We are very excited to announce that we are able to offer Security and Privacy for Microsoft Office 2010 Users (ISBN 9780735668836), by Mitch Tulloch, as a free eBook. You can download a free copy of the eBook from the Microsoft Download Center or purchase a print book for $9.99 here . See below for the table of contents and an excerpt from the Introduction. Take control—and put the built-in security and privacy features in Microsoft Office to work! Whether downloading documents, publishing a presentation, or collaborating online—this guide offers concise, how-to guidance and best practices to help protect your documents and your ideas. • Get practical, proactive guidance for using the security and privacy management features in Office 2010 and Office 365 • Walk through...

 

Subject Matter Experts -- we want to hear from you!

 

It’s the time of the year when we run our annual SME Profile Satisfaction Survey! The survey has been available since February 14th, 2012 and will now remain open until March 14th, 2012.  If you have not yet taken the survey you still have time to provide us with your valuable feedback.

 

The SME Profile Database program is our online registry of Subject Matter Experts. In this program, we get to know more about the people who are industry professionals and passionate about Microsoft Learning products. We coordinate beta exam invitations, feedback activities, and content development opportunities through this program.

 

 So… if you are currently a member, we’d like to hear about your experiences over the last year! Your feedback will help us continue to make improvements to the program. You may have already received an email from us, but if for some cosmic reason the message didn’t come through please complete the SME Profile Satisfaction Survey by going to the MSL Subject Matter Experts site on Microsoft Connect (http://connect.microsoft.com/site862), log in with your Windows Live ID, and click on the SME Profile Satisfaction Survey link in the front page in the "Survey" section.

And if you’re a SME who would like to join… come to our site and tell us about your experiences with Microsoft technologies by completing the SME Profile Survey on the MSL SME site on Microsoft Connect (http://connect.microsoft.com/site862).

The Visual Studio 11 beta is here: http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/11/en-us/downloads . There’s not much more we can add beyond what’s in this post on the Visual Studio blog , but here’s one crucial part of the post, describing how you can give Microsoft feedback: “If you encounter a bug or an issue, please report it through the Visual Studio , LightSwitch , and Blend Connect sites. We also want to hear your suggestions or feature ideas/improvements so please add your suggestions to UserVoice or vote on other user’s suggestions.” Enjoy! Read More...

It’s February 29! The Windows 8 Consumer Preview is here: http://preview.windows.com . We also encourage you to check out Steven Sinofsky’s blog post today on the Building Windows 8 blog . Steven’s post sums up today’s release nicely. Here’s a short, high-level excerpt: “Windows 8 reimagines Windows, from the chipset to the experience. With the Developer Preview we focused on presenting the new APIs and amazing new tools for developers. Today’s Consumer Preview is focused on a broader audience, and along with improvements to the WinRT APIs based on developer feedback, we are introducing the full user experience, the Windows Store for apps, and early previews of some first- and third-party apps.” And, on the Windows Experience Blog, you’ll find a blog post designed to help you get started with...

Michael Howard sent me this photo this morning. He and David LeBlanc wrote two editions of Writing Secure Code back in the early-to-mid-oughties. (I was their editor for both books, which was great fun. Michael, the Kiwi, and David, the cowboy, are both great jokesters.) By the way, this is the second appearance of Microsoft Press books during prime time. Here’s the first . Read More...

The 2012 Microsoft Certified Career Conference is coming up soon on March 14-15. This year, we are very excited to feature Stephen Rose as our keynote speaker, who will share his expertise on the topic of Building the Brand of You!

Each one of us is a brand. It is up to you how to grow, manage and maintain that brand. Stephen's keynote address will help you to understand the importance of social media, networking, blogging, and leveraging key tools to help set you up for success in your field. From just getting started to career changers, this is a must-attend session for anyone who is looking to launch, secure, socialize, or understand how individual and companies perceive their personal image and brand.

Don't miss out on this and all the other great sessions we have lined up. Register NOW!

On Twitter? Use/follow hashtag #MCCC2012. See you there!

This blog post comes from Ivan Salvadè. He is a Microsoft Certified Trainer from Pipeline in Italy. Training offers are still available for this course and more, check for current offers to the right.  

My general opinion : definitely a good course!

Lots of topics in the course to treat : Lots of questions from students, in particular about External User Access and Enterprise Voice.

Great labs and great Virtual Machine Environment : each student will be supplied with 2 Hyper-V physical servers, with 8 GB RAM each, and several virtual machines configured on both servers. In this way, it’s possible to simulate a big network with 3 different sites and several Lync roles deployed throughout the entire network : this means students can easily simulate the external user access to Lync Services and easily configure several VoIP dial-plans, VoIP Policies and routes to test the whole set of Lync Enterprise Voice features. It’s also provided a PSTN Gateway emulator, so students can test VoIP routing to PSTN.

Four virtual clients are used in the labs, each with Lync 2010 installed : students connect to them by using remote desktop connections with audio redirection. By means of compatible speakers and headsets, students are able to simulate entire conversations and conferences between several virtual users : very good feedback from students during these simulations. I had to stop them practicing, otherwise they would have continued indefinitely!!!

