From http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941314
Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) enables IT administrators to remotely manage roles and features in Windows Server 2008 from a computer that is running Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 (SP1). It includes support for remote management of computers that are running either a Server Core installation option or a full installation option of Windows Server 2008. It provides similar functionality to the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack.
Windows Server 2003 support
Only the following tools support the management of Windows Server 2003:
- Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Tools
- Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) Tools
- Active Directory Certification Authority Tools
- DHCP Server Tools
- DNS Server Tools
- Terminal Services tools
- Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) Services Tools
- Group Policy Management Tools
- Network Load Balancing Tools
Install RSAT
To install RSAT, follow these steps on a computer running the final release of Windows Vista with SP1:
- Download the RSAT package from Microsoft Web site.
- Double-click the downloaded package to start the Setup wizard. Follow the instructions in the wizard to complete the installation.
- Open Control Panel, click Programs, and then click Turn Windows features on or off under Programs and Features.
If you are prompted to provide permission by User Account Control, click Continue.
- In the Windows Features dialog box, select the remote administration snap-ins and tools that you want to install, and then click OK.
- Configure the Start menu to display the Administration Tools shortcut. To do this, follow these steps:
- Right-click Start, and then click Properties.
- On the Start Menu tab, click Customize.
- In the Customize Start Menu dialog box, scroll down to System administrative tools, and then select Display on the All Programs menu and the Start menu.
- Click OK.
- For a complete list of tools included in the RSAT final package, installation instructions, and other help topics, see Remote Server Administration Tools Help in the Administrative Tools list on the Start menu.
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Below is an email I sent out to our staff about why we’re blocking sites like Pandora, Last.fm, etc.
I feel bad about it. I didn’t like doing it, but it had to be done.
What?
A handful of your favorite audio streaming sites are now blocked.
Why?
Because I enjoy people being mad at me.
No, Really.
It’s a policy that’s been in place for a while, but some didn’t know and others have “forgotten.”
We rely on our internet connection for a lot of really important things to get our jobs done, including email, ServiceU, research, downloading, our connection to the FF office (& future offices), and of course Fellowship One and Check-In.
Our internet bandwidth isn’t unlimited. It’s like a pipe that can only handle so much water at one time. Audio & video streaming take up a lot of space in that pipe. It only takes a handful of people listening to Pandora or K-Love to slow our connection down to a crawl, and that can really interfere w/ legitimate business needs.
I’ll Find a Way
You probably will. Not every streaming audio site is blocked, and almost no video sites are (yet). There are legitimate ministry reasons to keep this stuff accessible. Just make sure that’s why you’re accessing it.
Viewing video clips or listening to audio clips is fine, providing it’s for your job. But please don’t stream internet radio or video for the fun of it.
What Can I Do?
Bring in your iPod, satellite radio, AM/FM, CDs, cassettes, records, or 8-tracks, or load up your MP3 collection to your computer and listen to iTunes. I’ll even help you.
But What About. . .?
If you’ve got a question, just ask.
Thanks,
Brett “you took my music away” Anderson
IT Director
Christian Life Center
3489 Little York Rd.
Dayton, OH 45414
937.898.8811 x254
Posted in System Administration, email | 2 Comments »
February 7, 2009 by Brett
These are the notes I used for the CLC-U class I co-taught at Christian Life Center
Backing up your computer is like flossing or exercise. Everybody knows they should do it but it’s just so easy to “forget.”
Most people start backing up their computer after something devastating happens. Be PROACTIVE not REACTIVE.
So what to do . . .
2 primary categories of backups – Image and file based.
Image based is ideal in the event of a catastrophe. It takes a “picture” or image of your hard drive. When a restore is needed, that “picture” is copied to the new drive and your computer will be restored as it was when you took the picture – all programs, settings, and files will be restored.
File based backups will protect the files on your computer but not the programs & settings. If you are just doing file backups and your computer crashes, you’ll have to reinstall Windows and all the updates, and every program that you use. However, that is often an acceptable consequence for people as long as their files are backed up.
