support > Download Support Tool.

ToolTip: Bits GUI Admin

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:23:13 +0000

In an earlier post [Using BITS for file downloads](Using BITS for file downloads) I wrote about how to use BITS for file transfers. Today I had a BITS related topic at work, so needed a brief refresher and found some additional interesting things.

First I came across a TechNet Utility Spotlight article Scripting Trouble-Free downloads with BITS. If you are interested in creating your own BITS based download scripts, read this article and download the provided bitsjob.vbs and bitsjob.cmd files. Note that the article is dated back from 2006, so no mention about Windows 7 here, but no worries bitsadmin.exe is included in Vista and Windows 7 already.

Identifying KMS Servers

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 19:30:50 +0000

Assume you are at a client site and plan to deploy a Windows Server (2008 / 2008-R2) or Windows Clients (Windows Vista / Windows 7) and want to check if they do already have KMS Services running on their network.

It’s very simple. Just open a command prompt and type the following command:

nslookup -type=srv _vlmcs._tcp

If KMS Services are present on the network the results will be listed as shown in the picture below.

Windows 7 Master Control Panel aka God mode

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 19:58:35 +0000

Since yesterday there have been a lot of tweets and e-mails about the so-called Windows 7 God Mode, which in fact was available in Vista already. In short the Windows 7 God mode can be considered as an extended Control Panel.

No need to re-write what has been written already, so for more details and how-to’s read the articles listed below.

More articles:
Stupid Geek Tricks: Enable the Secret “How-To Geek” Mode in Windows
Create an All-Inclusive Control Panel Shortcut in Windows 7
That “God mode” Explorer trick does less than you think
Create a Master Control Panel shortcut and explore the all tasks
Tweakfest! Enable God Mode in Windows 7

ToolTip: Power Plan Assistant for Windows 7

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:43:37 +0000

Microsoft has spend a great effort on optimizing the power consumption for Windows 7, But here’s another FREE tool that I consider as a nice enhancement over the build in features in Windows 7. Power Plan Assistant for Windows 7 can be downloaded from here. For a brief feature overview read this.

My favorite feature is the instant “Power off the Display” option that can be invoked with just a double click on the tool’s tray icon.

ToolTip: No sleep for Windows

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 07:56:07 +0000

Assume that for whatever reason occasionally you do not want your system to enter the sleep mode, but you also do not want to change your power plan ? Then have a look at insomnia a free tool to temporarily prevent a machine from going to sleep.

The Tool can be downloaded from here:

ToolTip: Windows Services Dependency Viewer

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 21:56:42 +0000

During my periodic visit on CodePlex I came across the Windows Services Dependency Viewer utility. The tool provides access to the following information:

Windows service dependent and antecedent services
Services grouped by process
Service details (from Win32_Service WMI class)
Service process details (from Win32_Process WMI class

This tool might come in handy once you start changing a specific Service’s startup mode.

The Windows Services Dependency Viewer can be downloaded from here Additional documentation can be found here

Getting access to Windows 7 Evaluation installation sources

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:13:08 +0000

Most IT pro’s probably don’t have a problem in getting access to the Windows 7 operating system installation sources because they can access them through their corporate volume license agreement and/or MSDN or TechNet subscription. But unfortunately there are still some out there who do not have such easy access to these sources.

For the use of Windows 7 on a primary device (the one that one uses on a daily basis) an official version of Windows 7 that comes either from the Corporate Volume media source or a separately acquired copy or pre-installed with a new computer must be used.

Managing Microsoft Security Essentials from the Command Line

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:44:32 +0000

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is Microsoft’s free Antivirus Software which helps protecting clients against viruses and spyware. For years I had used other free Antivirus programs on my home based clients, but have switched them all to MSE since it’s release in September 2009.

The MSE binaries are located in the following folder:* C:\Program Files\Microsoft Security Essentials*. In that folder we also find the MpCmdRun.exe which provides a command line interface for MSE. The tool provides the following options:

Remote Management of AMT/vPro machine with WinPE and VNC

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:36:37 +0000

Intel vPro/AMT enabled systems allow you to remotely reboot a system from a redirected CD-ROM aka as IDE-R. So if one of your users devices doesn’t boot its OS properly anymore, you can remotely boot that system with a diagnostics CD that you have stored on your local disk drive.

As long as that recovery CD has a text based interface such as the SystemRescueCD the system can be remotely managed through the remote VT100 terminal, but unfortunately that doesn’t work for graphical interfaces such as WinPE. So we need an alternative method to remotely manage that device. Since Microsoft’s own remote desktop (RDP) does not work under Windows PE, we are going to use VNC which is small and FREE.

ASCII Stuff

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:03:34 +0000

I recently got some scripts that were nicely written, meaning well formatted, documented and structured. What I liked most was the clearly visible separation of the main code and the subroutines. The code blocks were separated by ASCII Code based letters as shown on the picture below.

If you go to http://www.network-science.de/ascii/ you can create your own text using the ASCII Generator.

Now that we speak about ASCII, during my little search on the web for the above, I also came across another fancy tool called ASCII Generator .NET. The tool allows converting pictures into ASCII Code.

4 Great App-V videos

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:31:56 +0000

I’m just about to expand my knowledge a bit around App-V. I haven’t done any hands-on yet, because I usually first focus on gathering all the useful resources available on the net, and then start reading these. By doing so, I found these fantastic videos on The Blogcast Repository.

Deployment Scenarios with App-V 4.5 Planning Considerations before Implementing App-V 4.5 The App-V Client (part 1) The App-V Client Part 2- Deep Dive

By the way, if you are not familiar with The Blogcast Repository but like video based trainings, have a look at the Repository, there is lots of other Microsoft related Technology training material there.

Why you should pretend you don’t know anything about computers

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:03:18 +0000

The inspiration for this post came from a tweet which had the link below included which is a nice comic explaining why you should pretend you don’t know anything about computers.

If you are an IT Pro, you probably know that scenario where you are at someone’s place and you are being asked what you do for for a living. Usually I just reply with “I work in the IT sector” where then usually the other person replies with “oh so you repair PCs?”. Because explaining my job (Technology Consultant) to someone who is not working in the IT sector isn’t that easy anyway I try to keep the answer as simple as possible by saying “I support companies to run their IT”. But usually that doesn’t help much, so if possible I try to switch topic or ask them what they do.

ToolTip: HWiNFO32

Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:40:40 +0000

Today’s ToolTip is about HWiNFO32 which is a hardware information and diagnostic tool. I have seen many tools that can collect hardware information but this one gives me an impression of being a well organized utility and most important it’s FREE.

I recommend that you download the portable ZIP file as that doesn’t require an install.

Beside collecting detailed hardware information, HWiNFO32 also includes a Benchmark feature that compares the current system components against other components. The below screenshot shows the ranking of one of our home notebooks.

Windows Home Server – A must have

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 23:03:45 +0000

This week I bought a HP MediaSmart Server EX490 which runs Windows Home Server. The primary reason for buying a Windows Home Server was to get an easy to use solution in place that allows us to perform automated backups and share the data across the multiple devices.

The most important computer at home is my wife’s notebook, as this has become a kind of the primary access point for the family to store pictures, music and documents.

Deploying Windows 7 RSAT (external)

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:04:50 +0000

Just found this post on Trevor Sullivan’s Tech Room blog which explains how to automate the Windows 7 Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) installation. Read the entire article here

ToolTip: Network Lights

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 22:50:18 +0000

Network Lights developed by Igor Tolmachev is a Windows program, which blinks keyboard LEDs (Light Emitting Diode) indicating outgoing and incoming network packets on network interface.

Network Lights lets you monitor network activity (upload/download) from your keyboard ScrollLock and NumLock indicators. Each LED will flicker when network traffic is detected.

Network Lights can be downloaded from here.

ToolTip: Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:21:55 +0000

The Windows 7 USB / DVD Download Tool allows you to transfer the content of the Windows 7 installation sources to a USB device or DVD media. The tool is FREE and can be downloaded from here If you use Windows XP you must have at least the .NET Framework 2.0 or higher installed and you must install the Image Mastering API v2.0 prior installing the Tool.

**Additional Information:
**Microsoft Store: Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool
CodePlex: Windows 7 USB / DVD Download Tool

Finding unused User Accounts in Active Directory

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:05:17 +0000

As we move towards the end of the year I thought it’s a good time to do some housekeeping activities within the lab infrastructure in which we work on a daily basis. Throughout the year we often create test user and computer objects within Active Directory and of course sometimes we forget to delete them.

As I don’t want to reinvent a wheel again I searched the web and soon found a whole bunch of tools and scripts that would help me identifying unused user accounts. I decided that I wanted to use a script. I first found the Last Logon Dates scripts from Richard L. Mueller which are written in WSH. But then I found the Managing AD User Accounts with PowerShell article on WindowsITPro and decided to use the opportunity of using PowerShell to accomplish my task.

ReadTip: BranchCache Design Guide

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:18:59 +0000

Source: Microsoft

This design guide provides information about BranchCache in both distributed cache mode and hosted cache mode that assists you in determining the best way to deploy BranchCache on your network.

The Guide can be downloaded from here

ToolTip: Application Paths Editor

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 17:03:07 +0000

The Application Paths Editor allows you to add, edit and remove Application Paths. Setting an application path for your favorite application or script allows you to run the application directly from the “Run” dialog at the Start Menu.

So assume you have a script called “HelloApp.vbs” which is stored under C:\Program Files\HelloApp without having set an Application Path, you would have to navigate to the scripts folder or type the full path to launch the script. But once you have set an Application Path, you can launch it directly form the run dialog at the Start Menu.

Updating the Central Store for Windows 7 Group Policy Administrative Templates

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:21:52 +0000

One of the things to consider when deploying Windows 7 clients is to update the Central Store on your domain controllers. If you haven’t created a Central Store yet, I recommend you watch the video or read the documentation I have listed at the end of this post.

If you do have a Central Store already, updating it with the Windows 7 Group Policy Administrative templates is very straight forward. You simply copy the templates that are stored under C:\Windows\PolicyDefinitions on your Windows 7 client to the Central Store which is located at \FQDN\SYSVOL\FQDN\policies\PolicyDefinitions (FQDN = fully qualified domain name)

Changing Internet Explorer Security Settings on Windows Server 2008

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:55:28 +0000

While I was preparing my home lab for some Group Policy tests i wanted to perform I got an error when generating a report in the Group Policy Management Console which is running on a Windows Server 2008 with Internet Explorer 8.

The error was: “An error occurred in the script in this page”

A search on the web indicated that this had to do with the Internet Explorer Security Settings, but when I opened the Internet Explorer Security settings I noticed that I could not change them since all buttons were grayed out.

Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. Cannot open the Outlook window

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:33:24 +0000

…….That’s the message i got yesterday when I wanted to start Outlook 2007. I solved the problem after having found the solution on MSOutlook.info Running the following command fixed the issue.

outlook.exe /resetnavpane

A complete reference of all the Microsoft Outlook 2007 command-line switches can be found here

Windows 7 Application Compatibility List

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:28:00 +0000

Some of you are probably involved in some sort of Windows 7 migration preparation activities and like with any operating system migration, application compatibility is one of the most important topics you will need to focus on. If you need to do a first pre-study on your application compatibility status, then I suggest you download the Windows 7 Application Compatibility List for IT Professionals and compare the content with the applications your company or client is using, this might allow you to do a first estimate on how much effort you will need to spend on Application Compatibility related tasks.

Adobe Flash and Shockwave Enterprise Distribution

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:43:52 +0000

Adobe Flash and Shockwave are probably one of those most installed applications on home and enterprise computers. Working within the End User Computing environment for large enterprise customers since quite a while, I can’t remember of just one company that wouldn’t maintain Adobe Flash and Shockwave in their list of enterprise standard applications.

But when it comes to distributing these applications, many companies seem to go down the difficult route instead of taking the easy one. When distributing applications within Enterprise environments, you want them to install automatically, hence you need a software package.

VMWare Workstation 7 – New Pause Feature

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:20:44 +0000

As I wrote in my earlier post this month, VMWare published a Release Candidate for VMWare Workstation 7. One of the most interesting new features (to me) is the Pause feature that is described as following:

The pause feature causes a virtual machine to cease operation temporarily, without powering off or suspending. Use the pause feature when a virtual machine is engaged in an lengthy, processor-intensive activity that prevents you from using your computer to do a more immediate task.

The Machine SID Duplication Myth

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:14:31 +0000

Mark Russinovich explains why he’s retiring “NewSID”. In short, he explains that he heard that people were having some issues with it on Vista, which made him do some research on whether SID changing is still necessary… Turns out he couldn’t find anyone in Microsoft who could tell him why duplicate SIDs could be a problem. Because it’s not a problem. And: It never was. Anyway for people that did OS deployment the correct way, this tool wasn’t needed, as the proper way is to use sysprep.

ToolTip: Microsoft® Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:06:44 +0000

Windows Virtual PC requires that your hardware supports hardware-assisted virtualization. There are a number of third party utilities around already, but now Microsoft released one as well. It’s called the Hardware-Assisted Virtualization Detection Tool and can be downloaded from here

If you launch the tool manually it will tell you if your system meets the requirements for running Windows Virtual PC or not, quite similar as the Securable utility I wrote about in the Detect XP Mode Support article.

Hide the Unused Updates

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:34:52 +0000

When opening Windows Update, you might see a number of Important and optional updates that are available to your system. But what to do if you are not interested in installing one of these updates? Over time the list will keep growing as new updates will be released and it becomes quite an annoying job to go over the entire list over and over again.

When you click on the “optional updates are available” link, all updates are listed as shown in the picture below.

ToolTip: AppTimer

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:30:20 +0000

Just found this nice little FREE Utility. AppTimer from PassMark Software will run an executable a number of times and time how long it takes for the application to reach a state where user input is being accepted before exiting the application.

AppTimer can be downloaded from here

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer with support for Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:12:36 +0000

With the launch of Windows 7 Microsoft also released an updated version of the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer also known as MBSA. The version is 2.1.1 which is indicating that this is basically just a minor revision of the previous MBSA 2.1, and that is exactly what it is . MBSA 2.1.1 does not appear to bring any new features other than adding support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.

Windows XP Mode Deployment Sample Scripts

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:56:37 +0000

if you have watched the Windows XP Mode IT Pro Deployment Video, you might be interested in the scripts they’ve used to automatically install XP Mode and create virtual machines. You can download them from here

Windows Licensing Fact Sheet

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:46:19 +0000

Has your organization ever acquired PCs without operating systems preinstalled, and then used its Volume Licensing agreement to install the full operating system on those PCs? Download the Windows Licensing Fact Sheet to learn more about Windows Licensing.

Windows XP Mode IT Pro Deployment Video

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:33:21 +0000

If you consider using XP Mode, then I recommend watching this video. This video contains a good tutorial on how to install and configure XP mode including a lot of additional hints. Furthermore the video explains how to create a customized XP Mode VHD for deployment on multiple clients.

The video can be downloaded from here

Splitting and merging image files with ImageX

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:16:40 +0000

ImageX is a command-line tool for capturing, modifying and applying file based disk images. ImageX is included within the Windows Automated Installation Kit.

In this post I want to focus on the functionality provided by ImageX to split and merge image files. So why would you want to split and merge image files? Well think of the following scenarios:

Your image is too big to fit on one DVD and using Dual Layer DVD media is not an option.

Scripting HP Wireless Device State

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:20:45 +0000

An old colleague called me up this week (well in fact it was my old boss who has left our company), and told me about an issue they had when deploying an ISP specific Software Package that interacts with the Wireless Devices on their HP notebooks.

The problem was that if the WWAN device has been turned of via the quick launch button by the end user, the software would not install.

VMware Workstation 7 RC available

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:10:04 +0000

Finally, after a long waiting time, VMware has released a release candidate for VMware Workstation 7.

Aero support for Windows 7 and Vista Guests!
Windows 7 support (as a Host and Guest OS)
OpenGL and Shader Model 3.0 support for Windows guests
Create guests with Multi-core or 4-way CPUs and up to 32GB of Memory
Download VMware vSphere 4 and install ESX as a guest OS to try out the latest features.

Windows 7 support for HP desktops, notebooks and workstations

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 14:31:44 +0000

HP has started publishing device drivers and software for Windows 7 for their desktops, notebooks and workstations. A complete overview of Windows 7 eligible models can be found here

Business Desktops

Business Workstations

HP Z400 Workstation

HP Z600 Workstation

HP Z800 Workstation

HP xw8600 Workstation

HP xw6600 Workstation

HP xw4600 Workstation

Business Notebooks

HP EliteBook 2730p Notebook PC

HP EliteBook 6930p Notebook PC

Windows 7 Mobile Broadband

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:20:19 +0000

Windows 7’s Mobile Broadband enhancements give people a more reliable way to connect to the Internet using a wireless modem. Taking advantage of this feature is just like connecting to any other wireless network, and is done using the View Available Networks feature.

