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This weekend I have setup Windows Vista on my secondary computer and although it is a tad slow the computer is usable and allows me to run Vista and learn about our next favorite OS.

One of hte things that I do with my Windows XP machines is to use Tweakui to map my favorites folders in IE from one central machine and therefore any changes that my wife makes on one computer gets changed for all computers.

I looked for tweakui for Vista but it does not seem to exist so in my searching I found a way to get tweakui for Windows XP to work in Windows Vista.

I am just copying and pasting these instructions from a guy named n8barber. I wish I knew who n8barber was so that I could give him better credit but he seems to just post in forums rather anonymously. Here are the Tweakui for Windows Vista instructions. Read the rest of this entry »

I was working on my moms PC on the weekend and one of the problems that i have always had is that there is no easy way to have a light computer user to tell you their IP. Why would I want my moms IP address? Well everytime that the “internet is down” or there is a problem with the sorting in outlook i used to have to VNC into her machine or now just use remote desktop (RDP) to get in.

This may be easy for anyone used to the internals of Windows but when you have to get someone to start-> run -> cmd -> ipconfig sometimes you just wish for an easier experiencse for them let alone you.

I know that I could go to dyndns to set my parents computer up and then have a DNS address. I can cover this somewhere else but really it is more trouble to setup and maintain just to get a TCP/IP address.

I was poking around my computer and remembered a utility that i had forgotten. Back in Windows NT4 there was a GUI Ip tool that just shows you the IP address fo your PC. Simply drop this on your desktop, double click and you are there.

The tool is called WNTIPCFG.EXE and you just have to click on the link and save to your PC desktop. The file is only 88 kilobytes which is really small and does not even need to be installed.

Now, I just have to point my mom to this blog, have her right click the link, save to desktop…..

One of the great things about a corporate environment is the easy access to mapped drives for home folders and resource folders. One of the things that I tend to do on a semi-often bases is to upload and download from my personal FTP. I have just been turned onto an old Novell resource called NetDrive that allows you to map a drive to an FTP site so that you can have your FTP very closely integrated to your Windows machine.

After you install NetDrive you will get the following window to map your FTP and thedrive letter that you want it to show up as. Also as you notice is a logon username and password. This is a bit dangerous if it gets in the wrong hands but if you lose your computer you may be in trouble anyway.

After you have setup these settings you will also have a tray icon that allows you to set other settings.

I have used this app now as a way to edit web files on the fly. I am sure I will not let go of my trusty Filezilla but at least this is a great way to easily get files up and down to and from my FTP.

I hope that the links about to NetDrive work but Novell has abandoned the software and apparently have no license to it. According to Novell the best way to find a link to the software is to do a search on Google for netdrive.exe and spin the wheel, see what comes up.

I use Firefox and one of the plugins I like most is the Google Notebook plugin. With Google Notebook I can just click on a button in the taskbar in the bottom of the Firefox screen and see everything that I have copied and pasted into there.

I used to just save things occasionally in Google notebook until a few weeks ago when I had to remember an IP address between my kitchen computer and my living room computer. Think, think, think. I could write this down or write it or save it to a text file in a shared folder (I am very non-digital sometimes) then I thought:

“Hey why not use Google Notebook”

All I needed to do was open that little button on the bottom of my Firefox, copy and paste the IP address into that, walk over to the other PC and open Google Notebook on that computer and Voila (I never use that word in real life just online) I had the IP there to paste into the other thing I was doing.

One of the things that happens more and more to people these days is using multiple computers at home. I regularly use 1 computer at work but I regularly use three different computers at home. Part of my install for all of my computers is to install Google Notebook anyway

One of the great tools that an admin of an active directory network has is the ability to limit Windows clients using group policies. If you are working on a network where there is no way to lock down client machines but you would still like to then you can do the same thing using local policies on the windows box. There are a multitude of reasons that you would want to do this but the single best reason is to make sure that the network or even the computer stays secure by limiting what the user can do on the machine. The real upside for an administrator of these clients is that there are less problems and less support needed to keep the machine running in tip top shape.

