Can Your Certification Exams Go Further?

Looking for the chance to have that latest Microsoft certification do even more for you?  How about counting towards college credit?

In case you missed this post from the Born to Learn Blog, 21 Microsoft certifications and exams, including several of the new MCITP or MCTS certifications can be added to your transcript with the American Counsel on Education.  This transcript can then be submitted to other traditional institutions for review toward a computer science degree.

I was excited to see that even the older MSCE certification can count, but only if you’ve achieved it in the last 3 years.  In addition to the Microsoft Technical Certifications, there is a selection of Microsoft Office Certifications that can also count towards credit.

The process to register and submit your exams for credit is pretty straight forward, just follow the instructions in the post by the Born to Learn Blog.  Go forth and study!

ImageRight 5.2 FYI - Some Issues and Defects

If you are looking to move from ImageRight 4.x to 5.x, here are two bugs we've found post-upgrade that have made the official ImageRight defect list.  One is totally minor but interesting to know and the other is more of a big deal.

Window Size Changes after "Printing" in a Document
The ImageRight Desktop application has two main windows, the "image view" which displays whatever page you are working with and the "file manager" which allows users to navigate between different files, documents and pages within them.  If you have multiple monitors and happen to like to have the file manager window maximized to fill one monitor, you'll notice that if you print or import a new document into the application when the "Import" confirmation/configuration window appears, the file manager window will change size, reverting to whatever size it would be if you had clicked the "restore down" button in upper right side of the window header bar.

Current workarounds include clicking the "maximize" button again to make it fill the screen, or to just make the non-maximized version of the window larger and not use the Windows maximize feature to fill the screen.  This currently affects version 5.2.42.5220.

Annotations Resized/Wrapped in 4.3 Are Not Wrapped in 5.2.42.5220
The ability to annotate or add "stamps" to documents in ImageRight is one of the greatest features of the product.  In 4.3, it was possible to have the text of an annotation wrap to another line by resizing the text box.  After the upgrade to 5.2, annotations that were previously wrapped in this manner essentially "unwrapped" themselves, running the full text on one line.   This line of text could then cover valuable information on the orginal page or cover over another annotation.  Sometimes it even runs off the printable area of the document itself.  

While it's possible to turn hide the annotations in order to see the complete original document, users generally place annotations in a way so that do not disrupt the ability to read the document.  Also, if any documents need to be exported or printed for another purpose the annotation may be a critical part of the document history and need to be rendered correctly. 

Workarounds are currently setting the Image View windows to "Fit to Height" which will show annotations that run off the page to the right, or resize the view window to allow for more viewable area on the right side.  This is a handy temporary fix so that you can see the complete annotation text.

The second suggested workaround is to promote a previous version of the document (or create a new document copy without annotations) and re-apply the necessary annotations.  While this might work for some documents, if you use annotations as part of a workflow where you generate several by different people or your stamps are considered part of your audit trail for official documents, this workaround is simply not acceptable.

Our company extensively uses annotations for approving invoices for A/P processing, complete with dates that line up with check runs and batch numbers.  Not only would simply redoing annotations be impractical as we have thousands of potentially affected documents, it's simply doesn't pass muster from an audit standpoint - all the annotations would have a new date history.

This issue has been given a "Priority 1" status at ImageRight and I hope to see a fix for it soon.

The Web is Dead? Maybe We Just Can't Get There.

Wired magazine published an article in this month’s issue that argues that the “Web” is dead.  The "Web" being defined as the “dub dub dub” (www) part of the Internet, which is viewed and interacted with using a web browser. 

The Internet is transport method for a variety of protocols and components that make the system work and help people communicate and share information.  Email and FTP are still alive, even though they may not be the most popular mechanisms for younger users.  Over the years there have been many predictions of things being “dead” that are still very much alive.  Check out this great post - The Tragic Death of Practically Everything, by Harry McCracken, to see what I mean.

