Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Sateesh Arveti, a Support Engineer for our Developer products in Microsoft India, produced a rather nice little tool similar to the 2005 MSI extraction tool, “Less MSIerables” from http://www.softpedia.com/get/Programming/File-Editors/Less-MSIerables.shtml.  It’s a bit more comprehensive however in that it doesn’t just do file extraction but also allows property modification so you can do things like redirect the install directory path, etc.

[Taken from the original post at http://blogs.technet.com/b/sateesh-arveti/archive/2010/11/21/msi-explorer.aspx]

Most of us are quite familiar in creating MSI or Setup for our applications. By using a MSI, we can make sure all dependencies for running the application will be placed properly. MSI is the best option available on Windows OS for packaging and distributing our application. For .NET developers, Visual Studio presents lot of features in creating setup and deployment projects for our application. But, there are no built-in tools in Visual Studio to look into the MSI contents. And that too, to make a small change in MSI, it requires rebuilding the entire Setup Project. So, I think it’s better to design an application that will analyze the MSI and give the details of it along with capability of updating it without rebuilding.

Features present in this application:

• It allows us to look into the contents of the MSI.
• It allows us to export the contents of the MSI.
• It allows us to update commonly changing properties without rebuilding it.
• Easy to use UI.
• Now, Updating an MSI is quite simple.

…

• DOWNLOAD:  MSI Explorer
  http://blogs.technet.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-PostAttachments/00-03-37-00-80/MSI-Analyzer.zip

Atlanta is a secure cloud service that helps SQL Server customers reduce server downtime, improve server performance and proactively avoid server configuration problems.  Additionally, Atlanta provides step-by-step guidance to help customers more rapidly resolve identified issues.  This service is backed by Microsoft Customer Service and Support professionals who have access to the latest configuration best practices which they will use to help you with your  SQL Server deployment.

What are the benefits of Microsoft codename “Atlanta?”
Today, DBAs spend a great deal of time and effort dealing with problems related to misconfiguration of their SQL Server deployments.  Due to a time lag between making a SQL Server configuration change, awareness and exploration of a configuration-related issue, and final resolution of the issue, DBAs are often not aware of issues until they cause performance and availability issues.  This costs organizations time and money.  

“Atlanta” will help resolve these challenges by helping customers to:

• Proactively avoid SQL Server problems through ongoing and secure configuration assessment and alerts from the cloud;
• Reduce downtime and improve performance of Microsoft SQL Servers through proactive scanning for known configuration issues and comparison with best practices;
• Resolve issues faster through the ability to share configuration data with Microsoft Customer Service and Support – providing access to a current view of your configuration and then receiving input from Microsoft on the latest solutions.

Get started with Microsoft code-named “Atlanta” today!

• To get started, visit the Microsoft code-named “Atlanta” Beta web site! The beta program is open to all customers based in the US. You can also visit the Microsoft code-named “Atlanta” Connect web site, where you can send feedback directly to the Atlanta product team. Learn more on the official “Atlanta” homepage.

And “Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010” (FEP2010), the successor to “Forefront Client Security” (FCS) has released to manufacturing. 

Forefront Endpoint Protection is our “v2.0” version of our Antivirus/Anti-malware product for the Enterprise and includes some phenomenal improvements over our already excellent FCS product – which had won acclaim as one of the top 3 antivirus products by such evaluators as AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, and VB100 certifications.

Here’s some past posts about Microsoft’s excellence in Antivirus technology:

• NEWS: Microsoft’s free “Security Essentials” beats Symantec head-to-head… YET AGAIN.
  https://kurtsh.wordpress.com/2009/12/02/news-microsoft%e2%80%99s-free-%e2%80%9csecurity-essentials%e2%80%9d-beats-symantec-head-to-head%e2%80%a6-yet-again/
• NEWS: CERN replaces Symantec with Microsoft Forefront Client Security
  https://kurtsh.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/news-cern-replaces-symantec-with-microsoft-forefront-client-security/
• INFO: Forefront Client Security surges past McAfee, TrendMicro, NOD32, Sophos
  https://kurtsh.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/info-forefront-client-security-surges-past-mcafee-trendmicro-nod32-sophos/
• NEWS: Microsoft tops latest AV-Comparatives’ testing (05/2009)
  https://kurtsh.wordpress.com/2009/06/01/news-microsoft-tops-latest-av-comparatives-testing-052009/

Here’s the announcement of Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010’s release:

We are extremely excited to announce that Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010 (FEP) has released to manufacturing!  Customers can access the RTM release on the Microsoft Volume Licensing Service Center (VLSC) starting Jan. 1, 2011 — or try the evaluation version immediately. 

