Windows 7 + Windows Server 2008 R2

Microsoft just announced the availability of Windows 7 Beta which Is the next generation Microsoft Client Operating System, and also Windows Server 2008 R2 beta which is the next version of the Windows Server operating system from Microsoft built on Windows Server 2008

Windows 7 Beta or Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta can be downloaded using a TechNet Subscription or a MSDN Subscription from today onwards

More information on Windows Server 2008 R2

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/r2.aspx

More information on Windows 7

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/default.aspx

Windows Server Core

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Code name: Longhorn consists of 8 editions. Each and every edition can be installed in two different ways which is the Server Core and the GUI installation. Server core is the new installation option which is included by Microsoft in this version of windows

Server core installation method can be deployed to support a single role or multiple roles. By using the server core installation it’s possible to optimize performance for the server roles you’re running because by default none of the services or any server roles get installed. After the installation what you basically get is a command prompt, also note that there’s no Graphical User interface installed when the server core installation method is used. Even if you connect to a server core installed server via RDP you will still get only the command prompt. But it’s possible to monitor using the computer management console remotely by using another server. When talking in terms of security which is a very critical aspect of a good network infrastructure, Server core installation will reduce the attack possibility since only certain server roles what is required by the administrators are installed in the server, also there’s no GUI shell

Another benefit of the server core installation is that it reduces the number of patches since only specific roles are running. Also the server core installation will only take 1.5GB of hard disk space but the full installation will take up to 5.5GB from disk space. Also the server core installation doesn’t support any sound adapters, because the audio stack is not included in the server core installation. Also note that it doesn’t contain any of the printer drivers unlike other Server operating systems. When the server core is configured as a print server you need to manually install the printer drivers from the cd

When deploying Windows Server 2008 it comes to a screen where you could choose between the Server core installation and the server installation with the GUI shell. Server core configuration could be done manually or by using an unattended file. The only difference is that you have to mention server core on your unattended file. Other than that it’s similar to an ordinary unattended file. Also note that if you have specified any features which are not available on the server, the unattended setup will not crash. It’ll still get installed but it’ll contain some extra registry keys e.g. – : some security features mentioned for IE 7, since IE7 is not available on the Server Core installation it’ll just get added to the registry

When deploying windows server core you should consider these facts

· Only a fresh new installation is supported

· It’s not possible to upgrade for a previous version of windows

· After installation Windows Server Core, it’s not possible to upgrade to the GUI Shell and also vice-versa

 

Now let’s look at how to do some of the initial configurations

• Change Password: – net user administrator *
• Activation : slmgr.vbs script can be used. Also it’s possible to activate remotely
• Configure IP: – netsh interface ipv4
• Join a domain:- Netdom

How to add Server roles

Server roles can only be added by using the command line by using the Ocsetup

Start /w ocsetup %packagename%

Also note that you can’t install active directory using ocsetup command

Only way to promote the domain controller is to use a dcpromo unattended file

Dcpromo /unattended:unattendedfile

 

When IIS 7 Server roles is installed unlike other roles it runs on reduced functionality. The following functions are not available on the IIS 7 server core installation

• · Management Service and the GUI tools
• · ASP.Net
• · Powershell Cmdlets

 

These are the server roles available in the server core installation

• · Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
• · File
• · Print
• · Active Directory
• · Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services
• · Media Services
• · Domain Name System
• · Internet Information Service 7
• · Windows Virtualization Service

 

Also the following options are also available

• · WINS,
• · Failover
• · Clustering,
• · Subsystem for UNIX-based applications,
• · Backup,
• · Multipath IO
• · Removable storage management
• · BitlockerDrive Encryption
• · SNMP
• · Telnet Client
• · Qos

Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Keys

A list of shortcuts to help you move faster in Microsoft Outlook:

Alt + . (period) Open the Address Book with the To field selected

Alt + A Open the Action drop-down menu

Alt + B Open the Address Book with the BCC field selected

Alt + C Select message recipients for CC field

Alt + D Switch to Daily calendar view

Alt + E Open the Edit drop-down menu
Alt + F Open the File drop-down menu

Alt + G Open the Go drop-down menu

Alt + H Open the Help drop-down menu

Alt + I Open the Find tool bar / Open the Insert drop-down menu

Alt + J Move to the Subject field

Alt + K Check names in the To, CC, or BCC field against the Address Book (cursor must be in the corresponding message header field)