Good
Windows XP & Vista both have built in backup utilities. The XP option is basic and can function well for file level backups. The Vista Backup & Restore program is pretty good and supports file and image based backups. At the very least, use the built in programs in Windows and dump your data to a stack of CDs/DVDs or an external hard drive.
Better
Acronis True Image Home 2009 ~$50 is an excellent program that will create image backups of your computer. It also supports drive cloning and file based backup and restore. You can store backups on almost any PC storage device: internal or external hard drives, network drives or a variety of IDE, SCSI, FireWire, USB and PC Card (formerly called PCMCIA) removable media drives, as well as CD-R/RW, DVD+-R/RW, Iomega Zip and Jaz drives.
Windows Home Server is another option that I love. I built my own home server that sits in a closet and backs up my main PC every night.
However, the problem with the solutions so far is that you still have to be involved at some point. Even if you setup an automatic backup schedule, the backups are still sitting on a hard drive or DVDs right next to your computer. What happens if you’re robbed, or there’s a flood or fire?
Frequent and regular computer backups will not happen if you have to be involved!
It’s human nature. We forget. We procrastinate.
Best
Automatic, off site backups are best because you’re protected in the event of a catastrophe. Combine that with an image-based backup from above and you’ve got your bases covered.
The following is a list of offsite, file-level backup companies.
iDrive 2 GB of free space, or 150 GB of storage for $4.95/month. Windows, Mac
Carbonite costs $49.95 a year per computer for unlimited space. Windows only, Mac in beta w/ expected release early 2009
iBackup charges $9.95 a month for 10 GB of space. Windows, Mac
Jungle Disk is a great solution that uses Amazon’s S3 Storage Service. Unlimited data for $.15/GB. Automatic backups. It also mounts a virtual network drive to My Computer that you can drag and drop files to. Windows, Mac, Linux.
Mozy offers 2 GB of storage for free and unlimited space for $4.95 a month per computer. This is my personal favorite. I’ve been a Mozy fan for years, and I use the Professional version at CLC. Use the Mozy link to the right to get discounts on monthly or annual subscriptions. Windows, Mac
Set it and forget it and sleep at night.
Backing It Up
Computers are a part of our daily lives. They’re the hub of what we do. You depend on your computer for a lot of things: Email & web, word processing, taxes, pictures, home videos, music. . . The data stored in our computers can be priceless.
If you don’t have a copy of these files somewhere else, you should be losing sleep.
It’s not a matter of “IF” your hard drive will crash, but “WHEN”. Current statistics show that one in every ten hard drives fail each year.
What would you do if your computer crashed today? Would you panic? Would you be willing to do whatever it takes to get your files back? What are all those pictures, documents, music files worth?
Best Buy’s Geek Squad charges a $59 assessment fee, and data recovery starts at $259 with no guarantee of recovery.
Posted in Hardware/Software, Technology, windows | 1 Comment »
February 4, 2009 by Brett
In case you haven’t heard, Apple just released a groundbreaking new laptop – the MacBook Wheel. Check it out.
Posted in Apple, Just for fun, Technology, Web, video | 1 Comment »
January 13, 2009 by Brett
Jott is one of those services that you wonder “Why didn’t someone think of this sooner?” It’s a service that allows you to use your voice to send emails, text messages, Twitter updates, etc. I’ve been using the free version for quite some time, but it looks like as of February 2 that will end. Bummer. . .
The free version of Jott is going to end on February 2, CEO John Pollard told me today. The terrible advertising market, he says, means every customer has to pay their own way from now on. Customers will need to pay $4/month to continue the service, the current price for a premium account. This includes users of the Jott iPhone application.
Read more at TechCrunch.
Posted in Technology | Leave a Comment »
November 19, 2008 by Brett
I can’t say I’m really disappointed. Microsoft Live OneCare was never a product that I recommended to anyone. It seemed to be a good deal – $50 for installation on 3 computers. But the reviews of the product were always lukewarm at best. In a cut-throat market like anti-malware, you need to do better than lukewarm or people will always pick a free product with less features.
In June of 2009, Microsoft will phase out OneCare in favor of a free anti-malware program code-named “Morro.”
