Where System Builders Talk Shop... : Jaisson Mailloux

Can you smell what the Virtualization Team is cooking?

BOBblog — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:10:00 GMT

The virtualization team has created some Virtualization cookbooks. These cookbooks are full of some awesome recipes using the Microsoft Virtualization stack. Take a moment and download these step by step instructions to become more familiar with the awesome potential virtualization brings to the table!

Before you Begin:

In order to learn the basics of using Virtual Server and Virtual Machine Manager, you will need the following hardware in your test environment when going through these cookbooks:

Two - three physical servers

The first physical server, DC_SRV, will host Virtual Server and System Center Virtual Machine Manager, and it must have one of the following operating systems installed on it:

Windows Server® 2003 Standard Edition (x86 or x64 Edition) or Enterprise Edition (x86 or x64 Edition), R2 SP1

To best ensure the responsiveness of the environment and to shorten the wait time for installations to complete, the server should have these recommended characteristics:

2 gigabytes (GB) RAM
2 GHz or faster CPU
10 GB free hard drive space
1 NIC

The second physical server, MEMBER_SRV1, represents your production workload that will undergo P2V migration. It must have the following operating system installed on it:

Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition or Enterprise Edition, SP1 or later.

Note: SCVMM does not support 64-bit guest operating systems.

When doing the DPM and clustering labs, it will require a 3 rd physical servers. The third server, DPM_SRV, will host DPM.

Downloads:

Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BC49C7C8-4840-4E67-8DC4-1E6E218ACCE4&displaylang=en

Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/scvmm/bb679927.aspx

COOKBOOKS

Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 and Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager
The goal of this cookbook is to provide the steps and guidance necessary for you to successfully install and configure Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1 and System Center Virtual Machine Manager. You may then create and manage virtual machines, and perform P2V migration.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.SCVMM_FINAL.doc

Backup and Recovery using Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1 and Acronis® True Image 9.1 Enterprise Edition
The goal of this cookbook is to guide you through installing Acronis server imaging solutions for workgroups and installing Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1. The cookbook covers creating a virtual machine (to serve as a standby for recovery) and restoring the contents of a server representing your production workload to the waiting virtual machine.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.VS_Acronis_FINAL.doc

Microsoft® System Center Data Protection Manager 2007, Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1, and Microsoft® System Center Virtual Machine Manager
The scenario presented in this cookbook will take you through the steps necessary to install Virtual Server and SCVMM, and then convert a workload to a virtual machine. This cookbook also includes the steps necessary to install DPM and to back up a running virtual machine, as well as information about monitoring and reporting using DPM.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.SCVMM_DPM_FINAL.doc

Quick Migration with Virtual Server Host Clustering Windows Server® 2003 Enterprise Edition & Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1
This cookbook describes a simple configuration in which you use Virtual Server 2005 R2 to configure one guest operating system, and configure a server cluster that has two servers (nodes). With this configuration, you can migrate workloads easily from one node to the other.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.Quick_Migration_FINAL.doc

Mobile User Access of Applications. Terminal Server running on virtual machines using Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005 R2 Service Pack 1
In this cookbook we will install Terminal Server on a virtual machine and access the terminal server remotely. We will also show how to install Remote Desktop Web Connection and how to configure Windows® Firewall to allow remote clients to access the terminal server.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/b/9/2b99fd0d-5437-40d7-a430-23e31cac7ece/Deployment_Cookbook.Terminal Services Presentation Virtualization_Final.doc

Hosted Backup and Recovery Solutions for Service Providers using DPM and VS
This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience providing data backup and recovery to customers as a hosted solution using Virtual Server and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007
http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/0/4/5049f4b0-7ad1-4f34-8018-ef96af052a2c/Deployment_Cookbook.DPM_hosted_solution_FINAL.docx

Simple Offsite Backup and Recovery of virtual machines using DPM and VS
This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience providing data backup and recovery to customers as a hosted solution using Virtual Server and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/0/4/5049f4b0-7ad1-4f34-8018-ef96af052a2c/Deployment_Cookbook.DPM_hosted_solution_FINAL.docx

Simple Onsite Backup and Recovery of virtual machines using DPM and VS
This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for backing up and restoring running virtual machines using Virtual Server and System Center Data Protection Manager 2007.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/b/d/fbd28458-c41c-4414-b530-869af4e49014/Deployment_Cookbook.DPM_onsite_backup_FINAL.doc