This is our first – and very significant – step in making the convergence of desktop security and management a reality.  Customers using System Center Configuration Manager 2007 can now quickly and efficiently deploy, configure, manage, update, and report on FEP protections, helping to lower infrastructure costs and improve overall security.  And since both products are included in the Enterprise CAL (ECAL), customers who purchase ECAL automatically get access to all the licenses they need to implement the solution.  To make deployment easier, FEP will even identify and replace the existing antimalware agents you may have previously installed.

Customers have already begun seeing the advantages of bringing together powerful antimalware protection with their existing infrastructure for deploying, patching, and updating client systems.  A large university medical center that participated in our Technology Adoption Program (TAP) said the following about their experience using FEP in their 50,000 desktop environment: 

Read more at the Forefront Team Blog:

• Announcing Forefront Endpoint Protection 2010!
  http://blogs.technet.com/b/forefront/archive/2010/12/16/announcing-forefront-endpoint-protection-2010.aspx

[taken from Jason Zander’s MSDN blog]

I’m happy to announce that the Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 Beta is now ready for download! MSDN subscribers may download the beta immediately with general availability on Thursday. Service Pack 1 Beta comes with a “go live” license which means you can start using the product for production related work (see the license agreement with the product for more details).

• Download Service Pack 1 Beta (MSDN Subscribers only)
• The link for Thursday’s general availability download is here.

Since the launch of Visual Studio 2010 and the .NET Framework 4 earlier this year and our subsequent Feature Packs, we have been concentrating on your feedback and worked hard on the issues you reported through Connect and our survey. I just recently blogged about the results from our recent survey and called out some of the latest improvements the team has delivered. 

• Read more here:  “Announcing Visual Studio 2010 Service Pack 1 Beta”
  http://blogs.msdn.com/b/jasonz/archive/2010/12/07/announcing-visual-studio-2010-service-pack-1-beta.aspx

The 2.0.657.0 version of our antimalware product for Windows XP/Vista/7 is officially released!

(And I’m happy to say that if you’re using version 1.x today, you’ll be able to install right over it and v2.0 will supplant it without needing to uninstall the previous version.)

Besides being an industry leading antivirus/antimalware product, as determined in independent security evaluations by AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, and the VB100, Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 has the following new capabilities: (As per our marketing)

• Windows firewall integration – Includes the option to turn Windows firewall on or off during installation.
• Better protection against web based threats – Integration with Internet Explorer to provide better security against different web based threats.
• New protection engine – Updated malware engine that offers better threat detection and cleanup.
• Network inspection system – Protection against network based exploits. It prevents malicious scripts from running.  NOTE: This feature does not work on Windows XP because it requires the Windows Filtering Platform (WFP) which is only available within Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Folks newly installing the product from v1.x will notice the a few differences in addition to the strategic changes above, including the ability to limit CPU usage, create a restore point for changes made, etc.

Product description:

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so you’re free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

*Your PC must run genuine Windows to install Microsoft Security Essentials

• DOWNLOAD: Microsoft Security Essentials v2.0
  http://bit.ly/fqebLJ

New whitepaper available for Enterprise IT pros around Windows Phone 7.

WHITEPAPER: Windows Phone 7 Guides for IT Professionals

Windows Phone 7 brings together the information, applications, tools, and services needed to help your workforce accomplish what they most want to do, easier and faster. At home or on the go, people can use powerful solutions such as Microsoft Office Mobile and Microsoft SharePoint Server to stay up-to-date with colleagues and business associates. Microsoft Outlook Mobile also delivers easy access to email messages and calendars so people can respond quickly and efficiently. And with the intuitive user interface of Windows Phone 7, people can work more efficiently using gestures like tapping and pinching to select content and navigate on their phone.

If you are an IT professional and your business users are asking for Windows Phone 7, this is a good place to start investigating what it takes to integrate and support the phone in your organization. This series of articles explores a variety of topics important to you—from providing how-to guidance on integrating technologies that businesses already use while helping to support corporate security and management requirements, to providing insights into how Windows Phone 7 helps to create compelling applications for phone, web, and PC by using powerful and familiar development tools. Windows Phone 7 is a different kind of phone designed to bring together what people care about most – easier and faster.

• DOWNLOAD: PAGE-DESCRIPTION_WP7_Guides_For_IT_Pros_121010.pdf
  http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=dfad6c2f-988a-4b09-9e3b-58bfc9ac0447

Please contact me if you’re a customer of mine for registration details.

Tips and Tricks for Microsoft Office 2010
Get the most out of Office 2010! Attend a Live Meeting to learn about timesaving features to help you in your day-to-day work. Suitable for beginner or intermediate users. Everyone will learn something!

The Ribbon
The Microsoft Office Fluent user interface, called ‘the Ribbon’ will help you find the features you need to complete tasks quickly and easily. This presentation will demonstrate useful tips and tricks for Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint and help you get familiar with the Ribbon.

Save time
The time you take to attend this session can help save you time later. Past participants reported saving from 15 to over 30 minutes a day after attending a Tips and Tricks session. That adds up! Led by an expert Microsoft presenter, the session is not only informative, but entertaining.