 

Microsoft Press author Tony Redmond explains the reprint correction process. If you’ve read his book Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Inside Out and have some comments or corrections, he invites you to post on the errata page. Microsoft Exchange 2010 Inside Out heads for another printing | Thoughtsofanidlemind's Blog Read More...

WHAT IS A COMPUTER VIRUS?

Computer virus is a computer program which is not designed to help or make your life easy. PC Viruses can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. Some viruses affect computers as soon as their code is executed, where some other viruses stay still until a preconfigured condition is met.

Viruses can be disguised as attachments of funny images, greeting cards, or audio and video files. Computer viruses also spread through downloads on the Internet. They can be hidden in illicit software or other files or programs you might download.They can exist in numerous forms like backdoors, worms , Trojans ,rootkits etc.

What are the Characteristics of the PC Viruses ?

 

• The virus can infect many files in the attached computer or network that it belongs.
• Can be Polymorphic: Polymorphic code means a code that mutates while keeping the original algorithm intact. In other words : Some viruses have the ability to modify your code, which means that a virus may have multiple similar variations, making them difficult to detect

 

• They may be resident in memory or not
• The virus might download or open the way to downloaded other viruses
• Might not show any signs of infections.

 

How Computer Viruses Work?

Once the virus arrives the system ( from one of many possible ways) Computer Viruses will replicate itself and will attach to any .EXE file ( randomly garnered name) Each virus has different characteristic and may work different in each variation.

How does the Virus effect your Computers ?

The computer viruses will not be able to infect your computers without its permitted to execute its code to the memory. And to get your permission , the Computer viruses will be attached with a Software Wrapping Program ( more info about Wrapper here)in to most “FREE” wanted “commercial” programs In the infection phase, the virus will replicate itself and attaches to an .EXE file in the system. This can change every time when the virus executed or triggered.

As you can see in the below figure, in a clean Computer (left ) the .EXE IP will start the Program , where in a infected system, the Virus will start before the infected program starts.

How does a Computer get Infected by Viruses ?

How can you protect your Computers from Viruses ?

1. Install antivirus and antispyware programs from a trusted source
2. Update software regularly ,not just your Operating System also your , lets say Adobe Acrobat reader
3. Use strong passwords and keep them secret
4. Use at least a software Firewall and never turn it off
5. Be careful with “attachable” external devices like USB Disk
6. Don't be tricked into downloading malware ; always double check the URL that you are downloading the software, if possible check the digital signature,
7. During you browse the net, if a Pop Up pops up, avoid clicking Agree or OK, instead press CTRL +F4
8. Never download “cracked software”
9. Be picky when opening e-mail attachments (sometimes even from trusted source, as your friends systems might get infected, see info about virus Klez below )

 

Virus Analysis

As viruses are difference from each other and there are many virus types, I will just deep dive in few of them, and give you some info about them, so you can understand how they are designed and worked.

KLEZ

The Klez virus appeared in late 2001 and infected a victim’s computer through an e-mail message. The virus replicated itself and was sent itself to all the contacts in the victim’s address book.

 

The virus could disable virus-scanning software and could falsely act as a virus-removal tool. The modified version of this virus could take any name from the contact list of the victim and can place that address in the “From” field. This technique is called spoofing.

By spoofing the e-mail appears to come from a source when it’s actually coming from somewhere else. Spoofing will prevent the user’ s chance to block email from a suspected recipient.

Melissa

Melissa showed up in mid-1999 and was one of the first viruses designed to spread from computer to computer without relying on action on the user’s part.

The virus prompts the recipient to open a document and by doing so the virus gets activated. The activated virus replicates itself and will be transferred to 50 persons whose address is present in the recipient’s e-mail address book.

MyDoom

The MyDoom creates a backdoor in the OS of the victim’s computer. The MyDoom virus had two triggers. One of them began a denial of service (DoS) attack on Feb. 1, 2004. In Feb. 12, 2004 the second trigger was initiated which stopped the virus distributing itself.

Later that year, MyDoom virus outbreak occurred for a second time, which targeted several search engine companies. The virus would send a search request to a search engine and will use e-mail addresses obtained in the search results. Such a type of attack slowed down search engine services and caused some website crash.

W32/Virut

Virut virus, writes its initial code into a GAP in the end of the original file’s code section and redirects the entry point address to that “malicious code” .

Types of Viruses

For more info about Virus types please visit my blog.

Virus Detection Methods :

1) Scanning : This will make a virus detected. A scanning program will look for virus signatures compare it with its database and can take the necessary action.

2) Integrity Checking : It works by reading the entire disk & recording integrity and recording data that acts as signature for the files and system sectors.

3) Interception: It monitors the operating system requests that are written to the disk.

What is a Computer Worm ?

Computer worms are malicious programs that replicate, execute and spread across the network connections independently without human interaction.

A worm is a special type of a computer virus, that can replicate itself and use memory, but cannot attach itself to other programs.