High Availability with VS and WS03R2 Enterprise Server Clustering
This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for implementing high availability of server workloads using Windows Server 2003 Server Clustering and Virtual Server using Intel-based hardware.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/9/e/49e943a6-060b-4a1b-89eb-3962b748d200/Deployment_Cookbook.Host_Clustering_FINAL.doc

Application Isolation and Operation in BO Using VS
This cookbook will provide procedural, step-by-step guidance to an IT Generalist audience for isolating and operating applications on separate virtual machines in branch offices using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1, in an Intel-based hardware environment for regulatory compliance and improved legacy workload performance.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/d/b/4db13d05-f000-46c9-9767-5d07b3ad8609/Deployment_Cookbook.VS_branch_office_FINAL.doc

Watch and Win a Zune!

BOBblog — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:05:00 GMT

Watch an on-demand webcast through Dec 2, 2007 to automatically be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a Zune™ digital media player.

www.msreadiness.com/systembuilderondemand

Q&A from our Virtualize your world with Microsoft Virtualization webcast! Time/Date: Thursday, May 10 2007 9:00 AM PT

BOBblog — Tue, 15 May 2007 22:53:00 GMT

Questions and Answers:

Question: what is the difference if a virtual server running exhange and a straight server running exchange in performance

Answered: With today's technology at a 1:1 with resource, it's about 15%. It will be 3% with the new technology we are releasing.

Question: is the virtual server multiprocessor awareon the new quad core processor servers

Answered: yes

Question: So is Hypervisor simmilar to a PE environment then?

Answered: Sorta. Its basically a low lever service talking directly to hardware for Virtualization.

Question: Why can we not virtualize Vista?

Answered: You can! Virtual PC 2007 runs Vista fine. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx

Question: Is VPC going to support Virtual Hardware model?

Answered

Question: And it will run Server 2003 also?

Answered: Yes, it sure will.

Question: how much memory do we need for vista virtual machine...?

Answered: Virtual instances need as much resources as a physical computer, you should still allocate at least a gig per instance.

Question: How is Microsoft Virtualization different from VMware Virtualization?

Answered: There are two key differences in functionality that you'll need to consider. However, in deciding between the two choices (and I'm lumping the two

VMWare products together even though they are quite different, because their overall functionality is similar.) If you must have USB support in your virtual machine environment, then you'll need to choose a VMWare product, since Virtual Server doesn't support USB yet. Even VMWare only supports USB 1.1 specification, not USB 2. And neither product supports FireWire. On the other hand, the Virtual Machine Remote Client is a very useful windowing tool that gives Virtual Server a definite advantage over VMWare, especially when the guest operating system doesn't support Remote Desktop. And I think the mouse behavior in Virtual Server is slightly better.

Question: Can you virtualize compute cluster server?

Answered: NO, CCS is x64 only and you cannot have x64 guest OS yet.

Question: Jaisson mentioned that W2K3 R2 comes with 4 VM licenses, is this exclusive for R2?

Answered: yes, it is.

Question: Does Microsoft Virtualization support SATA or SAS drive interfaces?

Answered: Yes for SATA, I am pretty sure also about SAS. Our VM HW interface supports SCSI as well.

Question: Regarding the about question about the 4 licenses. That was the enterprise server?

Answered: Yes it is.

Question: What are some of the things that we can do to improve performance, other than the obvious of buying into high end V enabled processors? I have

seen there is over head to the two os levels.

Answered: Ram, Ram and more Ram. Also don’t forget to install the Virtual Machine Additions as well.

Question: But Hypervisor is where you go to start/stop/load virtual machines right? Can you work with Hypervisor remotely? Such as connecting to it over the network to start/stop virtual servers?

Answered: You can do all of this with Virtual Machine Manager

Question: is virtual manager available to try out today?

Answered: Please try downloading System Center Essentials 2007 @ http://www.microsoft.com/systemcenter/scvmm/default.mspx

Question: So what we are seeing now will be available in Longhorn? Currently unavailable?

Answered: These items are available today with Virtual Server, Virtual PC, and System Center Essentials. "Longhorn Server" will have Virtual Server as a "native" feature.

