These postings are provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confer no rights. Use of included code samples are subject to the terms specified at Microsoft Information on Terms of Use
Wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. May this New Year brings you loads of happiness in your life.
It’s my blog’s birthday, its 1 year old. I wish I can write as always in the coming year.
This is my first attempt of publishing this screencast directly on the blog post.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate simplifies solution development, lowering risk and increasing return. The virtual machine image in this download contains both Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Beta2 and Team Foundation Server 2010 Beta2 and is designed to be run under Windows Virtual PC.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate provides an integrated environment of tools and server infrastructure that simplifies the entire application development process. Deliver business results using productive, predictable, customizable processes and increase transparency and traceability throughout the lifecycle with detailed analytics. Whether creating new solutions or enhancing existing applications unleash your creativity with powerful prototyping, architecture and development tools that let you bring your vision to life targeting an increasing number of platforms and technologies including cloud and parallel computing. Realize increased team productivity by utilizing advanced collaboration features and use integrated testing and debugging tools to find and fix bugs quickly and easily ensuring high quality solutions while driving down the cost of solution development. For more information on Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 visit http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/products/2010/default.mspx This virtual machine does not have anti-virus installed. It should not be connected to any network until it has anti-virus installed. In addition, the operating system and programs installed were patched with all updates as of December 10, 2009.
Downloads and Instructions available from the following links.
DOWNLOAD HYPER-V IMAGES
DOWNLOAD WINDOWS VIRTUAL PC IMAGES
This image will expire January 31, 2011. Microsoft ® Visual Studio® Team System an integrated Application Life-cycle Management (ALM) solution comprising tools, processes, and guidance to help everyone on the team improve their skills and work together more effectively. This VPC release is available in English only. Visual Studio 2008 delivers on Microsoft’s vision of smart client applications by letting developers quickly create connected applications that deliver the highest quality rich user experiences. This new version lets any size organization create more secure, more manageable, and more reliable applications that take advantage of Windows Vista, 2007 Office System and the Web. By building these new types of applications, organizations will find it easier than ever to capture and analyze information so that they can make effective business decisions. To learn more about this release, please visit the Visual Studio Team System 2008 home page. This virtual machine is running Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, SP2. It contains a full installation of Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server SP1, Team Build 2008 SP1, Team Explorer 2008 SP1, Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Suite SP1 and all necessary prerequisites. In addition, it has been updated with Office 2007 SP1, current Windows Updates as of December 1, 2008, the October 2008 Release of the TFS Power Tools, Team System Web Access 2008 SP1, and the Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server MSSCCI Provider. Team Foundation Server is installed in workgroup authentication mode and thus does not require a domain controller. This release also contains 38 hands-on labs and sample data. Please examine C:\MSLabs inside the VPC image. If you desire, you can download the hands-on labs and their support files only. See the MSI download link below.
Please note: In case of Virtual PC; possible future updates to this image will be provided in the form of Virtual PC Differencing Drives. You may find it convenient to keep a copy of this download unmodified for these future updates so that you do not need to re-download this base image.
This virtual machine does not have anti-virus installed. It should not be connected to any network until it has anti-virus installed. In addition, the operating system and programs installed were patched with all updates as of December 10, 2009. If you use one of the included VMC configuration files, you will find networking is not enabled.
DOWNLOAD VIRTUAL PC IMAGES (Required Software: Virtual PC 2007 SP1 or Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1)
Windows Azure Platform Training Kit includes a comprehensive set of technical content. This is the December Update.
The Azure Services Training Kit includes a comprehensive set of technical content including hands-on labs, presentations, and demos that are designed to help you learn how to use the Windows Azure platform including: Windows Azure, SQL Azure and AppFabric. The December release includes new and updated labs in addition to information about Microsoft Codename “Dallas”. This training kit contains the following content: Hands On Labs
For more information visit http://www.azure.com
GET IT HERE
Windows CardSpace 2.0 is the end user component of Microsoft’s user access platform for developers and IT professionals that helps simplify access to applications and other systems with an open claims-based model.
