eXtreme. tech. : Windows

XP-Mode vs App-V vs Med-V vs VDI

David Tesar — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 02:32:00 GMT

There are so many virtualization options available from Microsoft, which one do you use when? We cleared this up in a short interview and addressed how these options might help you remediate your legacy applications over to Windows 7. Also, we just launched the XP to Windows 7 Migration process guide with the announcement of Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 RTM yesterday which will further clarify these options and give you links to deeper resources on each subject.

Visit the original post on TechNet Edge which has links to the other 4 videos in the series

ADMX policy missing or blank - bug

David Tesar — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 02:48:00 GMT

When you create a policy with a custom ADMX template which uses a registry key outside of the standard 4 recommended locations (below) and open up your group policy editor using gpedit.msc, the policy will not be listed and you will get no error. The workaround is to use the group policy editor which comes with the group policy management console (i.e. right click on a policy in the GPMC.msc and choose edit). This one wasted a bunch of my time wasted, so hopefully you don’t have to go through the same.

Recommended Group policy locations:

HKLM\Software\Policies (computer settings, the preferred location)

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies (computer settings, an alternative location)

HKCU\Software\Policies (user settings, the preferred location)

HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies (user settings, an alternative location)

One other note - this bug appears to have already been fixed in Win7 & Server 2008 R2.

Server 2008 / Vista SP2 CPP released

David Tesar — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:39:00 GMT

Today Windows Server 2008 and Vista released Service Pack 2 (pre-RTM) through the Customer Preview Program (CPP). MSDN and TechNet subscribers can download the SP2 CPP now, everyone else will have access this Thursday 12/14.

What’s pretty interesting is for the first time the same single service pack files can be deployed across the server (Server 2008) and the client (Vista SP1). Will this capability add any value in your organization or is it only a “that’s neat” type of response?

My colleague, Joey Snow, wrote up a good summary of what’s included with it and links to resources – which you can view his blog post on Edge.

OR go straight to download and evaluate the Vista SP2 / Server 2008 CPP beta bits

Windows Server 2008 R2 features

David Tesar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:24:00 GMT

Microsoft disclosed Windows Server 2008 R2 today at PDC for the 1st time today. Here is a short summary of some of the new cool features in 2008 R2:

Virtualization

R2 Hyper-V - client virtualization when used with Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI), improved management via PowerShell 2.0 cmdlets, enhanced admin console, and integration with SCVMM
Live Migration – No downtime to migrate VHDs between Hyper-V servers
Presentation virtualization - remote apps look exactly the same as running locally, web page login for RAD (RemoteApp and Desktop), RAD control panel to connect to multiple machines

Windows 7 & Windows Server 2008 R2 better together

Direct Access – no longer will you have to use VPNs, a seamless experience when transitioning between intranet and internet
Improved RAD (RemoteApp and Desktop) experience – original high-quality audio redirection, multi-mon, video synced, and audio input recording
Branch Office - BranchCache™ server significantly reduces bandwidth by caching frequently used content
Bitlocker on removable drives – keep the data on your USB flash or eSata drives secure

Management

PowerShell 2.0 – easily remotely run scripts on multiple machines
More options for power management – Automatically and dynamically reduce the number of processor cores used (Core Parking) and/or their processor speed / power consumption
AD updates – easily recover deleted objects, easier to perform common tasks
Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) - built-in for each server role to help ensure proper & optimal configuration

Web

Full .NET support on Server Core
Easier administration – manage your SQL databases within IIS, integrated powershell task automation, built-in configuration editor
FTP enhancements – FTP over SSL support, IPv6, virtual FTP sites

Scalability & Reliability

64 physical Core Support – and 256 logical cores support for a single OS instance
DNSSEC – verify authenticity of a response from DNS

View the Windows Server 2008 R2 homepage at: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008r2
Download Windows Server 2008 R2 reviewers guide (Beta) for granular details on the changes.

Mark Russinovich : the future of Windows, security, sysinternals

David Tesar — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:39:51 GMT

I had the chance to interview Mark about the future.. One thing he answers is - do you think we should or need to just scrap the windows code base and start over? A breakdown of everything which was covered can be found on Edge.

Interview with Mark Russinovich: the future of Sysinternals, Security, Windows