Microsoft | Ward Vissers

How to create a Windows 7 x86 or x64 WMI Filter

I want to deploy some applications to different OS versions. I created some WMI filters. I added the right Group Policy to the right WMI filter.

Target Win 7 32 bit machines:

select * from Win32_OperatingSystem WHERE Version like "6.1%" AND ProductType="1" AND NOT OSArchitecture = "64-bit"

Target Win 7 64Bit machines:

select * from Win32_OperatingSystem WHERE Version like "6.1%" AND ProductType="1" AND OSArchitecture = "64-bit"

Target any 32 bit OS;

SELECT AddressWidth FROM Win32_Processor WHERE AddressWidth =’32’

Target any 64Bit OS:

SELECT AddressWidth FROM Win32_Processor WHERE AddressWidth =’64

GAL Photos in Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2010

With Microsoft Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2010 & Lync & Sharepoint 2010 you can finally get photos into your global address list (GAL) and see just who’s who on your emails. You can do this on 2 way’s

1. Using Powershell

A minor schema change

First stop, the AD Schema. A minor schema modification is required to flip the thumbnailPhoto attribute to make it replicate to the Global Catalog.

If you haven’t registered the Schema MMC snap-in on the server you want to make this change on, go ahead and do so using the following command:

Regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll
Fire up a MMC console (Start -> Run -> MMC) and add the Schema snap-in
In the Active Directory Schema snap-in, expand the Attributes node, and then locate the thumbnailPhoto attribute. (The Schema snap-in lists attributes by its ldapDisplayName).
In the Properties page, select Replicate this attribute to the Global Catalog, and click OK.

Figure 1: Modifying the thumbnailPhoto attribute to replicate it to Global Catalog

Loading pictures into Active Directory

Now you can start uploading pictures to Active Directory using the Import-RecipientDataProperty cmdlet, as shown in this example:

Import-RecipientDataProperty -Identity "Ward VIssers" -Picture -FileData ([Byte[]]$(Get-Content -Path "C:\pictures\wardvissers.jpg" -Encoding Byte -ReadCount 0))

To perform a bulk operation you can use the Get-Mailbox cmdlet with your choice of filter (or use the Get-DistributionGroupMember cmdlet if you want to do this for members of a distribution group), and pipe the mailboxes to a foreach loop. You can also retrieve the user name and path to the thumbnail picture from a CSV/TXT file.

2. Using a Free tool like Outlook Photos from Exclaimer

Download the Tool HERE

The tool is easy to use Smile .

Prerequisites

User Preferences

Domain user – The logged in user’ account is required to be an Active Directory account.

Domain computer – The computer the user is logged into needs to be joined to an Active
Directory domain.

Active Directory permissions – The logged in user must have permission to upload photos to the required Active Directory accounts. (Alternate credentials can be supplied or control of the thumbnailPhoto field can be delegated to the logged in user.)

Operating System

Windows Server 2003 x86 (including all service pack levels).
Windows Server 2003 R2 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
Windows Server 2008 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
Windows Server 2008 R2 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
Windows Small Business Server 2003 (including all service pack levels).
Windows Small Business Server 2008.
Windows Small Business Server 2011.
Windows XP x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
Windows Vista x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).
Windows 7 x86 and x64 (including all service pack levels).

Other Software

Microsoft Outlook 2010 x86 and x64

Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP1

Microsoft Exchange 2010 RTM and above

Active Directory

You must be logged into an Active Directory domain to run the application.

Active Directory Forest
Domain and Forest functional level of Windows Server 2008 and above.
For Domain or Forest functional level of Windows Server 2003, the Windows Server 2008 Forest preparation must first be complete.

Screenshots

Add a MSN user to Lync Online & Office 365

Today I have a relax day working from home . I have some time to play with Office 365 & Lync Online Open-mouthed smile

I wonderd if there was a way to add a msn user to my Lync while using Lync Online.

I added my own msn account on lync. On MSN Messenger I get the qwestion if I want to add a new contact. Yes off course… Smile

Tada…. You can add all your MSN friends to Office 365 or Lync Online Open-mouthed smile

How Should Your Organization Deploy Microsoft® Exchange?

Microsoft released a white paper how to deploy Microsoft Exchange: as Exchange Server 2010 on-premises, Exchange Online with Microsoft Office 365 in the cloud, or using both in a temporary or permanent hybrid scenario.

Knowing the benefits and limitations of each deployment option can help you make the right decision for your organization. Whatever you decide, the deployment flexibility that Microsoft provides with Exchange makes it easier for you to get the right solution for your business.

