DavidOverton.com
This site is my way to share my views and general business and IT information with you about Microsoft, IT solutions for ISVs, technologists and businesses, large and small.  

September 2006 - David Overton's Blog

  • Utility to make web sites think that IE7 is IE6 for compatibility reasons

    I am working on the train on my way to the Nottingham Ignite Tour and while on the way say this in an old Microsoft Download Notification mail . Some websites check what make and version of web browser you are using before deciding what to send you in the way of HTML etc. This is all very good and often leads to a great user experience with the website, unless the website does not know how to deal with IE7 and then throws a bit of a wobbler. If you meet a website like this, then this utility is for you: User Agent String Utility Version 2 This utility opens an Internet Explorer 7.0 window that is configured to report its identity to Web sites as being Internet Explorer 6.0 for sites not yet configured to recognize version 7.0. ttfn David
  • Windows SharePoint Services Podcast with Bob Sutton - Senior Product Manager

    I saw this over tat the IW Center and thought you might be interested. I am in the middle of finding out if SBS can run WSS v3 nicely. I know that all the wizards will not work, but what else will? Anyway, for those who want to know what is coming in v3 - listen to the podcast on the site! Windows SharePoint Services Prodcast - Bob Sutton, Senior Product Manager One of the questions I get asked frequently is "What's the difference betweeen Windows SharePoint Services and SharePoint Portal Server?" Usually I answer by saying that WSS is the basic "free" version of our web collaboration platform which supports small teams of users working on documents and projects together. However, the new version of WSS is significantly enhanced and there's something in it for everyone. I recently interviewed Bob Sutton, who is a Senior Product Manager responsible for Windows SharePoint Services "v3". In this prodcast, Bob talks about some of the new features in the upcoming version of WSS, such as blogs, wikis and RSS support...
  • IIS7 & Vista information

    Jonathan Goodyear Marks IIS7 as the "Difference" in Windows Vista There are many cool features in Windows Vista that might make one developer happy over another. For President of ASPSoft Jonathan Goodyear, though, it is clear he sees ... http://forums.iis.net/1392889/ShowThread.aspx#1392889 Shipped! RC1 Out-the-Door! Learn from the all-new Updated IIS7 Articles Windows Vista Release Candidate (RC) 1 is out the door with a fresh new build of IIS7. This is an exciting time for the IIS team as we draw near the full release i ... http://forums.iis.net/1391795/ShowThread.aspx#1391795
  • Small Business Security Guidance (via Group Policy)

    These are a little old, as in published on 21st July 2006, but still great step by step guides on how to ensure that servers and clients connected to them are secure. They do not just look at SBS 2003, but also Windows 2000 & Windows Server 2003 server environments too. How to Configure Windows Firewall in a Small Business Environment using Group Policy.doc How to Configure Windows XP SP2 Network Protection Technologies in a Small Business Environment.doc Securing Internet Information Services 6.0.doc Link to Download details: Small Business Security Guidance ttfn David
  • Fair and honest appraisal of the browser wars - Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Netscape and Firefox

    I am someone who likes the best browser for me. While I have often tried other browsers, I have always come back to IE based ones. I say IE based ones as I was a Avant and Maxthon user for a good 2 years until IE7 came on the scene. I loved tabbed browsing and those browsers gave me that. The discussion can be found at the CRN web site and does an amazing job of describing the browser wars and talking about who won each round. What might surprise many is that MS has not won many, but does have a large base now and the verdict is open for the next round. For the record, I now use IE7, I still get tabbed browsing and quick tabs and I have not yet had a site I could not browse, so that is great. I LOVE the new security features - protected mode and anti-phishing technology. I save trees with the "about time" feature of shrink to fit for printing and when I start the browser, it opens up the 8 pages I want it to in tabs, so no longer choosing which page will be my homepage, I have 8. (as it happens, they are Valdville...
  • Want to play with Vista, but don't want to install it - Welcome to the Microsoft Virtual Lab for Windows Vista

