REDMOND, Wash., and LUXEMBOURG – May 10, 2011 – Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: “MSFT”) and Skype Global S.à r.l today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Skype, the leading Internet communications...

The venue has changed for today's event. All should have gotten an email about the location change. In case you missed it, the location will be 201 Jones Road, Waltham MA on the 6th Floor.

Keynote - Stop putting out fires: Proactive IT infrastructure management Do you feel like you’re always in crisis mode? Do you want to learn what it takes to become a proactive and rationalized IT shop? Are you ready for the cloud? In this session, we...

Thanks to Keith Combs for his post as it provided me the solution. Install the Intel Ethernet driver from 6irf24ww_764 .  You are running the installer but it does not really install it.  However, it does put the driver on disk so you can manually...

Before following these instructions… PLEASE backup your machine.  The best way to get a good backup of a machine is to do an export.  So please, export the machine or at the very least test your backup procedures to make sure they are valid...

In my post Out of Disk Space on Drive C–How To Increase Space on Drive C of a Virtual Machine Running Windows Server 2003 I showed how to expand a drive but these instructions do not work if you have a differencing disk or chain of disks. If you...

I have been in the technology industry for more than 25 years now and I have dealt with my fair share of connectivity issues. In the last decade or so a good 85% or more of the issues I have encountered have been DNS issues. There is a very easy solution...

I am walking through the installation of SCVMM 2008 R2 SP1 on a new server that I just setup in my demo environment.  Hope this is helpful.  First lets look at the system requirements .  If you want to setup your environment with multiple...

Before I get deep into SQL Installation let me tell you where we are starting… I am walking through the installation of SCVMM 2008 R2 SP1 on a new server that I just setup in my demo environment. I want to use SQL Server 2008 R2 for my deployment...

I am starting with a sysprep’d Windows Server 2008 R2 Server.  I have allocated 2 processors and 512mb memory to the guest using dynamic memory.  Once I get the system up and running, I will bump up the memory to be close to what I actually...

Hot Add Storage was added to Hyper-V at version 2008 R2. From the Hyper-V Manager Right-click the machine you want to add storage to, select Settings . This will bring up the settings window. Click On SCSI Controller in the left...

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 SP1 is available for download using your MSDN or TechNet Subscription or from http://Connect.Microsoft.com .  You can also download a trial from http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/en/us/virtual-machine...

For those not lucky enough to go to MMS this year, you can get access to the keynote presentations here. If you want much more information about System Center make sure you attend one of our TechNet Events on Management and Deployment . Keynote Day...

Many people have told me they have lots of problems with BCDEdit. Others have told me they are afraid to do it for fear of making a mistake. To simplify the process I have created a batch file that takes a few parameters to “install” the VHD...

Slides and other resources available for download from: Management and Deployment 2011 Firestarter - TechNet Events - Resources If you missed the national Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) last week, you can still get the highlights by attending the TechNet...

Explore the different options for deploying Windows 7 in a small or midsize organization. This print-ready poster from the Springboard Series for Windows 7 features an overview of each method, details on advantages and limitations, basic requirements...

When you are using Boot to VHD you must have enough capacity on the underlying disk to fully expand the VHD.  If you do not have enough capacity you will get a blue screen (aka Screen of Death).  If you have this problem, try booting to a windows...

If you want to use Windows Server 2008 R2 on your Desktop or Laptop, there are a few things you will likely want to do… 1) Enable the “ Desktop Experience ” Feature  (Start – Administrative Tools – Server Manager – Features – Add Features) 2) Enable...

I have been working with Microsoft for several years and in that time I have been amazed at how high they set the bar in terms of ethical behavior.  Behavior that is expected in all situations and across all segments and business units.  Even...

From now until June 30, 2011 purchase a new TechNet  Subscription Professional and receive an additional three (3) months of service at NO EXTRA CHARGE!!  Microsoft ® TechNet Subscriptions is a subscription program that provides premium technical...

Check out the latest features for IT professionals, then visit the Springboard Series for Internet Explorer 9 to get guidance to help you pilot and deploy this enterprise-ready browser in your organization. If you want to download IE 9 and deploy to your...

SharePoint administrators, end users, architects, developers, and other professionals that work with Microsoft SharePoint Technologies will meet for the 4th SharePoint Saturday Boston event on Saturday, April 9th, 2011 at the Microsoft Office located...

My colleague and friend, Jim O’Neil did a post on an issue he and others were facing with IE 9 performance.  I want to share so you can tweak your machine to get the best performance possible out of IE 9. “Like many, I installed IE9 today (on two...

As an IT Professional I have been working with the predecessor to the cloud for many years. The predecessor of course is virtualization.  We (IT Pro’s) have been taking advantage of many virtualization technologies including: Server Consolidation...

Have you ever wanted to change some settings for all users in a Terminal Server or Remote Desktop Services Session environment?  Do you know there is a really cool command line tool that is used to install application called “Change User” that can...