As some of you might know Windows 8 has a new feature called Windows 8 fast startup. As the name implies, this allows for a faster startup.
Basically when you use shutdown in Windows 8, the system is never completely shutdown. It basically closes the user sessions and hibernates the kernel session (instead of closing it as with Windows 7). When you us restart in Windows 8, the kernel session will be closed.
It is important to realize this, because some changes to your systems might require a reboot to become active. Even though in the past it was also ok to shut down the system and then start the system again, with Windows 8 you really need to perform a restart.
To manage the Fast Startup feature, check this blog post. Here’s another great blog post that discusses the Fast Startup feature in more detail and also covers Fast Startup in relation to shutdown.exe and PowerShell.
Tags: Fast Startup, hibernate, ICT, Microsoft, Powershell, Restart, Shutdown, shutdown.exe, Windows, Windows 8
I’ve been using Windows 8 for quite some time now (10 months or so), but at first I also had trouble getting used to the new GUI. When I talk to people about Windows 8, there seem to be a lot of people that are having these troubles as well.
For those people, please read this great article before deciding to move back to an older version of Windows:
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/Windows8ProductivityWhoMovedMyCheeseOhThereItIs.aspx
Tags: graphical user interface, gui, ICT, Interface, Metro, Metro Interface, Microsoft, Modern, Windows, Windows 8
Great videos of Windows 8 deployment and system management sessions can be found here.
Sessions:
- Creating Custom WinPE 4.0 boot images
- A Geeks guide to the Galaxy – Building a SC 2012 Configuration Manager OS Deployment Solution
- Inside Windows 8 – The new Assessment and Deployment Kit, ADK
- Inside Windows 8 – Mastering the Setup Engine
- SC 2012 Configuration Manager OSD – Tips & Tricks from the Deployment Masters
These sessions were recorded at the NIC 2012 (Nordic Infrastructure Conference). Be sure to check the website for more videos and interesting information.
Tags: ADK, Assessment and Deployment Kit, ConfigMgr, Configuration Manager, Configuration Manager 2012, Deploy, Deployment, ICT, Microosft, Operating System Deployment, OSD, System Center, System Center 2012, system management, Windows, Windows 8, Windows Preinstallation Environment, WinPE, WinPE 4.0
Altaro is offering 50 Free PC Backup Licenses for ALL Hyper-V admins to use or give away to friends/family. You only have to send a screenshot of your Hyper-V manager together with your name and E-mail.
I have no experience with Altaro Home PC Backup, but since it is free, why not take advantage of ths offer and test it.
Tags: Altara Home PC Backup, Altaro, backup, Free, Home PC Backup, ICT, Software, tool, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows client, Windows Vista, Windows XP
A new Humble Bundle, the Humble THQ Bundle is available now and it includes some great games.
This is a way to give to charity and get great games (or the other way around). Basically you can determine how much you give and you can even specify who should receive which amount of your donation. You can read more about the concept and other bundles in a previous blog post.
The Humble THQ Bundle
The Humble THQ Bundle contains the following steam redeemable games:
Tags: android, bundle, charities, charity, Company Of Heroes, Darksiders, Entertainment, game, game bundle, Gameplay, Games, gaming, humble bundle, linux, mac, Metacritic, Metro 2033, PC, Red Faction, Saints Row, THQ, Windows, Youtube
General
Last Friday I attended the first Dutch Powershell User Group meeting in Eindhoven at Master IT Training and it was great. There were a lot of knowledgeable and passionate people and the interactive sessions were great as well. Thanks go out to all attendees, but especially to the ones presenting and organizing the event.
The fact that we were asked to leave the building (because it was getting pretty late and they wanted to lock up), also stresses the passion of all attendees because. If this wasn’t the case we probably would’ve stayed a lot longer.
Be sure to check out the Dutch PowerShell User Group (DuPSUG) website and Twitter on a regular basis for articles and future events. Ed Wilson also wrote a post of the meeting on the “Hey, Scripting Guy! Blog”.
