July, 2008

At previous conferences, I showed a utility that could be used to edit the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit wizard XML template files.  But as some of you noticed (and e-mailed me about), the utility was nowhere to be found, so I was just teasing you :-)

So I'll tease no more.  The Wizard Editor is now available at http://www.codeplex.com/MDTWizardEditor for anyone to download and use.  It is provided as-is and could quite easily contain many bugs (for safety's sake, be sure you have a backup copy of the XML file before you change it), so please submit bugs through the CodePlex site; this is done by creating new issues on the "Issues" tab.    New feature requests can also be submitted via that mechanism.

If you are interested in contributing to the development of this tool, please let me know.  It is officially an open source project, covered by the standard Microsoft Public License terms.

The Internet Explorer team described how to slipstream IE 8 Beta 1 into a Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 image using the process described at http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/06/20/slipstreaming-ie8.aspx.  Here's the same basic process with MDT 2008:

1. Download the needed version(s) of Internet Explorer 8 Beta 1.
   x86: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C3C6E8C1-BD91-490B-86F5-F3652DD691DE&displaylang=en
   x64: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=D399733E-D4A9-44FD-821B-1C52D3C677E3&displaylang=en
2. Extract the updates from the downloaded self-extracting installer files (into separate folders if you downloaded both platforms in step #1).
   x86: IE8-WindowsVista-x86-enu.exe /x:c:\temp\ie8x86
x64: IE8-WindowsVista-x64-enu.exe /x:c:\temp\ie8x64

3. Import the IE 8 updates into Deployment Workbench (right click on the "OS Updates" node and choose "New") by pointing it to the subdirectories you created above.
4. Deploy an OS :-)

Here's what the updates look like in Workbench:

I took another certification exam today:

70-622 PRO: Supporting and Troubleshooting Applications on a Windows Vista Client for Enterprise Support Technicians

Let me offer a few general test-taking suggestions:

• Test-taking computers don't always work (the infamous "computer problems" excuse), so don't be disappointed if you need to reschedule.  (Exam attempt #1.)
• You really do need to take a photo ID in order to take an exam.  (I forgot my wallet that day, and sob stories to the attendant don't do any good at all.  Exam attempt #2.)
• Don't be late.  (Prometric generally won't allow you to start the exam if you are more than 30 minutes late.  Fortunately, I was only 29 minutes late - finally something goes my way with exam attempt #3.)
• Review the exam preparation guide before taking the exam, not after.

There were a few points during the exam that I wondered if I would actually pass, and failing would be just too embarrassing to admit.  Fortunately, my final score showed that I passed with flying colors.  I guess I guessed well.  (OK, maybe you can call it "deductive reasoning."  I always thought "what you know" exams were overrated.  I'm still waiting to see an exam that measures how well you can figure things out - being able to quickly and effectively find the answers is a crucial skill.)  Some areas covered in the exam:

• The new Windows Vista task scheduler.  (How many of you have actually used this?  There's quite a lot of new functionality.)
• Issues you might encounter with IPsec, Windows Firewall, Windows Defender, and secure communication, and knowing what issues each can cause.
• Troubleshooting issues with the Windows Update Agent, including interaction with WSUS.
• Group policy, including software restriction policies, software installation, UAC settings, loopback processing, folder redirection and troubleshooting.
• Plenty of network troubleshooting (DHCP issues, IPv6 configuration, wireless security options, wireless troubleshooting, IPCONFIG, NBTSTAT, etc.)
• Investigating issues with security templates.
• Application Compatibility Toolkit and User State Migration Tool.
• Internet Explorer 7 configuration.

It's a pretty broad exam - real-world experience would certainly help.  Even though I've been removed from the real world for last couple of years working at Microsoft's Redmond campus, I feel like I at least still have a strong connection to the real world :-)

With this exam and the previous 70-620 exam, I now have a new certification:

MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician

Of course now I notice that I could have just taken exam 70-621 to upgrade my existing MCDST certification to the new MCITP: Enterprise Support Technician certification.  But this way was more fun :-)

I get a lot of e-mail (and send a lot too).  Overall, for those e-mails that need a reply my system is very simple:  reply immediately, or flag the e-mail for follow up and get back to it when I have some time.  My goal is to keep that "For Follow Up" pile nice and small, but somehow it just keeps on growing.  The current tally:

So if you are one of those 364 people waiting for me to reply to an e-mail, I apologize - it's going to take me a while to get through them, especially since we have our internal TechReady 7 conference in Seattle next week, and then I am then going to take a few weeks off (the longest vacation I've ever taken).

My current excuse:  We have a new release coming out.  More on that soon.  (For the Microsoft guys in Seattle next week, you can get all the details in session CLI301.)