This week there have been some questions around the use of mobile broadband with Windows 7, so I’ve started searching the web for information. and came across the Mobile Broadband Team Blog.

ToolTip - Fences

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:23:41 +0000

Do you remember the days where your desktop looked like on the picture below ? If you were using Windows in the late 80’s and early 90s you definitely will. The Windows Shell was called Program Manager. In Program Manager the various application shortcuts were organized in groups.

With the introduction of Windows 95 Program Manager was replaced by the Windows Explorer as the shell. In simple words, that’s when Microsoft introduced the “Start Menu”.

Quick Access to installed QFEs

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:20:03 +0000

Instead of opening several windows, here’s an easy way to get a list of installed QFE’s. simply open a command prompt and type:

**WMIC QFE **

WMIC QFE get caption,hotfixid,installedon

or if you are looking for a specific update, enter the following command:

WMIC QFE | find “958559”

where 958559 relates to the MS KB number. If the QFE is installed, it will be listed.

3 seconds to get system serial number

Accessing the BIOS in Windows Virtual PC

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:05:37 +0000

When setting up a Virtual Machine in Windows Virtual PC, You will see the following progress window when the VM is started. This indicates that the VM is running in Enhanced Mode which is the default. To better understand the different modes of Windows Virtual PC I recommend reading the “Three Modes of Windows XP Mode” article.

The progress windows is being displayed until the OS running in the VM has started up, so you have no chance to interrupt the boot process to access the BIOS. To get access to the VM BIOS, you must run the VM in Basic Mode. Running a VM in Basic Mode means that you must disable the integration features.

Getting your OS Restore DVD to work with large image files

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:10:07 +0000

This week, we completed the Windows 7 x64 build for our internal Tech Community. During the testing of the OS Restore DVD we ran into a problem when attempting to restore the image from DVD.

Our custom Windows 7 64 bit image has a size of approx. 4.8 GB. This because the 64 bit version of Windows7 has a larger footprint than the 32 bit version and because we had included some applications like Office 2010 CTP and some drivers for a limited number of hardware. Since we did not want to split the content across multiple DVD’s, we had decided that we would create just one ISO with OSCDIMG.EXE life that people would need to burn on a Dual Layer DVD which provides enough capacity.

The confusion around Hyper-V

Sun, 13 Sep 2009 09:58:18 +0000

When talking about Hyper-V with customers or colleagues, I notice that there is quite some confusion around the definition of Hyper-V Server and Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V.

**Hyper-V Server 2008 / 2008-R2
**The Hyper-V Server is a stand-alone product, which contains only the Windows Hypervisor, Windows Server driver model and virtualization components. What’s important to know, the Hyper-V Server comes for FREE!.

No, Hyper-V Server is not just Windows Server Core + Hyper-V, the only thing this server is designed for is virtualization and therefore does not contain any other server roles.

Windows 7 Commercial

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:15:22 +0000

Here’s one of the first official Windows 7 Commercial video’s. Nice.

BitLocker Deployment Sample Resources

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 18:19:52 +0000

During my weekly “let’s see what’s new” search on some of my favorite websites, I found the “Bitlocker Deployment Sample Resources” on the MSDN Code Gallery. The Resource Page contains a lot of documentation and useful script samples for the deployment and management of Microsoft Bitlocker.

Installing Branded IE7 on Windows XP Service Pack 3

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:56:41 +0000

I’ve spend nearly 3 hours in troubleshooting today to find out the reason why a custom IE7 package, that worked fine on Windows XP SP2 would not work on Windows XP SP3.

If you are using a custom Internet Explorer 7 package (created with the Internet Explorer Administration Toolkit) and plan to rebuild your enterprise image with Windows XP SP3, you might be interested in this article.

Microsoft Silverlight 3 Silent Installation

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:17:43 +0000

This morning I integrated Microsoft Silverlight 3 into our Windows 7 build. Since we use an automated image build process, i prepared the Silverlight package for a silent install.

Here’s what you need to do to run a silent Silverlight 3 installation:

Download the latest Silverlight installation package from the Silverlight website.
You will get a silverlight.exe. Run silverlight.exe /x to extract the content
Now extract the silverlight.msp from the silverlight.7z file (you can use the free 7-Zip tool to do that).

Windows Server 2008-R2 Multilanguage Packs

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:57:23 +0000

When I recently browsed through the Windows Download Center I noticed that there is a download for “Windows Server 2008 R2 Multilingual User Interface Language Packs”. Having worked with Multilanguage Packs for the Windows Client operating system since these were introduced with Windows 2000, I was astonished to see these in the public download center, because for Windows Clients you must have a Software Assurance or other Enterprise Agreement with Microsoft to use Multilanguage Packs. So why are these made available for free for the Server operating system?

What you should know about Windows 7 and using the WAIK

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 19:45:13 +0000

Many of you have probably already considered installing the 64 bit version of Windows 7 if not done already. I just found a “must read” article on the Deployment Guys blog about the WAIK and creating unattends for x32 and x64 images. Click here to read the entire article.

Office 2007 Trusted location configuration

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:14:02 +0000

When opening an Excel file that contains macros, Microsoft Excel 2007 shows a security warning as shown in the picture below and disables the macros.

To continue using the Excel sheet and its macros, you must first enable then by clicking on the “Options…” button and selecting the “Enable this content” option. This is quite annoying if you must use that same file on a regular basis. You could of course completely disable this security warning on your entire system, but then there is a risk of opening content once that could contain unwanted code.

ToolTip: SpeedFan

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:22:05 +0000

SpeedFan is a program that monitors voltages, fan speeds and temperatures in computers with hardware monitor chips. Michael Pietroforte author of the 4SysOps blog wrote a review of the SpeedFan utility. Read the entire article here

Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Silent Install

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:57:41 +0000

Being one of the lucky ones who was able to sign-up to the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview program, I have started looking at the deployment of Microsoft Office 2010 today.

My first observation was that unfortunately the provided documentation seems to be ahead of the Office Installation sources that have been made available for download. I noticed this when making an attempt to run the setup.exe /admin command which would normally launch the Office Customization Wizard, but it wouldn’t because the necessary components that are usually located within the Admin folder aren’t available yet, in fact the whole Admin folder as such seems to be missing. OK, so no advanced customizations for now, back to basic.

XP Mode vs. Med-V

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:39:54 +0000

Here’s another great article from Stephen Rose, explaining XP Mode vs. MED-V. Read the entire article here

ToolTip – Forgotten Attachments Detector

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:50:51 +0000

You probably all know this one. You write an e-mail that mentions an attachment and you send it out. Then a few minutes later, one of the recipients who actually did read your mail properly replies, telling you that there was no document attached. So you end up replying to all with the document mentioned attached and apologizing for not having it attached in your first message.

Today when I was actually searching for something totally different, but related to MS Office 2007, I came across the “Forgotten Attachment Detector” add-in for Outlook.

Upgrade your existing KMS Service to support Windows 7 and Windows 2008 R2

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:08:53 +0000

If you are already running an existing KMS Service within your environment, and you do not plan to install a new KMS Service, the following information might be of interest if you have plans for deploying Windows 7 or Server 2008-R2 systems.

Update for Windows Server 2003 (KB968915)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=f3a0d90c-b7fd-44cf-bf81-11587adc599f&displaylang=en

Update for Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition (KB968915)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1678151b-b577-476f-87da-df54024b98e2&displaylang=en

An update is available that installs Key Management Service (KMS) 1.2 for Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and for later versions of Windows Server 2003
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=968915

Fundamentals of Volume Activation

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:38:49 +0000

If you are looking for a very easy 5 minute video that explains Volume Activation for Windows 7, then click here

Additional sources

TechNet Volume Activation

Volume Activation changes in Windows7

Windows 7 Activation Improvements

Adding Games on Windows 7 Enterprise

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:35:35 +0000

When you run a default Windows 7 Enterprise installation, you will notice that by default no games are being installed. System administrators using the Windows Automated Installation Toolkit can use the image manager to enable games within their customized Windows 7 Enterprise installation, but here’s another trick how you can get the games enabled.

Open a command prompt with elevated Administrative privileges and execute the following command:

dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:InboxGames

Windows Logo'd Products List Updated for Windows 7

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:23:58 +0000

The Windows Hardware Compatibility list (HCL) has been updated for Windows 7. So far there are no entries form the major hardware manufacturers, but I’m sure that will change within the next couple of weeks as they continue submitting their drivers for WHQL testing.

Note that you can also check the hardware manufacturers Windows 7 pages to find out if they will provide Windows 7 support for your device. HP for example has the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program. All models that are eligible for Windows 7 are listed here (US site, select your country for other localized products).

Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM Dates

Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:20:04 +0000

Now that Windows7 RTM is available on MSDN, some might wonder when the 2008-R2 bits are being made available. Then read this article on the Windows Server Division WebLog.

Leftover files after .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1 installation

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:43:51 +0000

Some of you might have noticed that after installing the .NET Framework 3.5 Service Pack 1, there can be a leftover folder in the root of the system as shown in the picture below.

We identified this issue right after .NET 3.5 SP1 was installed, and found out soon that we were not the only ones having this issue. Microsoft describes this behavior in KB951847 and confirms the folder can be deleted.

ToolTip: BlueScreenView

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:56:21 +0000

Anyone who uses Windows has seen at least once a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death). Even Bill Gates had to deal with it (watch this video). NirSoft has released a utility called BlueScreenView that scans all the minidump files that are being created when a BSOD occurs and displays all information about these crashes.

The utility is FREE and does not need to be installed. A detailed description of BlueScreenView can be found here

Windows 7 versus Vista and XP

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:03:35 +0000

Kai Schmerer from ZDNet Germany has done some benchmarking with Windows 7 , Vista and XP. The full article can be found here

Virtual Hard Disk Getting Started Guide

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:55:08 +0000

Microsoft recently published the “Virtual Hard Disk Getting Started Guide”. This paper provides you with all the information you need around VHD.

Download the Guide here

Updated Plans for Windows7 in Europe

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:51:45 +0000

Although we have seen many creative ways on how to get a browser on Windows 7 E, it looks like the plans for Windows7 E have changed. Read the entire article here

Fun: Internet Helpdesk Comedy

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:29:33 +0000

Watch this video performed by Wes Borg. Enjoy !

Manage your Microsoft Product support Lifecycles

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:57:43 +0000

Knowing what products are being used within your IT environment is key. From a technology planning point of view its also important to understand the entire product lifecycle of a given product, especially when the it’s being used by a large amount of users or if its use is business critical.

For Microsoft products, the Microsoft Product Lifecycle Search site can help you creating your technology roadmaps.

Simply choose one of the options and select the timeframe. The example below shows all Microsoft products that will go out of extended support within the next 12 months.

ToolTip: AM-Deadlink

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 06:50:05 +0000

Within our daily life in IT we often find interesting sources of information on the internet or on our company intranet. So after a while, most of us typically end up having a large number of Bookmarks. In my case these are 1168 items.

Yesterday I cam across this nice FREE tool called AM-Deadlnk. With AM-Deadlnk you can check your bookmarks and find out if these are still valid. The utility is smart enough to tell you whether the link is completely dead or if the page has been redirected.

Another way to get a browser installed on Windows7 E

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:49:33 +0000

In my earlier post “How to download a browser on Windows7 E” I explained how to create a simple script to download a browser. I just came across another blog article that might be useful for those that do not want or can’t use a script. The article “Downloading a browser in E, without a browser, in 3 steps” explains how you can get access to a browser through Windows Media Player.

The “MZ” header in EXE files

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:01:12 +0000

When you open an executable in notepad, you might have noticed that every executable starts with the letters MZ

These story behind these two letters is that these are the initials of Mark Zbikowski the designer of the DOS executable file format. These two letters are basically telling the system that this is an executable file.

It must be a funny idea when going to sleep and knowing that your initials are spread on billions of systems.

Windows7 signed-off for RTM

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 07:04:01 +0000

Windows7 has been signed-off and now goes into RTM. See the video below where contributing development teams give their go to release Windows7.

Windows Engineering blog – RTM announcement
http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/07/22/our-next-engineering-milestone-rtm.aspx

Windows 7 Team blog – When will you get Windows 7
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windows7/archive/2009/07/21/when-will-you-get-windows-7-rtm.aspx

ToolTip: Processor Check for 64-Bit Compatibility

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 09:50:06 +0000

In my earlier post “Detect XP Mode support” I wrote about a utility that checks the system for virtualization support. I have just found a similar one from VMWare that helps detecting if your CPU supports running virtual 64 bit guest operating systems.

The VMWare Guest Check utility can be downloaded from here

The following message appears when your system does not support running 64 bit guest operating systems:

The following message appears when your system does support running 64 bit guest operating systems:

Windows7 BranchCache test results

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:19:59 +0000

Back in April I was playing with BranchCache in my home lab environment to get an idea about how things are supposed to work but simulating a real world WAN network isn’t that easy, unless you have access to some expensive software or you can simulate a network on a Linux box, but unfortunately my knowledge with Linux is near zero. So to see how BranchCache really works out in a real environment, I asked a colleague to setup a Windows 2008-R2 system with BranchCache enabled within a remote location that could be accessed through our corporate WAN. Once that system was setup BranchCache configuration was applied and Group Policies were prepared, as described within the BranchCache Early Adopter’s Guide.

How to download a browser on Windows7 E

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:56:20 +0000

As a response to the European Antitrust Commission, Microsoft will strip the Internet Explorer from Windows7 SKUs aimed for European markets. For end users this means that unless the hardware vendor has a browser pre-installed, which is going to be very unlikely, users must install a browser themselves.

So how to download and install a browser if you don’t have a browser to access the internet? The geeks among us would probably use an ftp command and download the browser binaries from some ftp server hosting the browser installation sources. But for regular users, the only options available are to download the browser installation sources upfront on another system that has a browser with internet access and store the installation sources on a USB drive or order the installation media at Microsoft. For access to Internet Explorer 8 click here

Windows7 Enterprise Videos

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:58:13 +0000

The Windows7 Enterprise videos provide a great high-level overview for the following features:

DirectAccess
BranchCache
Enterprise Search Scopes
BitLocker
AppLocker
Virtual Desktop Enhancements
Language Packs

Click here to access the videos

Reduce software installation time

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 20:39:40 +0000

Windows7 comes with Windows Installer 5.0 that has a new installation property called MSIFASTINSTALL. Using the MSIFASTINSTALL property can help reduce time required to install a windows installer package.

The trick behind MSIFASTINSTALL is quite simple, it just skips things that consume time like creating a system restore point or calculating the space requirements (File Costing). So if you do not need system restore points and know that your clients have enough disk space anyway, you could consider using the MSIFASTINSTALL property to speed up application installations.

ToolTip: HJ-Split

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:14:14 +0000

Having troubles with transferring large files? here’s a small and FREE utility called HJ-Split that helps you splitting and joining large files

Although the GUI looks a bit fancy, the utility works fine. HJ-Split does not require an installation, you can just download and launch it.

Click here to download HJ-Split.

Using Intel AMT Power Management @ Home

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 22:39:00 +0000

I write most of my blog posts at home in the evenings. Usually when I find a new tool I install these first within a virtual machine, this to not mess our family PC or my laptop I use for work. All Virtual Machines run on a HP dc7800 desktop which has Intel vPro support. This PC is installed down in the cellar. To avoid having to go down there to power on the PC I have created two batch files that allow me to power up and power down the machine remotely using the Intel AMT power management feature.

Running Google LiveAndroid in VMWare Workstation

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:17:25 +0000

When I checked my Twitter messages today, I came across a message about LiveAndroid. LiveAndroid allows you to run Google’s Android operating system that is used on mobile phones on a x86 platform.

First you need to download the LiveAndroid ISO files. liveandroidv0.2.iso.002 and liveandroidv0.2.iso.001 The ISO file has been splitted due to maximum upload size restrictions. Once you have downloaded both files, run HJ-Split to merge the two files into one ISO file.

Microsoft VDI Suite License review

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:09:09 +0000

Brian Madden has done an analysis on the Microsoft VDI Suite License bundles. Read the entire article here

Understanding XP Mode

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:52:28 +0000

Here is an excellent post that explains Windows7 XP Mode. The article describes clearly who should use XP Mode standalone or MED-V which is the product designed for enterprises.

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/springboard/archive/2009/06/16/understanding-xp-mode.aspx

I also recommend reading “How MED-V v2 helps you manage Windows XP Mode”

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/business/archive/2009/04/28/how-med-v-v2-helps-you-manage-windows-xp-mode.aspx

Detect XP Mode support

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:33:48 +0000

Does your hardware support the Windows7 XP Mode feature ? Here’s a small and free utility that helps you to find out if your system provides hardware virtualization support.

Download here

Writing e-mails on foreign keyboards

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:46:40 +0000

Today we were invited with friends for a BBQ. One of the conversations we had was about writing e-mails on a foreign keyboard.

