"Some" KB Articles on Windows Vista .... upgrade nightmare ...

Man oh man... I tried to do an upgrade on my computer last night to my new shiny version of Vista I got for free for watching some MSDN videos. It gets all the way through the installation upgrade (which took a couple of hours.. a clean install takes about 15 minutes) and then when it gets to the final step of finalizing settings the computer freezes with a blue line down the middle of the screen and just sits there.

Now I went through the upgrade Advisor Wizard (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=42B5AC83-C24F-4863-A389-3FFC194924F8&displaylang=en ) originally and removed everything it said to remove and even got rid of everything in my Run key in the registry. Something I highly recommend doing! It said I was fine.

Luckily you can roll back easily enough to your previous version of Windows which I had to do...see this KB on how to do that http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927522/en-us but that is not the point. Windows Vista did it for me though when I decided had to shut the machine off after it sat idle for 2 hours with the blue line down the middle of the screen. When the machine came back up I was notified that "Vista installation did not succeed" and that it was "Restoring my previous version of Windows" A scary message I know but persistent me went through the installation a second time after removing a few more things just for good measure and ended up with the same blue line results, the rollback the second time around worked the same way and just as well as the first time around.

This should not be that difficult..alas but it is.

There are already over 200+ KB articles on Vista woes ( http://support.microsoft.com/search/default.aspx?catalog=LCID%3d1033&1033comm=1&spid=global&query=Vista&pwt=false&title=false&kt=ALL&mdt=0&res=20&ast=1%2c2%2c3%2c4%2c7&mode=a&adv=1&range=1-200 )

And even a KB article that lists the error messages that you might have.. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930733/en-us (which is not that long believe it or not.)

And yes even the validation system seems like it had issues and needed an update... http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929391/en-us

So this evening I get to go through the log files ( http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928901/en-us ) and try and figure out just what went wrong. But in light of the seemingly huge surge of KB articles over the last few days on second thought maybe I should wait awhile before I make the plunge...such is life when you are living on the edge and want to be at the forefront of technology I guess. At least my Office 2007 is workingl though...

Download Pick: Word 2007 Guide: Word 2003 to Word 2007 interactive command reference guide

So you just loaded Office 2007 and can't find any of the familiar commands? You'll need this.

 

This visual, interactive reference guide helps you find your favorite Microsoft Office Word 2003 commands in the new 2007 interface.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9044790b-4e24-4277-b714-66d7b18d0aa1&DisplayLang=en

--
Jim Kenzig
Microsoft MVP - Terminal Services
http://www.thinhelp.com
Citrix Technology Professional
Provision Networks VIP
CEO The Kenzig Group
http://www.kenzig.com
Blog: http://www.techblink.com

Download Pick: Windows Vista Security Guide

Heres a new tool from MS for getting your environment Vista Ready.

 

The Windows Vista Security Guide provides guidance and tools to further protect Windows Vista against real-live threats such as malware and information theft. This solution accelerator recommends the Enterprise Client (EC) configuration for organizations of all types. Only in extreme security situations does the guide recommend the Specialized Security – Limited Functionality (SSLF) configuration, which considerably limits client computer functionality. The Solution Accelerator includes recommendations about how to use new and enhanced security technologies in Windows Vista to better defend the client computers in your organization against malware. The guide also provides recommendations and best practices on how to use encryption and access control technologies in Windows Vista to protect corporate data. Application compatibility testing recommendations are included. This Solution Accelerator includes several files, such as the Windows Vista Security Guide.doc, the detailed Appendix A of the Windows Vista Security Guide.doc, the Windows Vista Security Guide Settings.xls, and the GPOAccelerator tool to help you easily implement the guidance.

 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a3d1bbed-7f35-4e72-bfb5-b84a526c1565&DisplayLang=en

--
Jim Kenzig
Microsoft MVP - Terminal Services
http://www.thinhelp.com
Citrix Technology Professional
Provision Networks VIP
CEO The Kenzig Group
http://www.kenzig.com
Blog: http://www.techblink.com

Dowload Pick of the Week: Dariks Boot and Nuke (DBAN) Disk Wiper

This may be the year when you are going to get new PC's cause there is no way the old ones are going to run Vista (which is officially launched as of today). So in the practice of goodwill and all that jive here is a LINUX utility that you can use to clean off all and wipe your hard disks clean before disposing of your old computer.

Darik's Boot and Nuke ("DBAN") is a self-contained boot floppy that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.

