Tag: Vista
Announcing App-V 4.6 RC and integration with Office 2010 Beta!
by BassQ on Dec.28, 2009, under Exchange, Microsoft, Office, SharePoint, Windows 7, Windows Server, Windows XP, XenApp, XenDesktop
First of all, we are excited to announce the availability of App-V 4.6 RC! In August we announced the App-V 4.6 Beta. Since then we have taken in lots of customer feedback and continue to refine the App-V 4.6 release so that we can deliver a great product! We invite you to check out the RC release by registering and downloading the App-V 4.6 RC release via Microsoft Connect, where you can also submit feedback directly to the team.
We’re not done though, in addition we’d like to share some great news and also announce our integration with Office 2010 Beta:
Microsoft Office 2010 Beta, Ready to be Sequenced With the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta Deployment Kit for App-V
As you know the Office team just completed a major milestone Microsoft Office 2010 Beta, congrats to the team! Throughout the process of building Office 2010 the App-V and Office teams have been working very closely to make sequencing Office 2010 Beta possible with App-V 4.6 RC! We have taken the feedback and requests from post-Office 2007 and App-V 4.5 releases, and have been hard at work implementing a solid integration experience for Office when App-V 4.6 releases in H1 2010.
So what’s Different when using Microsoft Office 2010 Beta and App-V 4.6 RC together?
Office 2010 has introduced a new piracy protection initiative, the Software Protection Platform (SPP) service. This service uses a machine’s hardware characteristics and product key to activate the installation, which is performed during the first Office application launch.
Since the Office 2010 product activation is linked to the hardware on which Office is originally installed, customers who wish to deploy Office 2010 using App-V must physically install the SPP service on the sequencer machine before beginning the sequencing process – and on any client machines that will stream and run Office 2010.
Our engineering teams have collaborated to address the top customer issues that people were running into when virtualizing past versions of Office. As a result, Office 2010 has a much more integrated user experience. The Office 2010 integration delivers key productivity enhancements and a seamless user experience by enabling the following::
· Microsoft SharePoint Integration – You can open, edit, and save Microsoft Office documents using Microsoft SharePoint.
· Microsoft Outlook Fast Search – You can use Microsoft Windows Desktop Search to find specific messages in your inbox.
· MAPI Proxy – You can connect to your inbox using Microsoft Outlook Send To functionality.
· Microsoft Office Document Indexing – You can index your documents so that you can use Microsoft Windows Search to locate files.
· Virtual Mail Control Panel icon – You can use the Email icon in Control Panel to perform advance mail configuration.
· URL protocol handler – You can configure links in the browser and specify the appropriate associated Microsoft Office application.
· Send to Microsoft OneNote Printer driver – You can print documents to Microsoft OneNote.
To help customers facilitate this process, we have created the Microsoft Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V (Beta). The Deployment Kit contains both the required SPP licensing component and Office 2010 integration features.
And what’s even more exciting, you can get your hands on it now.
How Do I Sequence Microsoft Office 2010 Beta for App-V 4.6 RC?
1. Download Office 2010 Beta here
2. Download the Microsoft Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V (Beta)
3. Download App-V 4.6 RC on Microsoft Connect
4. Read the App-V recipe for sequencing Office 2010 Beta on Microsoft Connect.
For detailed information on whether your environment meets the requirements of Office 2010 and App-V 4.6 RC, please refer to the App-V recipe.
Please note: We are providing a recipe to support the sequencing and testing of these pre-release products on Microsoft Connect. Please provide feedback via Microsoft Connect, by choosing FEEDBACK once logged into the App-V 4.6 Program.
We look forward to hearing about your App-V 4.6 RC and Office 2010 experience!
Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool v2.1 (VHD)
by BassQ on Dec.22, 2009, under Windows 7, Windows Server, Windows XP
Virtualization affects how we plan, build, deploy, operate, and service workloads. Customers are creating large libraries of virtual machines containing various configurations. The patch-state of these virtual machines are not always known. Ensuring that offline virtual machines are properly patched and won’t become vulnerable the instant they come online is critical.
I am therefore very pleased to state that the Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool v2.1 has now been released!
Congratulations to the Solution Accelerator team for this release!
The Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.1 has free, tested guidance and automated tools to help customers keep their virtualized machines updated, without introducing vulnerabilities into their IT infrastructure.
