TechNet Magazine Blog
The official blog of TechNet Magazine
March 2008 issue of TechNet Magazine available online
The March 2008 issue of TechNet Magazine is now available online at...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 03/11/2008
Field Notes: Donate Your PC
It used to be the case that donating old PCs was not a cost-effective option, but that’s...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 03/07/2008
The Desktop Files: Dual Booting with Windows XP and Windows PE 2.0
You may already have discovered how Windows PE 2.0 can be used as a recovery tool, generally by...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 03/06/2008
Hey, Scripting Guy!: The Games Are Afoot! Oh, and Some XML, Too
Exactly one year ago, the Microsoft Scripting Guys published a column that explained how you could...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 03/05/2008
IEEE 802.1X Wired Authentication
With the rise in popularity of IEEE 802.1X authentication for IEEE 802.11 wireless networks, network...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 03/04/2008
Windows PowerShell: Shell Permissions
According to Don Jones, author of the TechNet Magazine Windows PowerShell column, File Permissions...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 03/03/2008
Will you be joining me at DEC 2008?
If you'll be attending the Directory Experts Conference (DEC 2008) this coming week in Chicago, be...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 03/02/2008
SQL Q&A: Non-Clustered Indexes and Retaining Permissions
The ever-changing and ever-growing databases you have to manage these days can really keep you on...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/29/2008
Plan Your OCS 2007 Voice Deployment
Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 is an enterprise product that integrates real-time...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 02/28/2008
Island Hopping: Mitigating Undesirable Dependencies
Island Hopping is a technique malicious users can utilize to gain access to a network. Basically, a...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/27/2008
How Presence Powers OCS 2007
Presence has an important role to play in unified communications. It allows a user to know...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 02/26/2008
Standardize Data Management with Custom Content Types
The vast number of disparate documents and other content items stored throughout a large...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/25/2008
Windows Confidential: Scrapping the Scraps
Remember desktop patterns? (You know, those dizzying repeating patterns, with names like houndstooth...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/22/2008
Utility Spotlight: ADMX Migrator
If you use Group Policy, you’re probably familiar with the administrative templates used to...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 02/21/2008
An Introduction to Windows Compute Cluster Server
Rather than relying on large, specialized systems, high performance computing uses clusters of...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 02/19/2008
Building a Powerful Survey Infrastructure
Surveys can provide a fast and inexpensive way to gather data (whether you need to collect feedback...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/14/2008
A Smart Approach to Gathering Data in the Enterprise
Data, is a good thing. It is, after all, the key ingredient to business intelligence. But if...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/13/2008
February 2008 issue of TechNet Magazine available online
The February 2008 issue of TechNet Magazine is now available online at...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/12/2008
The Desktop Files: Shared Computing with Windows SteadyState
You've seen the problem before: A shared computer that has been so used that it really isn't usable...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/07/2008
Optimizing Group Policy Performance
Which is better: Fewer, bigger GPOs or a lot of smaller ones? High-level design decisions like...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/06/2008
Inside ADM and ADMX Templates for Group Policy
If you work with Group Policy, you're probably familiar with ADM files. But how much do you...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/04/2008
Windows Confidential: Remind Me Never to Do That Again
In the January issue of TechNet Magazine, Raymond Chen discusses the Automatic Skip Driver, or ASD,...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 02/01/2008
Field Notes: Your Most Important Task of the Day
Eric N. Bush, a Software Development Lead in the Engineering Excellence group at Microsoft, has...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/31/2008
Windows PowerShell: Heading Off Malicious Code
Windows PowerShell is, by default, quite secure. However, by changing the Execution Policy,...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 01/30/2008
Hey, Scripting Guy! There's No Mistaking Regular Expressions
Have regular expressions always seemed too arcane to delve into? If so, you’ll want to delve...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/29/2008
Online Services Help Simplify Software Inventory
Software asset management has become essential for every business—not only to manage a significant...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/24/2008
Island Hopping: The Infectious Allure of Vendor Swag
You know that USB key you picked up at the last trade show you went to? It just might be the...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 01/23/2008
Better Backups with Data Protection Manager 2007
Microsoft Exchange support was the number-one feature request of users of DPM 2006—and...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/22/2008
Dive into Advanced Group Policy Management
A company called DesktopStandard created a very useful tool, named GPOVault, for managing Group...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 01/21/2008
January 2008 issue of TechNet Magazine available online
The January 2008 issue of TechNet Magazine is now available online at...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 01/17/2008
The Cable Guy: DNS Enhancements in Windows Server 2008
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical, distributed database that contains mappings of DNS...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/17/2008
Real Control with Virtual Machine Manager 2007
Virtualization is becoming an ever-hotter topic as companies look to consolidate resources and cut...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/15/2008
Utility Spotlight: Windows Easy Transfer Companion
What’s the biggest chore when migrating your users from their old Windows XP computers to new...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/10/2008
Field Notes: The Fungible Future
We live in a world in which the only constant is change, and nothing rivals the changes in consumer...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/08/2008
Hey, Scripting Guy! The Return of WinRM
Tune in to the next episode of scripting WinRM—the intriguing new technology that promises to...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/07/2008
Track Down Elusive Network Problems
What do you do when your machine can't communicate with other machines, everyone else on the network...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/03/2008
Deploying Windows in a Virtual World
Virtualization is an important technology that most every infrastructure should be taking advantage...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 01/02/2008
TechNet Radio: Building a Green Datacenter
Happy New Year everyone! For something a little different to ease you back into the daily grind, I...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/02/2008
Running Exchange with Windows Server 2008
Getting ready to run Exchange on Windows Server 2008? The Microsoft Exchange Development team has...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 01/01/2008
Windows Confidential: A Joystick Need Not Be a Microwave
Can your joystick play music or cook a burrito? In the December issue of TechNet Magazine, Raymond...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 12/31/2007
Standby Continuous Replication in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
What’s so great about Standby Continuous Replication? SCR, new in Service Pack 1, means that...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 12/27/2007
Security Watch: Windows Domain Password Policies
Administrators know that there are many constraints when it comes to password policies for domain...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 12/26/2007
THE CABLE GUY: Network Policy Server
Nothing’s more critical to the health of your enterprise than a secure network, and Network...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 12/25/2007
Deploying Unified Messaging with Exchange Server 2007
Unified messaging involves the integration of two disparate systems--your Microsoft Exchange...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 12/24/2007
Utility Spotlight: The Microsoft Security Assessment Tool
Tracking down network security problems can be tricky and time-consuming, but we have a tool that...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 12/20/2007
Windows PowerShell: Digging Deeper
You've undoubtedly heard of Windows PowerShell and have probably even started to play around with...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 12/19/2007
The Microsoft Security Intelligence Report
What does Microsoft do with the massive amounts of data it collects from millions of...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 12/18/2007
A Guide to Basic Computer Forensics
You're worried that a system has been hacked into, or perhaps you suspect that an employee has been...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 12/17/2007
SQL Q & A: Memory Configuration, Performance Profiling, Setting Your Fill Factor, and More
You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers–and tips. Here’s what our experts...
Author: TechNet Archive Date: 12/13/2007
16 New Features in Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1
Exchange Server 2007 SP1 is now available and it’s loaded with new features. And these changes...
Author: Matt Graven Date: 12/12/2007