All things SMS, System Center Configuration Manager, Active Directory, Group Policy, Virtualization, Security, Gadgets, Technology, and the Daily Thoughts of an SMS Engineer named Anthony Clendenen.

The Daily Ramblings of an SMS Engineer

Browse by Tags

Windows Vista Hardware Assessment Beta Program Now Available for Download

February 02, 2007

If you are planning on deploying Vista this is a tool for you. If you are doing it in house or for a customer this tool will tell you if your hardware is Vista ready or not. It works without installing an agent and runs from a single, centralized server. It scans your network and evaluates the hardware for Vista readiness. For those computers that are on the network but are not Vista ready it recommends specific hardware upgrades that need to get them Vista ready. This is a beta, but it is a public...  ... Read the full post or  be the first to comment. Filed under: , , ,

ACT 5.0 Released

January 31, 2007

If you haven't used ACT (Application Compatibility Toolkit) what it allows you to do is first get a database of applications you have installed, be it on all computers or just a select few, but any that install the monitoring tool. Then compare that list (automatically if you like) to the Microsoft database of applications they and vendors have certified as well as feedback from those who use the tools, monitor applications for problems on the clients running the ACT tool and then you can mitigate...  ... Read the full post or  the first comment. Filed under: , ,

New Version of Windows Defender

October 24, 2006

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=435bfce7-da2b-4a6a-afa4-f7f14e605a0d&displaylang=en Specific features of Windows Defender include: A redesigned and simplified user interface – Incorporating feedback from our customers, the Windows Defender UI has been redesigned to make common tasks easier to accomplish with a warning system that adapts alert levels according to the severity of a threat so that it is less intrusive overall, but still ensures the user does not miss...  ... Read the full post or  be the first to comment. Filed under: , ,

Microsoft Announces Desktop Optimization Pack

October 17, 2006

Today it was officially announced that Microsoft will combine the recently acquired tools from Softricity, Winternals, and Desktop Standard into a single package that you can purchase for ~$50 per client. What this package gets you is SoftGrid application virtualization, group policy management/enhancement tools from DesktopStandard, and the remote repair tools from Wintenals. For this price you could not get even the tools from DesktopStandard, the backend for the SoftGrid used to run about $15...  ... Read the full post or  the 2 comments. Filed under: , , , , ,

Network Montior 3 Open Beta

September 11, 2006

To enroll in the beta go to connect . Original source: sniffer, Network Monitor, is coming back. Network Monitor 2.1 is included as optional component in every Windows installation but has a severe limitation: it cannot put the network interface in promiscous mode, preventing capture of all packets passing on the cable (to have a full version of Network Monitor 2.1 you have to buy Microsoft System Management Server (SMS)). Upcoming Network Monitor 3 will offer several new features and will finally...  ... Read the full post or  be the first to comment. Filed under: , , ,

RE: SlicedBread = Your Favorite TechNet Search as RSS Feed

June 16, 2006

This reminds me of Feedster and I like it, when I plug in SMS 2003 here is what I get. Rejoice that the boffins at TechNet have released a new scoped TechNet search , that includes an RSS feed of your favorite search. How great is that? You scope your search to the products and technologies that are relevant to you, then save your search query as an RSS feed, so that future search results matching your query will automatically show up in the feed. TechNet calls this "Enhanced Search" and all I can...  ... Read the full post or  the first comment. Filed under: , , ,

MMS 2006 - Day 2 - SMS 2003 Files Session

April 25, 2006

This session’s presenter was Rodney Jackson, this session is where they review common support issues and their solutions followed by a Q&A sessions where customers can ask support related questions. I will cover some of the tools he talked about since myITforum.com has most of the areas he discussed covered in the forums. (You can get these tools from your TAM or Microsoft Support) SMS Client Health Collections – If you have not seen or used this tool it will build collections based...  ... Read the full post or  be the first to comment. Filed under: , , , ,