January 2007 - David Overton's Blog

There is a benchmark / system test tool in Vista called WinSAT. You can test all sorts of things and those of you who want to poke around in it you can. However I found a less than used feature and it gives you an expensive Aurora backdrop in Windows. To make this work, open up an elevated cmd prompt and type the following: start /B winsat aurora & net stop uxsms & net start uxsms This will set the winsat tool running and give you a nice backdrop and re-enable aero on your desktop. You may need to press the Windows key to see yoru task bar again. Please note WinSAT is a test program, not designed to be a backdrop displayer, but it does look very pretty. ttfn David

This has been said may times, SBS 2003 was designed with WSS v2 in mind and the clever SBS team are spending their time getting Cougar ready for shipping, so have not gone and re-worked SBS for WSS v3. There are some great documents that describe how to safely add WSS v3 alongside WSS v2 (i.e. the Companyweb site), but now we have some tips as to how to get a bit more from it. 1st off, you need to read the blogs at http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2006/11/30/wss-v3-0-installation-on-sbs-2003.aspx and http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2006/11/19/loading-windows-sharepoint-services-v3-wssv3-onto-sbs-2003.aspx (as this has some examples of what can go wrong if you don't pay attention). Then hop over to Using CompanyWeb from within WSS 3.0 and see how you can start to build it out. Perhaps someone will build a companyweb V3 that links into the original companyweb site, but skins it all in WSS V3? Hope this helps and thanks to Mark Stanfill for putting these up. ttfn David

[updated - see the FAQ at http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2007/02/12/windows-vista-windows-xp-office-2003-and-office-2007-action-pack-update-my-faq.aspx for more information on the benefits of the Action Pack and in answer to the questions raised in the comments] Hi, there has been a lot of traffic about Vista and the Action Pack, so lets cover some of those off: The DVDs for Vista are for upgrading to Vista from exisitng Windows operating system - however this does not mean that you can not do a clean install - it means that an existing OS MUST exist on the hard disk prior to the install and that the install is started from this OS Updated following 1st comment - You can do a clean install, however a previous OS must exist on the machine and the install is started from this OS. The install process will move all the old directories to windows.old and can be Vista or XP. The clean install will still take a short amount of time. It does mean that there is no need to format the hard disk - it will be a...

I saw this and thought of you :-) Seriously, if you are trying to resolve these issues then these tools can be very useful indeed. Debug Diagnostic Tool v1.1 The Debug Diagnostic Tool (DebugDiag) is designed to assist in troubleshooting issues such as hangs, slow performance, memory leaks or fragmentation, and crashes in any Win32 user-mode process. The tool includes additional debugging scripts focused on Internet Information Services (IIS) applications, web data access components, COM+ and related Microsoft technologies. Source: Download details: Debug Diagnostic Tool v1.1 ttfn David

In theory, BDD is not for what MS calls small business customers - i.e. less than 25 PCs, but for some the tools are amazing. The BDD is described as: "A tool that provides the depth of guidance and tooling to make the Windows Vista and 2007 Office system deployment process predictable and scalable. Many of the tools and guides within BDD 2007 can even be used throughout the desktop management life cycle to provision new users, maintain images, and centrally manage drivers and applications. BDD 2007 also introduces the new Deployment Workbench, which enables users to build and manage multiple OS configurations, define network deployment points and network shares, inject drivers, attach language packs, and chain applications. It even helps generate ISO and WIM images using Windows PE that can be deployed in a networked environment or using DVDs offline. BDD 2007 also alleviates much of the scripting requirements of previous BDD versions by incorporating a stand-alone task sequencer derived from System Center Configuration...

So there I am being a good citizen and not releasing confidential information and then I read about Cougar on the web. I then find that my fellow bloggers are also talking about these products in some form or another. Finally, to top it off, I am challenged by Susan Bradley to answer why Small Businesses need Exchange 2007 . Enough is enough, so I decided to finally start the conversation on these products. 1st up, lets examine Exchange 2007. You can NOT run it on an existing SBS 2003 server as it requires Windows Server x64. The various features and licensing of Exchange 2007 are discussed on my post here . To get Exchange 2007 today, before the launch of Cougar, you will need to buy a 2nd server, Exchange 2007, Windows 2003 Standard x64, Exchange 2007 CALs. This is NOT something for most small businesses. So who is it for? If you want: People who need LOTS of Exchange storage People who like the idea of a continious backup of their Exchange store Unified messaging (including phoning and talking to youe Exchange...

I just saw this re-sent internally and the data is quite UK centric, so: 63% of small businesses put data back and privacy as a top priority 7.6% of UK small business software spending was on Anti-Virus, in 2006 they planned to spend 10% more on data security - Source AMI 2006 50% of small businesses have as a priority to deploy in house or hosting data back up and disaster recovery (AMI) ttfn David

The Symposium is coming - 1/2 MS Speakers coving MS Strategy, Products such as EVO, Live, Security and much much more, but not only do you get all this. You also get experts from your community presenting to you about how to make it work, be it with Technology, business practises or the community iteself. This is the one event of the year to find out what Microsoft is doing and planning on doing, how you can join in, and then what the community has been doing and will be doing and how this can be of huge use to you and your business. (Updated 16th Jan - Link to book the event is http://www.microsoft.co.uk/events/EventDetail.aspx?eventid=8591 ) Susanne has a little bit about it here - http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/124 and there is more at SIGN-UP Page http://www.bmsnet.co.uk/blog/?p=30 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SBSManchester/message/124 http://www.sbsbpi.co.uk/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=2225#2225 See you there. ttfn David

If you will be in the Reading area on the night before the SBSC Symposium, then come along to Reading and have a drink and catch up with the community. You'll have the opportunity to mix and chat to different members of the regional groups as well as exchange ideas about business (or anything you like!). No agenda has been set for the evening (as yet); think of it as a regional SBS group meeting on steroids! The VIP area has been booked out for our meeting so there’ll be plenty of space to spread out and relax. Members of the community, Microsoft, and other vendors will be available to chat to and this will hopefully be a great start to the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Symposium. And just a reminder, while some drinks will be bought, more food and drink is available, but sorry guys, you've gotta pay for yourselves!

BIG REMINDER - DO NOT DO THIS TO COMPANYWEB ON SBS Upgrade Toolkit for Windows SharePoint Services Sites and Templates Find guidance and tools to successfully upgrade your Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 custom sites and templates. The result: A set of custom sites and templates that will operate in a Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 environment. This toolkit also includes a set of upgraded Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 application templates.

Exchange 16 May 2007, Reading: Overview of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 At this session we will discuss how Exchange gives administrators more control, provides 'anywhere access' to your inbox, and in-built security and protection mechanisms. We'll also cover the new Exchange Management Console, and look at how Windows PowerShell, the new administrative interface, provides a rich command-line experience. We will finish with a look at the significant client-side improvements and transport rules. SharePoint 25 April 2007, Reading: Planning and Deploying Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Part 1 Find out what SharePoint Server 2007 has to offer. At this session we will present the concepts of topology, server roles and network conditions. We'll also provide an overview of administration features, introduce the three-tier administration model and explain various security topics. Third-party Events 8 February 2007, Microsoft TVP, Reading: SharePoint User Group The first main SUGUK meeting this year is probably...

I've mentioned Captain Campaign before and now Lorrayne Gilbert talks on Partner-TV about marketing with him. This episode of Partner-TV can be found here . After watching this you will be better equipped to do your own marketing, even if it is to just 5 new customers. What is more, you will probably be better at it if you use the tools :-) ttfn David