Anyone who has travelled to a foreign country before and used a local PC has probably had that challenge of finding the right characters on the keyboard. The biggest challenge I heard of from people is about the @ sign and the . (dot) character. These are two important characters when entering an e-mail address.

Graphical User Interface Timeline

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 12:45:26 +0000

Watch the GUI Timeline from 1973 until 2007 here

ToolTip – VLC Media Player

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:03:12 +0000

After nearly 13 years of development version 1.0 of VLC media player has been released in July 2009. What started as an academic project became one of the most powerful media players available today.

VLC is available for multiple operating systems such as Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and BeOS. If you want to play your different audio and video files with just one player, VLC is a must have. A complete feature overview can found here

Microsoft My Phone Beta

Sat, 11 Jul 2009 10:13:55 +0000

Yesterday I received my new mobile phone. Everyone that has switched mobile phones once, knows the pain of getting all the data transferred to the new device.

I had heard about the My Phone service from Microsoft, a web based solution that allows you to backup and restore your mobile phone data to a secured web site.

So I signed up to http://myphone.microsoft.com. I had all my data synched from my old device to the new device within 15 minutes. This is what i did.

Volume Activation changes in Windows7

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:37:29 +0000

Here is another video from TechnetEdge talking about the changes in volume activation for Windows7. What I found interesting to hear is that there will be a patch available for your current KMS server running on Windows Server 2003 or 2008 that will allow your current KMS system recognizing Windows7 clients.

http://edge.technet.com/Media/Volume-Activation-changes-in-Windows-7/

Applocker Documentation

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:03:58 +0000

The download contains two documents:

BETA - AppLocker Frequently Asked Questions.pdf BETA - Planning and Deploying Windows AppLocker Policies.pdf

Download here

Optimum PC Refresh Cycles

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:20:12 +0000

Whitepaper from Intel about PC Refresh Cycles. “Pilot Study Optimum Refresh Cycle and Method for Desktop Outsourcing”.

Great website with focus on 64 bit

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:08:46 +0000

Just came across this website where it’s all about 64 bit. If you’re interested in 64 bit related topics or maybe even already running a 64 bit operating system, you definitely want to visit this site.

Reimaging Macintosh Computers

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:30:42 +0000

Most of us desktop management consultants focus on the Windows Operating System, so I thought it’s about time to see how things work with other operating systems. I kind of know in theory how a LINUX installation works but Mac computers thus far has been unknown land for me. During my journey of collecting information I came across this video which demonstrates how to re-image a MAC computer.

Another great information source I found is the Mac Admin Corner blog.

Updated Application Virtualization Solutions Overview and Feature Compare Matrix Whitepaper

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:29:06 +0000

Ruben Spruijt has released an update of the Application Virtualization Solutions Overview and Feature Compare matrix whitepaper. Read more

How to embed YouTube video in PowerPoint 2007

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:35:16 +0000

Here’s a video that explains how to embed a YouTube video into a PowerPoint slide.

ToolTip – Shell extensions for VHD files

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:16:23 +0000

If you are running a Hyper-V server, this is something you want to look at. The VHDShellExt.VBS extends the explorer context menu for VHD files with the following functions.

Download the script from MSDN Code Gallery and run cscript.exe VHDShellExt.vbs /action:setup for installation. More documentation can be found on Ravikanth’s site.

Do not slipstream Windows XP sources on Windows Vista

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:05:45 +0000

Today one of my colleagues ran into an issue after having slipstreamed Service Pack 3 into Windows XP. During the Windows XP unattended installation process the provided product key within the unattend.txt file was not accepted, which caused the system to prompt for the product key.

This turned out to be a known issue as documented within the following Microsoft support article. After you create Windows XP Service Pack 3 slipstreamed media, your product key is not accepted.

Video – What is a Browser

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 18:20:06 +0000

Just came across this video where people are being asked to explain what a Browser is. Its funny most people use it every day, but obviously don’t pay much attention how they get on to the internet. It’s just a matter of clicking that blue E.

MED-V Planning, Deployment and Operations Guide

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:39:38 +0000

Microsoft has released the Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V version 1) Planning, Deployment and Operations Guide. The document can be found here

Is this Windows in the Cloud?

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 19:36:57 +0000

Just took a look on CodePlex to see if there’s any new interesting projects and came across the Windows4all.com project. Windows4all.com is a silverlight based website simulating an operating system inside your web browser.

By the way, if you’re interested in these type of solutions, there’s also Wiki-OS or continue reading the WEB OS article on Mashable.

ToolTip - RegFromApp

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 11:44:05 +0000

Most Windows Operating System and Application settings are stored within the Windows Registry, so if you want to create a script that automates customized settings, but don’t know the exact registry key location or value, you usually end up creating a so-called registry snapshot that records the changes made to the Windows registry when applying a system or application change.

Creating registry snapshots can be done with almost every application packaging software like InstallShield, or Wise Package Studio, but requires that you have that software available and installed, which may not be always the case. Furthermore when creating an entire system snapshot you usually still end up with searching through the recorded changes to identify the changed registry key.

What's New in the Windows User State Migration Tool

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:44:48 +0000

Read about what’s new in USMT (User State Migration Tool), download the whitepaper here

Windows Server 2008 R2 Documentation & Resources

Sun, 14 Jun 2009 10:40:16 +0000

Learn more about Windows Server 2008 R2. All documents can be downloaded from here

Accidental object deletion prevention in Active Directory

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 12:19:45 +0000

When creating objects in Active Directory you can set a flag that prevents accidental deletion of an object.

While this setting is visible in the UI by default when creating an Organizational Unit, for other objects like Users, Groups and Computers, this flag is not set by default and can only be set if the Advanced Features are enabled within the Active Directory Users and Computers Console.

So assume you would create some important user accounts that are used for critical back-end systems, you should consider enabling the “Protect object for accidental deletion” flag.

Removing large size content from outlook calendar

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:11:36 +0000

Most companies put storage limits on their users mailboxes. To avoid full mailboxes, some periodic housekeeping is required. This can be done by either using the archiving function or by deleting content manually.

To identify calendar entries with large attachments, select your calendar, select View, then Current View, then Outlook Data files. Then click on the “size” column to sort the calendar entries by size.

You should now see the calendar entries sorted by its size and start deleting those items that are not needed anymore.

Windows7 RTM and GA communication from Microsoft

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 07:54:00 +0000

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 RTM and General Availability dates were confirmed today by Microsoft.

http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver/archive/2009/06/02/windows-server-2008-r2-rtm-and-general-availability.aspx

Windows7 Application Compatibility Center

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:32:01 +0000

Source: ars technica

Microsoft currently has a placeholder page for the Windows 7 Compatibility Center, which will be launching at the same time as Windows 7. Read entire article here

Windows Vista Application Compatibility List

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:35:56 +0000

Is your application vista compatible ? The Windows Vista Application Compatibility List for IT professionals might give you the answer. The list contains all applications that have the status “Certified for Windows Vista” or “Works with Windows Vista”.

This list might be helpful as well in planning for Windows7, since “most” applications that work for Windows Vista are supposed to work on Windows7 as well.

ToolTip - Defraggler

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:42:04 +0000

Today I stumbled upon the Defraggler utility from Piriform. The tool provides a nice and lean interface to analyze and defrag drives or individual files. But most important, it’s FREE!

Other tools from Piriform are CCLeaner and Recuva. I wrote about Recuva earlier in this blogpost.

Compaq Deskpro 486

Sun, 31 May 2009 17:42:59 +0000

For those who read my blog, know that from time to time a like to look back in history. Today I’ve found the Compaq Deskpro 486/33M Demo video. I remember well when we used these machines at our office. In fact Compaq had a very good concept in place in these days, allowing you to easily upgrade individual parts like the processor or graphics board without the need to replace the entire unit.

Yet another search engine….bing

Sat, 30 May 2009 15:59:49 +0000

As of June 3rd 2009, we’ll have another search engine to find stuff on the internet. Microsoft’s new search engine is called bing. Find out more about bing here.

Windows “Copenhagen”

Fri, 29 May 2009 19:50:33 +0000

Interesting concept from Cullen Dudas. An Interview with Cullen can be found here

](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy0jZ0PddIs&feature=related)

Windows 7 HD and SSD Performance Analyzed

Fri, 29 May 2009 19:24:04 +0000

Just found this article about Windows7 HD and SSD performance.

Power to Change

Tue, 26 May 2009 21:19:41 +0000

Small changes can make a world of difference. With Power To Change, you can help make the world a greener place. Install the Power To Change widget and start making a difference!

Check out the Power to Change website for more information and download the Widget.

Server core configuration made easier on 2008-R2

Mon, 25 May 2009 19:03:16 +0000

Watch this video on TechnetEdge explaining simplified server core configuration with Server 2008-R2.

Create empty files using fsutil.exe

Mon, 25 May 2009 18:46:55 +0000

I am currently busy with testing BranchCache in a real world environment. I will share more about these tests in another post. Testing BranchCache does mainly consist of copying files over the WAN and monitor how the client cache is being populated and how other clients, that copy the same content from the remote BranchCache enabled server, utilize the distributed cache located on peer clients that reside within the same LAN segment.

ToolTip – PowerPlan Switcher for Windows

Sun, 24 May 2009 17:08:48 +0000

Just came across this very nice utility called the Smart Power Plan Switcher for Windows. The utility allows you to configure the power scheme to be used based on the current power status. So once your system runs on battery it will automatically switch to the preferred power scheme.

the Software can be downloaded from the MSDN Code Gallery

Microsoft Office Labs

Sat, 23 May 2009 09:10:17 +0000

What technologies will we use in the near future, how will our work environment look like? Watch the video below or explore the Microsoft Office Labs web site and see how Microsoft thinks this is going to look like.

Who’s hosting me ?

Fri, 22 May 2009 11:35:40 +0000

This morning i had an issue with a fileserver that is running as a guest on a Hyper-V server, far away from my location, in fact I did not even know what Hyper-V system is hosting that Fileserver. I wanted to see within Hyper-V manager how the system is doing, but without knowing the Hyper-V server host name, you can’t connect (kind of logic) :-)

So what’s the name of the underlying server that is hosting my virtual server ? A friend within my team found the answer.

Windows Client Feature Comparison

Wed, 20 May 2009 12:36:56 +0000

Source Microsoft: This chart compares features of interest to IT professionals across three versions of the Windows client operating system: Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1, and Windows 7

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=fa0177cc-7e82-4993-b0d6-fec84216dd9c

Browse and extract files from a WIM file using 7-Zip

Sun, 17 May 2009 16:17:10 +0000

7-Zip is a free file archiver supporting many of today’s known archive formats such as ZIP, CAB, RAR and many more. Anyone who deals a lot with WIM files (Windows Image files) knows about the mount and un-mount commands and if you use imagex.exe and dism.exe on a regular basis you probably know the commands out of your head.

7-Zip also allows you to open, browse and extract content from a WIM file. This is especially helpful if you don’t have the imagex.exe or dism.exe installed.

Microsoft Office 2010

Sat, 16 May 2009 00:12:04 +0000

Office 2010 is underway. If you’re interested to join the technical preview, register yourself on the Office 2010 website. http://www.office2010themovie.com/

As announced on TechEd, the limited technical preview program will kick of in July 2009. For more information read the Office 2010 blog.

Server 2008 R2 survival guide

Sun, 10 May 2009 14:09:58 +0000

Microsoft has published the Sever 2008 R2 survival guide which is a useful collection of resource links related to Windows Server 2008 R2.

You can download the Windows Server 2008 R2 Documentation Survival Guide from here

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta

Thu, 07 May 2009 21:08:41 +0000

Today Microsoft released the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta. The tools scans your system and checks if its able to run Winodws7.

Download here

Windows Vista Service Pack 2 cleanup

Thu, 07 May 2009 07:08:04 +0000

Note that once you have installed Windows Vista Service Pack 2 you can run the compcln.exe utility to make your installation permanent and remove any sources from the previous state.

After you have executed compcln.exe, you will notice that you get some free disk space back.

Windows Logo Program

Wed, 06 May 2009 17:55:56 +0000

In the past days Microsoft has released additional information around the Windows Logo program for Windows7. For most users the logo on hardware and software is an important symbol indicating compatibility and reliability on Windows.

for Windows Vista there are multiple logos indicating different levels of compatibility. For Windows7, there are two main logo initiatives. Systems, Hardware and Software. Additionally four optional additional qualifications (AQs) are being introduced. The purpose of these AQs is indicate enhanced user experience for a product. Currently these four AQs consist of Device Stage, Windows Media Center, Windows Touch and HD imaging.

Windows Virtual PC – first experiences

Tue, 05 May 2009 00:08:53 +0000

With the release of the Windows7 RC0 build, Microsoft also published a first Beta for Windows Virtual PC that provides the underlying technology for XP Mode feature. Windows Virtual PC cannot only run Windows XP but does also allow running virtualized Windows Vista and Windows 7 clients.

After having installed a Windows Vista guest, it’s important to install both the integration features as well as the rail_qfe_beta_for_vista_sp1_x86_343758.msu. If you don’t install the last, you won’t be able to publish applications installed in Vista to your Windows 7 Start Menu.

Intel Virtualization introduction

Mon, 04 May 2009 21:48:01 +0000

With the launch of Windows Virtual PC for Windows7, there is a lot of talk about the Virtualization Technology again. I found this introduction video from Intel that provides an overview on VT.

[videofile]http://cache-www.intel.com/cd/00/00/24/59/245966_245966.swf[/videofile]

Windows 7 VHD Boot demonstration video

Fri, 01 May 2009 12:32:59 +0000

This is an excellent video explaining how to prepare and configure your machine to boot from a VHD drive.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/0/F/70FE9C38-08D1-4FCC-BEF8-42B47DD968FE/Windows7VHDBoot.wmv

What's New in Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) Video

Fri, 01 May 2009 12:04:43 +0000

This video walks you through some of the new and updated features in the Windows 7 Release Candidate.

http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/9/3/293FCBA7-E0F2-4ACC-BE30-854B018F8559/WhatsNewWindows7RC.wmv

What you should know about Win7 XP Mode and MED-V

Fri, 01 May 2009 00:41:54 +0000

Windows XP Mode on Windows7 with Windows Virtual PC is designed for small business users, For Enterprise customers, MED-V is the way to go.

More information:

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/business/archive/2009/04/28/how-med-v-v2-helps-you-manage-windows-xp-mode.aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2009/Apr09/04-28Win7QA.mspx

What’s new in Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:08:55 +0000

In the video below Brian Desmond and Laura talk about the new things that come with Windows Server 2008 R2 AD.

Office 2007 Service Pack 2 – All you need to know

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:10:29 +0000

Just came across these nice blog posts about the new Office 2007 Service Pack 2:

Office 2007 Service Pack 2 Kiosk

Office 2007 Service Pack 2 Kiosk, with more staples

Going beyond the standard Group Policy Preferences

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:40:36 +0000

Group Policies and Group Policy Preferences are great technologies to manage your enterprise desktops. But what if you want to go beyond the features Microsoft has build into the Group Policy Management Console?

With PolicyPak you can consistently manage ANY application’s settings using the Windows native Group Policy technology. have a look at the PolicyPak introduction video below to learn what PolicyPak can do and how it works.

Learn more about PolicyPak and watch the video tutorials.

Walkthrough to Get Your Applications Ready for Windows 7

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:40:42 +0000

http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde/archive/2009/04/25/walkthrough-to-get-your-applications-ready-for-windows-7.aspx

Windows 7 – Learning Portal

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:38:10 +0000

https://www.microsoft.com/learning/windows-7/default.mspx

The early days of personal computing

Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:18:35 +0000

While usually we focus on what is happening today and what might come tomorrow, it’s quite interesting to look back in a while and learn how we actually got there.

By searching the web for historical tech content, I came across the website of the computer history museum located in Mountain View – California.

I then found this very interesting video “Personal Computing: Historic Beginnings” presented by Alan Kay. The presentation is about 110 minutes long, but definitely worth looking at if you’re interested in the history of personal computing.

Google Data Center Tour

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 10:54:51 +0000

My only comment on this one “It’s huge !”

Windows Services, What changed from Vista to Windows7 - Part2

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 17:45:18 +0000

In part one of “Windows Services, What changed from Vista to Windows7” I highlighted the new, renamed and removed services that come with Windows7.

Some Services are not quite new, but are now just installed by default. One example is the ActiveX Installer Service.

The below table lists those Services where the startup mode was changed from Automatic (Vista) to manual (Win7).

Note that the “Status” for some Services on your system might be different. The list was produced right after having installed both the Windows Vista and Windows7 client within Hyper-V guest machines.

Another Windows7 article from Gartner

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 08:59:09 +0000

This article discusses some thoughts around Windows 7 and Service Pack 1.

Windows 7 Won’t Need SP1, but Will Still Need 12 to 18 Months Before Deployment Begins

Windows Services, what changed from Vista to Windows7 Part1

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 23:34:52 +0000

Today I took a closer look at the Windows Services running on Windows7. A lot of the performance improvements with Windows7 are related to the way how and when services are being loaded so i thought it’s worth to see what’s happening there.

