• Microsoft Exchange Server,  Windows Server,  Windows XP

    Check It Ma, Logz For Dayz

    On a Mac, I frequently use the tail command to view files as they’re being written to or in use. You can use the Get-EventLog cmdlet to view logs. The Get-EventLog cmdlet has two options I’ll point out in this article. The first is -list and -newest. The first is used to view a list of event logs, along with retention cycles for logs, log sizes, etc. Get-EventLog -list You can then take any of the log types and view information about them. To see System information: Get-EventLog System There will be too much information in many of these cases, so use the -newest option to see just the latest:…

  • Windows XP

    Windows Steady State

    The typical school lab: We want to update an image once a quarter or once a year, deploy it and have nothing change between quarters. In Microsoft Windows, there are about as many ways to go about this as there are IT guys. Some will use Altiris or something like that to reimage the machines every night. Others will use policies to lock everyone out of everything and trust that. But what if you don’t have a dedicated IT staff and honestly don’t really have the time to deal with it in a smaller lab environment. Well, introduce Microsoft’s Steady State (it’s actually been around for awhile, getting renamed every…

  • Windows Server,  Windows XP

    Windows 7 Alpha

    Windows 7 is slated for a 2010 release, although we could see it as late as 2009.  Much like the reports coming out on Snow Leopard, Windows 7 is slated not to come with a variety of new features but rather on buttoning up the existing features and in some cases Microsoft will be reducing the number of features in the OS.  Well, maybe not removing features, but rather moving them into Windows Live and making them as easily accessible as possible using the newly revamped Windows Live toolbar.  Applications moved to the Windows Live-style a la carte menu: Windows Live Family Safety (replaces the former parental controls options) Windows…