Everyday Nerd

PowerShell: Move Windows Server 2008 Cluster Group

Nerd — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:55:13 +0000

Where I work, we were a little behind finally getting to Windows Server 2008 R2. Our Exchange Servers were running on Server 2003 R2 until recently. Windows clustering is quite different on 2k8 vs. 2k3. I wrote this function to move the Windows cluster group “Cluster Group” (quorum) to the other node of the cluster. I know it’s not that difficult to do this, but it saves a few extra keystrokes.

Function Invoke-WindowsClusterFailover
{
	#Requires -version 2
	[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$true,ConfirmImpact="High")]
	param()
	Write-Verbose "Checking to see if $($env:computername) is a Clustered Exchange Server"
	Get-ClusteredMailboxServerStatus -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Out-Null
	If ($? -eq $False)
	{
		Write-Verbose "$($env:computername) is not a clustered Exchange Server - Exiting"
		Throw "$($env:computername) is not a clustered Exchange Server"
	}
	Else
	{
		Write-Verbose "$($env:computername) is a Clustered Exchange Server"
		If (((Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).Caption).ToString() -like "*2008*")
		{
			Write-Verbose "$($env:computername) is a Windows Server 2008 or later"
			Write-Verbose "Loading Windows Failover Cluster PowerShell Module"
			Import-Module FailoverClusters
		}
		Else
		{
			Write-Verbose "$($env:computername) is not Windows Server 2008 or later"
			Write-Verbose "$((Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).Caption) does not support the Powershell FailoverCluster Module - Exiting"
			Throw "$((Get-WmiObject Win32_OperatingSystem).Caption) does not support the Powershell FailoverCluster Module"
		}
		Write-Verbose "Getting Windows Cluster Name"
		$ClusterName = (Get-Cluster).Name
		Write-Verbose "Checking ShouldContinue if OK to proceed"
		if($PSCmdlet.ShouldProcess("$($ClusterName)", "Failover Windows Cluster"))
		{
			Write-Verbose "Moving Windows Cluster Group"
			Get-ClusterGroup "Cluster Group" | Move-ClusterGroup
		}
		Write-Verbose "End"
	}
				.SYNOPSIS
		Moves the Windows cluster "Cluster Group" to the other node of the cluster

		.DESCRIPTION
		Moves the Windows cluster "Cluster Group" to the other node of the cluster.  This requires
		Windows Server 2008 or later.  This function supports "Should Continue" so it prompts the
		user to continue at the "dangerous" portion of the function (Move-ClusterGroup).  If you
		don't want the should continue prompt, you can use the  param.

		.NOTES
		Function Name: Invoke-WindowsClusterFailover
		Author: Dan Burgess
		Email: nerd@everydaynerd.com
		Script Requires:  Powershell 2.0 or higher; Windows Server 2008 or later
	#>
}

I really enjoyed using the “SupportsShouldProcess” feature of CmdletBinding! Expand the code above, and double click to select all.

PowerShell: Get-Uptime for Computer(s)

Nerd — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 20:53:04 +0000

I needed to check the server uptime for multiple servers, and well, I wanted to do it in PowerShell. I found a sample from MSDN, and modified it, and threw it into a function.

Function Get-Uptime
{
	#Requires -version 2
	[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$true,ConfirmImpact="High")]
	Param(
	[parameter(Mandatory=$false,HelpMessage="Computer Name(s)",ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
	[object[]]$ComputerName = "."
	)
	PROCESS
	{
		$WmiOS = Get-WMIObject -class Win32_OperatingSystem -computer $ComputerName
		Function ConvertWMIDateToDateTime($BootTime)
		{
			[System.Management.ManagementDateTimeconverter]::ToDateTime($BootTime)
		}
		Function GetUptime($ComputerName)
		{
			$BootTime = $WmiOS.LastBootUpTime
			$LastBootUpTime = ConvertWMIDateToDateTime($BootTime)
			$Uptime = (Get-Date) - $lastBootUpTime
			$days = $Uptime.Days
			$hours = $Uptime.Hours
			$min = $uptime.Minutes
			$sec = $uptime.Seconds
			[console]::ForegroundColor = "Green"
			"$($ComputerName) has been up for: {0} days, {1} hours, {2} minutes and {3} seconds" -f $days,$hours,$min,$sec
			[console]::ResetColor()
		}
		GetUptime $ComputerName
	}
	<#
		.SYNOPSIS
		Gets uptime of a system via WMI