    I have had a few people say they don't have the resources to load and explore Vista, but wanted to see more. Well now you can explore all the following subjects without leaving your desk or loading a DVD. The Vista lab covers the following areas: Microsoft Virtual Lab Express: Exploring New Functionality in Internet Explorer 7 Using System Image Manager to Automate Windows Vista Installations Windows Vista: Image Engineering Configuring Windows Firewall with Advanced Security Exploring New Group Policy Settings in Windows Vista Exploring User Account Control in Windows Vista Migrating User State from Windows XP to Windows Vista Managing Windows Vista and Windows Server Longhorn Network Bandwidth with Policy-based Quality of Service Managing Windows Vista Using New Management Technologies Source: Microsoft Virtual Lab: Windows Vista Enjoy them! ttfn David
  • Understanding Workflow in WSS and Office 2007

    Many people have been asking about Windows SharePoint Services and Workflow and how this will work with SBS 2003. While I can not say how WSS v3 will be supported on SBS, the issue is likely to be one of the wizards and fax tools no working rather than the WSS v3 itself not working. One of the good features of WSS is the new workflow features that are available. From within the document it states: Many kinds of processes in many different kinds of organizations can benefit from automated support for human workflow. Examples include: Approval : A common aspect of human-oriented business processes is the need to get approval from multiple participants. What’s being approved can vary widely, ranging from a Word document containing next year’s marketing plan to an expense report from a trip to a conference. In every case, some number of people must review the information, perhaps appending comments, then indicate approval or rejection. Coordinating group efforts : Whether it’s preparing a response...
  • Office 2007 training clinics

    First Look Office 2007 - instructor-led training and Hands-on Labs (Halo) Course 3370: Getting Started with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, one-day clinic Course 3041: Deploying Microsoft Windows Vista and the 2007 Office System Client Products, half-day clinic Course 3374: Getting Started with Microsoft Office 2007 Sharepoint Server, one-day Halo Course 3199: Getting Started with the 2007 Microsoft Office System, half-day clinic Course 3372: Getting Started with the 2007 Microsoft Office System, half-day Halo Course 3369: Getting Started with Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0, half-day clinic Course 3373: Getting Started with Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0, half-day Halo ttfn David
  • How patching should be done for all servers and clients - by Susan Bradley (super Jedi)

    I still fear Susan and what she would do if I ever made a serious security blunder. Luckily for me, I haven't yet. I also love the way she tells you the way it should be and makes it easy. I went through the process of evaluating my patches and then installing those I thought were needed (I do have some Office components on my test server, but I am hoping she will let me off for that). I was thinking on how to write this up when I say Susan's entry The risk evaluation of patching and saw she put it exactly how I would have done. What is my message - use her process and your customers will be as safe as can be expected. In fact, I applied the IMF patch immediately, which resulted in Exchange being offline for a few minutes, which when using Outlook 2003 or 2007 is no biggie at all. ttfn David
  • James Akrigg on the The Blog Frog - aka why you should blog and why this year is so important - $20B of R&D finally being released on the world - and that means, Office, Vista and Exchange

    If you have read my previous posts on James you will know that I respect him as a friend and colleague, but his arrival at blogging was still a good 12 months late. He describes why you should blog and what made him decide to finally take up the simplest way to communicate with people. Perhaps more interestingly was his number 1 reason: Compelling Event Number 1. I realised that this year is perhaps the year of greatest potential I have ever seen in my 20+ years in the IT industry. Microsoft is about to release over 20 billion dollars of research and development through product and technology releases. There is so much new opportunity that this will enable for customers and partners of Microsoft that I needed a way of communicating more of the details for both technical and business audiences. I wanted to compliment some of the great blogs my team and other colleagues had created by bringing my own insights and useful information to as many people as possible. The answer 'Blog'. Source: James Akrigg ....
  • Small Business Server: Master Your Domain: Build a Corporate Network at Home -- TechNet Magazine, October 2006

    I saw this and thought of all of you who use SBS, like me, and wondered how many people will now go and build a corporate network for the home. I have just 5 PCs on home network, 1 Media Center Extender, 1 xbox and 1 xbox 360 :-). The article is not huge, but for some, useful. Master Your Domain: Build a Corporate Network at Home We're hardcore IT guys at heart, and we want well-managed, smooth-running computers—not only at work, but at home as well. We're willing to put some time into making that happen. We're also privacy and security geeks. We like running things ourselves to retain the desired level of freedom and control. We wanted an affordable solution that would provide easily shared resources (files, calendars, printing, and so on) to benefit all family members. We wanted an integrated solution that was familiar to us so we didn't have to cobble together a smattering of independent pieces. We wanted a flexible solution that could be expanded upon to do new things later. Enter Microsoft ® Windows ® Small...
  • What does the bCentral "Flexible Working Solutions from Microsoft" mean to you as a partner?