The tool combines the Windows Workflow programming model with the Windows PowerShell interface to automatically bring groups of virtual machines online, service them with the latest security updates, and return them to an offline state.
What’s New?
Release 2.1 is a direct response to customer and Microsoft field requests to support the R2 wave. Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.1 now supports the following products:
· Hyper-V-R2
· VMM 2008 R2
· SCCM 2007 SP2
· WSUS 3.0 SP2
· OVMST 2.1 also supports updates to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 virtual machines.
Download here; Offline Virtual Machine Servicing Tool 2.1
More info; http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc501231.aspx
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.1.1
by BassQ on Oct.25, 2009, under Windows 7, Windows Server, Windows XP
The Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer provides a streamlined method to identify missing security updates and common security misconfigurations. MBSA 2.1.1 is a minor upgrade to add support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
To easily assess the security state of machines in an environment, Microsoft offers the free Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) scan tool. MBSA includes a graphical and command line interface that can perform local or remote scans of Microsoft Windows systems.
MBSA 2.1.1 builds on previous versions by adding support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. As with the previous MBSA 2.1 release, MBSA includes 64-bit installation, security update and vulnerability assessment (VA) checks, improved SQL Server 2005 checks, and support for the latest Windows Update Agent (WUA) and Microsoft Update technologies. More information on the capabilities of MBSA 2.1 and 2.1.1 is available on the MBSA Web site.
MBSA 2.1.1 runs on Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000 systems and will scan for missing security updates, rollups and service packs using Microsoft Update technologies. MBSA will also scan for common security misconfigurations (also called Vulnerability Assessment checks) using a known list of less secure settings and configurations for all versions of Windows, Internet Information Server (IIS) 5.0, 6.0 and 6.1, SQL Server 2000 and 2005, Internet Explorer (IE) 5.01 and later, and Office 2000, 2002 and 2003 only.
To assess missing security updates, MBSA will only scan for missing security updates, update rollups and service packs available from Microsoft Update. MBSA will not scan or report missing non-security updates, tools or drivers.
Choose the appropriate download below for English (EN), German (DE), French (FR) and Japanese (JA) for x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) platforms.
Download details Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer 2.1.1 (for IT Professionals)
Source: http://bink.nu/news/microsoft-baseline-security-analyzer-2-1-1.aspx
Remote Desktop 7 Screenshots in Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2, including HD Movie Support
by BassQ on Oct.19, 2009, under Microsoft, Windows 7, Windows Server
New Enhancements
The upcoming RDP 7 enhancements discussed are as follows:
- Windows 7 Aero support
- Direct 2D & Direct 3D 10.1 application support
- True multi-monitor support
- RDP Core Performance Improvements
- Multimedia enhancements
- Media Foundation support
- DirectShow support
- Low Latency audio playback support
- Bi-directional audio support
Anyone who has been doing server-based computing, remoting, terminal services, Citrix or whatever you want to call it for any period of time. In this portion they show a 1080p high definition (HD) video being remoted from a Windows Server 2008 R2 Terminal Services.
WOW, is all I can say! I was left speechless. It was beautiful, not a single skip or hiccup, and it was beautiful. Microsoft accomplishes this not through virtual GPUs or server-side GPUs but by sending commands (code) from the server to the client. The commands are then executed on the local client’s graphics cards vs. the servers which Microsoft calls this, “RDP Client Rendering”.
The following image is a screen shot from the HD movie played over RDP 7. You will notice the resolution is very high and rich, now imagine it running in full motion with the audio synced. I never thought I would see the day.

Through RDP Client Rendering the amount of server-side resources are cut drastically. This eliminates the classic problem where one or two users running a graphics application at any given time renders the Terminal Servers box unusable. Not anymore. As the HD movie played, Gaurav showed us that both the server’s CPU and the network bandwidth utilization were running around 1%. Again, WOW is all I can say!
In the following image you will you will notice the Windows Task Manager’s CPU Usage and Memory Usage are very low considering a HD move is being remoted. Heck, mouse movements almost add more CPU…

Once they were done wooing us with the amazing eye candy in the demo, Nadim Abdo came back to discuss RDP Graphics Internals, the RDP graphics architecture, and which RDP rendering method was used by which applications.
Applications Supported?
