Since the release of Windows Server 2008 I have been focused on showing IT administrators how some of the changes to Windows Server can really make their lives better. One key area of change is in the world of Group Policy Preferences.
Group Policy preferences make it possible for me to set computer or user based settings that I used to use startup, shutdown, logon, or logoff scripts to configure. Today group policy preferences allow me to make those changes without necessarily knowing how to script them. I recorded a demonstration on how the preferences can be used. You can view it below.
Here is a list of resources that you should view to really get the low down on group policy preferences and their operation.
Group Policy Preferences White Paper
Group Policy Preferences Getting Started Guide
Intro To Group Policy Preferences from Microsoft Help
I have some really good friends who love to ride bikes. John Weston who you all know as one of my team mates is serious into riding. John rides road bikes. I have watched with interest as he has subjected himself to all kinds of pain a suffering that seem to go hand and hand with this sport. I have r
idden mountain bikes for years and I really do enjoy riding. To make a long story short i finally gave in and bought a road bike. This is not just any road bike. This is the Giant OCR2. In the movie Transformers Bernie Mac's character tells Shia Le'Beouf
"The driver don't pick the car. The car picks the driver."
The same holds true for a bicycle. I rode a lot of bikes. Some were all right, some were terrible. None of them really felt right for me. I was at my local bike shop Skyline Cycle
and Matt and his staff were showing me around some of the bikes they had. I started looking at some of their Giant line. I pulled out the OCR2. It felt good in my hands. I liked the lines, The components were what i was looking for. I grabbed a helmet and took it for a ride. I knew right away this was the one. It had picked me. I bought it and began my quest for fitness. It didn't take long for me to realize that i would really get to know pain in a very intimate way. I am out of shape. My first ride ended at 3 miles. I really couldnt go further. Over the past 4 weeks i have built my way up to 6.5 miles a day and counting. The endurance is coming, and hopefully the distances and speed continue to grow. I will keep riding and hopefully be in shape by next spring to start riding in some races/events. My parents always told me be careful when choosing your friends. Eventually you will do what they are doing. It appears they were right. Ride on.
I live in Utah. The home of chemical weapons testing. Nuclear fallout. The present home of the "New Area 51" Generally speaking if the US government says it didn't happen or doesn't exist; it didn't happen or doesn't exist here. There is a reason the first artificial heart came from Utah. There is something in the water, and air, and soil here that just makes it feel different.
I am not a conspiracy theorist. I am a realist.
I have lived for a lot of years with the knowledge that government and industry are moving forward in developing and evolving technologies at a much faster rate than current disclosure mechanisms allow for the dissemination of that new knowledge.
In many cases what is often considered conspiracy is publicly available information that has simply not been highlighted in the main stream media. Take Multiverse for instance. The research has been done, and the patent applications have been filed. This technology is likely already in use inside key installations and organizations to increase their security. It is a significant discovery, yet, has gone almost completely unnoticed because the media simply doesn't understand how to report it.
Last night I watched the Pilot of Fox's new show on this topic "Fringe." I was entertained! I will certainly watch the show in the future. The premise of the existence of corporations that are quietly changing the world while we comfortable sit in our homes watching TV has a beautiful irony to it. The only thing I don't like about the show is the establishment of "The Pattern." It suggests that there is one diabolical force in this instance employing the technologies and powers for evil in the world. This line of thinking makes a much easier story to tell, and it fits really nicely into a 60 minute time slot, but it just isn't reality. I will still watch the show! I hope you do too. The Pilot is available in streaming HD on the Fox website.
TCP/IP is the nuts and bolts of speed in a network. I recorded a short video highlighting some of the changes to the IP Stack in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. Enjoy the Video. I have included the link to the Power Point deck referenced at the end of the video because no one really wants to write that down.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/4/e/24e5a30f-e4fe-48e9-95cf-da9c59cfc96a/VISTA/OverviewNetworking_WindowsVISTA.ppt
Since I published the video on creating custom WinPE images I have received a whole bunch of questions centered around deployment tools. Many of you have asked how to customize the contents of the actual .wim image. I recorded a quick video segment on using Image X to mount and customize the contents of a wim. Have fun!
My friend Matt Hester is passionate about technology and the way it changes peoples lives for the better. He has been working with the Internet Explorer 8 folks lately. The browser is something we all interact with on a regular basis. Matt has recorded a series of videos about Internet Explorer 8. They are fantastic! I am including one here in it SilverLight player. I would highly recommend you view the rest from Matt's Blog at the links posted below the video window.
