There have always been a few free anti-virus products out there. They lure you in with a base product and then try to upsell you to a more configurable product. AVG antivirus is probably the best known.
Well, Microsoft is about to become one of the biggest AV software providers out there. Microsoft Security Essentials is now in beta. This replaces the One Care product that I don't think was overly successful in the market place. However, MS Security Essentials is free, and that's an important distiction.
Only 75,000 downloads of the beta are allowed here: http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/market.aspx.
I'm in Canada. So, I can't try it out. Only for the US, China, and Brazil.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Increase simultaneous downloads in IE
By default IE allows only 2 downloads at a time (IE7 and previous). To increase this, you need to modify a registry key. Everytime I get a new computer I end up modifying this.
So, this post is as much for me at anyone else. This like has the key to modify and even a nifty automated process for increasing the simultaneous downloads to 10.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282402
So, this post is as much for me at anyone else. This like has the key to modify and even a nifty automated process for increasing the simultaneous downloads to 10.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282402
Monday, June 1, 2009
Create Your Own E-Learning
Microsoft has publicly released a tool for creating e-learning courses. This is the same tool we use when we create the official Microsoft E-learning courses. It is called the Learning Content Development System (LCDS).
Version 2.3 has just been released which includes a spell checker. In general it is a good tool for its defined task. You create a variety of Web pages including quizes and adventure activities through the included templates.
There are templates for providing demonstrations and animations. However, those must be created outside of LCDS using third-party tools such as Camtasia (from Techsmith).
Check out LCDS here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/tools/lcds/default.mspx
Version 2.3 has just been released which includes a spell checker. In general it is a good tool for its defined task. You create a variety of Web pages including quizes and adventure activities through the included templates.
There are templates for providing demonstrations and animations. However, those must be created outside of LCDS using third-party tools such as Camtasia (from Techsmith).
Check out LCDS here: http://www.microsoft.com/learning/tools/lcds/default.mspx
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Free Remote Desktop through Firewall
I've been a fool for too long. There is a FREE (yes, FREEEEEEEEE!) tool for performing remote desktop through firewalls. LogMeIn.com has a free version of their tool for remote desktop access through firewalls.
This tool is excellent for users that want to remote control and office or home PC when they are in different locations. It is not as well suited for IT professionals that want to control PCs within the internal environment for repairs.
The biggest benefit of this software is that no firewall configuration is required. After the agent is installed on the PC, it initiates the connection out through the firewall on port 80. If your computer has web access without authentication, then game on.
If you need other tools like the ability to transfer files or print, then you can upgrade to another version with a monthly fee. The other main alternative product with a monthly fee is GoToMyPC.
This tool is excellent for users that want to remote control and office or home PC when they are in different locations. It is not as well suited for IT professionals that want to control PCs within the internal environment for repairs.
The biggest benefit of this software is that no firewall configuration is required. After the agent is installed on the PC, it initiates the connection out through the firewall on port 80. If your computer has web access without authentication, then game on.
If you need other tools like the ability to transfer files or print, then you can upgrade to another version with a monthly fee. The other main alternative product with a monthly fee is GoToMyPC.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Exchange 2007 Backup on Win2008 - Finally!
This may be not overly relevant to many environments, but Microsoft is finally releasing a solution for backing up Exchange 2007 when running on Windows Server 2008. When you install Exchange 2007 SP2 the functionality is added.
If you have SBS2008, this functionality is already there. If you are a large organization, you likely have third party backup software that performs Exchange 2007 backups. However, for mid-sized organizations trying to save a few $ on backup software, this is a life saver. I know of one client that will start using this immediately.
For more information see:
If you have SBS2008, this functionality is already there. If you are a large organization, you likely have third party backup software that performs Exchange 2007 backups. However, for mid-sized organizations trying to save a few $ on backup software, this is a life saver. I know of one client that will start using this immediately.
For more information see:
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Testing Exchange 2007 connectivity
When you configure Outlook Anywhere or RPC over HTTP, the error messages from the client side are basically useless. However, there is a new Web site that simplifies the troubleshooting process.
When I used it to test RPC over HTTP connectivity to our Exchange 2003 server, it came up with an error on our GoDaddy certificate. However, the certificate is legitimate and works fine for both Web stuff and RPC over HTTP. So, perhaps there's a reason it's still in beta.
For a more detailed description of the tool see this article from the MSExchangeTeam:
When I used it to test RPC over HTTP connectivity to our Exchange 2003 server, it came up with an error on our GoDaddy certificate. However, the certificate is legitimate and works fine for both Web stuff and RPC over HTTP. So, perhaps there's a reason it's still in beta.
For a more detailed description of the tool see this article from the MSExchangeTeam:
Friday, May 1, 2009
Windows 7 Backup
I was playing with Windows 7 today and I noticed that the backup utility is much improved over Vista. Two big things:
- You can backup just specific files and folders. In Vista, it was done on a per volume (drive letter) basis.
- The disk you back up to does not need to be dedicated to backup. So, you can just keep a folder for backups. Vista took a whole partition and then hid it from you so that you couldn't put other data on it.
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