Girls in Tech LA hosts Windows 8 Unleashed!

Here's a great event for you tech ladies in the LA area... Jessica is a friend of mine, so I know she organizes and gets behind some fabulous events!

WHAT: Girls in Tech LA partners with Microsoft and UberGeekGirl's Jessica DeVita (Microsoft MVP) to present a class on Windows 8 mobile and desktop apps! At this all-day workshop, Microsoft evangelists will thoroughly train from soup to nuts. By mid-day you’ll be building an app with an all-star team!

WHO: Calling all FEMALE college students and professionals throughout LA - aspiring and experienced female coders, developers and app-builders! Required: Very basic programming experience.

WHERE: Microsoft Office in Downtown LA

WHEN: Date: Saturday, January 19, 2013

WHY: Girls in Tech LA realizes the untapped pool of aspiring female developers and we make it our goal to provide opportunities for growth, education and exciting challenges.

Why Windows 8? Microsoft Surface is selling out, Windows 8 mobile is going gang busters! Join Microsoft and Girls in Tech LA to learn how to make money with your app and capitalize on the next generation of tablets. We’ll even show you how to market your app in the Microsoft app store!

BRING: A laptop (Windows or Mac)

To register, go to http://gitlawindows8unleashed.eventbrite.com/

Windows 8 Road Test

I have Windows 8 installed in two locations, on my "lab" box at work, which is standard monitor/mouse/keyboard and on my Lenovo W510 laptop at home, which has a two-point touch screen.

Now, don't get me wrong, I used Windows 8 back when it was in it's Release Candidate days. I have an out of the box install as a Windows-To-Go stick that I played with from time to time.  But I really didn't get down and dirty with it until I started using it as my main machine at home and have it in front of me all day at the office.

My "first" impressions?

It's bigger. Visually bigger. Fluffy even. The tiles are great, I don't mind that as my start screen. But the resolution on everything just seems big, even though I have it set to highest possible. The built-in mail application. The calendar.  My contact list.  I might be getting older, but I'm not THAT old yet. My vision is still hanging on, I swear. I just like to have more of my data visible. (And in a smaller font so that the people in the next cube can't read what I'm typing.)

I don't mind not having touch screen capabilities on my full sized monitor.  While I occasionally find myself about to tap the screen, I'm happy with the way the mouse and keyboard work.  I find myself using the keyboard to bring up menu options and to get back to the Start page quickly.

I'm annoyed that the "Messenging" application can't connect to gChat, or any commonly used instant messaging service for that matter.  And the mail application is pretty bare bones, to put it nicely.

I miss having multiple applications "open" at the same time, unless I'm using the Desktop. I know they are running in the background, but sometimes its feels like they aren't really there unless I can see them. Now only having one application active on your screen could be handy when you are trying to concentrate on that ONE thing, but when the computer is just there in the background with Rowi (for Twitter) going and IM+ (for connecting to Yahoo! and gChat) and my personal email, I feel like I want to see them all.

Right now, Windows 8 makes me wish I had a Surface or a laptop that converts to a tablet format, since I feel like it's better for a device that's more "private" than a desktop monitor.  I'd love some kind of feature or setting you could change that would make better use of the real estate provided by a regular monitor.

Meanwhile, I'll stick with it - I know there's more to love as I use it more and more.

Windows 8 with Stephen Rose at PacITPros!

Ah, 2012 is quickly drawing to a close and the Pacific IT Professionals are proud to have Stephen Rose presenting on Windows 8 at our December 4th meeting.

Stephen Rose is the Sr. Product Marketing and Community Manager for the Windows Commercial Team at Microsoft Headquarters in Redmond, WA. Before joining Microsoft, Stephen spent 15 years working as a network infrastructure design and virtualization consultant for many Fortune 500 companies. His current role includes managing the IT pro community for the Windows Commercial team overseeing the technical content on the Springboard Series on TechNet, managing the Windows7 Forums, the Springboard Insider Newsletter, and the Windows Team Blog.

According to a Gartner study, the average user carries 3 devices, a tablet, a smartphone and a PC every day. With the release of Windows 8 and Server 2012, how does this change how you manage your users while taking advantage of the many new ways to make your users productive? Stephen Rose, Sr Product Marketing Manager with the Windows team will discuss the impact  and opportunities that Windows 8 will have on users, IT pros and developers. From a new fast and fluid UI  to being able to manage and deploy custom Windows 8 applications,Windows 8 brings new opportunities to users and business.

RSVP here!

Also, since the first Tuesday in January 2013 happens to be New Years Day, there will be NO PacITPros meeting in January. 

I Like Plumbing

Not the water kind, the telecom kind.

Right now, I'm in the midst of planning and preparing to move our office to a new location. Since telecom is a lot of setting and forgetting, I've been having a great time reviewing the phone numbers we use, what they are used for, deciding if they'll be needed in the new location and refreshing my memory on some of the details of our Shoretel configuration.

Things I've been thinking about:

• Analog Devices - Our existing office has old 66-blocks wired back to the desks that I've used to punch down fax machines and analog polycoms.  Our new office won't have 66-blocks, so I need to allot space on or LAN racks for connecting the wiring pairs from the harmonica whips on the Shoretel switches.  And make sure that the two cable drops we are doing everywhere is going to be enough for each location.
• Backup Lines - The phone system will use a regular PRI trunk, but we also have regular POTS lines installed as a backup.  Those need to be grouped in a Hunt Group over at AT&T and the configuration on the DIDs need to allow for roll-over if the PRI goes down.
• AT&T is moving away from their legacy Centrex Voicemail service and with our move, we can't retain the few VM boxes we have for external uses. Turns out we'll only need one (as part of our disaster recovery planning) and I'm fine with having an new number issued on the new Unified Messaging platform AT&T is selling now. 
• We have a lot of guest phones and old devices on the floor now that won't be needed in the new office. It's time for me to wander around and start collecting that up.  Today I have that time, I know in the next few week, I probably won't.