Its true that the Internet has evolved in many ways over the last 15 years or so.  It’s used as a transport mechanism for phone calls, music and an endless supply of information that people access using very specific apps – not always using a web browser. But for many, that traditional “web” presence is still very real. Just about anyone with basic access to a computer and the Internet can set up a free website or blog.  Apps might be the current big thing, but the skill set required for setting up a basic website is far less daunting than developing a phone app. 

A bigger issue facing the future of “www” is accessing it in the first place.  Any device that connects to the Internet needs an address and the current IP addressing system (IPv4) is quickly running short of these valuable addresses.  It’s estimated that these addresses will be completely depleted within the next year.  IPv6 is the next generation of addressing for Internet connectivity and it has not yet been widely adopted.  Its important that those involved with managing networks and providing connectivity to the Internet stay up to date and plan for the conversion to this new addressing scheme. 

Cool apps and new tools will always make the Internet a more exciting/useful place to be and there will be a place for the traditional web for a while to come, assuming you can get there.

ImageRight 5.2 Has Arrived!

Over the weekend, I worked with Vertafore support staff to upgrade our ImageRight installation from 4.x to 5.x.  While it wasn't a flawless process, it was successful in the end.  The support techs had to reinstall several of the server-side components twice, but this could have been related to the fact that our 4.x system was an upgrade from a 3.x version and there was a lot that needed to be cleaned up.

Outside of that hurdle, any other delays or issues we ran into over the weekend stemmed purely from a "documentation" standpoint.  For example, I was provided with the "Installation and Upgrade Guide" which I reviewed before the upgrade.  There were a couple things to note in there that weren't the case when we were actually doing the implementation.

• The application server software lists Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 (Not SP1) as a requirement, but SP1 was okay to have.
• It was noted that there were two new functionality rights for the enterprise scanner software that needed to be enabled - "Scanner - Scan to File" and "Scanner - Scan to Workflow".  However, "Scanner - Source Menu - Scan Batch" is also required.  There are several new scanner related functionality rights that control other options that you might need to enable as well, depending on what features your scanner operators already use.

When tackling the client desktops there were a few more road bumps.  I was missing the very important "ImageRight Desktop Installation Using Push Technology" that provided some key information for getting the desktop application deployed with Active Directory group policies.  For the 4.x version, we only had to deploy the desktop MSI file.  This time around you need two policies to deploy some prerequisite components that the manual installation process automatically call, as well as a transform file to make sure your application server and authentication information  gets in the local configuration files on the workstations. 

All of that (and more) is detailed in the "Push" guide - I didn't even use all the recommendations because I thought they were a bit too lenient for GPOs just used for software installation. Also, it was recommended that we completely uninstall the previous components from the workstation, so we pushed a different script first to remove all the ImageRight software and then applied our new GPOs.

Finally, we do have a post-upgrade issue with annotations not displaying correctly when "wrapped".  There were some added features related to annotation control, specifically the ability to control if an annotation can be resized or not.  Many of our users resize boxes to automatically wrap the text in a text box or stamp, so it's likely this display issue stems from that feature change.  Hopefully we'll have a good resolution for that shortly.

At any rate, I'm looking forward to joining other ImageRight users at the Vertafore Connection Tour next week in Las Vegas.  I'm sure there will be plenty to talk about!

Take-Aways from a Breakfast Event on Exchange 2010

Yesterday, I spent the morning at an event hosted by Quickstart, EMC and ExtraTeam on Exchange 2010 and Unified Communications.  Not only did they have a great breakfast laid out for those of us who attended event, I picked up a few tidbits about the new versions of these Microsoft products.  The Exchange portion of morning was lead by Mike Sneeringer, who is currently the only person in the world holding both the Microsoft Certified Master in Exchange 2010 and Office Communications Server 2007 - very cool.

