Your instructor, Mel Haynes, will be covering the UPDATE statement definition, updates based on a value, nested statements and how to update all rows.

All student files are available for download here.

Let us know what you think about this lesson and the previous videos too.

Click to Play — SQL 101 Part 5: The UPDATE Statement

Parts 1 through 4 are available here:

Part 1: Intro to SQL Server

Part 2: Database Concepts

Part 3: Intro to Structured Query Language

Part 4: The INSERT Statement

More Free SQL Server 2008 Administration Training Coming Soon!

Here’s what you can expect in the next video:

Video 6: The DELETE Statement

• DELETE – With Job Security
• DELETE Statement Demo

I have already outlined the 70-622 exam in one of my previous articles, where I provided an overview of the skills needed for the exam and how to achieve the MCTS certification.

Today I’m going to focus on one area of the 70-622 exam — Deploying Windows Vista segment of the exam, specifically the section that covers analyzing the business environment and selecting an appropriate deployment method.

Deploying Windows Vista

The 70-622 Vista Desktop Support for Enterprise Technicians exam measures a number of different skills and the first section of topics for the exam encompasses the following:

• Analyze the business environment and select an appropriate deployment method
• Prepare a system for clean installation or upgrade
• Deploy Windows Vista from a custom image
• Perform post-installation tasks
• Troubleshoot deployment issues

How to Analyze the Business Environment and Select an Appropriate Deployment Method

First you’ll need to make sure that you understand the three phases of the deployment lifecycle:

• Plan — assess the needs of the organization and develop a deployment strategy to meet the needs
• Build — put the tools and plans that will be used to support the deployment plan into place
• Deploy — implement the deployment plan

Windows Vista: Common Deployment Questions Answered is a great additional resource you can use to review this topic in a little more detail.

[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] – The entire write up goes beyond the scope of what is “only” needed for the exam but the additional details will be helpful for you to understand the concepts in general with respect to the topic.

When preparing for the exam, make sure you completely understand the deployment challenges of an enterprise. Things to consider are:

• Hardware — are upgrades needed; can some systems be upgraded in place, what systems will need to be retired and replaced outright.
• Application Compatibility — critical applications that are a “must” need to be identified; from there you can break them into other levels of requirement in the enterprise. You would then need to breakdown any issues that show up in the compatibility testing. The Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) is a tool you can download and use to perform this work of evaluating and mitigating application compatibility issues before deploying many of the newer versions of Windows, including Vista and other application upgrades such as changing from one version of Internet Explorer to another.
• User State Migration — going from Windows XP to Vista has been made easier with a number of automated tools such as the Windows User State Migration Tool (USMT).
• Technical Subject Matter Experts (SME) — as part of the deployment planning you need to consider the technical knowledge level of your own staff to address the efforts of the deployment challenge and whether additional assistance may be needed.

Another crucial part that you’ll need to understand is the hardware requirements for a successful (and supported) installation of Vista on the systems once the deployment is completed.

Make sure to review the details on systems requirements that I included in my previous post. The article focuses on a different Vista exam, but the information about Vista requirements is valid for this exam as well.

In the post I talk about what you need to take into consideration when pairing up your hardware with the appropriate Vista edition. I also cover understanding the different available Vista editions and understanding the difference between minimum and recommended hardware requirements — all useful stuff.

More Information on Deploying Vista

So far we have covered just one of the skills required for the Deploying Windows Vista section of the 70-622 exam — analyzing the business environment and selecting an appropriate deployment method.

I’m not going to cover the rest of the skills in detail, but I will provide you with some useful resources to get you started on them:

• How to install Windows Vista and How to prepare to upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista are both good sources to start exploring.
• Vista Deployment Step-by-Step Guide is very thorough and will help you practice deploying Vista in a lab environment
• Troubleshooting General Operating System Deployment Issues is also a good place to start learning basic troubleshooting issues when it comes to deployment

I would also suggest checking out Pail Thurrott’s 3 part Windows Vista Installation Super Guide to practice with:

• Part 1: Introduction
• Part 2: Using the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor
• Part 3: Clean Install Windows Vista

Remember, the more you practice doing hands-on tasks, the easier it will be for you to remember the information and master content for the exam. I hope that the information in this and my previous articles will help you get a good start on the 70-622 and other Vista certification exams.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and I am looking forward to any feedback you have on it — feel free to leave me a comment below.

Best of luck in your studies.

Last week I showed you how to use CCleaner to improve Windows performance. Today I’m going to show you how to speed up your Windows by replacing Acrobat Reader.

What started out as a tiny little utility to allow anyone to view a file the same way it looked on the creator’s computer has turned into a massive piece of bloatware complete with unasked for add-ons, always-on services taking up system resources, and a start time that would make turtles laugh out loud.

Of course, we’re talking about Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Adobe Acrobat — Bigger But Not Better

The current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader weighs in a 32 MB (though you can get a lighter weight version if you pay close attention when selecting your download) and takes up over 130 MB when installed. That seems like an awful lot for a program that most people just need to display PDF files on their computer screen. But, it gets even worse.

Acrobat Reader is now so huge and bloated that loading the reader takes an unacceptable amount of time. So, did Adobe go back to the drawing board and streamline their PDF reader? Of course not!

Instead, Adobe Reader loads a startup process that chews up to 50 MB of RAM while doing NOTHING! All it does is pre-load some of Acrobat so that when you actually need the functions that Adobe Reader provides, it won’t take so long to load the rest of the program!

To put it another way, Adobe loads around 2/3 of the Acrobat Reader program at startup when it seems like Windows is still loading. In other words, Adobe sneaks in part of the program startup during boot up so that you will blame Microsoft Windows for the delay that it takes to launch Reader. Then, it sits there and wastes up to 50 MB of memory just so that it can pretend to load faster.

The worst part is that is still takes forever to load, especially if you click on a link that happens to be for a large PDF file. In that case, prepare to sit and wait while wondering what is wrong with your computer for several minutes before your PDF file finally loads.

Acrobat Reader Alternatives

Fortunately, there are many alternatives to Adobe Reader that are much smaller and faster, and don’t come with a large memory hogging startup process to go with them.