Hope everyone has a great long weekend filled with turkey, stuffing and pie!

Windows 8 - Any Size You Want It

Windows 8 has launched and Microsoft strived to make an OS that can give you a consistent experience as you move between the various devices you use during the day. Using SkyDrive, you can have access to all your important files and pictures from anywhere.

Windows Phone - I've loved my Windows Phone running 7.5, so I'm sure I'm going to love Windows 8.  Pin apps, pin people and customize your phone to meet your needs as often as they change.  I often create new groups of people using People Hub depending on events that I'm attending or what's going on.  Just this week, I had a "Sandy" tile - keeping all the tweets and post from my east coast friends and family front and center.  I will admit I'm a bit of a diva regarding the form factor though, so that might be what holds me back. Most of the phones being offered right now with Windows 8 are too big for my taste.

Surface - Scale up a bit from your phone and grab a Microsoft Surface.  The RT version is available for ordering now and rumor has the Intel (Pro) version is due out in a few months.  I need some of the enterprise features that will be available with the Pro version for work, so I'll likely be waiting a bit for that as well unless someone wants to send me a RT version to play with!

Desktop - Finally, meet Windows 8 on the desktop.  With or without a touch screen, Windows 8 brings you the same tiled experience as the phone and the Surface.  From now until January 31st, you can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for only $39.99.  Use the Windows 8 Upgrade Assistant to see if your existing computer can run it.

Finally, if you want to experience some additional buzz around Windows 8, Server 2012 and the newest version of Microsoft Office, check out The New Era of Work, Microsoft's 2012 Launch Event.  Events are being held in various locations throughout the US from now until the end of the year.

October is National Cyber Security Month

As a system admin, I like to think that I'm pretty savvy when it comes to online security.  However, it never hurts to look at some current recommendations as a refresher and maybe pass on a link or two to family and friends regarding ways to prevent fraud, theft and other online ills.

Visit the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. campaign or Microsoft's Cyber Security web page for tips on staying aware and secure online.

Check out my previous security posts for some of my thoughts on cyber security. What are your recommendations for friends and family when they ask you about online security? 

PowerShell... Now Less Daunting

Last Friday, I had the luxury of attending another PacITPros TechDays... It was all about PowerShell.  Jason Helmick taught in SF and in the East Bay.  Both days were completely packed. PowerShell IS where Windows is going for administration.

If you haven't had the chance to listen to Jason talk about PowerShell, you are missing a great chance to learn how to use it. Jason is fun, upbeat and knows his stuff.  Check out his blog (http://www.jasonhelmick.com/) for more about PowerShell.  He might just mention where he'll be speaking next.

So what did I take away from the class?

1) Learn this: get-help
Seriously, it's ALL about RTFM. Learn it, love it, learn how to use it. It's all there.

2) Don't type this:  get-service | stop-service
PowerShell can give you a bunch of ways to make your job easier and another bunch of ways to screw up big time. Read and comprehend before you press enter. PowerShell doesn't ask if you are sure.

After 8 hours of lecture and labs, Jason didn't teach us the "Top 10 PowerShell Commands for Administering Windows".  We didn't walk out of class with a handout of the everything we'd need to know.  Quite the contrary.  Jason taught us where to find what we needed and how to figure out if whatever we were trying to do would work or not.  And that is really all you need to be comfortable with the command line of the future for Windows.

So what's been fun on the Internet lately?

First up, in case you missed out on some of the new things from Microsoft, Windows 8 and Server 2012 are coming soon!  When you have some free time, start learning more about Server 2012 or take a close up look at Windows 8. You can even download a 90-day trial of the new desktop client.

And here are some other links to some fun things I've seen online, mostly via Twitter:

• 10+ Most Dangerous Species of Help Desk Callers
• Kids Explain Why We Should Use the Internet - where were you in 1995?

For those of you who work on Exchange, don't miss out on these:

• Fix Exchange Server 2010 SP Udpdate Errors
• Everything You Need to Know About Exchange Backups

Handy Windows 7 GPO Policies

The official roll-out of Windows 7 has begun in my office.  We are doing a round of hardware refreshing for some end users and with that comes Windows 7 and Office 2010. Here are a couple handy GPO settings we've used to make our lives easier.

Verbose Startup and Shutdown - by default, Windows 7 will just display "please wait..." while it handles it's startup and shutdown processes.  If you find the verbosity of Windows XP handy, likely displaying the name of software that's being installed automatically, you'll want to change use these policies.

Computer Configuration - Policies - Administrative Templates  - System - Verbose vs normal status messages = Enabled

Computer Configuration-Policies - Administrative Templates - System - Remove Boot / Shutdown / Logon / Logoff status messages = Disabled

Let Users Install Printers - Windows 7 increased security and UAC will prompt standard users for administrative credentials before adding a printer because the driver store is a protected area.  If running around to help every user who's trying to add another network printer isn't your cup of tea, try these policies to give the standard user a little bit more power.

Computer Configuration - Policies - Administrative Templates - Printers - Point and Print Restrictions = Disabled

User Configuration - Policies - Administrative Templates - Control Panel - Printers - Point and Print Restrictions = Disabled

What's A Techie To Do?

Or rather, what have I been up to lately?

Been doing a lot of "spring" cleaning at the office. Trying to tie up loose ends on lots of little projects.

1) Upgrading Shoretel - I've been using Shoretel since Shoretel 5. We've been through several upgrades since then and last week moved to Shoretel 12.3.  We have a fabulous reseller that did most of the work for me. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and watch the magic. The trickiest part was getting the MSI file for the new desktop software, Shoretel Communicator, out of the setup file so I could deploy it with a GPO.  This guy had a good blog post that helped me out.