Download HERE the whitepaper

Microsoft Virtualization for VMware Professionals Jump Start

The “Microsoft Virtualization for VMware Professionals” Jump Start is specially tailored for VMware and Microsoft virtualization technology pros. This cutting-edge course features expert instruction and real-world demonstrations of Hyper-V, many components of the System Center Suite, including VMM 2012, and a myriad of VDI solutions. This course is designed for Data Center Managers, IT Professionals, IT Decision Makers, Network Administrators, Storage/Infrastructure Administrators & Architects. Expert IT infrastructure consultant, Corey Hynes, and Microsoft Technical Evangelist, Symon Perriman, leveraged an engaging "team teaching" approach which makes the class as entertaining as it is educational Smile

Download all the Video’s:
Video: WMV | WMV (ZIP) | PSP
Audio: WMA | MP3

Now only finding some spare time to watch’s these video’s Winking smile

Hotfix Rollup 3 for Forefront Protection for Exchange Server

Microsoft released Hotfix Rollup 3 for Forefront Protection for Exchange Server (KB2538719).

Here’s the list of fixes included in this rollup:

Mail queues and sluggish Exchange/Outlook performance
Increased “Available Disk Space” Health Point threshold to 250MB
Error: The DNS Blocklist lookup domain blocklist.messaging.microsoft.com could not be contacted
The Exchange Information store crashes with Forefront Protection for Exchange installed
An attempted upgrade of Forefront Protection for Exchange fails with a “Registration Service Failed” error
You receive Forefront Protection Health Notifications indicating a status of “Green to Green”
Forefront generates a MaxDisabledWait error within 15 minutes after starting
A MaxDisabledWait error occurs and Forefront Protection does not recover
Forefront Protection doesn’t apply keyword filtering within hyperlink strings
Forefront Protection for Exchange crashes while scanning a TAR file
An engine update fails in Forefront Protection for Exchange
Emails that are 90 MB or larger are being sent to the Forefront archive folder
The Microsoft Forefront Server Protection Eventing Service will not start following an upgrade from a beta version of Forefront Protection for Exchange
Forefront Protection for Exchange detects files as “Engine Error” when no engines have been enabled for scanning
Messages quarantined due to engine error can now be delivered as complete email
High CPU conditions in EdgeTransort.exe process result in crash
You receive Forefront generated email notification that the Cloudmark engine or Worm list could not update
Exchange email queues at startup following an abnormal shutdown

For more details on the fixes consult the related knowledge base article. You can request the hotfix rollup through the support center here.

DPM 2010 Enabling/Disabling co-location of data on Tape

With this feature, you can achieve better tape utilization by co-locating data from multiple protection groups with similar retention range. This feature is disabled by default. You can use following PowerShell commands to enable and disable tape co-location.

Enable Tape co-location:

Set-DPMGlobalProperty -DpmServer <DPM Server Name> -OptimizeTapeUsage $true

After data co-location has been enabled, DPM will check for the following conditions before allocating a tape:

The expiry date of the current dataset should fall in between the following dates:
Upper bound: furthest expiry date among all the datasets on the tape – (furthest expiry date among all the datasets on the tape – current date) * TapeExpiryTolerance
Lower Bound: furthest expiry date among all the datasets on the tape + (furthest expiry date among all the datasets on the tape – current date) * TapeExpiryTolerance.
Current time should be less than first backup time of the dataset on the media + TapeWritePeriodRatio * RetentionRangeOfFirstDataset.

A dataset will be collocated only if both the above conditions are true.

When you add the value to the registry, set the DWORD to be the actual percentage in decimal. The Default is 17 percent if that value is not present. Most likely you need to increase that value to a higher percentage and in some cases you need to set it to 100 in order for tape co-location to work as desired.

TapeWritePeriodRatio – Indicates the number of days for which data can be written on to a tape as a fraction between 0 and 1. The default value is 0.15 – meaning by default, we will write to the same tape for 15% of the retension range period specified for each PG.

TapeWritePeriodRatio is not a registry. It is a global property for the DPM which needs to be set using DPM CLI command. Here is the command to set it:

Set-DPMGlobalProperty –DPMServerName <dpm server name> -TapeWritePeriodRatio <fraction>

EXAMPLE, to set the write period ratio to 50%, use the following command.

Set-DPMGlobalProperty –DPMServerName MY-DPMSEREVR -TapeWritePeriodRatio .50

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff399230.aspx

Issue with MDT 2010 Update 1 and Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1

With the release of the Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement (see Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 Released for details), there is a new version 3.1 version of Windows PE available. If you plan to install this update, you need to be aware of an issue when using this with MDT 2010 Update 1.

With MDT 2010, Deployment Workbench will look for a “boot.wim” file from one of the imported operating systems that has the same build number as Windows AIK (e.g. “boot.wim” from a Windows 7 RC, build 7100, operating system to go with the Windows AIK for Windows 7 RC). If it finds a match, it will use that WIM instead. Why do we do this? Because the “boot.wim” contains the Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE), a component that isn’t available in Windows AIK.