To be completely clear, there are some items that may not work 100% correctly with these readers. However, most of these features are not used and never encountered by the majority of users. In many cases even if there is an error, its impact is not noticeable to the end-user.

One of the most popular alternatives to Adobe Reader is Foxit Reader.

Compared with Adobe’s 32 MB download, Foxit Reader checks in at under 4 MB, and uses no memory when it is not running. With a single page PDF file loaded, it takes less than 11 MB of RAM, which is less than Adobe’s pre-start process uses constantly in the background.

Once installed, Foxit Reader has an intuitive interface and allows you do bookmark, highlight, and quickly read PDF files, which is more than enough for most users who don’t make PDF files themselves.

Replacing Acrobat Reader

The most important thing to know about using an alternative PDF reader is that just installing it isn’t enough. You have to uninstall Adobe Reader or it will keep running its startup process every time you start your computer, even if you never use it.

Also, you need to change which program to use in your Internet browser to view PDF files to your new alternative reader, or it will just keep trying to launch Adobe Reader.

Foxit Reader does come with a couple of annoyances that need to be watched for during setup to avoid them. Make sure you uncheck the option to install the Foxit Toolbar and then on the next screen make sure to uncheck the eBay links. If you catch both of those, you’ll get a pretty smooth install.

The second annoyance is the Update Utility. There isn’t any real problem other than it isn’t very clear what it is asking, or what you are supposed to do. The red items, and only the red items have updates. To get the update you highlight it and then click Add which selects the update. Since you probably don’t need anything other than the basic reader, all you need to do is watch for the Reader Update item to be red. Otherwise, just skip it.

There are other Acrobat Reader alternatives as well and almost all of them are free. Check them out and install your favorite. You’ll get better PDF reader performance, and a faster Windows startup time as well.

In case you missed them, here are the previous videos in the series:

Part 1: Intro to SQL Server

Part 2: Database Concepts

Part 3: Intro to Structured Query Language

Note: All student files are available for download here.

Click to Play — SQL 101 Part 4: The INSERT Statement

More Free SQL Server 2008 Administration Training Coming Soon!

Here’s what you can expect in the next video:

Video 5: The UPDATE Statement

• UPDATE Statement Definition
• Updates Based on a Value
• Nested Statements
• Updating All Rows

I have also recently covered the ping of death and other network attacks, including the SYN flood, UDP flood, ICMP flood and the teardrop attack.

Now that we have the basic Denial of Service Attacks (aka DoS attacks) and the Reconnaissance Attacks out of the way, let’s talk about other types of network attacks.

Today I’ll focus on:

• Access Attacks
• Worms, Viruses and Trojan Horse attacks
• Application Layer Attacks

I hope that this article, along with my previous ones, will shed some light on vulnerabilities in security and help you with your concerns regarding your network’s security needs. It may even inspire you to get your CCNA Security Certification.

Access Attacks

Access attacks are performed by intruders that illegally gain access to account databases and any other type of personal and confidential information. In order to achieve their destructive intentions, access attackers try to “dig” in well known “holes” of all basic text messages that might occur during an FTP or web service.

Keep in mind that not all attackers originate from the outside world. A lot of intrusion incidents have been reported as jobs from within the organization. So don’t think that all attackers have to first overcome the constraints of accessing the system’s boundary.

They may already be logged into the system. They may be the people sitting right next to you, sharing the same resources, asking you for advice.

The main types of access attacks are:

• Password attacks
• Port redirection
• Man-in-the-middle attacks

Let’s examine each one of these malicious attacks in more detail.

  •   Brute-Force Attacks

The attacker is repeatedly trying to guess the administrator’s password with the help of sophisticated software that uses time-consuming, advanced computational methods to compute the encrypted password.

The end result is that the attacker equipped with the decrypted administrator password is now capable of fulfilling all of his malicious plans.

  •   Port Redirection

IP redirected traffic has been always a security headache. An attacker that is familiar with the network of the victim could install a special application on a user’s computer that could redirect traffic towards a specific user via the hacked user. This is accomplished without violating firewall rules in the network.

  •   Man-In-The-Middle Attack

This type of attack can be implemented when someone working for your ISP gains access to all the traffic that originated from your network towards any other network. And if you didn’t implement security protocols, then the attacker could examine and analyze your traffic in order to obtain information regarding your network and users in it.

But that’s not all the attacker is capable of. Corruption of transmitted data is something even worst, and the attacker can even alter your data.

 
In my opinion, password attacks are extremely dangerous. They’re all about obtaining a user account password, and having the password at hand the attacker can invade the system pretending to be an authorized user and cause catastrophic effects on the system’s operations.

I have a few suggestions for minimizing the chances of being exposed to these types of attackers. But before we move on to that, let’s take a look at more network attacks — worms, viruses and Trojan horse attacks.

Worms, Viruses and Trojan Horse Attacks

Last year I wrote an article on the best ways to battle viruses, worms and Trojan horse attacks so if you’re not familiar with these types of network attacks, take a look at the article now.

What you need to remember about viruses and Trojan horses is that they can be effectively eliminated with the use of an up-to-date antivirus system, or even better by implementing a host-based intrusion prevention system (HIPS) like Cisco’s Security Agents (CSAs). CSAs is a specialized software that monitors all kinds of activity performed on a given host and protects the host by implementing a state of the art antivirus and network firewall.

Application Layer Attacks

Unfortunately, application layer attacks cannot be completely eliminated. More and more application vulnerabilities are constantly being discovered, which in turn provides more and more harmful capabilities to attackers.

Application layer attacks are actually like any other attack on your network. The purpose of this attack does not differ from others; it’s nothing more than exploiting the network of the victim, acquiring access and performing malicious plans on the system.

What actually differs is the method of performing the attack. Attackers try to take advantage of well-known application vulnerabilities like for example sendmail or FTP.

More and more software weaknesses are discovered. The software production companies take correction measures against these weaknesses but unfortunately the evil mind of an attacker is always capable of discovering fresh new software malfunctions.

5 Network Security Tips To Live By

Do you think that danger is all around your network? Do you feel that you are about to be the next victim of an attackers malicious plot? Do you fully understand the consequences of overlooking your network’s security needs?