2) Removal of Exchange 2003 - Back in October I migrated our mail to Exchange 2010 SP1. Our old server had going through several stages of being decommissioned and had been left turned off for several months as other more pressing project got to me. I finally turned it back on and ran the setup program to remove it.  It didn't go completely flawlessly, but most issues were resolved by fixing a few public folder replication issues and then deleting the server from the Exchange 2003 ESM.

3) Training for Windows 7 and Office 2010 - We have finally reached the point where we are doing a bunch of hardware refreshes for staff in the office.  That means moving from XP / Office 2007 to Windows 7 and Office 2010.  I'm not doing the hardware deployments, but I'm responsible for providing basic training to the staff so they are prepared for some of the changes that will come.  My first two sessions were this week and I concentrated a lot on the new start menu and taskbar in Windows 7.  Also, Outlook 2010 has quite a few navigation changes that are notable.

4) De-cluttering My Desk - While not a super-techie endeavor, it needed to be done. I trashed piles of CDs and DVDs of very dated software, including diskettes for installing Windows 2000 Server. Diskettes!! Ah!!  If anyone is looking for the DVD to install Windows 95, I'm your girl. I'm hanging that in my cube for decoration.

3 Weeks with the Samsung Focus 2

I'm happy to report that after nearly 3 solid weeks of use, my Samsung Focus 2 has not crashed.  No more text message of death.

The form factor is managable (about the same size as an iPhone but rounder at the corners) and I really only have one complaint - it's not easy to tell the top from the bottom.

The screen is nearly perfectly centered in the device and while their are some visual differences between the top and the bottom, there is nothing truely tactile to tell which end you grabbed when you pull it out of your bag or pocket.

Also, while the power button is easily accessible if the phone is in your hand, it's angled toward the back side, it's hard to press when the device is sitting flat on a desk.  You have to lift the side of the phone to reach the button or pick it up entirely.

Overall, these are minor issues and I completely recommend the Focus 2 as a Focus Flash replacement, particularly if you are tired of crashes caused by text messages.

TechEd 2012 Session Recap

As is likely with many of you, when I return from a conference that has taken me out of the office for more than a day or so, I have plenty of email and tasks to catch up with.  Now that I have a little bit of wiggle room, it's time to try to watch all the sessions I missed at TechEd.

There is one little problem when you are mostly an IT generalist and attend a multi-track conference event.  You simply can't be everywhere you want to be.  I'm so glad that sessions from TechEd are available after the conference for review, otherwise I'd miss out on some great stuff.

Here are some highlights of some of the sessions I attended or viewed so far:

EXL304 An Inside View of Microsoft Exchange 2010 SP2 - I listened to this yesterday and it highlights all the new features in SP2. Most are geared toward either multi-site or multi-tenant needs, but GAL segmentation might be useful for smaller organizations too, depending on your business needs. There are also over 600 bug fixes!

VIR317 Lessons from the Field: 22 VDI and RDS Mistakes You'll Want to Avoid - a lively session with more RDS than VDI mistakes, particularly geared toward farms with more than one RDS Host.

SIA312 What's New in Active Directory in Windows Server 2012 - A great summary of some of the cool AD features that come with Server 2012, particularly support for virtualized domain controllers while avoiding issues like USN Rollback.

WCL324 IPv6 Bootcamp: Get Up to Speed Quickly - IPv6 is here and if you are running Windows 7, you've already deployed it.  So don't forget to spend a little time becoming more "in the know" about what's probably already on your network.

And my to-do list of sessions to watch later!

• SIA402 - How to (un)Destroy Your Active Directory: Reloaded
• WSV321 - Windows PowerShell Crash Course
• SIA300 - Ten Deadly Sins of Administrators about Windows Security
• VIR308 - What's New in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, Part 1
• VIR309 - What's New in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, Part 2

 I didn't provide links to each session, but you can find them at MyTechEd or on MSDN's Channel 9.

Hello TechEd NA!

Today I landed in *rainy* Orlando to attend my 9th Microsoft TechEd.  I know it's my 9th because this year marks the 20th anniversary of the conference and alumni were given a button to write in how many years they've attended.

I couldn't remember the exact number I'd been to offhand, so since I had to look it up, I'll list them out here for those of you who've been attending along with me.  Perhaps we should have a 9-year veteran meetup!

2012 - Orlando, FL
2011 - Atlanta, GA
2010 - New Orleans, LA
2009 - Los Angeles, CA
2008 - Orlando, FL
2007 - Orlando, FL
2006 - Boston, MA
2005 - Orlando, FL
2004 - San Diego, CA

I have to say that my favorite locations so far have been San Diego, Boston and New Orleans. 

Finally, here a two quick tips for those of you who are first timers. 

1) If you feel like you must leave a sesson, don't try to race to another one in the same time slot.  Either network down on the event floor or in the community areas, or stick with your first pick and find that one nugget of good info to take away.
2) Do not try to attend a session in every available slot of every day.  You will burn out by Wednesday and I will recognize you in the lunch line by the information that is suddenly dripping out of your ears.

Windows Phone: Round 2

When Samsung put out the Focus Flash in November of last year, I jumped on it. I was excited to try out the Windows Phone OS and while I still miss the real keyboard that I used to have on my Blackberry Curve, I've adjusted.

Form factor is a big deal for me when it comes to a mobile device.  While I don't always type with one hand, I like to have the option so I can reply to text messages and make calls while holding a coffee or walking my dog.  Since my company primarily uses AT&T for mobile phones, the Samsung Focus Flash was the smallest device available, mirroring the form factor of the iPhone and I can work the keyboard without too much issue one-handed. I loved it.