A worm spreads itself through network automatically.

Conficker Worm

The Conficker worm is a computer worm that can infect your computer and spread itself to other computers across a network automatically, without human interaction.

What does the Conficker worm do?

It might spread through file sharing and via removable drives, such as USB drives (also known as thumb drives). The worm adds a file to the removable drive so that when the drive is used, the AutoPlay dialog box will show one additional option.

The Conficker worm can also disable important services on your computer.

Virus & Worm Countermeasures:

 

Online Malware Analysis Services:

Microsoft Malware Protection Center

The Microsoft Malware Protection Center (MMPC) provides world class antimalware research and response capabilities that support the Microsoft range of security products and services.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/

Virus Total

VirusTotal is a free service that analyzes suspicious files and URLs and facilitates the quick detection of viruses, worms, trojans, and all kinds of malware.

https://www.virustotal.com/

 

Threat Expert

ThreatExpert is an advanced automated threat analysis system designed to analyze and report the behavior of computer viruses, worms, trojans, adware, spyware, and other security-related risks in a fully automated mode.

http://threatexpert.com/

More Computer Virus and related Terminologies :

 

Anti Virus Tools :

Windows Sysinternals Utilities : http://download.sysinternals.com/Files/SysinternalsSuite.zip

Microsoft Security Essentials : http://www.microsoft.com/en-au/security/pc-security/mse.aspx

Kaspersky, Symantec, BitDefender, Microsoft Forefront, McAfee are some of the paid Anti Virus vendors

How can I tell if my computer has a virus?

You have to be suspicions of some activates in your computer, such as

• Computer beeps with no display
• If your computer running very slowly
• If you are you getting unexpected messages
• If your programs starting automatically
• Anti Virus alters ( if you have one)
• If your modem or hard disk working overtime ( fan is always active)
• If your PC freezes frequently
• If your drive label changes (C:\ to T:\ for example)
• If your files or folders are missing
• If your Internet browser acts usual.
• etc…

How do I remove a computer virus? (source Microsoft.com)

If you can reach a website using your web browser, run an online scan.

To run the Microsoft Safety Scanner

1. Go to the Microsoft Safety Scannerwebpage to download the scanner.

2. Click Download Now, and then follow the instructions on the screen.

If you can't connect to the Internet

If you can't get to the Microsoft Safety Scanner online, try restarting your computer in safe mode with networking enabled.

To restart in Safe Mode with networking enabled

1. Restart your computer.

2. When you see the computer manufacturer's logo, press and hold the F8 key.

3. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode with Networking, and then press Enter.

4. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights.

5. Follow the steps above to run the Microsoft Safety Scanner.

If you can't connect to the Internet

If you can't get to the Microsoft Safety Scanner online, try restarting your computer in safe mode with networking enabled.

To restart in Safe Mode with networking enabled

1. Restart your computer.

2. When you see the computer manufacturer's logo, press and hold the F8 key.

3. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode with Networking, and then press Enter.

4. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights.

5. Follow the steps above to run the Microsoft Safety Scanner.

For more information about different startup modes, see Start your computer in safe mode.

If you still can't access the Internet after restarting in safe mode, try resetting your Internet Explorer proxy settings. The following steps reset the proxy settings in the Windows‌ registry so that you can access the Internet again.

To reset Internet Explorer proxy settings

1. In Windows 7, click the Start button . In the search box, type run, and then, in the list of results, click Run.

   -or-

   In Windows Vista, click the Start button , and then click Run.

   -or-

   In Windows XP, click Start, and then click Run.

2. Copy and paste or type the following text in the Open box in the Run dialog box:

   reg add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings" /v ProxyEnable /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

3. Click OK.

4. In Windows 7, click the Start button . In the search box, type run, and then, in the list of results, click Run.

   -or-

   In Windows Vista, click the Start button , and then click Run.

   -or-

   In Windows XP, click Start, and then click Run.

5. Copy and paste or type the following text in the Open box in the Run dialog box:

   reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings" /v ProxyServer /f

6. Click OK.

Restart Internet Explorer and then follow the steps listed previously to run the scanner.

Source for the above section: Microsoft.com

Remove a virus manually

This might be challenging. Please follow my blog to read the article about how to remove a virus manually.

Sample Flowchart on how to fight with a Virus

Happy weekend, everyone!

Most of our conversations on Born to Learn are about technology and certification, but we all geek out over many other things in our everyday lives. Having spent 13 years in the jewelry business, I still pay attention to events such as fashion week and entertainment award shows out of habit, even though my own approach to fashion is "easy care, please."

During the recent New York Fashion Week, when top designers showed off their upcoming 2012 fall/winter collections, I noticed quite a few backpacks on the runway. GQ picked up on this microtrend, too, which reminded me of a recent poll in the TechEd N.A. LinkedIn group. Based on the results, 48% of geeks prefer backpacks (even better when full of swags), followed by messenger bags at 34%. So, as it turns out, you and your backpacks are ahead of fashion trends.