I first installed a Windows 7 build 7077 and a Windows Vista SP1 client on my Hyper-V server. Because I am primarily interested in what’s happening in an enterprise environment, both clients were joined to a domain.

VMWare vSphere

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 21:53:22 +0000

ESX was yesterday, tomorrow is vSphere. VMWare today announced vSphere. For more information watch the video below or go to: http://www.vmware.com/products/vsphere/index.html

[videofile]http://download3.vmware.com/vsphere/vsphere_feature_304x212_R4.swf[/videofile]

Finding FSMO Role Owners

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:50:53 +0000

In preparation of doing some Group Policy related things, I decided to extend my Home Lab AD infrastructure running on Windows Server 2003, with Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008R2 domain controllers.

Because at some stage I want to get rid of the Windows 2003 Server I also moved the FSMO roles from the Windows 2003 domain controller to the Windows 2008 domain controller.

I used the steps described in the “Transferring FSMO roles” article. Additional information can also be found in the “How to view and transfer FSMO roles in Windows Server 2003” article.

Playing with BranchCache

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:23:13 +0000

During the past 2 days I have been looking at the Windows 7 BranchCache feature. After hearing, reading and talking about this for months, it was about time to do some hands-on stuff.

I used the BranchCache Early Adopter’s Guide from Microsoft. If you would have a perfect test environment, the implementation would probably be done in 2-3 hours. For me it took a little bit longer……. but once again, I’ve learned a lot more.

MED-V Screencasts on TechnetEdge

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:40:10 +0000

The first out of four screen casts about MED-V has been published today on TechnetEdge.

Part 1, Concept and Architecture
Part 2, User Experience
Part 3, Configuring Workspace Policy
Part 4, Creating Deployment Package

More about Microsoft product lifecycles

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:10:52 +0000

As I wrote the previous blog entry I started thinking about all the other products I come across in my daily professional life and started creating the table shown below.

For those that are still running Windows 2000 Server systems, it’s about time to start migrating these because next year the extended support will end.

More product lifecycle information can be found on the Microsoft Product Lifecycle site.

v:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} x:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}

Windows XP mainstream support ends in 2 days

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:00:41 +0000

On April 14th mainstream support for Windows XP will end. for the next 5 years the operating system goes into extended support. The table below illustrates the differences between mainstream and extended support.

The Microsoft Windows XP product page explains it as following:

Mainstream Support delivers complimentary and paid support, free security updates, and bug fixes to all Windows customers who purchase a retail copy of Windows XP (i.e., a shrink-wrapped, not pre-installed copy). Mainstream Support for Windows XP will continue through April 2009.

The Internet displayed as a subway map

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:59:17 +0000

The Information Architects have published an updated trend map of today’s internet.

 ![](http://informationarchitects.jp/web-trend-map-4-final-beta/) 

 The map can be [explored easily with Zoomorama](http://www.zoomorama.com/2477f0e8b447bb6570493cdac464c41f).

Left-Handed Mouse pointers

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:18:59 +0000

for those that are left-handed, have a look at these mouse pointers on MSDN Code Gallery. These left-handed Windows Vista mouse pointers are designed for left-handed users. They point to the right, instead of the left, which may feel more natural for left-handed users.

Windows7 – Application Compatibility – ACT 5.5

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:02:02 +0000

Microsoft has released ACT 5.5 (Application Compatibility Toolkit). ACT 5.5 provides support for pre-RTM version of Windows7.

To learn more about ACT 5.5 I recommend reading “Windows 7 Application Compatibility Toolkit 5.5: Interview with Jeremy Chapman”.

ACT 5.5. can be downloaded here

Another great information source is the Application Compatibility and User Account Control site on Microsoft TechNet.

And finally I came across the blog from Chris Jackson -the App Compat Guy” that is worth a visit as well.

ToolTip – less misérables (MSI file extractor)

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:59:53 +0000

Today I found a nice utility that allows you to easily extract individual files from an MSI package. The tool is called “less miséreables”. it’s a kind of a funny name, but it does the job.

To extract a file, simply launch the utility, select the file(s) you want to extract and click on the extract button.

Of course the same can be done by using the MSIEXEC command from the command line as shown below, but that does extract all files.

Verifying your file downloads

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:40:59 +0000

Today we once more ran into an issue caused by a corrupted file transfer. I mention “once more” because this is something I see happening all the time. So let me drop a couple of words on this.

When putting content on an FTP site consider creating a checksum file as this will allow others to validate their file downloads. Just comparing file size is not enough (examples follow).

There are many freeware tools that can create and verify checksum files. One of the tools we are using is QuickSFV. What is nice about QuickSFV is that it is fast and can be fully integrated into the Windows Explorer context menu, allowing you to just select a file and create or verify a checksum file of it.

Nice article about Win7 and devices

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:45:08 +0000

Captured this article on Twitter “Will my device work on Windows7 ?” It’s worth reading as it gives a good insight on the device related changes.

Classic Menu in Microsoft Word 2007

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 15:34:43 +0000

With the release of the Office 2007 suite, Microsoft made some radical changes to the UI. Gone were the menus and toolbars, replaced by the “Ribbon”

I’ve seen many users (including myself) struggling with the new user interface. It’s not that the concept of the Ribbon isn’t good, it’s rather the time it takes until you find the new location within the Ribbon to do something you have been doing for years with the old classic menu with just a few clicks.

Some thoughts about moving away from XP from Gartner

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:56:16 +0000

Although I don’t agree with everything Gartner writes the “Getting Off Windows XP Is More Important Than Windows Vista vs. Windows 7” article describes some thoughts to be made when planning the move from Windows XP to the next OS.

Windows7 – Device Stage

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:02:15 +0000

Another great feature that will come with Windows7 is Device Stage.

Watch the video below and read the “Device Stage – A New Way of Interacting with Devices in Windows 7” on the Windows Blog to learn more about device stage.

](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U84k7riZiAk)

Personally I am interested how device stage can be used within an enterprise environment. I hope Microsoft is going to add some manageability functions for Device Stage.

Windows7 - DirectAccess video

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:50:12 +0000

For those who just can’t get enough, there is a new vide on TechNet Edge where Keith Combs demonstrates the DirectAccess.

[videofile]http://msinetpub.vo.llnwd.net/d1/keithcombs/screencasts/Windows7/DirectAccess/DirectAccess.wmv[/videofile]

Active Directory Powershell Blog

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 22:34:48 +0000

Those interested in managing Active Directory with PowerShell, have a look at the Active Directory Power Shell Blog.

Top 10 List of Data Loss Disasters 2008

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 23:13:42 +0000

Last week-end I was sitting in an airplane and read a magazine that was provided for free to travelers at the airport (of course i had chosen an IT related one :-) ). The magazine contained an article talking about the top 10 data loss disasters collected by Ontrack.

The Top 10 list of data loss disasters 2008 can be found here.

Perform Multithreaded File Copies with Robocopy in Windows 7

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:16:07 +0000

Read the TechNet article “Perform Multithreaded File Copies with Robocopy in Windows 7”

Windows 7 Walkthroughs - Updated

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:03:24 +0000

Microsoft has published additional Windows7 Walkthroughs on Microsoft TechNet. The Walkthroughs provide you with a high-level overview on the various features and enhancements that come with Windows7.

User State Migration Tool

BranchCache

DirectAccess

Hyper-V Terminology

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:04:25 +0000

Talking to people about virtualization almost every day, I notice that many aren’t that familiar yet with all the terminologies. Ben Armstrong has written two good articles on his blog, describing all the terminologies used around Hyper-V.

Hyper-V Terminology

Hyper-V Terminology Update

One of the things that seems to confuse people a lot is understanding the difference between Hyper-V Server and Hyper-V on Server 2008. I take the freedom of copying Ben’s explanation (below).

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization v1.0 Beta Demo Kit

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:11:57 +0000

Microsoft has made available a Demo Kit for their Enterprise Desktop Virtualization Beta aka MED-V. For more details read my earlier blog post “Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization aka MED-V”.

The Demo Kit contains everything you need to get first hands-on experience. The Demo Kit can be downloaded from here.

20 Years World Wide Web

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:42:06 +0000

On March 13. 1989 Tim Berners-Lee provided the foundation of the world wide web. Read more about 20 years of web @ the CERN 20 Years WWW anniversary site or watch the 20 Years WWW video.

Intel Anti-Theft Technology

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:17:35 +0000

Another thing I came across this week was the Intel Anti-Theft Technology videos. So if you are interested to see how Intel could help you getting back your notebook watch the videos posted here.

ToolTip - RichCopy

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:09:33 +0000

This week I read the Utility Spotlight article on TechNet about RichCopy. RichCopy is a great tool for copying, synchronizing and moving file contents around. Consider RichCopy as an enhanced robocopy GUI. One of the great features is that it can use multiple threads for file copying activities. I’ve been using it only for 2 days now, but I’m sure it becomes part of my must have toolset.

Group Policy: Restrict Hardware like a pro

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:00:14 +0000

Here’s another video from GPanswers explaining how to restrict the use of certain devices within your managed environment.

Font Collection

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:31:33 +0000

Yesterday evening I was helping out my wife with creating some invitation cards for a children event that takes place during spring vacation. For the juniors there was a picture on the front side of the invitation that was okay, but we both decided that for the teen-agers we must use a different theme.

Finding the right picture wasn’t easy, so we decided to just write text, but to use a cool font. Although Office 2007 already comes with a large number of fonts, we were just looking for something different.

Group Policy - How to Configure the Central ADMX Store

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:32:01 +0000

Well as you might notice Group Policy management currently is my favorite topic. I’ve been doing GPOs since the year 2000, then for a long while due to my job role I haven’t been doing a lot with GPOs, but that didn’t matter since there wasn’t too much changing in that space except that with each OS release the number of GPO settings has been growing.

But since the introduction of Windows Vista, there have been some bigger changes around GPO management. One of these changes is the use of the Central ADMX Store. The Central ADMX Store plays an important role, so it is important understanding the concept.

Group Policy Management Videos from GPanswers.com

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:43:35 +0000

Jeremy Moskowitz from GPanswers.com has posted 2 free GPUniversity videos.

Default Group Policy Objects

](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-9huZgxOSI&hl=en&fs=1)

Group Policy Backup and Restore

](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKoTLGPHZIU&hl=en&fs=1)

Interested in more ? Check out the Group Policy Online University.

Updated Group Policy Online University

Fri, 06 Mar 2009 10:41:03 +0000

In January 2009 Jeremy Moskovitz launched the Online University for Group Policy Management. I wrote about that earlier in my blog post “Online Group Policy University”.

In the past weeks Jeremy has put an additional great amount of effort in reworking the offerings, so that now you have the possibility of selecting and ordering individual Modules and and options. Additionally there are some very attractive payment options as well that might be interesting for those that don’t get their company paying it for them, but want to invest in their personal knowledge.

VMWare Workstation – Memory configuration

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:37:46 +0000

One of the key hardware related prerequisites when using Virtualization software is RAM. To improve performance of my virtual environment that I have running on my notebook, I had ordered an additional memory module of 2 GB RAM.

After having added the additional 2 GB of RAM i started the VMWare Workstation and booted the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2003 guest systems. Before starting these I had of course raised the assigned amount of memory for each guest system.

RunAs Radio

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:01:25 +0000

Feeding my hunger for information, I came across the “RunAS Radio” site. RunAs Radio is a weekly internet Audio Talk Show for IT Professionals working with Microsoft Products.

Windows 7 IT Pro Guides

Sat, 28 Feb 2009 10:28:39 +0000

Microsoft has published Windows 7 IT Pro Guides.

These documents include: 1) A What’s New in Windows 7 Guide, covering many new and changed Windows 7 features of interest to IT professionals, including DirectAccess, BranchCache and other networking technologies, VHD boot and other deployment technologies, and AppLocker, Biometrics, and other security technologies, and 2) A Windows 7 Manageability Overview Guide, covering the manageability improvements that can reduce total cost of ownership by helping to increase automation, improve user productivity, and provide flexible administrative control to meet compliance requirements.management technologies.

Windows 7 Theme Packs

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:27:04 +0000

Just found a nice article on Mike Swanson’s blog about Windows 7 Theme Packs. Windows 7 introduces theme packs, which are .cab files that contain all of the necessary assets to implement a theme, including sound files and images.

Download the official Microsoft Theme Packs here

Download the Theme Packs from Mike Swanson here

While in Windows XP it was rather a pain to create your own Themes, it looks like in Windows 7 things have been simplified a bit. Definitely interesting for companies as well to apply their corporate design to their clients.

Something got mixed up

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:14:08 +0000

I just checked the Microsoft download site to see if there is anything new. On the top of the list (sorted by release date) I found the Windows 2000 Service Pack 4. Something must have got mixed up there.

Using AppLocker in Windows 7 video

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 22:46:20 +0000

Watch the Using AppLocker in Win7 video on TechNet where Paul Cooke gives an insight on what Applocker is, how it works and how to deploy it.

Windows Vista SP2 Release Candidate

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 19:59:15 +0000

It looks like the folks in Redmond have a busy time, after Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft now announces that the Windows Vista Service Pack 2 has reached RC status. I suggest they keep up the speed and bring us Windows 7 soon as well.

More information is available here:

Announcing the Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 RC

Notable Changes in SP2 RC for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008

Some thoughts on IPv6

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 22:52:54 +0000

About 3 years ago when Windows Vista was on the horizon there has been a lot of talk around IPv6. But since then, at least in the environment I work in, it has become quiet around this topic. On Wikipedia we can read that based on a study from Google, penetration is still less than one percent of Internet traffic in any country

But nowadays we more often hear about the IPv4 Address exhaustion meaning that soon we will run out of IPv4 addresses. An interesting resource for this topic is the “IPv4 Address Report”.

Free Microsoft Press E-Book: Windows Vista Resource Kit

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:08:12 +0000

Microsoft Press is celebrating their 25th anniversary and is therefore giving away the “Windows Vista Resource Kit, Second Edition” E-BOOK.

You can download the complete E-Book (44 MB) from here.

IPv4 vs IPv6 Song

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 20:43:19 +0000

In my next blog post i will address the IP version 6 topic, but let me first share this amusing video I found while I was collecting information around IPv6. It’s really worth listening.

Dust can bring your PC down

Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:45:09 +0000

Yesterday I helped out a friend to move into his new apartment. Once we had completed moving the heavy parts he asked me if I could connect his PC and while i would do that maybe also do a quick system check.

So I connected back all the cables and powered up the machine and noticed that it was incredibly loud, but did not pay any further notice to that. I checked if the system was configured for automatic windows updates, and it was and had all the latest and greatest patches installed, so far so good. I then checked the Antivirus application, that one seemed to be expired since a while, so I uninstalled it and installed AVAST Home that is free for home users.

The History of Microsoft on Channel 9

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:33:43 +0000

Interested in how it all started off at Microsoft ? On Channel 9 a new series call “History of Microsoft” has started. A new episode is being released every Thursday. So far the following episodes have been published:

History of Microsoft 1975

History of Microsoft 1976

History of Microsoft 1977

As new episodes come out you find them here.

Boot from VHD in Windows 7 video

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:16:43 +0000

In this video Jeremy Chapman senior product manager from the Microsoft enterprise product management team talks about booting from VHD as well as some of the new imaging features.

By the way, note that when booting Windows 7 from a VHD file you cannot use Windows Bitlocker or the Advanced Power Management features. Hibernation mode is also not supported.

The Boot from VHD in Win7 video is published here.

Additional information around native VHD support in Windows 7 can be found in this blog post.

DirectAccess in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2

Sat, 21 Feb 2009 05:25:26 +0000

Microsoft published a Technical Overview document that covers the functional and architectural aspects of DirectAccess, a technology introduced in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 to enable mobile workers to seamlessly connect to enterprise network resources when connected to the Internet.

Download the document here

An Executive overview document is also available here

2008 Virtualization review

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 00:32:03 +0000

Brian and Gabe review the big events, trends, and themes of the desktop and application virtualization space from 2008.

Watch Brian Madden TV Episode 1 - 2008 year in review

Encrypted on Windows 7 and use on Vista as well

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 21:38:15 +0000

With Windows 7 we can not only encrypt our local fixed drives but also USB devices. Considering that probably many of do carry around one or more memory sticks that could contain sensitive data or just data you don’t want anyone else to get access too.

Now of course any new operating system comes with tons of new features, but I would consider this as one of those features that people are also really going to use, as it simple to use.

VMware Icons and Diagrams

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 23:12:31 +0000

Need to prepare a presentation for a VMWare based Solution ? Then check out the VMWare icons and diagrams collection on the VMWare viops site. Download the Power Point file with all icons and diagrams here. Those that want to go into more detail might find this source useful as well.