DBAN is a means of ensuring due diligence in computer recycling, a way of preventing identity theft if you want to sell a computer, and a good way to totally clean a Microsoft Windows installation of viruses and spyware. DBAN prevents or thoroughly hinders all known techniques of hard disk forensic analysis.

There is also an ISO that you can burn the program to a CD.  The exe can be put on a Floppy or a bootable USB stick.  Typing in Autonuke at the prompt after the linux boot will automatically wipe the disk clean.

 

Check out Dariks page at sourceforge http://dban.sourceforge.net/  for the latest version.

 

Enjoy,

--
Jim Kenzig
Microsoft MVP - Terminal Services
http://www.thinhelp.com
Citrix Technology Professional
Provision Networks VIP
CEO The Kenzig Group
http://www.kenzig.com
Blog: http://www.techblink.com

MUST HAVE DOWNLOAD PICK!! Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats

Heads up to any system admins whose company is running older versions of Office (meaning anything prior to Office 2007!)  You are going to need this one very soon!

 

Office 2007 is officially releasing to the public on January 30, 2007 and a lot of people who have been attending the Microsoft launch event over the last week or so ALREADY have a full version in hand.  If you are running Office 2000, XP or 2003 you best take note.  They aren't going to do too well with the Office 2007 files people start sending to you.

 

Office 2007 is a TOTAL rewrite of the software. There is nothing familiar about it. It is a whole new learning curve. Be prepared for the headaches!

 

You will have to toddle on out to the Microsoft site and download the Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel and powerpoint from:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=941B3470-3AE9-4AEE-8F43-C6BB74CD1466&displaylang=en

 

Then the fun begins of getting the thing installed out on every workstation (or hopefully Citrix/Terminal Server) that you have that runs any prior version of Office before 2007.

 

Here is a brief description of the Kit, be sure and follow ALL directions on the above link prior to installing or you can get yourself into trouble!
 

Open, edit, and save documents, workbooks, and presentations in the file formats new to Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007.

--
Jim Kenzig
Microsoft MVP - Terminal Services
http://www.thinhelp.com
Citrix Technology Professional
Provision Networks VIP
CEO The Kenzig Group
http://www.kenzig.com
Blog: http://www.techblink.com

Download Pick: Citrix Yahoo Widget

For those of you using the Yahoo Widget on your desktop here is one for Citrix...

 

CTX112016 - Citrix Yahoo Widget
 

This document was published at: http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX112016

Document ID: CTX112016, Created on: Dec 15, 2006, Updated: Jan 8, 2007

Products: N/A 

Attachment: Citrix_Yahoo_Widget.zip (474.6 K)

http://support.citrix.com/servlet/KbServlet/download/12058-102-15952/Citrix_Yahoo_Widget.zip

 

Citrix Yahoo Widget

Description

Try the new Citrix Yahoo Widget to launch applications from your desktop. You will need to have the Yahoo Widget engine loaded before using this utility.

Yahoo Widget Engine

CTX111689 – Citrix Published Applications Widget

--
Jim Kenzig
Microsoft MVP - Terminal Services
http://www.thinhelp.com
Citrix Technology Professional
Provision Networks VIP
CEO The Kenzig Group
http://www.kenzig.com
Blog: http://www.techblink.com

Download Pick of the Week: Windows Automated Installation Toolkit, How to Make a PE Boot Disk

Hi All,

I have spoken about the new Pre execution enviroment (2.0) that will be available when Windows Vista Releases and this weeks download pick it eh Windows Automated Installation Toolkit which allows you to create a Vista PE Environment.  You'll need the toolkit, a Windows Vista DVD (just released in Technet plus if you get it) , a Technician Computer, Master computer, a Floppy/USB stick and a blank CD/R disk to do this. (obviously your machine will also need at least a CDR burner.

 

In Mark Minasi's latest newsletter in the Tech section portion at  http://www.minasi.com/newsletters/nws0701.htm Rhonda Layfield has wrote an excellent article on how to make a PE boot disk.  This is a must read and print out and save article for any tech!

 

The article does not include the link to the WAIK but here it is:

 

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=993c567d-f12c-4676-917f-05d9de73ada4&displaylang=en

 

Microsoft also has a page set up for Vista downloads with many other items of interest at:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/downloads/winclient/windowsvista/default.mspx

 

One in particular that people should be looking at is the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor. This utility tells you what you need to do to get your computer ready for Vista.  I can save people a lot of time... don't even bother unless your workstation has at least 512 MB of memory.  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/getready/upgradeadvisor/default.mspx

 

Regards,

--
Jim Kenzig
Microsoft MVP - Terminal Services
http://www.thinhelp.com
Citrix Technology Professional
Provision Networks VIP
CEO The Kenzig Group
http://www.kenzig.com
Blog: http://www.techblink.com

Microsoft to have MEGA Launch Event for VIsta/Office on January 23rd!