I hope you will take this article along with all other security related articles really seriously for the sake of your network and your career. I would like to close this article with a quick reminder about all those little things that MUST be followed if you want to be able to sleep peacefully at night and your network to operate safely.

1. ALWAYS keep your operating system and antivirus software up-to-date
2. Keep your eyes open — make sure that you’re aware of the newly discovered vulnerabilities and don’t hesitate to request advice and guidance from others
3. Pay attention to your system — observe and analyze your system’s log files (operating system logs, network device logs etc) on a daily basis
4. Don’t use plain text passwords — encrypt your passwords where possible using strong encryption algorithms and keep your passwords safe. If you need to have them in an electronic file or even on a piece of paper make sure you keep them in a safe place, somewhere where only you have access to.
5. Set appropriate policies to both host computers and network devices to lock login accounts after 3 consecutive unsuccessful login attempts. This way you eliminate the chance of having someone continuously try to resolve the password.

If you have any good tips for securing your network share them in the comments.

CCleaner — Make Windows Faster, More Stable & Free Up Space

Recently, we talked about 8 must have Windows utilities.

Some improved Window’s default functionality via replacement utilities. Some of the top must have utilities improved security and privacy.

But, CCleaner provides a critical function for high-performance Windows computing that doesn’t even exist in a standard Windows installation.

Junk Files, Junk Registry Entries, Junk Cookies — Just Some of What Slows Down Windows

Membership in the group of people who think that Windows is tight, highly-efficient code is limited to those who have spent time in a rubber room. It is no secret that the Windows code-base has bloated over the years. What is less commonly known is just how much junk gets left lying around your PC.

Whether it’s Windows not cleaning up after itself, or other applications littering temp files all over your disk, if you’ve never run a system cleaner before, you’ll be shocked at how much clutter is hampering the performance of your computer. It’s not uncommon to free up hundreds of megabytes of disk space.

It isn’t just temporary files either. Internet browser cookies litter your hard drive, taking up valuable disk space and potentially compromising your privacy as well.

While well behaved cookies can improve your surfing experience, it is not unusual for cookies to be set with expiration dates of 2030.

Sure, your browser comes with an option to delete cookies, but it’s a little bit like the walk button on some street lights.

It does something but it doesn’t do everything you think it does. That delete cookies button deletes some cookies, but there are plenty of cracks to hide in.

Worst of all is the tangle of entries that get left behind in the registry. Unlike temporary files and cookies, the average user has virtually no way to go through and clean up the mess left behind in the registry. Fortunately, you don’t have to, CCleaner takes care of that as well.

How To Use CCleaner

One of the great things about CCleaner is that it comes ready to handle most everyday problems without any configuration required. By default, CCleaner analyzes and deletes all the junk it can find. For most users, this setting is perfect. However, if there are reasons to not mess with certain items, skipping them is as easy as unchecking a box.

Choose whether to Analyze, which returns a report of everything that CCleaner detects or go straight to Run Cleaner which detects and removes all offending items. The two tabs allow users to clean not just Windows, but several other supported applications as well, including all major browsers and their cookies.

Down the left side are three simple operations to choose from: Cleaner, Registry and Tools.

Cleaner takes care of files and cookies, while Registry cleans up the registry by deleting orphaned and other unused keys. Don’t worry, the program asks to create a backup copy first, though I’ve never had an issue arise from running the registry cleaner.

Finally, Tools provides some useful utilities including a startup manager by which you can stop programs from running on startup. Unfortunately, software vendors have decided that they are smarter than the people that use their programs so more and more of them are writing their apps to re-insert themselves into the startup sequence, so your mileage may vary when it comes to using the tool.

The final Options tab allows you to tweak how CCleaner works. Play around with the settings and customize how CCleaner works for your Windows.

Next Time …

Stay tuned — in my next article I’ll show you how to use yet another must have Windows utility.

 

  •   Free Microsoft Exam Vouchers

IT Knowledge Exchange wants to hear your certification success story — how an IT certification has helped you get a raise, a promotion or a new job. The top 6 entries will be posted on the blog and the winners will get a free exam voucher.

Share your IT certification success story, win a free Microsoft exam voucher

  •   Free Home Server

 
Looking for a better way to manage, organize and protect your photos, music, videos and documents at home? Have you considered the Home Server?

Now you have a chance to try it for free — see if you like it.

Windows Home Server Free 120 Day Trial

More Home Server resources:

• How to Connect Your Xbox 360 to Your Home Server
• Windows Home Server training
• We Got Served — Getting started with Home Server resources

  •   Free Exchange Server 2010 beta

You can now evaluate Exchange Server 2010 beta and learn about it for free. Microsoft has just released a free elarning course to help you learn about Exchange 2010 features, tools, deployment scenarios, and more.

Exchange Server 2010 Beta

Clinic 6900: Introduction to Exchange Server 2010

  •   Free Office 2010

Microsoft Connect is looking for people to participate in testing out Office 2010 for the next six months or so. In exchange you get a free copy of Office 2010.

Wanted: Participants for Microsoft’s Office 2010 Real Life Stories program

  •   Let me Google that for you

If you’re tired of friends, family, coworkers and others asking questions that a quick Google search can solve, Let me Google that for you is the perfect solution.

All you have to do is type in the question, click on the Google Search button and you get a link that you can send to whoever asked the question. When the person opens the link they’ll see the step-by-step process of performing a Google search:

Step 1: Type in your question

Step 2: Click the Search button

Which will then take them to the actual Google search results page for that question.

And in case you’re wondering why I chose to ask “what is a browser” in my example is because of the video below. Do you know what a browser is?

Part 1: Intro to SQL Server covered the basics of SQL — flat files, relational databases, vender variations, etc.

Part 2: Database Concepts covered multiple values per field, repeating fields, primary keys, foreign keys, table relationships, etc.

Today’s video, Part 3: Introduction to Structured Query Language focuses on statements:

• SELECT Statement
• SELECT WHERE Statement
• SELECT ORDER BY Statement
• SELECT – Multi Table Statement

You will also need to download the student files here.

Click to Play — SQL 101 Part 3: Introduction to Structured Query Language

More Free SQL Server 2008 Administration Training Coming Soon!