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Screencast: More Secure and Private Browsing
Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 Screencast: More Reliable and Interoperable Browsing
Ever since the release of Windows Vista folks have been asking me about the details of creating custom Windows Pre Installation Environment (Win PE) images. There is some great information on the subject that is available at the TechNet web site, and to the Windows Automated Installation Kit guide. I realize the process can be daunting and so i finally recorded a how to session for creating custom Win PE images. This video demonstrates how to build (from scratch) a bootable custom Win PE image. In this session I build an ISO and burn it to DVD however I could just as easily have put the files on a USB stick and used them from there. Watch the video and have some fun with Windows PE.
Watch the video Here!
Download the Windows Automated Installation Kit here
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c7d4bc6d-15f3-4284-9123-679830d629f2&DisplayLang=en
I know someone out there wants to know if this can be done in Windows XP.
Here's how http://support.microsoft.com/kb/303891
For those of you that want to try the ISOburn tool you can find it here.
http://isoburn.sourceforge.net/
I have 2 daughters and I really want them to fall in love with the outdoors. If you want a girl to like fishing you have to accessorize. The classic tool has been the Barbie fishing rod. There is a magic that Barbie rods have that you can't get with any other fishing rod. Barbie catches fish when nothing else will. I have decades of experience with this. It is the standing joke with the guys I fish with. We all have a Barbie rod (although you really cant use it unless you are fishing with kids, unless you really want to get laughed at.)
Well now Barbie's secret is out of the bag. David Hayes has caught the state record catfish in North Carolina. Read the full story here.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26335667/?gt1=43001
Now when you look at this picture you have to think about what really happened. He's fishing in the backyard with the Barbie rod (where no one can see him) he gets this monster fish on. Lands it and then has to figure out how he can get this record listed on a Barbie rod. Lucky for David he had his grand-daughter around and got her to hold the Barbie rod while he held the fish. I wonder whose name will be on the record? In either case there is one name who will be there for certain "Barbie"
I read MSN money every day. When I saw the headline I had to read the article. I would highly recommend it. If for no other reason than the chance to see an outside take on all of the available sources of TV/Movies online. It's a great article. Clear concise and loaded with good links to good content.
Kill the cable box: Get free TV - MSN Money
I'm the newest member on Hulu.com thanks to the article. More on that later.
I love free stuff! Especially if the free stuff has real value. How does 24 hours of free training on Exchange 2007 delivered by one of the worlds leading experts on the subject sound. Harold Wong originally delivered these as a series of web casts and has now made them available for download. You can find the links in his blog here. Harold is a good friend of mine and does a great job of walking you through Exchange from beginning level stuff to really advanced detail. If you are interested in Exchange, or if you administrate an exchange server this series will prove to be incredibly valuable. There are some other great interviews on Harold's blog with some of the Exchange product group that are definitely worth viewing.
Thanks Harold for making the series available for download, I especially love the price!
The world of print media is about to change. In fact the change will move from print to media. The cool thing about the change is that it will literally occur on the paper. Well, in the paper to be more precise. EInk Corporation who manufactures and produces EPD's worked with Esquire magazine to build a cover for their magazine that will scroll text and headlines across the front cover of the October 2008 issue. The cover will be in black and white, however the technology is almost there to do the same in color. I know there are some of you out there thinking "Hmmm... I wonder if they could make the pictures in Harry Potter." NPR did an interview with Russell Wilcox, CEO of E-Ink and asked the questions you all want to know the answers too. Listen to the interview and contemplate the possibilities.
NPR Interview With Russell Wilcox
Deep down inside us all is a little bit of rock star. Some try to keep that part hidden while others choose to let it out. When you are all alone in the house and your favorite song comes on the stereo you just kind of have to sing along. I personally have been known to play drum solos with coat hangers, air guitar, and of course sing to my thumb as though it were a stage microphone.
Karaoke represents the next step in releasing your inner rock star, but for me that is a little too public. I have been to Karaoke night with Chris Avis and Kevin Remde. They have practiced, and it shows. I need a little more time in the privacy of my own home before I am ready for the big stage.
On November 11,2008 Lips will be released for Xbox 360. Lips is a Karaoke style game but with everything you really wish a karaoke game could do. there are 2 wireless microphones. The tracks come from the included list or your own DRM free music. Plug in your Zune (or IPod if you are so inclined) and sing to your own favorites. The software is smart enough to adjust the voice track in the song to accommodate your singing voice. If you stop singing the real artists voice will simply return. I always seem to sound better if the real artist is backing me up with the actual vocals and Lips is designed to allow me to adjust the artists vocals to meet my own artistic needs. Overall this looks like a really fun game. I cant wait to play it.
