January, 2009

Free Virtualization E-Learning Collection Available

This free e-learning collection of four clinics offers a comprehensive introduction to Hyper-V and Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008, System Centre Virtual Machine Manager 2008, and Microsoft Application Virtualization.

Click here to learn more

Summary

Collection 6333: Exploring Microsoft Virtualization Technologies

Overview

This collection of three 2-hour online clinics and an 1-hour online clinic provides IT Professionals experienced in Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003 with the knowledge and skills to implement and manage virtualization technologies.
Topics covered in the clinic within the collection include:

• Introduction to Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008
• Overview of Microsoft Application Virtualization
• Overview of Terminal Services in Windows Server 2008
• Overview of Hyper-V

Student Prerequisites

• Experience in planning, implementing, and supporting Windows Server–based networks, operating systems and platform infrastructure. This may include experience in Windows 2000 Server, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008.
• Knowledge of server virtualization and Hyper-V.

Windows 7 - Booting from a .VHD file

If you want to boot from a Windows 7 (Windows Server 2008 R2) installed on a new .VHD do the following steps:

A.-  Creating the .VHD file and Windows 7 installation on that .VHD file

1. Boot the machine using the Windows 7 DVD
2. Choose Windows Repair
3. Start CMD
4. Run Diskpart
5. Type: Create vdisk file=c:\Windows7Build7000.vhd maximum=40000
6. Type: select vdisk file=c:\Windows7Build7000.vhd
7. Type: attach vdisk (in previous Betas, it was ’surface’ instead of ‘attach’)
8. Type: ‘exit’ (you exit Windows Repair, but Do Not Reboot)
9. Install Windows 7 to this attached .VHD (From Win7 installation, you now have to ’see’ another Hard Drive, you’ll need to create a partition & format it, first. You might get an error/warning saying that your computer hardware might not support this disk, just ignore it..).
10. Reboot, and you ready to go!

Download Windows 7 or Windows 2008 R2

Download Windows 7 Beta

Download Windows Server 2008 R2 Beta

Find MAC Address (GetMac)

GetMAC provides a quick method for obtaining the MAC (Ethernet) layer address. I’ve created a small script that rerurens a MAC address (Without delimeter). Here is a content of mac.bat:

@Echo off
SETLOCAL
SET MAC=
SET Media=Connected

@echo %MAC%
ENDLOCAL

Disable IPv6 over all interfaces and prefer IPv4 to IPv6

Personally, i still prefer use IPv4. In Windows Vista and Windows 2008, IPv6 is enabled by default. I’ve created a small script to disable IPv6. Here is a content of my DisableIPv6.bat:

@Echo off
@ECHO Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 > %TEMP%\DisableIPv6.reg
@ECHO [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters] >> %TEMP%\DisableIPv6.reg
@ECHO “DisabledComponents”=dword:000000ff >> %TEMP%\DisableIPv6.reg
REGEDIT /S %TEMP%\DisableIPv6.reg

How to know when the sysprep image applied to computer?

I did a very simple script, and I run it once when I apply a new sysprep image, that imports the date, when this particular image was applied to the specific computer. Sometimes this is very important. Here is a content of my script:

@Echo Off
REM **********************************************************************************************************
REM * This script checks a date Image was deployed and import this data into the Registry as Image-Date REM REM **********************************************************************************************************

For /f “Tokens=2 Delims= ” %%a in (’@DATE /t’) do set IMG-DATE=%%a
Echo Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 > %TEMP%\IMG-DATE.reg
Echo [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WRHA] >> %TEMP%\IMG-DATE.reg
Echo “Image-Date”=”%IMG-DATE%” >> %TEMP%\IMG-DATE.reg
Reg.exe import %TEMP%\IMG-DATE.reg
Del %TEMP%\IMG-DATE.reg /Q

How To Disable the Phishing Filter in Internet Explorer

Sometimes , the Phishing Filter can cause problems so disabling the feature can be a valuable troubleshooting step. I do this by changing the registry. Here is a content of my DisablePhishingFilter.reg file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\PhishingFilter]
“ShownVerifyBalloon”=dword:00000003
“Enabled”=dword:00000000

Disable Java Updates

If for whatever reasons you need to disable updates for Sun Java, do set the EnableJavaUpdate settings to 0. You can create a file, let say DisableJavaUpdates.reg, with following content:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JavaSoft\Java Update\Policy]
“EnableJavaUpdate”=dword:00000000

How to disable Windows Firewall (Vista edition) from command line

To totally disable Firewall in Vista, execute the following command from command line:

netsh firewall set opmode mode=DISABLE
netsh firewall set opmode mode=DISABLE profile=ALL

Before you install this Beta release, back up all MP3 files that might be accessed by the Windows 7 - The first hotfix for Windows 7

Here’s the warning by Microsoft for those who intends to download and install Windows 7 beta:

To protect your MP3 files:

1. Before you install this Beta release, back up all MP3 files that might be accessed by the computer, including those on removable media or network shares.
2. Install the Beta release of Windows 7; download and install the Update to Windows 7 Beta (KB961367) located on this page.

Microsoft releases Update for Windows 7 Beta (KB961367) in MSDN and TechNet Subscriber Downloads page to fix the bug and protect the MP3 files for users who use the Windows 7 beta build 7000. The KB961367 is not be published on Microsoft Download Center yet.