    I just opened up the latest newsletter from bCentral - if you don't get them, you should as hundred of thousands of people in the UK read the bCentral site and access this information. And if you were not sure, bCentral is the one stop shop from Microsoft for UK small businesses to find information on anything from finance to marketing (with a bit of technology in the middle). Anyway, while reading it, the top article was: Top tips to flexible working The benefits flexible working can bring to your business are significant. With the right technology, a flexible culture truly enhances the way you work because customers are better served and your employees are better looked after. For ten top tips to flexible working, download our free guide. Download the guide >> I thought, this looks interesting - the guide is a fantastic starter to explaining what the benefits of flexible working are for small businesses, so a simple read, and potentially mailing it to key prospects and customers would be top of my...
  • BitLocker is very secure, so how can you prepare for when you or your customer looses their key / password so their disk is not turned to mush?

    I have been asked this before - how can someone recover information if they forget their BitLocker password. One of the things that Bitlocker does now is offer a recovery mechanism. This is not something that can be done post a failure, but at the time a disk is encrypted. This is documented on the Bitlocker Team's blog at Open Sesame: BitLocker Recovery Passwords . ttfn David
  • Windows Vista Team Blog : It's Official: Windows Vista RC1 Is Complete

    Again, fingers still missing on left hand, so just a quick one to say that RC1 has started the shift out the door. Expect to see if on the official sites over the coming hours and days. Lots of new features, the platform to build and certify applications against and start the serious hardware testing for too. ttfn David Link to Windows Vista Team Blog : It's Official: Windows Vista RC1 Is Complete
  • Remote Desktop issues and a hotfix - information from Susan B again

    You can tell I am in catch up mode on the blog today. Just saw the article If you do remote support of servers - I think you need to call for this hotfix on Susan's Blog and decided this is something we all need to include into our patching cycle this month, so go and request the hotfix. ttfn David
  • Want to understand more about BitLocker (drive encryption) in Vista and how to set it up?

    Vista has loads of features, but for those small businesses who think that spending the small amount extra to get Software Assurance for the Enterprise version or Ultimate Edition to get the disk fully encrypted, so that even with physical access to the machine the disk is still unreadable, this is the info you need. I don't see all small businesses needing this, but for those that do, here is how to set it up and understand what it is doing. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=90c3a9c7-e324-404d-afad-e8f52885419d&DisplayLang=en ttfn David
  • Updated templates for Windows SharePoint Services V2 (WSS)

    Again, writing blog entries while on train, but from the Microsoft Download Notification mail I see the following: Windows SharePoint Services Applications Template: Project Team Management The Project Team Site application for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services provides a central location for the project manager and team to collaborate during all phases of the project lifecycle from initiation to close-out. Windows SharePoint Services Applications Template: All Templates (English) This download contains all downloadable application templates in the English language for Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services. ttfn David
  • CRM Webcast focusing on the customer's needs that CRM can help solve

    CRM: Focus on the Customer Tune in and learn how you can help increase sales success, deliver superior customer service, and make informed, agile business decisions with Microsoft Dynamics CRM. Whether your organization is currently using Microsoft CRM or considering it, this Webcast series offers demos and interaction with CRM experts that you won’t want to miss. ttfn David
  • Happy 50th, hard drive. But will you make it to 60?