		.DESCRIPTION
		Get-Uptime uses WMI (specificaly Win32_ComputerSystem) to get the uptime of a system.
		The core component of the script was found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394591(VS.85).aspx
		and addapted with additional functionality.

		.EXAMPLE
		PS c:\> Get-UpTime SERVER01
		SERVER01 has been up for: 355 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds

		.EXAMPLE
		PS c:\> Get-ExchangeServer | Get-Uptime
		SERVER01 has been up for: 355 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds
		SERVER02 has been up for: 355 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds
		SERVER03 has been up for: 355 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds
		SERVER04 has been up for: 355 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds

		.LINK
		Script Posted to:

http://everydaynerd.com

		Adapted from sample posted at:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394591(VS.85).aspx

		.NOTES
		Function Name : Get-UpTime
		Author: Dan Burgess
		Email: nerd@everydaynerd.com
		Script Requires:  Powershell 2.x or higher
	#>
}

Here’s an alternative to this function that outputs to a powershell object – rather than just writing to the screen. (Thanks for the encouragement Jeffery)

Function Get-Uptime
{
	#Requires -version 2
	[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$true,ConfirmImpact="High")]
	Param(
	[parameter(Mandatory=$true,HelpMessage="Computer Name(s)",ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
	[object[]]$ComputerName
	)
	PROCESS
	{
		$System = Get-WMIObject -class Win32_OperatingSystem -computer $ComputerName
		Function GetUptime($ComputerName)
		{
			$Bootup = $System.LastBootUpTime
			$LastBootUpTime = $System.ConvertToDateTime($System.LastBootUpTime)
			$now = Get-Date
			$Uptime = $now - $lastBootUpTime
			$NewObjectProperties = @{
				ComputerName=$ComputerName
				Days=$Uptime.Days;`
				Hours=$Uptime.Hours;`
				Minutes=$Uptime.Minutes;`
				Seconds=$Uptime.Seconds;`
				}
			New-Object psobject -Property $NewObjectProperties
		}
		$Results = GetUptime $ComputerName
		$Results | Select ComputerName, Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds
	}
	<#
		.SYNOPSIS
		Gets uptime of a system via WMI

		.DESCRIPTION
		Get-Uptime uses WMI (specificaly Win32_ComputerSystem) to get the uptime of a system.
		The core component of the script was found at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394591(VS.85).aspx
		and addapted with additional functionality.

		.EXAMPLE
		PS c:\> Get-UpTime server01
		ComputerName : {server01}
		Days         : 27
		Hours        : 2
		Minutes      : 21
		Seconds      : 26

		.EXAMPLE
		PS c:\> Get-ExchangeServer | Get-Uptime | ft -AutoSize
		ComputerName Days Hours Minutes Seconds
		------------ ---- ----- ------- -------
		{server01}    27     2      15      49
		{server02}   130     6      40      23

		.LINK
		Script Posted to:

http://everydaynerd.com

		Adapted from sample posted at:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa394591(VS.85).aspx

		.NOTES
		Function Name : Get-UpTime
		Author: Dan Burgess
		Email: nerd@everydaynerd.com
		Script Requires:  Powershell 2.x or higher
	#>
}

Happy PowerShelling!