Question: So if I have a small business with 3 servers currently (sql+file/exchange/web), using this Vertual server, I could consolodate all 3 of these systems into one powerful server?

Answered: yes. That's the idea.

Question: where exactly will you post the labs you were sharing? can you give the web address

Answered: http://oem.microsoft.com/serversource

Question: what is the cost of windows virtual server?

Answered: Free! http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/default.mspx

Question: can you use your sbs 2003 dvd that came in the action pack on a live server and a VM for lab exercises or do you need a 2nd lic?

Answered: You can use the action pack version, I would actually recommend it!

Question: As a developer who maintains code in VS6, 2003 & 2005 plus also uses other applications such as video capture & edit, I see the benefit in creating

VMs for testing, but is it a good idea to create different VMs to isolate applications? Any best practices for desktop virtualization?

Answered: For testing I would certainly isolate them. I would recommend going here for more training on this:

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/SearchResults.aspx?culture=en-US&evtTyp=0&kwdAny=virtualization

Question: Any big "Dont's" I should be aware of before installing virtual server?

Answered: Not really, but I would look at the Virtualization FAQ first: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/evaluation/virtualizationfaq.mspx

Question: Where do we go if we have further questions?

Answered: you may contact bobtalk@microsoft.com

Question: So is hardware virtualization currently availalable, or is this only through the new Longhorn services?

Answered: Hardware virtualization will be in Longhorn Server.

Can a system builder sell an OEM copy of Windows Vista without attaching it to a peice hardware?

BOBblog — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:31:00 GMT

YES! YES! YES you can!!!!!!! As long as you do not open the package AND the end user is assembling their own PC (at that point the user is considered a system builder). As of August 2005, the licensing changed on all of the OEM licensing packs—1, 3, and 30.

If you open the pack, you must preinstall. If you are planning to preinstall OEM software onto new machines,

buy in the correct denominations (1, 3, or 30)
open the packs and
distribute the individual software licenses preinstalled on the new machines you are building.

If you don’t open the pack, you can redistribute to other system builders without any hardware. If you are planning to distribute software only to other system builders,

buy in the correct denomination (1, 3, or 30)
don’t open the pack, and
redistribute unopened packs to other system builders without any hardware.

OEM system builder software packs are intended for PC and server manufacturers or assemblers ONLY. They are not intended for distribution to end users. Unless the end user is actually assembling his/her own PC, in which case, that end user is considered a system builder as well.

For more details go here:

http://oem.microsoft.com/script/contentPage.aspx?pageid=555857

Super Size your Server Sales with Server Source

BOBblog — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:19:00 GMT

Want to build a solid base of small business customers who rely on you to keep their networks up and running? The Server Source is here to help! This comprehensive, powerful ONLINE resource guides you through everything you need to both build and grow your server business. Use it to your advantage and unlock the revenue potential of selling services to small business customers. The Server Source covers the 3 parts to a successful Server business: Marketing SBS 2003, Sales and Deployment!

It all starts with successful Marketing. When we talk about Marketing we have to take into consideration whether we are marketing to existing or new customers and then gear the message to the appropriate group.

Tap Into Your Existing Customer Base.

Repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers and cost 1/6 as much as prospecting a new customer. Get your customers thinking about Small Business Server 2003. Leverage our email, direct mail and Web page templates to create awareness and interest.

Generate New Leads.

Ready to grow your business beyond your existing customer base? We provide the tools and resources to help develop a marketing plan and lead generation strategy. Is your marketing optimized for search engines? Are you receiving leads by participating in the Small Business Specialist program? Are you using best practices for Direct Mailings?

The Server Source walks creating your marketing strategy!

Maintain ongoing communication. Once you’ve started the dialogue, keep it going. Call the customer a week after the sale just to see if everything is ok. Don’t try to sell them anything at that time, just follow up to ensure that everything is working correctly and that they are satisfied! This shows them you care and strengthens your relationship.

Use these Server Source tools and tips to accelerate your marketing efforts and move potential customers through the sales cycle.

To make the sale you should get inside the mind of your customers. Understand their pains and potential objections so you can sell the value of Small Business Server 2003 more effectively. Each customer is different so make sure you listen to what they have to say and identify solutions to their individual needs. We identify the most common customer pains but more importantly we offer the solutions. Knowing what the most common pain points are and having that solution available during your initial dialogue is critical to closing the sale.

