Google Chrome

The installer is now available at www.google.com/chrome

This only works on Windows Vista and XP.

Installer is 457k.  The installed package is 46.57MB

Interesting it installs to: C:\%\Profiles\USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Google\Chrome\  So it does not require admin rights to install.  This is not a good thing for a locked down corporate environment.

Key features of this product is true multithreaded processing in isolation in layers of each tab.  New Java complier and engine that is multithreaded.  Security that is far more robust. 

Interesting.  I'll post more when I play further.

Notepad.exe Tricks

Like most people, I use notepad when I need to put together a script quickly. I never actually looked at the help file for notepad (well, why would you?!?) until I hit the F1 key by accident recently. As a result I found quite a few tricks that notepad provides that I never knew existed. They are turning out to be pretty helpful so I thought I'd share them below:   When editing a file, press the F5 key to insert the system date and time Change or add headers & footers by selecting file | page setup Press ctrl-G and enter a line number to go to (VERY useful when debugging VBScript errors) Note only works when Word Wrap is off Select view | status bar to display the line/character number as you navigate the file (another beneficial debugging aid) Note only works when Word Wrap is off Another tip I found was the ability to maintain a log file with timestamps. This is useful when troubleshooting a problem where you need to record what is happening at specific times: open notepad set the first line to be (without the quotes and in uppercase) ".LOG" press enter and save/close the file every time you open the file, notepad will automatically insert the system date/time at the end of the file and add a new line where you can begin typing

Source: www.bink.nu

Tip: WinKey shortcuts

• WinKey or Ctrl+Esc: Start menu 
• WinKey+R: Run dialog box
• WinKey+M: Minimize all 
• SHIFT+WinKey+M: Undo minimize all 
• WinKey+F1: Help 
• WinKey+E: Windows Explorer 
• WinKey+F: Find files or folders
• CTRL+WinKey+F: Find computer
• WinKey+D: Minimizes all open windows and displays the desktop - Press second time restores previous state
• WinKey+L: Lock Windows
• WinKey+U: Userability (Magnifier, Reader, on screen keyboard)
• CTRL+WinKey+TAB: Moves focus from Start, to the Quick Launch toolbar, to the system tray (use RIGHT ARROW or LEFT ARROW to move focus to items on the Quick Launch toolbar and the system tray) 
• WinKey+TAB: Cycle through taskbar buttons 
• WinKey+Pause/Break: System Properties dialog box 
• Application key: Displays a shortcut menu for the selected item
• Vista --> WinKey+X : Laptop shortcuts
  

List of all keyboard shortcuts: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/126449

or try this one: http://www.seoconsultants.com/windows/keyboard/

Ragnar: Second Leg Midnight Run

Symantec Antivirus Client Security Flaw – GRC.Dat is unencrypted clear text

I was poking around the corporate Symantec client when I noticed the GRC.dat files are in easy to read clear text. 

They are consumed quickly in a directory where only those with elevated rights can enter.  However, the dat file being in clear text means any curious scripter could seriously modify the client.  For example, setting up a bunk DAT file to move the host parent server to yours… http://www.jacksontechnical.com/article.htm?id=13

Let your mind wander.  Then come back and tell me how you mitigated this vector. 

References: 

• A guide to the Grc.dat file in Symantec AntiVirus Corporate Edition version 10.x
• http://service1.symantec.com/support/ent-security.nsf/docid/2005041910541048?Open&src=tranus_ent_br

Microsoft Application Virtualization (MAV) / SoftGrid and Symantec Altaris SVS clients on the same machine BSOD

It looks like the filter driver in Softgrid cannot deal with SVS on Windows XP SP2.  (this may apply to more OSs...?) 

1)      Softgrid 4.x works fine when installed by itself

2)      Altaris SVS works fine when installed by itself

3)      Altaris SVS works fine with Softgrid 4.x installed

4)      Softgrid 4.x Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) if SVS is installed

Good news is very few people should ever run into this problem.

