DirectreeSolutions

Reading List July 2010

2010-07-19T21:48:00.003-04:00

A few things that I found interesting tonight...

Download the Hyper-V Architecture Diagram
It is almost impossiable to print and read... but, it exists!

Moving Mailboxes the Exchange 2010 way.
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2010/07/19/455550.aspx
- Microsoft explains the differance over the previous version Exchange 2007

Using Powershell for Active Directory DC Information.
http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/archive/2010/07/19/hey-scripting-guy-how-can-i-use-windows-powershell-2-0-to-retrieve-information-about-domain-controllers.aspx

- Hoenow Editorial:
"If you are not using Powershell by now then you likely are still using a 101 key keyboard."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_(computing))

How To Browse Folders with FolderBrowserDialog and Visual Basic 2005 - by www.getdotnetcode.com

2009-09-02T19:53:00.004-04:00

http://www.getdotnetcode.com/nexDotNet/030007HowToFolderBrowserVB2005/HowToFolderBrowserVB2005.htm

Here is the code you can just drop in an application by the "Button Click" This was perfect for what we needed. Thank you "http://www.getdotnetcode.com/"!

Private Sub BrowseFoldersButton_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles BrowseFoldersButton.Click

' Declare a variable named theFolderBrowser of type FolderBrowserDialog.
Dim theFolderBrowser As New FolderBrowserDialog

' Set theFolderBrowser object's Description property to
' give the user instructions.
theFolderBrowser.Description = "Please select a folder for the download."

' Set theFolderBrowser object's ShowNewFolder property to false when
' the a FolderBrowserDialog is to be used only for selecting an existing folder.
theFolderBrowser.ShowNewFolderButton = False

' Optionally set the RootFolder and SelectedPath properties to
' control which folder will be selected when browsing begings
' and to make it the selected folder.
' For this example start browsing in the Desktop folder.
theFolderBrowser.RootFolder = System.Environment.SpecialFolder.Desktop
' Default theFolderBrowserDialog object's SelectedPath property to the path to the Desktop folder.
theFolderBrowser.SelectedPath = My.Computer.FileSystem.SpecialDirectories.Desktop

' If the user clicks theFolderBrowser's OK button..
If theFolderBrowser.ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
' Set the FolderChoiceTextBox's Text to theFolderBrowserDialog's
' SelectedPath property.
Me.FolderChoiceTextBox.Text = theFolderBrowser.SelectedPath
End If

End Sub

MS Exam 70-620 Notes 001 - Hardware and Versions [Vista]

2009-07-28T19:25:00.007-04:00

As staff is doing the 70-620 training for Windows Vista here are a few good items that they felt we should spotlight.

Run the "Upgrade Advisor" it will help determine if:

The processor is at least 800MHz and match the version with the 32bit and 64bit processor
That the RAM is the minium 512MB or 1GB reccommended 1GB is met.
Confirms that the Hard Disk Drive is 20GB for the estimated 7GB installation size.
For the Graphics card with "Aero" you will need

- DirectX 9 abilty
- A WDDM Driver
- Hardward Pixel SHader 2.0
- 32 bits per pixel
- 128MB graphics memory

Pick the right edition of Windows Vista (highlights)

"Starter" has No Domain, No Aero GUI, No Tablet, No Media Center, No inbound network, No Parental Controls, and only 3 applications can run at once, No Full Drive Encryption.
"Home Basic" has No Domain, No Aero GUI, No Tablet, No Media Center, No inbound network, No Full Drive Encryption.
"Home Premium" has No Domain, No Full Drive Encryption.
"Business" has No Media Center, No Full Drive Encryption.
"Enterprise" has No Media Center. Only purchased via SA or EA agreements.
"Ultimate" No limitations.

Making VB Connection to Active Directory [Code]

2009-07-21T09:37:00.000-04:00

"Making a Connection" to a Directory is simple. Reading information is simple. Writting the information is harder. Those are not as key know what to get and what to do with it.
Here are the lines I use to read Active Directory and that should help in setting the stage for a good start.

Code

Imports System.DirectoryServices
Imports System.Diagnostics
Dim ad001 As New DirectoryEntry

("LDAP://domainname.com/cn=TheReadAccnt,ou=accounts,dc=domainname,dc=com", "AdminAccnt", "ThePassword")

Dim adDescrpt001 As String = ad001.Properties("description").Value.ToString()

Useless Event Logs? Leverage the new features of Windows 2008 Quickly.[Win2008]

2009-07-20T20:20:00.000-04:00

We have been doing some research into the new Windows 2008 Audit settings. These two articles will safe days of you wading through eventlog technical details and will give you jump start to making that eventlog junkpile into a resource.

So what are they?

1) "Recommended Baseline Audit Policy for Windows Server 2008" - By Randy Franklin Smith

2) "Quickly Filter Event Logs in Windows Server 2008" - by William R. Stanek.

The first source is by Randy Franklin Smith http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd630944.aspx. In his WinSecWiki you will find a very nice article on reducing eventlog noise. The "Recommended Baseline Audit Policy for Windows Server 2008" is some very good work on where to start using and see less of the "noise" and see more of what you need.

Once you have that, then looking though eventlogs are twice as easy by following the second reference "Quickly Filter Event Logs in Windows Server 2008" http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd630944.aspx.

These two items knowledge articles are top key for improving your basic event-combing skills and hopefully reduces your time to resolution.

Replace "cmd" with "Powershell", Now. [Powershell]

2009-07-12T11:16:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, you did "Start", "Run" and then typed "cmd". Instead get your feet wet and use the powershell. "What's differant?", to begin with nothing. Microsoft created alias commands to help you. No learning curve until you are ready.

In the powershell, you can just run "copy", "cd", "cls", "ipconfig" etc.. think of it more as an upgraded command prompt not a new technology.

In just five minutes, by going through just this first page you will have the beginner lesson you need to the "Windows PowerShell Owner’s Manual" - Microsoft

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/topics/winpsh/manual/start.mspx

Visual Studio Express [Tools]

2009-07-11T22:13:00.000-04:00

Obtain the Windows Visual Studio Express or the full version.

Simple and to the point. If you are writting VBS then take your code up a notch and compile it. This is not saying that script is not approriate and the right choice in many cases, but a little bit of effort and you could have a deliverable product or it could be task that now a NOC or help-desk staff member can use.

These can even then be ported to a web asp page.

http://www.microsoft.com/express/

Quest Software [Vendor]

2009-07-11T21:49:00.000-04:00

This is a company that every Active Directory support staff should know. If you have used their software then, you know the value is not in their software alone. The sale’s technical staff it complete with a practical view of the products usage and best practices. I highly recommend that you have not reviewed them that you the take time and look at their product suites.

The first interaction with Quest Software is typically with their migration software(s). This is then followed by the need of auditing with Quest Intrust and reporting with Quest Reporter.

Other provisioning and directory management are also available but, Intrust and Reporter are as "close to required" as it gets, and brings value where Microsoft is minimal in the Windows product.

http://www.quest.com/

LifeHacker Addiction [Ideas]

2009-07-08T14:29:00.000-04:00

Some people need to see the latest thing on myspace or facebook but, for me it is LifeHacker. This is website geared for the those who tinker.

http://www.lifehacker.com/