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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...
  • How to do a clean install using the Action Pack Windows Vista Media

    [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 ] This has been discussed lots on the aliases and in the comments on this blog, so here is what I did to do a clean install. In Summary, the process was: Boot Windows XP on the machine Log in (I used an Administrator Account) Insert Vista DVD Start the Install Type in Product Key Select Advanced install Select the disk and clean install Wait for Install to complete (I am not going to talk you through entering your name etc) Log into Vista Run the "Free up Disk Space" tool from the control panel to remove the Windows.old programs If you are worried about clean installs in the future, use the backup tool to do a hard disk image backup now In pictures, it looks like this: Just to clarify a few things - yes, before you blow away your old OS, don't - you can move it to one side and then migrate any documents and then remove the...
  • Use and learn about Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 in Virtual Labs

    Windows Vista: Virtual Lab Express In this 30-minute Virtual Lab Express, you will configure new security features in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 and Windows Vista. You can also watch our live and on-demand Windows Vista TechNet webcasts . 2007 Microsoft Office System: Virtual Lab Express Get a quick, hands-on overview of the 2007 Office system. In just 30 minutes, familiarise yourself with the new Ribbon bar, use the mini-toolbar and see how you can take advantage of Live Preview and the Gallery in the Office 2007 user interface. Also, watch our live and on-demand Office 2007 system webcasts for IT professionals and download Office system podcasts . Exchange Server 2007: Virtual Lab Express Get a quick, hands-on overview of Exchange Server 2007. In just 30 minutes, familiarise yourself with the Exchange Management Console and Outlook Web Access, and work with compliance and records management rules. Also, watch our live and on-demand Exchange Server webcasts and download Exchange Server podcasts . Technorati...
  • Debug Diagnostic Tool v1.1 - troubleshoot hangs, slow performance, memory leaks and crashes in any Win32 user-mode process

    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
  • Download details: Business Desktop Deployment 2007 (BDD) - Deployments for Vista and Office made simpler - not for very simple / very small customers

    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...

(c)David Overton 2006-23