zeshan.com

It’s about 2PM on a Saturday afternoon and you’re enjoying the weekend when out of the blue your phone rings and you see it’s a friend calling you who hasn’t talked to you for sometime. You think that it will be a nostalgic conversation, instead what greets you is a panicked voice saying that their computer is infected with a virus and they want you to come and help them.

One of the things that all IT Professionals advise when facing a serious malware infection is to disconnect the system and do an off-line virus scan. However, with so many different tools out there, it’s difficult to decide which is the best.  If you have been using MDOP, you may be aware of the Microsoft Standalone System Sweeper. A beta version of this tool is available publicly on the Microsoft Connect website.

The first step of using this tool is to download the appropriate version (either x86 or x64) from the Connect Website: http://connect.microsoft.com/systemsweeper

This tool then allows you to create the media required to troubleshoot the system. It can be either a USB flash stick, CD/DVD or even an ISO file.

When creating the media, the tool downloads the latest definitions from the Microsoft website.  The resulting file size for an ISO is no more than 250MB.

Once you have the MSSS media, you boot using it and it runs a scan to detect for malware using the Windows Defender Interface.

A full scan can take over 1 hour and it is best to have something else to do during this scanning phase. Once the scan is over you can simply remove it using the interface.

Simple but effective!

I recently delivered a remote training event to fellow online facilitators on the Microsoft Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT).

Here are the slides from the session:
 

It’s nice when a NDA is lifted, you feel that you can talk freely about something that you have worked on. If you don’t know already, a new MTA is coming to an authorised Certiport MTA campus /IT Academy near you. This one is one that is close to my heart: Windows Operating System Fundamentals.

Just check out the Objective Domains (taken from http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/exam.aspx?ID=98-349&Locale=en-us#tab2).

Understanding Operating System Configurations

• Configure Control Panel options.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring administrative tools, configuring accessibility options
• Configure desktop settings.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: configuring gadgets, profiles, display settings, shortcuts, and Aero configurations and capabilities
• Understand native applications and tools.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding Windows Internet Explorer, the snipping tool, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, and MSCONFIG
• Understand mobility.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding Sync Center, Windows Mobility Center, and Remote Desktop
• Understand remote management and assistance.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding MMC, and Windows PowerShell

Installing and Upgrading Client Systems

• Identify Windows operating system editions.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: identifying system requirements, using PC Upgrade Advisor
• Identify upgrade paths.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: identifying upgrade paths from Windows XP, Windows Vista, and other operating systems; identifying application compatibility
• Understand installation types.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding removable media installations (DVD, ZTI, LTI, and USB), cloud and network installations, and product identification keys
• Understand virtualized clients.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding Windows XP Mode, Remote Desktop, and Remote Desktop Services

Managing Applications

• Understand application installations .
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding local vs. network applications, Group Policy, and application removal
• Understand user account control (UAC).
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding standard user vs. administrative user, understanding types of UAC prompts and levels
• Remove malicious software.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding Windows Defender, Action Center, the Malicious Software Removal tool, Windows Registry, and Microsoft Forefront Endpoint Protection
• Understand services.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding service start-up types, service accounts, and service dependencies
• Understand application virtualization.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding Med-V and VDI

Managing Files and Folders

• Understand file systems.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding FAT, FAT32, NTFS, and 32 bit vs. 64 bit
• Understand file and print sharing.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding NTFS and share permissions, HomeGroup, print drivers, and effective permissions; creating public, basic, and advanced shares; mapping drives
• Understand encryption.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding BitLocker, encrypting file systems (EFS), and compression
• Understand libraries.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding offline files, adding multiple local locations to a library, adding networked locations

Managing Devices

• Connect devices.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: connecting plug-and-play devices, connecting and disconnecting printers, installing third-party software for devices
• Understand storage.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding disk types (NTFS, FAT, etc.), security (encryption), storage device types (eSATA, USB, USB 2.0, IEEE 1394, iSCSI), storage drive types (basic, primary, extended, logical, dynamic disk, VHDs), and cloud storage (Windows Live SkyDrive, OneNote to SkyDrive, Live mesh)
• Understand printing devices.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding local printers, network printers, print queues, print-to-file, and Internet printing
• Understand system devices.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding video, audio, and infrared input devices, understanding Device Manager