Windows CardSpae 2.0 benefits users by helping navigating logins and controlling information sharing. CardSpae 2.0 includes built-in interoperability via open industry standards and claims, and implements the industry Identity Metasystem vision for open and interoperable identity.
Supported Operating Systems:
Windows Server 2008 R2; Windows Server 2008 Service Pack 2 Windows 7 Windows Vista Windows Server 2008 SP2 Windows Server 2008 R2
DOWNLOAD HERE
Windows PowerShell 2.0 SDK contains sample code and reference assemblies that allow you to build applications based on Windows PowerShell.
This SDK contains reference assemblies and samples that demonstrates how to use the Windows PowerShell 2.0 APIs to build a rich set of applications. In this package, you will find sample code which shows how to use the new PowerShell class, how to write cmdlets that supports eventing, transactions and jobs. In addition, there are examples of host applications that connect to remote computers using individual runspaces and runspace pools. This SDK also includes modified Windows PowerShell 1.0 samples using the modified and improved Windows PowerShell 2.0 APIs.
Active Directory Federation Services 2.0, Windows Identity Foundation & Windows CardSpace comprise an identity & access solution to help developers and IT professionals simplify access to applications and other systems with an open claims-based model. Windows Identity Foundation helps simplify user access for developers by externalizing user access from applications via claims and reducing development effort with pre-built security logic and integrated .NET tools. Active Directory Federation Services 2.0 helps IT efficiently deploy and manage new applications by reducing custom implementation work, helping establish a consistent security model, and facilitating seamless collaboration between organizations with automated federation tools. Users can benefit from help navigating logins and controlling information sharing, using Windows CardSpace 2.0. The platform includes built-in interoperability via open industry standards and claims, and implements the industry Identity Metasystem vision for open and interoperable identity. Microsoft’s identity and access solution includes:
This is the x86 version of SharePoint Server 2007 Trial for Standard and Enterprise editions. The download on this page has been updated to include Service Pack 2. Note: In order to install Sharepoint Server 2007 on Windows Server 2008 R2, you must use this download. Previously available trial versions will not install. Standard edition functionality includes:
The trial period is 180 days. You can convert to a licensed installation at any time during the trial or after the trial has expired by entering the appropriate product key.
To install this download: Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Standard: XJMKW-8T7PR-76XT6-RTC8G-VVWCQ Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 Enterprise: F2JBW-4PDJC-HKXTJ-YCKRP-T2J9D
I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Very Happy Holidays.
As per my previous post I have uploaded my 2 new screencasts on Native VHD and Boot from VHD in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
One of the best features that is being discussed around is the native support for VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) Yes the same VHD files that are used in virtualization platform i.e.. Hyper-V, Virtual Server and Virtual PC.
This is the first part and we are going to cover the following demos, today we will see the following key items.
http://edge.technet.com/Media/Native-VHD-Support-with-Boot-from-VHD-Part-I/
This is the second part and we will cover the following key points.
http://edge.technet.com/Media/Native-VHD-Support-with-Boot-from-VHD-PartII/
For more information visit my blog posts for more info
http://blogs.technet.com/aviraj/archive/2009/01/17/windows-7-boot-from-vhd-first-impression-part-1.aspx
http://blogs.technet.com/aviraj/archive/2009/01/18/windows-7-boot-from-vhd-first-impression-part-2.aspx
Happy Virtualization
Finally, after long time I have recorded my first screencast and uploaded onto TechNet EDGE. The overall experience was good for recording. Since this is my first attempt the audio level is little low. But I managed to record few more screencasts on Native VHD and Boot from VHD efficiently with perfect audio balance.
UPDATE: The video is uploaded with improved audio quality.