    I saw today that the good old hard disk is 50 years old - I remember my winchester drives, I remember my 1st PC 5MB hard disk. Now my laptop has 2 x 80GB hard disks and my PCs at home are powered by disks totaling a few TB. What is interesting is whether "platters" will be replaced by RAM in some way. To learn more, go look at Happy 50th, hard drive. But will you make it to 60? at ComputerWorld. ttfn David
  • UK Exchange, Vista and Office (EVO) Events from 25th October through to January

    As you may have noticed, EVO is the buzz word at Microsoft - we needed another acronym after all - and the training is underway. Find out more are the UK Events : Event details The Dates 25th October - ICC, Birmingham 6th November - Microsoft Campus Reading 8th November - UBC Manchester 9th November - Watershed Theatre Bristol 10th November - Cavendish Centre London 16th November - Microsoft Campus Reading 21st November - Showcase Cinema Leeds 16th January - UBC, Manchester The content This year Microsoft will launch Microsoft Exchange Server 2007; Windows Vista; and the 2007 Microsoft Office system (EVO). Microsoft has invested almost $20b in R&D and analysts IDC predict partner services opportunity to be around €47billion euros. Don't miss the launch for Microsoft’s EVO partner ready business at venues throughout the UK. Attend the EVO Partner Roadshow to learn about: How to get ready for the launch and exploit Microsoft’s largest ever technology release Solution selling scenarios and demos for EVO and the...
  • Quick Vista keyboard tip - using ctrl with Alt-Tab and Windows-tab

    this is a really quick tip - if you press the CTRL key when pressing Alt-Tab or Windows key-tab, which brings up the task picker and flip-3d screens, then the screens will not disappear as soon as you let go of the keys. You can now use your mouse to pick a task or scroll through the windows on flip 3d. ttfn David
  • Poor Chris Parkes - he compares his people ready business life to the marketing message - and brings down the house!!

    I am not one to laugh at other's misfortunes... or at least not very often, but Chris had arranged to go to the Kent Partner Group meeting, when I asked him how it went he gave me some story about hit house falling down. Being the sport he is, this is part of his blog entry on the whole sad affair. I still say it is an extreme way to avoid meeting partners, but that is Chris for you! I am sure he will be at the group soon! Source: Chris Parkes: A PC is not just for Christmas... : A Day in The Life (of the People Ready Business) A Day in the Life of...Ken 8:00 - 9:00 AM Check email/voicemail messages 9:00 - 10:00 Review cash on hand and bank balances 10:00 - 12:00 PM Attend scheduled meetings 12:00 - 1:00 Have lunch 1:00 - 2:00 Meet with accounting staff 2:00 - 3:30 Review finances/prepare reports 3:30 - 5:00 Continue work on current projects/work on the To Do list generated from meetings 5:00 - 7:00 PM Review and respond to email messages/work on a facilities issue/go home A Day in the Life of...Chris 2:15 - 2...
  • Short chance to offer feedback on the Vista Security Guide

    The Vista Security Guide will be released to Beta on September 6 th exclusively through Microsoft Connect. It will be available to anyone who signs in at https://connect.microsoft.com/InvitationUse.aspx?ProgramID=820&InvitationID=VSG-P74P-BFTH&SiteID=14 . The Beta period will extend for just three weeks, during which we’ll be accepting and triaging bugs and comments. To support this Beta release, the development and program management teams will deliver a LiveMeeting on Wednesday September 6 th . Details are below. We want to welcome as many customers and partners into the Beta as possible to gather the most feedback and ensure that we ship a customer-driven solution. With that in mind, feel free to forward this information to anyone you think might benefit from attending the session. We’ll be describing the guide, how we developed it, the best way to use it, and one really cool new tool that can save lots of time in the test and deployment phases. We will also take questions at the end of the presentation...
  • If you are interested in the Full Disk Encryption(BitLocker™ Drive Encryption) feature in Vista - it has been made over

    This tool has been made over, simplified and is now far less confusing. While the full capability to re-partition the disk if required is not automated, the info at BitLocker™ Drive Encryption Team Blog : BitLocker Makeover also provides RC1 step by step instructions too. ttfn David
  • Office 2007 beta 2 Tech Refresh 2 is available to download

    Hopefully you are aware of Office 2007, the soon to be released next version of Office. Microsoft previously had made this available to 2.5M people for download and then beyond that was on a cost recovery basis. Well, the refresh is out, with a huge number of improvements and available for download with the number expected to be much higher than the previous beta build. To go get this, go to http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview ttfn David

(c)David Overton 2006-23