Here’s what you can expect in the next video:

Video 4: The INSERT Statement

• INSERT Statement Definition
• INSERT Statement Demo

Today we are going to review the Installing and Upgrading Windows Vista section of the 70-620 exam. More specifically, I’m going to focus on how to identify the hardware requirements needed for Vista.

Installing and Upgrading Vista

The 70-620 Configuring Microsoft Windows Vista Client exam measures a number of different skills and the first section of topics for the exam encompasses the following:

• Identify hardware requirements
• Perform a clean installation
• Upgrade to Windows Vista from previous versions of Windows
• Upgrade from one edition of Windows Vista to another edition
• Troubleshoot Windows Vista installation issues
• Install and configure Windows Vista drivers

How to Identify Hardware Requirements

As part of the Identify hardware requirements section you will need to make sure you have the ability to assess the hardware requirements for a successful (and supported) installation of Vista.

This includes the details as provided on the system requirements page at Microsoft’s website.

Notice the differences between the minimum and recommended system requirements. While the minimum requirements are probably enough, you want to be as close to the recommended system requirements as possible.

Here are some more things to take into consideration when pairing up your hardware with the appropriate Vista edition:

• All of the editions of Vista provide support for multiple core processors.
• Vista Business, Ultimate, and Enterprise can support dual processors (2 physical units which may or may not have multiple cores). Home Basic and Home Premium do not support more than one physical processor.
• The Home Premium and Ultimate editions support TV watching capabilities when a TV tuner card is present natively within the installed version of OS.
• Home Premium, Business, and Ultimate Editions offer Windows Tablet and Touch capabilities on Tablet PCs or when installed on systems that have a touch screen.
• The Ultimate and Enterprise editions offer Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption on systems equipped with a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2 chip.

Part of the 70-620 exam is understanding the different available Vista editions. Here are some resources to get you started with this:

• The Compare Vista editions page provides a nice table with the four core versions shown.
• There is a separate page for Vista Enterprise os features and the Vista Starter edition.

Another thing you’ll need to know for the exam is which systems are Vista Capable and which are Vista Premium Ready.

And don’t forget about the Vista Upgrade Advisor — a tool that is available for download from Microsoft that will allow you to determine whether a system that is currently running XP meets all of the requirements for an upgrade to Vista.

The tool is nice but it only runs on the 32-bit version of XP and Vista and it will not run on Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, or Windows 2000 systems. Additionally it cannot run against the 64-bit edition of Windows XP.

[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] – There’s definitely some memorization that is required for the 70-620 exam, especially when it comes to this section of the exam. You will need to know what the different versions are and the requirements for each.

You’ll also need to understand the differences between minimum supported system requirements and the recommended system requirements.

Installing & Upgrading Vista

As far as the rest of the topics in the Installing and Upgrading Vista section are concerned here are some resources to get you started:

How to install Windows Vista covers:

• How to perform a clean installation
• How to upgrade to Vista from an earlier version of Windows
• How to troubleshoot Vista installation issues

Information on upgrading from one edition of Vista to another can be found in here and basically what you need to understand here is when you need to perform a clean install and when you can upgrade. For example, if you currently have the Vista Business edition you can upgrade to Vista Ultimate, however you will have to perform a clean install if you want to move to the other editions. There is also information on upgrading from a 32-bit version to a 64-bit version and upgrading a 64-bit version to another 64-bit version.

 
I hope you’ve enjoyed this article and I am looking forward to any feedback you have on it — feel free to leave me a comment below.

Best of luck in your studies.

 

Here are 10 apps I’ve always found helpful — not only for personal use, but helping friends and family with their computer problems and issues with viruses, spyware, sharing files, etc.

Most of them are free and all are great tools you will no doubt find useful.

Also, make sure to check out Brian’s 8 Must Have Windows Utilities and see what you’ve been missing.

1. Avast

Avast is a great anti-virus program that is reliable and easy to use. Avast protects your PC against viruses, spyware, adware, rootkits, and other malware.

I can’t rave enough about it. No installation or compatibility problems, no noticeable slowdowns and updates available almost every day. Also, it gives you the option to run a boot-time scan.

There are a lot of anti-virus software out there, if you want a reliable one, Avast is a great choice. The home version is a 2 month trial but can be extremely effective if you need to do a quick scan on someone’s infected computer.

Link to Avast: www.avast.com

2. Dropbox

Dropbox is a free online service used to backup and sync your data. It also allows you to share your files and photos with friends.

Dropbox works just like a folder on your computer except it automatically synchronizes with other computers linked to your account. Meaning a friend can be linked to the folder on my desktop and as soon as I drop in a file, the remote folder will shortly be updated and my friend can retrieve the file.

The best part is the convenience of having Dropbox wherever you are without the hassle of portable hard drives, CD’s, and other storage devices.

Free accounts come with 2GB of storage. You can also get 5GB through the referral program and as much as 50GB for a monthly fee.

If you’re interested in learning more, check out Brian’s article on Dropbox that talks about usage, security, and other info.

Link to Dropbox: www.getdropbox.com

3. CrossLoop

This is the quintessential app for helping those remote buddies trying to untangle their PC mess. Similar to LogmeIn or some other remote access program, CrossLoop is free, extremely easy to install, and is a convenient way to log onto someone’s computer remotely.

All you have to do is download, signup, and you get an access code you can give to another person to log in remotely. Give it a whirl, you won’t be disappointed.

Link to CrossLoop: www.crossloop.com/

4. UnDelete Plus

Undelete Plus is a free tool used to recover deleted files from your PC. Whether you emptied the recycling bin, deleted within a DOS window, or a networked drive, Undelete Plus is there to the rescue.

It scans your system for files that have been deleted and tells you whether or not they can be restored (some deleted files have already been overwritten).

It’s not 100% guaranteed, but since it’s free it’s worth a try.

Link to UnDelete Plus: www.undeleteplus.com

5. Everything

Everything is a great search tool that puts Microsoft’s Folder search to shame. Instead of wasting time waiting for MS to find what you need, use Everything to find exactly what you are looking for at lightning speed.

It’s also useful for those hidden files you can’t find. Really a great free to tool that makes life just a little bit easier.