And those that work with Visio might be interested in the Virtualization stencils from vmguru.com

Windows 7: Application Compatibility

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:29:54 +0000

I’ve just spend an hour in gathering some additional information around Windows 7 Application Compatibility. Till now when we moved to a new operating system version a significant amount of effort was required with regard to application compatibility. So will companies that invested in Windows Vista Application compatibility have to do all that work again for Windows 7 ?

Unfortunately not, on almost any Microsoft source i found around Application Compatibility, the following statements are being made:

Windows 7 Manageability Overview

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:55:03 +0000

Windows 7 introduces a number of manageability improvements that can reduce total cost of ownership by helping to increase automation, improve user productivity, and provide flexible administrative control to meet compliance requirements. This paper provides an overview of each of these improvements.

Download the document here

Virtualization Industry Radar

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:03:45 +0000

Just came across this nice “Virtualization Industry Radar” page. The page provides a nice overview of the key players within the virtualization industry.

Windows 7 Deployment Changes

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:07:13 +0000

Those looking at Windows 7 deployment read the “Windows 7 Deployment Changes” article on the Windows System Deployment Blog.

TCP/IP Registry values for Vista and Server 2008

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:42:26 +0000

Microsoft has updated the TCP/IP Registry Values for Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 whitepaper that describes how to modify the TCP/IP behavior by making registry edits.

The document can be downloaded from here

TinyURL

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 15:02:24 +0000

Some of you who have read Technical books might have noticed that the author provided download links to content that starts with http://tinyurl.com/ TinyURL.com is a free service that allows you to create nice short URLs to your own or other sites or download content on the web.

Let me give an example with this blog post. The full URL to this blog post is: https://www.verboon.info/index.php/2009/02/tinyurl/ kind of a long URL right ? For demonstration purposes I have added the above URL on the TinyURL.COM web site which gave me the following nice short URL: http://tinyurl.com/cjygl7

Converting WIM to VHD

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 14:35:12 +0000

Today I’ve tested the WIM2VHD script provided by Mike Kolitz a Software Design Engineer from the Hyper-V Team at Microsoft.

In short, the script allows you to create a bootable VHD file directly from Windows 7 installation media, so you don’t need to go through the whole Windows Installation process. Once the VHD is completed, you can move it directly into your Hyper-V System and boot the operating system.

Detailed information about the script can found on the MSDN Code Gallery - Windows(R) Image to Virtual Hard Disk (WIM2VHD) Converter. Note that you must have the Windows 7 AIK installed to run this script. The script provides a lot of optional command line options, the shortest with using all default settings is as following:

Windows 7 hands-on videos

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:34:56 +0000

Just came back from vacation and cleaning up my mailbox. One had send a link that contains a number of nice short hands-on videos about Windows 7. Don’t expect any level 500 deep technical insight from these videos, but they are good enough to get a general overview on what’s new around the following topics:

Installation Changes
New Desktop Features
New Superbar and Aero Features
Application Enhancements
The Action Center and UAC Settings

Windows Update Explained

Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:01:00 +0000

Just found a document called Windows Update Explained on the Microsoft Update Team Blog. The document provides a good insight on how Windows Update works.

Windows 7 SKUs

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:14:30 +0000

In Windows 7 each SKU is a superset of the previous SKU. Read more about the Windows 7 SKUs on the Windows Blog “A closer look at the Windows 7 SKUs”

Windows Volume Activation Demystified

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 18:50:15 +0000

Read the “Windows Volume Activation Demystified” article on TechNet Edge and get a complete overview and insight into Windows Volume Activation.

For those that don’t like reading watch the Volume Activation Demo

Windows Multilanguage Packs explained

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 13:36:43 +0000

Speaking with various people I often notice that some do not understand in detail the concepts and benefits around the Windows Multilanguage Packs. The video below provides an in depth overview around the concepts and use of Windows MUI Packs. Hope it’s usefull.

[videofile]http://wm.microsoft.com/ms/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/enterprise/mui.wmv[/videofile]

Windows 7 - Driverstore size

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 11:38:51 +0000

When it comes to OS deployment the size of the image to some extend does matter. Windows by default comes with a large set of plug and play device drivers that are included within the operating system installation sources.

Prestaged drivers in Windows Vista and Windows 7 are located under C:\Windows\system32\Driverstore.

If you run the following command against your mounted Windows 7 image file, you get a list of all PnPdrivers included within the Driverstore.

Fix it automates steps described in Microsoft KB articles

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 19:42:37 +0000

Usually when you read a Microsoft Knowledge Base article you find a detailed description on how to solve a particular problem.

In some KB articles you will find the following picture

This indicates that the “Fix it Team” has provided a script / package to automate the system modifications required to fix the problem or change the system behavior.

The fix it team has their own “fix it for me blog” where they list the KB articles they have provided a fix it package.

ToolTip - Another Picture Resizer

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:01:08 +0000

I blogged earlier about Image resizer utilities, but just found another one worth mentioning.

Image Resizer Powertoy Clone for Windows is as its name says a clone of the Windows XP Image Resizer Powertoy that runs on Windows Vista as well, in both 32 and 64 bit version.

Once installed the utility adds an entry into the file context menu “Resize Pictures”.

Enjoy

Google Search issues

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:21:31 +0000

Looks like Google has an issue, whatever word you enter in Google search, most results are being flagged with “This site may harm your computer”.

Clicking on the link, brings you another message.

So since a long time, we’re switching back to Altavista who let’s me surf wherever I want to go.

Intel vPro review

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:37:07 +0000

Okay, I must admit, I don’t believe in all Gartner is publishing, but while I was looking for some additional information around “DASH” I found the following interesting “Revisiting vPro for Corporate Purchases” article from Gartner, worth a read.

Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V Live Migration Overview

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:15:05 +0000

With the release of Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V will also support “Live Migration”. Today Hyper-V provides “Quick Migration” which still means a short downtime, with Live Migration a move from one to another Hyper-V system can be performed without any system downtime.

A feature overview document can be found here. And a step by step guide can be found on TechNet here.

Online Group Policy University

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:59:23 +0000

Today Jeremy Moskowitz has launched the Group Policy Online University. Taking into account that many companies in these days have restrictive travel and training policies, the Online University seems to be an excellent way how you can further extend your knowledge around Group Policy Management without the need to attend a live training e.g. you can attend the training at any time, from everywhere.

The only thing you need to do now is to convince your manager that it is worth the money :-)

IE8 Group Policy Settings and more

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 22:29:12 +0000

Yesterday Microsoft released the Release Candidate for Internet Explorer 8 that of course contains a lot of new features that I am not going to rewrite here again, as others did so already.

Reading the IE8 product group blog 100 additional group policy settings are being introduced to extend manageability of IE8 through Group Policy Management. The updated Group Policy Reference including the new IE8 settings can be downloaded here and updated Group Policy Settings ADM files can be found here. Also worth reading is the IE8 Deployment Guide.

Shutting down or Reboot Vista when remotely connected

Fri, 23 Jan 2009 00:10:21 +0000

When you are logged on to a Vista Client through a remote desktop connection, you don’t see the option to shutdown or reboot the system within the Start Menu.

But if you are within the remote session and press CTRL+ALT+END you get the following screen

allowing you to Restart, shutdown or putting into sleep the system.

Another option is to enter the shutdown command at command prompt like shutdown /s that will shutdown the system.

Free Virtualization ebook from Microsoft

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:34:08 +0000

Confused about all the different solutions around Virtualization ? then get the “Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions” eBook. The document gives you all the information you need to better understand the various Virtualization offerings Microsoft has available today and will release in the near future.

Windows 7 secrets

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:07:34 +0000

Tim Sneath has written a must read article on his blog called “the bumper list of Windows 7 secrets". The article describes many new handy features included within Windows 7.

I take the freedom of copying one Secret into this post as it works well on Windows Vista too, and is really a must know for those that often use the command prompt.

***Command Junkies Only. *One of the most popular power toys in Windows XP was “Open Command Prompt Here”, which enabled you to use the graphical shell to browse around the file system and then use the context menu to open a command prompt at the current working directory. In Windows 7 (and in Windows Vista, incidentally – although not many folk knew about it), you can simply hold the Shift key down while selecting the context menu to get exactly the same effect. If the current working directory is a network location, it will automatically map a drive letter for you.

Windows 7 - Applocker needs a 2008 R2 DC

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:10:46 +0000

Yesterday evening I looked at some of the new features within Windows 7. So at some stage I wanted to see Applocker running. I spend about an hour reviewing my settings, checking GPO processing until I went back to the documentation, just to find out that little sentence at the very bottom of that page….. “At least one Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller is required to host the Applocker rules”.

Comparing VMWare ESX and ESXi

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:01:55 +0000

Today I wanted to find out a little bit more about the differences between VMWare ESX and ESXi. Since it doesn’t make sense that i rewrite what others have written already let me share the sources i have found.

ESX and ESXi comparison from VMWare

How does VMware ESXi Server compare to ESX Server? from David Davis on Virtualization.com

The Architecture of VMWare ESXi from VMWare

ESX and ESXi comparison from the Virtual Troll

Expanded Control with Group Policy Preferences article from TechNet Magazine

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:02:00 +0000

For those interested in Group Policy Preferences I recommend reading the “Expanded Control with Group Policy Preferences” that is published in the January 2009 issue on TechNet Magazine.

And as always the full January 2009 help file version can be downloaded here.

GPO Survival guide

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 20:04:35 +0000

Just came across this handy document from Microsoft called the “[Group Policy Documentation Survival Guide](http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/1/2/212db64c-3e9c-44d3-b822-b2508e0eccf3/Group Policy Survival Guide.pdf)”.

The guide contains all the links to the resources you need when dealing with Group Policies.

The document can be downloaded here

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization aka MED-V

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:04:00 +0000

Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) is Microsoft’s new product offering for so-called local virtualization or client based virtualization. The solution itself originates from Kidaro that was acquired by Microsoft last year.

With local desktop virtualization a complete OS is executed on top of the operating system that is installed on the users physical device. Using a client based virtualization solution such as MED-V can help with application compatibility issues when migrating to a new operating system. With MED-V you can continue providing applications to your users in a seamless way without having the user notice that that application runs on another virtualized OS.

TechNet - Windows 7 Forums

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 17:20:56 +0000

Looking for answers on Windows 7 ? have a look on the Microsoft Technet Forums for Windows 7 Beta.

Reducing size of WinPE

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 13:23:35 +0000

Today I have been looking into the new “Profiling” options for Windows PE 3.0. Using the profiling options allow you to reduce the content of Windows PE to an absolute minimum without removing any boot critical content.

I am not going to re-write a step by step process here, as it is all described within the Windows PE User Guide for Windows 7 but here are the basic things

First build your PE boot.wim the way you have been doing it so far, but before unmounting it run the following command as well: dism /image:C:\PE\mount /Enable-profiling

Technet Magazine - Automating Virtual Machine Host Deployment

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:23:39 +0000

Great article i just finished reading about automating virtual machine host deployment on Hyper-V.

Download the complete Technet Magazine January 2009 edition here. When having trouble reading the CHM file, read this.

WDS - Multicast Transmission to Deploy Multiple Clients

Sat, 17 Jan 2009 00:04:46 +0000

The below video is from Technet where Gordon Ryan explains how to use multicast transmission to deploy multiple clients.

[videofile]http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/E/1/BE16009B-E44D-474F-896C-0E43162D47D8/winvideo-ITPro-WDSMulticast.wmv[/videofile]

Windows 7 - Walkthroughs

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:32:29 +0000

Learn more about Windows 7, watch the Walkthroughs.

Windows 7 Walkthrough - AppLocker Windows 7 Walkthrough - User State Migration Tool Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows 7 Beta) Windows 7 Walkthrough - Problem Steps Recorder Windows 7 Walkthrough - Deployment Image Servicing and Management Windows 7 Walkthrough - Enterprise Application Compatibility Mark Russinovich: Inside Windows 7

Windows 7 Bitlocker

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:17:27 +0000

Bitlocker is the build-in disc encryption solution that was first shipped with Windows Vista. The deployment of Bitlocker with Windows Vista wasn’t a straight forward process both in deployment and configuration. Reading and watching the current content that is provided around Windows 7 it looks that we can expect a number of improvements for Bitlocker.

Bitlocker now also supports encryption of removable media,
Additional Group Policy settings to manage Bitlocker

Intel vPro - Known Issues, Best Practices, and Workarounds

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:00:20 +0000

Today when working on a vPro related issue, we came across the Intel vPro - Known Issues, Best Practices and Workarounds page. For those who deal with vPro it’s definitely worth reading that content.

I have changed my mind

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:58:27 +0000

In October 2008 I dropped a post called Don’t wait for Windows 7. Well during the past days I have changed my mind and I guess many others did as well concerning waiting for Windows 7.

When Windows 7 came up on the horizon last year, we heard statements like “it isn’t expected to begin for Windows 7 until at least mid-2011” also at that time, nobody expected Microsoft to provide a public Beta of Windows 7 that early. So far Microsoft seems to receive a lot of positive feedback, first because they made it look like “Hey guys we know you’re all waiting for it, here it is, Surprise !!!” and secondly because what they gave us seems to be quite stable. But now that they have made us all happy in providing us something we can put our hands on, to me it looks like we are now entering into the second phase of speculations about when Windows 7 will go RTM.

ToolTip – Clipname

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:20:04 +0000

Today I was writing an email that contained a couple of file name references, as i was writing the first 2 file names I remembered that in the past when I used WinBatch there was a nice explorer context menu enhancement that allowed copying file names and paths into the windows clipboard.

By searching the web for filename to clipboard utilities, i actually found quite a lot of them. Because i prefer small, lean and FREE I finally ended up with Clipname provided by MainSoft.

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Networking Enhancements for Enterprises

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:26:10 +0000

A document that describes the networking enhancements available in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and their benefit to enterprise networks.

Download here

Don't send outlook messages without subject

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:13:36 +0000

This probably has happened to each of us, writing an e-mail, then added the recipients and then clicked the send button, and as you clicked it, you notice that you forgot to fill in the subject.

To prevent this from happening, I found the following script today that will bring up an alert when trying to send an e-mail without a subject.

To create the macro in Outlook 2003, go to Tools -> Macro -> Visual Basic Editor (this feature has to be installed). In Microsoft Office Outlook Objects -> ThisOutlookSession, then paste the following code:

Win7 - GP Features

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:01:09 +0000

Jeremy Moskowitz from GPanswers.com just uploaded 2 videos on YouTube demonstrating some of the new GP features in Windows 7.

ToolTip - Unlocker

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 21:18:39 +0000

When trying out the Beta AIK for Windows 7 I got into a situation where some files got locked by the system, probably due to a not properly unmounted WIM file. A tool that has become most handy to unlock files is UNLOCKER. Unlocker integrates itself into the context menu, so that you can easily select a folder or file that you want to unlock.

Unlocker can be downloaded directly from the developers website.

Typo in PE 3.0 Users guide

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 17:02:05 +0000

I’ve just found a typo in the Windows PE 3.0 Users guide.

dism /image:C:\winpe_x86\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:“C:\Program Files\Windows OPK\Tools\PETools\x86\WinPE_OCs\winpe-wmi.cab”

dism /image:C:\winpe_x86\mount /Add-Package /PackagePath:“C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\x86\WinPE_OCs\winpe-wmi.cab”

“OPK” should be replaced with “AIK” otherwise if you copy paste the sample commandline adding an optinonal component will not work.

Where has the Vista snipping tool gone ?

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:39:13 +0000

Today when I wanted to make a screen shot on one of my development systems I noticed that the snipping tool was gone. The snipping tool comes with the Vista operating system, so my thirst though was that something must have screwed up my system making the snipping tool disappear. But then i remembered that recently I had removed the Tablet PC Optional components from that desktop, thinking that I would not need that feature on a desktop PC.

MDT 2010 and AIK 2.0 Beta released

Sat, 10 Jan 2009 10:23:02 +0000

Just found out that Microsoft has released MDT 2010 AND AIK 2.0 BETA on Microsoft Connect. So now we cannot only test Windows 7 BETA but we can also start looking at it’s deployment.

Windows 7 Partner information

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 20:55:53 +0000

For those of you that have access to the Microsoft Partner Program website Microsoft has published a couple of Windows7 related documents today that might be of use such as a feature and deployment overview presentation.

Windows 7 Beta - Available now on MSDN

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 07:58:51 +0000

Although available on the various torrents since a couple of weeks, last night Microsoft has posted Windows 7 Beta on MSDN.

Enjoy testing !

Wireless Power Technology

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:53:39 +0000

Will we get rid of batteries soon ? Read more here: http://www.ecoupled.com/index.html

ToolTip - ImageMaster for ISO files

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:10:56 +0000

ImageMaster is a .NET based application for reading, extract content and writing ISO files. There are many tools and products available that can do this but what i like about this one is that it’s only 1.2 MB and FREE !

What's running inside svchost.exe

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 20:46:26 +0000

When you open the Windows Task Manager and select the Processes tab and then select the “show processes from all users” button, you will find many instances of the svchost.exe as shown in the picture below.