The topic I selected is AppLocker: An Overview in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
Here is the link to the screencast. I hope you will enjoy this.
http://edge.technet.com/Media/AppLocker-An-Overview-Windows-7--Windows-Server-2008-R2/
Provides steps that administrators can take to limit, control, or prevent the communication that flows between the features in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and sites on the Internet.
This document provides information about the communication that flows between the features in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 and sites on the Internet. It describes steps to take to limit, control, or prevent that communication in an organization with many users. This document is designed to assist administrators in planning strategies for deploying and maintaining Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 in a way that helps provide an appropriate level of security and privacy for an organization’s networked assets.
This guide provides detailed step-by-step walkthroughs for testing Hyper-V with Windows Server 2008 R2 in a preproduction environment. You can use this guide to become familiar with Hyper-V and the process of creating and managing virtual machines. This guide also includes scenarios that you can test to better understand how Hyper-V can address the business goals of your organization.
Web version available HERE
This is the last post on IPD Update- Infrastructure Planning and Design
The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides are the next version of Windows Server System Reference Architecture. The guides in this series help clarify and streamline design processes for Microsoft infrastructure technologies, with each guide addressing a unique infrastructure technology or scenario.
What’s new in this release…
IPD consists of the following downloadable packages:
Forefront UAG provides secure remote access by publishing corporate applications and resources for access by managed and unmanaged client endpoints, or by deployment of Forefront UAG DirectAccess. This download provides a security policy .xml template that can be used in conjunction with the Windows 2008 R2 Server Security Configuration Wizard (SCW) to harden Forefront UAG servers.
This download provides a security policy .xml template that can be used in conjunction with the Windows 2008 R2 Server Security Configuration Wizard (SCW) to harden Forefront UAG servers in accordance with recommended settings. The Windows 2008 R2 Server SCW helps you to create, edit, apply, or roll back a security policy based on the selected roles of the server. The security policies that are created with the SCW are .xml files that, when applied, modify services, network security, specific registry values, audit policy, and if applicable, Internet Information Services (IIS). This download provides a security policy .xml template for a Forefront UAG role. When you run the SCW and apply this template, Forefront UAG settings are hardened in accordance with settings specified in the .xml file. Note that after applying this template, you cannot rollback the template using the SCW. Instead, export the Forefront UAG configuration on each server before you run the SCW, and then revert back to this configuration if rollback is required.
System Requirements
Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2008 R2
Instructions
1. Download the zip file UAG2010_SCW.ZIP included on this page, and extract UAG2010_SCW.XML 2. On each Forefront UAG server that you want to harden, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and click Security Configuration Wizard. 3. On the Configuration Action page of the wizard, click Apply an existing security policy, and click Browse to locate the extracted XML file. 4. On the Select Server page, type the name of the server to which the policy will be applied.
Forefront UAG provides secure remote access to corporate resources from a diverse range of managed and unmanaged client endpoints. The Forefront UAG Evaluation Version provided in this download is appropriate for IT professionals who want to deploy and evaluate Forefront UAG in a corporate environment.
Note the following when deploying this Evaluation Version: • Except for the limited trial period, functionality of the Evaluation Version is the same as the full version • Forefront UAG updates and fixes can be installed on the Evaluation Version • To verify whether you are using an evaluation version of Forefront UAG, click About Forefront UAG in the Help menu of the Forefront UAG Management console, and verify whether the word Evaluation appears in the version information. • The trial period for the evaluation version is approximately 120 days. To check how much time remains until the Evaluation Version expires, run the Uagver.exe command line tool. This tool is provided in the evaluation .iso, and is located in the root installation folder. • The Evaluation Version is installed in the same manner as the full version. For more information, see the Installation and migration guide (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee428841.aspx) in the TechNet library. For more information about Forefront UAG, do the following: • To read the Forefront UAG documentation, visit the Forefront UAG TechCenter library (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd861463.aspx) • To read about up-to-date issues, visit the Forefront UAG Product Team blog (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=156512) • For support issues, visit the Forefront UAG forum (http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=156513)
Quick Details File Name: UAG2010_ENU_EVAL.ISO Version: 4.0.1101.000 Date Published: 12/17/2009 Language: English Download Size: 1255.4 MB
Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit Standard Edition Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit Enterprise Edition Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit DataCenter Edition • A computer with a 64-bit processor • Minimum 4 gigabytes (GB) of memory • 2.5 GB of available hard disk space (in addition to Windows requirements) • Two network adapters.
