Here's some good information on how USV (User State Virtualization) has changed with windows 7, way to approach virtualizing the user state, and there's a link to an article on the value of USV at the beginning of the article.

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/springboard/archive/2010/11/30/building-a-user-state-virtualization-plan.aspx

Hope this helps.  If you have any questions about USV, please drop us a request.

Good information, don't forget the reveiw the slide deck (link at end of article).

http://www.darkreading.com/security/application-security/228400167/slide-show-ddos-with-the-slow-http-post-attack.html

Nice little walk through on location aware printing, availblbe for Windows 7 Professional and above.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee424313(WS.10).aspx

For those of you running print servers you may find the followig article intersting on deploying printers based on location.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb727034.aspx

A lot of server side stuff here, but flook for the client note  the link to KB822158 (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=822158).  There are some more client side exclusions, but they may seem a bit nebulous.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/configurationmgr/archive/2010/11/30/configmgr-2007-antivirus-scan-and-exclusion-recommendations.aspx

I'll work to get a recommended exclusion list together for client machines.  I'll add that to the Google site.

Most of know this, but the newbies my not completely understand why we promote standard naming conventions.  Here's a good post on why it's important.

http://www.myitforum.com/absolutenm/templates/Articles.aspx?articleid=21232&zoneid=89

Right now as a CM group we use the version for MIF matching. But you'll also notice that the error shows the package ID. Using that as an example, if the error we're seeing is with a CM package we can navigate to the _CM folder, select the folder and look for the package ID in the right pane (or middle pane if the actions pane is active).

 

For those of you running IE9 beta.  There's a reliability update that was released yesterday.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2448827

UPDATE 20101129:  the quicklink changed on the jobs page.  In case this happens again the  requisition number is below.

We're looking to add a qualified, highly motivated team member to the mananged desktop section of UMNAD.

Major job duties include:

-Managing and administering Configuration Manager

-Managing and administering Citrix

-Managing and administering virtual applications

-Helpdesk support

-Part of on-call rotation

-Managing and administering AD Domain Services

The title and how often Active Directory is used in the job description may be a bit misleading, most of the focus of this position will be on enterprise management desktops (virtual and physical).  But significant knowledge of AD is require to perform tduties required in the on-call rotation and helpdesk support.

Here's the link: 

The latest version of client center is now available.  If you haven't used this tool to troubleshoot your clients, you'll want to take a look.  If you have, you're already hooked and will love the new features, and improvements for x64.

http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/rzander/archive/2010/11/23/sccm-client-center-v2-0-3-released.aspx

For those that need the standard command-line Options for Windows (as I just did again) see below for all versions.

Version 3

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa372024(VS.85).aspx

Version 3 and earlier

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa367988(v=VS.85).aspx

Just in time for Black Friday!

http://gizmodo.com/5696215/dont-start-your-holiday-shopping-without-amazons-price-check-app

P.S.  I'll still be sleeping

Article on how to connect your Office products to Google Apps with the Cloud. Good to use here at the U!

http://gizmodo.com/5696305/google-cloud-connect-perfectly-syncs-microsoft-office-with-google-docs

Or just use Office Web Apps and maintain the formating of your Office docs:  http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/web-apps

Good article that asks a good question on how much (or if) we advocate for the U's services, jobs, and students.

http://blogs.forrester.com/matthew_brown/10-11-22-employee_advocates_emerge_from_empowered_workforce

With the adoption of iPads and iPhones into education and the beginnings of support here at the U, certificates can't be that far behind.  From this article there is a void direction/help from Apple on the enterprise level, but this article show how it works.  Most of this article covers server side setup, but does also cover the iPad/iPhone configuration at the end.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/askds/archive/2010/11/22/ipad-iphone-certificate-issuance.aspx

shortlink:  http://bit.ly/ggKAK7

Taking off from what Matt talked about with what Adobe is trying to do make it easier than they have in the past to work with Adobe products as an admin. The Enteprise Administratation Guide is well worth a look if you manage Adobe products.

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/837/cpsid_83709.html

Deploying Adobe X

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/it.html#deploying  shows a little more how Adobe is partnering with Microsoft to make administrating there products easier.

Some great information on R3 and leveraging it's new features.  Also, some very good lessons learned towards the end of the presentation beginng at minute 49:25.

http://technet.microsoft.com/nl-nl/edge/system-center-day-configuration-manager-r3-lessons-learned-from-the-field.aspx

Good news indeed.  The install date for ConfigMgr R3 will be on November 22, 2010  beginning at 5:30 PM.  To view the change in the official OIT change calendar, go to http://www.oit.umn.edu/change-management/change-calendar/index.htm and select "View the OIT change caledar" (requires a valid UMN ID to view).

