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  • If the Action Pack changes are annoying you, then it is time to stand up and be counted ... by Microsoft

    I'm going to give you a small insight into the inner workings of Microsoft. It is very simple. We work on numbers - some would say just like any computer ;-) Anyway, one number we monitor is partner satisfaction and one measure of this is by how many people are phoning or mailing us and complaining about things (or saying how great they are). I was recently told that while the feedback from this blog and others is spurring change the impact of the Action Pack is not being seen on our satisfaction scores and that the numbers have been favourable (i.e. less people have been phoning in and complaining). So... If you want Action Pack changed - you need to tell us through an official channel for it to be heard louder. It is as simple as that. If 1,000 partners phone Microsoft to complain about it, that is a stronger message than if 100+ people post comments on the blog. How do you contact Microsoft - click this link and the telephone numbers for all around the world can be found! Link to Contact Microsoft thanks, and...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Wed, Feb 21 2007

  • The hunt for Jim Gray has not turned up the man yet, even with the best of science looking for him

    Now I have never been good at expressing things that get under my skin, so if this seems awkward, so be it. There was once a man who helped invent the modern day database. In doing so he gave me a career in computers that has changed my life, and countless others. I have had a couple of meetings with Jim and was always in awe of the thoughts and processing that went on in his mind. He could stretch from super computing problems to how data should be made more useable in small businesses. In the one day we spoke about the complete database needs of the UK for all health matters - diagnosis through to information sharing and then discussed how data should be shared and sliced in a 6 man business - and he still ran rings around me, even though 8 years ago I was designing and benchmarking databases up to 170TB and I have been focusing deeply on small business needs for the last four. If you don't know about Jim, have a look at 426 documents that reference him in the acedemic search or read what he was looking at on...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Feb 20 2007
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  • I'm sorry - I am not perfect and nor is Microsoft. Sometimes it is our fault

    I can be abrasive sometimes and whether it "is my fault" or not, I don't always understand others' point of views. To this I would like to say "It is my fault". Now, if you have got up off the floor, let me give you a few examples. I say "contact our customer support" and you say "I don't have time". Before I rant - OK, I understand this, if you could share the bug at some time, we will try to fix it. We haven't been able to identify it yet, so need your help I say "There is no OEM media, get over it" and you say "I need OEM media to do my installs". OK, I can't fix this one. I do understand where you are coming from. If I were to share the fact that in the UK, which is a low piracy country, our tests so far have shown between 10-15% of all copies of Windows are pirated and many come from Action Packs and other OEM keys, does that help understand why this is such an issue? I do wish I could give you back OEM media, but I've been told it is just not possible. While Microsoft did publish the changes coming, I now...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Feb 19 2007

  • Office 2007 training for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Office, Access

    This is the download your own stuff: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT102036981033.aspx - currently 18 slide decks here Training presentation: Outlook 2007—Create great-looking signatures for your e-mail Rating: (16 votes) Training presentation: Microsoft Office—Get up to speed with the 2007 system Rating: (85 votes) Training presentation: PowerPoint 2007—Get up to speed Rating: (101 votes) Training presentation: Outlook 2007—Get out of your Inbox Rating: (21 votes) Training presentation: Microsoft Office—Keyboard shortcuts in the 2007 system Rating: (6 votes) Training presentation: PowerPoint 2007—Create your first presentation Rating: (81 votes) Training presentation: Access 2007—Get up to speed Rating: (17 votes) Training presentation: Word 2007—Get up to speed Rating: (55 votes) Training presentation: PowerPoint 2007—Get visual with SmartArt graphics New! Rating: (7 votes) Training presentation: Outlook 2007—Calendar basics Rating: (49 votes) Training presentation: Excel 2007—Create a chart Rating...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Feb 19 2007

  • Getting started with Word, including Word 2007 training, tools to make moving from Word 2003 (or earlier) to Word 2007 much easier including Word 2003 to 2007 command reference and how to build your own Ribbon tabs

    I saw these links in the latest Microsoft downloads e-mail, but the more I looked into this the more I was amazed: Training materials you can use to deliver training on Word 2007 to your customers Tools that load onto a customers PC to enable them to find Word 2003 commands in Word 2007 Tools that put a useful set of getting started tools into a "Getting Started" tab within word Tools to build your own customised Ribbon tabs I'm going to start with the simplest of tools, the Interactive Command Reference . The Word 2007 Guide- Word 2003 to Word 2007 interactive command reference guide is available online, but the link is to the standalone downloadable version - which gives you an emulation of Word 2003, you click around on it and it then tells you where to find the selected item in Word 2007. great for that "Where has my command gone" conversations. Getting Started Tab for Word 2007 (download here) As you can see this tab has several features - the 1st one takes you off to the online version of the downloadable...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Feb 18 2007

  • Has this blog turned into the Windows Vista Blog?

