A few people have written trying to find their application event log. While it is a little buried beneath other more dynamic log viewing options, the old application, system and security logs you have grown familiar with over the years are indeed still there—they are just not displayed by default when you fire up the event viewer.

Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer

Where you used to be able to kick off the event viewer as a regular user (with the restriction of not being able to view the system log) you will now need to tell User Account Control it is okay to launch. Once launched, you can view everything as you are already running privileged).
By default, it is the Overview and Summary view which is displayed. This shows you are collapsed tree view broken down by event type so you can quickly find the errors that matter. To see the log entries they way you did previously, expand the “Windows Logs” node of the tree (the second item by default). You may also wish to hide the “Action Pane” either by clicking the rightmost toolbar icon or from the View menu (select View > Customize and deselect the “Action pane” item from the MMC list). Of course the preview pane can also be turned off, but even if you dislike the dynamic new features of the Event Viewer, I’m betting you’ll appreciate the fact that you don’t have to double-click each event log entry to open it in a new dialog!

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Administration |

Perhaps you don’t consciously use Task Scheduler, but the applications you use just may. As you know, the Task Scheduler lets you specify a schedule for the automated execution of commands. Not just at specified times either, there are several “triggers” besides a specified date/time schedule that may be leveraged here. Based on your preferences, applications (and even the Vista itself) may well have generated scheduled events on your system. To have a look…

Start > Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Administrative Tools > Task Scheduler

See current tasks by selecting a grouping in the tree view at the left of the screen: Task Scheduler (Local) > Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft

Here under Microsoft you should see a handful of items. Click on any of them to see if they have any triggers configured. You can either view or configure its properties from the many tabs displayed when it is selected, or if there is an existing item listed, you can double-click it to access its properties in a separate dialog.

 
Continue reading Vista Task Scheduler...

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Administration |

Start > Control Panel > System and Maintained > Administrative Tools > System Configuration

This area lets you control Windows behavior on startup. The options presented are as follows:

Normal Startup – Load all device drivers and services (normal behavior)
Diagnostic startup – Load basic devices and services only
Selective startup – Load any specified group of items: system services, startup items as well as an option to use original boot configuration

The Normal Startup option exists for you to set things back to normal again after choosing either diagnostic or selective startup options. The diagnostic startup option starts only basic services and drivers and is intended to help rule out basic Windows files as the source of a problem you may be investigating. Naturally, selective startup lets you be a bit more granular in your decision to disable how Vista starts up.

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Administration |

Yet another of the helpful improvements brought to us by Vista is a “Favorite Links” area in the File explorer (and most file browse dialogs). By default, you’ll see special folders like “Documents” and “Pictures” but you can drag any folder here to add a shortcut of your own.
I use this feature regularly to access locations I would otherwise have to navigate too often. Among the default items listed here is also “Recently Changed” and “Searches” two very helpful items if you are not creating links of your own as I suggested. Recently changed is essentially a search for recently changed items (which include documents and not just folders as you might desire here).

If you don’t see your favorite links listed, click Organize > Layout > Navigation Pane to expose it along with a folder browser. You can resize the area as you wish and delete any items you don’t care about. These are simply stored as hyperlinks in your profile’s special folder entitled “Links”. (C:\Users\\Links).

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | General |

Similar to junctions, symbolic links take the feature a couple of steps further. While junctions are limited to the NTFS 5.0 system, symbolic links do not share this restriction. Even better, you can link to individual files as opposed to only folders as is the requirement of junctions.

The feature is designed to aid in migration and application compatibility (particularly with UNIX operating systems). They are transparent to users and appear as normal files or directories. As such, you can fake programs and the operating system into using alternate names and references to files and folders with this feature.

By default only members of the administrators group can create links, but you can adjust this via local security policy if you wish:

Secpol.msc > Security Settings > Local Policies > User Rights Assignment > Create symbolic links

Note: if you make a change here, you’ll need to log out and back in again for the change to take effect. However, you may just want to run your command prompt as administrator to get the job done as to write a file to a system location you will need such permission anyway.
To create a symbolic link, use the mklink command. For example the below command line will create a symbolic link to the windows directory named “win” (note that by default links are created to files so you must specify the /d argument for a directory link)…

mklink /d win c:\windows

 
Continue reading Vista's Symbolic Link Feature...