So what are all these svchost.exe doing ? To get a detailed overview of each running svchost.exe you can run the follwing command at the command prompt that will list each svchost process its PID and the running services.

Hyper-V and Dynamic discs

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 17:01:19 +0000

First let me avoid confusion here, I’m not talking about “dynamically expanding” discs but about the disc type e.g. Basic and Dynamic.

In the past weeks we have been migrating some of our physical servers into Hyper-V. Just before X-mas my colleague had prepared a plain Windows 2003 system for me so that i could continue with installing the necessary applications that were planned to run on that system. Two discs were created, the primary disc that contains the boot partition is connected to an IDE controller and the second disc to a SCSI controller. Note that the OS boot disc must always be connected to an IDE controller. So the disk layout looks as following:

Scripting Windows Explorer Details View

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:30:19 +0000

Those of you who are familiar with desktop engineering know the pain of scripting Windows configuration settings. While in general many settings can be configured by adding or changing a specific registry key value, there are still many things within the OS where Microsoft did not make our life as easy and provides a single registry key that can be tweaked.

Yesterday I worked on setting the Windows XP Windows Explorer View to “Details” by default for all users. The typical approach in identifying registry changes is to create a snapshot before and after manally applying the system configuration change, then in most cases the necessary registry keys are found and can be scripted. But unfortunately that wasn’t the case when changing the Windows Explorer View to Details.

Windows BCD Store

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 10:48:43 +0000

Before Windows Vista Boot Configuration Information was stored within the boot.inifile. With the introduction of Windows Vista Microsoft has completely reengineered the boot environment and Windows startup process. . Since then Boot Configuration information is not stored within the boot.ini anymore but within the BCD store. BCD = Boot Configuration Data.

To learn more about BCD read the following articles:

Booting Win7 from a VHD file

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 21:37:37 +0000

Windows7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 will support booting directly from a VHD (Virtual hard disk) file. This will allow you to run multiple operating systems on a single hard disk without the need of creating multiple partitions.

I found a nice description on the blog from rasmus sjoerslev about booting Windows7 from a VHD file.

Outlook add-in for Office Communicator

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:47:04 +0000

Those of you who work with Microsoft Outlook 2007 and Office Communicator 2007 might be interested in this one.

On the MSDN code Gallery you can find a Communicator Add In for Outlook 2007. Instead of switching between the two applications, the Add In embeds your Office Communicator contacts in Outlook 2007 as shown in the picture below.

ToolTip - Image Resizer

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:00:50 +0000

Just surfing a bit on the Internet, i get a Skype call from our friends who live in Perth Australia and asking me how to reduce the size of pictures before sending them via e-mail.

If you have Microsoft Office 2007 installed, images can be easily resized using the build-in export function.

An easy to read step by step guide for Microsoft Office Picture Manager can be found on the Towson University site.

History of Ethernet

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:38:15 +0000

We all use it every day, it’s one of the technologies that makes today’s world connected, at home, at the office over the cable and wireless it’s all Ethernet.

Watch the video below where Robert Metcalfe co-inventor of the Ethernet speaks about the history of Ethernet.

Your favorite apps anywhere anytime

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 10:18:20 +0000

Carrying your laptop with you sometimes can be a pain, and sometimes you don’t even expect that you would need your laptop. Especially when you are at some one’s private place and they ask you if you would mind to take a look at their PC that isn’t doing well anymore.

So what you need is a USB stick with all your favorite applications and utilities , since you don’t really want to start downloading and installing tools on someone elses PC. Still interested ? Then have a look at PortableApps.COM

Download Web based video Trainings

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 08:42:56 +0000

Ever had that situation where you started looking at webcast that is being streamed and than for some reason you got distiurbed by something and can’t look at it till its end ? Or you would simply like to keep that webcast on your local disk for later use. Well, given that the publisher allows you to download the video, do the following to create your local copy:

Copy the URL of the video

SCVMM 2008 - After 48 hours

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:15:49 +0000

It’s about 48 hours ago , that i started with setting up a System Center Virtual Machine Manager environment, No worries, i have been doinng otherthings in between, although today , uhm yesterday I spend most of the time with it. Also the hardware I have available , isn’t realy that powerfull, so it all takes a bit time, but that’s okay, while waiting I’ve just continued reading.

So for all those that plan to give SCVMM a try as well but don’t have big powerfull servers available let me encourage you, my setup is as following:

Intel AMT in action

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:59:21 +0000

For those of you who do have vPro capable machines in their environment, but never had the chance to take a closer look at the AMT features, this blog post might be of interest.

For most people I assume the biggest hurdle to start using the AMT technology is that you need a System Management Infrastructure setup that provides AMT support like Microsoft SCCM, Altiris Client Management Suite, Intel Landesk or the HP System Configuration Management Suite. If you really plan to use the AMT technology , this of course is a prerequisite, but if you just want to explore the basic functionality of AMT there is an easier path.

No Battery Alarm Sound on Vista - it's by design

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 21:48:25 +0000

Early this year I bought a new laptop for my wife with Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed, before she used a notebook with Windows XP. Since she is using that new notebook, she is regularly complaining about Windows Vista just shutting down. Of course we could argue that people should read the messages they get such as the one below:

If Windows Vista would play a sound, people would probably pay more attention to it, but according to a Microsoft Knowledge base article KB950161. low and critical battery alarms do not sound on Windows Vista.

Application Virtualization Overview

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:21:06 +0000

For all those of you who want to get an overview on today’s Application Virtualization solutions and technologies, i recommend reading “Application Virtualization Solutions Overview and Feature Compare Matrix” published by Ruben Spruijt and Jurjen van Leeuwen.

An insight on error 404

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 19:08:09 +0000

Today we were at my oldest son football club year end party where someone told me a story about the meaning of the number 404, when you try to connect to a web site page that does not exist, you usually get an error 404 message. The number 404 is related to a room number at the CERN this person told me.

It just needed a Google search on “History of 404” to find a page that seems to be fully dedicated to Error 404. The “room number” story seems to be just a myth, according to the 404 Research Lab, no such room number exists at the CERN.

Live Mesh - A review

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 22:37:48 +0000

It’s been in May this year that i first wrote about Microsoft Live Mesh, later in July I was able to get it installed and since then i have been using it on a regular basis.

Not that there is anything new in remote controlling a PC and sharing documents, but it is the simplicity how it is done and how it can be used.

Once you have added your clients to live mesh, you can remotely access them from anywhere where you have Internet access and the necessary permissions to install an ActiveX control. Note that you can also access your mesh clients from a PC that is not part of your mesh network, you just need to logon on mesh.com

Active Directory Limits

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:49:17 +0000

Interesting in knowing how many objects you can create within AD ? how deep your OU structure can be ? Then read “Active Directory Maximum Limits”.

Altiris related information sources

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 14:42:09 +0000

Today someone asked a question about importing computer accounts within the Altiris Console. I had created a script for that about 4 years ago, so I wanted to check if the tools and methods i used would still be valid today. In browsing the web for altiris related content I came across the sites listed below.

Altirigos.com http://www.altirigos.com/index.php?page=home

Juice http://www.symantec.com/community/

Altris Forums http://forums.altiris.com/

Altiris Support Portal http://www2.altiris.com/support/main.asp

System Center - Virtual Machine Manager Demo

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:07:32 +0000

Just recently Microsoft launched the System Center Virtual Machine Manager. Watch a demo here. For those that have a subscription to the Windows IT Pro Magazine, read the article “What You Need to Know About Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008”.

RSS / ATOM Feed validator

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:52:56 +0000

Fort those that have a blog and enabled an RSS or Atom feed, you can use the FEED Validator site to check your feed.

Converting VMWare image to Hyper-V image

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 20:26:22 +0000

Tomorrow there are plans to move some VMWare slices into Hyper-V. In preparation of that i have found the following article on TechNet

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winserverhyperv/thread/ef8c12f7-c45d-442e-9a30-c43cd87df3b3/

and on vmToolkit there is a the tool VMDK to VHD converter that should help doing the job, so far for the theory, hope it works out.

Windows7 overview from Mark Minasi

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 18:34:58 +0000

Mark Minasi has put together a nice overview on Windows7. “the next Windows: Lucky7?”

Reducing the Windows Vista Footprint

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:47:56 +0000

The Windows Vista footprint is quite large, so my current thoughts are “how to reduce the Windows Vista footprint ?”. I hope to come up with a complete overview at some stage, for now i have found the following interesting references:

Uninstalling Drivers and Devices in Windows Vista a Microsoft white paper primarily intended for driver developers, but why not use the same methods described in there and reduce the driver store size ?

Vista SP2 CPP anouncement

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:17:45 +0000

According to a blog post on the Windows Blog from Mike Nash, Windows Vista SP2 will be made available on TechNet Thursday December 4th.

Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (SP2) Customer Preview Program (CPP

The current plan is to ship Vista SP2 in the first half of 2009.

….. in fact it’s already available on MSDN now: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/securedownloads/default.aspx

GPO Preferences require XMLLite

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:28:26 +0000

Reading the Group Policy Preferences Overview Whitepaper from SDM software, I just notice an interesting prerequisite for using GPO Preferences - XMLLite.

XmlLite Runtime Files

The XmlLite runtime file, Xmllite.dll, is integrated into the following operating systems and products:

Windows Server 2008
Windows Vista
Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 or later.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 and later.

The XmlLite runtime is also available as a download from the XmlLite Update Page for the following operating systems:

Enable Active Directory Services tools on Windows 2008

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:39:06 +0000

I just connected to our fresh installed Windows 2008 server that we intend to use as a remote system management console. The server is a member of our Windows 2003 Active Directory domain, not a DC itself.

I wanted to launch the Active directory users and computers console, but did not find it under the Administrative tools. Okay, this must be something similar like with Windows Vista when you install the RSAT tools I thought, and yes it is, you must first enable that feature.

ToolTip - CDBurnerXP

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:18:17 +0000

CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components.

And guess what, instead of several hundred megabytes installation sources, CDBurnerXP is only 3.05 MB.

Microsoft Knowledge Base - What's new ?

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 23:18:08 +0000

So often you find yourself with a technical problem and after long searching you might come across a Microsoft Knowledge base article. Especially with new products so called quick fix engineering updates are provided on a regular basis, so I was wondering how do you get to know about such QFE’s ?. I finally came across the KBUpdate.info website which is scanning the Microsoft Knowledge Base every night.

Windows PowerShell - Free booklet

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 22:10:10 +0000

As it looks like, Windows PowerShell will become part of Windows7, so it’s about time to start learning this powerfull scripting language. After i had downloaded PowerShell v1.0 (v2.0 is currently in CTP), i’ve started collecting and searching the documentation and learning guides. I’m not goig to list them all here, most resources and further links can be found on the Microsoft Technet Script Center. But there is one i would like to reference as it is a comprehensive and well written booklet provided and written by a Microsoft Consultant. Free Windows PowerShell workbook: server administration

It's about time to install MS08-067

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:18:54 +0000

If you haven’t done so yet, it’s about time you get the MS08-067 patch installed on your Windows clients. According to a recent post on the Microsoft® Malware Protection Center blog, another wave of attacks has been identified. By the way for those still running Windows NT 4.0, Microsoft indeed seems to have a patch for that retired OS but companies will have to pay to get it.

Windows and Memory Limitations

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:03:08 +0000

it was the second time this week i came across the Windows RAM topic, once by reading and once by a question a colleague asked me. So enough reasons to to look for something that describes it in detail.

The Memory Limits for Windows Releases are described in detail on MSDN.

InstEd - Free Windows Installer database editor

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:51:31 +0000

For those dealing with application packaging here’s an interesting tool you should know about. For more details check out the InstEd site and read theblog.

Vista SP1 download using BITSADMIN

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:57:52 +0000

I wrote about BITSADMIN earlier, use the below command line to directly download Vista SP1. Note that you have to create the c;\download folder yourself or define an other path.

BITSADMIN /TRANSFER VSP1 http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/a/9/3a9b72c2-527d-4694-8a49-84c056d4c34d/Windows6.0-KB936330-X86-wave0.exe C:\DOWNLOAD\Windows6.0-KB936330-X86-wave0.exe

Remote Control your Mobile Phone

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:13:33 +0000

The task for this Saturday was to remote control my mobile phone. After a short search on the web I found MyMobileR

The first good ting about this application is that it is FREE ! Second it’s easy to install, within seconds i could remotely manage my mobile phone.

Using this application allowed me to perform an e-mail account configuration in just a minute, because you can use your PC keyboard to enter data, and that is a bit more convenient than typing on a mobile phone.

Cloud Printing

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:04:14 +0000

We all have heard about Cloud Computing, now there is Cloud Printing ! Check out HPs CloudPrint. It’s still in BETA but worth to take a look.

Vista SP1 cleanup tool VSP1CLN.EXE

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:24:20 +0000

If you have installed Windows Vista SP1 on top of your first Vista installation and have no plans to uninstall it, you might want to give the following command a try “VSP1CLN.exe”.

The Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) Files Removal Tool (VSP1CLN.exe) can be used to remove the files that are archived after Windows Vista SP1 is applied. Running this tool is optional.

Installing Windows Vista SP1 increases the amount of disk space that is used by the operating system. This space is used to archive files so that SP1 can be uninstalled. Typically, you should run VSP1CLN.exe if you want to reclaim this disk space after applying SP1 and if you will not need to uninstall SP1.

Improve Vista Deployment time

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:17:28 +0000

I just read a blogpost from Michael Niehaus i think those deploying Windows Vista are interested to know about. The article describes how to shorten the OOBE process. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/958011

GMail in terminal mode

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:06:55 +0000

For all those that are missing the days when computer screens appeared in terminal mode, Google’s GMail can now be configured like that. Just select Settings, Themes and select the “Terminal” theme.

SQL Server services user account

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:58:40 +0000

When you install SQL Server 2000 / 2005 / 2008 you can configure under what user account the services are running. In the past i’ve often seen people selecting “local system”, I also selected that….not thinking too much about security then and it was the easiest to do with no need to create an additional user account and as long as you don’t need to access any other domain resources that worked fine.

Power Consumption in standby mode

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:11:27 +0000

I have come across an article that describes the power consumption of equipment in standby mode, found it quite interesting.

Some applications survive

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 20:35:30 +0000

Throughout my IT career i have seen many application development projects but most applications would not have survived more than 5 years until they got replaced by a new one. So I was quite pleased to find this success story about a software that is still being used by a company i once worked for and I was even one of the initial application architects of that application. Looks like this application made its Return On Investment.

Extending User Information in AD

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:44:51 +0000

The Windows 2003 Resource Kit contains a nice extension for the Active Directory Users and Computers console showing additional User Account information.

The additional user account information can be enabled by registering the acctinfo.dll as described below.

Follow the steps below to enable the additional user account information.

Download the Windows 2003 Resource kit tools.
Unpack / Install the Windows 2003 Resource Kit
Copy the acctinfo.dll to c:\windows\system32
Register the DLL by running the following command:

Creating GPO reports

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:00:05 +0000

Usually when you need a report for a given Group Policy object, you would launch the Group Policy Management Console, select the GPO and then select the settings tab that produces the report.

But what if you need a report for multiple or even all your GPOs you have within your Active Directory ? Going through each GPO and produce the report manually is going to take ages and is boring.

Conference Call Rules

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:38:04 +0000

As part of my job i am joining conference calls quite frequently, although whenever i can I stay away from them as mostly they aren’t productive, especially when there is more than 5 people in a call, as mostly you have 3 people having a dialogue and the rest stays quiet anyway even after the call ends :-)

But what I find most annoying and impolite is when people join that don’t understand some basic rules for participating conference calls. Noise, speaking in the background, hungry dogs are things that should be avoided when people join a conference call.

ToolTip: Bulk Drive Manager

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:36:07 +0000

Easily and quickly disable USB Storage Drives, CD and Floppy drives across the network. The tool can be executed in GUI and command line mode.

The tool is actually just configuring the appropriate system services , therefore after applying a configuration setting, the system must be rebooted so that the change can take effect.

The tool can be downloaded from dovestones software.

What is eating my disk size ?

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:14:11 +0000

Today I was testing some OS image within various Virtual Machines and at some stage noticed my available space on the disk became lower and lower. Although after each test i had deleted the VM entirely somehow i must have overlooked one or the other. So where are those BIG files on your local disk that are eating your disk size ?

Well I launched WinDirStat that one had recommended me once, and is really a great tool. WinDirStat provides a graphical overview of your disk, allowing you to quickly identify where the BIG files are that can be deleted to gain space again.

About disk drives

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 23:57:33 +0000

Today we had a brief discussion about the impact of power cycles on the disk drive lifetime. In searching for some background information on this subject, I found the followiing.

http://www.deq.state.or.us/lq/pubs/factsheets/sw/ComputersMonitors.pdf http://labs.google.com/papers/disk_failures.pdf This is not directly related but found it a nice story so i post it as well. http://storagemojo.com/category/disk/

Linkedin Applications

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:45:06 +0000

Those using Linkedin, check out Linkedin Applications.