    It does seem that from being SBS based, then into Small Business partners that the blog has finally morphed into the Vista blog. This is not the case, but I am responding to the needs and requests of the Microsoft partners. SBS 2003 still does an amazing job and should be part of almost any customer request where they have more than 5 PCs (IMHO). However, you know all about SBS, don't you? However I suspect that Office 2007 and Windows Vista are a little bit stranger, so hence the focus. Don't worry - SBS will become more prominent very soon :-) Every dog has its day and this is Vista's and Office's. Give it a week or so and it will be back to the whole ecosystem of Windows Client, Windows Server (or SBS), Office and Windows Mobile. ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Feb 18 2007

  • Microsoft tool to transfer programs from a Windows XP machine to a Windows Vista machine - Windows Easy Transfer Companion (WETC)

    This tools works alongside the Easy Transfer Wizard using an Easy Transfer Cable, however it has a list of known programs that it will transfer should you so desire. The Windows Easy Transfer Companion (WETC) is a program that you can use to help transfer programs from a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2) to a computer that is running Windows Vista. WETC does not replace Windows Easy Transfer. Instead, WETC is an independent program that complements Windows Easy Transfer. You can use WETC to transfer many kinds of programs between two computers that are connected by an Easy Transfer Cable or by a network connection. For more information click onto http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=931696
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Feb 18 2007

  • "I've purchased the Windows Vista anytime upgrade key - I think I need a new disk (DVD)" - "nope" says David

    I've been mucking around with Vista (formally Longhorn) for about 3-4 years. This means that things like "all editions are on the one DVD" is pretty much ingrained in my skill, however sometimes I forget that this was not the norm previously and sometimes trips people up. I got a mail the other day that said (edited a bit and published with permission of the sender): I installed Vista Business on my PC. I read in your blog that if you use a genuine Vista DVD (including a MAPS version), then you would not need the upgrade disk. I tried to upgrade to Ultimate. I made the purchase online and and attempted the upgrade. I need the disk. I went back online and ordered it and now I am waiting to upgradewindowsanydaynow. Did I do something wrong? The answer was very, very simple - take the downloaded utility, run it and when it asks for the Vista DVD, put in the same one you already have. However, since I have to admit that I have NEVER actually bought an upgrade key online I replied: You absolutely should not require...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Feb 18 2007

  • Enabling Log on as a Service for a local user

    I came across a situation on our network where we needed to give a local user the right to "Log on as a Service" on one of our servers. This was to support a LOB application that we run on a server here in our office. The problem I had was that for both the "Log on as a service" and the "Log on as a Batch job" the "Add User or Group" button was greyed out. This is because our SBS 2003 box has a Domain Group Policy which sets the rights to these services at a Domain level and stops any changes being made elsewhere. To get around this I did the following: 1) Logon to the server in question as Domain Administrator. Open up the Active Directory Users & Computers (ADUC) snap-in. 2) Right click on the Domain and choose Properties. Click on the Group Policy tab and open the group policies. You have to do this unless you install the GPMC on the server. 3) Create a new Group Policy and name it something appropriate. 4) Navigate to Computer Configuration / Windows Settings / Security Settings / Local Policies / User...