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Command Line Tools |

Windows Server 2008's Security Configuration Wizard (SCW) includes a corresponding command line, SCWCMD.EXE, which lets you automate the application of security policies generated through the wizard's graphical interface. SCW produces output in XML format which is incompatible by default with GPOs. The following command line may be used to convert SCW output into a readable format for inclusion in a GPO…

scwcmd transform /p:MyPolicyFile.xml /g:MyGPOName

This transforms the XML file into a new GPO and must naturally be run with domain administrator privileges. The resulting GPO (saved to saved under the %SYSTEMROOT%\SECURITY\MSSCW\POLICIES) will include the contents of the SCW XML file into a handful of sections within the GPO. These settings will include: Security Settings, IP Security Policies and Windows Firewall. This new GPO must then be linked to appropriate OUs to be applied.

You can use SCW to create new policies, edit existing policies, apply policies and even roll back the assignation of a security policy.

More information on the Security Configuration Wizard can be found .

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Command Line Tools |

If you should run an application that is incompatible with the Windows Aero color scheme, it may be automatically turned off during execution of the application. The visual elements disabled in Aero should be automatically enabled again when the program exits, but if it does not. Here is how you can manually choose Windows Aero as you scheme:

Start > Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization > Windows Color and Appearance (you may have to click "Open classic appearance properties" if the Appearance Settings dialog is not displayed). Select "Windows Aero" from the "Color scheme" list and then click the "OK" button.

Note that if Vista is disabling Windows Aero due to execution of an application that cannot support it, you should be notified with a dialog like the one below.

Text: "The color scheme has been changed. The following program has performed an action that requires Windows to temporally change the color scheme to Windows Vista Basic."

In this example, I really cannot tell what application is the problem so you may have to pay attention to what you are doing. In this case, I was remote controlling a machine with GoToMyPC. When doing so, the target system to be controlled displays this message (at least until the client is eventually updated to support it).

Note that some applications may have a work-around so check out the application vendors site. Sometimes video settings offered within the application can provide a way past the problem such as with the Zoom Player where a workaround is possible by opening "Options / Setup" and in Basic Mode: Audio/Video where you can set "Video Renderer" to "VMR7" or "VMR9" (instead of "overlay mode").

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Administration |

Folder redirection refers to the redirection of user folders such as Documents, Pictures, Start Menu and Desktop. While in Windows XP, only five folders could be redirected, Vista allows ten folders. Folder redirection is intended to replace the older concept of having a "home folder" for users. The problem with this (and most of us Admins still face this with users) is that there are too many applications that do not allow you to specify a default path for storing data files and users simply accept the default ending up with some files on the network, some in their [potentially roaming] profile and some on the local system.

Folder redirection supports two modes: Basic and Advanced. Basic redirection sends everyone’s folders to the same location and creates special subfolders for each user while advanced lets you to set folder redirection paths for specific groups.

You're probably aware this can be controlled via Group Policy in a corporate environment, but it is actually very easy to use at home as well. Backups are much easier when your data is separated from the local machine. If you don't have a server or network attached storage device at home, you could also redirect folders to a second (removable/USB) drive. It is actually as simple as moving the desired folder from where it is to where you want it to be! All references by the system will dynamically be updated to reference the new location.

Move or Cut and paste any of the following folders to take advantage of this feature for your computer at home.

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Administration | Permalink | Comments (1)

Seems like lots of people looking to fix audio problems are finding there way here for answers and not all are finding the solution to their specific problems. While helping everyone may be too big a goal, I offer this "Part 2" on troubleshooting audio devices in Vista in an effort to be "more helpful". [Part 1 is here]

Uninstall any audio management software (such as Sigma Tel Audio) and then obtain the latest from your computer manufacturer website. Often video and audio drivers can come with management software that normally helps, but with Vista could be another place for Vista incompatibility. Generally, ensuring you remove your existing management software and driver, reboot, and then install the very latest is a reliable measure to getting back in business.

If you are working with a computer from a major manufacturer like Dell, HP or IBM hit their sites for drivers/management software. If that does not work, you can move on to obtaining the latest for your specific hardware at the audio card manufacturer's site but unless you open the computer up and look in the right place it can be difficult to ascertain just what you have in there.