What's your current satchel of choice? Backpack, messenger, tote, briefcase, roller, or? Leave a comment and let us know!

 

   Photo credit: GQ.com 

 

As we’ve mentioned, Karl Wiegers—author of Software Requirements, Second Edition (Microsoft Press, 2003), which has sold over 100K copies ; Practical Project Initiation: A Handbook with Tools (Microsoft Press, 2007); and More About Software Requirements: Thorny Issues and Practical Advice (Microsoft Press, 2009)—began blogging a while back. His most recent post, “ You Say You Want to Write a Book? ,” is the first of two posts on starting out as an author. And he tells me he’s got a four-part series coming soon on getting a book published. Karl is one of the most professional authors Microsoft Press has had the pleasure to work with; his guidance for aspiring authors is likely to be helpful. Read More...

We recently completed our most recent MCM Directory rotation where we had 23 participants. The largest in several years! Please congratulate the following individuals who have successfully completed all of the required exams during the rotation: Sean Metcalf - Metcorp Consulting Adrian Corona Temores - Microsoft Allen Ho - Microsoft Dorin Minghiris - Microsoft David Gregory - Microsoft Eric Hall - Microsoft Mark Renoden - Microsoft Serge Evseev - Microsoft Sean Ivey - Microsoft Vlad Tomsa - Microsoft...

Uwe Ricken shared his story of his path to SQL Masters certification on the SQL Server Central forums . I am reposting his story here with his permission. Thanks for sharing your experience, Uwe! Hi all, I've just got the information that i have finished the 88-970 successfully with the second try. So - if anyone is interested I want to share my experiences with my MCM roadmap with you :) I'm working with SQL Server since 1998 and most of my experiences with SQL Server is from the dev side...

Just want to quickly point the developers in our readership to the first of two posts on the Visual Studio blog introducing “a few of the broad reaching experience improvements that we’ve delivered in Visual Studio 11.” Here’s a description of what the two posts cover: “In the remainder of this post we’ll describe in a lot more detail how we have given you more time to focus on adding value to your applications by reducing UI complexity in VS 11. In tomorrow’s post we’ll go into details regarding the new experience patterns we’ve introduced to simplify many of your common development workflows. The overall effect of the changes we’ve introduced is that Visual Studio 11 demands less of your focus, and instead allows you to focus far more on your code and the value that you can add to your applications...

We’re very pleased to announce that Jennifer Mason, Christian Buckley, Brian T. Jackett, and Wes Preston’s book, Microsoft SharePoint 2010: Creating and Implementing Real-World Projects has shipped to the printer! This hands-on book focuses on a different business scenario in each chapter, using a standardized approach to guide you through the solution-building process from start to finish. Build effective business solutions with Microsoft SharePoint 2010 by applying example workflows and principles from real-world projects. Learn how to use your SharePoint skills to develop a corporate intranet, a media hub, a system to support distributed teams, and solutions to many other scenarios. The book will be available via online retailers around March 25. In the meantime, here’s more information...

Erdal interviews Wayne

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7YQRW8XnDD0

 Erdal interviews John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=B6T1p708J4g

Erdal interviews Grant 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=PQXfeS9HVpA

Erdal interviews Edward

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GuOD_6w9sVk

Erdal interviews Glen 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=cYFiX8cU0Eg

Erdal interviews Ivan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tlgPTKB8bFc

Erdal interviews David

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=AOYhRS4kH5s

Erdal Interviews Amit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9aVOWgAWmgc

Erdal Interviews Vihal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=VzlMenxqmBc

Erdal Ozkaya interviews MCTs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBRWCxe9mx8

Erdal Ozkaya interviews Sue Webb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6-FygpzwJi8

Erdal interviews David Harris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GqNIQJKOQNc

Erdal intervies Wes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69ot707aZ-E&feature=related

 

 

As part of Microsoft Learning's year-long 20 Years | 20 Ways campaign to recognize the history of the Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certification, we now have the opportunity to support NetHope. This NGO is all about geeks like us! For a long time, I was impressed by and envious of the doctors donating their time to Médecins sans Frontières. (Doctors without Borders). However, how could my computer skills help those truly in need? I could not save a life or change someone's future like those doctors could...

Then, in 2007, in the first MCT Summit in Zurich, Ken Rosen brought Sandra Wright to present about NetHope. I invite you to read the NetHope website, but to make a long story short, this NGO was started on the idea of pooling the IT resources and needs of multiple NGOs together (outsourcing IT? I am sure you have heard of that...). Microsoft gave a lot of products and help, and now, they were looking for MCTs to train NetHope members' staff on those products. While this was being presented, I distinctly remember sliding forward on my chair so that I could jump out of it at the end and be the first one at their desk to register (Surprise to me, the entire room did not try to beat me to it...). A few months later, I was in Kenya for three weeks, training CRS staffers on ISA Server and Exchange.