I wanted to remind you all that Microsoft is having a Mega Launch Event of Vista/Office 2007 across America on January 23 if a few weeks as a prelaunch for the January 30th release. You can now sign up for this event and it is not one to be missed!  SEE http://www.microsoft.com/business/launch2007/signup/default.mspx

And now the real reason to go.. they are offering a FREE version of Office 2007 and Vista to attendees!

And just for fun here are some Vista links to keep you busy..

Windows Vista - What You Need To Know (PC Magazine) http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,1786052,00.asp
Why You Don't Need Vista Now (Wired News) http://www.wired.com/news/culture/reviews/0,72295-0.html?tw=rss.index
Q&A with Microsoft about Windows Vista (Lifehacker) http://www.lifehacker.com/software/vista/qa-with-microsoft-about-windows-vista-220986.php
How Windows Vista Will Affect Government Information (Free Government Information) A href=" http://freegovinfo.info/node/833

TIP: Why your USB Key may not work on a public workstation and how to get it to work!

Our local Web Guru Greg Weller here at the Library I work for just came across some great information that I wanted to go ahead and pass along to the group about USB Drive issues on locked down machines. As most of you know not all USB Stick, keys, fob, or whatever you want to call them work on public computers. That is because a lot of them use a proprietary driver. Greg has discovered that holding the shift key down when inserting the device bypasses the request for driver installation and recognizes the key as a basic drive.

Here is the text from Greg:

There is a distinct class of USB drives that are labeled as a 'U3' device, or a SmartDrive. A lot of the Sandisk Cruzers are this type of device. Some other big ones are: Kingston U3 DataTraveler, Verbatim Store 'n' Go U3 Smart Drive, Intuix Smart Drive, Memorex Mini TravelDrive, and GeekSquad Flash Drives. The U3 home page is here:

http://www.u3.com/default.aspx

And there's a more comprehensive list of drives and what they look like here:

http://www.u3.com/smartdrives/default.aspx

The U3 device has a launcher application that starts when you plug it in and while they say that it doesn't affect the operating system it does in the sense that it needs to load some drivers in and then wants you to reboot the PC in order for it to work. Obviously, this is not going to work on a Dell in the branch. Here's the fix: Hold down the Shift key while you are plugging in the device, and keep the shift key held down for around 30 seconds. This disables the launch pad and it now looks like a plain old USB drive instead of a SmartDrive. The only other apparent solution to this is to wipe the drive completely to remove the software, which is not something that I would ever tell a patron to do. This 'fix' is from the USB page, and does not harm the drive. I tested it out on our Dell behind the help desk, and on a couple of machines at a branch and devices that I've never gotten to work on a Dell, worked fine. As far as it goes, it might just be a good idea to tell people to hold down the Shift key no matter what kind of USB drive they're plugging in.

Thanks for the tip and info Greg!

Dowload Pick: PortableApps

This weeks download pick is a FREE utility called PortableApps that lets you run an application on any PC from a USB Stick or your Ipod or any portable disk.

They have even put together a suite of Apps called PortableSuite that you can download that includes things like Open Office, Firefox, Thunderbird and others.

Get it at:

http://portableapps.com/

From their site:

A portable app is a computer program that you can carry around with you on a portable device and use on any Windows computer. When your USB flash drive, portable hard drive, iPod or other portable device is plugged in, you have access to your software and personal data just as you would on your own PC. And when you unplug the device, none of your personal data is left behind.

No Special Hardware - Use any USB flash drive, portable hard drive, iPod/MP3 player, etc

No Additional Software - Just download the portable app, extract it and go

No Kidding - It's that easy

Consider the Possibilities...

• Carry your web browser with all your favorite bookmarks
• Carry your calendar with all your appointments
• Carry your email client with all your contacts and settings
• Carry your instant messenger and your buddy list
  
• Carry your whole office suite along with your documents and presentations
• Carry your antivirus program and other computer utilities
  
• Carry all your important passwords and account information securely
  

Consider the Convenience...

• Have your favorite websites handy to recommend to a friend or colleague
• Have your presentation AND the required software ready to go for that big meeting
• Have your password with you if you want to bank online while traveling
• Have utilities handy when visiting family or friends that are having PC problems

Definitely worth having a look at!