If you are an Exchange administrator, you'll appreciate some of these features:

• Role Based Access Control - enables administrators to delegate permissions to responsible users based on job function without giving them access to the entire Exchange management interface. Tasks such as performing multi-mailbox searches no longer have to be the sole responsibility of Exchange Admins, allowing your organization take better advantage of features like legal hold and mailbox searches without involving the IT department.
• Multi-Mailbox Search - allows designated users (like a legal team) a web-based tool for searching across mulitple mailboxes.  This applies to online archive as well as the main mailbox.
• Legal Hold - A legal hold preserves deleted mailbox items and records changes made to mailbox items. Deleted and changed items are returned in a discovery search.
• Improved Transport Rules - will allow for greater control of how mail flows both within your organization and to outside contacts.
• Online Mailbox Moves - this is available for 2007 to 2010 migrations only, but will allow users access to their mailboxes during migration from one database to another. For migrations from 2003 mailboxes must be taken offine.

In addition to some great improvement from the mail administration side, end users will appreciate some of these improvements:

• Delivery reports - provides access to message delivery information for both end users and administrators to help answer questions common questions about mail status.  Great for offices that have multiple locations and multiple email servers.
• MailTips - I can't describe how helpful mail tips can be any better than this blog post by the Microsoft Exchange team. You'll never accidentally "reply to all" for an email you where were BCC'd again.
• Online Archive - Instead of using PSTs to store archive mail, users can take advantage of an online archive separate from their regular mailbox.  With SP1, that archive can even be stored in a different database.
• List Moderation - Allow designated moderators to approve messages before they are sent out to common distribution lists.  This combined with MailTips will probably reduce a lot of common interoffice email mistakes!

Finally, Unified Communications Server can bring your teams together more than ever before, as well as make it easier to manage voice mails and emails together.  With the ability to integrate with other common applications like Office and SharePoint, knowing the "presence" and availabilty of other coworkers can streamline communications and improve productivity. 

Overall, the event was a morning well spent.  While the Unified Communcations offerings aren't something I'm looking at, the Exchange 2010 features just make me look forward to getting there sooner.  Also, EMC has some additional features regarding eDiscovery with their SourceOne product that could complement your Exchange infrastructure depending on your needs.

Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

Came across some handy keyboard shortcuts for Windows 7, courtesy of Brainstorm, Inc.  Check out their website for some other free Windows 7 tips.

• Windows Key – Opens and closes the Start menu, so its a quick way to get to Instant Search
• Windows Key + Left or Right arrow – Snaps the active windows to the right or left side of the screen
• Windows Key + Home – Minimizes all but the active window
• Windows Key + M – Minimizes all open windows
• Windows Key + Shift + M – Restores all open windows
• Windows Key + D – Shows the desktop
• Windows Key + R – Opens the RUN dialog window
• Windows Key + U – Opens the Ease of Access Center
• Windows Key + T – Scrolls through items on your Taskbar
• Windows Key + (+/-) – Zooms in/out; opens Magnifier
• Windows Key + L – Locks the computer

Some keyboard shortcuts use keys that are embedded on a laptop keyboard (like HOME), I tend to avoid.  It doesn’t seem like much of a shortcut when I have to deal with the “Fn” key.  As for that Windows + L combination?  It’s going to take a long time for me to break the habit of using Ctrl-Alt-Del.

Looking for User Training for Windows and Office? Check out ELF.

Looking for a way to provide tips about Windows 7 or Office at your office? The Microsoft Enterprise Learning Framework gives you fast access to information that you can share with users regarding the deployment and usage of Windows client operating systems and office applications.  Walk through a few steps, select the OS and applications that you need, and then review the list of articles and short videos that you can share as you deploy new software.

All the links lead to content that is available on online, but its neatly organized in a way you can share with information workers in your organization.  According to the Microsoft site, you can use ELF for a variety of purposes:

1. As part of your deployment communication plan. Select the timeframe (for example, a month before deployment, a week after deployment) and category of employee (for example, Information Workers) and then generate a sample e-mail with topic recommendations for your employees.
2. To identify a few key learning topics for a particular feature, such as Search. For example, you could include links to Windows Online Help topics about the Search feature on your corporate intranet site.
3. Any time, to get ideas for tips-and-tricks topics for newsletters, your intranet support site or lunch-and-learn presentations. 