  • Its not often I get a comment that makes me respond on a personal level, but here is one. Action Pack, life expectance of Microsoft and your business

    I got this comment recently on one of the blogs and decided to respond to each part as it covers so many topics. It seems you have some useful info, albeit widely available, info here, thanks. MS raised its action pack pricing by 50% a few years back. And yes, if you were to use the various server licenses, it would be a fair value. I choose the word fair intentionally, as the intent is, or should be, for IT companies to become experienced with its product, in order to do what?… sell it! The action pack is all about generating sales. We should get it free. The info here is available in other places, but people were having trouble finding it, so I brought it all together in one place. With regard to the Action Pack being free - I completely disagree - If you are selling almost any other product (in any industry) - you might get demonstration items, one or two people might even get the odd free item, but many people will not be able to run their business of of it. You can get eval copies of Vista & Office -...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Feb 16 2007

  • Microsoft official Vista to Vista upgrade information, including how to upgrade from Windows XP and Windows 2000

    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/932616/en-us General information about how to install Windows Vista Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) How to determine whether your computer is running a 32-bit version or a 64-bit version of Windows XP Installation choices for Windows XP Home and Windows XP Home N Edition Installation choices for Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Professional N Editions Installation choices for Windows XP Tablet Edition Installation choices for Windows XP Media Center Edition Installation choices for Windows 2000 Upgrade paths between versions of Windows Vista INTRODUCTION This article discusses the installation choices for consumer versions of Windows Vista. This article does not include information about Windows Vista Starter, about Windows Vista Enterprise, or about versions of Windows Vista that you install by using Microsoft Volume Licensing. The method that you use to install Windows Vista depends on the answers to the following questions: Definitions Upgrade to Windows Vista...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Feb 15 2007

  • Did you know how the world is changing - where the business is and what the future holds - have a look to find out

    I saw this posted internally http://www.scottmcleod.org/didyouknow.wmv and it reminded me of a talk Ray Kurzweil he once gave giving timelines for many things. It is worth having a poke around his site - http://www.kurzweilai.net/index.html?flash=1 and also at some of his predictions - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/business/features/future_perfect/trans6.shtml . By 2009, we won't be carrying around notebook computers or even palmtops you won't see the computers. The visual display's will be written directly onto our retinas from eye glasses and contact lenses so we'll either see a virtual display hovering in air or, even more compellingly, the visual display can overtake our whole visual field of view and create, basically, visual virtual reality. ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Feb 15 2007
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  • Just as predicted - Vista is driving new PC Sales - are you driving these into your customers?

    I was reading this http://news.com.com/Sales+of+boxed+Vista+copies+down+over+XP/2100-1016_3-6159700.html?tag=nefd.top and it said that Vista boxed product was down by 59% compared to XP and 32% by revenue (means people are buying Ultimate), but then noticed that it said PC sales were up 67%.. hmm, so I wonder what was on those. What we are seeing is people buying new PCs rather than upgrading. While people are doing that, perhaps we should ask our customers if they would like to take advantage of the great things that Vista, Office SBS and Windows Mobile can do for them and put together a package, potentially using Open Value Subscription to spread the cost (or finance) and help them get that new PC and everything else they need in 1 easy go :) ttfn David
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Feb 15 2007

  • Upgrading from Windows Vista Home to Vista Business or Vista Ultimate

    Sometimes some people end up with a copy of Windows Vista Home on a machine that they want to use in a business environment. The Windows Anytime Upgrade provides for people moving to Ultimate, but if you just want to move to Business, then this is what you need to know. Windows Vista Home SKUs qualify to use VUP FPP media As the home SKUs have some features that are not present in the business SKU, you have to do a clean install, the same as for Action Pack Upgrades (see How to do a clean install using upgrade media ). You can however do an in-place upgrade to Ultimate. The only media you can use to perform the home to business upgrade is retail upgrade media To preserve the settings that apply and documents etc, you can export your files and settings and then re-import them on the new system using the Easy Transfer Wizard, although things such as parental controls etc would not be there, so no longer work thanks David Technorati tags: Upgrades , Windows Vista , Vista
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Feb 13 2007

  • Winning with Windows Mobile tour

    Jason Language has just noted that the "Winning with Windows Mobile" tour is about to take off at http://blogs.msdn.com/jasonlan/archive/2007/01/18/windows-mobile-briefing-winning-with-windows-mobile.aspx . These include developer, enterprise (yuck) and partner sessions. The only problem I have is while it is cross-emea, it does not include the UK. If you want to see this come to the UK - add a comment on Jason's or mine blog saying so :) Event Agenda Developer Track: Keynote – Develop and Win with Windows Mobile Windows Mobile Today Extending Windows Mobile Applications Fun with Windows Mobile Networking Reception for Partners, Hosters and Developers. Enterprise Track: Windows Mobile Enterprise Session Mobile Operator Presentation Partner Readiness Track: Partner Session – Windows Mobile Strategy Partner Session – Go to Market Messages WM applications session – Pull through extra revenue by selling WM Networking Reception for Partners, Hosters and Developers To check the dates they are in each country and if...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Feb 13 2007

