IT

It looks like I need to fill out my Category section a bit more to include more System Center sections.

Either way, go here for the SP3 upgrade.

One noteworthy item for mobile devices: KB 934206 - Install the “SMS 2003 Device Management Feature Pack” to correct the device file collection issue after applying SMS 2003 SP3.

WSUS 3.0 is leaps and bounds better than 2.0. I highly recommend upgrading to 3.0.
Download WSUS 3.0 from here.

For those of you running MIIS 2003 SP1 in your infrastructures, SP2 for MIIS 2003 is now available for download. This will bring a number of benefits to your MIIS deployment, not least of which is support for SQL Server 2005 as the database for MIIS, as well as a management agent for certificate and smart card management and SSL support for the AD management agent.

You can download SP2 from here.

Originally spotted here.

Thanks to a coworker that has been watching his MCP transcripts like a hawk, I decided to check mine tonight.
Good news!

237 Pro: Designing Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Mar 14, 2007

I passed!
He passed too!

Think of it as MOM-lite.

The Terminal Services Management Pack for Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 monitors the health and performance of Terminal Services components. It includes a rich set of views, tasks, and reports, and provides monitoring for Terminal Services, the Licensing Server, and the Session Directory.

This Management Pack detects and alerts problems with performance, health, and availability. It can automatically respond to critical events and performance indicators. In some cases it identifies issues before they become critical, enabling you to increase the overall availability and performance of your Windows operating systems.

Download it here.

Think of it as MOM-lite.

The Terminal Services Management Pack for Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 monitors the health and performance of Terminal Services components. It includes a rich set of views, tasks, and reports, and provides monitoring for Terminal Services, the Licensing Server, and the Session Directory.

This Management Pack detects and alerts problems with performance, health, and availability. It can automatically respond to critical events and performance indicators. In some cases it identifies issues before they become critical, enabling you to increase the overall availability and performance of your Windows operating systems.

Download it here.

You might want to not install the 'Desktop Experience' feature on Longhorn terminal servers and/or disable Aero for clients, because each terminal services session spawns a new instance of DWM on the server.

The client does most of the heavy lifting drawing Aero, but I could forsee DWM becoming the ctfmon.exe of Windows Longhorn Server if you enable Aero for TS sessions.

Of course, with 64-bit terminal servers and gobs of ram, it isn't going to matter too much overall. I am thinking more along the lines of future SBS servers.

This tip originated from Eric Holk at MS on the LH TS newsgroups, btw, to give credit where credit is due.

You'll want to grab the updated firmware set for Thinkpads here.

Many other hard drive models are covered, but I only have a 5K100 to test the firmware with. Other updated firmware might enable DIPM too.

Why is this important? Because of this, with DIPM, Vista can manage the power of the hard drive much more efficiently. I doubt it will extend battery life by 20%, but every little bit counts when you are on a plane.

I've written about DIPM and Host-initiated Power Management (HIPM) in the past with links to articles if you want to learn more about it.

Missed this one last week - I'm not sure what has changed since RC1 except for about 2000 builds.
Grab it here.

Just a quick heads up!

I spotted this over at Fatwallet and thought it was worth passing on.
If you go to this website link, you can browse the Lenovo surplus outlet.
Right now they have T60 laptops for $849 and desktop machines at $399.

It looks like quantities are limited and you can't change the configurations, but there are some very good deals to be had there!

I wish they would provide more details on what the microcode update changes. Sounds like it might be some type of exploitable bug or "chipkiller" but the description is too vague to tell.

Thinkpad T60/T60p laptops with Core 2 Duo / widescreen:
Version 7IET26WW (1.07)

Thinkpad T60/T60p laptops with Core Duo:
Version 79ETD2WW (2.12)

Changelog
(Important) This BIOS contains a critical processor microcode update to improve system reliability. Lenovo highly recommends that you apply this BIOS update.
(New) Expands allocated memory size for the CSS Hardware Password Reset Service.
(Fix) Upgraded to the latest microcode update for Intel Core 2 Duo processor.
(Fix) The WWAN device may not work in Windows Vista if the key combination Fn+F5 is pressed during startup.
(Fix) The modem port information in the SMBIOS table (type-8) is not correct.
(Fix) Improved battery life during DVD playback on systems with ATI M54 video chips.

LH Beta 3 came out yesterday, and to go along with it, so did Network Access Protection (NAP) Beta 3. You can install the client on XP machines and other operating systems.

NAP is going to be a very nice feature for corporate networks and especially terminal servers. You can configure a terminal server to require connecting clients to send a health report on connect. If the client doesn't meet standards, they will be blocked and/or required to install updates/software.

Terminal Services Broker Service is taking the place of Terminal Server Session Directory and added a bit of load balancing logic into the mix.

There are a lot of cool things coming with Longhorn server.
The four areas I am most interested in are the terminal server enhancements, hypervisor, NAP, and the Core.

If you want to learn more about NAP, make sure to check out this blog.

In January, I took 70-236 and passed.
In March, I took 70-237 and passed.
In April, I took 70-238 and do not know the results yet.

I will probably come back and edit this entry when I know the results, so this is pretty much a placeholder.

I am however going to call Prometric about 70-238 because the computer I took the test on lagged so much that it hampered my ability to get through the whole exam. At one point, it crashed for 5 minutes and the clock was ticking. Unfair. As a result, I didn't get a chance to review any of the questions I had marked and the last 4 questions went unanswered. Those 4 might be the difference between passing and failing.

One final note: Even though the websites for 70-237 and 70-238 say, as of 04-26-07, that passing either 70-237 or 70-238 will award you the MCITP: Exchange 2007 certification, this is false. You need to pass all three exams to earn MCITP: Exchange 2007.

I love my T60. I just wish I had a Core 2 Duo chip inside instead of Core Duo. My motherboard is Rev 3 which means the backend is capable of running the Core 2. If this weren't under warranty, and this wasn't a company laptop, I would be buying a chip off eBay or NewEgg and swapping it myself. Reason? Bigger cache, and most importantly, native 64-bit support.

Noteworthy details about the R61/T61:

The good

Available May 2007
Intel Core 2 Duo processor [T7100, T7300, T7500, and T7700]
Intel GM/PM965 chipset
Intel Wireless 4965AGN
Intel GMA X3100 IGP or NVidia for graphics
Intel TurboCard (Robson - basically built in flash usable for ReadyBoost!)

The bad

"IBM" logo absent from case.
Widescreen only
IPS/Flexview will be phased out and/or unavailable.
Some people prefer ATI over Nvidia, especially after NVidia's Vista driver support.

Read more details here.