Microsoft AutoColage 2008 and HD View

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:10:22 +0000

From time to time I visit the Microsoft Research site. It seems that there is much focus on photography and displaying pictures. AutoCollage 2008 allows you to create a photo collage with little effort.

Another interesting project is HD View which is intended to display very large pictures.

Dutch architecture with free software

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:09:44 +0000

Steve (a friend of mine) had send me this interesting article about how one makes money with free software. The story is about the design of a 5 euro piece that has been made with free software.

Read “How to make money with free software”

Installing ESXi in VMWare Workstation 6.5

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 11:28:38 +0000

Finally after several attempts, i’ve been able to install VMWare ESXi into VMware Workstation 6.5. The intend of doing this is purely to get familiar with the product. To get this done, i have been mainly following the instructions provided by xtravirt.com

Once installed i had some challenges with transfering files through the Virtual Infrastructure Client datastore browser where i received I/O errors. After some troubleshooting it appears to be related to the network , switch configuration which i haven’t solved yet. The workaround i used for the time being is to configure the ESXi vmware network setting to “host” only instead of “Bridged”.

VI command reference

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:11:59 +0000

VI - last time i had my very personal fight with this text editor was back in 1992 or 1993 when sitting in a Oracle Administration trainging class, and probably was the only non-UNIX guy (some time months later I was the first Windows guy that installed Oracle on NT 3.51). Now nearly 15 years later again i come across that editor and NO i have not learned how to use it since then because so far my focus was on things where VI would not be needed, but my interest in Virtualization technologies seems to drive me somehow towards learning this VI editor , or at least the basics, like how to get out of that thing !. I had just edited a vmware configuration file on ESXi, but then found myself in not being able to save that file and exiting from VI.

Another great site around Virtualization

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:51:10 +0000

In continuing my journey in Virtualization, I’ve come across another great site called VirtualizationAdmin.com

the site has a great collection of tutorials, blogs, white papers, software and more, definitely worth visiting it.

Don’t Wait for Windows 7

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:46:29 +0000

I just recevied an updated paper from Microsoft regarding Windows Vista and some statements why not to wait for Windows7.

There is no need to wait for Windows 7. It is a goal of the Windows 7 release to minimize application compatibility for customers who have deployed Windows Vista since there was considerable kernel and device level innovation in Windows Vista. The Windows 7 release is expected to have only minor changes in these areas. Customers who are still using Windows XP when Windows 7 releases will have a similar application compatibility experience moving to Windows 7 as exists moving to Windows Vista from Windows XP. * *

News about Vista SP2

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:56:40 +0000

Until last week we have just seen rumours around the Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista. The only visible thing from Microsoft was a placeholder KB number on their Support page.

On October 24, Microsoft has droppped some more information on their Windows Vista blog about the Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista.

Windows Azure an introduction

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:23:31 +0000

Curious about Windows Azure ?

Manuvir-Das-Introducing-Windows-Azure

More information about Windows Azure can be found here

A lap around Windows Azure

Management

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 10:12:02 +0000

A man in a hot air balloon realised he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted…

‘Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don’t know where I am.’

The woman below replied, ‘You’re in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground.. You’re between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.’

Don't skip Vista

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:25:55 +0000

While most people again seem to get excited about Microsoft’s next operating system and waste their time with rumours and guessing when it will be released, let me continue with promoting not to skip Vista :-)

An interesting article about “Five Reasons Why Skipping Windows Vista Could Backfire” was posted yesterday on www.cio.com

I found the arguments good enough to mention this article here.

User Profile Hive Cleanup Service Installation (UPHClean)

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 20:11:34 +0000

Today’s challenge was to get UPHClean.msi installing correctly. You would think that installing an MSI package is an easy thing to do, so thought I. But unfortunately MSI is not always MSI. Looking at all the posts on the web, it seems I was not the only one who had a bit of a challenge getting this installed in an automated way.

When launching the UPHClean.msi manually all works fine, software installs, service gets registered and the package is being listed in the Add/Remove programs list.

What happens before the OS loads

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 19:12:02 +0000

Ever wondered what actually happens when you turn on your PC before it loads the operating system ? Watch this video with Jamie Schwartz, Development Lead, Windows Kernel Dev team, and Andrew Ritz, Development Manager, Windows Kernel Dev team.

Windows Vista PreOS Environment: What happens before the OS loads

VMWare 6.5 available

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 20:17:15 +0000

I must have missed this somehow :-) VMWare finally released VMWare Workstation 6.5. For those that didn’t notice it too, here’s the release notes. It does note make sense here to list any of the highlights as there are just too many of them, all described within the release notes. Well…. for those that like automation, have a look at vmrun.

And of course there is also the VMWare Player 2.5.

All security updates on a DVD

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:31:19 +0000

I do periodically browse through the Microsoft Download Center (Beta) to see if there is anything new that is of interest to me. Today i came across Article 913086 which describes an alternative way of obtaining all Microsoft Security patches for all Operating systems and languages.

The ISO image files are intended for corporate administrators who:

Manage large multinational organizations.
Must download multiple individual language versions of each security update.
Do not use an automated solution such as Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).

ToolTip - chml.exe manage Windows Integrity Levels

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 19:02:34 +0000

To be honest i haven’t gone into the details of the Windows Integrity Levels myself but wanted to mention the chml.exe tool that can be downloaded from Mark Minasi’s web site.

More details about the Windows Vista Integrity Mechanism can be found here:

GPO Logging custom ADM

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 18:40:50 +0000

Last week we have been doing some GPO troubleshooting. Instead of setting all GPO logging options manually the custom GPO logging ADM(x) files found on GPOGUY.COM appeared to be very handy.

You can download the cutom ADM files here.

Microsoft Chemical Team blog

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:45:21 +0000

For those who do work within or are working with the chemical industry this site might be of interest. http://blogs.msdn.com/chemicals/default.aspx

Highlighting the impact of information technology on the chemical industry

Multilanguage pack update for XP SP3

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 19:07:11 +0000

Those that deploy Windows XP Service Pack 3 English and use multilanguage packs should consider the following update that fixes some localization issues.

KB942766 and download here.

TCP/IP Fundamentals for Windows

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:39:12 +0000

Need an update on TCP/IP ? then download this paper: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c76296fd-61c9-4079-a0bb-582bca4a846f&DisplayLang=en

Microsoft Volume Licensing

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:31:50 +0000

Most recent Microsoft Volume Licensing documentation can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e8798816-b0ba-4337-ba38-8fe2cf32b5d8&DisplayLang=en

Volume activation documentation

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:31:06 +0000

Microsoft recently updated their volume activation 2.0 technical guidance documents. Everything you need about volume activation when deploying Vista / Win2008 can be found here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9893f83e-c8a5-4475-b025-66c6b38b46e3&DisplayLang=en

A site worth mentioning

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 22:17:19 +0000

While searching for something I came across the site computer performance, why the sites is called like that, i don’t know, but it has a lot of interesting content related to windows 2008, vista, scripting etc. so that i find it worth mentioning.

iTunes Genius rocks

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:23:37 +0000

With iTunes 8 Apple has added a new feature called Genius. when playing music the genius sidebar shows you related artists and songs.

So while playing the first song of this playlist…….

it does automatically show me the following related artists and songs.

the idea is not new, but i like to see it being added to iTunes.

ToolTip - Shadowexplorer

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 20:09:32 +0000

This week i found a nice little tool called ShadowExplorer.

ShadowExplorer allows you to browse the shadow copies created by the Windows® VistaTM Volume Shadow Copy Service. It’s especially thought for users of the home editions, who don’t have access to the shadow copies by default, but it’s also useful for users of the other editions.

Download from: http://www.shadowexplorer.com/downloads.html

As always, give it a try.

vPro colors in BIOS

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:48:16 +0000

When remotely accessing the system BIOS of a HP Compaq dc7800 desktop machine using vPro, the BIOS appears in black and white as shown in the picture below:

to get the native BIOS colors you must configure the terminal emulator mode to ANSI

then, the BIOS will appear with colors as if you were sitting in front of the physical machine.

Thanks to Claude Henchoz for the hint.

Wireless GPO settings for XP

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:49:48 +0000

In the last 2 days i have spend some time in getting Wireless GPO settings applied to a Windows XP client.

I was actually about to describe what i have done to get it working, but just noticed that there is already a similar article published on Technet Magazine related to Vista, so i am not going to rewrite things in detail again.

The Cable Guy Wireless Group Policy Settings for Windows Vista

Getting annoyed by the rumors

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:35:26 +0000

Instead of manually searching the web, i have created some Google Alerts. This is very useful as it does simply send me an e-mail every day with the found results.

Of course like many others i’m also interested about what is going on around Windows 7, but to be honest, i really am not interested on how “Paint” will look.

What annoys me most is all the rumors going around about the possible release date for Windows 7, first we heard 2010, then some argue 2009, but today i even see messages speaking about Summer 2009 and of course Microsoft is not commenting on any of those messages.

HP bullet proof server

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 22:09:20 +0000

No comment, just a funny video.

HP Bullet Proof

Slipstreaming IE8

Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:44:23 +0000

The “New Zealand IE8 Taskforce” posted a nice article on how to slipstream IE8 into Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 images.

Wireless Router with Power button

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:34:31 +0000

This is what i have been looking for since a while, about 12 months ago i was actively searching for a Wireless router with a power on/off button, but with no luck.

Yesterday i read a local IT magazine where there was a reference to a Netgrear Wireless Router that has a power on/off button.

I find having a power on/off button very useful for 2 reasons:

Energy saving
Less Wireless signals in the house when not needed

Till now the family just unplugged the power cable , but that isn’t as convenient as just pressing a button, so soon this device will replace our current one.

AppDeploy Repackager

Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:17:12 +0000

Bob Kelly has launched a free MSI Packaging tool called the AppDeploy Repackager.

The AppDeploy Repackager is a simple freeware snapshot tool for the creation of Windows Installer (MSI) setup packages

More information about what the Repackager can do and can not do can be found in the FAQ.

3 seconds to get system serial number

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 15:30:21 +0000

Okay, depends on how fast you can type. Start a command prompt and enter the following command:

wmic csproduct get identifyingnumber,vendor,name

In simple words, wmic is a WMI commandline tool. It’s around since XP if i am right, but there hasn’t been much documentation for it:

Some references here:

Intel vPro Expert center

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 19:35:50 +0000

Michele from Intel was kind enough to send me the link to the Intel vPro Expert center

Another good link is the Intel vPro Expert Center. We post all of our user documentation, training, etc up there - plus we get really good dialog going between end users and the engineers.

All those being pessimistic about Vista Read this

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:20:22 +0000

All those being pessimistic about Windows Vista, book some time and carefully read this:

http://www.tweakguides.com/VA_1.html

Never heard of vPro before ?

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 21:13:01 +0000

Well then it’s time now to get familiar with it. Since about 2 years Intel is shipping vPro technology, but still many people aren’t familiar with this technology or haven’t even heard of it at all, for those I recommend to look at these demonstration movies:

http://www.intel.com/business/business-pc/demo/demo.htm http://www.intel.com/business/enterprise/emea/eng/vpro/demo/

or watch the intel vPro demo from the MMS 2008 keynote

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlj7u3tOQ9s

The VistaPE project

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:11:45 +0000

Those of you that work within the desktop management space might be familiar with the PE Builder aka as BartPE.Since WinPE was only available to enterprise customers, BartPE was a good alternative for those that had did not have access to WinPE. the PE builder allowed building a preboot environment boot CD by just using the Windows XP or Windows 2003 sources.

With the release of the Windows Automated Installation kit (WAIK), anyone has access to WinPE 2.0, so anyone now can build his PE based boot sources.

Don't wait for Windows 7 move to Vista

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:08:56 +0000

In both work and private life moving to Vista becomes a dominating topic. Of course there are reasons to stay on XP and hold on for another 2 years and then move to Windows 7, but should Microsoft release Windows 7 as planned in early 2010, it then still takes at least a year until enterprise users will see it, as from experience, enterprises don’t adopt new operating systems quickly and there is still this myth of waiting for the first service pack, to give Windows 2008 server a boost , it was released initially with service pack 1 included (just kidding here).

Windows 7 Wallpaper preview

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 13:44:19 +0000

It will take a while until we see Microsoft’s next operating system Windows 7, but for those that can’t wait, some creative people have already posted some wallpapers :-). Well one thing we know for sure, it won’t be the wallpapers that will cause a potential delay of the final release.

Prep-ing WINPE does make a difference

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:35:57 +0000

When creating WinPE 2.0 boot images, make sure you run the PEImg /prep command against your boot.wim as it does make a significant difference in sze as shown in the table below:

Bootable ISO file with WiinPE 2.0 Size in MB

boot.wim prepped 146 mb

boot.wim not prepped 203 MB

Considering this all is loaded into memory, you might want to make sure to reduce the size of the boot.wim to an absolute minimum.

Google launches Chrome Browser

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 22:58:04 +0000

Today Google launched its own first web browser called Chrome. Less is more, Chrome comes with a very nice lean design.

Chrome has a couple of nice features, one I personally found quite interesting is that the address bar also acts as the search bar. As you type in words in the address bar, you receive instant search results.

I’m quite sure that the chrome browser will get quickly adopted by home users, as we have seen previously happening with the Firefox browser, but I’m curious to see if this browser will become a serious competitor within the enterprise space, where Internet Explorer still plays a dominant role and most likely will continue to do so.

IE 8 Beta 2 released

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 07:00:11 +0000

Earlier as planned, Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2. A final release date has not been communicated yet. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/

Take a break

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:37:52 +0000

Remember Space Invaders. ……if you’re in the office, turn of sound :-)

The flash based game can be found here. And if you have read my post about using BITS for file downloads you can download the swf file for offline use as well.

enjoy

Organize your desktop

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:32:55 +0000

Sysinternals published a new nice utility called Desktops. Not that this is something we haven’t seen before, but like all the tools from sysinternals it’s all nicely packaged into one executable.

It’s definitely worth a try. Thanks Tobi for the hint :-)

Identifying the WDS Server

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:14:47 +0000

When deploying an image from a WDS server it might be useful to know its computer name. Johan Arwidmark has posted the details about the WDSServer variable on his blog here:

http://www.deployvista.com/Blog/tabid/70/EntryID/35/Default.aspx

No Automatic reboot please

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:59:22 +0000

Saturday morning, before going out with my family on a shopping tour I started a large FTP download and assumed it would have completed upon my return…. a few hours later, I found my system at the logon prompt, as it had rebooted itself automatically and of course the FTP download was not completed.

What happened ? Very simple, Windows Update had automatically rebooted the system, probably after having displayed a message as shown in the screen shot below.

The need for installing the Intel Chipset update

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:56:10 +0000

Within one of the projects I’m working on, there was a debate about installing the Intel Chipset software. It was requested not to install it. I could not agree with that, as it is a common known best practice to install the Intel Chipset update software unless the operating system can configure the Intel chipset natively.

A detailed table about when the Intel chipset software installation is needed can be found here:

The other search engine

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 21:31:10 +0000

When searching the web probably most of us do use Google, because although some don’t like to hear it, it has simply become the default search engine for most users and there doesn’t seem to be much competition, or would you use MSN search ? :-)

I recently read an article in a newspaper about a new search engine that was being launched called CUIL, I became interested as they claim having the largest index, even larger than Google. Well to be honest i don’t really care if that is true or not, but i must say that they do provide a different web search experience (see picture below)

Official blog on Windows 7

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 09:44:33 +0000

Looks like Microsoft has launched its first official blog that focuses on Windows 7. Read more here:

http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/default.aspx

GP Preferences

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:58:36 +0000

In 2006 Microsoft acquired the company DesktopStandard known for its extending Group Policy products GPVault and PolicyMaker.

While GPVault has become part of Microsofts MDOP suite that is available only for Enterprise customers that have a Software Assurance contract, the Policy Maker features have been available to everyone.

The PolicyMaker GPO extensions are now called GP Preferences.

GPO Preferences can be managed directly from a Windows 2008 system that has the latest GPMC installed or through a Windows Vista client with RSAT installed. With GP Preferences you can now manage Windows 2008 server, Windows Vista, Server 2003 SP1 and Windows XP SP2.

Enable access to RSAT after installation

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:11:39 +0000

On Windows 2000/XP you used to install the adminpak.msi to get access to the various Administrator tools such as the Active Directory Users and Computers or the DHCP management interface.

With Windows Vista SP1, you must install the RSAT package, RSAT stands for Remote Server Administrator Tool.

Once installed, I wanted to access them, so as I am used to do opened the Administrative Tools in the Start menu,…. but there weren’t there……. ??? To keep the story short, you must first “enable” them before you can use them.

