Recently in Windows Category

Interesting explanation of the free tools you can use to image your windows instance and run it in a virtual machine...

Convert Physical Windows Systems Into Virtual Machines To Be Run On A Linux Desktop | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials

This article shows how you can convert a physical Windows system (XP, 2003, 2000, NT4 SP4 ) into a VMware virtual machine with the free VMware Converter Starter. The resulting virtual machine can be run in the free VMware Player and VMware Server, and also in VMware Workstation and other VMware products.

Microsoft's reliance on a revenue stream tied predominantly to version releases for a infusion of cash has tied their hands in the the emergent marketplace typified by open source, most obviously contrasted with OSS Release Early, Release Often motto.

Cringely annouces the doom, and possible way to save Microsoft.

I know that with a stock flatlining like MSFT has been, it's either a time to buy in, or a time to look elsewhere for investors.

PBS | I, Cringely . June 15, 2006 - Taking One for the Team

Microsoft has spent five years and $5 billion NOT shipping Windows Vista. This reflects a company deliberately built in the image of its founder, Bill Gates -- a single-tasking, technically obsolete executive with no checks or balances whatsoever who fills the back seat of his car with fast food wrappers. So Bill has to go, because as an icon, he's great, but as a manager, he sucks.

Incredibly indepth review of the many failings and ommisions in the forthcoming VIsta release from Microsoft. I'd have to say that the only think I was looking forward to was the WinFS... Which is either delayed or possbily to be canceled.

Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows: Windows Vista February 2006 CTP (Build 5308/5342) Review, Part 5: Where Vista Fails

I don't hate Windows Vista, and I certainly don't hate Microsoft for disappointing me and countless other customers with a product that doesn't even come close to meeting its original promises. I'm sure the company learned something from this debacle, and hopefully it will be more open and honest about what it can and cannot do in the future. But you'd have to be special kind of stupid to look at Windows Vista and see it as the be-all, end-all of operating systems. It some ways, Windows Vista actually will exceed Mac OS X and Linux, but not to the depth we were promised. Instead, Windows Vista will do what so many other Windows releases have done, and simply offer consumers and business users a few major changes and many subtle or minor updates. That's not horrible. It's just not what was promised. Because it failed so obviously with Vista, my guess is that Microsoft is a bit gun shy about major OS releases and will be for some time. And that's too bad. Windows Vista was Microsoft's first chance since Windows 95 to reach for the golden ring. It may be another decade before they try again.

C:\> Instsrv.exe srvany c:\windows\system32\srvany.exe
C:\> regedt32

navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\srvany

Create a New Key: Parameters
Under this create New string values:
"Application"="C:\\system32\\notepad.exe"
"AppDirectory"="C:\\"
"AppParameters"="C:\\test.txt"

back at your prompt type:
C:\> compmgmt.msc

Click:
Services and Applications -- Services

get the properties on srvany

Click the Log On tab

check the box:
Allow Service to interact with the desktop

Microsoft Windows Officially Broken
Heartening to hear they are fixing some of the core problems with their development process.

Windows was broken and Microsoft has admitted it. In an unprecedented attempt to explain its Longhorn problems and how it abandoned its traditional way of working, the normally secretive software giant has given unparalleled access to The Wall Street Journal, even revealing how Vice President Jim Allchin, personally broke the bad news to Bill Gates.

Well in case you hadn't noticed there is another vulnerability in windows... This one is notable because unless you paid for a "NT4 Custom Support Agreement" after the support for NT
4 ended last June for workstation or December for server, your sort of out of luck. What a wonderful way to incentivize customers into upgrading. No support, no patch, No Windows! oops did I say that? Keep this track record in mind as you deploy systems for the next decade.

eEye Digital Security - Vulnerability Management Solutions

eEye Digital Security has discovered a vulnerability in Windows SMB client's handling of SMB responses. An attacker who can cause an affected system to connect to the SMB service on a malicious host may exploit this vulnerability in order to execute code on the victim's machine.

eEye Digital Security Alerts Enterprises of Microsoft NT 4.0 Vulnerability

Given NT 4.0's enormous installed base, the majority of which are running critical applications, we believe enterprises should evaluate alternatives to patching as soon as possible," stated Firas Raouf, eEye's chief operating officer. "Financial services systems, medical devices and self-serve airline check-in counters are just some of the examples of the types of systems that have been vulnerable over the last few days. eEye's Blink endpoint security software already protects our existing customers and provides enterprises with a viable alternative to expensive support contracts.

RedHanded » Don Box Cries Ruby For Influentials
wow... Ruby is moving into the mainstream.

Don Box is paraphrased as: if he could change on thing at MSFT, it would be that Ruby becomes the language of choice.

Description of the Internet Explorer Repair Tool

So if you try to remove IE it has the option to repair itself. hmmmm

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. For Internet Explorer 5.5 SP2 and earlier, in the Open box, type the following command (the command is case sensitive), and then click OK:

rundll32 setupwbv.dll,IE5Maintenance "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Setup\SETUP.EXE" /g "C:\WINDOWS\IE Uninstall Log.Txt"
For Internet Explorer 6, please use the following command:
rundll32 setupwbv.dll,IE6Maintenance "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\Setup\SETUP.EXE" /g "C:\WINDOWS\IE Uninstall Log.Txt"

OpenChange Project Homepage

Missing key, with Exchange server functionallity SOHO has no excuse not to use *nix...

Openchange intends to provide an Open-Source implementation of Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 under Unix Platforms. The Openchange Project is developed in C language under the BSD license, and will primary work on NetBSD, OpenBSD, FreeBSD and Linux platforms. The project time line has been defined to approximatively one year, and we believe the project will be in a complete stable state at this time. Openchange wishes to integrate the enterprise working environment and to substitute to an Exchange Server in a transparent way, so final users may continue to use Outlook, or any other mail client.

The UltraTech® Knowledgebase Viewer
I have over the years referred to this site innumerable times. Andrew is in my personal opinion one of the most knowledgeable Windows and NT experienced System Administrators I've ever read on line. His cogent replies on mailing lists and ability to provide concise to the point documentation is a resource on the Internet that should be noted. I loose track of it every now and then but then I'll have a problem that the search engines or Microsoft's documentation does not cover. It's times like those that knowing Andrew has cataloged all this info in one place that makes me thankful. If you work with the Windows OS take a look at his site, you'll be happy you did.

• INFORMATION RESOURCES
• DOCUMENTATION, STANDARDS & POLICIES
• DIAGNOSTICS & TROUBLESHOOTING
• TOOLS & UTILITIES
• NETWORKING & SECURITY
• SETUP, INSTALLATIONS & SOFTWARE
• HARDWARE & CONFIGURATION
• DISK MANAGEMENT
• SCRIPTING & AUTOMATION
• SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
• SCALABILITY & RECOVERY
• TUNING & OPTIMIZATION
• TRAINING & EMPLOYMENT

Free Undelete Utility Recovers Deleted Files, Unerases Lost Data

FreeUndelete is a freeware data recovery program for deleted files on the Windows platform. In case of accidental deletion of files on a NTFS file system (used by default in Windows XP, 2000 and NT) FreeUndelete is the utility to help.

Microsoft Office: MS PhotoDraw has generated errors
This is an example of a OK piece of software being crippled through neglect! Microsoft's Service Pack 4 for Windows 2000 Professional breaks PhotoDraw so it won't load. The work around includes enabling compatibility mode and changing the shortcut to use Windows 98 as the the mode for PhotoDraw.

Pain in the neck! Good info on activating this feature in the extended entry or follow the link.