• Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 - HOT ISSUES LIST Nov 2009

    A series Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 issues have been reported to Microsoft customer support. From these issues, we figured out several hot issues and authored Knowledge base articles to explain the solutions.

     

    To identify and troubleshoot these issues, you can find more information from the KB articles:

    ·         975787  Adjust User Account Control settings in Windows 7

    ·         976832  Error message when you insert a smart card in a reader on a Windows 7-based or Windows Server 2008 R2-based computer: "Device driver software was not successfully installed"

    ·         975784  Enable the Quick Launch bar in Windows 7

    ·         975785  Customize the notification area in Windows 7

    ·         975786  Customize the notification area in Windows 7

    ·         975788  Turn off the secure desktop in Windows 7

    ·         976034  Get a detailed Power Efficiency Diagnostics Report for your computer in Windows 7

    ·         976170 Troubleshoot Aero problems in Windows 7

    ·         976877  Troubleshoot Aero problems in Windows 7

    ·         976736  How to install Windows PowerShell on a computer that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 Core           

    ·         2006291 Error message When You Bring up the Server Manager Console and click on Add / View Roles: "0x800B0100"

    ·         977510  Authentication fails when an external client tries to log on by using a read-only domain controller in a perimeter network

     

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  • Outlook 2010 - HOWTO Set up Multiple EXCHANGE profiles from a single account

    A new and currently not widely known capability in Outlook 2010 is the ability to sync with multiple Exchange Servers.

    To do this, simply close down Outlook and configure the required profiles using the Control Panel > Mail applet.

    This is useful for a number of scenarios - testing,  when you maintain a mailbox in more than one organization, a connection to an SBS server at home or even with BPOS.

    Hope this helps :)

  • Office 2010 Beta has launched - get it HERE!!

    The public beta has launched and now YOU can finally get hold of Office 2010. You can download it from HERE and try out some of the great new features such as:

    ·         Conversation threading in Outlook

    ·         Improved rules management in InfoPath

    ·         The ribbon UI in SharePoint

    ·         InfoPath “quick” publish functionality

    ·         The Business Connectivity Services for SharePoint (a much improved version of the BDC)

    ·         The new SharePoint Workspace

    ·         Tighter integration between SharePoint and Office (including InfoPath list editing)

    ·         New InfoPath controls

    ·         Slicers in Excel

    ·         The Office “backstage” tab

    I’m really excited about some of the major improvements in Outlook 2010!  - The intergrated IM is great, and the online archive is also a step in the right direction.

  • Need a FREE world class Antivirus engine for your home PCs?? Get the FREE DOWNLOAD HERE!!

    Microsoft has launched Microsoft Security Essentials…

    Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

    Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

    Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

    Official site: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials

    http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/archive/2009/09/29/introducing-microsoft-security-essentials.aspx

    MSE-Banner

    Security Essentials engine and updates are backed up by the Microsoft Malware Protection Centre (MMPC) which provides world class antimalware research and response capabilities that support Microsoft’s range of security products and services. With laboratories in multiple locations around the globe including Melbourne – Australia, Redmond - USA, Dublin - Ireland, with additional researchers in Japan, California, New York and other locations the MMPC is able to respond quickly and effectively to new malicious and potentially unwanted software threats wherever and whenever they arise.
    Learn more about the Microsoft Malware Protection Centre (MMPC)

    Microsoft security products

    Get and stay protected with Microsoft security products

    Enterprise protection

      Forefront
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    Learn more about Microsoft Security Essentials

  • Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 released!!

    Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 development is now finished, and its released - the 120 day evaluation version is available for download
     
    There are some really exciting new features including EMP (Enterprise Malware Protection), URLF (URL Filtering), HTTPSi (HTTPS Inspection), NIS (Network Inspection System), ISPR (ISP Redundancy), ENAT (Enhanced NAT), EMS (Enterprise Management Server) and Stirling connectivity.

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    Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 allows employees to safely and productively use the Internet without worrying about malware and other threats. It provides multiple protection capabilities including URL filtering, antimalware inspection, intrusion prevention, application- and network-layer firewall, and HTTP/HTTPS inspection – that are integrated into a unified, easy to manage gateway, reducing the cost and complexity of Web security.