As with any sale you will come across objections. Anticipating these objects and offering a strategic response is another critical piece in closing that sale.

Here is an example of a customer objection:

Customer Objection	Ways to Respond
I can’t afford new software.	Discuss the cost of security issues with business data, as well as productivity losses and potential customer dissatisfaction when your customer cannot respond to their customers’ needs. Additionally, users of Windows Small Business Server 2003 recouped their total investment, which includes software, hardware, installation, and support, in an average of five months.*

Once you made the sale use the Deployment Checklist to ensure a smooth deployment with no unexpected delays. Are you asking the right questions at the time of the sale?

There are a lot of question you need to know in order to successfully deploy a server solution. The Server Source walks you through this process.

So at this point we have developed the appropriate marketing strategy, identified the customer pain, provided the solution and finally deployed the right server, now what? Sell managed services for Additional Revenue! When you sell Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, you open the door to significant opportunities to sell value-added services and deepen your customer relationships. Small Business Server 2003 enables remote maintenance.

Services include:

Project-based services

Offered on a one-off basis

Initial deployment and technology refresh projects

Break-fix maintenance

Recurring services

Paid for on an ongoing basis

Prepaid maintenance monitoring services, and managed services.

Here’s an example of how one partner prices its tiered-service offerings:

	TIER 1	TIER 2	TIER 3
	Patches and virus updates, basic server monitoring	Tier 1 plus more frequent monitoring, regular reporting, desktop support, 9-to-5 coverage	Tier 2 plus desktop application and operating system support; 24/7 coverage
Base Fee	$90/month	$450/month	$900/month
Fee per Server	$18/month	$45/month	$45/month
Fee per PC Desktop	$9/month	$27/month	$45/month

Correctly configuring and managing a server solution requires that you have the necessary skill set. Again, this is where the Server Source comes into play! The Server Source walks you through how to accomplish the following along with the corresponding screenshots! I have included the 4 Steps in the build process.

Step 1. Installation.

Understand four time-saving steps for effective SBS 2003 deployment.

Step 2. Server Configuration.

Review our tested server configuration strategies.

Step 3. Workstation Configuration.

Get tips for configuring workstations in an SBS 2003 network.

Step 4. Maintenance.

Understand the best maintenance strategies for Small Business Server 2003.

I hope you see the value in the Server Source. There is so much information on the Microsoft site that it is hard to find a starting point. We put the Server Source together to help you through building your Server Solution from the ground up. We help you with creating your marketing strategy, identify the customer pain, provide the solution for that pain, deploy the right server, and sell managed services for Additional Revenue! That in itself is where most people would stop, but not the BOB team, we also offer complete walk through along with the corresponding screenshots and examples of tiered service offerings! But wait, there is more! On March 8^th I am going to present a webcast on this as well.

Event Date:
3/8/2007

Event Time:
9:00 AM Pacific, USA & Canada (DST) = GMT - 08:00

Take advantage of the resources we have put together in the Server Source and grow your Server Solution business!

The Server Source can be found at:

http://oem.microsoft.com/script/contentpage.aspx?pageid=63

Bob

Q&A from the Active Directory - Disaster Recovery webcast!

BOBblog — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 04:50:00 GMT

Hello All,

Here is the Q&A for the Active Directory - Disaster Recovery webcast!

Question: What stands for AD?
Answer: Active Directory

Question: What stands for DC and GC?
Answer: Domain Controller and Global Catalog Server

Question: Is there a way to change which attributes are not stripped from a principle when the principle is deleted in 2003?
Answer: yes --but this requires modification to the a class in the Schema which is generally not recommended

Question: can you show steps to disable inbound replication... show the lower in the directory tree
Answer: this will be demonstrated later but here it is: repadmin /options dc_name +DISABLE_INBOUND_REPL

Question: I ran into this scenario: 2 servers, (1) Windows 2000 SP4, (1) Windows 2003 SP1. 2003 server RAID crashed; Reload Win2003 to get server back up enough to run tape restore, run tape restore w/ system state included, rebooted. Now 2003 server cannot access 2000 server using UNC, get "permission denied". Able to access via \\192.168.1.123\sharename. What happened?
Answer: if you can access the share by IP and not by name then that tells me that Kerberos is not working. Look at anything that would cause Kerberos failures such as time sync issues bad machine account password here is a good link for troubleshooting these issues: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/technologies/security/tkerberr.mspx