Photos
Original photo on flickr
Sessions
Below are the sessions with some info about the speakers and their sessions. I also added notes I took and other information I looked up afterwards. If you come across any errors or have comments, please leave a reply so I can fix it.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Active Directory, AD, AD DS, ADDS, ADSISEARCHER, Apache Subversion, CIM, CodePlex, Common Information Model, dcom, distributed com, DuPSUG, Dutch PowerShell User Group, Ed Wilson, Eindhoven, Event, git, Integrated Scripting Environment, ISE, Jaap Brasser, Jeff Wouters, LDAP, Master IT, Mercurial, Powershell, Powershell 3.0, PowerShell Remoting, Powershell v3, Richard Siddaway, rpc, snippets, splatting, SVN, team foundation server, Team Foundation Server 2012, Team Foundation Service, TFS, The Scripting Guy, The Scripting Wife, Version control, Windows, Windows 2012, Windows 2012 Server, Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, WinRM, WMI, workflow, ws-man
Microsoft just released some more information regarding the Microsoft Surface Pro. It is coming in early 2013 and its price is starting at $899 for the 64GB standalone version with a pen, but without a Touch Cover ($120) or Type Cover($130). The standalone 128GB version will be $999.
For more information about the Surface Pro, check the Microsoft website and this blog post:
If you want to know more about Windows RT tablets (b.e. Microsoft Surface) and Windows 8 tablets (b.e. Microsoft Surface Pro) read my previous blog post. It describes how both differ from each other, but also how they differ from Android and iOS (Apple) tablets.
Tags: Microsoft, surface, Surface Pro, tablet, tablets, Windows 8, Windows RT
In the last week several newssites reported that apps in the Windows store had been hacked. First there was a hack to convert a trial app to a fully functional app using WSAConeKey. Then there was also a “hack” to remove ads from apps.
I wonder if, how and when Microsoft will patch these vulnerabilities. If they don’t do something quickly, I think it could severely limit the number of apps being developed for Windows 8. And although the number of apps in the Windows Store is increasing pretty quickly, there’s still some catching up to do.
On the plus side however, Microsoft has sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses in a month 🙂
I’ve personally been using Windows 8 for quite some time now and really like it. It did take some time getting used to, but Hyper-V makes my life so much easier. For me the Modern (Metro) interface and Windows 8 apps are a nice extra, but to be honest I don’t use them that often. Maybe that will change when more good apps will be released.
[UPDATE 12-12-2012]
App developers have always been able to secure their apps better as mentioned here.
[UPDATE 12-12-2012]
Tags: apps, hack, hacked, ICT, Metro, Microsoft, Windows, Windows 8 Apps, WSAConeKey
Since I often participate in Microsoft beta exams and books are not available at that time, I spend a lot of my time using Technet. Here are some personalizations I use:
Technet library view type:
For people who’ve been using the Technet library for many years, they are probably familiar with the “Classic” interface shown below:
Until a couple of weeks ago, I thought this interface had simply been replaced by a new “lightweight” interface. You can however change the view using the settings button 
to match your preference.
Technet library Print/Export multiple topics
Sometimes you want to easily bookmark topics for later (offline) use and possibly even on other devices. The Print Multiple Topics feature provides this functionality. Be sure to try it:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/export/help(lightweight)
Some more information about this feature can be found here.
Tags: ICT, Microsoft, personalization, Technet, Technet Library
There are many Microsoft certification paths and in my opinion a good overview was missing to determine what exams you need to pass. That is until now, because the overview shown below is great:
For more information, read the original blog post at borntolearn : http://borntolearn.mslearn.net/microsoft_it_academy/b/weblog/archive/2012/11/20/infographic-microsoft-it-academy-certification-roadmap.aspx
Also if you’re planning to pursue a certification, please leave a comment what your plans are and why.
Tags: certification, ICT, MCITP, MCSA, MCSD, mcse, Microsoft, MOS Master, MOS Specialist, roadmap
blog.bjornhouben.com 