Solution: Uninstall Softgrid BEFORE you install SVS. 

Simple, just wish we could use both on the same computer.

Ragnar Relay: A quick 206.1 mile run with 12 great friends.

Make the MMS 2008 DVD playable off a network share and website

1. Grab your trust (and now dusty) MMS 2008 DVDs (two of them)
2. Create two network shares somewhere (default rights of read are great)
3. Copy the entire contents of the DVD to a different share for each disk
1. Disc 1 is 7.87 gb (dual layer)
2. Disc 2 is 1.83 gb

1. Right click on My Computer >> Manage
2. Navigate to Services and Applications >> Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager >> Web Sites >> Default Web Site
3. Locate your network share name (mine is MMS2008)
4. Right click >> Properties
5. Documents tab
6. Add… a default content page
7. Index.html
8. click ok

Enjoy

Update: to play video you need to install Silverlight.  If you don't want to or are not able to you can play the wmv files directly

\\ServerName\ShareName\assets\video\SessionNumber\*.wmv

Update for WebDAV Extension for IIS 7.0 (KB955137)

How to install ConfigMgr (SCCM) 2007 SP1 and R2 RC (build 6335)

1)      Download bits from

a.       http://connect.microsoft.com

2)      Download Microsoft Orca

a.       How to use: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa370557.aspx

b.      Download: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=4377F86D-C913-4B5C-B87E-EF72E5B4E065&displaylang=en

3)      Open the ConfigMgr2007R2.msi with Orca

4)      Search for Custom Action “CheckForEval” action with a 25019 target

5)      Comment out or remove this line

6)      Save the MSI

7)      Run and enjoy R2 on fully licensed ConfigMgr 2007 SP1

Thanks to Troy Wilch

VBA and VSTA - The Future? Updated

VBA and VSTA - The Future?

• What gets really entertaining was VBA was supposed to be replaced by VSA with .Net 1.0.  
• VSA was deprecated with .Net 2.0. 
• Now VSTA 1.0 is available; a new version (VSTA 2.0) is set to release with Visual Studio 2008.  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/vsx2008/products/bb933739.aspx

Upgrading ConfigMgr 2007 RTM to SP1: ADM Template Bug on SP1 CD

Filtering on the GPEdit console will prevent the assignement GPO from displaying.

• Copy of ConfigMgr SP1 source files in expanded folder (SCConfigMgr07_UPD_EN)
• GPEdit.msc

1. Open up GPEdit.msc
2. Local Computer Policy / Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates
3. Right Click Administrative Templates / Add/Remove Templates
4. If they are previously installed remove the two ADM templates for ConfigMgr.

1. Open up GPEdit.msc
2. Local Computer Policy / Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates
3. Right Click Administrative Templates / Add/Remove Templates
4. Add the two templates from .\SCConfigMgr07_UPD_EN\TOOLS\ConfigMgrADMTemplates
5. Go to View / Filtering
6. Uncheck - Only show policy settings that can be fully managed

Thanks Christoper Stauffer for the filtering suggestion.

 Question: I wonder what changed from RTM to SP1

Upgrading ConfigMgr 2007 RTM to SP1: Make sure you update SUP Client Push Package

When you finish your upgrade to SP1 do not forget to navigate to:

1. In the Configuration Manager console, navigate to System Center Configuration Manager / Site Database / Site Management / <site code> – <site name> / Site Settings / Client Installation Methods
2. Right-click Software Update Point Client Installation, and click Properties.

As soon as the properties window opens you will be notified that the published version is not the newest.  Your choices will be to ignore or to upgrade.  Simple, but you have to do it.

Old Version:               4.00.5931.0001

Available Version:      4.00.6221.1000

FL008: Cedar Rapids, IA – Flood 2008

Hey all,

            I live in Cedar Rapids Iowa.

