Category: 1247

A lot of people have an opinion on the Offline Domain Join (ODJ) functionality in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows Server 2012 Active Directory, Windows 7 and Windows 8. Of course, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but sometimes fact checking is useful for a discussion. To this point, I have captured the top … Continue reading "Top 5 myths on Offline Domain Join"

Microsoft is getting ready to release Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. Internet Explorer 10 is built into Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 by default and Microsoft vowed to bring it to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 too. The latest available version of Internet Explorer will be … Continue reading "Blocking Internet Explorer 10 Automatic Delivery"

Many Active Directory admins consider it unsafe to display the last users logon name on the Logon Screen, since it provides information on naming conventions, etc. to possible malicious people. Others change the default Logon Screen to accommodate for presentation PCs, flexworker desktops and other commonly shared IT equipment.

The Microsoft marketing department has decided to label a few of the incredible Windows features in Windows 7 and Windows 8 as ‘To Go’. Prime examples, of course, are ‘BitLocker-To-Go’ (encryption of removable drives) and ‘Windows-To-Go’ (running Windows from a removable drive). This week, I’m labeling the Windows Sidebar (Windows Vista) and Windows Desktop Gadgets … Continue reading "Windows Gadgets and Windows Sidebar to Go"

Whenever a worm utilizes the normal access and daily tools systems admins use, there is a significant problem. After all, shutting down the attack vector suddenly isn’t that easy. So, without making dramatic changes to your environment, how can you rest assured?

Change is upon us. Where many Active Directory administrators have stuck with Windows XP, because no valid alternatives (Windows Vista, *nix) were available, now the business wants to upgrade to Windows 7. Whatever the business reasons behind Windows 7, as an Active Directory administrator a couple of key elements should stand out. We’ve already covered … Continue reading "Getting your Active Directory ready for Windows 7, Part 5"

In the past three parts of this series, I already gave you some tips and tricks to tackle the problems you might encounter when introducing Windows 7 in your existing environment. We’ve already covered a schema update, when we looked at storing BitLocker and TPM recovery information in Active Directory. This post features another schema … Continue reading "Getting your Active Directory ready for Windows 7, Part 4"

Windows 7 is actively being deployed by companies, big and small. Some features in Windows 7 (especially features in Windows 7 Enterprise) require changes in the back ends of these environments. While some upgrades are evident, some may not. This series of posts details the changes wise to make to your Active Directory environment to … Continue reading "Getting your Active Directory ready for Windows 7, Part 2"

Change is upon us. Where many Active Directory administrators have stuck with Windows XP, because no valid alternatives (Windows Vista, *nix) were available, now the business wants to upgrade to Windows 7. Whatever the business reasons behind Windows 7, as an Active Directory administrator a couple of key elements should stand out: Windows 7 has … Continue reading "Getting your Active Directory ready for Windows 7, Part 1"

Microsoft has included numerous features in Active Directory the last couple of years. Also, more and more technologies in products like Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and the Windows client (Windows Vista, Windows 7) have an Active Directory opt-in to store information in Active Directory. All this bountiful integration, however, comes with a price. The price … Continue reading "Active Directory Feature Requirements"