To prep for the R3 upgrade the .NET 4 install has also been approved for Saturday.

Official communication to the list and on System Status to follow the CM meeting today.

Please note that both upgrades will cause the systems be unavailable for a short time period, exact time periods will be available through official communication.

Also note, that all future upgrades will be available for viewing on the OIT Change Calendar with more advance notice when it gets approved.  Still getting used to the new system...

For more information on R3 and what I've posted so far, search "R3" on my blog.  Also, there are many blogs and whitepapers on R3 for your review.

Good content, but mostly had to post due to the stuffed Yoda doll sitting on the fridge behind Dean.

http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/Dean-Hachamovitch-IE9-Questions-and-Answers

Enjoy!

Great article on exactly what the title indicates!  And for you security minded people, he even talks about the FDCC (Federal Desktop Core Configuration).

http://blogs.technet.com/b/fdcc/archive/2010/10/06/sticking-with-well-known-and-proven-solutions.aspx 

For more information about the FDCC and to see their latest guidance go to http://nvd.nist.gov/fdcc/index.cfm

A very nice upgrade to Process Explorer for this verison

http://blogs.technet.com/b/sysinternals/archive/2010/11/16/update-process-explorer-v14.aspx

Some real nice (and necessary) features added in 2.0.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/uspartner_ts2team/archive/2010/11/16/microsoft-security-essentials-2-0-beta.aspx

shortlink:  http://bit.ly/bL2fUO

Good information here on IPv6.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/ipv6-survival-guide.aspx

hope this helps!

Patch your Macs!  131 vulnerabilities are covered in the latest update.  Granted 55 are for the Flash player plugin.

http://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/2010/11/apple_releases_massive_os_x_se.php

also, http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4435

The above information was found on the following blog:  http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/hwaldron/archive/2010/11/14/apple-major-osx-security-update.aspx

Critical OOB (out-of-band) security patches  for Adobe Reader and Adobe Flash to be released tomorrow.

http://www.adobe.com/support/security/bulletins/apsb10-28.html

I found and interesting article on MyITForum about NirCmd.  Mostly that you can use it to display balloons for user notification.  You may find this very interesting.

http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html

For commands related to trayballon:

http://nircmd.nirsoft.net/trayballoon.html

Make sure to thank a veteran today for the their service and self-sacrifice.  If you know a veteran or service member's family be sure to thank them too, without their support the veteran would not have been able to do their duty.

As a distinct second today:  Veterans day also marks the 1 year anniversary of my blog.  Some stats: this is my 76th post, andI've received 9 (legitimate) comments.

Thank you to all veterans and service members past and present and especially your families.  It's very much appreciated.

Unfortunately, my request to perform the R3 upgrade has been denied by the the OIT Change Approval Board.  One thing the pointed out was it did not take place during Sunday maintenance (which I guess as a service offering that means we're growing up:).  I agree with the CAB for denying the request given their standards, once we find out what they need to approve the request we'll make that happen.

Awesome roadmap for using InTune to wrap all the pieces together.

http://www.ditii.com/2010/11/08/windows-intune-will-integrate-with-sccm-fep-and-mdop-brad-anderson-at-teched-europe/

Expand your knowledge about Windows Server 2008 R2.  For those familiar with it, near the bottom there's a link to in-depth whitepapers and datasheets.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/product-information.aspx

In-depth whitepapers and datasheets link

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/white-papers.aspx 

Great location for almost everything Direct Access, from Microsoft...

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/network/dd420463.aspx

Not tecnical, but explains how different offerings work together to creat the optimized desktop.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/e-book/Default.html

Too good of an article to pass up on posting.  The U seems to be heading more this way, but our PDF versions are not $30.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013373872_textbooks08m.html

For your non-techie friends and family.  It works quite well, I've recommended several times.

http://ninite.com/

It has a name!

http://wmug.co.uk/blogs/dotraphael/archive/2010/11/09/configmgr-v-next-is-configmgr-2012.aspx

A nice snapshot of the kind of reports that R3 provides from the Microsoft IT folks.  By that, I mean the the people that run ConfigMgr to manage computers at Microsoft.

http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/pthomsen/archive/2010/11/08/152444.aspx

So, when do you get these cool reports?  soon, still aiming for implementing early next week.  Official communication will come out once it makes it pas the Change Approval Board.

A nice overveiw of FEP

Shortlink:  http://bit.ly/FEP2010 

Not bad... only 3 patches.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms10-nov.mspx 

Microsoft Security Advisory (2458511)

Vulnerability in Internet Explorer Could Allow Remote Code Execution

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/2458511.mspx