Windows Server

Windows 7 Remote Admin Tools Released

Chris Haaker — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 22:03:47 GMT

The RSAT (Remote Server Administration Tools) have been released in beta form for the first beta of Windows 7. These tools allow for remote administration of your Windows Servers and services (think old adminpak.msi) from your Windows 7 workstation. I applaud the Windows 7 (or Windows Server) teams for getting these out quickly. We had to wait forever to get them for Windows Vista.

Tip o’ the hat to Keith’s blog.

Windows Vista SP2 CPP Available

Chris Haaker — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:16:06 GMT

Service Pack 2 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 is now available to Microsoft TechNet subscribers through the download website. This is the Customer Preview Program (CPP) which will roll to general availability tomorrow.

Technorati Tags: Vista SP2,Windows Vista SP2,Windows Server 2008 SP2,TechNet,Microsoft

Wither Still No Native ADUC for Windows Vista SP1

Chris Haaker — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 03:54:28 GMT

So with the release of Windows Server 2008 I was really looking forward to some post or announcement from Microsoft with regards to the availability of native Active Directory management tools that can be installed on Windows Vista SP1 without any mods, kludges or scripts. You know, they just work out of the box. Like the good ‘ol days when you copied adminpak.msi from Windows Server 2003 over to Windows XP.

Now that I am running Windows Server 2008 as a workstation I don't necessarily have to worry about this. As soon as I installed the server features for Active Directory Domain Controller Tools I had all my faithful friends like ADUC back at my disposal. So of course, I thought I would just grab adminpak.msi from c:\windows and be on my way. And yet, in the back of my brain,I knew there would be no such thing. I hate it when I am right.

So while it doesn't effect me in the near term it is effecting lots of others I am sure. People who would like the real tools to bring over to Windows Vista SP1. Perhaps there is a way to copy over all the bits and bobs and do some voodoo DLL registration to wrap it up and get it going. If someone finds out, please let me know!

Tags: Windows+Server+2008, ADUC, Windows+Vista+SP1, W2K8

Windows Server 2008 as a Workstation Part III

Chris Haaker — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:46:25 GMT

Mary Jo Foley has an article on ~~bringing back~~ creating Windows Workstation 2008 (Part I) and proposing the idea that in the past there was a “server” version of NT4 and Windows 2000 and a “workstation” version that was the same product with limits on concurrent usage when running IIS, etc. She says that since Windows Server 2008 is the best version of Windows Server ever by a wide margin, why not capitalize on that an offer a “workstation” version.

Some people, especially in the consulting field or who are consulting ITPros, have long run a Server OS as their “workstation” often on laptops as well. I decided to give Windows Server 2008 a shot myself, especially after getting some guidance from the blog of Vijayshinva Karnure, (Part II) a Microsoft employee who wrote a great blog post on how he adapted Windows Server 2008 for his use as a workstation (on a laptop to boot).

I followed Vijay’s instructions for the most part. I started by enabling only the things I needed step-by-step in order to keep as much of the speed savings as possible. It only stands to reason that if you turn on every bell and whistle you find in Vista, you haven't gained very much. There is a debate in the comments of Vijay’s post about how the kernel is identical between Vista SP1 and W2K8. I believe this is true. However, W2K8 flies, were Vista SP1 merely jogged along. Don't get me wrong, Vista SP1 is a big improvement over Vista RTM, but W2K8 is even better.

Of course, there are a couple of things you have to give up. I didn't get the Hyper-V version as my Dell Latitude D620 doesn't have hardware virtualization. I am just running 32–bit Standard without Hyper-V. I turned on Themes and the Themes service so I can use Aero. That hasn't slowed it down yet. I also turned on the WLAN Auto Config service as I need wireless on the laptop. That one took me a second to figure out. Networking showed the adapter as lit up and seeing a signal, but disabled. Easy enough I thought: Just right-click and enable. I did this several times to no avail.

Another PITA is the IE ESC (Enhanced Security Configuration). In W2K3 you went in to Add\Remove Programs and Add\Remove System Components to remove it for administrators. In W2K8 you need to go to Server Manager (which is nice enough to present itself to you every time you log in) and then down to Security and click on IE ESC Configuration.

For some reason I also cannot burn DVD’s with my DVDRW drive. I can read them but it will not burn files from the shell. I haven't had time to try a third party tool yet.

And the final bummer is that no Windows Live components (like Live Writer) will install. I had to go back to BlogJet for this post.

However, I am still quite happy with the speed that this installation is performing at. My boot time, logon time and overall responsiveness is much improved. Let’s see how it looks two weeks from now!

Tags: Windows+Server+2008, W2K8, Vista+SP1, Performance, Windows+Workstation

Windows Server 2008 RC0 Available

Chris Haaker — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 23:19:34 GMT

Microsoft has posted the "RC0" build of Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition.

Get 40% Off of MCSE 2008 Upgrade Exam

Chris Haaker — Thu, 31 May 2007 04:00:27 GMT

Mosey on over to Trika's blog for the link to get 40% off of your MCSE Windows 2008 upgrade exam. You must hold your MCSE Windows 2003 by June 30, 2007 to qualify. Go. Now. Run.

Microsoft Windows Server 2008

Chris Haaker — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:43:40 GMT

Mary Jo Foley caught a good one over at the presspass website for WinHEC 2007. Originally, listed in the link bar is a link for "Windows Server 2008 reviewer guide" which linked to the Longhorn Server Beta 3 guide. She even took a screen shot of the link bar in case Microsoft changed it after realizing the blunder. The name has not been officially announced yet. And was she ever right. I have a shot here of the new link bar in which it reads "Windows Server Codename "Longhorn" Beta 3." Nice.

Technorati tags: WinHEC, Longhorn Server, Windows Server 2008, Mary Jo Foley

Exchange 2007 SP1 Requirements

Chris Haaker — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 01:39:00 GMT

You Had Me at EHLO just posted some information on Exchange 2007 SP1. This one stood out - it will be a bit before Windows Server 2003 SP2 is implemented. Of course, it will be a bit before Exchange 2007 is implemented!

Regarding the operating system, SP1 for Exchange 2007 will require Windows Server 2003 SP2. This will be a hard dependency for installation, so the operating system must be upgraded to Windows Server 2003 SP2 before you upgrade the Exchange 2007 RTM installation to Exchange 2007 SP1, or before installing a fresh build of Exchange 2007 SP1.

Technorati tags: Exchange 2007, Exchange 2007 SP1, Windows Server 2003 SP2

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Windows 2003 SP2 Released

Chris Haaker — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 19:34:00 GMT

Download it here.

The list of included fixes is here.

Technorati tags: Windows Server 2003 SP2, SP2

Windows Home Server Beta 2

Chris Haaker — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 04:14:00 GMT

Sign up for the Windows Home Server Beta 2 here. Ideal candidates will have two or more home PCs and a test box on which to install the beta.

Technorati tags: Windows Home Server