Release your inner rock star.
I went to a neighborhood picnic this week. After a delicious T-bone steak and some home made chocolate ice cream I had some time to talk with a friend that I have know for a number of years. Brian works in IT and manages a fairly sizeable piece of an enormous network. He asked about the printer operators group and more specifically how to modify the default permissions given to that group. He wants to be able to give the members of the printer operators group the right to add printers locally to a Windows Server 2003 Server. He is running a network that is based in Windows Server 2003 servers and wanted to know what will happen with printers in Windows Server 2008.
I told him the basics of how to do what he wanted and then told him I would post the full details here on my blog.
How do I give Printer Operators the permissions to add printers to a local print server?
KB Article 940724 presents the solution.
There were some changes made to the default rights and permissions given to the printer operators group in Windows Server 2003 and one of them is that they cannot install printers on a local server. Do not despair. It is not hard to assign those permissions. It is just a little work with some policy.
1.In the domain, create a domain global group for users who manage printers.
2.Add the users who manage printers to the domain global group.
3.Add the domain global group to the domain local Print Operators group and to the local Power Users group.
4.Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc, and then click OK.
5.Expand Computer Configuration, and then expand Windows Settings.
6.Expand Security Settings, and then expand Local Policies.
7.Click User Rights Assignment, and then double-click Load and unload device drivers.
8.Click Add User or Group, type Print Operators in the Enter the object names to select box, and then click Check Names to resolve the Print Operators group name.
9.Click OK two times.
10.Expand Computer Configuration, and then expand Windows Settings.
11.Expand Security Settings, and then expand Local Policies.
12.Click Security Options, and then double-click Devices: Prevent users from installing printer drivers.
13.Click Disabled, and then click OK.
14.On the File menu, click Exit.
What happens to printer management in Windows Server 2008?
Oddly enough most of what we see in changes to printer management in Windows Server 2008 actually occurred in the release of Windows Server R2. There is a tool called the Print Management Console that really simplifies the management and maintenance of your network printers. Second when you start using Windows Server 2008 you will actually need to install the print services role using Server Manager. I would recommend a blog post done back in February by the performance experts at TechNet as the treatise on this subject. Spend some time and enjoy the reading.
AskPerf Blog Post
Brian, thanks for the questions on Printer Management.
At a few minutes after 5 PM the big brown UPS truck pulled up in front of our house. We had been watching the tracking number and knew it was coming today. I called to the kids and told them that there was a UPS truck out front. They all ran to the front door and opened it. They were literally cheering! "Our XBOX is back." Our UPS man walked half way up our front walk and then he stopped. He looked at the box and then back at the kids.
"This box has some shipping damage. I'm going to have to take it back." All of our faces dropped.
"Just kidding!"
My kids did not think this was funny.
We brought it inside and unpacked it with the excitement of the return of a long lost friend. We put it through the tests and everything works.
I have to say that all in all the XBOX team deserves some serious respect. They handled my issue with complete class. From start to finish they did it right. No cost. No fuss. No problem. I purposely did not tell them I was an employee of Microsoft to make sure I received no special treatment. They were able to ship me a box, fix the XBOX, and get it back to me in just 3 weeks. Impressive! Hopefully if any of you have similar failures you also have a world class customer service experience like I had. I will fill out the evaluation and give them great marks. Great Job!!
On to some great gaming!
I think we all realize that there's much more to the world we live in than just the nice day to day activities we all engage in. There is another part, that it is ugly and illegitimate. Most of us pretend that the ugly parts simply don't exist because they make us feel uncomfortable with our day to day lives. Perhaps if we ignore it, it will simply go away. We sell ourselves on the false pretense that we are the ones who define our reality by the things we choose to believe. This is just not true. Right and wrong, good and evil, they exist independent of our opinions. Today a set of indictments was handed down and made public against an international cartel that is alleged to have stolen tens of millions of credit card numbers. They did it with sophisticated hacking techniques. They organized themselves and designed their process carefully. Apparently they got away with it for a while. Now they will stand trial for their actions and the penalties are severe.
Read the whole story here.
Hollywood has glorified the underworld in countless TV episodes. We all watch because of the element of truth that is painfully present. It is much more than conspiracy theory. Fear and uncertainty are powerful motivators. Somehow if we can watch it on Television it takes away the reality. So today we have to face a painful truth. There are real bad guys out there. They are trying (and succeeding) to commit real crimes. They would love nothing more than for you and I to ignore them. Please Don't.