As mentioned earlier, in Windows 7 and RDP 7 Microsoft has added the ability for the server to send commands to the Remote Desktop Client and have those commands executed by the local client’s graphics card vs. being required to have them rendered on the server, thus gaining the benefits we talked about above. But this is not always the case, and it was pointed out in the presentation where applications that run through and/or somehow embed Windows Media Player will take advantage of client -side rendering, called RDP Client Rendering, but that all others methods will not. For example, Flash media. We all know there are tons of Flash videos and banners all over the web today. Even DABCC.com has Flash. Microsoft commented that in the future we might see other graphics version move from a host rendering solution to a client rendering model.
The following chart shows the media types and whether they are rendered on the server and/or the client:

RDP 7 Graphics: Bringing it All Together
In the finial demo of the presentation, Gaurav Daga revisits the Direct X 2D and Direct X 3D applications shown earlier in the presentation, but this time he runs them both at the same time, side by side on the screen.

You will also notice the full Aero glass effect is present and running over RDP 7, notice the translucencies? Gaurav even showed off the eye candy “Flip 3D” support and it all worked flawlessly over a remote desktop session. Yes, a RDP session…

Virtual Desktop Support
One of the more interesting points Gaurav Daga made, which I found very compelling, was around virtual desktops. He made the point that today most virtual graphics adapters found on virtual desktops do not support truly rich DirectX and Direct 2D / 3D applications but with Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and RDP7, it won’t matter due to the fact the features are built into the operating system (Windows 7) and do not require heavy use of the server side graphics driver. This also means it does not matter what hypervisor Windows 7 runs on. All you need is a virtual Windows 7 desktop along with the Desktop Client for RDP7 and the user experience will be all that and a bag of chips.
This makes me think. VMware and a slew of other desktop virtualization venders use RDP as the remoting protocol for their VDI solutions so in theory they will be able to take advantage of these upcoming features. But the problem is solutions such as VMware View (formally known as Virtual Desktop Manager (VDM)) have a custom client. This being said, the VDI brokers will be required to update their current clients to support the upcoming RDP 7 enhancements. Only the upcoming Microsoft Desktop Services connection broker will be able to take advantage of these features by default.
What Clients will be supported?
At launch time and I can only expect for some time afterwards, the following clients will support all the new graphics and multimedia enhancements:
- Windows 7
- Windows Vista (Direct X remoting will not work)
The Bottom Line:
The bottom line is that Microsoft is stepping up the game with Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 Remote Desktop Services, and RDP 7. The enhancements discussed and shown in the demos will go a long way to enhance the “user experience” in both Presentation Virtualization and Virtual Desktop worlds thus allowing wider adoption due to less pushback from users. (We all know user pushback matters…and delivering an amazing user experience is the key to overcoming user pushback.)
The only big drawback I saw was the fact that Microsoft is still using host rendering for a slew of common formats. For example, Flash. Needless to say Flash tends to be everywhere and typically does not perform well on my TS boxes…
These new features will not directly benefit Flash video and the other formats of videos still using host based rendering.
Although at the end of the day for me it is simple….. when I can get my hands on this I will be retiring my MacBook Pro notebook and will be replacing it with a laptop running Windows 7! Sorry Apple… Put that in one in an upcoming “PC vs. Mac” commercial because “I’m a PC”!
Pushing the Limits of Windows: Paged and Nonpaged Pool
by BassQ on Mar.31, 2009, under Microsoft, Weblog, Windows Server
In previous Pushing the Limits posts, I described the two most basic system resources, physical memory and virtual memory . This time I’m going to describe two fundamental kernel resources, paged pool and nonpaged pool, that are based on those, and that are directly responsible for many other system resource limits including the maximum number of processes, synchronization objects, and handles.
Paged and nonpaged pools serve as the memory resources that the operating system and device drivers use to store their data structures. The pool manager operates in kernel mode, using regions of the system’s virtual address space (described in the Pushing the Limits post on virtual memory) for the memory it sub-allocates. The kernel’s pool manager operates similarly to the C-runtime and Windows heap managers that execute within user-mode processes. Because the minimum virtual memory allocation size is a multiple of the system page size (4KB on x86 and x64), these subsidiary memory managers carve up larger allocations into smaller ones so that memory isn’t wasted.