First of all the best thing to do is to limit the machine using an autologon using a network or even local account and then using tweakui from Microsoft to add the registry entries to have it successfully logon. This in itself does not lock anything down but at least the machine, barring someone holding down the shift key at startup, stopping the users from having to logon. You will not apply this yet bout just make sure that you are using two accounts to do this work, you want an admin account for setting the policies and you want a user account that you will apply the policies to.

The policies are kept and applied using the C:\WINDOWS\system32\GroupPolicy folder so using NTFS permissions you will be allowing the user to get this policy and you will at the same time be denying the policy to your admin account so that it will not lock you out of the operation of setting the local machine policies. You will notice fairly quickly that the policies are broken up in this way so that you can control computer wide settings as well as user type settings and although there may seem to be an overlap there is in fact not much. The mavigation through this policy editor is in reality very easy and it is the settings that you have to think about the effect of.

The next step is to go into the group policy editor itself and this can be found by running gpedit.msc at a command prompt and then marveling at the opportunity that is in front of you. Using the Computer Configuration or the User Configuration you can o down to the Administrative Templates and set all sorts of allows or denies but in the first place you must make sure that you turn off background processing of the group policy. Stopping Background Group policy refresh means that the policy will not be applied until the next reboot and so again you will not get locked out by your own handiwork you can find the background refresh at Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Group Policy. Enable the first one by double clicking on “Turn of background refresh of group policy and selecting enable and OK. Now close the window and reboot and relog in as the administrator.

From this point on what you want to be very careful that you make sure that you do is to log on to the machine as the administrator, go to the group policy folder and allow it for the administrator and then go into the gpedit.msc and make whatever changes you want and after applying the changes go and again deny access to the administrator. These actions will make sure that you do not lock yourself out afterwards but still allows you to make those changes as you need. What I have always done as a safeguard for my own human error is to get another local account that I always deny to the group policy folder, then if needed I can log on as that user, take ownership of the folder and give myself full control to fix what I broke for the administrator

Go through all of the policies before applying any and just take a look at some of the good things that you can do to lock out features. In the past I have created kiosk type machines by locking off right click, programs, installation of programs, control panel, display properties, and even access to the c: drive at all.

Using the group policy is a great way to lock down machines and help lower the cost of supporting machines, especially ones that are hard to get to in a timely fashion. Used correctly there are 100’s of settings that you can control and the granularity of the lockdowns are a great tool in almost any environment.

I have been again reminded of a problem that is at the core of IT and something that is plaguing businesses everywhere, the problem is bad backups. Here are a few examples:

A news story today at CNN about how the State of Alaska had three layers of data backup and all failed with their system of giving back oil revenue to Alaska residents.

A story from a friend of mine that a server was being backed up for three years but the Windows folder was never backed up and when the Active Directory failed it could not be brought back

My own machine at home that was living with an error in the Norton Ghost software that failed to back up my machine correctly.

There are so many computer back up horror stories but they are all able to be mitigated by using one strategy on a monthly basis. Do restores of your backups once a month to test that everything is still working.

When it comes to backups and restores we all hope htat we will never have to use them but there is always that chancce…otherwise we would not do the backup in the first place. All you need to do to test your system is to find an identical piece of hardware and do a restore to that hardware.

There is never enough IT budget to do things like mock restores of backup but if we as IT pros do not do this kind of testing then all of the responsibility that our users are giving to us may be for not when the disaster strikes with hardware, user error or even some kind of act of good that forces us to restore from tape.

Microsoft offers this great idea of how to get rid of a stubborn virus by using System Restore to go back to where it never existed. This will work both for getting rid of viruses as well as Spyware.

This step-by-step article describes how System Restore in Microsoft Windows XP interacts with your virus scanning software. This article also describes how to remove infected files that you cannot clean from the System Restore data archive. As a result, you can continue to restore your computer to uncompromised restore points. This article also describes how you can revert to a previous infected restore point. This procedure is useful if you must restore an infected file.
How antivirus software and System Restore work together

With System Restore in Windows XP, you can restore your computer to a previous state, and you do not lose personal data files (such as Word documents, graphic files, and e-mail). System Restore actively monitors computer file changes and some program file changes to record or store earlier versions before the changes occurred. You do not have to take computer snapshots because System Restore automatically creates identifiable restore points that you can use to revert to a previous time. Restore points are created when significant computer events occur (such as the installation of a program or a driver) and periodically (each day).