Ask questions
Take advantage of our expert – join the live version of this meeting to ask your burning questions!

Schedule – Tips & Tricks for Microsoft Office 2010
Application specific Tips & Tricks coming in January 2011.
Downloadable/On-demand session available at the same URL 48 hours after event.

• Tips & Tricks: Office 2010 – Tuesday, October 19, 2010
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Office 2010 – Tuesday, November 09, 2010
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Office 2010 – Wednesday, December 08, 2010
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Outlook 2010 – Tuesday, January 18, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Excel 2010 – Wednesday, February 16, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: PowerPoint 2010 – Tuesday, March 15, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Word 2010 – Wednesday, April 13, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: OneNote & Outlook 2010 – Tuesday, May 17, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST
• Tips & Tricks: Access 2010 – Wednesday, June 15, 2011
  8 am PST |10 am CST | 11 am EST 
  11 am PST | 1 pm CST | 2 pm EST

All Webcasts will be available on-demand via the same links, 48 hours after the session concludes. 

Please use your computer for the audio portion of the presentation for best results.

First Time Users:
To save time before the meeting, check your system to make sure it is ready
to use Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Free Seminar and Lab:
Desktop Virtualization Best Practices – Ease the Cost and Complexity of Migrating to Windows 7
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 21, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time
(breakfast and lunch will be provided)
Location: Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) Irvine, Calif.

Learn how to simplify your Windows 7 deployment, as well as move your desktop virtualization initiatives forward, during a hands-on lab experience presented by the desktop virtualization experts at Quest Software and Microsoft.

As you plan your migration to Microsoft’s Windows 7, you might discover issues with application compatibility, PC hardware refresh and running applications from non-Windows devices. These issues can make this move more costly and complex than you had expected.

This half-day workshop will introduce you to Quest vWorkspace and Microsoft’s virtualization suite. Our experienced instructors will describe the architectural details and features for both solutions, and then you can try the solutions out for yourself! You will learn best practices to help you efficiently deliver Windows 7, as well as deploy:

• Your own virtual server using Microsoft Hyper-V
• Virtual desktops using vWorkspace
• Virtual applications using Microsoft App-V
• Presentation virtualization using Microsoft RDSH
• Microsoft Office applications and more

We will also show you how to build Windows 2008 servers on Hyper-V, integrate LDAP and Active Directory servers, as well as integrate your back-end storage. You will be among the first to see how Quest EOP Xstream and RDP combine to accelerate virtual desktop displays and improve the user experience.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get instant answers to your most challenging Windows 7 migration questions from the desktop virtualization experts of Quest and Microsoft.

REGISTRATION:
Contact me if you are a customer of mine for details around registration.

UPDATE 2/4/2011:
Yes, this event is over however it’s all be recorded!  Watch the recordings here:
http://pragmaticworks.com/Resources/webinars/Month.aspx/89

—————–

Pragmatic Works and Microsoft Corporation would like to invite you to this month’s free SQL Server Community training.  It’s not often you can get free training from the people that write the books.

REGISTRATION: Contact me for registration details if you are a customer of mine.

Sessions:

Introduction to Performance Tuning Analysis Services 2008
Date: Dec 21, 2010                        Time: 10 am CST
Speaker: Chris Webb, co-author Expert Cube Development SSAS 2008

So you’ve gone to all the trouble of building a cube, and your users are complaining that their queries are still too slow? This session will show you how to tune query performance on Analysis Services 2008, looking at partitioning, designing aggregations and identifying MDX-related bottlenecks.

Introduction to Data Mining in SQL Server Analysis Services
Date: Dec 23, 2010                        Time: 10 am CST
Speaker: Brian Knight, SQL Server MVP and Author

Data mining is one of the key hidden gems inside of Analysis Services but has a steep learning curve for most.  In this session, you’ll learn how to create a data mining model to predict who is the best customer for you and learn how to use other algorithms to spend your marketing model wisely. You’ll also learn how to integrate data mining into your application.

Using Script Task and Components in SQL Server Integration Services
Date: Dec 28, 2010                        Time: 10 am CST
Speaker: Mike Davis, SQL Server  BI Architect and Author

Mike shows you how to build script tasks in the control flow and Script components in the data flow of an SSIS package. If there is not a task in the toolbox that can do what you need, then a script task or component is used to complete these steps. Learn when to use them and when not to use them.

Building a career with SQL Server business intelligence
Date: Dec 29, 2010                        Time: 10 am CST
Speaker: Brian Knight and Tim Moolic

The Microsoft Business intelligence market has grown significantly in the past few years.  Today demand is high for experienced SQL Server BI architects, developers, and analyst.  In this session Tim and Brian will review the job market opportunities and explain how you can take your career to the next level.