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SQL Server Reporting Services Resources by sthompson

I've recently finished an interesting project that made heavy use of SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. As you are probably aware, Systems Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 includes SSRS, I'd...
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Microsoft MVP 2009 Award - Configuration Manager by sthompson

I was both humbled and honored to receive the MVP award, effective 10/1/2008, for contributions to the technical community for Microsoft SMS 2003 & System Center Configuration Manager 2007. Edited...
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Installing and configuring Local SQL Server Reporting Services by sthompson

Your installation may work the first time, if so great! I was not so lucky... Attempted to launch the Report manager web page and it failed to load. I was able to find the following error in the Reporting...
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Microsoft SQL Server sample databases, code, and much more... by sthompson

Can be found on codeplex , there are many community based projects available for download including Microsoft Reporting Services Samples .
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Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services by sthompson

Over the past few weeks, I've been delving deeper into Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS). In case you are not aware, there are downloads available that allow you to work with SSRS...
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Free Download Manager... by sthompson

Every now and then I discover a software product that is excellent. For the past few months, I've been working remotely using a USB data card for connectivity. This can be a challenge when downloading...
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Microsoft System Center User Groups in Southern California? by sthompson

I'm looking for any existing Microsoft System Center (centric) User Groups located in Southern California; either San Diego or Orange County. Or, if there is interest in starting one, please send me...
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Robotic BigDog is US army's best friend by sthompson

Seems like robotics has come a very long way... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2687038/Robotic-BigDog-is-US-armys-best-friend.html
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How to find computer NIC's with Speed/Duplex not set to 'Auto'? by sthompson

This may sound like an odd request, if you've worked in information technology long enough, especially with SMS/ConfigMgr, you've probably gotten a lot of strange requests. Scenario: Network switches...
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How to change computer NIC Speed/Duplex property to 'Auto'? by sthompson

In another blog entry How to find computer NIC's with Speed/Duplex not set to 'Auto'? I described how to identify computers where the speed duplex is not set to auto. This article explains...
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Use of 'flag' files and software inventory... by sthompson

This is a technique that we pioneered in the SMS 2.0 days, and has continued to find useful applicability. There a number of techniques to inventory computers, and locate resources within ConfigMgr. However...
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The perfect storm of desktop updates this month? by sthompson

Interesting article by Gregg Keizer. Microsoft issues massive security update for Windows, Office
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Service Accounts - Part 2 of 2 by sthompson

This script was the outcome of researching a way to automate the replacement of a local service account to manage the cluster service. This automation could be used to change any account for any service...
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Service Accounts - Part 1 of 2 by sthompson

Microsoft best practice for service accounts, is use the concept of least permissions for the accounts. In other words, if an account needs to have local administrative rights on a server or desktop, add...
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Automate creation of SNMP Trap Destinations with SMS/ConfigMgr! by sthompson

We had a situation where 1400+ servers needed to be able to communicate with a second SNMP server that was added as a backup to receive SNMP trap alerts. Changing this information manually would be far...
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Earthquake country... by sthompson

On Tuesday, I was in San Clemente, CA meeting with my manager when an earthquake occurred. It was my first experience with an earthquake, a large convex mirror in the corner of the room started shaking...
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California arrival by sthompson

We arrived in Newport Beach CA today, it took us 7 days to drive cross country. Approximately 3100 mi in all. At the end of the day yesterday we crossed into CA, drove from the high desert of New Mexico...
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Day 4 on the road... by sthompson

This past week has been a whirl wind; quit my job, said goodbye to friends and family and packed up the 5th wheel RV. Additionally, we decided to ship a cargo trailer we had and a 4 door sedan on a flatbed...
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Time for a change by sthompson

Time for a change Last week I accepted a job offer in Southern California. We had been working on a possible west coast relocation from Massachusetts for the past year. With our home selling in less than...
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Using conditional logic with VBScript (IPStackSize) by sthompson

One of the things I really like about VBScript is the ability to use conditional logic. As promised in an earlier blog entry, here is a good example. We found that in order for a particular software product...
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How do I use a wildcard for add remove program information? by sthompson

Question: What I really could use is report #96 ("Computers with specific software registered in Add Remove Programs"), that allows me to include a wildcard, so I can find not only "Adobe...
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How do I tune SQL Server memory for optimal performance with SMS/SCCM? by sthompson

Question: We are in the process of fine tuning our primary site. We are looking at changing some setting in SQL 2005. Is anyone using AWE to allocate memory with SCCM? Also is there a recommendation to...
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How do I return all records when there are no matching rows in a joined table? by sthompson

Question from the myITforum list: Need some help from all you experts out there, I have created an SMS report for all machines in a particular collection, but some of the machines are logged onto by local...
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How do I list computers that do not have a particular software? by sthompson

This question may be one of the more challenging things to solve in SQL. And, the way to achieve the results may seem unorthodox. OK, we want to get a list of all computers that do not have Winword.exe...
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Reassign an SMS or Configuration Manager Client to another Site by sthompson

Some time ago, I wrote an article about reassigning an SMS client to another SMS site. Since this topic seems to crop up periodically on both the myITforum list and public newsgroups, it is worth mentioning...
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Other methods to set Registry key values by sthompson

One of the interesting things about automation, and scripting in general, there are always multiple ways to solve a problem. In yesterday’s blog, the original question “How do set DWord values in a VBScript...
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How do I set DWord values in a VBScript? by sthompson

Need help creating a vb script to merge the following registry info: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy] "EnableJavaUpdate"=dword:00000000 "NotifyDownload"=dword...
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New Features in SCCM 2007 by sthompson

Systems Management Configuration Manager 2007 [Steve] Note: amended 3/2008 to correct and replace beta name of product. New Features (from SMS 2003) · Operating system deployment Operating System Deployment...
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Time to blog ;) by sthompson

I’ve been encouraged by a fellow MVP to start up my own blog. After all, if school children can do it, so can you. LOL -- very funny Marcus J , perhaps it was the encouragement I needed. Look for a series...
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