For example, if an application wants a 512-byte buffer to store some data, a heap manager takes one of the regions it has allocated and notes that the first 512-bytes are in use, returning a pointer to that memory and putting the remaining memory on a list it uses to track free heap regions. The heap manager satisfies subsequent allocations using memory from the free region, which begins just past the 512-byte region that is allocated.
Nonpaged Pool
The kernel and device drivers use nonpaged pool to store data that might be accessed when the system can’t handle page faults. The kernel enters such a state when it executes interrupt service routines (ISRs) and deferred procedure calls (DPCs), which are functions related to hardware interrupts. Page faults are also illegal when the kernel or a device driver acquires a spin lock, which, because they are the only type of lock that can be used within ISRs and DPCs, must be used to protect data structures that are accessed from within ISRs or DPCs and either other ISRs or DPCs or code executing on kernel threads. Failure by a driver to honor these rules results in the most common crash code, IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL .
Nonpaged pool is therefore always kept present in physical memory and nonpaged pool virtual memory is assigned physical memory. Common system data structures stored in nonpaged pool include the kernel and objects that represent processes and threads, synchronization objects like mutexes, semaphores and events, references to files, which are represented as file objects, and I/O request packets (IRPs), which represent I/O operations.
Paged Pool
Paged pool, on the other hand, gets its name from the fact that Windows can write the data it stores to the paging file, allowing the physical memory it occupies to be repurposed. Just as for user-mode virtual memory, when a driver or the system references paged pool memory that’s in the paging file, an operation called a page fault occurs, and the memory manager reads the data back into physical memory. The largest consumer of paged pool, at least on Windows Vista and later, is typically the Registry, since references to registry keys and other registry data structures are stored in paged pool. The data structures that represent memory mapped files, called sections internally, are also stored in paged pool.
Device drivers use the ExAllocatePoolWithTag API to allocate nonpaged and paged pool, specifying the type of pool desired as one of the parameters. Another parameter is a 4-byte Tag , which drivers are supposed to use to uniquely identify the memory they allocate, and that can be a useful key for tracking down drivers that leak pool, as I’ll show later.
Windows 7 Public Beta Available for Download!
by BassQ on Jan.08, 2009, under Weblog
TechNet, MSDN and Techbeta customers can download it now.
Consumers who want to test-drive the beta will be able to download it beginning Jan. 9 at http://www.microsoft.com/windows7 .
Here is the full press release:
Microsoft’s Ballmer Announces Availability of Windows 7 Beta and Windows Live
For TechNet, MSDN and Techbeta customers it is already available here;
Windows 7 Beta 64-bits (Download also this MP3 Fix !)
Windows 7 Beta 32-bits (Download also this MP3 Fix !)
Release notes Windows 7
This Post lists the best practices for securing Terminal Server or Windows XP (for use with VDI)
by BassQ on Dec.25, 2008, under Weblog
How can I protect my terminal servers from Spyware, Malware, Trojans, Worms, Viruses and un-authorized software?
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Start with a secure installation of the Operating System. Windows Server 2003 installs by default with the users being able to create files and folders in the root of the system drive and Windows 2000 Server installs by default with the Everyone group having Full Control NTFS Permissions to the entire System Drive. To lock down the System Drive on Windows 2000 Server, start with the following settings:
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Root of System Drive – Authenticated Users = "Read and Execute"
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Root of System Drive – Administrators = "Full Control"
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Root of System Drive – System = "Full Control"
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Program Files Directory – Authenticated Users = "Read and Execute"
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Program Files Directory – Administrators = "Full Control"
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Program Files Directory – System = "Full Control"
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NEVER allow anyone to logon as an administrator or power user, unless they are a member of the IT Staff / IT Consulting Firm that is responsible for the server, and they are logging on to perform administrative functions, i.e. installing software, performing a backup…
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Force "Empty Temporary Internet Files when browser closed" via Group Policy. This will delete most bad files from the Temp IE location of the user’s profile, and leave only the cookie files.
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Implement Roaming Terminal Server Profiles, Mandatory Terminal Server Profiles or Flex Terminal Server Profiles.
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Enable DeleteRoamingCache in the registry, or via "Delete Cached Copies of Roaming Profiles " in Group Policy. Since the Roaming Profile does not propagate the user’s Temp Directory, enabling this policy will usually delete that anything the user downloaded unintentionally. This policy deletes the user’s local profile at logoff once it’s been successfully unloaded and copied to the roaming location.
