Microsoft keeps making it more difficult to pirate their software, but at a cost: it’s harder for the average user (or corporate one) to activate legitimate software. I’m not a big fan of paying for software when you can find something similar for free, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.

After installing Vista Enterprise X64 on a laptop and Server 2008 on a workstation, I had some issues getting Windows to activate. Something about DNS issues. Ok, I can deal with that – I change the DNS entries to use 4.2.2.2 instead of my gateway (4.2.2.2 is a main ATT backbone DNS server that you *should* always be able to access and ping). It didn’t work – same issues.

So then I started reading a bit on the Technet site. Apparently there’s two ways to fix this issue:
1.) Install a KMS server (Key Management Server)
2.) Convert your key to a MAK (Multiple Activation Key)

Since it’s infinitely easier to convert the key when I’m only running a handful of systems, I chose the second option. Here’s what to do:
Open an administrative command (run as administrator) window.
Then type this code:
slmgr -ipk xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx
Then a window will pop up with either a positive or negative on the key change.

We’ve had a couple people that, for whatever reason, have computers that don’t like to play along with the rest of the gang. The primary complaint is that images do not load in the email (mostly screen shots). They will, however, show up when the user attempts to Forward said email.

In 2007, click on New Email to open Word
Click that Giant ugly Microsoft Button on the top left of the window (called the “Office Button”)
Select Editor Options
Click on Advanced
Under Display Email Content, find the Show Picture Placeholders
Uncheck Show Picture Placeholders
Click OK
You may have to restart word/outlook for this setting to stick

Not growing up on Windows, I had no idea how to do this. So here it is for all those other people that don’t know how:

1.) Start, Run, regedit
2.) Navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
3.) Find your service and you can remove it (Delete the whole key folder)

-OR-

if you don’t like messing with the registry (who really does?), then there’s a built-in command to remove and add services:
1.) Start, Run, cmd
2.) sc delete [service name], or sc create [service name]

Either way, you must reboot the system for the changes to take effect.

When Vista was first released, I was one of the first people to say I’d never upgrade to something slower, bulkier, and overall completely different from what I was currently using (XP Pro). But since I work in the industry, I should probably know the answers to questions people have regarding Vista.

So Vista here I go! I installed Vista Enterprise SP1 64bit on my work machine (2.0GHz E2180, 5.5GB DDR2 800). Everything has been working actually much better than I thought – there are a decent amount of Vista drivers (although 64bit support is a little smaller). One issue I came across was the addition of printers.

I’m assuming you can find the Vista drivers on your own. If you have any problems, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.

After that, we will want to add the drivers onto the print server. We do this by using a Vista machine with administrative privileges (domain admin account works wonders).

Start by running the MMC (Microsoft Management Console)

Then Click on File, Add Remove Snap In

Now select Print Management, and Click Add

A window will pop open. This is where we select the print server we use (you can always browse to the server name if you can’t remember). Then click add to list to add the printer below.

Now click Finish. That will close the print configuration window and you’ll be back on the MMC. You can click OK now. You should see Console Root, Print Management. Click once on the Print Management word to expand the listing.

Expand Print Servers, then your PrintServerName, and right click on Drivers. Select Add Driver…

Follow along in the Wizard to add a print driver. If you’re importing a 64bit driver (like I have to do), then make sure to select x64 instead of x86.

Click Have Disk… and then browse to your files (the installer should have extracted the required ini files for your system to a folder of your choosing – in our case it’s C:\lexmark\drivers…)

If prompted, select your correct printer from the list.

You can then verify the install went smoothly (when there are no errors), by clicking on the Drivers folder and searching for the driver you installed. In my case it’s anything with a x64 as the environment type.

I’m a big fan of open source software. It’s free, it generally has the features I need/want, and it usually doesn’t have the “bloat” associated with commercial software. Not to say that commercial software doesn’t have a place in our daily lives – I am forced to use Microsoft Office, Adobe products, and Microsoft Windows at work – because most people are familiar with commercial software. And from a business standpoint, if an open source application crashes your systems and causes you to lose money, who’s responsible? Whereas there’s always going to be a support person at a commercial place (albeit they might not have the easiest accent to understand, they’re generally helpful for varying needs).

That being said, I find it hard to believe that companies will take great ideas, or several different free software solutions, and tie them up neatly into one package. And then have the audacity to charge several hundred dollars.

PSEXEC tools suite, which was recently bought out by Microsoft itself, is a collection of tools that help in the administration of computers on a network. They’re offered up for free. The ones I use the most are psexec, pslist, and pskill. Psexec will remotely run a program with any privileges you require – that way my “power users” can have the rights to install only the things I send to them. Pslist will list all running processes on a remote computer – this is especially helpful when a user complains that their system is running slow or crashing (it’s usually a website loaded in IE that brings the computer to a halt). Pskill will terminate any running application – which is great when I hear someone playing loud bass across the office – I can remotely shut that music down (grin).

So why would I pay nearly 300 dollars for a suite that promises the following:
Update Group Policy (psexec.exe \\Computername gpupdate.exe)
Start computers by Wake On Lan
Remote restart (shutdown -r -f -m \\Computername -t 30 -c “comment”)
Remote shutdown (shutdown -s -f -m \\Computername -t 30 -c “comment”)
Real time graphical reporting (not sure what they mean, but spiceworks can probably handle this)
Ping (start, run, cmd, ping ip)
Send Message (net send Computername message)
Read Remote Registry (regedit, connect to network registry, Computername)
Run executable (psexec -i -s -d \\computername “C:\program files\internet explorer\iexplore.exe” http://www.google.com)
Run executable remotely (see above)
Start Event Viewer (start, run, eventvwr)
Start Explorer (this should already be running)
Start Remote Desktop (start, run, mstsc, Computername)
Start Remote Assistance (we use VNC for this)
Immediate WSUS client update (psexec.exe \\Computername wuauclt.exe /detctnow)