National news: CNN

Local news: KCRG

Last week was quite sporting, heavy rain fall, flash floods, levees breaking, road closures, and detours. 

Fun Facts:

• Flood Stage is 12 feet.
• The big flood of 1993 peaked at 19.83 feet. 
• Also known as the 100 year flood.
• Last week Thursday the Cedar River hit 31.18 feet.
• This went beyond the city’s 500 year flood plan.
• Current water levels according to NOAA
• http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=dvn&gage=cidi4&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

Good news, my parents were able to evacuate before the water really rose.  They look forward to be able to return home this Friday (after 9 days).  Not bad for city with water problems like the following pictures.  My house is on high ground, however because they closed all roads except for one my daily commute went from 3 miles to just over 30 each way.  Felt like I was in the metro area again (one reason I left).

Enjoy the pictures.

This link has a lot of aerial shots: http://www.andrealynnphoto.com/CRflood2008/

Note: I do not work for any of the compaines in these shots

How To: Find the SMS or ConfigMgr NameSpace in WMI

Here is the situation.  You need to find the SMS 2003 or ConfigMgr NameSpace in WMI and you don’t have the PowerShell expertise, yet.  Easiest way is to use a GUI interface.  Namely CIM Studio.  CIM = Common Information Model… or framework of how info is stored in WMI.

About CIM Studio

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc181062.aspx

Download CIM Studio

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc181062.aspx

Note: I would recommend book marking CIM studio in IE.  Saves time finding it later.  Every time you launch CIM studio in IE6 and later you will need to accept the ActiveX object.  Bookmark: C:\Program Files\WMI Tools\studio.htm

Question: Where do I look in WMI to find the SMS / SCCM info? 

The default when you first open CIM Studio up is root\CIMV2.  This is the local machine and CIM version 2.0 is the default location of machine information (think where the SMS_Def.Mof gets its info.)  Have fun playing in there, but it is not where you want to be right now.

Question 2: Well that’s great, but how do I connect to a remote machine.. say the ConfigMgr server?

Connect to remote machine

\\<MachineName>\root

Example:  \\ShaunWorkstation01\root

Note: do not add a trailing ‘\’ it will error out.  WMI syntax is very exacting.

Pass credentials that allow you to have rights.  Usually local admin.

The connection string above is a combination of machine and NameSpace. 

NameSpace = root in the above example

Question 3: How do I find the NameSpace for the SMS / ConfigMgr information?

1. Open __SystemClass
2. Open __Namespace
3. Click Instances button

One of the many results is: SMS. 

Note: SMS is the correct namespace for any version of SMS or ConfigMgr (didn’t change with name change).

Great, now lets connect to the root\SMS name space: \\<server name>\root\SMS

Not a lot of results.  Check the Namespaces again, you find:

• Inv_Schema
• Site_CAP (if this is an upgraded SMS 2003 server)
• Site_<sitecode>

So the WMI namespace I really want for SMS or SCCM is:

\\<ServerName>\root\sms\site_<SiteCode>

Example:

\\SMSServer01\root\sms\site_LAB

Fun thought, did you notice how the WMI classes never open in the same order.  That just means the information returned is whatever is read first.  Interesting.

Okay that is enough for this post.  I’ll have another one us shortly about locating the Updates classes in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1.

Random Thought: KeyPad

Just a random thought, but why is order of numbers on my keyboard's numpad

789

456

123

0 .

And the order of my phone keypad

123

456

789

*0#

Why aren't those in the same order?

Humor: Nerd Test 2.0

Yes I took this test.  You should too!

http://www.nerdtests.com/ft_nt2.php?nt1

CYA

NASA make magnetic fields visible - Great 5 minute video

Financial: HSBC Direct running savings promotion of 3.5%

HSBC, the world’s largest bank, online savings account division is running a special until August 15, 2008.  The special is 3.5% APY.  This is about .5% higher than most of the popular competition.

www.hsbcdirect.com

HSBC Direct, which was rated as the best online bank by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, features no fees and no minimums (though it requires a $1 deposit to open an account). HSBC has traditionally been amongst the leaders in terms of interest rates.