Windows XP reports pending activation

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 07:49:44 +0000

Within at least every second implementation project I work on, people get nervous about Windows XP reporting that the system is not yet activated, although their Windows XP client image was build using an enterprise volume license key.

When you run msinfo32.exe as as a standard user (without administrative rights), it does report the following:

But no worries, if you run msinfo32.exe with an administrative account, the message does not show up.

Energy Saving Software

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:55:57 +0000

Edison, provided by Verdiem helps you saving power and our environment.

The tool can be downloaded here: http://www.verdiem.com/edison/

Reading TechNet Magazine offline

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:32:57 +0000

staying up to date is key when working in IT. As mentioned in an earlier post, i spend nearly 2 hours a day traveling to work and back home. Today i just noticed that TechNet Magazine is also made available as a HTML help file, so looks like i have another source for reading now.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc135917.aspx

Unfortunately the articles aren’t consolidated in one file, but every months issue is made available in a separate download. The link below let’s you download the September 2009 edition.

Microsoft Shared View Software

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 17:17:55 +0000

Those that often work with other people in different locations and don’t have access to a corporate managed solution where they can share their screen or documents, have a look at Shared View from Microsoft.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc645019.aspx

Microsoft Shared View download:

Microsoft Shared View download

A GUI for Robocopy

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 17:04:00 +0000

Some of you might now this already, I just came across this today :-) Although i prefer command lines, I must admit that i like this tool, as it allows you to either run the command immediately or save it as a script. And for some reasons I have always had a bit of a “typo” issue using robocoy. .

Read Article and download the tool here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc160891.aspx

A new book arrived

Sat, 09 Aug 2008 10:51:40 +0000

Since yesterday this book joined my book collection.

Using BITS for file downloads

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 21:12:01 +0000

Today I have come across the topic BITS which stands for Binary Intelligent Transfer Service which is a file transfer technology that is included in Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista.

What is nice about BITS is that it provides Checkpoint recovery and network throttling. This means that when a download is being interrupted because the remote site became temporarily unavailable or you had shut down your client, BITS will automatically resume the download when the remote source becomes available again or when the machine has been powered up again.

Microsoft Management Summit 2008 DVDs

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:59:35 +0000

Since a couple of days I have access to the MMS 2008 content that is available on 2 DVDs. For those that have access to it and work with Microsoft technologies, i do recommend to browse through the content and watch the recorded sessions.

I spend nearly 2 hours traveling to the office and back home per day, and watch the sessions on my laptop in the train. Till now i have captured a couple of interesting things, just by watching the sessions.

Windows Vista Performance and Tuning Guide

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 13:48:01 +0000

Microsoft has published a Windows Vista Performance and Tuning Guide focusing on the following:

Making configuration changes that help a computer feel more responsive when you use it.
Using hardware to boost the actual physical speed of a computer.
Making configuration changes that help a computer to start faster.
Making the computer more reliable may help increase performance.
Monitoring performance occasionally so that you can stop problems before they get too big.

The HP Garage

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 18:00:37 +0000

It’s here where HP started……

See more pictures of the HP House here: http://www.kennethkuhn.com/hpmuseum/garage/

And the Garage timeline is documented here: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/abouthp/histnfacts/garage/timeline.html

Understanding machine virtualization

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 15:04:16 +0000

If you have a general interest in virtualization technology, have a look at this video from Channel 9. I’ve liked the video especially because Simon Crosby is not just talking about a product but does bring up a couple of interesting thoughts and concepts on the use of virtualization technology today and tomorrow.

Citrix - Understanding Machine Virtualization

Windows XP until 2014

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 12:40:51 +0000

In a letter to enterprise customers Senior Vice President Bill Veghte at Microsoft informs customer about extended availability of Windows XP. Microsoft will continue to support Windows XP and release security updates until 2014.

Finally joining the Mesh

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:41:27 +0000

Microsoft has opened live mesh to more testers, although only to users located in the U.S.

Well, after changing the regional settings, you get to the next page, where you can sign-up :-)

And after a few seconds…….

When Google was born

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:08:45 +0000

Using the the waybackmachine on archive.org allows you to see content of archived pages from the Internet.

So i thought, let’s have a look at the early days of Google.com

Google.com on November 11th 1998

Google.com on December 12th 1998

Then in September 1999 they launched officially. Read the announcement.

Google.com Today (July 31rd 2008).

For those interested the Google Milestones can be read here.

The end of Windows 3.11

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:18:49 +0000

Remember this boot screen ?

Although retired for years now, the Embedded community could still use it.

In November 2008 it will definitely retire. Read more about the end of WFW 3.11 on John Coyne’s Embedded blog.

As this discussion started in our internal discussion forum, i started looking in my drawer and guess what….. found an old floppy.

Grow vmware size - an update

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:11:57 +0000

Earlier i wrote about how to extend you virtual disk , although I have not been able to test , verify this new feature myself, from the documentation provided, it looks like ESX Server 3.5 Update 2 provides hot virtual extend support.

Grow vmware size

Hot Virtual Extend Support – The ability to extend a virtual disk while virtual machines are running is provided. Hot extend is supported for vmfs flat virtual disks without snapshots opened in persistent mode

Windows Embedded Standard

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 21:21:04 +0000

Today at work we talked about Windows XP embedded. It’s a bout 2 years ago that i had a look at XP embedded.

Looks like Microsoft comes up with a next generation of Windows XP embedded.

Below some links:

New site dedicated to Microsoft Hyper-V

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 08:26:00 +0000

Steven Bink owner of the famous Bink.nu web site has launched a new site dedicated to Microsoft Hyper-V and related technologies called Hypervoria

Scripting Registry permissions

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:30:28 +0000

Today some e-mails where exchanged on how to best script registry permissions.

Depending on what you want to achieve here’s a couple of tools that can be of help.

SetACL.exe

http://www.helge.mynetcologne.de/setacl/index.htm http://setacl.sourceforge.net/

SubinACL.exe

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E8BA3E56-D8FE-4A91-93CF-ED6985E3927B&displaylang=en

Regini.exe

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/237607

Reading - Administering Windows Vista Security

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 11:03:32 +0000

Although you usually don’t read IT related books from page 1 and end it on the last page, I consider having finished reading Mark Minasis’ Administering Windows Vista Security - The Big surprises.

While many IT books can end up being a bit annoying, i found this one very nice to read as it does include the authors own opinion and practical experiences and it does real fluently.

The book gives you a good insight into Vista’s UAC, File and Registry virtualization and other security related topics.

For those who liked Norton Commander

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:38:40 +0000

Remember this one ? Yes it’s the famous Norton Commander. I’ve been using it until we moved to Windows NT. A newer version was released that worked for Win96 and NT, but it looked a bit like they’ve had just dumped the NC in a “Window”

In the mid 90’s I was working with an external application developer, who always carried a tool called the Windows Commander with him on a floppy. The Windows Commander was a kind of a clone of the Norton Commander, but fully Window-mized. it ran perfectly on Windows 3.11.

Bill Gates looks back

Sat, 05 Jul 2008 20:55:45 +0000

Some rare photos from the Microsoft archives, commented by Bill Gates himself.

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/storysupplement/gates_microsoft/index.html

1965, Bill Gates, age 9.

Automating Regional settings configuration for Vista

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 19:24:34 +0000

In my earlier post “Automating Regional Settings configuration” I described how to script the Regional Options settings for Windows XP using a rundll command.

For Windows Vista there is a similar trick using the following command:

 control intl.cpl,, /f:“filename.xml”

Details on how to populate the filename.xml are documented on Microsoft Technet - Guide to Windows Vista Multilingual User Interface.

Windows sidebar gadgets

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:29:44 +0000

Once announced as one of the great new features in Windows Vista, it has become silent around the Sidebar gadgets. To me it looks like people have ran out of ideas about what could be gadgetized.

You find tons of Vista sidebar gadgets that display the weather, latest news, stocks, clocks and a whole range of search gadgets. Then there is another set of tools and utilities where most seem to focus on displaying some system information.

iPhone 3G comming to Switzerland

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:04:30 +0000

Today i found a message in my private mailbox about the launch of the iPhone 3G in Switzerland, due on the 10th of July. For more information see: http://iphone3g.swisscom.ch/?lang=en

Putting drive letters first

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:42:01 +0000

When launching Windows Explorer, by default the driver letters are being displayed behind the volume / share name.

Some people, like myself don’t find this very convenient and want to see the drive letters in front of the volume / share description. This can be customized by applying the following registry key:

Reg ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer /v ShowDriveLettersFirst /t REG_DWORD /d 0x4 /f

Disable System Restore through WMI

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:16:05 +0000

If you are sure about what you are doing and you want to speed up the installation of multiple security patches or applications, you can use the following WMI command to disable Windows XP system restore.

on error resume next
set sr=GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\default:SystemRestore")
e=sr.disable("")

To turn on System Restore again, use the following command:

on error resume next
set sr=GetObject("winmgmts:\\.\root\default:SystemRestore")
e=sr.enable("")

Scripting XP quicklaunchbar

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 08:20:27 +0000

I posted this a couple of years ago into the MyITforum site and received plenty of replies on this, as at that stage it was an unknown trick. Below the trick how to enable the Windows XP quicklaunch bar by using a registry hack.

copy the reg key “HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop\Default Taskbar” to: “HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop\Taskbar” (for XP RTM) “HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Streams\Desktop\TaskbarWinXP” (for XP SP1) (to be safe copy it to both locations)

Altiris anounces CMS 7 Beta II

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 07:58:42 +0000

In the coming days, Altiris 7 Client Management Suite and Server Management Suite Beta II will be available for download from the beta portal. http://betanew.altiris.com/

A blog post about the blog

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 20:13:06 +0000

Since i have moved the blog content from my previous blog site to this site, i’m using Wordpress. I’m not going to loose much words now, but all i can tell you for now, it’s great !!! Thanks to Steve who has been kind enough to setup this up for me.

Blocking Live Mesh within corporate networks

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:57:00 +0000

When i wrote about Live Mesh back in May, I asked myself what corporate security administrators would thnik about having their users starting meshing their private and business systenms.

In Microsofts KB951861 you find more information on how IT Administrators can block Live Mesh on their networks. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951861/en-us

Web Archive

InstallShield Setup Parameters

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:46:00 +0000

On www.AppDeploy.com you find an excellent document describing all Installshield setup parameters, very helpfull if you want to install applications in silent mode. http://www.appdeploy.com/articles/InstallShield%20Setup%20Parameters.pdf

Live Sysinternals

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:18:00 +0000

For those that need quick access to the famous sysinternals tools, direct access to the executables is now available through: http://live.sysinternals.com/

On Microsoft Technet, the tools can be found here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx

https://web.archive.org/web/20080513070655/http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/default.aspx

Reducing energy consumption

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:57:00 +0000

Everybody can help a little bit, turn off your TV from standby, and why not shutdown your home computer completely ?

On HPs latest client hardware, you’ll find a nice little tool that helps you reduce energy costs as well, it’s called the HP Power Manager.

The tool lets you select a power saving scheme and dows display as well the potential cost and energy savings, and most important how much you help saving the environment.I did just install a standalone version, but for large enterprises Verdiem provides an enterprise suite, that allows you centrally manage your users power settings. I’m just about to send them an e-mail to get a trial version, so hopefully i can let you more abuot this in a couple of days or so.

Looking for HP Drivers ?

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:21:00 +0000

Usually when you would need a specific driver you go up to the vendors website and search for the driver download area.

Since a while, HP provides a more convenient way to find latest drivers for your HP hardware. It’s called the HP Softpaq download manager.

The HP Softpaq download manager allows you to easilly navigate to your device and get a list of all availabble drivers and related software, view the release note, and with just one click, download the content that you need to your client.

BIOS Boot delay on VMWARE

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 09:56:00 +0000

Ever had that issue that you wanted to enter the VMWARE BIOS, but you simply don’t made it because the VMWARE session boots too fast ?

Add the following line to your *.vmx file.

bios.bootDelay = "3000"

http://communities.vmware.com/docs/DOC-1201¨

VMWARE Webcasts

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:13:00 +0000

There is a lot going on around Virtualization, so it’s important to keep up to date. Like other vendors, WMAWRE also provides Webcasts and Podcasts.

Recorded sessions can be found here: http://www.vmware.com/a/webcasts/recorded/

Podcasts here: http://www.vmware.com/resources/podcasts/audio.html

and upcomming events are listed here: http://www.vmware.com/a/webcasts/index/

Automate BIOS configuration for HP clients

Fri, 30 May 2008 13:22:00 +0000

Today the following options exist to automate BIOS configuration for HP clients:The Client Management Interface allows you to use WSH to retrieve and set BIOS settings like in the example below which changes the Ownership Tag.

Const wbemFlagReturnImmediately = 16
Const wbemFlagForwardOnly = 32
lFlags = wbemFlagReturnImmediately + wbemFlagForwardOnly
strService = "winmgmts:{impersonationlevel=impersonate}//"
strComputer = "."
strNamespace = "/root/HP/InstrumentedBIOS"
strQuery = "select * from HP_BIOSSettingInterface"
Set objWMIService = GetObject(strService & _
strComputer & strNamespace)
Set colItems = objWMIService.ExecQuery(strQuery,,lFlags)
‘ "Enter Ownership Tag" is the name of the BIOS setting
‘ instance object that we want to update. The correct
‘ names of available settings are found by enumerating
‘ all instances of HP_BIOSSetting.
For each objItem in colItems
objItem.SetBiosSetting oReturn, _
"Enter Ownership Tag", _
"Some environment-specific inventory code", _
"1E302E020304"
Next
Dim strReturn
Select Case oReturn
Case 0 strReturn = "Success"
Case 1 strReturn = "Not Supported"
Case 2 strReturn = "Unspecified Error"
Case 3 strReturn = "Timeout"
Case 4 strReturn = "Failed"
18
Case 5 strReturn = "Invalid Parameter"
Case 6 strReturn = "Access Denied"
Case Else strReturn = "..."
End Select
WScript.Echo "SetBiosSetting()

More information about HP CMI can be found here: http://h20331.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/cache/284014-0-0-225-121.html?jumpid=reg_R1002_USEN

Automating regional settings configuration

Fri, 30 May 2008 12:43:00 +0000

For Windows XP, regional settings can be applied by using the following method:

Create an answer file that contains the [RegionalSettings] section items you want to modify, and then save it (for example, as c:\regopts.txt).
Create a batch file by using the following command line to apply the answer file settings:rundll32.exe shell32,Control_RunDLL intl.cpl,,/f:“c:\regopts.txt”

The layout of the RegionalSettings file is as following:

[**RegionalSettings**]
Language = locale ID
LanguageGroup = language group ID, language group ID
SystemLocale = locale ID
UserLocale = locale ID
InputLocale = locale ID:keyboard layout ID, locale ID:keyboard layout ID
UserLocale_DefaultUser = locale ID
InputLocale_DefaultUser = locale ID:keyboard layout ID

More usefull information for those dealing with Global deployments can be found here: http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/default.mspx NLS Information Page for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Server 2003 http://www.microsoft.com/globaldev/nlsweb/default.mspx

A GUI for Windows Server Core

Wed, 21 May 2008 18:40:00 +0000

When i first read about Windows Server core, let’s say at some time in 2006, I immediately thought of the days managing Novell 3.11 systems, although there were a couple of NLMs (loadable modules) that provided a kind of GUI interface, most system configuration commands were typed at the console prompt. The command i will never forget is “get reply to get nearest server off” :-) this to prevent clients logging on to the wrong netware server.

Get meshed

Mon, 19 May 2008 23:12:00 +0000

Already heard of Microsoft’s new service called Live Mesh ? If not, have a look here: http://www.on10.net/blogs/nic/Hands-on-with-Live-Mesh/

You can sign-up for Live Mesh here: https://www.mesh.com/Welcome/Welcome.aspx, but there appears to be a long waiting list, i registered a couple of weeks ago, but still get the following message…..

I am really looking forward for this service, as, if it does what they promise, it will definitely make life a bit easier for those that work on different machines. I’m just curious about what corporate IT security people think of this service. I’m sure not all companies look forward to see their business PCs being “mes(sh)ed up.

Grow vmware size

Sat, 10 May 2008 09:38:00 +0000

Today i ran out of diskspace on one of my systems that runs within a vmware session. The system disk only had 10 GB and I needed to add another 10 GB.

This is what i did:

Extend the disk in offline mode by running the following command: C:\Program Files\VMware\VMware Workstation>vmware-vdiskmanager -x 20GB “C:\Users\Alex\Documents\Virtual Machines\Server 2003 - sysmanage\Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition-cl1.vmdk” It then takes a while until the disk is expanded.

Growing WIM files

Sat, 10 May 2008 09:36:00 +0000

You might have experienced that your WIM files seem to grow in size when editing the image. Of course it does, because you add content, but what if you replace files.. well it still grows, exactly by the size of the file(s) you replace. So when replacing larger content within your WIM images they might become bigger as you want.To get the WIM file resized simply perform an export by using imagex.exe.