Alt + L Reply All

Alt + M Switch to Monthly calendar view

Alt + N Open the Accounts drop-down menu

Alt + O Open the Format drop-down menu / Switch to Today calendar view

Alt + P Open the Message Options dialog box

Alt + R Reply / Switch to Work Week Calendar view

Alt + S Send

Alt + T Open the Tools drop-down menu
Alt + V Open the View drop-down menu

Alt + W Forward an item / Switch to Weekly calendar view

Alt + Y Switch to Daily calendar view

Ctrl + 1 Go to Mail

Ctrl + 2 Go to Calendar

Ctrl + 3 Go to Contacts

Ctrl + 4 Go to Tasks

Ctrl + 5 Go to Notes

Ctrl + 6 Go to Folder List

Ctrl + 7 Go to Shortcuts

Ctrl + 8 Go to Journal

Ctrl + A Select all

Ctrl + B Bold when editing a rich text message

Ctrl + C Copy

Ctrl + D Delete an item (message, task, contact, etc.)

Ctrl + E Activate the Find drop-down menu / Center Align when editing a rich text message

Ctrl + F Forward

Ctrl + J Open a new Journal Entry from the selected item (message, task, contact, etc.)

Ctrl + K Check names in the To, CC, or BCC field against the Address Book (cursor must be in the corresponding message header field)

Ctrl + M Send/Receive all

Ctrl + O Open

Ctrl + P Print

Ctrl + Q Mark the selected message Read

Ctrl + R Reply

Ctrl + S Save a draft message

Ctrl + T Tab

Ctrl + U Mark the selected message Unread

Ctrl + V Paste

Ctrl + X Cut

Ctrl + Y Go to Folder

Ctrl + Z Undo

Ctrl + Enter Send Mail

Ctrl + Backspace Delete the previous word

Ctrl + End Move to the end

Ctrl + Home Move to the beginning

Ctrl + Shift + A Open a new Appointment

Ctrl + Shift + B Open the Address Book

Ctrl + Shift + C Create a new Contact

Ctrl + Shift + E Open a new folder

Ctrl + Shift + F Open the Advanced Find window

Ctrl + Shift + G Flag message for follow up

Ctrl + Shift + J Open a new Journal Entry

Ctrl + Shift + K Open a new Task

Ctrl + Shift + L Open a new Distribution List

Ctrl + Shift + M Open a new Message

Ctrl + Shift + N Open a new Note

Ctrl + Shift + O Switch to the Outbox

Ctrl + Shift + P Open the New Search Folder window

Ctrl + Shift + Q Open a new Meeting Request

Ctrl + Shift + R Reply All

Ctrl + Shift + S Open a new Discussion

Ctrl + Shift + U Open a new Task Request

Ctrl + Shift + Y Copy a Folder

Shift + Tab Select the previous message header button or field

F1 Open Outlook Help

F3 Activate the Find toolbar

F4 Open the Find window

F7 Spellcheck

F9 Send and receive all

F10 Select File from the Outlook toolbar button

F11 Activate the “Find a contact” dialog box

F12 Save As

Alt + F4 Close the active window

New Version Of Windows Live Messenger

yesterday morning when i tried to login to my live messenger i got a popup saying that i have to update my messenger…

so i downloaded the new messenger and installed it…havn’t noticed anything different yet…it still says “Beta”

the new build is (8.1.0168)

http://g.live.com/1rebeta/Mess80_EN

Office 2007 Beta 2

Office 2007 Beta2 was released yesterday…

check it out…u can download it for free

http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/beta/getthebeta.mspx

Create A Printer From ur Web Browser

Mainly there are two ways of adding a printer 2 your computer…most command method is to attach your printer to LPT1 port and install a printer…this is also known as local printer…

The other method is to attach a network printer…this is mostly used in domain environment ever u get 1 or 2 printers for the whole department…

When your adding a network printer there are 3 options…in this article I’ll be explaining you how to connect to a printer over the intranet…

To do this client computer must fulfill these requirements

1)client computer should have IIS installed

2)it should be connected to a network(workgroup or domain)..