Notepad ++ Powershell Language Syntax Coloring

Nerd — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 18:32:50 +0000

Notepad++ is my editor of choice for writing PowerShell code. There is a built in language syntax for PowerShell, but it doesn’t include Exchange cmdlets in the syntax coloring. So, I’ve created a custom user-defined language file for PowerShell, that includes the Exchange, and Active Directory cmdlets, as well as a few other modules that I use regularly. I also included the new PowerShell 2 comment block coloring, as the built-in didn’t recognize them.

This is my first attempt at creating a user-defined language for Notepad++, but I thought I’d share it, mainly because I didn’t see anyone else that had one available on the internet.

Here’s an example of the coloring:

Extract the zip, and place the xml file in %AppData%\Notepad++\ directory. If you already have a userDefineLang.xml, you will have to edit your original, and append the data from this file to it. More info can be found on Notepad++ website if you need help.

[Download]

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Nerd — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:30:32 +0000

(image credit)

PowerShell: Drive Space Info from multiple systems

Nerd — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:24:13 +0000

With PowerShell 2 came Powershell remoting and jobs, both of which are REALLY cool! I’m going to show you two ways to get drive space info from multiple systems, first with a normal foreach loop, and then with remoting (which is basically a remote job). Both methods use WMI class Win32_LogicalDisk to query the drives for information.

First, the old fashion foreach loop. Notice the “Process” section – this in essence does a foreach of the $Identity – notice that in the parameter that the $Identity has [object[]] in front of it. Two things about this: One, [] denotes an array, versus a single object. Two, it’s object, instead of string, int or other data type. Object allows the parameter to be just a string – a computer name (“SERVER01″), a string array (“SERVER01″, “SERVER02″), or even the identity from other objects (Get-ExchangeServer | GetDriveSpace). I’ll be posting more in the future about parameters, and advanced functions (cmdletbinding).

Function GetDriveSpace
{
	[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$true, ConfirmImpact="Low")]
	param (
	[parameter(Mandatory=$true,HelpMessage="ComputerName(s)",ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
	[Object[]]$Identity
	)
	Process
	{
		$Name = (Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $Identity win32_computersystem  | Select Name).Name.ToString()
		$drives = Get-WmiObject -ComputerName $Identity Win32_LogicalDisk | Where-Object {$_.DriveType -eq 3}

		foreach($drive in $drives)
		{
			$NewObjectProperties = @{
				ComputerName=$Name;`
				DriveLetter=$drive.DeviceID;`
				Label=($drive.VolumeName);`
				DriveSize=($drive.Size/1gb).ToString("0.00");`
				FreeSpaceMB=($drive.freespace/1GB).tostring("0.00");`
				PercentFree=((($drive.freespace/1GB)/($drive.size/1GB))*100).tostring("0.00")`
			}
			New-Object psobject -Property $NewObjectProperties
		}
	}

	GetDriveSpace -Identity SERVER01

		Returns Drive Space Info for SERVER01

		.EXAMPLE
		PS] C:\>Get-MailboxServer | GetDriveSpace | FT

		Returns Drive Space Info for Exchange Mailbox Servers

		.EXAMPLE
		PS] C:\>GetDriveSpace -Identity SERVER01, SERVER02 | FT -AutoSize

		Returns Drive Space Info for SERVER01 & SERVER02

		.NOTES
		Function Name : GetDriveSpace
		Author : Dan Burgess
		Email: nerd@everydaynerd.com
		Script Requires:  Powershell 2.0 or higher
	#>
}

Now, lets do the same thing, but this time with PowerShell remoting. As before, the function is utilizing CmdletBinding, Parameter, with a single param [object[]]$Identity, and the Process block, but an End block as well. In the Process block, each server passed in the parameter has a remote job started with the Invoke-Command cmdlet, passing the script block with the code to query WMI to return the disk space information. Note the -AsJob switch – this allows the invoke-command to work in the background, instead of waiting on the job to finish. The End block then checks all the jobs, and waits till none of the jobs have a status of “Running” before issuing a “Receive-Job”. This gathers all the returned values from each job that ran. The -Keep leaves a copy of the results in the job queue – if receive-job is run with out this, the results are removed from the job status.

