Background:

I run Vista Ultimate x64 (64-bit).

Message:

When I open the Windows Photo Gallery, I am told that, "An Update to Windows Photo Gallery is Available".

Sure.  Sounds good to me.    If I choose to download the update, I'm directed to a Canon page, which looks like this:

Discussion:

So the 64-bit version is not supported.  Lovely.  Someone botched the 3rd party software integration.

If the app was written in-house, then it would already have been ported to 64-bit, be localization-ready, undergone a security review, etc. Because those are basic ground rules for coding at Microsoft.

http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2008/02/25/7885570.aspx

Background:

I have two Intel Xeon P4 Xeon servers.  The clock speed on both is 2.8GHz.

Problem:

Everything takes an eternity on them.  They're so slow.  And they do nothing but generate heat.

and a quick peek inside Task Manager on this particular machine shows:

Yup.  A massive amount of physical memory (6GB) that is sitting there, waiting to be used.

NetBurst was something that never should have happened.  AMD was around to make them realise that - and now we're being shipped lots of P3 cores on a die.

Meanwhile, I have a significant portion of my infrastructure that is, essentially, useless.  Perhaps it contributes to global warming by wasting lots of electricity, but Intel should have to deal with this.  Take back old P4 and Xeon processors and replace them with a new Core-based Celery or E2XXX series processor or something.

*sigh*  Unnecessary downtime.

What is PowerGUI?

PowerGUI is an extensible graphical administrative console for managing systems based on Windows PowerShell. These include Windows OS (XP, 2003, Vista), Exchange 2007, Operations Manager 2007 and other new systems from Microsoft. The tool allows to use the rich capabilities of Windows PowerShell in a familiar and intuitive GUI console.

How much does it cost and is registration required?

PowerGUI is a freeware product thanks to the support we are getting from Quest Software. You can download the product and access all information on this site absolutely for free and without any registration or login. You will have to register only if you want to post information to the discussion forums or library, or subscribe to notifications by email (RSS subscription does not require registration.)

What are the system requirements?

The main system requirement is Windows PowerShell (which in its turn requires .net framework 2.0). If you don't have this installed on your computer PowerGUI setup will detect that and open a web page from which the system can be downloaded. In terms of operating systems we support Windows XP, 2003, Vista, and Longhorn; both 32- and 64-bit. Particular snapins may add their specific system requirements. For example the Exchange 2007 snapin we ship today naturally requires Exchange 2007 or its administrative tools.

What can I do with PowerGUI?

Pretty much anything that the underlying system permits. You can browse through the system, filter/sort what you get, select the columns, perform actions on selected objects, change their properties, export data to clipboard, Excel, xml, or just html reports, and much more. And if you don't believe this is all being done by Windows PowerShell just switch to another tab and you'll see the PowerShell code behind what you've been doing.

Download: http://powergui.org/downloads.jspa

Robert McMurray: Earlier today Microsoft released the RTM version of the Microsoft FTP Service for IIS 7.0 for Windows Server 2008!

Listed below are the links for the download pages for each of the individual installation packages:

FTP 7 (x86) Installation Package
http://www.iis.net/downloads/default.aspx?tabid=34&g=6&i=1619

FTP 7 (x64) Installation Package
http://www.iis.net/downloads/default.aspx?tabid=34&i=1620&g=6

We've all seen it happen. Two servers are configured the same way, but suddenly, one of them stops working. The content is same, everything looks right, but one server is exhibiting unusual behavior. You could try to take the config from the working server and overwrite the broken one. But that won't tell you what happened, nor if it might happen again.

There's also the case where you only have one server, which suddenly breaks. Restoring from backup if you have one or manually sifting through config might be your only option. But often the problem isn't easy to spot and backups take time and effort to restore.

Enter MS Deploy. You can compare two live sites, a site with an archive, or compare two archives. In this case, I'll show you comparison of a live web site and an archive. An archive is like a snapshot of a site or server at a given point in time. When you take the archive, you may be doing it for a manual backup, to do an offline sync or to make a copy of a specific version of your app. It's a great way to quickly take a snapshot of your working app (and config) before you make changes.

http://blogs.iis.net/msdeploy/archive/2008/02/02/using-ms-deploy-to-compare-sites-or-see-what-components-your-site-uses.aspx

via http://blogs.iis.net/msdeploy/archive/2008/01/22/welcome-to-the-web-deployment-team-blog.aspx

Technical Preview 1

x86
http://www.iis.net/downloads/default.aspx?tabid=34&g=6&i=1602

x64
http://www.iis.net/downloads/default.aspx?tabid=34&g=6&i=1603

This white paper provides the information that you need in order to configure Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with multiple address lists so different groups of users can have their own address list and secure those address lists so that groups of users can only see their specific address list.