Link to Everything: www.voidtools.com

6. Unlocker

This is a great tool for all those annoying file restrictions you get from Windows. You know what I’m talking about; those “Can’t delete file” or “Please close any other processes that may be using the file and try again”.

This program is used to terminate a running process for files that can’t be accessed due to Windows file-access bugs. Unlocker successfully bypasses these bug restrictions and gives the user access to that file.

Basically, it lets you override those pesky Windows errors and do exactly what you want to do with your files.

Link to Unlocker: www.download.cnet.com/Unlocker

7. ClamWin

This is one of those “sleepers” out there in freeware land, but is a great anti-virus program. It boasts real-time monitoring along with other options.

Since it’s just under 6 MB in size (rather small for an anti-virus program) it does not bog your system down. It’s also known to find some threats which other anti-virus tools fail to detect.

The biggest knock against ClamWin is that the program still doesn’t have the ability to scan files on demand, something found in many newly released anti-virus products. But this isn’t a bad trade-off when you’re getting a free virus scanner in return.

Link to ClamWin: www.clamwin.com

8. Keepass

Keepass allows you to create a database with all of the passwords and use one master key to access them all. Not a bad idea for obvious reasons.

Keepass makes it easy to handle 10 different usernames, 9 different email accounts, etc. If you’re having trouble with passwords, this app is the solution for you.

It’s free and is small enough to fit easily on to even the least capacious USB drive.

Link to Keepass: www.keepass.info

9. MalwareBytes

There are a lot of spyware tools out there, but MalwayreBytes is an excellent one and far more useful and up-to-date than the forever behind-the-times Spybot Search and Destroy.

Malwarebytes is fast and doesn’t use a lot of resources. Quick performance, real time protection, and deep file scan are only some of the pros.

These days you can never have enough removal tools and MalwareBytes won’t disappoint. Oh yeah, you can get it for free too!

Link to MalwareBytes: www.malwarebytes.org

10. Ccleaner

Keeping your PC free of unwanted files, cached data and unneeded registry entries has never been easier. Ccleaner frees up hard disk space and cleans traces of your online activity.

Ccleaner doesn’t take a lot of time to run and definitely cleans out the crap, especially for novices or those who don’t performing regular PC maintenance.

It’s designed to be safe and secure to use, meaning it has multiple checks in place so that it won’t delete any useful information or documents you need. It’s a great tool and free software is always a plus.

Link to Ccleaner: www.ccleaner.com

So… Which One’s Your Favorite?

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In Part 1: Intro to SQL Server our instructor Mel Haynes covered the basics of SQL. We learned about flat files, relational databases, vender variations and we also got introduced to our scenario.

Today’s video covers database concepts including multiple values per field, repeating fields, primary keys, foreign keys, table relationships and much more.

Click to Play — SQL 101 Part 2: Database Concepts

More Free SQL Server 2008 Administration Training Coming Soon!

Here’s what you can expect in the next video:

Video 3: Introduction to Structured Query Language

• SELECT Statement
• SELECT WHERE Statement
• SELECT ORDER BY Statement
• SELECT – Multi Table Statement

Last week I posted about choosing the work environment in IT that’s right for you. We discussed what it means to find a job in IT that’s a perfect fit, how to deal with a tough job market, and how to plan your career for the long haul. I hope that my insight and suggestions were helpful.

Today I’d like to tackle another aspect of choosing the right job in IT. We’ll take a look at the pros and cons of where you choose to work from a salary and mental health stand point. We’ll also examine some of the differences in job expectations and how they vary from business to business.

IT Job Expectations That Vary

In some work environments the leverage against technology is so high and so critical to the success of the business, that your responsibilities may be quite high and the role quite demanding. Compensation is often higher to meet that higher responsibility, but for some people the stress and the pressure are not worth it, regardless of the compensation level.

As an example, an online retailer (let’s assume a large department store chain) that has both physical locations for shoppers to go to as well as an online presence, depends on both for its business. While it really doesn’t want to have issues with its online operations and it would become negatively impacted if its online operations suddenly came to a halt due to technology issues, it could continue to operate and make sales even during this impact of their infrastructure. There would be some sense of urgency to get online operations back up and running as quickly as possible, but the business is still running (though at an impacted level) and making sales.

An internet retailer that only has an online presence will totally cease to exist if its online operations suddenly came to a halt due to technology issues. A loss of online operations totally prevents this business from making any sales and revenue from them.

Between these two businesses there are two very different levels of urgency to get operations back online.

The higher potential for loss of sales and revenue for the business drives a higher level of severity for a problem; more management will be involved, more stress introduced and higher performance expectations will be needed from the technical staff to respond to the issues and to get them resolved.

If you think that you would thrive in this type of environment then you should seek out positions that demand this type of preparedness. If on the other hand, you’re the type of individual that cannot react well in an emergency situation (you cannot think clearly, you don’t work well under the glare of management, etc) you’d probably want to stay clear of these environments.

The bottom line — you need to consider the type of pressure you can work under and the demands and responsibilities of the role you have in that particular company. If the demand and expectation levels are too high for what you can manage then you need to consider a similar job role in a different work environment — one that is better suited to your personality type.

Role Responsibilities: Clearly Defined or Blurred Lines?

The other item to consider is how well a company is making out “doing more with less,” especially in the current economy.

Job responsibilities have always been in one form of change or another and there is nothing quite like the restructuring of potions and responsibilities in a tightening job market to accelerate those changes.

As one example, you might have taken on your role in your company when it didn’t involve interfacing with customer contacts and that has changed subtly as the position evolved or the company itself has grown. In a situation like this, where dealing with people directly is not your most favorable thing to do, you need to take stock in the changes and decide what to do.

Whether you retrain yourself to better deal with the changes in the new role or you decide to look for other positions that were more like the way your job used to be is going to depend on a couple of things.

In one case, you have to decide whether the change is something that is occurring in just your place of employment or if it’s an industry wide change. If the change in role responsibility is occurring in similar roles all over, then it’s a paradigm shift that will generally be found everywhere over the course of time.

The other factor you may consider is whether or not the change is really that drastic and if it’s going to make you completely unhappy in your new role. A certain amount of change can be good and it may allow you to grow and gain additional skills in the subtle changes of responsibility right within your own role.