Question: can the 60 day/ 180 days be increased?
Answer: yes, the change needs to be made on the configuration partition via adsiedit 1. In the Adsiedit tool, expand Configuration DomainControllerName, expand CN=Configuration, DC=ForestRootDomain, expand CN=Services, expand CN=Windows NT, right-click CN=Directory Service, and then click Properties. 2. Click the Attribute tab. 3. In the Select which properties to view list, click Optional. 4. In the Select a property to view list, click TombstoneLifetime. 5. In the Edit Attribute box, type the number of days that you want to set it to, click Set, and then click OK. Just don't decrease the value ---if you set it too low you will run into problem with Lingering Objects

Question: but if it is a fresh 2003 install, then lvr is enabled by default?
Answer: Not until you go into native mode and 2003 forest functional mode, then after that LVR is enabled on new objects or on existing objects when it is mdoified

Question: my forrest is upgraded, how to make my groups LVR?
Answer: You will need to be at Windows Server 2003 Forest functional mode --see: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322692

Question: Does the restore process with Windows Backup work the same with Veritas Backup Exec?
Answer: It is very similiar but I would recommend going to their site and walking through their article to ensure nothing has changed. Some screens are different. They do have a published article.

Question: How do I check system state is current?
Answer: repadmin.exe /showbackup dc_name Check out this informative post on that command: http://blogs.msdn.com/brettsh/archive/2006/02/09/528708.aspx

To watch the on-demand webcast, please visit: http://www.msusapartnerreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15004864

Thanks,

BoB

Q&A from the Gaming Niche Webcast! (Windows Vista and the AGEIA physx processor)

BOBblog — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 04:36:00 GMT

Hello All,

Here is the Q&A from the Gaming Niche webcast we did with AGEIA.

Question: The CPU's stepping level should be the same if I use 2 CPUs?
Answer: yes

Question: Will Microsoft adjust the scale for the Windows Experience Index as games become more advanced?
Answer: yes

Question: Will Physx work wiith SLi and Crossfire?
Answer: Yes. We calculate the physics simulation and then the results are pushed to rendering by the application. We support SLi and Crossfire and in fact since there are more physics objects generated due to the physics, having SLi or Crossfire has added value. (So we give more reason to enhance your graphics hardware too.)

Question: How do you see the battle between Havok FX and PhysX playing out?
Answer: There are two ways to look at this. You can certainly do some level of physics on a GPU, just like you can do some graphics on integrated solutions or CPUs. But for users who want the full level of physics, you need dedicated hardware and we're the only dedicated hw solution out there. We also have a product on the market, mature drivers and titles available today. HavokFX has none of those. Finally, we are supported by the top game engines: Unreal, Gamebryo, Artificial, etc. and major publisher deals. None of that support exists for HavokFX.

Question: This card installs into a PCI slot?
Answer: We have PCI available today for AIBs, and PCIe available for OEMs

Question: will an xbox game play on a pc with a physx card?
Answer: Not directly, but for cross-platform games, developers tend to do the console version first and port to the PC. A PC with a PhysX card will give you the same level of experience as the XBox360 version, rather than scaling it down to the lesser capabilities of a PC without our dedicated HW

Question: so this is a pci card? does it work independently of the graphics card? will future graphics card integrate physx?
Answer: We have PCI and PCIe options. It is independent of the GPU. It offloads CPU load and the extra complexity of the scene then adds to an improvement in the visuals which the GPU will process. There are no plans today for integrating graphics and PhysX on a single card, due to power and cost primarily, but it may be possible to do combo cards in the future

Question: How does this card install in to your system?
Answer: It's a standard PCI slot, so as long as you have a free PCI slot available, you drop it in as with any other PCI card.

Question: What about dedicating extra cpu cores to physx? With 4 or 8 or however many cpu cores will that negate the need for a physx processor?
Answer: Adding CPU cores adds a linear increase in the physics you can do. For example on single-core systems you might be able to do a couple of hundred objects. Even with a quad or octo core, that will only be a few thousand. The PhysX Processor can handle thousands of rigid body objects, plus tens of thousands of fluid particles, plus cloth, plus hair, etc. all at the same time. This level of complexity, quality of simulation and all these features running concurrently at a large scale is impossible with CPUs alone. You can actually go to ageia.com to run a benchmark called "RealityMark" with and without our card installed. Even on high-end dual-cores, we're typically about 10x faster.