In 2010, NetHope came back to ask if I was interested to help out again: They were expanding beyond the IT needs of their members and putting in place a program to get young motivated individuals in disaster areas or developing countries trained, certified and experienced on IT skills. Not only those countries desperately need those skills and are short on venues to acquire them, but they could provide a good earning in areas ravaged by unemployment. Simply put, the idea was to train young students on Windows client support skills, get them certified (MCDST in my case, later on, MCTS on Windows 7) and then have them complete a six-month internship with one of the NetHope member NGOs under the supervision of a mentor.

So in September 2010, I was landing in Haiti to deliver two weeks of MCDST training following on the footsteps of MSL's legend Ken Rosen, who had gone there a few months earlier to define the program and had gotten the food poisoning to prove it . In the same vein, I was informed that Lisa Obradovich who was supposed to orient me down in Port-au-Prince had been urgently shipped back to the States with an acute case of dengue fever: I started to wonder what vaccination I needed for Haiti... having just landed there . The remarkable Frank Schott (a 2010 Microsoft Alumni Fellow), whose project this was, ended up setting me up (and, yes, he too caught a bug to prove it...).

This video shows the state of ESIH, the school were I taught, after the earthquake. My fantastic students (Jude, whom the video follows, made it his mission to teach me some Créole: Sak pasé, Jude ) surpassed great difficulties to come there every day, walking from wherever they were staying to arrive very early and be actively engaged during the day. The conditions were...er...spartan, but they always beamed a smile and had a good question (or a joke, or a tease...).

This is all the more impressive when you think that for a lot of us, Haiti is a country that suffered a disaster on January 12th, 2010. That is not the case: This has been a land of tears nearly since its beginnings and it suffices to read on a place like Cité Soleil (Sun City, if you can believe the cruelty of such a name...) to understand the challenges that Haitians have been facing all their lives...to then be hit by a terrible earthquake. You also have to understand that I was there nine months after the earthquake and do not remember seeing more than a couple of cranes, but plenty of destroyed houses, with thousands living under tarps (you can't call them tents) and queueing for water (Yet, Ken told me it was much better already then when he was there!)

Those of you who have talked to me after my trip know how much this was an experience for me and how grateful I am for the opportunity. Let me be honest: Within a few days of landing, the thing I wanted most was to be back home, enjoying a hot bath (as there was no hot water in the place we stayed) and enjoying the benefits of electricity without a generator waking me in the middle of the night! Computing was also "interesting" with my USB drive (with the class VMs) coming back to me with half a dozen viruses after passing it around my students, Unix laptops to run the VMs on, an Internet connection that never really materialized (nor did the course manuals, as a matter of fact...) and having to rely on a generator (and a spider web of electrical cables) to run our class. Still, on the third day, as Frank and I were try to solve yet another problem, I looked at him and said: "This is fun!": He gave me a very worried look...

As far as I am concerned, more than the class, certifications, etc... the measure of the success of the NetHope Academy is explained in Frank's post, stating that the average salary of a NetHope Academy graduate is $14,000.- when the average GDP average salary of Haitians is just $1,900.-! That means that they earn enough money not only to assure their own livelihood, but also that of their families! This is the kind of results that can help a country put itself back on its feet. I could not be prouder of my students.

Still the program did not stop with my students. Andrew Bettany took the initiative to convince NetHope and Microsoft Learning to run a Train-the-Trainer in Haiti so that the NetHope Academy will one day be delivered by local Haitian trainers. This is typical of my fellow MCT Advisory Council member and initiator of so many MCT events. In 2011, I was unable to go to Haiti to deliver the NetHope Academy courses, so Mark Wheatley delivered a brand new program, now covering Windows 7. And guess what? Some of Andrew's students were there to assist as guest trainers and lab help! Andrew, Mark and I have been helping NetHope to adapt the Academy program as it is expanded to other parts of the world!

So now it is your turn. As we are moving to employing local talent as much as possible, there will not be opportunities to help directly in the field as the three of us had the chance to do (you should have jumped out of your chair sooner in Zurich ). We have suggested to NetHope that some experienced trainers might act as eMentors to some of the local trainers, but in the meantime you can support NetHope and donate (generously!) to a cause that is OUR cause. This one is for us: We are convinced IT can help the world, this can prove it. Let us support it!

As a final world, I would like to invite you to view a video about Emmanuella Stimphat, a student of both Andrew and myself, and see what your help can achieve. Please notice also in the video Marlene Sam who was incredible during my stay in organizing the program and also Rohan Mahy, my roommate, whom Emmanuella now works with at Inveneo: A real NGO junkie and true McGyver, at home in the most forsaken places in this planet!

Please join me in welcoming our newest SQL Server Certified Master, Eric Strom. Here is a brief introduction to Eric: Eric Strom is a Database Consultant with Digineer, Inc , a business and technology firm in the Twin Cities metro area. He has been working with SQL Server for over 10 years and specializes in performance tuning, database design and architecture. He served on the PASSMN executive board from 2009-2010. While a board member, he presented at and helped plan the first SQL Saturday (on...

