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  • EBS 2208 and SBS 2008 Upgrades & Migrations from SBS 2003 and SBS / EBS 2008

    I saw over on Nicholas's blog post - Nicholas King : EBS/SBS Upgrades & Migrations that he has started to answer some of the questions around system upgrades and migrations. Below are some snippets of key information he has shared. Read his blog post for more. However, key thoughts for me are: 1) no in box SBS 2003 -> SBS 2008 upgrades. This is a box to box migration process. If you have SA or FPP copies of SBS 2003 then you can potentially do a P2V and then migrate from the virtual image. If not, I would consider running a VM of Windows Server to enable you to move the domain at least 2) Moving from one box to another (eg hardware upgrades in the future) are now supported. This can potentially be used to go from a RC0 build to RTM, but it is not tested or supported, however that does not mean it will not work!! 3) There is a GREAT document linked below that describes a migration in glorious detail EBS/SBS Upgrades & Migrations Recently I had several people ask me whether it is possible or supported...

  • Spreadsheets and documents based on standards - OpenXML and ODF, ODF and Excel or all 3

    I have been using and referencing standards for a long time. They are great. C# is an ECMA standard for example as are parts of .Net which is how project Mono has managed to come great strides in delivering part of the .Net experience on non-Microsoft platforms. Also my 1st job out after University was writing document converters. So there are two things here - one, what is wrong with more than 1 standard - we have several for networks, several for character sets. Often one standard will work where another will not. Nearly always one standard is driven by an interested party. Open Office is very keen to see greater adoption of ODF. Microsoft is very keen to seen greater adoption of OpenXML. OpenXML is already a European standard (ECMA) and one of the nice things about that is the stability you are offered if you are developing against it. There is no requirement to have Office to use this file format. OK, so we could say "lets not use the European standard and create a similar one, but not quite the same"...

  • If you are a Microsoft partner who sells SBS, then please fill in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Community Survey

    Kevin asked a couple of weeks ago if I could share this – so I’m sharing :-) The Windows Small Business Server 2008 WW Community Survey is live This is the third year we have published an SBS WW Community Survey to the SBS Community. Because of the previous surveys, we have made some adjustments in our community engagement. To name a few; we really worked on putting more focus on the Official SBS Blog. Our Sustaining Engineering team runs mini betas with our MVPs before KB's and Bug Fixes are released via Windows Update. We try to get more involvement in our techbetas from our User Groups. The list does go on. To the survey, the SBS Product Team would like to hear from the Windows SBS Community again. This survey is completely anonymous. In fact, some of you may have to sign out from Live in order to take the survey. So, if you get a PAGE NOT FOUND error message, please log out of Live and click on the link to the survey again. We want to know how valuable your experience is with the community resources and...

  • Microsoft and Citrix VDI and Terminal Server solutions at iForum – early bird discount until end of April

    I will be at iForum again this year representing Microsoft (with others). We will be presenting the joint VDI and Terminal Server solutions from Microsoft and Citrix, which includes Access Essentials for customers of less than 75 users. if you would like to attend, snap up the early bird discount. Here is the “blurb” Reducing costs, improving efficiencies and increasing performance is a challenge for any business…but Microsoft and Citrix can help. Citrix and Microsoft have decades of experience working together to provide customers a range of solutions which deliver choice, flexibility and cost savings. Our joint solutions to dynamically deliver desktop service and applications to uses wherever they are is based on tight integration of Citrix solutions with Window Server 2008, Hyper-V server virtualisation and terminal services / presentation virtualisation, and with the System Center management tools especially Virtual Machine Manager. Microsoft is proud to be a platinum sponsor at this year’s...