I honestly love the Windows Phone OS. Everyone who asks, I tell them that killer features is the People Hub. No need to remember if your loved one sent you an email or a text with that valuable tidbit you need to reference - it's all there in the history.

Feeling the pressure of the firehose of data coming at you via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn? Worry no more... create some groups for your key people so you don't miss the highlights and peruse the other postings later.  It's wonderful.

I was pretty sure I had landed the perfect combination of phone OS and phone hardware for my needs.  And then the crashing started.

Turns out lots of people with the Focus Flash were experience the "SMS of Death" issue. Attributed to the proximity sensor or some other such nonsense, random text messages would lock up the device entirely, requiring a battery pull to reset the phone.  I read a lot of the forums regarding the issue, but when push came to shove, it just seemed to be an issue with this particular phone and there wasn't a good solution.

I lived with it for a while. The Windows Phone rebooted so quickly that the battery pull wasn't a big deal in the beginning.  Sometimes I could read enough of the txt to not have to bug the sender to repeat themselves. And then it got annoying. And tedious.

So I started looking for other Windows Phone options. And they are all huge.  Sure I'd love a Lumia 900 or an HTC Titan or whatever. But they just seem too big. So I managed - the pros of Windows Phone still outweighted the trouble with the Focus Flash.

Then quietly, I notice that you couldn't buy new Focus Flash phones anymore. Instead of directly addressing the issue, it seems Samsung just decided to stop making the phone.  In mid-May they started offering the Focus 2, which is a bit of a combination of the original Focus and the Focus Flash.  The form factor is still small, just a bit bigger than the Flash and more rounded.  And white. Very white.

So I jumped again this week. I figured I'd road test it at TechEd. At best, I'd have a solid phone that didn't crash.  At worst, I'd have a phone that wasn't any better or worse than the previous one. Stay tuned.

End of the Month Round Up

I'm looking forward to attending TechEd in Orlando in two weeks.  If you haven't already signed up to attend, it might actually be too late!  TechEd is sold out this year and they are accepting names for the waiting list only at this time. I imagine it will be a crazy time, filled with lots of learning and networking with peers. 

I won't be speaking this year, but that just gives me more time to attend some of the great sessions - I'll be concentrating on Active Directory in Server 2012, Exchange 2010, PowerShell and some System Center.

If you are hoping for something more local to your home town, check out the Windows Server 2012 Community Roadshow. US locations will include Houston, Chicago, Irvine, New York and San Jose, just to name a few. Microsoft MVPs will be presenting the content, so don't miss out a free chance to prepare for the release of Server 2012.

Another notable event that's upcoming is the World IPv6 Launch. Check out which major ISPs and web companies are turning on IPv6 for the duration. 

Finally, if you are looking to make some improvements to your personal, cloud-based storage and file management for your personal computers, take a look at SugarSync.  I've been using it for several years and it's been an easy way for me to access files from multiple computers and keep everything synced and backed up.  I've even got a link for a referral if you'd like to try it out.

Supporting Women in Technology

I'm a bad "Woman in Technology". I know this.

There's been a lot of chatter lately about Women in Technology, Women in Business... particularly with the responses to the whole "Dell" thing and what not. But on many levels, I just don't care. 

Yes, there, I said it. I've got too many other things to concentrate on than to get stressed out about some sideways glace or inappropriate comment.  That being said, no one needs to be harrassed at work, or their ideas discounted because of a difference in their sex.  And some people are just crude and insensitive.

Sure it can be rough breaking into a male-dominated field.  It can be hard working in a male-dominated company.  It would be great if women were equally represented in every area.  But most days I'd rather just concentrate on doing my job as well as I can.

But I do know that I'm "bad" at actively supporting women in technology and I like work to improve on that.  So I make sure that I spend time recognizing and appreciating what women can and have accomplished.

One of the ways I do this is by attending conferences geared toward women. They open me up to the accomplishments of other women, expose me to great female speakers and give me a chance to learn about the challenges and successes faced by many in their professional lives.

Last week, I attended the conference put on by the Professional BusinessWomen of California, at the Moscone center in San Francisco.  This was my first time attending this event and I was impressed with the number of women in attendance and the quality of the content and speakers.

While not technology focused, the sessions were inspiring and informational to women in any field. Using Gender Intelligence to Build Credibilty, Balancing Your Life in Your "War Zones" and Negotiating With Confidence were just some of the topics covered.

Another annual conference that I've attended and mentioned before is She's Geeky.  Usually held over a weekend, this event brings to together women who have interests in STEM fields to network and talk about the things that interest them.  It's a great opportunity to learn something novel or try your hand at running a session of your own.

Check out their websites and watch for upcoming events. You'll probably be impressed - I always am.

Also, if you'll be at TechEd in Orlando this year, reach out to Jessica DeVita of UberGeekGirl. She has some great ideas around bring women together to mentor other women.  Check out her recent blog post about what she'd like to accomplish.

For Some of Those Women in Tech...

You might want to check out the Women Who Tech Teleconference, which is taking place via phone/web on May 23rd.  For a nominal fee, you can attend several panel discussions revolving around programming/development and entrepreneurship.

The topic list isn't geared toward "Women Who SysAdmin", but I might find myself there just to check out the discussion on Digital Rights and Online Privacy.  One of the panelist is Kaliya Hamlin, the founder of  She’s Geeky, which is a favorite conference of mine for women.

So check it out and see if it's up your alley!

Using Email Categories Within An Exchange Organization

Do you use the categories feature in Outlook to identify your mail?  If so, you might want that category information to be passed to others in your organization.  Starting with Exchange 2007, all categories get stripped from sent messages. Below is the PowerShell you can run to ensure that the category information stays put.

set-transportconfig -clearcategories $false

To turn it off again, change the flag to $true.