  • How to use the Windows Anytime Upgrade tools

    [Please also read the Action Pack FAQ on this blog at http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2007/02/13/windows-vista-windows-xp-office-2003-and-office-2007-action-pack-update-my-faq.aspx ] If you want to electronically upgrade from one version of Vista to another then the Windows Anytime Upgrade tools are for you. To understand what versions you can upgrade from, have a look at Why Windows Vista Home can only be Upgraded to Home Ultimate online, but can upgrade via retail . You then need to go to one of the merchants. Mike P posted about this pointing out: So i notice the upgrade links are now working (www.windowsanytimeupgrade.com/maps and https://emea.windowsanytimeupgradestore.com/WAU_DIRECT/home.aspx ) although I'm a little puzzled as to why it costs £110 PER LICENCE!!!!!!!!!!!! MS has arranged several merchants to provide this upgrade service to consumers (as well as providing it direct throught he urls above). There is a huge discrepancy in the pricing... Comet -> https://comet.windowsanytimeupgrade...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Feb 12 2007

  • 1st short coverage of the WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit)

    Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) User's Guide for Windows Vista The WAIK is designed to help OEMs, system builders and corporate IT professionals deploy Windows onto new hardware. The kit is a new set of deployment tools for Windows Vista. Download this guide to get the current methods, tools, and requirements for deploying Windows. Technorati tags: Vista , Windows Vista , WAIK , Windows Automated Instakkation Kit , Deployment
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Feb 11 2007

  • IIS and SSL troubleshooting tools from Microsoft

    WFetch 1.4 A tool aimed at helping resolve problems where the browser is unable to connect to a Web site. SSL Diagnostics Version 1.1 (x64) Download this troubleshooting tool for Internet Information Services (IIS). SSL Diagnostics Version 1.1 (x86) Download this troubleshooting tool for Internet Information Services (IIS). Technorati tags: IIS , support tools , SSL , browser
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Sun, Feb 11 2007

  • Why Windows Vista Home can only be Upgraded to Home Ultimate online, but can upgrade via retail media from XP Home to Vista Business (or any other version)

    Following a bit of a discussion on the user groups around this area, I thought I would add my thoughts here. Many home PC users will be getting Windows Vista Home Premium and then potentially discovering that they really wanted the business edition ( SKU ) as they are not just home users. The problem we have is that if you look at the Windows Vista product feature matrix you will notice item like those to the left (click to see larger image) where features are available in the Home edition, but not the business edition. When people "upgrade" within the same release of the OS they expect to not loose features and some of those features include items that Microsoft potentially pays licensing for. Because of these reasons, home users can either "upgrade" to Ultimate, or buy Business in retail and do a full clean install. Now, if someone has any version of Windows XP or Windows 2000 then they can "upgrade" to any of the Windows Vista editions, however the key item to note here is that if someone will loose functionality...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Fri, Feb 9 2007

  • WMDC (Windows Mobile Device Center) has finally shipped, so now all those Vista / Windows Mobile sync woes can go away

    This was one question that was asked just too many times... and I could not give an answer on when a the final product was going to ship. Then, there I was reading Vijay's blog and what did I find " Windows Mobile Device Center Released " - linking to here (ultimately, via the Windows Vista blog). Anyway, go get it David Technorati tags: Vista , Windows Vista , Windows Client , Windows Mobile , ActiveSync , WMDC
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Feb 8 2007