  • Get a Comic Relief Word Search here and donate

    [updated so can be downloaded without a sign in] Hi, My 8 year old daughter has created a word search. It is a PDF file that you can print out and draw on, nothing more complex than that. If you would like to download it and play, please donate too . Thanks David Technorati Tags: Comic Relief , Charity , if you only read one post today

  • How to Use Office Conditional Formatting to put in icon sets comparing a range of cells, or relative references as Office calls it

    So it has been a while since I last dropped out a blog, but this one was useful to me at work, so I thought I would share. Office 2016 (or 2013 and 365) has some lovely functions, one of them being conditional formatting. I use this quite a lot, but one thing stumped me. Below is what I wanted to get to: When I wanted to compare to tables of data and put in place icons to show if the data had moved up or down, I could not do it. Excel would politely tell me that “This type of reference cannot be used in a Conditional Formatting formula” Now, not being one to like these limitations, I realised that I could do it cell by cell, but that would be an awful lots of mouse clicks, so I’ve written this short piece of VBA to do it for you. To open the VBA environment, press-Alt-F11 then right click your VBAProject and select Insert Module. You can then paste the code from below into that window and modify the CompareIcons sub to match your needs. The “CompareIcons” sub makes a call GenericIconsComparison...

  • SBS 2008, Installation, Migration and Configuration – Chapter 3 - Preparing to migrate from SBS 2003

    Preparing to migrate from SBS 2003 If you are migrating from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 then there are a number of preparatory steps you need to complete. In this chapter I will cover off the preparation required to migrate from SBS 2003 to SBS 2008. This will cover off the following steps: Checking your SBS 2003 server is healthy Backing up the server Installing required software Changing SBS 2003 to prepare it for migration Completing the migration tools I will also answer some questions that enable you to decide when and how to perform a migration. I then explain the steps of migration that you will need to follow: Plan the migration process including how you will move 3 rd party applications Communicate plan and impact to users and get agreement on impact Checking the health of SBS 2003 Active Directory Backup existing server Change network configuration to match SBS 2008 design requirements Update software on SBS 2003 Change Active Directory functionality level Confirm SBS 2003 is currently configured at best practice...
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  • Channel Expo Show presentations - Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Windows Server (SBS, Naked, Home Server and Longhorn) sales slides

    If you visited the Channel Expo show this year then you probably saw one or two Microsoft presentations on desktop and server solutions. James Akrigg and Matt McSpirit provided the desktop entertainment while I covered off what servers we have out there and what is coming in the near future. We promised the slides and here they are: Desktop (Windows Vista and Office 2007)- Office 2007 PowerPoint Desktop (Windows Vista and Office 2007)- PDF Server (SBS, Windows Server 2003 R2, Longhorn and Home Server) - Office 2007 PowerPoint Server (SBS, Windows Server 2003 R2, Longhorn and Home Server) - PDF James has an amazing blog (Out of Office) at http://blogs.technet.com/outofoffice Matt touches many aspects of desktop technology including that for small business at http://blogs.technet.com/mattmcspirit Have a look at the blogs and enjoy the presentations. ttfn David Technorati tags: Channel Expo , Vista , Office 2007 , SBS 2003 , Nakes Servers , Home Server , Longhorn

  • Windows Server Division Blog (and Windows Server 2008 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Update and TS vs Citrix)

    Another blog to add to your list of blogs worth reading - the Windows Server division blog - http://blogs.technet.com/windowsserver . As an example, here is a snippet about how WSS and Windows Server 2008 will be allowed to follow different timelines and paths by NOT being shipped on the same DVD, or how to choose between Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008 and Citrix Windows Server 2008 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Update As we’re getting closer to release, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 is returning to how it was previously available to Windows Server 2008 customers. Specifically, we are going back to making it available as a separate download that is available to customers at no additional charge. This is how Windows SharePoint Services was available to Windows Server 2003 customers (pre-R2). With the beta and RC0 versions of Windows Server 2008, we offered it in the Windows Server 2008 software. Starting with RC1 and going forward, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 will have to be downloaded separately...

  • If you want to help shape Office 14 (the next version of Microsoft Office) tell us about yourself and see if you can get on the International Planning Panel

    I saw this and while it is old, thought you might like it: Participate in the Evolution of the Future Microsoft Office Versions Microsoft is committed to continue building solutions that address your needs and requirements. As part of the process for building future solutions, the Microsoft Office International Planning team is recruiting an international user panel. The goal for this panel will be to contribute in helping the Product Planning team get an in-depth understanding on users' habits, needs and requirements. We are convinced that listening to users' feedback is key to the development of great solutions and products. If you would like to participate, please complete the questionnaire. ttfn David Technorati Tags: Office 14
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  • Microsoft, web services, new business models and small business

