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31 March 2005
Windows Server TechNet major update
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So many announcements in one day. To coincide with the launch of Windows Server 2003 SP1, the Windows Server 2003 TechCenter (TechCentre when spelt correctly) has been significantly revamped to include all the latest information. If you haven't seen this site before, I urge you to take a look. Essentially this is a core library of technical documentation for IT Pros.
As of today, three language versions are available:
- English: www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/default.mspx
- German: www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/de/default.mspx
- Japanese: www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/ja/default.mspx
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30 March 2005
Windows Server 2003 x64 and Windows XP Professional x64 go RTM
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In addition to the SP1 release of Windows Server 2003 the x64 versions of Windows Server 2003 and XP Professional have been released to manufacturing. These release are for processors including the AMD Opteron and Athlon 64, and the Intel Xeon and Pentium 4 processors with EM64T (Extended Memory 64 Technology).
For more information, see the x64 home page at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/64bit/x64/default.mspx
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30 March 2005
Small Business Server (SBS) 2003 SP1 availability
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In line with the announcements for Service Pack 1 for Windows Server 2003 today, another important announcement was made regarding SP1 for Small Business Server 2003. SP1 for SBS2003 will be available approximately 60 days from today, and will include a rollup of the latest service packs and updates for SBS 2003 and its product components.
Some of the updates will include
- Windows Server 2003 SP1
- Sharepoint Services SP1
- Exchange Server 2003 SP1
- Outlook 2003 security fixes and junk email filters
- SQL Server 2003 SP4
The home page for SBS 2003 is here
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30 March 2005
My blog has moved - please update your links
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Some of you may have noticed recent changes to the blogs.msdn.com site. In case some of you are subscribing to http://blogs.msdn.com/jhoward to read my blog, or are linking to the blogs.msdn.com/jhoward site, please can you update them to point to http://blogs.technet.com/jhoward instead. Thanks!
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30 March 2005
Windows Server 2003 SP1 for x86 and Itanium is now available
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Just released to the web is the a significant release for the Windows Server 2003 platform in the shape of Service Pack 1 for x86 and Itanium. SP1 adds many new features and enhancements primarily in the area of security. If you haven't had a chance to play with the release candidates in a lab environment yes, here's some of the really great features
- The PSSU (Post Security Setup Updates) on clean builds and NT4 upgrades ensures that servers are secured from network vulnerabilities by being secured with the latest security patches at the time of initial installation.
- The SCW (Security Configuration Wizard) configures server security based upon existing server roles. It uses XML based templates to close un-necessarily open ports and services - akin to boarding up open doors. Being XML based, you can "roll your own" if servers have additional specific roles within your environment.
- The Windows Firewall builds on the Internet Connection Firewall and is now present in the server platform. Of course, it can configured through group policy which is a great advantage.
There's several other changes which increase security such as IIS 6 Metabase audition, and the addition of Network Access Quarantine Control components out of the box to isolate out-of-date VPN assets.
Of course, for those of you like me who run Windows Server 2003 on your primary "workstation", having Windows Media Player 10 is also a great bonus...
Links
The home page for SP1 on Microsoft.com is here
SP1 x86: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=22CFC239-337C-4D81-8354-72593B1C1F43
SP1 Checked Build x86: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F07A5E49-4A13-42CB-898B-278A8B287E16
SP1 Itanium: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=890C5C44-815C-45BD-8B08-4FE901BB8FDF
SP1 Checked Build Itanium: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=C45F733E-A206-432A-87E2-65A08276FB43
In addition, if you have any questions about SP1, I'll be doing a webcast on 10th May at 14:30 GMT. You can register for this event at https://msevents-eu.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?culture=en-GB&eventid=118758410.
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30 March 2005
Server Performance Advisor (SPA) - Provide your feedback
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Following my blog entry a few days ago about Server Performance Advisor , I've just been made aware of a survey which the product team are running. If you are a current user of SPA and would like to make your voice heard as to how you use the product, Read More...