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Install the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service , which helps to ensure user sessions are completely terminated when a user logs off. Without this service, user profiles are often not unloaded successfully which causes the copy to the roaming profile location and DeleteRoamingCache setting to fail.
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Install a Terminal Server compatible anti-virus scanner on each terminal server, a VSAPI anti-virus scanner on each SMTP Server, and an anti-virus scanner at the Internet Gateway.
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Set the Terminal Services Configuration Permission Compatibility to "Full Security" (Windows Server 2003) , or to "Windows 2000 Users" (Windows 2000 Server) . If you use the "Permissions compatible with Terminal Server 4.0 Users" (Windows 2000 Server) or "Relaxed Security" (Windows Server 2003), each user logging on is added to the TSUser Security Group, which has permissions and rights of the Power Users Group.
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Enable Software Restriction Policies in Group Policy, to define which files can be executed by users.
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If users need only one application, specify this program to start when they logon. This can be done for everyone via Group Policy or Terminal Services Configuration , or for specific users via Active Directory or Local User Account.
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Consider locking down the user environment with a FREE program like BrsSuite , designed by Terminal Server Security Expert "Fabrice Cornet", of FC Consult, Belgium .
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Restrict access to applications normal users shouldn’t ever use, or that do not follow the policy restrictions in place, i.e. winfile and command.com
How can provide the most secure access to terminal servers from the Public Internet? The RDP Protocol is secure and uses RSA Security’s RC4 cipher, at either 56 or 128 bits, however the following should be considered when providing access to terminal servers over the Public Internet:
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Set the RDP-Tcp Encryption Level to "High" (Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003)
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Define and enforce a strong password policy .
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If you require password authentication to access a Remote Desktop Web Connection (RDWC, aka TSAC or TSWeb), do so over an SSL Connection. Since you have to logon to the Terminal Server, there really is no advantage to requiring authentication to access a RDWC.
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Do NOT use traditional client-to-server VPN to provide secure access to Terminal Servers. This may sound strange, but traditional client-to-server VPNs require connectivity over non-standard ports client software on the remote computer. These often prevent remote users from being able to connect. In addition to the connectivity problems traditional VPN can cause, traditional client-to-server VPNs can open the corporate network to viruses, trojans or worms, because they extend the corporate network to the remote client.
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Do consider providing secure access to terminal servers via SSL VPN or a Terminal Server Secure Gateway , as these can provide access over standard ports like 443 or 80, which makes connectivity easy for remote users. These devices or software applications also provide access to a specific computer, or set of computers, instead of opening a secure tunnel to the entire corporate network.
Windows Vista SP2 Beta Public Download
by BassQ on Dec.08, 2008, under Weblog
The public downloads for Windows Vista SP2 are out . Remember if you are going to install this to do yourself a favor and backup your machine first.
- SP2 FAQ
- Windows Vista SP2 Release Notes
- Windows Server 2k8 Release Notes
- Complete List of Updates Included in the SP
SP2 Beta Standalone updates for computers with one or more of the following five languages: English, French, German, Japanese , and Spanish. If your computer has any other language installed this option will not work.
- Windows Update installation of SP2 for Windows Server 2008 x86/x64/ia64 and Windows Vista x86/x64
- Five Language SP2 Standalone:
- ISO for Windows Server 2008 x86/x64/ia64 and Windows Vista x86/x64
- x86 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x86
- x64 for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista x64
- IA64 for Windows Server 2008 ia64
Media Center Gadgets for SideShow released!
by BassQ on Oct.26, 2008, under Weblog
We’ve just relased the Windows Media Center gadgets for SideShow!
There are four gadgets – TV, Music, Pictures + Videos, and Now Playing – that let you browse and control your Media Center PC from any SideShow remote control or device, or even a Windows Mobile phone (if it has the platform installed). The gadgets let you browse the TV guide and details, recorded shows, your photos, music (with cover art), and have playback controls to start/stop/record/etc media.
It was a pleasure to work with the SideShow team on this project. Thanks to everyone in the community for your feedback via Microsoft Connect and community sites. We read every comment and used them to make the gadgets better or just used as feedback for the future.
