Microsoft have released a beta of Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP that is suitable for computers in shared access such as libraries etc. It has features such as resetting the boot partition back to the administrator saved configuration each time the machine is rebooted (unless the administrator specifies that changes should be saved), Windows restrictions, policies etc. Looks like it could be handy (although I’d need another machine to try this out on). The local library had a copy of limewire installed on their desktop machine the other day that managed to persist after a reboot. Seeing as though this machine is *meant* to be locked down I’d like to know how that managed to get installed on the machine.
Not sure how long this has been out, but after reinstalling (for the 3rd attempt) visual studio 2005 it prompted me to use windows update. However, on this site was an advert for Microsoft update which includes office, windows and more. (looks like the more includes beta software but that needs to be enabled under the change settings option)
All this seemed to do is download a new activex component, add an icon to my start menu and then take me back to a page called Microsoft update page – exceedingly similar to windows update in look and feel.
I’ve not seen this posted anywhere (but could have missed it) but it looks like this is the client that would go with the WSUS server
Microsoft have extended the 2nd chance scheme to retake an mcp exam if you fail as long as you take the exam before the end of august. Sounds good and I’ll probably take advantage of at least one of these. I only spotted their initial offering 3 days before the end of the first scheme so didn’t have time to take an exam (not that I’m intending to fail but it is nice to have that safety net)
Only now, after I’ve finished all my migrations, have I discovered the Windows User State Migration Tool (USMT) which looks like a scriptable version of the Files And Settings Transfer wizard. This tool might have saved me some time instead of having to do it all by hand.
Microsoft released a new version of their Windows AntiSpyware (Beta) for download. What is weird is that the existing beta software had an update routine in it, but when you ran it, it did not detect a new version. Apparently the changes are to do with extra real time protection agents, new threat categories and improved stability and performance (although I never had any performance problems with it).
January technet arrived today which I am excited about. If you subscribe to the plus version, which was a free upgrade when I renewed my subscription, you get copies of the latest Microsoft software with the time limits removed so I can now have VirtualPC, Windows2003, SQL Server etc running with no time limits. This will be a big boon in my attempt to get current in my certifications and the addition of VirtualPC means I do not have to have extra hardware lying around the office just for temporary machines. Sounds like a good excuse to upgrade the desktop machine to a nice fast,powerful, lots of disk to run all these virtual machines.
The latest version of technet is about to be shipped and the latest versions of the software no longer have time expiries which means you are not forced to hurry those exams through in less than 90 days, which is probably impossible if doing the whole of the MSCE course. Hopefully it comes with a version of Microsoft Virtual PC as that would be great to install the various pieces of software on one powerful machine for testing/rollback purposes and for also safely testing the reliability and effectiveness of their new AntiSpyware Software as per Mikes posting
I went to use WebMessenger today and was suprised to see that it asked me what status I wanted to be before I signed into the system. Handy for logging onto the system to see who is on and not letting everyone else you are online at the same time (although if everyone did this, the chat system would be very quiet. Microsoft have been pretty busy with their software updates this week with the MSN Messenger Beta released, hotmail changes, Spaces.msn.com – their blogging service whose homepage looks absolutely awful in firefox, and last but not least a critical update for windows, namely an IE patch for the latest vulnerability discovered a month ago.
Its taken me 2 hours to install MSDE and configure it correctly! I installed the server AFTER reading the readme first. I know this is unusual, but if you don’t read the readme the software won’t install as you have to include some parameters to setup.exe. I unfortunately made the mistake of just providing the SA password and enabling network access, but I didn’t allow windows AND sql authentication. As a result I couldn’t connect to the database from a remote machine. I got the “Not associated with a trusted SQL Server connection”. In order to fix this I had to use the full version of SQL server (you can use the trial version download on the internet) and install the client tools – the enterprise manager is the crucial bit, and then I was able to right click on the server, choose security and set it to both. At that point I was then able to connect – 2 hours after I started. It would have been a lot longer if I had to have downloaded the demonstration version of SQL though.
Microsoft issued a critical update for their bookman 7 font….yes thats right, a CRITICAl update. To me a critical update means a hacker can take over your computer, it will crash on reboot, bluescreen at random times….just like normal. Looking at the details of this patch, it is to replace unacceptable symbols – this is because it contains a swastika logo. Looks like the politically correct brigade have been on the war path again! There is no way this is critical – its a cosmetic patch.