From eWeek:
According to Microsoft, Morro will be architected to use minimal computing resources to make it amenable to low-bandwidth scenarios and less powerful PCs. The trade-off for the smaller footprint is that it will not have some of the nonsecurity features found in OneCare, such as printer sharing, Microsoft officials said.
Read the eWeek article.
Posted in Hardware/Software, Microsoft, Technology, windows | Leave a Comment »
November 14, 2008 by Brett
Well, at least for a day or two. A Washington Post investigation led to the shutdown of a major hosting company on Tuesday that some estimates say could have been responsible for up to 75% of all spam volume. I’m sure It’s just a matter of time until the spammers relocate, but enjoy it in the mean time!
McColo Corp., the San Jose-based company that was cut off from the Web by its upstream Internet providers two days ago, hosted a staggering variety of cybercriminal activity, according to researchers familiar with its operation. Other than spewing out huge quantities of spam — by some estimates, at times up to 75% of all spam — McColo hosted the command-and-control servers of some of the biggest botnets, hosted child pornographic sites and domains that hustled users for money by scaring them into thinking that their PCs were infected with massive amounts of malware.
Posted in Technology | Leave a Comment »
October 30, 2008 by Brett
Daylight Savings Time ends this weekend. Does anyone really understand why we observe this antiquated and controversial practice? It has been around since the 1800s and apparently had significant value then. Here’s Benjamin Franklin’s rationale:
. . .if people adjusted their schedules to earlier in the day during summer months, when day length is longest, an immense sum of tallow and wax could be saved by the ‘economy of using sunshine rather than candles. . . *
I’m just as much for saving tallow as the next guy, but what is the value today? There are varying opinions as to the current effectiveness and value of DST. However, current research shows that there is not much benefit, if any. In fact, a paper from the University of California, Santa Barbara concluded that daylight savings actually increases electricity demand. Surely the US Department of Energy has better things to do than worry about springing forward or falling back. Why not just scrap the whole thing?
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2008/10/24/saving-daylight-but-wasting-electricity/?mod=yahoo_buzz_blog
*http://www.nber.org/tmp/15483-w14429.pdf
Posted in Technology | Leave a Comment »
Slydial is a new service that lets you leave a voicemail on a mobile phone without ever having the mobile phone ring. You automatically go straight to voicemail. I know I have made calls that I hope go to voicemail so I can avoid a conversation. Although the whole concept of Slydial is rather deceitful and makes me a bit uncomfortable, I can see myself using it occasionally.
From TechCrunch:
The service allows users to call any mobile line and go directly to voicemail, without the awkward conversation. Their phone will actually display a missed call from your original number, but they won’t have a chance to answer it.
To use the service, dial 267-SLYDIAL (267-759-3425), and enter your contact’s number (note: this isn’t a toll-free call). Slydial works with all US wireless carriers, and users can make the initial call from either landlines or mobile phones. And, if you really hate talking to people, you can make an account on the company’s website and use a contact list to leave voice messages from your computer.
Slydial seems like a service that is ripe for abuse, but it’s still great to have (I just saved it to my contacts list). Sure, it’s devious and impersonal, but at least it isn’t a text message. And voicemail is dead anyway, isn’t it?
Posted in Technology, Web | 4 Comments »
Today a user submitted a support request and was very frustrated. She was using Outlook 2003. Every time she attempted to create a new email message, either from scratch or when replying to someone, she received the following error:
This form requires Word as your e-mail editor, but Word is either busy or cannot be found. The form will be opened in the Outlook editor ![Outlook[1]](http://banderson.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/outlook1-thumb.png?w=240&h=50)
instead. An OLE registration error occurred. The program is not correctly installed. Run setup again for the program.
Here’s the solution:
Shut down Outlook.
Go to Start, then Run. If you don’t have Run on your Start menu, press the Windows key & R together.
Type “regsvr32 c:\windows\system32\ole32.dll” (without the quotes) and hit Ok.
The bad system file should now be re-registered. Create a new email message and make sure the issue is resolved.
Posted in Hardware/Software, Microsoft, Outlook, System Administration, Technology, email, windows | 31 Comments »
![Outlook[1]](http://banderson.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/outlook1.png)