Download locations:
Install the 32-bit version
Install the 64-bit version
For more details, please see the SideShow blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/sideshow/archive/2008/10/21/media-center-gadgets-for-sideshow-released-available-on-the-windows-live-gallery.aspx
Download
Windows Vista® Performance and Tuning
by BassQ on Aug.06, 2008, under Weblog
Windows Vista and SP1 focus on delivering greater performance and overall system responsiveness. By striking a balance between speed and responsiveness, Windows Vista and SP1 deliver a level of performance that has the greatest positive impact on the system’s usability.This guide looks at the following areas of performance improvement:
• 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.
Download here;
Extra Windows Dreamscene Content Videos
by BassQ on Jul.08, 2008, under Weblog
After a short while you may become bored of the stock videos that come with Windows Dreamscene. Below are some sites that I use to download additional videos that I use as my Dreamscene wallpaper. Some of these sites offer free downloads while others are not. If you find a video you like keep in mind that you can always edit it to shorten it in Windows Movie Maker.
- SkyTimeLaps.com
- Digigami
- Feedback Video $
- Microsoft HD Content Showcase
- AeroXperience Forum
- CES Waterfall Demo (you must convert it to a mpg)
- WinMatrix 2
Access Sysinternals utilities over the web with command prompt
by BassQ on Jul.08, 2008, under Weblog
The Microsoft acquisition Sysinternals that is famous for their useful Windows utilities has a new site up that allows you to easily access any of their utilities for free over the internet in your command prompt. This allows you to run any of their utilities without first downloading it to your computer. Just open an administrative level command prompt and type in:
\\live.sysinternals.com\tools\toolname.exe
For example if you want to run Autoruns (a great program to see what starts up automatically) type \\live.sysinternals.com\tools\autoruns.exe and hit Enter.
Every Sysinternals utility is available for “live” use.
Available Commands
- accesschk.exe
- AccessEnum.exe
- accvio.EXE
- ADExplorer.exe
- ADInsight.exe (continue reading…)
How to install Windows Server 2008 Admin tools on Vista SP1
by BassQ on Jul.08, 2008, under Weblog
With the release of Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1 Microsoft removed the old management tools that shipped with RTM Vista. When you install Windows Vista SP1 you will notice that the Group Policy Management Client (GPMC.msc) and other features are no longer available. They have been uninstalled from your system.
Microsoft replaced the old uitilities with updated version in the Remote Server Administrative Tools (RSAT) package.
Download the 32-bit version for Vista SP1
Download the 64-bit version for Vista SP1
Once you have downloaded and installed the administrative tools you need to turn the features on.
- Open Control Panel and go to Programs and Features.
- Click Turn Windows features on or off located on the side menu.
- Check Remote Server Administrative Tools and hit OK.
Good Luck!
Windows Sidebar Gadget For Hyper-V
by BassQ on Jul.08, 2008, under Weblog
Ben Armstrong (Virtual PC Guy) told me about this today… Tore Lervik just released version 2.2 of it on Saturday. I played around with it and it’s pretty cool… Anyone that is monitoring a few servers would definitely find this useful.
Download: http://mindre.net/post/Hyper-V-Monitor-Gadget-for-Windows-Sidebar.aspx
Vista explorer tip, Use check boxes to select files
by BassQ on Jun.22, 2008, under Weblog
When you want to select multiple files in Windows Explorer, you can hold down the [Ctrl] key as you click on each file. If the files are in consecutive order, you can select the first file, hold down the [Shift] key and select the last file. However, when using either of these techniques, it’s easy to slip up and have to start all over. In Windows Vista there’s a way to put check boxes next to each file in Windows Explorer. As such, you can select files for regular file management operations just like you would select files in many backup programs.
To enable this feature, launch Windows Explorer, press the [Alt] key to toggle the Menu Bar on, pull down the Tools menu, and select Folder Options. When you see the Folder Options dialog box, select the View tab. Then, under the Advanced Settings scroll down to the bottom of the list and select the Use Check Boxes To Select Items check box. Click OK to complete the operation.
Now, when you hover your mouse pointer over the files in Windows Explorer, a check box will momentarily appear next each file as you move past it. If you select the check box, it will remain next to the file and the file will be selected. You can continue selecting files in this manner until you’ve selected all that you want, as shown in Figure E. You’ll also notice that there is a check box in the Name column header. If you select that particular check box, all the files in that folder will be selected.
| Figure E |
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| Activating the check boxes feature makes it easier to select multiple files. |