If you think about it as cross-training right in your current job then you may find that you take to it well (or “well enough” to keep it as a positive change) and it allows you to add new skills to your resume. Those might be helpful come review time or in the unfortunate scenario where you might be laid off and looking for work.

The bottom line — change in the IT field is often relevant, beneficial and a complete part of the constant evolution of the industry. The better and more flexible you are to subtle and even sudden changes in business drivers, duties, and responsibilities, the better your position to maintain your job and to excel within the company.

Remember, the one constant in the IT field is change.

I hope you found this information useful. I’m always looking forward to your feedback on this and any other articles I have written so feel free to drop in some comments or contact me directly.

Additionally, I welcome any suggestions for topics of interest that you would like to see here.

Today I’d like to tell you what Pano is about, how it works and what it can and cannot do. I’ll also tell you if it’s worth giving it a try.

Emailing Large Attachments

One of the difficulties sometimes encountered by users is that no matter how large their email inbox is they cannot send or receive files greater than a certain size — regardless of how many megabytes of storage they have available for their inbox.

This is sometimes nothing more than a hold over from days when large files were virtually guaranteed to be frivolous as opposed to the far smaller “serious” files generated by the likes of Microsoft Office. Other times, the maximum file size restrictions for sending or receiving email are part of an effort to hold down the overall size of email storage, regardless of how much room is allotted as a “maximum” to the user.

It isn’t hard to see why. Many users end up storing several copies of an email: one in their inbox, one in a folder where they put certain kinds of emails and attachments, another in their sent folder (if they pass it on), and perhaps another in their offline storage for email. Let too many users do that with 500 MB files and pretty soon, you have full email servers and no one really knows why.

Pando: Big Files — Little Attachments

Pando offers users a way to get around the size limitations imposed by their email, as well as other services and programs.

Users download a Pando client to their workstation. The client is relatively lightweight, weighing in at around 7.5 MB installed (not including any downloaded data) and running in about 30 MB of RAM when idle, and taking up to 36 MB while downloading files during our tests. Fortunately, Pando is well behaved and right clicking the tray icon and choosing Shut Down closes the whole program without leaving any services or clients running in the background.

Once the user has the client installed they can begin creating .pando files.

When a user wants to email a huge file attachment to a friend or colleague, they open the Pando client and select the file(s) that they wish to share by either browsing or dragging and dropping the files into the client window, typing a name for the file, and entering the recipient’s email address and message. Then, they just click SEND.

There is also an Outlook tool that integrates this process into the email client so that the user need not use the Pando interface, but the Pando client must still be installed on the user’s computer.

The recipient receives a regular email from the sender with an attachment with the chosen name and a .pando extension. The magic is that the attachment is small, the size that will not set off any blocking. Opening the attachment allows the user to retrieve the files outside of the email system.

So … Where’s the Catch?

This is where Pando becomes the kind of thing that isn’t useful in all situations. In order to retrieve the “Pando-ed” files, the recipient also has to have the Pando client installed.

If they don’t, Pando will direct them to information saying as much and asking them to download the client. It is a relatively painless process, but one that likely is best used when both parties are expecting it.

Sharing Big Files: IM and Web

Pando files can also be shared via Instant Massager or on regular websites via similar mechanisms. In all cases, the original user must have the Pando client to create the .pando file and the recipient must have the Pando client to open .pando files.

How Does Pando Work

Pando bills itself as a “cross between Bittorrent and a data center.” That may be over stating a little bit. Essentially what Pando does is facilitate a file download for users whether by email, IM, or link on a website.

When a sender creates a .pando package, the original files are uploaded to the Pando servers. Files are encrypted during transfer and on the Pando servers, so theoretically any data contained in them is safe.

Also, .pando files can be password protected. In this event, the creator has to get the password to the recipient outside of the Pando system.

When the recipient “opens” the .pando file using the client, the Pando service responds by downloading the files from both the sender’s computer, and its own servers simultaneously. The advantage over other methods that send the files directly from the sender’s computer, is that if that computer is not online, Pando retrieves the files from the company servers instead.

That means that no one has to worry about whether or not the other computer will be online.

For files shared via email or IM, Pando stores them for 7 days for free users and 14 days for Pro users from the date of the last access. As long as no one is on vacation, this shouldn’t be a problem. If, for whatever reason, the user requests an “expired” .pando, the client will try to get the files directly from the original PC, but it will not re-upload those files to the Pando servers, so both computers will have to be online together for this to work.

For files shared via web link, they are stored for 30 days for free users and 60 days for Pro users.

Pando works, as many online services do, on a Free and Pro model. Free users are allowed 5 GB of storage and Pro users are allowed 10 GB, although the site says that those quotas are not currently enforced. Individual files may be a maximum of 1 GB for free users and 5 GB for Pro users.

Is Pando Worth It?

With the increasing array of options available for collaboration, one can’t help but wonder where Pando fits. Virtual desktops allow automatic synchronization versus Pando’s manual file creation, sending, and receiving model.

Many of those systems offer just as much overall storage, although the individual file sizes may have lower limits. Of course, one wonders just how frequently a single 850 MB file gets sent by the average user.

If virtual desktops aren’t your thing, or if the size constrictions are too tight, then there are numerous online storage offerings out there that will allow you to upload a large file(s) which you can then point the recipient to via a simple web link without the need for downloading and installing any software.

Such a scenario will likely be much more palatable to people with whom you don’t have a close enough relationship with to pre-discuss Pando and why you and they should be using it.

During testing, a direct download from a site like Dropbox was much faster than getting the same file over the Pando network.

Microsoft offers a similar service called SkyDrive and the rumor mill has been anticipating a Google storage service for a long time.

Theoretically, if a file were shared with multiple users, either via email sent to multiple recipients, or via a website link, Pando could use multiple computers to transfer the necessary bits of data to the different users, resulting in something more akin to a p2p network

Another potential use would be for content creators who want a way to distribute that content without having to have their own data servers. Of course, this limits the potential audience to users who have the Pando client installed.

However, under what seems to be the most common scenario (a small number of users receiving an email that they download at varying times) the average user will experience nothing more than files being downloaded automatically from a server for them, at the expense of having to install extra software.