Naturally if you installed the audio card yourself either because you built the computer up yourself or upgraded the card, you'll need to hit the manufacturer's site directly for the required driver. The manual, box or bag you got with the card should give you the information you need to select the correct driver. Also sites often provide pictures or drawings to help you identify your card and determine the correct driver. One additional issue with self-installed audio cards is that the front audio jack will often not work unless you specifically wire it. So if the rear jack works but not those on the front of the computer, look to the manual (if you don't have it most manuals can be found online) for what wires need to be connected for this to function properly.

 
Continue reading No Audio Output in Vista, Part 2...

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Installation |

Windows Vista offers a new security capability in its ability to configure removable device controls through the use of Group Policy. It lets you control which devices can be installed on a system. In particular, there are many rightfully concerned that someone could plug in a removable disk drive and walking away with sensitive data.

To make use of this new capability, you create an approved list of devices on your network and include it in your GPO. It may be okay for users to install USB mice and keyboards, but not flash memory devices or external disk drives. MP3 players, PDAs and cell phones can also function as drives that can be used to store potentially large amounts of data. You must control their use through a properly-designed GPO.

The best documentation I've seen on this is:

Step-By-Step Guide to Controlling Device Installation and Usage with Group Policy

It offers specific instrucitons on how to...

 
Continue reading Device Security via Group Policy...

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Administration |

Blogging on Realtime Vista will be going on hiatus. We hope that the site has offered a great number of tips and solutions to help users get better acquainted with Microsoft's Windows Vista. Though comments and blogging will discontinue, we do hope that this site continues to be a source of instruction for all involved with using Vista.

Please feel free to stop over at Realtime Nexus Digital Library where several eBooks covering Vista Migration, Windows Server, Windows security, and many other topics important to the IT community are available at no charge.

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by admin | General |

There are a number of patch management solutions out there that check in with Microsoft to determine any applicable updates that may be available. Microsoft’s own WSUS (Windows Software Update Services) provides this free, but the same information is leveraged by a host of other third-party solutions that can provide more robust features. This is because Microsoft shares this information in a format designed for implementation by such products.
You can be notified of updates yourself via email by taking advantage of Microsoft’s security bulletin email notification service. You can register for this and other Microsoft newsletters at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/secnews/default.mspx.

Microsoft isn’t the only organization to send out security bulletins. Another good source for this sort of information is from the SANS Institute. You can subscribe to SANS newsletters at www.sans.org/newsletters. OVAL is yet another provider of security information that is used by many sites and management applications. In their own words, “OVAL is an international, information security, community standard to promote open and publicly available security content, and to standardize the transfer of this information across the entire spectrum of security tools and services”. Read more at http://oval.mitre.org.

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Administration |

WMI (Windows Management Instrumentation) offers a ton of data about a Windows computer. It is a open database of information that Microsoft and others populate with virtually all details regarding your system. While management software can (and often does) take advantage of this data collection, it is also very easy to get at this information from scripts.

There are a number of WMI script generators out there including Microsoft’s Script-O-Matic and other copycat tools. One worth mentioning is provided as the “WMI Wizard” in the “Admin Script Editor” (www.adminscripteditor.com) tool. A couple of unique things it does includes generating script code in PowerShell, VBScript, KiXtart or AutoIt scripting languages and showing sample values for selected properties. The latter is important because while you may see something that looks like just what you want when browsing about, all too often the value is either unpopulated or unfriendly (unreadable that is). The feature is fully functional in the 45 day trial available for download.

You can control WMI from the WMI Control snap-in in the MMC.

1) Hit the “Start” button, type MMC and hit enter
2) If you have UAC enabled, you’ll have to answer the prompt that this is okay to run
3) Under file click “Add/Remove Snapin…” and then choose the WMI Control snapin at the bottom of the list provided.
4) You’ll be given the option to manage this on your local system or a remote one (I choose local)
5) Unlike many MMC snapins this is actually a separate dialog so all you get in the tree is a single node with no child nodes. Right click it and choose “Properties” to get at its settings.