Fedora 9 and Vista Ultimate Running Virtual Machine 2007 in x64 Environment Fails

I have been playing with Linux distribution Fedora 9.  However, I cannot get it to install in my Microsoft Virtual Machine 2007 running in x64 Windows Vista Ultimate SP1.  The CPU is a dual core socket 939 Opteron on an Nforce4 motherboard.

 The error I am recieving is i1586 core does not exist.  You better believe it doesn't. See the picture below.

I did find several posts in forums that state older x64 processors would be discovered as x32 virtual environments.  What makes it really odd is they suggest running the i386 edition of Fedora 9.

You can get fedora 9 here: http://fedoraproject.org/get-fedora.html

You can read about some great virtual machine 2007 fixes here: http://blogs.technet.com/seanearp/archive/2008/05/19/installing-fedora-9-sulphur-in-virtual-pc-2007.aspx

Hopefully, i'll be able to post that the i386 edition works.

Upgrading ConfigMgr 2007 RTM to SP1: Version Numbers

R2 Installed property is not present in RTM version.  I would guess R2 won’t work with RTM.

Note: Translation of Initialisms and Acronyms

• RTM
• Release To Manufacturing. 
• This is the initial product launch release before any service packs or add-ons

·        ConfigMgr or SCCM

o       System Center Configuration Manager 2007

·        R2

o       Release 2

o       Microsoft nomenclature for major product enhancement not including security, hotfixes or patches. 

·        Initalism

o       First characters of words but not pronounced as a word

o       ex. FBI

·        Acronym

o       First characters of words that are pronounced as a word

o       ex. SCUBA

Upgrading ConfigMgr 2007 RTM to SP1: WAIK attempts to install on the default OS drive

1. WAIK was uninstalled automatically
2. WAIK was attempted to automatically install using default settings.

1. Before attempting to run SP1
2. Uninstall WAIK via ARP (Add Remove Programs)
3. Install WAIK via the new copy in:
1. . \SCConfigMgr07_UPD_EN\SMSSETUP\WAIK\
4. Run the SCCM SP1 upgrade again

Upgrading ConfigMgr 2007 RTM to SP1: Common Prerequisite Components Download Failures

I have found 3 common failures during the ConfigMgr (SCCM) 2007 Setup Prerequisite Components Download task:

1. Destination Path has spaces
2. Execution account does not have rights to the internet: Proxy Problem
3. Using the path where you stored the prerequisites from RTM

The following is what you will experience in the Setup Wizard if you have any of these 3 failures:

During the setup…

1. Check for updates and download newer versions to an alternate path step
2. Select local file location
3. Successfully downloaded all prerequisite components
4. Error: Component manifest was not found or it was invalid

Because the error is in the wizard, it precludes you from doing any error checking we are going to do some tests via the command line.

Note: log files referenced below can be found on the root of your primary partition.

• ConfigMgrPrereq.log
• ConfigMgrSetup.log

Command Line to download prerequisites:

.\SCConfigMgr07_UPD_EN\SMSSETUP\BIN\I386\setup.exe /download <DestinationPath>

1. Destination Path Has Spaces

Do not specify a destination directory with spaces.  This error will occur even if the directory is in quotes.  You will get the following error:

Fix: Use a path with no spaces.  Yep that’s it.  Easy.

2. Account running the command line does not have rights to access the internet: Proxy Problem

If you are lucky enough to have an environment like mine, where your regular account does not have rights to execute an installer file (no local admin) and your account that does have rights which you opened a command prompt to run the exe (see below) does not have rights to access the corporate proxy.  You will get the following error:

Fix: How do I get internet access to my admin account?

1. Open a command prompt
1. Winkey + R
2. Cmd.exe