Greetings. We’re very happy to share that beginning soon we’ll be featuring Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) as guest bloggers here on the Microsoft Press blog. Our first posts will be updates and overviews from the 2012 MVP Global Summit taking place February 28 – March 2. Then, in March, we’ll have a number of posts written by Microsoft SQL Server MVPs about the soon-to-be-released SQL Server 2012. By the way, many of our authors are MVPs, but we’ll be reaching out to the huge pool of thousands of MVPs for guest posts. We hope you’ll tell us in a comment on this post what kinds of articles you’d like to see. Finally, here’s a little bit about this talented community: Who are MVPs? Microsoft MVPs are exceptional community leaders who actively share their high-quality, real-world...

Hey MCTs! New MCT Summit 2012 site is finally up!

Poland is calling all MCTs to attend in September 2012.

 

More information about the "call for content" will be forthcoming, so get your thinking caps on...

Well done for the MCT team pulling this together!

http://www.mctsummit.eu/

 

Are you still not sure what Windows Intune is ? Here is an easy way for you to understand what Windows Intune is. I recently presented an online web cast at the MCT & Readiness Virtual Summit and the presentation was also about Windows Intune. The feedback i received from the summit community prompted me to write this article , which will explain WIndows Intune in a serious of questions and answers.

1) What is Windows Intune ?

• The Windows Intune is cloud service helps you centrally manage and secure your PCs through a simple web-based console.
• Doesn't matter if your IT staff or end users are in the main office, at a branch office, or on the road, domain or non-domain joined, Windows Intune will provide the functionality you need.

 

With Windows Intune you can :

1 . Help Protect PCs from malware with centralized protection built on the Microsoft Malware Protection Engine. This leverages the same trusted technologies as Forefront Endpoint Protection and Microsoft Security Essentials.

2. Centrally manage the deployment of Microsoft updates and service packs to all your PCs.

 

3. Proactively monitor PCs with alerts on updates and threats so that they can identify and resolve issues before they significantly impact productivity

 

4. With remote assistance included, IT can deliver remote management and protection to keep both IT and end-users productive from virtually anywhere.

5. Track hardware and software inventory to help customers in IT planning and asset management purposes.

 

6. Set security policies. Centrally manage update, firewall, and malware protection settings across all PCs, even on remote machines outside the corporate network.

 

3. What is Windows Intune 2.0 , what are the changes ?

This is an upgraded version of the first edition of Windows Intune. The core features remains unchanged, but Microsoft made significant usability improvements. Each new update builds upon the prior version, so regardless of when Windows Intune customers purchase the service, they will automatically get the latest and greatest features available.

•Software Distribution: Now beside Microsoft software, we can even distribute 3rd party, or line of business applications and updates to Windows Intune managed clients anywhere, through the cloud.

 

•Remote Tasks: Remotely perform “ Full scan, Quick scan, Restart, Update Malware Definitions “ tasks, from the Admin Console. For instance, if there is an alert for a malware threat that has been blocked, you can run a scan remotely from the administration console on the affected PC. Which is giving us the chance to run a scan whenever YOU think, its necessary . This way we don't have to wait the Remote user to send us a Remote Assistance Request as well.

 

•Read-only Access: These service administrators have read-only rights and cannot modify data in the console; they can only view data in the console and run reports.

 

•Robust license management: Licencing , can be a nightmare. Specially if you don’t have a central place to manage them. This section is designed to track and monitor licenses for Microsoft Retail Licenses, Microsoft OEM Licenses, and third-party software licenses in addition to Microsoft VL Agreements.

 

•Enhanced Reporting: Create your own way to select which reports to run. Windows Intune has many inbuilt filters to give you the option to run any report that you need

 

•Alerts & Monitoring: Configure alert types to be reported according to a specified threshold, frequency, or number or percent of computers affected. This helps IT pros be as proactive as they would like about potential issues and provides them insight into the magnitude of the issue.

 

•Numerous usability and UI enhancements: Windows Intune 2.0 has read-only access and new context menus, copy and paste, drag and drop, search, filter, and improved organization capabilities throughout the product and Microsoft continues to evolve Windows Intune…

 

4. How is the Windows Intune Architecture build ?

There are three main technology components to the Windows Intune solution :

1) The first component is the Windows Intune service itself, which has been designed from the ground up as a highly scalable and reliable cloud-based service. The design of the Windows Intune service was based on the work that was done for the Microsoft® Update Service (the world’s largest cloud-based service). The geographically dispersed data centers that support this service are enterprise-class, redundant systems that support millions of customers every day.

 

2. Windows Intune client agents, which handle the communications from the PC to the Windows Intune service. All of these communications are secured and encrypted by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). These communications are initiated from the client over Port 80 or Port 443, both of which tend to work with most organizations’ firewalls without additional configuration.

3. Windows Intune administrator console, which accesses this data from the managed computers. This console is also secured and encrypted by using SSL. Only a Windows Live™ ID that has specifically been granted administrative rights to the account may access the Windows Intune administrator console.