Understanding Operating System Maintenance

• Understand backup and recovery methods.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding local, online, and automated backup methods; understanding backup options; understanding System Restore, recovery boot options such as Last Known Good, and various Safe Mode options
• Understand maintenance tools.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding Disk Defragmenter, Disk Cleanup, Task Scheduler, Action Center, and System Information
• Understand updates.
  • This objective may include but is not limited to: understanding Windows updates, Microsoft updates, and hotfixes

Although the exam is at the Associate level, the content as you can see is quite exciting. It fits exactly into the pathway towards MCTS 70-680 (Windows 7, configuring):

Some of the cool things about this (including the items that I have formatted as bold) is that it covers Desktop Virtualization, the client in the cloud, and from what I have seen from upcoming content for this exam that it will definitely be future proof.

The ERK (Exam Review Kit), SSG (Student Study Guide) and exam is set to release this summer. Looking forward to taking it!

So I’m experimenting with VMware Player – a departure from the usual Microsoft flavours of Virtualization (only because Windows Virtual PC cannot handle x64 Operating Systems)- and I encountered two issues.

I set up a Windows Server 2008 R2 Domain; installed AD DS, AD CS, DNS, DHCP, RRAS and WDS. With that done, I attempted to create a new Windows 7 VM by using WDS to deploy the OS image. Unfortunately, I ran into a problem, an error message stating: WdsClient: There was a problem initializing wds mode

So, I checked all my server settings. Everything seemed fine so suspecting a DNS issues (it’s always a DNS issue) I ran NSLOOKUP from the DNS snap-in. It didn’t seem promising with the unknown server message. So I created a AAAA record for the server’s IPv6 address.

I re-ran the WDS deployment and it worked! Problem 1 solved!

The second problem that I encountered was joining the installed Windows 7 Enterprise client to the domain. It successfully obtained an IPv4 address but it could not seem to find the domain. So…it’s got to be a DNS issue (it’s always a DNS issue). However, this time it dawned on me that the Scope Option for the DHCP server was not telling my client the IP address of my test DNS server. Click-Click! Problem 2 solved!

But…had I fixed the DNS scope option problem first, I would not have got the first error message. Doh!

Live and learn etc. After all, it’s all about the DNS!

Last November, I was fortunate to be selected as a TLG (Technical Learning Guide) for Microsoft TechEd Europe 2010. It was held at the Messe in Berlin, Germany. Ever since I learnt German at school, I always wanted to visit Germany; however, I never had the opportunity. So, with a spirit of finally using my GCSE and A’ Level German, I was all set…or was I?

One slight problem had emerged over the years. My German vocabulary and grammar had slowly and unconsciously been replaced by Japanese. I never realised that it was such a big problem until I opened my mouth to say “Danke” (Thanks), and would automatically say “Arigato”. Fortunately, by the end of the week the “problem” had subsided somewhat. I think the coolest thing that happened as part of this linguistic nightmare was calling up a Japanese restaurant (Sa-Sa-Ya) in order to make a reservation (unfortunately they were full).  This amused my friend from Microsoft whose next question was “How many languages can you speak?!”

Anyway, this is supposed to be a technology blog, so what did I learn from TechEd:

• The Cloud – it’s here to stay! So time to get familiar with Windows Azure
• Office 365 is here – Office for the cloud!
• Microsoft Learning’s current focus is on using IT certification to improve career prospects
• Windows Intune is quite possibly the best thing for any business – It includes a licence to upgrade each PC to Windows 7 Enterprise AND you get access to MDOP!
• Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 RC headline grabbers are Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX
• The Windows Deployment Gameshow showed me that I still need to learn a LOT about deployment
• Lync Server is already HUGE – and the hands on labs for it were pretty cool
• PowerShell – time to learn it!
• Get yourself the Works with Windows Server 2008 Logo
• MCTs ROCK! Especially if you find yourself invited to parties where everyone talks Swedish, you can be sure to bump into Jeremy Moskowitz (GPO guru) while waiting for the lift.

All in all, it was a very productive week.