To help protect critical computer and program files, System Restore monitors, records, and in some cases copies these files before they are modified. For example, when a procedure or a program (such as an upgrade, an inadvertent user change, a driver installation, or a virus) modifies a critical computer file or program file, System Restore records and saves a copy of the file before the change occurs. If a problem occurs, a restore operation can replace files with previously saved versions of those files. Antivirus programs use auto-detection or scanning mechanisms to monitor critical and personal files on the computer for signs of infection. The antivirus program then takes action to clean, remove, or quarantine (isolate) files that known viruses have infected. System Restore also tracks an antivirus program when it modifies (cleans), moves, or deletes a monitored, critical, computer or program file.

During a restoration, an active antivirus program scans for infected files. If the antivirus program detects any infected files, the antivirus program tries to modify, move, or delete the infected files. If the antivirus program successfully cleans the infected files, System Restore restores the cleaned files. However, if the antivirus software cannot clean a file, the antivirus software deletes or quarantines the file. As a result, the restoration does not work because these actions to the file cause an inconsistent restoration state. As a result, System Restore reverts to the state immediately before the restoration.

Signature files for antivirus programs are updated as viruses become known. As a result, a restoration that did not work several days ago might succeed after the antivirus program is updated. However, if you undo and retry a restoration to a point that succeeded before, the restoration may not work if a new signature or definition detects a virus that the antivirus program cannot clean on a backed-up file.

Remove infected files that you cannot clean in the System Restore data archive
If you suspect that previous restore points contain copies of infected monitored files that your antivirus program was not able to clean, you can remove these files and all the related restore points from the System Restore archive. To do so, turn off System Restore, and then turn it on again.

Turning off System Restore
• When you turn off System Restore, you remove all the restore points. When you turn on System Restore again, new restore points are created as the schedule and events require.
• Verify that all the signature or the definition files are current. Make sure that your antivirus program is configured to exclude the System Volume Information (SVI) folder (a hidden computer folder that is located in the computer root, or %SYSTEMDRIVE%).
To completely and immediately remove any infected file or files in the data store, turn off and then turn on System Restore. To do so, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Performance and Maintenance, and then double-click System.
3. Click the System Restore tab, and then click to select the Turn off System Restore for all drives check box.
4. Click OK, and then click Yes to initiate the restore point deletion.
To turn on System Restore again after the restore point deletion has completed, repeat these steps, but click to clear the Turn off System Restore for all drives check box.

Restore a computer to a previously infected restore point
To restore a computer to a previously infected restore point, disable the associated antivirus program, and after the restoration is complete, re-enable the antivirus program to detect and to take action on the restored state to remove any infected files.

Disabling Anti Virus
• Microsoft does not recommend that you turn off antivirus protection under most conditions. Turn off antivirus protection only temporarily to restore a computer.
• Before you disable an antivirus program, disconnect the computer from any network to help prevent the infection of other computers.

To restore a computer to a previously infected restore point, follow these steps:
1. Disconnect the computer from any network to help prevent the infection of other computers.
2. Disable your antivirus program. Typically, to do this, right-click the antivirus icon in the Notification Area, and then click Exit or Disable. For more information about how to disable your antivirus program, see your product documentation.
3. Use System Restore to restore to the appropriate restore point.
4. After the restoration has completed and the Success screen appears, re-enable your antivirus program.
5. Make sure that the antivirus program scans all the files that System Restore modified. To do so, run a manual scan of all the drives that System Restore monitors.

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the fantastic piece of software that Microsoft offers for free called Robocopy. I just found that on technet there is a gui version of Robocopy that just makes things a little bit easier for copying files and especially permissions to another machine on a network. Follow this robocopy gui link and look under the November downloads section to download the software for free.