Upcoming May Events - Password Stealing; Windows Deployment

Pacific IT Professionals May Meeting - On May 8th This Month!
Date/Time: Tuesday, May 8, 2012 - 6:30pm
Topic: Sam Bowne - CCSF Professor and CISSP will be presenting on Stealing Passwords Remotely & Malware Analysis. Join us to hear Sam talk about Stealing Passwords Remotely & Malware Analysis - it should be a great technical security discussion meeting where you can ask questions and hear some interesting things about Malware and password security.

Please remember to RSVP if you'll be attending.

Also a few upcoming events from Microsoft -

TechNet Webcast: Everything You Wanted to Know and Ask about Windows Deployment (Part 1)
Registration URL:  http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9807963  or  http://bit.ly/JLTQLM
Date/ Time: Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - 9-10am (Pacific)
Abstract: In this demonstration-rich, question and answer webcast, Windows Product Manager Stephen Rose moderates an open conversation with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Product Manager Michael Niehaus and deployment guru Johan Arwidmark. They discuss the new Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 release as well as tips and tricks from the experts about using the Windows Deployment Toolkit.

TechNet Webcast: Everything You Wanted to Know and Ask about Windows Deployment (Part 2)
Registration URL:  http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9807964   or  http://bit.ly/Kgny8y
Date/ Time: Thursday, May 17, 2012  - 9-10am (Pacific)
Abstract: In this demonstration-rich, question and answer webcast, Windows Product Manager Stephen Rose moderates an open conversation with Microsoft Deployment Toolkit Product Manager Michael Niehaus and deployment guru Johan Arwidmark. They discuss the new Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 release as well as tips and tricks from the experts about using the Windows Deployment Toolkit.

Surprise - You Might Have a New Certification!

Last week, Microsoft announced some new changes with the certification program, particularly bringing back the MCSE title for Cloud technologies. MCSE now stands for Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert instead of the older Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer.  And the related certification, the MSCA has also been updated.

With all these new changes the exams associated with the achievement of these new titles has been adjusted slightly, which may mean you might just be an new MSCA without even trying.

Yesterday, I got an email congratulating me on my recent certification, the Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate for Windows Server 2008.  That was a fun surprise, so congrats to any other newly minted MSCAs out there!

To find out more about the new certification offerings go to http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/cert-overview.aspx

Interested in Learning More about Windows Phone?

Go "Behind the Tiles" and learn more about the "Metro" style interface and the future with Windows Phone at your local Best Buy!

Register for this invitation-only engagement brought to you by Microsoft and have the opportunity to:

• Attend a Nokia Lumia 900 instructor-led demo lab
• Get the latest information on Windows Phone for IT and Developers
• Play with some of the latest and greatest Windows Phones
• Network with peers and Windows Phone experts
• Have a chance to win great prizes

Food and beverages will be provided to help you recharge your battery.

The number of attendees at each event is limited, so don't delay. Register today (registration code: MVP) to join in.  Dates vary by location from April 23rd to May 17th.

Participating Best Buy locations include:

• Charlotte, NC
• Chicago, IL
• Dallas and Houston, TX
• Minneapolis, MN
• Irvine, San Diego and San Francisco, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• Redmond, WA
• Waltham, MA

Junk Mail Settings via GPO & Exchange 2010

One of my most popular blog posts is "Control Outlook 2007 Junk Mail Settings via GPO". I've used this policy and corresponding text file for nearly two years now, without any issues.

And then I upgraded the mail server to Exchange 2010 SP1.

It was reported to me (and the "interwebs" confirm) that the import and processing of the text file for the "safe senders" has a bit of a special "feature".  If you have any addresses on the list that match your internal domain, they are removed a few minutes after the import happens.  And if you manually add any internal domain addresses to the safe senders list, they disappear too.  This happens with the Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010 client. 

There is quite an extensive forum posting about the issue from early 2011 that you can check out. It includes some PowerShell to adjust transport rules so that domain mail has a reduced spam level. I haven't tried that though, as this issue isn't mission critical for our office.

But if you or your end users have noticed this behavior, it isn't insanity. It's just not working the way it did with Exchange 2003.

You Don't Have to Be Bored in Mid-March!

There are several exciting events this month that I wanted to make sure you didn't miss out on.

TechDays SF - 3/22 and 3/23, San Francisco, CA

Is TechEd North America too far away?  Do you not have the training and travel budget you hoped for this year?  Maybe you are looking for a local event that more than one of the IT Pros in your company can attend... Look no further - TechDays SF is on March 22nd and 23rd, located in downtown San Francisco.  Don't miss out on this great event for IT Professionals!

Speakers and Topics will include:

• Stephen Rose (Microsoft) - Windows 7 Deployment
• Harold Wong (Microsoft) - Exchange 2010 and Lync
• Joey Snow (Microsoft) - How the Cloud will Impact IT Pros
• Chris Avis (Microsoft) - System Center
• Mark Minasi (Microsoft MVP, Author)- 10 Things to Know about Windows 2008 R2 Server; Windows 8 Server
• Darren Mar-Elia (Microsoft MVP, Author) - Best Practice for Group Policy Design
• Jason Helmick (Author) - Powershell Beginner and Advanced
• Richard Hicks (Microsoft MVP) - DirectAccess; Microsoft Forefront
• Steven Evans (Microsoft MVP) - IIS 7 for IT Pros; Windows Failover Clustering
• Chris Henley (Veeam Software, Author) - Backup Solutions
• CA Callahan (Author) - SharePoint

... And many more, check out the speakers (http://techdays.org/speakers) and session abstracts (http://techdays.org/techdays-sf-sessions/) for more information.  This fabulous two-day line up is only $300 if you sign up now.  Register at http://www.techdays.org/, early bird pricing ends soon!