PS: This article is published by Erdal Ozkaya www.erdalozkaya.comwww.yourmct.com

 

 

5.) Where are the Windows Intune Datacentre's located ( The Windows Intune Cloud)

The service status option will show the Datacentres current status and if any the scheduled maintenance date & time.

PS: This article is published by Erdal Ozkaya www.erdalozkaya.comwww.yourmct.com

6.) How can you subscribe to Windows Intune ?

• Go to your favourite web browser , which is at least Silverlight 3.0 Compatible
• Type www.microsoft.com/WindowsIntune
• Select either 30 days trial or full subscription

PS: This article is published by Erdal Ozkaya www.erdalozkaya.comwww.yourmct.com

 

6. ) What are the benefits of Windows Intune ?

Manage and Secure Windows PCs Anywhere

The Windows Intune cloud service helps you manage and secure your customers’ PCs through a simple Web-based console, whether your IT staff or end users are in the main office, at a customer branch office, or on the road.

The Best Windows Experience

The Windows Intune solution includes license rights to upgrade any business edition of a Windows® operating system to Windows 7 Enterprise. This enables you to provide a better experience for your customers that is easier to manage by standardizing your PC environment.

PS: This article is published by Erdal Ozkaya www.erdalozkaya.comwww.yourmct.com

The Key benefits of Windows Intune are :

Windows Intune combines cloud services for update management, protection against malicious software, reporting, and asset inventory—all in a single license.

Microsoft Forefront® Endpoint Protection 2010 is the security-specific product that unifies protection against malicious software for business desktops and portable computers, but also protects server operating systems.

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 is the solution to comprehensively assess, deploy, and update your servers, clients, and devices—across physical, virtual, distributed, and mobile environments. Optimized for Windows and extensible beyond, it is a great choice for gaining enhanced insight into, and control over, your IT systems.

Microsoft System Center Essentials combines both physical and virtual solutions for IT management for organizations that have up to 500 PCs.

Update Management

Windows Intune manages Microsoft updates and service packs without the need for—and cost of—added infrastructure. Comparatively, enterprise-class solutions such as System Center Configuration Manager 2007 have premium software update capabilities, but also require additional server investment. Using Windows Intune,

7.) What about Windows 8, should I wait before I subscribe to Windows Intune ?

Windows Intune comes with Software Assurance, which means you will keep up to date with all next versions of your Windows. And there is no minimum seat subscription requirements for you to be Software Assurance eligible.

PS: This article is published by Erdal Ozkaya www.erdalozkaya.comwww.yourmct.com PS: This article is published by Erdal Ozkaya www.erdalozkaya.comwww.yourmct.com

8. ) Which O/S ‘s are supported by Windows Intune?

The Windows Intune service will work on any business edition of Windows from Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later. Yes, this means no Windows Server support :(

 

9.) What do I need to buy & run Windows Intune ?

A Microsoft live ID to be able to subscribe to the Windows Intune Service. And a Internet browser which supports Microsoft Silverlight v3 and up.

System Requirements for Windows Intune are:

The computer must be able to connect to the Internet and have a minimum of 500 megahertz of CPU clock speed, 256 megabytes of RAM, and 200 megabytes of disk space. Most modern computers will easily meet these standards.

10.) What is the Windows Intune Work Space?

www.erdalozkaya.com erdal ozkaya what is windows intune stepby step windows intune

11.) How can Windows Intune help IT Pro’s and End Users to be more productive ?

PS: This article is published by Erdal Ozkaya www.erdalozkaya.comwww.yourmct.com

12.) How can Windows Intune help IT Pro’s to secure PC’s? windows intune step by step

 

13.) How can Windows Intune serve your mobile workface better ? "windows intune expored by erdal ozkaya"

 

Windows Intune, all in one: windows intune expored by erdal ozkaya"

windows intune expored by erdal ozkaya"

Since the kickoff of our 20th anniversary celebration on January 31, responses and support have been overwhelming positive. Thanks to everyone who have taken action and helped us spread the word during the first two weeks of 20 Years | 20 Ways. We started the year-long party by presenting three ways our community can help and inspire new IT professionals around the world. Through way #1, many of you have made the commitment to upgrade your IT skills by registering for your next exams. In fact, over 1,400 qualifying exam vouchers were purchased during the first week! For every one of those exams purchased, Microsoft will be donate an entry-level exams to help an aspiring IT pro get started with his/her career and dreams. (Details here.)

And the party keeps getting bigger! If you're a frequent visitor on Born to Learn, you've probably read, owned, or maybe even written a few Microsoft Press books over the years. To help us celebrate, the wonderful people at Microsoft Press brought 5,000 gifts! Now, in addition to an entry-level exam voucher, each recipient of donated exams will also get an ebook "

Start Here! Fundamentals of Microsoft .NET Programming." Thank you, MS Press!

For those who are active on the social web, please also give them a like/follow + shout-out on Microsoft Press Facebook page and Twitter.

Need a book to study for your next exam? You can also find daily deals from MS Press via the learning resources section on MS Learning's Facebook page.