Much of the information in this white paper originally appeared as individual Help topics in the Exchange Server 2007 Help. In this white paper, we have consolidated the information that you need to deploy and manage segregated address lists in one central location. We have also provided sample scripts, which can be modified to fit your environment, to help automate the provisioning of virtual organizations and users.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/exchange/bb936719.aspx or
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb936719(EXCHG.80,printer).aspx

More technical papers: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc164340(EXCHG.80).aspx

Background:

A clean install of Windows Vista SP1 is attempted on an hp Pavilion dv1603tn.  The "high definition audio device" shows failure in Device Manager.  The HP provided Vista package was installed.  The "High Definition Audio Device" device error goes away, but the resultant "Conexant High Definition Audio" device is silent and refuses to play any sounds.  Attempts to do so show sounds appearing in the sound mixer - the levels change - but nothing comes out the main system speakers.

Solution:

The HP provided Vista package is non-functional.  Download and install the "XP" driver package on their website.  Windows Update then will provide an updated driver package for Vista if necessary.

XP package installed: Release Date: 2006-05-15           Version: 3.21.0.0 A
Vista package attempted: Release Date: 2007-05-15           Version: 3.38.0.50 A
It is possible that an "updated" package will be released in the future by the manufacturer to correct this problem.

1. Download the XP driver package, and open it with WinRAR or 7-zip or a similar archiver, and extract it's contents.  (This will prevent the package from auto installing.)
2. Next, right click on the High Definition Audio Device in Device Manager and update the driver to this package, by pointing the wizard to the folder where the files were extracted it.

The functional driver with Vista SP1 has a date of "4/18/2006" and is version "3.21.0.0".

Note:

Ensure also you download and install the latest video and chipset drivers from Intel.com - NOT HP's support website, which shows releases several builds behind.

How to obtain the latest update rollup for Exchange 2007

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=937052

What will support Windows Server 2008 at RTM?

• .NET Framework 2.0 (installed)
• .NET Framework 3.0 SP1 ( part of Application Server role )
• .NET Framework 3.5
• Dynamics CRM 4.0
• Exchange Server 2007 SP1
• Forefront Security Server 1.0
• MOSS SP1 ( installation notes for Windows Server 2008)  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936988
• SQL Server 2005 SP2
• System Center Data Protection Manager 2007
• System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (Formerly SMS)
• System Center Operations Manager 2007
• Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 SP1 ( installation notes for Windows Server 2008 ) http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936988
• Visual Studio 2008
• WSUS 3.0 SP1

What are we planning to support in the first half of 2008?

• We will ship the Hyper-V technology 180days after RTM
• Dynamics AX 2009
• MOM SP1
• SCCM 2007SP1
• System Center Essentials 2001
• Forefront Client Security SP1

What are we planning to support in the second half of 2008?

• Application Virtualization 4.5
• Commerce Server 2007 SP2
• HIS 2006 SP1
• MOM 2005 SP1
• SQL Server 2008
• System Center Essentials 2001
• Windows System Center VMM 2.0
• Windows Essential Business Server
• Windows Home Server vNext
• Windows HPC Server 2008

So what will not be supported?

• SMS 2003
• System Center Reporting Manager
• Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006 and earlier

Source:

http://blogs.msdn.com/neilhut/archive/2008/02/07/microsoft-server-and-tools-support-for-windows-server-2008.aspx

Windows Media Services

To obtain the new features and tools available in Windows Media Services for Windows Server 2008, such as the built-in WMS Cache/Proxy plug-in, you must obtain and run the appropriate Streaming Media Services role installer file on the updated platform.

• Windows Media Services and the rest of the Streaming Media Services role in Server Manager, on “full” installations of Standard and Enterprise editions of Windows Server 2008
• The Streaming Media Services Server Core role, on “Server Core” installations of Standard and Enterprise editions of Windows Server 2008
• The Windows Media Services snap-in for Microsoft Management Console (MMC) on a computer that is running the Business, Enterprise, or Ultimate edition of the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9ccf6312-723b-4577-be58-7caab2e1c5b7&displaylang=en&tm