Recently we did a deploy of some Windows stations. Well, they were kinda’ Windows stations, but really Macs running Parallels and Boot Camp. At first things seemed great. Then we realized the deployed VMs and Boot Camp images were automatically logging in. So looking into it, it turned out that there was a few keys we needed to remove the contents of registry keys in the following location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionWinlogon Keys we blanked out included DefaultUserName, AutoAdminLogon and DefaultPassowrd. The most alarming thing was that DefaultPassword showed the local admin password used during the installation process. As a temporary workaround until we could get this fixed we had the users…
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Windows System Explorer
If you’re done with Task Manager then check out SystemExplorer at http://systemexplorer.mistergroup.org. SystemExplorer is a free utility that will help you search through those processes for the ones that are virus laden, leaking memory or just plain not supposed to be there and therefore wasting your valuable system resources. SystemExplorer can show file paths, parent processes, process publishers, action histories and let you search for details against a database. In short, there have been great replacements for Windows’ Task Manager for years but this one might just be one of the better ones we’ve tried.
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Windows XP Is No More… Kindof…
Microsoft has announced that as of June 30th, 2008 Windows XP will no longer be distributed. You will still be able to buy machines that run Windows XP but it will become increasingly difficult in the months that follow. Windows XP will be supported by Microsoft until April 14th, 2014. However, only security-specific patches will be released for XP after June.
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Windows XP: certutil.exe
You just can’t pilfer parts of other OSen whenever you feel like it. If you take certutil.exe from a newer OS than XP (eg – Vista, Server 2003, Server 2008) then it’s not gonna’ work. What, you don’t believe me, check it out ya’ silly cannigut: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/934576/en-us?spid=12925&sid=1569 But I’d really hoped you knew to look this kind of thing up already if you’re doing work on PKI stuff… 😉
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Microsoft Office Live
I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal Microsoft Office Live Workspace is a portal that allows you to view your Microsoft Office documents online. This includes the ability to share documents and do desktop presentations of Microsoft Office documents. Microsoft Office Live Workspace is in beta and free, so why not give it a try? That’s what Microsoft is asking now that Google Docs and Zoho are moving towards commoditizing the document and spreadsheet space. So first impressions? Office Live Workspace doesn’t let you edit documents. Anyone who has used Google Docs or Zoho is going to be looking for that feature. There is a nice plug-in that is free that…
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Windows XP: Remove 15 Second Pause During Mass Deploy
After text-mode or GUI-mode Setup completes, a message states that the computer will reboot in 15 seconds. You can edit the WaitforReboot value in the[Unattended] section of your Sysprep.inf (or add the following line to the [Unattended] section: WaitForReboot=No BTW, this only workes if your UnattendedMode is set to FullUnattended
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AppLocker
smart-x.com has a product called AppLocker, which can be used to restrict what programs that a Windows computer can open. Nice little product if you want an easy solution for application whitelisting that doesn’t require Active Directory.
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Need a Boot Disc?
CDBurnerXP is a great tool that allows you to burn to a variety of media in Windows XP. You can create boot discs, create audio or data discs and even print cases and labels. Great little tool and free, free, free.
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Malware: The PC Users Worse Enemy
I originally posted this at http://www.318.com/TechJournal How to Know You Have it and What to do About Removing It What is it? Malware, short for Malicious software, is the macro concept behind names like “Adwareâ€, “Spywareâ€, “Hijackersâ€, “Toolbars†and “Dialersâ€. Malware is a growing PC-related assault epidemic (doesn’t effect Macintosh too much yet). How you get it? Malware tends to sneak into your life (usually in a hidden or invisible manner) via third party software (software from less-than well known developers) disguised as added functionality to your work flow and your internet experience (and other bells and whistles) in order to execute many malicious tasks that are bad for business.…
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Application Acceleration in Windows XP
In Windows you can choose to speed up or slow down an application by assigning a priority to the application, which prioritizes the amount of resources that can be had by that application. In order to set the priority, bring up the Task Manager in Windows. Then click on the application in question, Right-Click on it and then choose the Set Priority sub-menu and assign the application with the appropriate priority.