 

Meet your favorite Microsoft Press authors : Brian Alderman Microsoft® SharePoint® 2010 Administrator's Companion Get comprehensive information to plan, deploy, administer, and support SharePoint 2010. With this ADMINISTRATOR'S COMPANION, you get mission-critical information from leading SharePoint experts and MVPs-in a single volume.... Chris Beckett Microsoft® SharePoint® 2010 Plain & Simple Get the fast facts that make learning Microsoft® SharePoint® 2010 plain and simple! This no-nonsense guide uses easy numbered steps and concise, straightforward language to show the most expedient ways to learn a skill or solve a specific p... Robert Bogue Designing Solutions for Microsoft® SharePoint® 2010 Designing Solutions for Microsoft SharePoint 2010 draws together much of the core material...

Greetings. On January 31, we released a draft version of the Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 ebook containing the six boldfaced chapters below: PART I DATABASE ADMINISTRATION (by Ross Mistry) 1. Denali Editions and Enhancements 2. High Availability and Disaster Recovery Enhancements 3. Scalability and Performance 4. Security Enhancements 5. Beyond Relational PART II BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE DEVELOPMENT (by Stacia Misner) 6. Integration Services 7. Data Quality Services 8. Master Data Services 9. Analysis Services and PowerPivot 10. Reporting Services That release is available in PDF only, and you can download it via our January 31 blog post . In today’s post, we’re happy to say that we’re on schedule to release the final, full, and, yes, free 10-chapter ebook in three formats (PDF, MOBI...

Glen Smith is a Microsoft Certified Master for SharePoint and loves teaching. I wanted to share his thoughts on course 10174: Configuring and Administering Microsoft SharePoint 2010. This course is being featured in the Training Spotlight Campaign - Check out offers on the right side of the page!

In Glen's words....

SharePoint raises its own special challenges for a trainer, it is has massive breadth, and for a new student it can seem counterintuitive at times. In 5 days a trainer can help a lot to make this product accessible.

Tip 1. Add value with real life examples from your consulting experience.

The course as a Technical Specialist course concentrates on the “how”, leaving the following course (MOC 10231 ITPro) to concentrate on the “why”. However, grasping the “how” is made easier if one understands why certain technical decisions were made, and this task it made easier by anecdotes and even “horror stories” of what happens when best practices are ignored (naturally with names changed to protect the people involved!).

Tip 2.Teach for the future.

SharePoint is a living product and its documentation is not cast in stone. The course does an excellent job of navigating the MSDN/TechNet documentation even where contradictions exist. I was impressed how the High Availability part navigated thru some of the issues that I blogged about here:

http://software-smith.blogspot.com/2011/01/recipe-sharepoint-2010.html

Similarly I was impressed with the handling of Remote Blob storage, especially the explanation of the FILESTREAM provider being a simple provider not a high performance provider. That SharePoint backup of RBS using FILESTREAM does backup the blobs was also handled correctly, I have not often seen the correct information published! The SQL backup command also does so. The lab has a small bug that can be quickly fixed by renaming rbs.msi to rbs_x64.msi.

It is good to teach the students how to find the latest information, and use it when making decisions. Some students will rush thru the labs, others will take more time, making sure they completely understand each step. It is good to have extra challenges ready for the “speed kings” where they learn to find the answers on TechNet. This also helps others not to feel unduly pressured if they take longer. The faster the machines are for the labs, the better for the class.

Tip 3. Create a relaxed atmosphere.

Adding humor to the mix, helps create the relaxed atmosphere in which we learn best. Even mistakes in the course can be used to bring across teaching points, a technical publication of this breadth cannot entirely avoid mistakes. I could not resist a grin where it is stated that V1 and V2 of SharePoint had no command line interface, and that Stsadm was a new feature added in SharePoint 2007! The name alone betrays its heritage (2003) without having to bring back (repressed) memories of owsadmin from 2001.

Tip 4. Mind the Gaps.

The course is not designed to teach to the test, it is not an exam cram. There are naturally going to be gaps, you may want to point your students to the objectives for the exams, so that they cover these objectives completely in their exam preparation. It would be not possible in 5 days to cover everything they may need in real life so you may have to point your students at addition material (for example Content Management and Workflows). My personal wish would be for some of the topics in the last modules to be handled in more detail, but as my students can likely testify, I am quite happy to elaborate on the joys and pitfalls of Alternate Access Mappings without much prompting.

The course was not made as a delta for those who had SharePoint 2007 experience. This was a good decision, but naturally in a class where many have SharePoint 2007 experience; it will help if the instructor makes the differences clear.

Tip 5. Keep on learning.

Pretending to know everything about SharePoint is not a good idea. SharePoint Masters continually learn about the product, the MCM motto is “Know what you know, know what you don’t know, and never confuse the two.” I am learning every week and I learn from each class, the students have often different backgrounds and experience, and no two people will respond to the same information the same way.

Feel free to contact me “glen” at “software-smith.com” for consulting or training needs, or to peruse the following sites:

http://software-smith.blogspot.com/

www.software-smith.com