  • Demo Showcase and Action Pack shipments

    [Please also read the Action Pack FAQ on this blog at http://uksbsguy.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2007/02/13/windows-vista-windows-xp-office-2003-and-office-2007-action-pack-update-my-faq.aspx ] Ok, so we failed to hit the January shipment, which is not something I am proud of, but everyone knows that we missed the shipment and my feelings already :-) If you are wanting to Demo Vista and Office then there are a few things you can do: Load it yourself and tell people how you use it Read the case study information on the bCentral web site and tell people about UK small businesses that are benefiting from the products already Portfolio Communications goes green Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 system help PR company A portrait of a small business Photography company snaps up Windows Vista and Office 2007 Accountancy firm profits from Microsoft investment Windows Vista and Office 2007 lift Aggarwal and Co. Load one of your Action Pack instances onto a PC. If you want to upgrade to Ultimate then do so, or run...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Thu, Feb 8 2007

  • Blog abuse - how to comment on my blog

    I have quite thick skin, but a few things really get my goat, so it is time I published my rules This my blog, not Microsoft's or for that matter, anyone else's Comments posted to the blog should respect me and others posting here, otherwise they won't get published As to no.2, that means talking to me and referring to Microsoft as Microshaft or M$ will stop your comments being published - I have added them to the spam engine as high count spam words Comments should refer to the blog or previous comments - it is not to share YOUR view of the world, industry or your life Comments should not be used to advertise products, your website or other places you want people to go to for your advantage (a link to more information that is informational is OK) Posting to tell me that I missed and apostrophe is useful, but I failed English 1st time at school, so the odd grammar mistake is to be expected - this is not some polished communications vehicle that is managed - it is the dribble that extends from my brain...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Tue, Feb 6 2007
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  • Is your Hardware ready for Vista yet - or "David's unofficial hardware guide"

    I saw Susanne's post on Vista ready hardware over at http://www.uksmbgirl.co.uk/blog/archives/106 and decided it was worth chipping in a few thoughts of my own. Many PCs will run Vista and while this has been discussed until people were blue in the face, much mis-information has also been published about it, so I thought I would give you the "David's unofficial guide to Hardware" To start with Microsoft has published both minimums and recommended minimums for hardware, with the later being a 1GHz or above machine with 1GB of memory. As has always been the case, power users may well require more. I am writing this on a 2GHz laptop with 1GB of memory and I consider myself a power user (my index engine reports 91,941 documents indexed - so I consider myself a power user :-) ) Does my laptop sometimes run slow - yes, but it is due to that PowerUser status and not enough RAM. My XP machine was a 3GHz Centrino with 2GB of RAM and I will upgrade the RAM on this at some time. One other way I speed the machine up - turn...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Feb 5 2007

  • The Windows Vista and Office Consumer and Small Business Launch - 30th Jan, The British Library, London, UK.... and some demos you MUST run to understand what ISVs will do with Windows Vista.. and a couple of case studies

    Finally the day has come and the rest of us (well, you - but I felt that excited anyway) without a Volume License (or if you work at Microsoft) could get and use Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System (known as Office from here on in). The British Library was chosen as two Leonardo De Vinci codices were being brought together for the 1st time in over 500 years. One was owned by the British Library and the other by Bill Gates, who appeared in person to launch the event. These books, plus other treasures from the British Library can be accessed and downloaded from http://www.bl.uk - I've put some info on how to demo it at British Library Demo of Vista and the Windows Presentation Foundation and the Windows Vista Magazine have put their copy in the same format http://wpf.windowsvistamagazine.co.uk/ttpdownload/browserapp.xbap . As always I would like to thanks everyone involved - the partners and their customers who helped to shape and deliver Windows Vista and Office and the Windows and Office teams who put up...
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Feb 5 2007

  • British Library Demo of Vista and the Windows Presentation Foundation

    If you go to www.bl.uk you will have the option to either go to Page Turner V2 or the British Library web site. Go to the Page Turner web site and open the Luttrell book. Zoom in and out, then turn to page 4&5. You use the Ctrl key to make your mouse move the book around and the shift+Ctrl to rotate the book. To turn a page, just drag it across. Remember that this is running in your browser!! Some things to notice the page turns as the real material does - physics The images are super detailed and can be zoomed in on The GOLD on the pages reflects as you move the book Now close this book and open the Golf Book and go to page 6&7 and then turn on the audio or text and follow the story. Technorati tags: Community , VIsta , Office 2007 , Small business , British Library , Windows Presentation Foundation , WPF , Demo
    Posted to David Overton's Blog by David Overton on Mon, Feb 5 2007
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