It’s fundamental. Try to think of a time when, either as an IT professional or even as just the user of a home computer, you didn’t need to copy files. Whether you’re building a master image for desktop deployment, publishing new pages to a Web server, or just backing up or reorganizing your own documents and photos, copying files is one of those core operations you are bound to perform in your daily interaction with a PC.

But there’s a problem. The traditional “copy and paste” functionality that is built into Microsoft® Windows® has limitations. It works well enough for simple tasks (moving a document from one directory to another, and so on), but it lacks the advanced functionality an IT professional needs in the workplace. For example, the copy and paste operation doesn’t include any kind of advanced resiliency that would allow it to recover from a brief network disruption. It’s also an all-or-nothing proposition, particularly when copying complete directories. Through the UI, you can’t choose to copy only those files which are new or have been updated. You either copy individual files, entire directories, or nothing at all.

Enter Robocopy. This powerful tool, included with the Microsoft Windows Server® 2003 Resource Kit Tools, allows for all of those advanced functions and more. Robocopy enables the more serious file replication tasks that can really simplify your job. The biggest benefit I think you’ll find is the ability to create full mirror duplicates of two file structures (including all subdirectories and files, if you choose) without copying any unnecessary files. Only the files that are new or have been updated in the source location will be copied. Robocopy also allows you to preserve all of the associated file information, including date and time stamps, security access control lists (ACLs) and more.

Of course, we all like to work in different ways. Some people prefer the command line and for those people, the Robocopy tool as it ships is great. However, others are more point-and-click oriented, and for that crowd, there’s Robocopy GUI. This welcome add-on to Robocopy comes to us from Derk Benisch, a systems engineer with the MSN Search group at Microsoft. Derk’s utility allows users to customize their Robocopy scripts using a simple and very familiar-looking graphical interface

Back in the days of Windows 98 SE I was very excited that there was an msconfig utility. Msconfig was in the system tools in Windows 98 and when I moved to Windows 2000 I lost the utility which was very disappointing from a support point of view. Fortunately msconfig came back in Windows XP and now can be found by going to start to run and typing in msconfig.

There is a lot you can do from this interface.

The main piece of msconfig that we can use to troubleshoot and fix a PC is the startup tab. Just by unchecking any these startup events we can make the startup faster, fix apps that are not starting up correctly and give our users a faster GUI experience.

In practice I do not use any of the other tabs in msconfig as there are other places in the operating system that will work better for optimizing files or services.

A new application that has come along is another one of the great apps from Sysinternals. This new application is called Autoruns. Autoruns helps us by giving even more information on what is starting up.

What a beautiful interface. All the tools for the startup of the operating system are here and after working with msconfig and being used to that interface this is so much better and actually easier to use.There is everything that is starting up including add ins, scheduled tasks and Explorer components.

The download is very quick as usual for this app and as with all of the Sysinternal apps the application is free. Of all the applications in your arsenal for troubleshooting I believe that you will find this one to be one of the most used and relied upon in your collection.

Microsoft is introducing its free PC-scanning service outside the U.S., part of an international push for its security tools.

The Windows Live OneCare safety scanner is now available around the world, Microsoft said in a statement Monday. The online scanner removes viruses and spyware, rids a hard drive of clutter, and runs defragmentation.

The service is similar to Trend Micro’s House Call and McAfee’s FreeScan, though those only remove malicious software.

The international launch is a precursor to a broader release of Windows Live OneCare. Beta versions of the consumer security software are scheduled to be available by year’s end in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.K., Microsoft said.

OneCare was launched in the U.S. late May and landed the No. 2 spot in retail sales in June. The product combines antivirus, anti-spyware and firewall software with backup features and several tune-up tools for Windows PCs. Symantec and McAfee have both announced new products to compete with OneCare.

Microsoft has brought more than a dozen new products into its burgeoning Windows Live program, which it plans to continuously expand and update. Through the services, Microsoft hopes to understand better who uses its online services and how they use them, as it faces rising competition from Web-based rivals such as Google.