First add a new printer to your server machine or to your printer server…once your installing give a share name for the printer and share it..eg”HP840c”

Next step is to configure the client

In the client computer go to internet explorer and

first type http://localhost and verify that u have installed IIS…

once ur sure tht u hav IIS installed type

http://yourservername/printers/yourprintername/.printer

if can’t correctly remember your printer or when u have installed several printers u can type  http://yourservername/printers and view all the printer attached to your server

once you have selected your printer click connect…then Windows Xp will automatically install the printer in your server to your client machine

Now your done installing your printer….see how easy and user friendly it is…you jst have to know your server name and type it in your web browser…this is easy as browsing the net…

Once u have installed u can use the same URL(Uniform Resource Locater) and manage ur printer…

Windows Media Player 11

I shifted back to Windows Media Player

i installed Windows Media Player 11 today…phew…it’s awesome…sound quality is unmatched…earlier I used Winamp…I have been a fan of winamp since the very beginning…since version 2…but after installing WMP I don’t think anyone will need another software to play your song files..Media Player 11 comes with lots of visual enhancements…

There’s new feature added called “Auto Playlist”…this generates an auto play list according to criteria u select…WMP11 automatics queries according to your requirements and makes ur new play list…

 

U can press CTRL+M and get ur classic menu bar…

There are two new additional ripping formats u can use when ur ripping cds..

For the first time WMP11 supports Wav ripping..

U can get a full comparison from the Microsoft website

http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=32096&locale=409&geoid=f4&version=11.0.5358.4826&userlocale=409

 

there are few new tabs under options

there’s new tab called Burn where u can customize ur cd burning feature..

there’s another new tab called DVD..in this tab u assign movie rating and media player wont play movies according to the rating

these are the changes Microsoft had done to the new WMP…i luv media player 11

 

 

Windows Live Messenger 8.0.068900

Today a new version of Windows Live messenger was released…when I signed in around 1pm I got a popup asking me to update my Messenger…

They have done loads of visual upgrades…it looks cooool…I installed it in my home machine…it doesn’t crash like da older version…still I couldn’t check out da latest cutting edge features…I’ll update dis post as soon as I discover something…

Edit:jst now i saw dis feature…if a contact is offline..we can email what we type in da chat windows…tht's cool

u can download it from da following link

http://g.msn.com/1csbeta/Mess80_EN

 

I’m Powered By Windows Server 2003 R2

I won Windows Server 2003 R2 @ the first Tech2guys user group meeting…but I didn’t hav time to shift back to Windows Server since I was too busy with other work..finally with the help of VMware I shifted back to Windows Server…most coolest thing is that it’s a original copy…so there’s nothing to be afraid of …as soon as I installed it I went to the Microsoft® site and registered my copy of Windows Server…there were some Security Enhancements…and it comes with Dot net framework 2.0 as an optional installation….but it crashed…I don’t know the exact reason…but I was using windows update and it prompt me to restart then after I restarted it didn’t boot…it said “PRESS A KEY TO REBOOT”…I pressed it loads of times but nothing happens…I hav no clue what  happened…may be b’coz I was using Hibernation..i mean I hardly restarts my computer…but it’s a very powerful O/S

I Won Windows 2003 Server R2

Today we had the first tech2guys user group meeting….there were abt 30 people…90% were system administrators…ruwan did two presentations…I was looking forward for da first one..since it was abt Windows 2003 Server R2…R2 is the new service pack which comes after Windows 2003 SP1….there are soo many enhancements…ruwan did another presentation abt Exchange Server….it was interesting too…after two presentations ruwan started asking questions….he asked a question abt Windows Vista…he askd wht’s da new Vista Beta Release…luckily I’m a beta tester…I was able to remember da correct build….It’s Windows Vista Beta Build 5338(March CPT)….so I won da original Microsoft Windows Server CD…