So let’s get a little more specific. First, some background details:

The build number for the RTM version of Windows 7 is 6.1.7600.16385.
The build number for Windows AIK for Windows 7, released with Windows 7 RTM, is also 6.1.7600.16385. This is stored in the registry.
The build number for Windows 7 SP1 is 6.1.7601.17514.
The build number for the files included in the Windows 7 AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement, including Windows PE 3.1 and all the Windows PE feature packs, is also 6.1.7601.17514. But since this supplement is installed by replacing files in the Windows AIK installation directory using XCOPY, the registry isn’t updated so MDT still thinks the Windows 7 RTM version (6.1.7600.16385) of Windows AIK is installed.

Now, let’s assume that you have Windows 7 RTM x86 installation files present in your deployment share, and you haven’t installed the Windows 7 AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement. MDT’s processing when creating a boot image will look like this:

Is there a boot.wim available with the same version number as Windows AIK (6.1.7600.16385 = 6.1.7600.13685)? Yes, copy it to a temporary folder and mount it.
Inject the required Windows PE optional components from the Windows AIK installation directory into this mounted boot image.
Inject the needed MDT scripts.
Commit the changes to the WIM file and copy it to the deployment share.

Now, install the Windows 7 AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement and update the deployment share:

Is there a boot.wim available with the same version number as Windows AIK (6.1.7600.16385 = 6.1.7600.13685)? Yes (because MDT doesn’t know that Windows AIK has been updated, the registry still says it is version 6.1.7600.16385), copy it to a temporary folder and mount it.
Try to Inject the required Windows PE feature packs from the Windows AIK installation directory into this mounted boot image. All fail, because they are for Windows PE 3.1 and won’t work with the Windows PE 3.0 boot image copied from the Windows 7 RTM files.
Stop.

The actual error will look something like this (repeated for each Windows PE feature pack):

Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool
Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Image Version: 6.1.7600.16385
Processing 1 of 1 – Adding package WinPE-HTA-Package~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~~6.1.7601.17514
Error: 0x800f081e
The specified package is not applicable to this image.
The DISM log file can be found at C:\Windows\Logs\DISM\dism.log
Exit code = –2146498530
DISM /Add-Package failed for component C:\Program Files\Windows AIK\Tools\PETools\amd64\WinPE_FPs\winpe-hta.cab, rc = -2146498530.

Solution:

Modify the Settings.xml file in the deployment share’s “Control” folder to tell MDT to never use the boot.wim. The settings look like this:

<Boot.x86.UseBootWim>True</Boot.x86.UseBootWim>
<Boot.x64.UseBootWim>True</Boot.x64.UseBootWim>

They should be changed to instead say:

<Boot.x86.UseBootWim>False</Boot.x86.UseBootWim>
<Boot.x64.UseBootWim>False</Boot.x64.UseBootWim>

As a result of this change, MDT will no longer use the boot.wim from the Windows 7 RTM installation files. Instead, it will always use the winpe.wim from Windows AIK. And since the Windows PE feature packs in Windows AIK should always match the winpe.wim in Windows AIK, this will always work.

Note that this will never be an issue with MDT-generated boot images used with ConfigMgr 2007, as MDT will always use the winpe.wim from Windows AIK when generating these. (ConfigMgr 2007 doesn’t yet support Windows PE 3.1, so don’t install the Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 supplement yet if you are using ConfigMgr.)

More info check: Issue with MDT 2010 Update 1 and Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1 Supplement

Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V SP1 Component Architecture Poster

This poster provides a visual reference for understanding key Hyper-V technologies in Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1. It focuses on architecture, snapshots, live migration, virtual networking, storage, RemoteFX and Dynamic Memory.

To download the poster click on the picture

Category: Microsoft

How to create a Windows 7 x86 or x64 WMI Filter

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GAL Photos in Exchange 2010 and Outlook 2010

Like this:

Add a MSN user to Lync Online & Office 365

Like this:

How Should Your Organization Deploy Microsoft® Exchange?

Like this:

Microsoft Virtualization for VMware Professionals Jump Start

Like this:

Hotfix Rollup 3 for Forefront Protection for Exchange Server

Like this:

DPM 2010 Enabling/Disabling co-location of data on Tape

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Issue with MDT 2010 Update 1 and Windows AIK for Windows 7 SP1

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Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V SP1 Component Architecture Poster

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Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 SP1 ready for download

Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 with SP1 included is now ready for download:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=92e2c4ba-6965-4f8e-abbe-cbb40556b680

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Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 with SP1 included is now ready for download:

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