Question: Does the PCIe card run better than the PCI slot card?
Answer: There is no performance difference. We just understand some folks have free PCI slots, others have free PCIe slots. Over time as PCI phases out, we'll move to PCIe completely, but for now we see the GPUs taking up the 1-2 PCIe slots on typical systems today, so PCI was free to drop into

Question: when will physX3 come out?
Answer: Not sure what you're referring to? Do you mean our v3.0 SDK? That will be coming next year, but meanwhile we have added significant features to our v2.x SDK from when we launched the hardware, so for example, we included additional cloth, metallic deformation, hair, etc. to the feature set using the same hardware someone bought six months ago. This way the value to the user comes from buying now and getting free upgrades to the capabilities through software that installs with the games or from our driver download site

Question: What is the price point for this board? How many titles actually support it? I think i read somewhere that there's a competing standard that would just use "extra" GPU capability to do something similar - how are these different?
Answer: By the end of 2006, we will have about 10 commercial titles available. There are over 120 other titles in development currently for the next 12 months. Since we're also the exclusive physics solution for the Unreal Engine and other major engines, we get all their licensee titles coming in 2007 (there are over 40 major UE3 titles including Unreal Tournament 2007 for example)

If you would like to see the on-demand version of the webcast, please visit: http://www.msusapartnerreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15004904

Thanks,

BoB

Q&A from the Disk Recovery Webcast

BOBblog — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 04:22:00 GMT

Hello all,

Here is the Q&A from the Disk Recovery webcast. We are also in the process of re-recording it due to some sound issues we had.

Question: Does disk probe work on SATA drives the same as an ordinary EIDE hard drive?
Answer: Yes

Question: where can we get disk probe? Does it come with windows xp?
Answer: Diskprobe is part of the support tools for Windows 2000 and diskprobe 2 comes with Windows 2003

Question: does diskprobe work from the recovery console?
Answer: No it only works from within the OS.

Question: Does this work on RAID Controllers with the correct drivers
Answer: Yes. Any drive that is mounted in the OS can be loaded into disk probe.

Question: How is this application used when the drive will not boot? Do you use a bootable cd? Serial cable from another box?
Answer: Good question! Since the tool has to be run from within the OS you would have to either slave the drive to another system or copy the MBR or MBS with a tool that MS can help you with if you open a support call or the easiest method is explained later in this presentation and you can make a boot floppy to boot the server. If there is a problem with the MBR or BS the boot floppy will circumvent that and boot the server for you. Again this is explained later in the presentation.

Question: I had a situation where a client overwrote their MBR with another OS... fortunately, I found it had an MBR recovery option, but what if it didn't? They had XP Home on their system BUT no XP Home CD to recover the MBR. They did have XP Pro CD. Can XP Pro CD be used to recover XP Home MBR? Do service packs need to be reapplied after recovering MBR from a non-service packed CD?
Answer: The MBR code can be rewritten from the Recovery Console with the FixMBR command. No the MBR is not updated with service packs.

Question: Can I use diskprobe to examine a bad disk drive (as a secondary disk) that will not boot up
Answer: You can use dskprobe to view any sector or group of sectors on any disk that is mounted in your OS. So yes if you slaved a non-bootable disk onto a bootable machine then you can use dskprobe to view and edit that drive.

Question: can disk probe work with XP & Vista & can we download it for that?
Answer: Yes dskprobe works on all versions of Windows. It should be included in the support tools and those can be found on microsoft.com.

Question: yes, but can you use a xp pro cd recovery console on a xp home drive?
Answer: yes you can use an xp pro recovery console to access the file system of any version of Windows from NT4 and later.

Question: Would it be good practice to create an updated Boot Floppy on a regular basis?
Answer: I would just create it as you need it. The files on the disk don't really need to be updated; however, I will say this, later versions of the OS have ntldr boot files that offer additional funcionality. For instance the F8 options in Windows XPsp2 and Windows 2003sp1 give you the option to turn off the autoreboot feature that you didn't have before. With that being said you can create a boot floppy with the ntldr and ntdetect.com from those versions of the OS and you would be fine to boot to any NT server or client.