Function GetDriveSpace-Remoting
{
	[CmdletBinding(SupportsShouldProcess=$true, ConfirmImpact="Low")]
	param (
	[parameter(Mandatory=$true,HelpMessage="ComputerName(s)",ValueFromPipeline=$true)]
	[Object[]]$Identity
	)
	Process
	{
		Invoke-Command -ComputerName $Identity -ScriptBlock {$drives = Get-WmiObject Win32_LogicalDisk | Where-Object {$_.DriveType -eq 3}
			foreach($drive in $drives)
			{
				$NewObjectProperties = @{
					DriveLetter=$drive.DeviceID;`
					Label=($drive.VolumeName);`
					DriveSizeMB=($drive.Size/1gb).ToString("0.00");`
					FreeSpaceMB=($drive.freespace/1GB).tostring("0.00");`
					PercentFree=((($drive.freespace/1GB)/($drive.size/1GB))*100).tostring("0.00")`
				}
				New-Object psobject -Property $NewObjectProperties
			}
		} -SessionOption (New-PSSessionOption -NoMachineProfile) -AsJob

	}
	End
	{
		While (Get-Job -State "Running")
		{
			$i = ((Get-Job).Count) - ((Get-Job -State "Running").count)
			$Progress = [int][Math]::Ceiling(($i / ((Get-Job).Count) * 100))
			Write-Progress -Activity "Waiting on $(((Get-Job -State "Running").count)) Jobs to finish" -PercentComplete $progress -Status "$($progress)% Complete" -Id 1;
		}
		$Results = Get-Job | % {Receive-Job $_ }
		$Results
	}

	GetDriveSpace-Remoting -Identity SERVER01

		Returns Drive Space Info for SERVER01

		.EXAMPLE
		PS] C:\>Get-MailboxServer | GetDriveSpace-Remoting | FT

		Returns Drive Space Info for Exchange Mailbox Servers

		.EXAMPLE
		PS] C:\>GetDriveSpace-Remoting -Identity SERVER01, SERVER02 | FT -AutoSize

		Returns Drive Space Info for SERVER01 & SERVER02

		.NOTES
		Function Name : GetDriveSpace-Remoting
		Author : Dan Burgess
		Email: nerd@everydaynerd.com
		Script Requires:  Powershell 2.0 or higher and WinRM enabled on remote hosts
	#>
}

Both methods work, but in my tests, the remote function was MUCH faster when pulling from multiple systems. For a list of 48 systems, the normal foreach loop took 30 seconds, while the remote function only took 5 seconds!!!

PowerShell: Change PS Window Size on the fly

Nerd — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 10:00:34 +0000

First, my apologies for not posting ANYTHING to EverydayNerd since April 25, but hey, this is just for fun, and I DO have a day job

I am going to be posting a LOT of PowerShell stuff here, as it has, over the last 6 months, become my best friend at the office! Thanks to Gary Siepser, I have gone from writing super simple scripts, to now, well trust me, it’s a day/night difference.

So I work on a laptop, but also dock, and when I un-dock my resolution changes – enough that I have scroll bars in my PowerShell window. This was really annoying, so I wrote a quick function that will change the window size on the fly.

I put these functions into my PowerShell profile, so I can call them whenever I need to change my PS window size. Works like a charm! If you don’t know how to edit our PowerShell profile, just enter this in your shell: notepad $Profile

Hope this helps, and stay tuned for more PowerShell goodies!