    In the IT market the term "change is the only constant" has been around for years (well, certainly since I left ICL where change was not constant, but that was due to the contract that dictated that everything did not change, so fell behind). Note, this post is purely the ramblings from my mind, not a statement from Microsoft in an Official or Unofficial capacity We've seen big iron, then smaller systems, the rise of SMP, the reduction in IT hardware and software costs for solutions, the rise of Microsoft servers, client server, 3-tier, clustered computing, multi-core and now internet enabled computing. There is much more, of course, to come, but how we deliver IT to customers has changed too. Of course, this is all generalised and some people have always been at one end or the other, but general acceptance is always shifting - remember the ASP business model of the late 90's - dead, yet here it is again with Software as / plus service. The pricing of some services even appears to be £0, yet...

  • How to configure Mac’s with SBS 2003

    I was recently asked by a colleague about the ease of setting up Mac’s in the SBS 2003 world. We are all aware of the pitfalls of using a .local domain name (I hope) and that some of the wizards do not work (or perhaps none of them do), but I have never actually been through the detail. One question that stumped me was around certificates on the Mac. So, I posted the question internally and someone Mark Stanfill piped up asking if the customer / partner had looked at the Whitepaper on how to setup a Mac. For my sins, I was not even remotely aware of the whitepaper, so I downloaded it and had a look. Talk about an awesome document, so if you need to set up a Mac on a SBS network, get this document. The link is http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=46578 and this should take you to the download. Microsoft is not the only source for information like this, it is also worth looking at the below for some ISA and Mac info: http://simultaneouspancakes.com/Lessons/archives/2005/11/internet_access_1.shtml Ttfn David Just...

  • How to Report a Problem Page in IE8 with the Report a Problem Webpage for Internet Explorer 8.0 Beta Add-On

    I've spent the day using IE8 and while it is faster, some pages have problems. If your seeing this, download this add-on to submit to Microsoft. Report a Webpage Problem Internet Explorer 8.0 Beta Add-On The Microsoft Report a Webpage Problem Internet Explorer Add-on allows the user to submit a report to Microsoft for webpages they believe are having rendering problems, scripting errors, or various other types of problems Download details: Report a Webpage Problem Internet Explorer 8.0 Beta Add-On To use, go to the tools menu and select Report a Webpage Problem Then you get to submit a page like this: thanks David Technorati Tags: Beta , Microsoft , IE8 , Internet Explorer , Application Compatibility , Support

  • Buying Vista and then installing an old version of Office - what are you allowed to do

    I have already discussed on this blog what is and is not support for Office on Vista (any version from 2000 on) here . However there is always the question of licensing what is actually allowed and what would be piracy. I am going to try to make it very simple here. · If you have the Home and Student (was the Student and Teacher) Edition then this can be installed on 3 computers in the same household · If you have a previous “Full Packaged Product” – the pretty box you bought at a retailers – version of the product then this can be removed from one computer and installed on a new computer. It can only be installed on one computer at any time · If your software is provided as part of a volume license agreement then you can install on a new computer or other computers, but if you change the number of computers that it is installed on you may have to pay more for the extra usage. · If you have neither of these then you have an OEM copy – this is provided and supported by the people who supplied your computer and...

  • SBS 2008 Update Rollup 1 Released to fix Vista AV reporting issue and GoDaddy domain registration issue

    Hi everyone, the first roll-up of fixes for SBS 2008 shipped today. It addresses some minor issues, which is good, but always worth being aware of. From the Official SBS 2008 blog SBS 2008 Update Rollup 1 Releases Today Windows Small Business Server 2008 Update Rollup 1 releases today. This rollup package addresses the following issues in Windows Small Business Server 2008. Issue 1 The Security tab in the Windows Small Business Server 2008 Console incorrectly reports the spyware and malware status of Windows Vista Service Pack 1-based clients that are joined to a domain. Specifically, some security applications are reported as incompatible in the antivirus and malware status that is reported. Issue 2 The Internet Address Management Wizard exits unexpectedly when you register a domain name. This issue occurs when you select GoDaddy.com as the provider, and then you click Register Now How to obtain this update This update will be available from the Microsoft Update Web site: http://update.microsoft.com More Information...

