Windows Server 2008 r2 free eBook
by Mats Hellman on 25.Oct, 2009 under Server 2008 r2, Windows
Microsoft press has released a free eBook on Windows server 2008 r2. Yes, free, free as in beer. It’s an introduction to Windows server 2008 in almost 200 pages. If you’re an IT Professional working in an Windows Server environment download the book and spend an evening reading. I’m sure you won’t regret it. All it cost’s is a click. You can download the book here.
Cisco ADSM and Windows Vista 64
by Mats Hellman on 24.Oct, 2009 under Cisco, Networking, Vista
I’m using Windows Vista 64-bit on my Windows desktop and launching Ciscos management software ADSM 6.0 I got an error saying
“ASDM is unable to continue loading. Click OK to exit from ASDM.
Unconnected sockets not implemented.”
ADSM was however launching on my Windows 7 64-bit laptop so I started looking for any other difference than the OS. ADSM is a Java application so starting there was only reasonable. I ran Java JRE 1.6 update 13 in the Vista machine and 1.6 update 7 in the Windows 7 laptop.
Downgrading the Java JRE to 1.6 update 7 solved the issue and ADSM is now launching without any problems. So if you’re having trouble getting the Cisco ADSM to launch, check and possibly downgrade your Java Runtime Environment.
First certification, finally a MCP
by Mats Hellman on 22.Oct, 2009 under Life, Microsoft Certification, Nixadmins.net, Windows
For those of you who have been reading my blog might have noticed a slight change in topics. Previously I worked a lot with Linux but these days most of my work is done in a Microsoft environment, this reflects on my articles since I write most my articles about things I find I need to document to remember or even things that get asked again and again in forums, like the TechNet Forums.
So working with Microsoft products and writing about Microsoft products and technologies made me realize I really need to get certified. Certification for me was a way to prove to myself I know my way around the Windows Server operating system and specifically the Active Directory (AD).
The goals for now are to get the Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Server Administrator and after that Enterprise Administrator.
The first exam done
Today I took my first exam, the Microsoft exam 083-640 or 70-640, and by doing so receiving my first certification. And now I’m awaiting my email about my MCP status. Next week I have the next test booked and during my learning and training process I’ve noticed I remember things a lot better by writing about them, so this blog will probably get updated more these weeks than it has ever been, so keep a look out for new articles you might be interested in.
Bye for now
This was all for today and as I said, keep a look out for articles you might want to read in the close future.
Using restricted groups in Active Directory
by Mats Hellman on 21.Oct, 2009 under Active Directory, Group Policy, Windows
Using restricted groups is something very simple and still for many very confusing. Using restricted groups you can delegate administration or other roles to certain groups without giving these groups administrative rights to your Active Directory.
As an example, let’s say you have a helpdesk working in your company. For them to work as efficiently as possible they might need to login as Administrators to a client computer to fix various problems. Sometimes (read most times) you don’t want your helpdesk having Domain level Administrative rights because they might, even unknowingly, mess something up in your production domain. To deal with this we use Restricted groups. Restricted groups are provided by Active Directory group policies, they provide us a way to centrally drop in certain Active directory groups to computers local groups, yes computer local groups. They don’t have to administrative groups, they might be anything from backup users to Power Users.
Windows 7 report after 4 months of use
by Mats Hellman on 18.Oct, 2009 under Windows, Windows 7
I’ve now been a Windows 7 user for little over 4 months. And I must say the ride has been a lot better than it was back in the days I tried using Windows Vista.
Primarily I’ve been using Windows 7 64-bit on my Lenovo X200s and I’m amazed how well it runs on this laptop. The Vista drivers from the Lenovo download site work well on the machine and everything, yes every piece of hardware has been working from day one. You can read about my previous experience from this post.
I’ve since updated from the Beta to RTM version and decided to do a full reinstall instead of upgrading.
Sleep and hibernate
One of the things that in earlier versions of Windows has always annoyed me was the poorly working Sleep and Hibernate functions. Sleep never worked really well before Windows 7 and Hibernate, well it worked but had it’s glitches.
Since I started running Windows 7 I seldom turn of my laptop. Sleep works so darn well and it’s blazing fast (almost as fast as OS X) to start up when you need it to. I really only do some reboots to force the laptop to talk with the company domain controllers.
Antivirus and malware
We use F-Secure in our company network and it really was unusable in Windows 7 back when I installed Windows 7 RTM. It slowed the Lenovo down to a point I just had to remove it. The laptop was more or less unusable when F-Secure Client 8.01 was installed. So I had to remove it, I can’t wait 2 minutes when login in or even longer when trying to access the corporate network using VPN, sometimes not connecting at all.
Microsoft Security Essentials to the rescue
Microsoft security essentials is the new security suite by Microsoft. It has the basic Virus and Spyware scanner. What I really like about this one is it’s 
light if you compare it to most other suites. It doesn’t take 70% of my memory or processing power to run. And that, to me anyway, is just as important as being protected. Why would I want to protect my computer if it makes it unusable, the point of the computer is to run software on it to make your life easier. If the reason to hardware upgrades is your antivirus suite is using all your resources the antivirus industry has really taken a step in the wrong direction somewhere along the way.
After installing Microsoft Security Essentials the first thing I notice is how light it is, I really don’t see an performance drop at all. It has a small memory footprint and it’s fast. We’ll see how well it protects users as soon as the first really bad worm hits the fan.
Virtualization in Windows 7
This has actually been the one thing I’ve had a bad experience in Windows 7 with. I’ve hear good things about the Virtual XP, but I have no use for it. What I do use is Windows Virtual PC for testing and learning. And I had to remove it from my system and install Virtual PC 2007 SP1 due to the fact Windows Virtual PC was really really slow. One problem might be I’m running it on a laptop, but the laptop does have 4 Gb RAM and support for hardware virtualization. So for now I’m sticking to Virtual PC 2007 SP1 because it works a lot faster and I can run more virtual machines in it than I could ever dream of doing in Windows Virtual PC.
Another thing I dislike in Windows Virtual PC is the way it is set up, I like to start my Virtual PC 2007 and be able to get the toolbar for settings and have at least some control over how the program works. And to my disappointment Microsoft has removed (or I just can’t find it) this feature from the new Windows Virtual PC.
Libraries
Here is something I like. Really like. The new libraries, I use them like crazy. It’s a really good thing I can spread out files where ever 
I see fit and still have them listed in Libraries. It’s also a fast way to access important data like documents, downloads, pictures or even movies. So it your not using these take a look at them try them and you will use them.
You can link basically any existing folder to your libraries and always have a fast access to that folder even if it’s stored somewhere else on the filesystem.
Conclusion
Is Windows 7 really worth the upgrade money. I’d say yes and no. If you are running Vista and you’re happy with it I se no reason to upgrade. On the other hand, if you have as many problems with Vista I’ve had Windows 7 isn’t a bad upgrade.
If you’re running Windows XP and you’re happy whit it I’d say the same thing. If you want a modern operating system with a few more bells and whistles and you feel ok to couch up some money to upgrade then it might be a good idea.
Windows 7 isn’t really a revolutionary product, it more of a evolutionary product just as XP was for Windows 2000 (to whom ever who just almost had an heart attack, I’m not comparing 2000 to Vista). Windows 7 doesn’t bring as much to the table as it should to be a really attractive update if your current operating system fits your needs.