Microsoft VIP Event - 3/18, Santa Clara Microsoft Store, 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd

See Windows 8 at a private VIP after-hours evening gathering at the local Microsoft Store. Play with Windows 8 in an immersive environment while we celebrate, network, and talk modern apps. Experience new Metro style gadgets that revolutionize a whole new generation of cool.

Microsoft IT Camp - 3/19, Mountain View, CA

IT Camps are semi-structured, no-fluff events exclusively designed to serve IT professionals.  They are a free, in-person learning event for anyone seeking professional development as it applies to IT Professionals.  The agenda is intended to deliver a technical overview and hands-on experience that is less formal or structured than traditional instructor-led training.

Participants will have a chance to perform hands on activities / exercises individually or as a team.  At the end of the day, we encourage everyone to share their thoughts and experiences with the rest of the group.  Come prepared to have fun, be excited, and interact in a group.

This is Internet Explorer. This is Internet Explorer for the Desktop.

The Windows 8 Consumer Preview is out, so you also have access to preview the next version of Internet Explorer - Internet Explorer 10!  The new Windows 8 operating system and Metro style interface brings new challenges as Microsoft strives to move forward while still supporting everything you can run on Windows 7, including everyone's favorite application - the Internet browser.

 

Internet Explorer 10 supports modern standards like HTML5, CSS3 and SVG developers the ability to build more powerful web apps and continue to support the security enhancements brought to you with Internet Explorer 9.  

Metro style applications are the native type of application for Windows 8.  So it's no surprise that Internet Explorer 10 completely embraces this with it's Metro style "experience".  (Special Note: The IE 10 experience presented to the user on Windows 8 shall hereby be referred to simply as "Internet Explorer". Do not forget this. It is important.)

Internet Explorer is a touch-centric, add-in free, plug-in free browsing experience that doesn't support ActiveX, Flash or Silverlight.  

But wait! What about existing websites and web apps that require those components? I can't use these on Windows 8?

Windows 8 completely supports the full desktop "experience" that you know and love from Windows 7.  All of your current Windows applications can run using the desktop experience, including the Internet browsing you already do.

Oh cool.  So I can install Internet Explorer 9 and get my plug-ins?

No, Windows 8 doesn't support IE 9.  But within the Windows 8 desktop, Internet Explorer 10 presents a different browsing experience.  Using the same engine, Internet Explorer for the Desktop supports the traditional browsing features, such as tabs and plug-ins as well as compatibility modes for IE 7 and 8.

So I get two versions of Internet Explorer 10?

Nope. Internet Explorer 10 is one application that provides two browsing experiences, depending on your needs and the feature requirements of the web page itself.

"Internet Explorer" is the touch-centric experience for the new Windows interface. "Internet Explorer for the Desktop" is the experience similar to Internet Explorer 9 - available on the desktop and uses a traditional tab layout and supports plug-ins.

It's the same, but different!

Can't I just call it all "Internet Explorer"?

You could. But that means you've already forgotten the special note from earlier in this post. The application is Internet Explorer 10 and your browsing experience will vary depending on if you launch the browser natively - Internet Explorer, or through the desktop - Internet Explorer for the Desktop.

Remember, you are already used to different browsing experiences, websites are often customized for different devices and display formats.  Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 allows you to get the full experience from websites designed with the most modern standards, while not having to abandon other sites that use plug-ins or older coding.

This is a win-win, no matter what you call it.

Check Out the Windows 8 Consumer Preview

This week, I've been busy at the Microsoft MVP Summit, of which most is covered under our NDA. If you are following me on Twitter, you'll notice that I can talk the most about the food and the weather here in chilly Redmond and Bellevue, Washington!

However, the one thing I can share this morning is that Microsoft's Windows 8 site went live. It has a direct download to the ISO bits for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview and over 300 pieces of new content.

Windows 8 has some great new features that you can review and see how they can complement your exisiting Windows 7 desktops. Visit  http://technet.microsoft.com/windows/windows-8 to see what all the fuss is about!

Where Will You Be on March 22nd and 23rd?

I hope you be joining me at the Pacific IT Professionals 2 day IT Professional conference in San Francisco - TechDays SF. We have a great lineup of speakers to present on current topics that IT Professionals won't want to miss, including me!

The speakers also include Microsoft MVP's Mark Minasi, Richard Hicks, Jessica DeVita, Steve Evans, Darren Mar-Elia and many more distinguished presenters. In addition, from Microsoft we will have Stephen Rose, Joey Snow, Chris Avis and Harold Wong.

Session abstracts are being posted as they become available. The conference agenda shows all the topics being covered for example, Best Practices for Group Policy Design, Beginner and Advanced PowerShell, Windows Failover Clustering and 10 Things to Know about Windows Server 2008.

To register for this incredible conference, please click here. The 2 day multi track conference is just $300 US dollars if you register before March 6th, after that it goes up to $400.

We bring the best IT Professional speakers and content to the SF Bay Area so come join us for two packed days of IT knowledge!

Microsoft End of Life Dates - Mark Your Calendars!

Where is 2012 going?  It seems like just yesterday I filed away my planner for 2011 and crack open that fresh page to January 2012. Now that we are racing towards Spring, you might want to highlight a few of these special dates for the future.

Here are some future "end of life" dates for some Microsoft products you might still have floating around on your network.  Some will be supported for several more years, but it never hurts to keep your eye on the horizon.

These dates are the end of support life for the product as a whole (no more extended support), so start thinking about your budget cycles and internal support needs for the next few years.

Windows XP - 4/8/2014
Server 2003 - 7/14/2015
Windows Vista - 4/11/2017

Exchange Server 2007 - 4/11/2017
SQL Server 2000 - 4/9/2013
SQL Server 2005 - 4/12/2016

Office 2003 - 4/8/2014
Office 2007 - 10/10/2017

These dates are for specific service packs for these products, so be sure to install the latest available service pack, if you haven't already.