  • Configuring OneCare for Servers in SBS 2008

    The Console setup process ( Once SBS is set up, how to do the basic configuration through the management console ) sets up SBS 2008 for use. OneCare for Servers provide anti-malware capabilities and is an important part of the system integrity. SBS 2008 comes with a trial of OneCare and so far I’ve found it very effective. Setup today requires two updates that it downloads and applies itself: Notice that the initial configuration immediately informs you that you need to update Start the process, tell OneCare which country you are in and and accept the EULA. The download starts, updates and finishes If you have an activation key, or wish to purchase one you carry on through the process, switching to a web site to complete the process Note, DO NOT try to activate your trial in the Technical Preview unless you have already been provided with a key If you have been going through the Console in order then this is it baring the enabling of Office Live. Finally, all the SBS 2008 entries can be found at http://davidoverton...

  • Two more SQL 2005 to SQL 2008 issues fixed - Provider=SQLNCLI – Provider cannot be found error and Property Owner is not available for database

    So these are really quick snippets.  I hit an error where my Gateway monitoring software could not connect to the database.  All the errors were along the lines of “Provider cannot be found” and when I looked in the Connection String it stated “Provider=SQLNCLI” which is the SQL Native Client connector software. The fix that worked for me was very simple, to change the “Provider=SQLNCLI …..” to “Provider=SQLNCLI10 …..”.   The second issue was nothing that came about from the SQL 2005 to SQL 2008 conversion, but became an issue when I could not see the properties for the database.  The error I would see was that “Property Owner is not available for database”.  The fix can be found here - http://blog.dampee.be/post/2008/06/22/MSSQL-2005-error-message-quot3bProperty-Owner-is-not-available-for-Database-databaseNamequot3b.aspx .   ttfn David Technorati Tags: Microsoft , SQL Server , SQL Server 2008 , Tips

  • Site Usage stats in – what a month – thank-you

    Hello folks, I have just been looking at my nice log based tool for analyzing site usage and I have to say that the site has grown a trooper. We have more than doubled traffic in terms of web hits and are up at least 50% on unique IP addresses, which is the closest I can get to unique users from my simple logs. To see the stats, go to http://uksbsguy.com/usage_report/jun06 for the June ones and http://uksbsguy.com/usage_report/ytd I have had a couple of people ask me about getting the software I use – I am very happy to provide it, but it still needs some tidying up. My software produces the numbers, but I still have to tweak the spreadsheet (delete a column or two) to import them into MapPoint to get the mapped data. The summary of the site usage is now: Summary Stats Total Hits 174438 Total Unique IPs 5195 Total Web Page Hits 140650 Total Feed downloads 33788 Top consolidated referrers Page URL Hits Google 1962 Bloglines 1010 Newsgator 641 community+server 639 msmvps.com 289 ukvistaguy.com 216 blo.gs 145 search...
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  • ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide - Firewall, VPN and Proxy - all the server stuff can still be used with Vista clients too

    So you have sold SBS and Windows Mobile, but your customer gets a problem - how do you diagnose it and fix it - have a look at the ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide - Firewall, VPN and Proxy . It contains the following sections: Installation Initial Configuration USB Issues Guest Issues Firewall and Proxy Issues Outlook Errors Synchronization Errors Mobile Information Server / Outlook Mobile Access Exchange ActiveSync Error Codes and Solutions Missing Calendar, Contacts or Tasks Items Security Advisories ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide - General ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide - Limitations ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide - 85010014 ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide - Firewall, VPN, Proxy ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide - Logs & Services ActiveSync 4.x Troubleshooting Guide - Connection Flow USB Advanced Network Functionality Microsoft ActiveSync 4.2 Troubleshooting Using ActiveSync 4.x and Visual Studio 2005 and the Emulator Understanding ActiveSync or WMDC Partnerships ttfn David...