Microsoft PressPass releases the information about the EC decision.
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/dec09/12-16statement.mspx
…
The Web browser measures cover the inclusion of Internet Explorer in Windows for users in Europe—specifically the region known as the European Economic Area, which includes 30 nations. Under today’s resolution, Microsoft commits that PC manufacturers and users will continue to be able to install any browser on top of Windows, to make any browser the default browser on new PCs, and to turn access to Internet Explorer on or off. In addition, Microsoft will send a “browser choice” screen to Windows users who are running Internet Explorer as their default browser. This browser choice screen will present a list of browsers, making it easy for users to install any one of them. It will be provided both to users of new computers and to the installed base of Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 computers in Europe where Internet Explorer is set as the default browser…
Work at the Speed of Thought
Ignoring the rules, the DellTM PrecisionTM M6500 over-delivers in terms of performance and scalability and is certified with many ISV applications.
Powered by Microsoft Windows 7 !!!
Complete power packed configuration is little over $9,000.
Today, I presented this webcast for IT Professionals in India on “Malware Removal Made Easy – Tools and Resources.” I am planning to share some of the resources that I committed during my webcast. First of all thank you very much for those who joined me for this webcast.
First of all a question that I said I would confirm and answer. Though I had already answered that question during my session in last part, I will again share it here so that in case someone was missed to get the answer can get it here.
Question: Is it possible to download stand alone Security Essential Definitions updates so that those who do not have regular internet connectivity?
Ans: Yes. It is possible to download the stand alone updates for Security Essentials from Malware Protection Center.
To download the stand alone definitions visit this link http://www.microsoft.com/Security/portal/Definitions/HowToMSE.aspx
Download the Security Essentials definitions.
In case you want to download updated definitions then visit http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Definitions/ADL.aspx
Here you can download definitions for Forefront, Security Essentials and Windows Defender.
Following are the resources to the topics I covered in my session.
For additional information on the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.aspx
For more info about Security Essentials http://www.microsoft.com/Security_Essentials/
For more info about Windows Defender http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx
Get more details about MS DaRT: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/products/mdop/dart.aspx http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/products/mdop.aspx
CoreConfigTeam is pleased to announce the latest version of Core Configurator built and designed for Windows Server 2008 R2 Core edition! It is completely open source so it can be amended and change to fit your requirements, this version has been a year in the making and has been written in powershell with a reference to Winforms so that a GUI format is displayed. The primary focus of this project is to try and get feedback and contributions back from the community to make this a tool the best/ free tool everyone will want in there toolkit, so if you have some code or features that you might want included then please leave a comment and we will get in touch. Core Configuration tasks include:
This is really useful tool for admins to manage their Server Core based environment. Often we are familiar with the server tools but in cases when everything is based upon commands such tool is really handy for configuring server core based environment.
I personally liked this tool very much for managing server core based environment. I believe you will also have similar experience. Try this tool and share the feedback with the CoreConfigTeam.
Please Download the latest release and run Start_CoreConfig.wsf
If you require the previous release for Windows Server 2008 R1 then please see the download section for Core Configurator 1.1 as Core Configurator 2.0 requires Powershell 2.0 and NetFx..
Get it from http://www.codeplex.com/CoreConfig
Start using http://www.bing.com/maps/explore
About Microsoft Office 2010
What are some of the major updates to the Microsoft Office 2010 suites from previous versions?