Question: Is there a way to recover a system with bad sectors on the HD?
Answer: Yes, chkdsk checks for bad sectors. However, there are cases where the corruption is such that some files are not recoverable and chkdsk removes those orphaned files out of the Master File Table. In that case you would need a data recovery service to help with that.

Question: how frequently must you create a Boot Floppy or in other words what events require updatign the boot floppy? program removal? every patch tuesday? ...etc
Answer: The boot files that are put on the disk are updated with additonal functionality occasionally with later OS versions or service packs but you could use the Windows 2000 boot files to boot a Windows 2003 server because the boot process hasn't changed since NT4......until Vista where the boot process actually changes a bit.

Question: why would there be multiple 80h?
Answer: manually editing or 3rd party tools can mark a second partition as actve without removing the previous entry. It does sometimes happen.

Question: can a xp pro cd fixmbr work on nt4 or later or just xp, and are home & pro CDs interchangable for this purpose?
Answer: It will work on all versions of NT\2000\XP\2003. The code is a bit more robust for the MBR and BS in XP than it was in NT 4 so we can, for example, access the kernal file past the 8.7GB limit that we had in NT 4 but it still does the same basic process. In short you get more functionality with the later code but it doesn't cause the NT4 boot process to break. That's why we can install Windows 2000 as a second OS on the same drive as Windows NT4 and still boot to both.

Question: Can you recommend any books on this topic?
Answer: I like the Windows Internal books by Soloman and Rusinovich

Question: When is The Backup Boot sector created. Does it change over time?
Answer: Good question. The backup boot sector is created when the boot sector is created. The boot sector is created when a partition is created. No, it does not change after it is created unless that partition is resized.

Question: Does it matter if you run fixmbr or fixboot in recovery console? Does the order matter - will one mess up something else?
Answer: FixMBR and FixBoot only run in the RC and they are independent of each other so the order doesn't matter.

To watch the webcast, please visit http://www.msusapartnerreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15005003

Thanks,

BoB

WebCast - Windows Vista Deployment End to End Series

BOBblog — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 02:50:00 GMT

Are you ready to pre-install Windows Vista? Do you know there is a new OPK for Vista that improves the efficiency of deploying Windows? Want to learn how to use image base technology to deploy Windows without media? Learn how to install Windows Vista in ~4.5 minutes! These webcast series is geared to enable you with the knowledge necessary to pre-install Windows Vista on a single computer to multiple computers at a time.

This is the 1st of a series of webcast designed to walk you through the steps necessary to deploy Windows Vista for different deployment scenarios. For DVD-based installations, we’ll show you how to automate DVD installations using a single answer file. For networks, we’ll show you how to configure a server with all the necessary services and components to support deployment of Windows Vista over a network using a configuration set, and images. We’ll even go as far as showing you how to install Windows Vista on machines without media! Now that’s cool.

In this webcast, we’ll cover what’s new for Windows Vista OPK, how to install, and authoring an answer file for unattended DVD installations.

Event Date:
1/25/2007

Event Time:
9:00 AM Pacific, USA & Canada (DST) = GMT - 08:00

Signup Now:

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15005031

BoB

WebCast - Exchange 2007, what's new and why should a system builder care?

BOBblog — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 00:05:00 GMT

Have a need for speed? No/ or a low budget for a 3rd party disclaimer, antispam, or antivirus applications! No Problem, Exchange 2007 has it all! Ever desire centralized administration for multiple Exchange servers…..and I do mean multiple! Receive an attachment but don't have the application on the computer to open it with…..c’mon that never happens right! Forgot to setup that OOF feature before you went on that 3 weeks’ vacation? Could this be the end of email as we know it? Now I know you are saying "hey BOB, Exchange is not even offered in the SB channel so why do I care?" Well we are going to answer those question and more in the next BOB technical discussion …sign up now!

Event Date:
1/18/2007

Event Time:
9:00 AM Pacific, USA & Canada (DST) = GMT - 08:00

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15005015

BoB

Windows Vista Downgrade rights

BOBblog — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 23:59:00 GMT

I have had the following question asked to me quite often so I figure it was worth posting:

Can I downgrade my OEM version of Microsoft Windows Vista Business to Windows XP Professional?