Obviously, if users anticipated frequent exchanges in this manner, then it might be worth it, but certainly not for one-time exchanges, or even once-a-month exchanges.

ABC Uses It

That being said, there is obviously a use for the Pando technology. ABC uses Pando technology to allow subscribers to download their TV shows automatically for viewing locally, instead of having to stream them from a site like Hulu. Of course, this requires the custom ABC client and not the standard Pando client.

Additionally, many users have a fine viewing experience via streaming. In the future, however, streaming seems to be a losing technology. Today, only a handful of the total number of people who watch a TV show ever watch it online via streaming.

If there comes a time when many more, or even a majority of users, access their television shows online, streaming technology has no hope of offering a usable experience. Imagine if the 25 million people who tune into a popular TV show all tried to watch it at 8:00 PM on Monday night when it came out. Not only could the servers not handle it, neither could the residential pipes which are shared with the very neighbors who will also be trying to get the same large amounts of data at the same time.

The Pando technology looks to have potential promise for the large distributor who wishes to “push” content down to their subscriber’s computers via a more scalable and schedulable technology. ABC distributes shows overnight for example, when most users aren’t trying to use their bandwidth for other tasks. However, ABC represents one of the few publishers who have the clout and content to compel end-users to install a new client.

In order for the generic Pando client and service to become widely used, it would need to pull off an “Adobe Acrobat” type of campaign in order to become the kind of software that everyone eventually just expects to need on virtually any computer.

Then, users could sent .pando attachments and links whenever they chose, secure in the knowledge that the other user most likely has the Pando client already installed. Until then, most users will probably opt for one of the other alternatives.

This decision will not only have an impact on how much money you’ll earn it will also have an affect your work / life balance.

Today I’ll discuss the pros and cons of where you choose to work from a salary and mental health standpoint to help in your IT career decision making process.

Where You Work — Does it Need to Define a Part of Who You Are?

Like it or not your job will define something about you either directly or indirectly. Just like the old frog and scorpion story (”part of my nature”) people can only maintain so long “out of their element” regardless of benefits, pay or other compensation.

Eventually they will come to be less happy and they’ll need to move on. The only other option is to be anywhere from “unhappy” to “miserable” in the work that you’re doing.

It is also important to have a good grasp on where you want to go in your career from the standpoint of where you want to work.

Having the desire to be an Operations Center Manager as one example is a great career path, but there is a big difference in being that manager for a mid-sized company as it is for a global one.

As another example, if you’re really short on patience and working with slow starters is not your thing then a role of training new hires on new technology is never going to work for you in the long run, even if it was your dream to work on Wall Street and the job pays 50% more than your last position.

You have to know what you’re capable of and you need to know what your limitations are.

If you’re working in your dream job (or your dream job for now) in IT but it’s in a place that doesn’t fit your “style” it can still make your work day something you come to regret getting up for in the morning. The work may be exciting and fulfilling but who you’re working for may be anything but.

Generally you spend one third of your day at work, five days a week. Add to that the time it takes you to travel to and from work, and it ends up being even more.

This means that five days a week you are spending 60% (or more) of your waking hours at work so you need to do what you can to ensure that the work is challenging, satisfying and a “right” fit for you.

Dealing with a Difficult Job Market

During a recession and tight job market, working in an optimal environment may not be an option. But keep in mind that you can hold back “resentful” feelings for where you work only temporarily; sooner or later they force their way to the forefront.

As time progresses and the job market improves you’ll have opportunities to move on to something that is a better fit for you.

During the tougher times you’ll need to make sure that you’re still doing the job you have to 100% of your capabilities. You don’t want to be let go into a bad job market because you’re slacking due to the fact you’re really not excited about the position.

Additionally, when the next opportunity opens elsewhere you may need to leverage reviews and references from your current place of employment and you’re going to want those to be as positive as possible.

Compensation is Not a Fix for the Wrong Job

Its one thing to not be a big sports fan and work for a sports apparel company and it’s quite another to support the ethical treatment of animals and work for a company that is known for its puppy mills. What you need to do is analyze what you can and can’t deal with.

There are some people that are very good at separating the work they do for a company and how they derive their paycheck from what the company does (the company’s business goals and their vision). Others will struggle with this and it will negatively affect their work and their own sense of well being and life outside of work.

Money is a great initial motivator but not a long term fix. You can be offered 20% more compensation to deal with less than desirable work conditions, but they will eventually affect your mood, demeanor and life outside of work.

In my own example, I’ve found that over time in a business environment that I don’t morally or intellectually agree with I have had problems working efficiently and with the complete desire to do my best. This is not because I don’t like my job, but because I have no passion for the company’s business objectives.

This leads to being less than satisfied with the work that I’m doing and the effort that I put in is not 100% because I cannot separate the two things in my head. I look at it as if I’m helping this company do something I don’t like or don’t agree with because I’m filling a job role that allows them to get that part of their business done.

However, there are people that manage and deal with this well — from something as blunt as the thought process of “I do my work and collect my check; what the company does isn’t really my concern” to more subtle positions such as “I do my best because if I don’t someone else will, so why not me?”

The bottom line — when you have the ability to make the choice, you need to keep in mind what you can tolerate at work. Remember, that your goal is to be successful in your job and to get where you want to be in your career and your work environment is going to play a role in that, so choose wisely.

Take Away

In summary and the main take away ideas:

Where you work doesn’t necessarily have to be a perfect fit

• You must have good intellectual capital to fully separate work from life
• Compensation is not a long term fix to a position you don’t enjoy
• You need to know what you’re capable of and what your limitations are

In rough job markets you may have to take the best thing available, until things improve

• If the job you take ends up being one you intend to hold until things are better, have a plan for moving on when the economy picks up
• Do the best you can and give 100% regardless of whether you want to keep the job in the long run or not

Make a plan for your career and decide where to have it

• Where you live will play a role in available job options and choices, especially in the IT industry
• The industry and job market will also play a role in your job options and choices

I hope you found this information useful. Next time I’ll focus on how role responsibility and job expectations come into play in IT. I will outline some of the pluses and minuses of different roles and responsibilities and the expectations of the positions to help you make the right decisions.

I’m always looking forward to your feedback on this or any other articles I have written so feel free to drop in some comments or contact me directly.