Finally, need documentation for some of your own applications so you can share tips with others?  Try using the Problem Steps Recorder that's included with Windows 7.  Not only a great way to troubleshoot issues, you can use the tool to capture screen shots with captions that you can use as a starting point for your own instructional documents.

SceCli Warning: Event 1202 on Windows XP

Here's an error that was found on two of our workstations recently:

Event Type: Warning

Event Source: SceCli
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1202
Computer: COMPUTERNAME


Description:
Security policies were propagated with warning. 0x4b8 : An extended error has occurred.

For best results in resolving this event, log on with a non-administrative account and search http://support.microsoft.com for "Troubleshooting Event 1202's".


The warning was repeated several times a day and it looked like the machine might not be process all our group policies correctly.   A check in the "%windir%\security\logs\winlogon" log file repeatedly showed "Error 1208: An extended error has occurred. Error creating database."

I did a little searching around on the web and suspected that the local security database, secedit.sdb was damaged.  There were a couple of KB articles that danced around what seemed to be going on (KB278316 and KB818464), but either the OS indicated wasn't XP or I wasn't seeing all the errors listed.  But they seemed promising, so I tried one on each workstation.

Option 1 - ESENTUTL /p


Run ESENTUTL to repair the database using the command line below.  Follow with the ever popular "gpupdate /force".

esentutl /p %windir%\security\database\secedit.sdb

Later, I came across a mention in KB884018 that indicated using ESENTUTIL /P on Windows XP could result in tattooing some previous GPO settings in the registry, but that wasn't a big concern for me.  We don't often rely on GPOs to rollback to their previous settings if they are removed, we usually actively change each setting if we want to alter a GPO that was previously set. I not worried that I did anything that will affect our future policies, however if you are skeptical, use the next option instead.
Option 2 - Rebuild the Security Database

1. Open the %SystemRoot%\Security folder, create a new folder, and then name it "OldSecurity".
2. Move all of the files ending in .log from the %SystemRoot%\Security folder to the OldSecurity folder. (You may need to use SAFE MODE to copy all of these, however I just skipped the ones that I couldn't copy.)
3. Find the Secedit.sdb file in the %SystemRoot%\Security\Database folder, and then rename this file to "Secedit.old".
4. Click Start, click Run, type mmc, and then click OK.
5. Click Console, click Add/Remove Snap-in, and then add the Security and Configuration snap-in.
6. Right-click Security and Configuration and Analysis, and then click Open Database.
7. Browse to the %TEMP% folder, type Secedit.sdb in the File name box, and then click Open.
8. When you are prompted to import a template, click Setup Security.inf, and then click Open.
9. Copy %TEMP%\Secedit.sdb to %SystemRoot%\Security\Database.
10. Reboot.

This was a longer process that the first option, but seemed to be just as effective. As I mention in the steps, I didn't bother with using safe mode to ensure I could copy or rename all the files.  There seemed to be no ill effects with doing that, at least not in the short term.


Finally, I added a rule to System Center Essentials 2010 to watch for this error message on workstations in the future. I'd like to know sooner than later if some of the workstations in our organization are having issues processing GPOs.  We aren't sure exactly why those two machines had issues, though they have had viruses removed from them in the past.  Perhaps trashing parts of the local security database was a result of some malware action.

Don't miss these Upcoming Events

PacITPros will be having there monthly meeting on August 3rd.  PacITPros member Sam Bowne will be presenting a recap of items that came out at Defcon and Blackhat. Doug Spindler will be talking about security items related to the recent Microsoft Zero day exploits that have come out.  Don't forget to RSVP!

Coming up in early November, there is the SharePoint Intelligence one-day conference in Santa Clara.  For $350, spend the day attending a variety of sessions and networking with others involved with SharePoint. I'm hoping I can score a little training budget from the office! If you are in Southern California, the event will be held in mid-September.