Source Code:

Function Set-Wide
{
	$aff = (Get-Host).UI.RawUI
	$bff = $aff.BufferSize
	$bff.Width = 170
	$bff.Height = 9000
	$aff.BufferSize = $bff
	$wff = $aff.WindowSize
	$wff.Width = 170
	$wff.Height = 60
	$aff.WindowSize = $wff
}

Function Set-Small
{
	$aff = (Get-Host).UI.RawUI
	$wff = $aff.WindowSize
	$wff.Width = 90
	$wff.Height = 45
	$aff.WindowSize = $wff
	$bff = $aff.BufferSize
	$bff.Width = 90
	$bff.Height = 9000
	$aff.BufferSize = $bff
}

Related posts:

Free E-Book: PowerShell
PowerShell: Move Windows Server 2008 Cluster Group
PowerShell: Get-Uptime for Computer(s)

THIS is why you don’t leave your Wi-Fi open

Nerd — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:44:27 +0000

I’ve said this for years. It finally happened. Man leaves Wi-Fi open, allowing a pedophile to use his internet to download images. This prompted an FBI raid on the man’s house, and leaving the man a whole lot of explaining to do…

Please, please PLEASE – secure your Wi-Fi connection!!!

[ How to secure your wireless ]

[ source ]

Facebook–Two Factor Authentication Coming Soon

Nerd — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:12:10 +0000

Following Google’s foot steps, Facebook is now rolling out two factor authentication. Two factor authentication adds a second password – or token number – required to log into your account. Basically, when you try to log into Facebook, you get a text message, with an additional password to complete your sign-on. Check out the Facebook Blog for details, and keep an eye out on your Facebook Account page for the availability!

[ Facebook Blog ]

Firefox 4 for Android

Nerd — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 19:33:59 +0000

Firefox has always been a favorite of mine, and well, so is Android. Firefox for Android came out of beta, and can now be installed on you android device. With it, you get Firefox Sync, add-ons tabbed browsing, and much more!

[ Firefox 4 – Android Market ]

Amazon Cloud Player – 5GB free!

Nerd — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 06:14:39 +0000

So while everyone is waiting around for Google Music to go live, Amazon comes out and goes live with Amazon Cloud Player! Stream your music from the web to your computer or Android device – all you need is an Amazon account (free). All users get 5GB of space for free, and option to purchase more at a very reasonable price! Comes with a great utility that will automatically upload your music from your computer to the cloud.

Nice addition, any mp3 albums purchased on Amazon are automatically stored on your Cloud Drive, but don’t count against your quota. Also, if you purchase an album, you get one year of 20GB storage for free! (Details on 20GB promo) Not bad!

[ Amazon Cloud Player ]

[ Learn more about Cloud Drive ]

Exchange PowerShell Script: Get Mailbox Count by Database

Nerd — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 17:20:55 +0000

Here’s a PowerShell script that does a quick count of mailboxes on each database of a server, or all servers – depending if you specify the server name as a script parameter.

** Updated: I made some improvements to the script, and have posted the updated code. One notable items is that I separated the count of mailboxes and disconnected mailboxes. Previously, the count included both mailboxes and disconnected mailboxes. This may skew the numbers a bit, depending on what you are looking for.

#=================================================================================================
# NAME: Get-MailboxCountPerDatabase.ps1
#
# AUTHOR:  Dan B.
# EMAIL:   Nerd@EverydayNerd.com 
# DATE:    03/27/2011
# Version: 1.0
#
# COMMENT: Script to return the count of mailboxes on each server by database
#
#=================================== Change Log ==================================================
# Version 1.0
# -Initial script
# -Changed output to an array instead of just write-host
# -Added total count to single server
#
#=================================================================================================
# Script Paramaters to allow server name to be typed after the script name.   If no Param, all servers are returned
 
param([string] $Param )     
 
$Results = @()
$CountMB = 0
 
if(!$param)
    {
        $Servers = Get-ExchangeServer | Where {$_.ServerRole -eq "Mailbox"} | Sort Name
 
