Hello IT Pros!

February 27 is a big day.  Windows Server 2008 will be officially launching in Los Angeles with Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, kicking off in just a few hours. 

In support of this very important technology milestone as well as the Windows Vista SP1 release, the Microsoft Solution Accelerators Team has just released the third-generation of the agent-less infrastructure assessment platform called Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator 3.0 (or simply MAP).  Through the use of remote WMI calls and secure inventory engines, the MAP tool enables you to quickly inventory a wide variety of networks (AD-managed, IP ranges, and workgroups), securely assess IT environments of servers, desktops, applications and devices, and auto-generate specific and actionable reports and proposal documents in a matter of hours.

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GO HERE TO DOWNLOAD MICROSOFT ASSESSMENT AND PLANNING (RTM BITS)

Thank you,

Baldwin Ng (Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Assessment and Planning)

There is little doubt that 64-bit architectures are the future, as far as the parallel evolution of processors and operating systems goes. But when it comes down to Windows, the 32-bit version of the platform will survive not only with Windows Vista, but also with Windows 7. At this point in time, among the scarce details made available by Microsoft about the forthcoming iteration of Windows, to follow Vista, the only sure thing is that Windows 7 will come in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors.

According to estimates from the Redmond company, by mid 2008, the install base of the Windows operating system would surpass the 1 billion milestone worldwide. But the vast majority of those Windows copies will still be 32-bit, largely just Windows XP and Windows Vista. (more…)

By default, Windows XP will not allow you to use anything but the FAT and FAT32 file systems to format your USB drives. With a little fiddling you can also enable the NTFS file system on your removable devices though. As for whether you would want to, there are pros and cons.

On the positive side, enabling NTFS allows you to encrypt your documents with Windows XP’s built in file encryption (though you should only do this in a Windows 2000 or 2003 domain network). It also allows the use of file compression to stretch the capacity of your disk. You can also use NTFS to allow and deny permissions for individual files and folders within XP, something you can’t do with FAT file systems. You can also set disk quotas. In short, enabling NTFS on flash drives might have several benefits for IT departments that use or issue these devices as standard. (more…)

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AutoRun starts Windows programs automatically
Every recent version of Windows has features known as AutoPlay and AutoRun. These functions are designed to launch applications automatically from a external device containing the necessary AutoRun information. This is what causes an installer window to pop up when you insert a software disc into your CD or DVD drive, for example, or makes a pop-up menu icon appear in the taskbar tray when you insert a USB flash drive. (In some cases, the action doesn’t occur until you double-click the flash drive icon in Windows Explorer.)

When a disc is inserted or a drive is connected to your system, Windows looks in the root directory of the new disc or drive for a file named autorun.inf. If found, Windows executes the instructions in that file. (more…)

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While Windows Vista is indeed an evolution compared to its predecessor, Windows XP, there is a cocktail of minor glitches with the new operating system that have contributed actively to the product’s rough ride so far on the market. When, even before Vista hit the shelves at the end of January 2007, Jim Allchin, the former Co-President of the Platforms & Services Division described it as neither foolproof nor perfect, he was right on the money. With Vista, a range of issues also came to the table including hardware and software incompatibilities, reliability and stability problems and poor performance under specific scenarios.

And just such a scenario involves the integration of certain DVD-R/RW drives with the latest operating system from Microsoft. (more…)

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Re-installing Windows can be a traumatic business, it’s bad enough having to backup all of your data and re-install your programs but the worst bit is tracking down all of the drivers for your hardware and peripherals. Here’s a simple way to avoid the hassle, a freeware program called DriverMax. It finds and exports all of the drivers on your PC to a nominated folder or compressed Zip file, so there’s no need to waste time hunting down discs and downloads. When you have reinstalled Windows simply run DriverMax, import your saved drivers and you’ll be up and running again in no time flat. The program comes as a 30-day trial but you can apply for a free registration code and it’s your to keep. (more…)

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