In one of the deployment scenarios I ran into a company has several lab PC’s spread throughout the organization at different sites. The workstations are kept in a workgroup for the training and are regularly re-imaged with Windows Vista to prep for the next set of classes, etc. The machines are all identical.

The desired solution is to add the MAK key to the Windows Sysprep Image. This can be done, however the machines will still require Activation. If the machines do not have direct Internet connectivity, as may lab machines do not, the VMAT too is ideal to handle the machine activation. A benefit of using VAMT is the ability to save the Activation information, so when the machines are re-imaged the same activation ID can be pushed back to the machine – given there are no hardware changes.

Download the Volume Activation 2.0 Technical Guidance.

Download the VAMT Tool.

Microsoft has made available the IE8 Readiness Toolkit for download. This beta 1 version of IE8 is focused on developers and the User Interface is still similar to IE7. Expect the UI to change a little in future IE8 beta releases.

You can download the toolkit from:  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/ie/ie8/readiness/Install.htm

Since this is an early beta and developer focused, this should not be installed on production machines. This is meant to be installed on development machines, or lab machines for testing.

There are major concerns about the possibilty of data getting compromised for those who are responsible for protecting sensitive data. Fortunately to successfully attack a machine using drive encryption, the attack has to occur within a set of ideal circumstances. These ideal attack circumstances can be emliminated by following specific guidlines to protect the device which is using hard drive encryption. The Microsoft Stay Safe Team has posted guidelines on how to protect BitLocker from Cold Boot Attacks. If you are running BitLocke, be sure to follow these guidlines to defend against this well known exploit.

The main purpose of the SharePoint Asset Inventory Tool is to give the IT administrator answers to a number of important questions through the generation of reports. These reports include information on:

• The servers running some version of SharePoint.
• The installed SharePoint features.
• The total number of SharePoint sites on each server.
• The total number of documents on each server.
• The total number of documents grouped by extension on each server.
• The time since the SharePoint assets in each server were last modified.
• The customized SharePoint sites and items on each server.
• The number of SharePoint lists on each server, grouped by the number of items on each list.

Learm more about the Tool and download it fromthe the TechNet Library.

Dan has created a series of free tutorials and sample source code so anyone can learn how to build their own 3D games from scratch. The tutorials include text and also videos to show how things are done. Link to free tools from Microsoft: XNA Game Studio, and Softimage:XSI Mod Tool are also included in the materials. A sounds recorder is also needed, such as Audacity, which is free but a link is not included in Dan’s materials.

Goto the free tutorials here.

• TechNet Solution Accelerators - Microsoft Assessment and Planning (for client and server)
• TechNet  Solution Accelerators -Business Desktop Deployment (for Vista, XP, and Office)
• TechNet TechCenter – Five Ways Deploying Vista Just Got Easier
• TechNet – Windows Vista Adoption “Gotchas” and how to move beyond them

Get it directly from Microsoft downloads.

One of the less understood features of BDD 2007 is its ability to function as a full deployment solution.  BDD can help you create and maintain desktop images in a manageable and repeatable way, and gives you the capability to build a scalable deployment solution by combining BDD with Windows Deployment Services (WDS), SQL Server, and the Windows Server 2003 Distributed File System Replication (DFS-R). The November 2007 issue of TechNet Magazine addresses this scenario. You can read the complete article on Microsoft’s TechNet Magazine website at:  http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/11/ExtendingBDD/default.aspx The fourth generation BDD deployment accelerator, renamed “Microsoft Deployment”, adds integration with recently released deployment technologies to create a single path for image creation and automated installation. Download the latest version of “Microsoft Deployment” from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3bd8561f-77ac-4400-a0c1-fe871c461a89&displaylang=en&tm 

If you already have an SMS 2003 or Configuration Manager 2007 infrastructure, work towards using Microsoft Deployment, SMS 2003 or ConfigMan 2007, and the OSD Feature Pack for deployment. This is currently the most comprehensive way to achieve zero-touch deployment, and it can really drive down the costs of configuring, installing, and managing Windows in your organization.

A common issue in VoIP deployments is that administrators find out about problems with audio quality only after a user reports a problem. The Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Deployment Validation Tool simulates audio traffic so that you can proactively identify and resolve audio issues.

 Download the Tool from Microsoft Downloads.