        Foreach($Server in $Servers)
            {
                $dbs = Get-MailboxDatabase -server $Server | Sort Name
                
                foreach($db in $dbs)
                    {
                        $mb = Get-MailboxStatistics -Database $db | Where {$_.DisconnectDate -eq $null -and $_.ObjectClass -eq 'Mailbox'} | Measure-Object
                        $mbdis = Get-MailboxStatistics -Database $db | Where {$_.DisconnectDate -ne $null -and $_.ObjectClass -eq 'Mailbox'} | Measure-Object
                        
                        Write-Host "$($Server) `t $($db.name)`t $($a.count)"
                        
                        $Obj = New-Object PSObject
                        $Obj | Add-Member NoteProperty -Name "Server" -Value $Server
                        $Obj | Add-Member NoteProperty -Name "Database" -Value $db.Name
                        $Obj | Add-Member NoteProperty -Name "Mailboxes" -Value $mb.count
                        $Obj | Add-Member NoteProperty -Name "Disconnected Mailboxes" -Value $mbdis.count
                        $Results += $Obj
                    }
            }
    }
else
    {
    $server = $param
        $dbs = Get-MailboxDatabase -server $Server | Sort Name
 
        foreach($db in $dbs)
            {
                $mb = Get-MailboxStatistics -Database $db | Where {$_.DisconnectDate -eq $null -and $_.ObjectClass -eq 'Mailbox'} | Measure-Object
                $mbdis = Get-MailboxStatistics -Database $db | Where {$_.DisconnectDate -ne $null -and $_.ObjectClass -eq 'Mailbox'} | Measure-Object
 
                $Obj = New-Object PSObject
                $Obj | Add-Member NoteProperty -Name "Server" -Value $Server
                $Obj | Add-Member NoteProperty -Name "Database" -Value $db.Name
                $Obj | Add-Member NoteProperty -Name "Mailboxes" -Value $mb.count
                $Obj | Add-Member NoteProperty -Name "Disconnected Mailboxes" -Value $mbdis.count
                $Results += $Obj
                $countmb += $mb.count
                
            }
        Write-Host
        Write-Host "$($Server) has a total of $($CountMB) mailboxes" -ForegroundColor Green
    }
 
$Results | FT -AutoSize
 
#===================================== End of Script ==============================================

Script can be downloaded here: Get-MailboxCountPerDatabase.ps1

Get your EverydayNerd.com Android App NOW!

Nerd — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 03:45:00 +0000

For all you Android users out there, you can now have content from EverydayNerd delivered directly to your Android device! Just hit up the link below for the Market Website, or use the QR code below to install from your phone!

Ring the church bells, wake up the neighbors, tell everyone you know – it’s FREE!!!

Download [ Market ] FREE!!!!

Firefox 4 is HERE!

Nerd — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 19:13:52 +0000

So I’m a huge fan of Firefox (although recently been using Chrome almost all the time) but now that Firefox 4 is out of Beta, there’s a good chance I’ll be switching back to Firefox!

Download it here from a random mirror: Windows /Mac OS X / Linux.

The official launch is 3/22/2011.

Uninstall IE 9 Beta on Windows 7

Nerd — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 13:18:42 +0000

So you have a Internet Explroer 9 Beta that you would like to roll back on Windows 7 (IE 9 Beta is considered a update not a program).

Press Win+R (the run and paste in the following:
C:\Windows\explorer.exe shell:::{d450a8a1-9568-45c7-9c0e-b4f9fb4537bd}
then press Enter.
wait for the Uninstall an update screen to load completely
scroll through the list until you find Windows Internet Explorer 9
click once to highlight IE9, then click the Uninstall button (or right-click and uninstall)
confirm that you want to uninstall (click yes)

That’s it!

Google BeatBox

Nerd — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:36:34 +0000

Found this morning…. and laughed out loud.. no really, I did…

Go to Google Translate
Set the translator to translate from German to German
Copy and paste this string in the text to be translated box: pv zk pv pv zk pv zk kz zk pv pv pv zk pv zk zk pzk pzk pvzkpvpzk kkkkk bsch
Press the translate button and then hit “Listen.”

WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe Halloween Free Givaway

Nerd — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 03:49:12 +0000

I Love free software! WinX Video Converter is a GREAT video encoder, and can encode any video to virtually any format you need! Get it free until November 4th!

[ WinX DVD ]

Facebook Security: Bit Defender SafeGo

Nerd — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:33:21 +0000

Facebook security is really hard to achieve with their constant changes in policy and design. Facebook has become a place for malware and other malicious code to hang out – tempting you by “Click here to see what really happened…” senerios, and as soon as you click “Allow” your profile is infected.

Bit Defender SafeGo application uses cloud scanning to keep your Facebook account safe. It scans all authorized apps, links, and warns you if you are about to share your personal information.

Check it out here, and secure your social networking account today!

[ Facebook – BitDefender SafeGo ]

Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 Release Candidate

Nerd — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:10:49 +0000

It’s here!!! For all you chomping at the bit to get SP1, Microsoft has released the Release Candidate, so the final version should be out soon. For you early adopters, here’s the link.

Nerds explained

Nerd — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:26:31 +0000

Ran across this picture this morning, and just had to post it here… Pretty much sums it up!

Airport Security… Hmm…

Easy Online Gallery with DropMocks

Nerd — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:43:14 +0000

Online photo gallery so easy, a caveman could do it!!!! It’s Stupid Easy!

Seriously though, DropMocks has got to be the easiest online photo gallery I’ve ever seen – and it looks fantastic!!! Utilizing HTML5 (so will have to use an up-to-date browser) one simply drags photos from the computer to the webpage, and presto!! Gallery done! All images are displayed in a slick, clean manner – and with automatic sharing URL, it’s easy to send to friends and family. Add in Google Authentication, you can access previously create, edit share and delete galleries. This has got to be the coolest new website I’ve seen all year!

Check it out here!! http://www.dropmocks.com/

New Copywright Law says it’s OK to Jailbreak!

Nerd — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:27:12 +0000

The US Library of Congress has declared that jailbreaking a phone is legal! Read more about it here.

http://www.neowin.net/news/us-government-makes-jailbreaking-unlocking-and-ripping-dvds-legal?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+neowin-main+%28Neowin+Main+News%29

Cisco VPN Finally Supports x64!

Nerd — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:44:57 +0000

For those of you that telecommute, or ever work remotely, you probably use Cisco’s VPN software. Up until now, it was only supported on 32 bit OS’s, leaving anyone that wanted to run 64 bit out in the cold, or forcing them to dual boot, or other nasty hacks… FINALLY, Cisco has released a 64 bit version of their VPN client that works on Windows 7 x64!

For some dumb reason, it’s not publicly available on Cisco’s website, so do a quick Google search for “vpnclient-winx64-msi-5.0.07.0290-k9.exe” and you will see multiple sites to grab the file.

Think I’m going to re-load my laptop tonight to 64!

Auditing Exchange 2007

Nerd — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:20:00 +0000

Mike Lagase from Microsoft just posted a GREAT article about auditing Exchange 2007.

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 coming soon – Be Ready!

Nerd — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:14:36 +0000

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 will be released soon, and I wanted to make sure that you are ready for it!

Before installing, here are some things you can do:

Uninstall your AntiVirus program (i.e. Microsoft’s Security Essentials & Forefront Client Security)
Foreign Language Support: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 (SP1) only supports German, Spanish, French, English, & Japanese version of Windows 7
Ensure you have enough disk space! – (32-bit (x86-based) = 600 MB — 64-bit (x64-based) = 900 MB of free space)

You can also run the Windows 7 System Update Readiness Tool: 32-bit & 64-bit

Google Docs now does OCR!

Nerd — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 17:13:26 +0000

Finally! Google Docs now can take a scanned image, and convert the image to editable text! OCR is Optical Character Recognition, and has been around for a while, but having this feature in Google Docs, just makes it better