Yes. OEM Downgrade Rights for desktop operating systems apply to Windows Vista Business & Vista Ultimate as stated in the License Terms. Please note, OEM downgrade versions of Windows Vista Business and Vista Ultimate are limited to Microsoft Windows XP Professional (including Tablet PC Edition & x64 Edition). End users can use the following media for their downgrade: Volume Licensing media (provided the end user has a Volume Licensing agreement), Retail (FPP), or System Builder hologram CD (provided the software is acquired in accordance with the Microsoft OEM System Builder License). Use of the downgraded operating system is governed by the Windows Vista Business License Terms, and the end user cannot use both the downgrade operating system and Windows Vista Business. There are no downgrade rights granted for Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic or Home Premium.”

BoB

Upcoming wewbcast! You got issues! Disk issues and no backup, what are your recovery options?

BOBblog — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:50:00 GMT

It’s 3:00am, you’ve been working on your non-booting server for 12 straight hours and that black screen with the little blinking cursor taunts you as if it were saying You….Will.…Never.…Fix….Me….Go….Home….! There is no error message. It never gets to a Last Known Good or Safe Mode boot option. It just posts, beeps and blinks. What do you do? Format and reinstall? But we have important data. Restore from backup? Backup?!? You’re joking right? Your customer hasn’t backed up their server since the night after the last critical failure. There’s only one option. Stay and fix it. It posts with no beep codes so the hardware should be OK right? But it doesn’t quite load any OS files so I can’t blame Microsoft….yet. Hmmm, it must be a disk issue. We can fix it. We have the technology. In this webcast we will discuss the boot process and the critical disk structures that are involved during boot. We will learn how to use disk editing tools to look at these on disk sectors and see what they should look like. We will also discuss how to fix many common disk related issues such as corrupted Master Boot Records, corrupted or missing Boot Sectors and exactly what and where is the Master File Table? Join us as we begin a new year of BOB technical discussions for servers.

Event Date:
1/11/2007

Register now!

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15005003

Jaisson

UPDATE - Receive a copy of Windows Vista™ Ultimate!

BOBblog — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:47:00 GMT

Hey y’all,

Did you attend the Intel Microsoft Ready 2 Rock Road Show and pass the online Ready 2 Rock Quiz with 80% or better accuracy? Did you get a confirmation email but noticed that the order confirmation e-mail you received did not indicate if you will receive a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate?

We are aware of the situation and this issue is being addressed. We cannot confirm your OEM Sales Center order through this channel.

If you redeemed your $25 e-code by attending the Ready 2 Rock Road Show or New Horizons training, and received an order confirmation before 11/30/06, you have been established as one of the first 5000 people to redeem their $25 e-code for merchandise and will receive a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate.
If you received your $25 e-code from Microsoft Partner University and received an order confirmation before 12/6/06, you have been established as one of the first 1000 people to redeem their $25 e-code for merchandise and will receive a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate.

Your copy of Windows Vista Ultimate will be shipped within 6-8 weeks of general availability. Items may be sent separately or with your merchandise order, depending on availability.

Jaisson

BoB's Thursday webcasts - AD Restore and the new Physx Processor

BOBblog — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 22:13:00 GMT

Hey y'all (using my best Texan accent),

Don't forget about our two webcast tomorrow! In the first webcast we will walk through Active Directory Disaster Recovery (User/Group restore) in a multi DC environment. An hour later we will cover Windows Vista and the new Physx Processor for gaming machines! I installed my Physx Processor, downloaded Cell Factor for FREE and LOVE IT! Come see what I am talking about!

REGISTER NOW!

Active Directory Disaster Recovery

Event Date:
12/7/2006

Event Time:
11-Noon CST

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15004864

SB: The Gaming Niche

Event Date:
12/7/2006

Event Time:
1-2pm CST

http://www.msreadiness.com/WS_abstract.asp?eid=15004904

BoB!

Do you HAVE to upgrade your hardware to run Vista?

BOBblog — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 16:47:00 GMT

Want to see if your Windows XP-based PC can run Windows Vista? Just download, install, and run the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor.

This small software tool will scan your computer and create an easy-to-understand report of all known system, device, and program compatibility issues, and recommend ways to resolve them. Upgrade Advisor can also help you choose the edition of Windows Vista that best fits the way you want to use your computer.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeadvisor/default.mspx