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23 March 2005
Good news for popular people on MSN Messenger
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I saw several threads on the Internet earlier this month regarding a change that increases the limits for the the number of contacts which can be present in your MSN Messenger contact list. The change is now official - a couple of days ago, the limit Read More...
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23 March 2005
Server Performance Advisor - the Performance Diagnostic tool for Active Directory and IIS
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Following a recent Technet session, I was asked where you can download adpref.exe (an Active Directory Performance tool) from. Confession - I didn't know the answer and no amount of searching turned over any stones. It turns out that adperf was an internal Read More...
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23 March 2005
Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) Release Candidate is now available
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Someone made a more appropriate choice of name (thankfully!) given some of the alternatives which have been on the table over the past few months. The next version of SUS (Software Update Services) will be officially called Windows Server Update Services Read More...
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22 March 2005
Account Lockout Tools for Active Directory
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I should have posted this previously, so apologies to those who attended my recent session on AD Troubleshooting, Diagnostics and Recovery. Relating to the demonstration for registering and using the AcctInfo.dll to add a new tab to the Active Directory Read More...
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18 March 2005
MIIS Alliance formed
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A great day for identity management and the MIIS product ! The reason - five leading companies, NetPro, Oblix, Oxford Computer Group, PointBridge and Vintela recently announced the formation of the " MIIS Alliance " - a consortium of industry-leading Read More...
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18 March 2005
Post domain migration - removing sidHistory
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After a successful domain migration, you may be in a situation where it is necessary to remove the sidHistory attributes from objects in your new domain. There are many ways to do this, and many migration tools provide that capability straight out of Read More...
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15 March 2005
Managing your windows websites and web services
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If part of your job entails monitoring and management of Windows Websites and Web Services hosted on Windows Servers and are using MOM to manage that environment, take a look at the latest version of the free management pack download "Microsoft Web Sites Read More...
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14 March 2005
Application Compatibility Toolkit 4.0 (ACT) released for download
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The latest version of the ACT was released at the end of last week for free download. Overview The Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 4.0 for Windows XP, including Service Pack 2, and Windows Server 2003 contains the tools and documentation Read More...
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14 March 2005
limitlogon - new download to stop concurrent active directory logons.
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My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets this morning. I was discussing this very problem with some colleagues only a couple of weeks ago and pretty much concluded that this is a very difficult problem to solve easily . Low and behold though, into my Read More...
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14 March 2005
Media Centre (MCE 2005) changing 4:3 to 16:9 aspect ratio and zoom mode patch
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Having bought a 17" widescreen media centre PC at christmas, I was struggling to work out why the screen had reverted back to 4:3 aspect ratio and how to change it back. This was a tough nut to crack with neither the MCE help, intuition or the Internet Read More...
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11 March 2005
Active Directory diagnostic event logging in Windows Server
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I mentioned at last nights "Active Directory Diagnosis Troubleshooting and Recovery" Technet session how to turn NTDS diagnostic logging on which causes the KCC to write events to the event log. All the information plus more besides is published in Knowledgebase Read More...
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11 March 2005
Active Directory Database monitoring using ESENTPRF.DLL
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One of the demonstrations at last nights "Active Directory Diagnosis, Troubleshooting and Recovery" Technet session included the steps to install esentprf.dll to allow monitoring of performance counters for the extensible storage engine (ESE) database Read More...
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09 March 2005
Extending the Active Directory schema
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There are occasions when you need to extend the Active Directory schema for applications. Besides the best practice of test, test and test again, and the alternative of using ADAM ( Active Directory in Application Mode ) to avoid changes to your corporate Read More...
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09 March 2005
Remote access solution deployed at Microsoft
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A webcast coming up on 29th March at 9AM PST (5PM GMT) caught my eye as remote access is something I quite often get asked about, and also recently setup for my home network (although probably not as securely as the Microsoft internal solution). Being Read More...
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01 March 2005
Common mistakes when upgrading domains from Windows 2000 to Windows Server 2003
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In my line of work, I talk to lots of people about the "hows" of upgrading to the latest and greatest technology. Consequently, I've referred many people to the link below which is a great source of tips and links to other information worth considering Read More...
