Tag: Windows

Windows Live Updates

One thing that really seems to be improving in leaps and bounds is the Windows Live software. Now, I mainly use MSN Messenger and Windows Live Writer but there is plenty of great stuff now available for FREE. If you haven’t had a look then I suggest you pay http://download.live.com/ a visit to see what is available.


 At the same time take a look at http://home.live.com where you aggregate a lot of Microsoft content, like messenger contacts, Skydrive storage and so on as well as external content like Facebook, Flickr and Twitter.

Speaking of Twitter, I’m still be in two minds about using this as a communications tool since I can’t really see the value for the time invested. I know that it is big in the US which means that it will probably become big here. Now, I’m no Twitter expert (my Twitter Id is directorcia if anyone wants to “follow me”) I’ll admit but one of the nice things about the new Windows Live Writer is that I can add a Twitter plug-in so when I post something to my blog it will also appear as a post in Twitter. This makes more sense to me since I don’t want to have to be double posting.

I’m still not sold on the value of Twitter but now maybe I’ll be a bit more active there given the new Windows Live Writer plug-in. I’d also recommend that if you haven’t already you should go and see what’s on offer at Windows Live because even if it doesn’t have a business application it certainly will for your family and friends. One of the main advantages is that it is all from a single supplier (Microsoft) and is becoming very polished.

How to crash SBS2008 (and Vista)

I came across a bug in Microsoft Vista that allows it to be crashed from the command prompt by simply typing a single command. Apparently, Microsoft don’t believe that it warrants enough emphasis to provide a patch. They say they will fix it in the next Service Pack (due soon).

 

I was then a little curious. If Vista and Windows 2008 (and therefore SBS 2008) are based on the same TCP/IP stack would I also be able to crash SBS 2008?

 

I made sure my SBS 2008 machine was up to date:

 

image_6_30ADE1F4

image_8_30ADE1F4

 

Firstly, I go to the command prompt as an administrator and type:

 

route add 1.2.3.4/240 4.3.2.1

 

image_2_30ADE1F4

 

[On my test SBS2008 server it did not always happen immediately but I could normally force the issue if it didn’t happen initially by removing the route via the command:

route delete 1.2.3.4

]

 

I then wait a few moments and

 

image_4_30ADE1F4

 

BAMM! Blue screen of death!

 

Sure, to actually execute this command on Vista or SBS2008 you need to run it from a console but what is to stop some enterprising person getting this to run on a victim’s machine? We all know users just love to click and install spyware. So even though Microsoft say it isn’t a big worry I’d be concerned, especially as there is currently no patch available.

 

image_10_30ADE1F4

 

Information about the Vista issue is here but ladies and gentlemen the same thing happens on SBS 2008 so beware. Roll on Service Pack 2.

My life with Hyper-V so far

It has now been about 6 months since I converted basically all of my CIAOPS infrastructure to a single physical box running Microsoft Hyper-V so I thought I’d give you a progress report.

 

In summary, everything has gone much better than I ever would have anticipated. Previously I had converted most of machines to Microsoft Virtual PC’s so I was part of the way there. Going to Hyper-V has greatly increased performance, reliability and flexibility. Converting from Microsoft Virtual PC to Hyper-V machines was relatively straight forward (once you remove the Microsoft Virtual PC additions). After a few configuration changes for network cards and loading of the Hyper-V client software everything was up and running.

 

Probably the thing I like the most about Hyper-V is when it comes to update time. I simply shut the virtual machines down and take a snapshot backup. I found that sometimes a Hyper-V machine freezes if you take a backup when it is running, so I now always shut them down. I boot the machines back up, install the patches, reboot again and if everything is working ok I delete the oldest snapshot backup. That way I always have a backup copy I can roll back to if there are issues.

 

Because my Hyper-V host machine is running a standard version of Windows Server 2008 I also need to update that from time to time but again I can either shut the client Hyper-V machines down or I can simply freeze them while I install updates on the host Windows 2008 server. All in all a much quicker and easier process than when I had to install updates on all my physical machines.

 

In a perfect world I’d run one Hyper-V machine for production servers and one for test servers, but alas that is currently not the case. So on the one Hyper-V machine I am also running Windows Server 2008 Premium (i.e. 2 servers) again without issues. I am extremely please that I can get all these machines (6-8 in all) running on one piece of hardware, which also saves a huge amount on power bills.

 

If you haven’t investigated virtual PC technology like Microsoft Virtual PC or Microsoft Hyper-V then I’d recommend you give it a serious look. It has greatly cut down my admin time as well as saving me on my power bills just to mention two things. There are some downsides like a lack of USB support but you can normally work around these and I fully expect these things to be supported in future releases.

 

So in summary, Hyper-V has proved a real bonus for my business and helped me do more with less.

Connecting to local drives in Virtual PC

When you run up a Microsoft Virtual PC chances are you are going to want to copy files from the host system on which the Virtual PC is running to the actual Virtual PC. This is possible by simply going into the settings for that Virtual PC and selecting the Shared Folders option as shown below:

 

image_2_764C0981

 

If you then select the Shared Folder button over on the right you are able to select a local directory which can be mapped a drive letter on the Virtual PC. Perfect for copying files up and down.

 

It is not possible to use this option to connect a Virtual PC drive to a network mapped drive you may have on the local machine. It only works with drives that are local to the host machine on which Virtual PC is running.

SBS Course starts tomorrow

My Introduction to SBS course starts tomorrow at Macquarie Community College begins tomorrow. For more information or to enrol please go to:

 

http://www.macquarie.nsw.edu.au/index.php?action=course&course_action=detail&code=408M297

 

It is held over 3 weeks and will give you a better understanding about what SBS is and how you can achieve the best results from the product. You’ll learn how to set it up, configure and administer SBS. Although the course is focused on SBS 2003 there will be content covering SBS 2008.

 

So if you want to learn more about SBS I encourage you to attend.

SBS2008 Best Practices analyzer

New from Microsoft:

 

Windows Small Business Server 2008 Best Practices Analyzer

The Windows Small Business Server 2008 Best Practices Analyzer examines a server that is running Windows Small Business Server 2008 (Windows SBS) and presents a list of information and errors that administrators should review.
The Windows SBS Best Practices Analyzer examines the server and collects configuration information from many sources including:
• Active Directory Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
• Registry
• Metabase
After collecting information about server configuration, the Windows SBS Best Practices Analyzer verifies that the information is correct and then presents administrators with a list of information and issues sorted by severity. The list describes each issue and provides a recommendation or possible solution.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=86a1aa32-9814-484e-bd43-3e42aec7f731&displaylang=en&tm

 

Haven’t run it myself yet but will be doing it soon.

Pimp my infrastructure

Found this over on Sean Daniel’s blog.