What products are included in the Office 2010 suites?
What are the Office Web Apps?
Why should I use Office 2010?
What is the Microsoft Office Backstage™ view?
What is the Ribbon?
Can I customize Office 2010 based on how I use the product?
What does co-authoring mean in Office 2010?
Will Office 2010 products be available in 64-bit versions?
What other related products does Office 2010 work with?
Microsoft Office 2010 Beta
When will the Office 2010 Beta be available?
What languages are available for Office 2010 Beta?
What is the approximate download time?
Does the Beta version of Office 2010 expire after certain time?
What is a product key and how do I retrieve it if I lose it?
What happens to my Office Beta applications after the final release?
What happens to my current version of Microsoft Office when I download the Office 2010 Beta?
How do I Download?
What if the download stops or is interrupted before it is complete?
What is activation and how do I get started?
What is Click to Run?
My beta download file size is only 3MB? Is the Office 2010 Beta file size that small?
Does Click to Run install software on my machine?
Can previous versions of Microsoft Office co-exist with the Office 2010 Beta?
How do I uninstall Office 2010 Beta?
Why didn’t I have to enter my Product Key when I installed the Office 2010 Beta?
What should I do if I lose my internet connection while I am downloading the Microsoft Office 2010 Beta?
Why does Microsoft PowerPoint launch once I download the Office 14 Beta?
Microsoft Office 2010 System Requirements & Compatibility
Are there special system requirements for running Office 2010?
Which browsers are supported for the new Office Web Apps?
Can I open previous versions of Microsoft Office files in Office 2010?
Can I open Office 2010 files using previous versions of Microsoft Office?
Using Microsoft Office 2010 Beta
Are there Office 2010 resources and trainings available from Microsoft?
Can I access my files when I am away from my primary computer?
How do I access Office 2010 files from the browser?
How do I access Office 2010 from my phone?
Does Office 2010 have add-ins?
Buying Microsoft Office 2010
When will Office 2010 be available for purchase?
How much will Office 2010 cost?
Is there a Macintosh version of Office 2010?
Are Office Web Apps free? What are the different ways people can get them?
For answers visit http://www.microsoft.com/office/2010/en/faqs/default.aspx
Visit here for complete article http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/press/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=428399
This documents explains how Windows 7 DirectAccess Integrates with Existing IT Environments.
DirectAccess is an integrated part of the Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 7 Ultimate, and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems. A DirectAccess solution provides a secure, flexible architecture for enhanced remote access and transition to IPv6. It is designed to be compatible with most existing Internet, perimeter, and intranet environments by using IPv6-inside-IPv4 tunneling and IPv6-to-IPv4 translation where necessary.
A DirectAccess solution may require IPv6/IPv4DNS and IPv6/IPv4NAT at the network perimeter to provide access to existing IPv4-only internal hosts. New IETF specifications for DNS64 and NAT64 should provide IPv6/IPv4DNS and IPv6/IPv4NAT products that are compatible with DirectAccess. The Forefront Unified Access Gateway DirectAccess server provides a comprehensive DirectAccess solution, with a compatible IPv6/IPv4DNS and IPv6/IPv4NAT, network load balancing, and high availability.
Windows® 7 DirectAccess is a solution for secure, seamless remote client connectivity. Unlike traditional remote access virtual private networks (VPNs), DirectAccess enables remote clients to have connectivity that is comparable to internal clients. IT Professionals can also use the DirectAccess solution to manage remote clients by using their existing internal management services. Finally, DirectAccess enables secure communication between remote clients.
This paper is written for IT architects, Systems Engineers, and other IT experts to:
· Describe the compatibility of DirectAccess with existing IT infrastructure, authentication systems, and applications.
· Provide an overview of the changes that are required to integrate DirectAccess into existing IT environments.
· Provide a succinct, but technical, explanation of the networking concepts that are used in DirectAccess to illustrate compatibility and integration issues.