SQL Server 2005 SP 3 -1/10/2012
Exchange 2010 SP 1 - 1/8/2013
Office 2007 SP 2 - 1/8/2013

For more information about other Microsoft Server products, check out the Lifecycle Info for Server Products list. - http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifeSelectServ

** 11/21/14 Update **

For some current end of life dates - visit this post.  Interested in learning more about getting away from on-prem Exchange and Office?  Check out these courses from the Microsoft Virtual Academy -

• Managing Exchange Online Using the Console 
• Managing Exchange Online Using PowerShell 
• Managing Office 365 Identities and Services
• Office 365 ProPlus Deployment for IT Pros

Customizing the Name of the Online Archive… Unfortunately Still Buggy.

With Exchange 2010 SP1, I have a lot more options for helping users manage their emails and help our company meet requirements regarding email retention policies, compared to past versions of Exchange. While the original Exchange 2010 RTM "Managed Folders" features are still available via PowerShell, the most current iteration of MRM involves Retention Tags and Retention Policies.

While our lawyers hammer out the details regarding how long we should be holding onto mail, I've been playing around with the tags and working out the most suitable way to implement the technology for our office. Part of this involves the use of the "Online Archive" feature as a way to eliminate the difficult to manage PST files and to ensure that the primary mailbox database remains small enough to restore quickly in the event of a system failure.

Online Archives act as an extension of the primary mailbox and the folders and mail within it are still subject to the retention tags that were applied to mail messages and folders. So for my needs, the "archive" is simply a place to automatically move the mail that is subject to our longer retention needs.

By default the label of the archive in OWA and Outlook is "Online Archive - User Name", however for my office I'd like to change the name from "Online Archive" to something more appropriate for our use of the feature, like "Retained Mail - User Name". 

The word "archive" seems to imply that any message put in that area will be saved indefinitely and I want to make sure it's clear that those messages are still subject to the retention rules. It's a cosmetic change and mostly semantics, I know, but I think it's important for the scope of our project.

Within EMC there is a spot on each users mailbox settings where you can customize the display name of the title. I changed my test account and was happy to see it reflected in OWA and Outlook 2007.  We'll be upgrading our users to Outlook 2010 in order to fully support the retention tag features, so I updated my lab workstation to Outlook 2010 as well.

Much to my dismay, I noticed the online archive title was not customized in Outlook 2010. It now read, "Archive - email address".  Curious.  I did a little search on the Internet and found a detailed posted describing the problem from fellow MVP, Tim Harrington.  The post dates back to December 2010, so I'm disappointed that the bug still exists after a year’s worth of Office 2010 patches and updates.  But there you have it.

Another quick note on Office 2010... If you launch Outlook during your Windows session, then close it and launch it again, it may hang on the "Loading Profile" step.  Switch over to Task Manager and you'll likely find several "agent" processes.  Kill them and Outlook will load properly when launched.

2 Days–$300–Dozens of Sessions

In March, I’m co-chairing a 2 day IT Professional conference hosted by Pacific IT Professionals called Techdays SF.  Join us in San Francisco on March 22 and 23rd. We already have a great lineup of speakers to present on topics that we hope IT Professionals will be interested in.

The speakers list so far include Microsoft MVP's Mark Minasi, Richard Hicks, Jessica DeVita, Steve Evans, Darren Mar-Elia and more. Additionally, from Microsoft we will have IT Pro Evangelists Chris Avis and Harold Wong, plus some other special MS guests.

The topics to be covered include: Windows Server 2008R2, Windows 8, Deployment, IIS, SharePoint, Hyper-V, AD/GPO, System Center, Exchange, Lync, Powershell and much more. You can see the current agenda at www.techdays.org.

We now have the registration site set up for the event so please sign up here. This 2 day multi-track conference will be $300 US dollars. The first 75 paid registrations will receive a copy of Windows 7.  Also, all attendees will be entered in a drawing to win a Kindle!

Please share this your colleagues and friends in the IT industry. If we are able to get sufficient attendance for the event we will consider doing these every 6 months on-going to try and bring the best IT Professional speakers and content to the SF Bay Area so please help us along to that goal and spread the word!

The Joys of "She’s Geeky" Bay Area #5

Oh, how time files and I've spent another weekend with the women inspired to attend She's Geeky - Bay Area #5 (http://www.shesgeeky.org/).  Appropriately held at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, my Friday morning began with an impromptu "around the water cooler" session at a common area table.

That's the cool thing about She's Geeky, or probably any unConference you might attend. If you aren't interested in a session that is scheduled for a time frame, it's pretty easy to find someone else in the same situation and have a great conversation anyway.  And if there is something you are dying to talk about, it's totally within your power to announce it, pick a time slot and make it happen.

Your session might be packed, or you might find yourself in a great brainstorming session with another woman or two. Whatever the outcome it was the outcome that was meant to be.  Jessica DeVita https://twitter.com/#!/UberGeekGirl) and I hosted a session on Disaster Recovery.  We didn't have much of a plan going into it, but once we were joined by two other women, we spent an hour talking about all different things that need to be consider when protecting your important data and paperwork at home or a work.  I think the purchase of some waterproof paper might be in my future.

And it's not all about what interest you in the here and now, or what you are working on at the office. You can also tap into the geeky interests of others to learn a new skill or get a taste of a completely different hobby.

On Saturday, I sat in on a hands-on session where I learned to solder.  Not something I'll need everyday, but it was fun to do something new and you never know when you might have to break out some solder for a home repair.  I'm certainly not an expert after one resistor, but now the tools and concepts aren't completely foreign to me.