The general tab shows you some basic information pulled from WMI regarding your system. Probably nothing you didn’t know here. The Backup/Restore tab lets you do as you’d expect. With the Security tab we finally get to something interesting. Here you can specify security on any level similar to how you would on most other items such as files and folders. Finally, there is an “Advanced” tab which has but one setting and that is to allow for you to specify the default namespace for purposes of scripting. This is set to root\cimv2 by default and is not something you would normally change as this is where most of the classes exist that pertains to your system. With this set, you need not specify the full path to the namespace when referencing a class as in the example below.

 
Continue reading WMI Control in Vista...

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Administration |

While there is no elevation command in Vista so that your tools will run with administrative privileges, there is the Elevate Command PowerToy which can get the job done. It was written by Michael Murgolo, a consultant with Microsoft Consulting Services

The tool is discussed here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/technetmag/issues/2007/06/UtilitySpotlight/default.aspx.

And is available for download here:

http://www.technetmagazine.com/code07.aspx

Scroll down to : June 2007 and it is listed under “Utility Spotlight: Script Elevation PowerToys for Windows Vista” (Utility2007_06.exe)

Just give it a simple -? to view the syntax, but as you might expect it is simply:

Elevate cmd.exe

Any tool, or arguments for this such as opening a specific file or running a specific script follow just as you would normally enter them at the command line.

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Command Line Tools |

In this podcast, the new Office 2003 service pack 3 is discussed with focus on its fix for Vista Compatability issues with FrontPage 2003. The Vista Task scheduler and how it is used is also discussed closing with a tip on a File Explorer feature that lets you easilly access your favorite folders in browse dialogs (application open/save boxes).

MP3: Bob Kelly - Office 2003 SP3 and Vista Task Scheduler

Add this podcast to your iTunes

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | Podcast |

You probably know about the QuickLaunch toolbar for the taskbar (the bar that starts with the "start orb" and unsually ends with the time) at the bottom of your screen. There are other toolbars at your disposal as well. One I had not noticed before is the iTunes toolbar (of course you need iTunes installed to see this):

You can select it to be shown, but the application does not display the iTunes toolbar unless you have iTunes running and minmized. When minimized, instead of seeing it as a normal minimized application, this toolbar is activated instead which lets you do very basic operations in controlling the player as well as the ability to restore the full iTunes application to view.

You may be more familiar with the Windows Media player toolbar as they have offered this feature of a while now. It works in the same way (appears when running and minimized) but it offers quite a bit more than the track skipping, pausing and volume provided by iTunes. You can also see a mini-visualization and track information (plus it reflects your chose theme/skin).

There is also an "Address" toolbar that gives you a simple web browser address bar where you can quickly enter a web address. However, this is of fairly limited value today as you can also enter a URL in the search box in the start menu in the same way (I guess it saves you one click, and that is something).

Others include links, desktop and (again if supported) and a Tablet PC Input Panel. Right click your taskbar and select "Toolbars" to have a look at what options are there for you.

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | General |

Okay, so while Office 2007 is awesome and I can still "save as" Office 2003 format for all those I communicate with that have not made the jump, I still have a few systems running Office 2003 and a Service Pack is most welcome. The link below will give you the rundown on what is in there, but if you are using Office 2003 (or any product with an available service pack) it is best to upgrade.

While it does list FrontPage 2003 as a product this update applies to, none of the listed fixes mention FrontPage. So does it fix the dreaded hyperlink crash in Vista? It seems to have fixed it for me. But it could be in combination with other fixes I've tried. Anyone care to confirm?

[Description]
[Download Link]

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | News |

If you have an interactive user program that needs admin permissions to run, it will not do so on startup. Instead, an icon appears in the notification area (system tray) which lets you see (and optionally start) such programs manually where you can then acknowledge the UAC prompt required to kick it off.

View image

It is a bit of a pain, but the alternative would be to present you with a UAC prompt every time you logged into the computer, and that would be much more painful. Particularly as so many people seem to hate this feature already.

It could be the program does not really need admin permissions to run, but is requiring it as a matter of sloppy programming. Okay that could be harsh, it was not such a big deal to “attempt” an action as administrator before Vista. The point being, if you have an application doing this to you, see the vendor’s website for updates as there are things that can be done programmatically to avoid this situation and with any luck the vendor has released a “more” Vista compatible release that avoids this situation.

Digg it!

Sphere it!

Del.icio.us

Reddit!

Newsvine

Posted by Bob Kelly | General |