  • Deploying Vista to many desktops from Small Business Server 2003 with SP2 (R2 or R1) using Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) tools

    A nice man named Zack dropped me a mail asking about the Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) tools and "real" documentation, which led to Matt in the PTS team writing about all the great tools (see below). I then installed SP2 for Windows Server 2003 and realised that my SBS 2003 system now has the capabilities of BDD to deploy Vista desktops (in my case, pre-configured with Office 2007 too). Wow. I went and checked and the Windows Deployment Services admin controls are there on my SBS SP2 system, so you can use this information to enable PXE deployments of Windows if you want. These can include other programs such as Office and anti-virus products and also be pre-configures to join the domain etc. Business Desktop Deployment 2007 - Resources Posted Wednesday, March 14, 2007 11:43 AM by mattmcspirit For those of you out there who have an interest in the different ways that you can deploy Windows Vista, Office 2007 and your other applications, you may be interested in the Business Desktop Deployment Workbench, or...

  • How to get Windows Vista Service Pack 1 RC (legitimately) via the Public Availability Program

    I knew this was coming, but I've not seen it shouted too much. My machine feels more responsive and some operations as mentioned before are faster. If you read the Windows Vista team blog Windows Vista SP1 RC now available for public download you would think it is only available to MSDN and Technet customers. It does have some good pointers though. We're making available today the RC release of Windows Vista SP1, found here on MSDN and here on TechNet , with an FAQ here . I invite you to download, install and use the SP1 RC and let us know about your experience by providing your feedback here . Before you install SP1 RC, please bear in mind the following points of advice, detailed in this short article : If you have a prior version of SP1 Beta installed, you must uninstall it prior to installing RC. This is pre-release code and will change before the final release. This pre-release software is provided for testing purposes only. Microsoft does not recommend installing this software on primary or mission...

  • SBS 2008 Migrations from SBS 2003 – Keys to Success from the Official SBS Blog

    I started to write about this at SBS 2003 to SBS 2008 migration thoughts and issues and Active Directory Health Checks , but after some discussion with the SBS team at Microsoft we now have much more: The Official SBS Blog : SBS 2008 Migrations from SBS 2003 – Keys to Success The purpose of this post is to help you complete your SBS 2003 migrations to SBS 2008 successfully on the first attempt. ……………… much, much more Use this information if you have a non-standard implementation or are concerned about the success of a migration. ttfn David Technorati Tags: Microsoft , SBS 2003 , SBS 2008 , Migration , SBSC , Small Business Server 2008

  • Adding Exchange 2007 to an SBS 2003 / Exchange 2003 network

    This question has come up lots of times and the general statement is that it is not trivial. In fact the normal question is can Exchange 2007 be run on an SBS 2003 box. The answer to this is a resounding NO. Exchange 2007 is 64-bit and SBS 2003 is 32-bit and never the twain shall meet. The closest you can get is installing a Windows Server 2003 64-bit system and putting Exchange on it. You will have to buy a Windows Server license, Exchange 2007 license and CALs for each client that uses it. (note if you want Outlook Voice Access then you need Enterprise CALs even if you are only installing Exchange 2007 Standard edition). Once this is done you need to decide if you are going to keep your Exchange 2003 box or forward ports to the new system. If you are keeping both then you also need to be aware of (note this comes from an e-mail from Karan in our support team and should not be considered complete, but a pointer in the right direction): Please note that Exchange 2007 would appear in a different administrative...

  • Microsoft's online strategy discussed at analyst meeting

    I saw this article from the NY Times and thought I would share it. It is a report on MS plans for Internet enabling even more things that we do. Some key statements from it included: "any big payoff from those investments would not come for a few years" - so this is a long term play "Internet search, according to Microsoft, will increasingly become seamlessly integrated into the Windows desktop operating system, Office productivity software, cellphones powered by Windows and Xbox video games" - I like the idea of hybrid utilities and the fact that search is a tool for me to do something, rather than something I explicitly have to go to a web site to do "In a demonstration, Mr. Mehdi showed some of the work being done by a group exploring the future of advertising in Microsoft’s research labs. In a digital television prototype, a viewer who liked a dress worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in an episode of “Sex and the City” could click on it, automatically pausing the video...

  • Have you been on a conference call with Microsoft - ever wondered why you are on hold waiting for the conference leader ... the secrets revealed

    Hi, Saw this - very much noticed the behaviour, the music and then realised "this is not a stunt... this is what we do". Enjoy ttfn David Technorati Tags: Microsoft , Conference Call , Fun
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(c)David Overton 2006-23