As the weekend came to a close, I also enjoyed a fun lunchtime chat about Systems Administration and Operations, participated a great session on privacy and content management lead by @identitywoman, attended popular talk about dressing for success and picked up some good tips for working with cross-functional teams. 

At past She's Geeky events, I've learned about wine tasting and had the opportunity to hear about the "geek factor" behind backyard bee-keeping. With all the information that is at our fingertips via the Internet, it's still very easy to find yourself in a world filtered to your liking, where you a surrounded by people with similar interests and views.  She's Geeky gives you a great chance to spend an hour on something completely outside of your realm and find inspiration from other great women in science and technology fields.

She's Geeky is held annually in the Bay Area with another annually event some place else in the United States (DC, Twin Cities and New York have been past locations). Check out the website for information about the upcoming events or review some of the notes that were taken from sessions this weekend. 

I’m already looking forward to next year.

Recovering Exchange 2010 - Notes from the Field

With Exchange 2007/2010 more tightly integrated with Active Directory, recovering a server after a loss of hardware can be significantly easier than with previous version of Exchange. This is a boon for those of us in smaller offices where only one Exchange Server exists, holding multiple roles.

Check out this TechNet article with the basics for recovering Exchange 2010. However, there are some little tips that would be helpful, especially when you might be working under a stressful situtation to restore your mail system.

1. Make sure you know where your install directory is if Exchange isn't installed in the default location.  If you don't have it written down as part of your disaster recovery documentation, you can get that information out of Active Directory using ADSIEDIT.
2. Make sure you know the additional syntax for "setup /m:RecoverServer" switch. If you need to change the target directory the proper syntax is /t:"D:\Microsoft\Exchange\V14" or whatever your custom path happens to be.
3. If you are planning on using the /InstallWindowsComponents switch to save some time with getting your IIS settings just right, make sure you've preinstalled the .NET Framework 3.5.1 feature set first.
4. Don't forget to preinstall the Office 2010 Filter Packs. You don't need them to complete the setup, but you will be reminded about them as a requirement. 
5. Make sure you install your remote agent (or whatever components are necessary) for your backup software. Once the Exchange installation is restored, you'll need to mark your databases as "This database can be overwritten by a restore" so that you can restore the user data.

As always, planning ahead will save you in times of trouble.  Happy disaster recovery planning (and testing)!

Start Marking Your Calendar for 2012 Events!

If you like to fill up your calendar with events geared toward the tech community or you've got some training budget lined up for 2012, look no further than some of these tried and true events that are coming up in the first half of this year. Prices vary from free to several thousand, depending on your travel needs.

Pacific IT Professionals in LA (1/24, Santa Monica, CA) - Meeting the 4th Tuesday of every month, the LA chapter of PacITPros never ceases to bring lively discussions to the table. This month, Joey Snow will be speaking on Windows 2008 R2 Migration Tools. Join and attend for free!

She's Geeky (1/27 - 1/29, Mountain View, CA) - Back in Mountain View at the Computer History Museum, She's Geeky is a great way to meet new faces in the STEM fields. This unConference give you a chance to learn from a collection of really smart women and practice your skills of leading a group session yourself if you've got a topic you'd like to share.

San Jose Tech-Security Conference (2/2, Santa Clara, CA) - I enjoyed this low cost security centered event last year when there was one held in San Francisco.  This event is held in various locations during the year. So if the Bay Area isn't your home base, you are likely to find another date in your area!

Pacific IT Professionals in SF (2/7, San Francisco, CA) - Meeting the 1st Tuesday of every month, PacITPros has been bringing IT Pros together for over 20 years.

RSA Conference (2/27 - 3/2, San Francisco, CA) - A San Francisco staple, RSA never fails to disappoint.  Even if you can only swing an Expo Plus pass, you'll have access to lots of informative keynotes and the large expo hall.

Security B-Sides (2/27 - 2/28, San Francisco, CA) - A free security event hosted near the Moscone center earlier in the same week of the RSA conference.  A great way to complement your RSA Expo Pass!

TechDays SF (3/22 - 3/23, San Francisco, CA) - A two day event with over three dozen sessions planned covering a variety of tech topics of interest to IT Professionals.

Microsoft Management Summit (4/16 - 4/20, Las Vegas, NV) - Geared toward managing your Microsoft enterprise, MMS brings you the latest technical training for desktop and device management as well as data center and cloud technology solutions.

Microsoft TechEd (6/11 - 6/14, Orlando, FL) - As a 7 or 8 year alumni of TechEd, I always look forward to this conference. The expo hall and Technical Learning Center always provides opportunities to connect to vendors and Microsoft employees.  Community areas bring MVPs, User Groups and other IT Pros together.  And don't forget the crazy number of sessions you can choose from.

Welcome 2012! Now Start Planning for 2013 and Beyond.

As you file away your planner for 2011 and crack open that fresh page to January 2012, you might want to highlight a few of these special dates for the future.  Here are some upcoming "end of life" dates for some Microsoft products you might still have floating around on your network. Some will be supported for several more years, but it never hurts to keep your eye on the horizon.

 

These dates are the end of support life for the product as a whole, so start thinking about your budget cycles and internal support needs for the next few years.

• Windows XP - 4/8/2014
• Windows Vista - 4/11/2017
• Server 2003 - 7/14/2015
• Exchange Server 2007 - 4/11/2017
• SQL Server 2000 - 4/9/2013
• SQL Server 2005 - 4/12/2016
• Office 2003 - 4/8/2014
• Office 2007 - 10/10/2017

These dates are for specific service packs for these products, so be sure to install the latest available service pack, if you haven't already.

• SP 3 for SQL Server 2005 -1/10/2012
• SP 1 for Exchange 2010 - 1/8/2013
• SP 2 for Office 2007 - 1/8/2013

For more information about other Microsoft Server products, check out the Lifecycle Info for Server Products list.