    When the non-timebombed version is released shortly, you will be able to export your TMG evaluation configuration and reinstall on the non-evaluation code by:

     

    1. Export (back up) the config (including secrets)

    2. Remove TMG evaluation

    3. Install TMG non-evaluation

    4. Import (restore) the config

    More info from the announcement on the Forefront TMG (ISA Server) Product Team Blog:

    Forefront Threat Management Gateway 2010 Release

    It is our pleasure to announce that Forefront Threat Management Gateway (TMG) 2010 was released to manufacturing yesterday (Nov 16th, 2009) after completing 3 Beta releases and receiving extensive customer feedback. The trial version is available for download today, and the product will be widely available for purchase soon.

    We encourage you to download the new release and evaluate it in your environment. Forefront TMG provides an unparalleled value to the network security marketplace by integrating multiple web security technologies into a single, comprehensive solution. Forefront TMG is also all about “the basics” to ensure that besides the breadth of new features, Forefront TMG also provides the best infrastructure to run those features: reliability, scalability, performance and security. I would also like to take this opportunity and personally thank the very active user community in providing feedback throughout the cycle. Your support in downloading, deploying early versions and providing feedback was essential for us in the process of creating this product. We have incorporated significant parts of this feedback into the product, which is important in the process of making a great product.

    In the following sections I will list some of the new functionality that we have added into TMG and will cover some of our infrastructure investments.

    Secure Web Gateway
    Forefront TMG is a Secure Web Gateway (SWG) that improves security enforcement by integrating multiple detection technologies such as URL filtering, Anti Malware, and intrusion prevention into a single, easy-to-manage solution. We have seen a lot of interest in the features that comprise this solution, so here is some information on what they do and how:

    URL Filtering: URL Filtering allows controlling end-user access to Web sites, protecting the organization by denying access to known malicious sites and to sites displaying inappropriate or nonproductive materials, based on URL categories. TMG features over 80 URL categories including security-oriented categories, productivity-oriented and liability-oriented categories. Forefront TMG uses Microsoft Reputation Services (MRS), a cloud-based categorization system hosted in Microsoft data center. To ensure the best bandwidth utilization and low latency, Forefront TMG has implemented a local URL cache. There is a lot more on URL Filtering available in an earlier URL Filtering post.

    Anti Malware: Stopping malware on the edge significantly decreases the possibility that a virus will hit a computer with anti-virus signatures that are not up-to-date or a test computer without an anti-virus to protect it. TMG has integrated the Microsoft Anti Malware engine to provide world class scanning and blocking capability on the edge.

    Network Inspection System (NIS): NIS is a generic application protocol decode-based traffic inspection system that uses signatures of known vulnerabilities, to detect and potentially block attacks on network resources. NIS provides comprehensive protection for Microsoft network vulnerabilities, researched and developed by the Microsoft Malware Protection Center - NIS Response Team, as well as an operational signature distribution channel which enables dynamic signature snapshot distribution. NIS closes the vulnerability window between vulnerability disclosures and patch deployment from weeks to few hours.

    In addition, we have introduced HTTPS scanning to enable inspection of encrypted sessions, eased the deployment and management with a set of easy to use wizards and significantly improved logging and reporting to provide full visibility into how your organization is accessing the web and whether it’s compliant with your organization’s policy.

    VPN, Firewall, Email Protection and Infrastructure.
    We have also made significant investments to ensure that we keep delivering top notch VPN and Firewall functionality. We made quality improvements in Web Caching and made sure it works well with the new Windows 7 BranchCache feature. We have added several new features, among them: Email Protection, ISP redundancy, NAP integration with VPN role, SSTP, VoIP traversal (SIP support), Enhanced NAT, SQL logging and Updated TMG Client (previously known as the Firewall Client). In addition TMG was built as a native 64bit product that supports Windows Server 2008 R2, and Windows Server 2008 SP2, allowing better scalability and increased reliability.

    These improvements are in direct response to your requests and protection needs. We firmly believe that listening to your voice makes our product better! We are looking forward to hearing what you think about TMG 2010 as you test and deploy in your own environment. So go ahead and download it today to try it out!