Server 2008 is out and one of the very cool features is NAP or Network Access Protection.  This feature allow you to protect the internal network from threats.  There is a nice entry on Wikipedia explaining NAP but the TLA way is to show you the quick steps to get it done.  While I could write it out I figured video would be cool as well and since I had the videos from the Canadian Heroes Happen {Here} events I got real lazy and am posting those :)  Over the next while I'll get up the rest of the videos as well so check back soon.

If you want to give these demos a try yourself be sure to grab the lab build guide and demo scripts here!

There are lots of process in windows which keeps on running in the background using some share of windows resources all the time.

These process are most of the time are not use full to all of us, one of those process is wmpnscfg.exe

What is wmpnscfg.exe?

wmpnscfg.exe is used to alert users when a new media device is found on the network. When wmpnscfg is notified that a new media device is available on the network, it displays a popup in the system tray that informs the user about the availability of the new device. (more…)

Tags: availability, how to, media, Microsoft, Network, program, startup, system, task…

Got a question about whether it’s possible to attach physical network adapters to VM Wares virtual network adapters - like eg. 1-to-1. An ‘yes’ it’s possible… Just like it’s possible in Virtual PC and Virtual Server from Microsoft.

It’s basically the same story for VM Ware Workstation and Server (almost the same dialog boxes) - go to Virtual Network Settings:

Select what "Virtual Networks" you want - in here you can assign specific NICs to VMnet0-9 (you BRIDGE your adapters to the virtual "switch" you could say).

Pretty nice - now you’re almost done…

On the Virtual Machine Settings - select the Network Adapter - choose Custom - and select the Virtual Network your Physical Network Adapter is bound to:

That should do it. Simple, right?

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When you enable file and printer sharing in Windows Vista it automatically opens the ports needed to share files or printer in the Windows Vista firewall for you.

What if you’re not using the Windows Vista firewall or you’re using a hardware firewall like a router, firewall appliance, Linux firewall, or a Cisco PIX?

Below is a table that lists all the ports that need to be opened in Windows Vista to share files and printers. You can manually open these ports to enable file and printer sharing on your computer. (more…)

The end is near (of 2007 that is) so its time for those lists again.
Today I post my top 10 of the best freeware,crippleware,adware and opensource software I have used in 2007.
To start off with this list I must first define a definition of freeware, freeware in my eyes is software that you can use freely.
In that light also crippleware is included in my list. And so if opensource.

This year has been quite a year for freeware. Just take a look at the amounts of money spiceworks and for example crossloop gathered through investors. see the pressreleases here for the spiceworks pressrelease and here for the crossloop press release. It seems that the industry is picking up those marbles out there.

1. SpiceWorks Desktop
2. Logmein Free Edition
3. Comodo

…

Today or Yesterday my favorite network management software went out of beta.
I was using the beta version of 2.0 quite a while now, and didn’t had any problem running it. So I followed the instructions to upgrade to the final release and all went smooth!

If you are managing a network / computers this tool is really invaluable!