Additionally, I welcome any suggestions for topics of interest that you would like to see here.

Deals and Giveaways

Windows Server HQ is giving away two 8GB iPod nanos of your choice to two lucky winners this month. You can get two chances to win and they’re both super easy. Get all the details here:

Giveaway: Two iPod Nanos from Windows Server HQ

If you’re taking a Microsoft certification exam in the next couple of weeks there are two deals that you can take advantage of.

The first one is from Prometric and it allows you to take an MCP exam for only $25 (saving you about a $100). All you have to do is use the code: MCPBACK when you register through Prometric. Here’s more info:

MCPBACK gets you your next MCP exam for $25

The other deal is from Microsoft and it allows you to take a retake of an exam for free if you fail it the first time. This, of course, only works with Microsoft exams but it’s a great deal:

Microsoft Second Shot exam offer

For more timely updates on contests, giveaways, deals, etc — follow me on Twitter!

Photos from Tech⋅Ed 2009

Lisa over at Windows Server HQ posted some great photos of the Train Signal team at Tech⋅Ed 2009. So if you missed this year’s Tech⋅Ed check them out:

Back from TechEd! Pictures to Follow

As Promised: Photos from TechEd 2009!

More Tech Ed 2009 Pictures

David McCarter also posted some great photos from Tech⋅Ed — see if you can find the Train Signal booth in one of them!

Tech⋅Ed 2009 Photos

More Free Training Videos

If you think you’ve already seen all of our free training videos — think again. We’ve been releasing more free videos in several different places.

Here on TST — 2 new videos were added this week:

How to Configure a Static IP Address in Windows Vista

SQL 101: Intro to SQL Server — Part 1

On Windows Server HQ — we currently have 15 videos available:

Intro to Server 2008 Series — 9 videos

How to Use Hyper-V and WDS to Virtualize Server 2003

Server 2008 Server Core — 5 videos

And don’t forget about our YouTube Channel!

Train Signal’s YouTube Channel

If your answer is “yes” to any one of the above questions — keep reading.

Get Free SQL Server 2008 Administration Training

We’ve recently released our first ever SQL Server 2008 training. Mel Haynes, the instructor for the course, also created 10 introductory videos to help you get familiar with SQL Server 2008.

And we’re making all ten of the videos in the SQL Server 101 series available right here — for free. Check out the first video now — and stay tuned for more!

Click to Play — SQL 101 Part 1: Intro to SQL Server

SQL 101 — Learn the Basics of Structured Query Language

Here’s what you can expect to learn in our free mini series on SQL Server Administration including details of what each video covers:

Video 1: Introduction to SQL Server

• What is SQL?
• Flat Files
• Relational Databases
• Vender Variations

Video 2: Database Concepts

• Key Terms and Concepts
• Multiple Values Per Field
• Repeating Fields
• The Ultimate Solution
• Primary Keys
• Foreign Keys
• Our Database Schema
• Table Relationships

Video 3: Introduction to Structured Query Language

• SELECT Statement
• SELECT WHERE Statement
• SELECT ORDER BY Statement
• SELECT – Multi Table Statement

Video 4: The INSERT Statement

• INSERT Statement Definition
• INSERT Statement Demo

Video 5: The UPDATE Statement

• UPDATE Statement Definition
• Updates Based on a Value
• Nested Statements
• Updating All Rows

Video 6: The DELETE Statement

• DELETE – With Job Security
• DELETE Statement Demo

Video 7: Basic Programming Logic

• Conditional Expressions
• Nested Statement
• CASE Statement
• Adjusting Results Column Names

Video 8: Data Definition Language

• DML vs. DDL
• CREATE and DROP Statements
• Creating a New Table in a Database

Video 9: Data Control Language

• CREATE LOGIN Statement
• CREATE USER Statement
• Creating a Login
• Creating a User
• Deleting Login Account

Video 10: Database Setup

• Setup your own database

Go Beyond the Basics — Get SQL Server Certified

When you’re ready to go beyond the basics outlined above check out our complete SQL Server 2008 Administration Training.

This hands-on course will not only prepare you for the 70-432 (SQL Server 2008, Implementation and Maintenance) MCTS exam, but will help you gain real-world experience.

What is a Virtual Machine?

Let’s start with what a virtual computer is.

In short, a virtual machine is basically a computer on a computer. Meaning, I can run Windows XP on my computer and have a different OS on it inside my virtual machine at the same time. This is good for more reasons than you may think.

First off it’s convenient. Rather than having 3 different physical machines and having to install operating systems on each one, you can use VMware Server to create and manage all of your different OS’s.

You can also conserve energy and space by having just one machine with three different computers on it.

How about the ease of sharing — you can create a virtual machine and send it to a friend/coworker without having to deal with installation, CD’s, serial codes, etc.

Also backup purposes — you don’t have to worry about messing up your main operating system when you can screw up the virtual one, throw it away and create another one.

Let me give you my practical use of VMware Server.

My company does various types of training on a weekly basis ranging in all different types of programs and operating systems. Rather than sending individual cd’s, serial number, instructions, etc., each location is sent a virtual machine with all the necessary components and they can run that machine using VMware player. It makes life so much easier.

Whatever the reason, VMware Server is a helpful tool and it is easy to configure and use.

Getting VMware Server for Free

The first thing you want to do is get VMware server. It’s a free download; all you have to do is go to www.VMware.com, click on the Downloads link on the right and find VMware Server.

After you click on the Free Download link you will have to register with an email and they will send you a link to download the server. Once the download has finished you will want to make sure you don’t have any other VMware tools installed on your computer, specifically VMware player.

VMware player is what is used to play virtual machines. When you create a virtual machine on the server and send it to another computer/person, that machine will need VMware player to play the virtual machine.

VMware Server Installation

The installation is fairly straightforward.

You may get a message depending on whether or not you have IIS (Internet Information Services ) installed. You can continue with the installation and set it up later or install VMware Server after IIS is installed.

Note: It is not essential that you install IIS for what we’re doing here.

To install IIS go to Control Panel → Add Remove Programs → Add Remove Windows Components and make sure IIS is checked. You will also need your Windows installation disk.

Follow the setup guide and it will walk you through the installation. It will ask you for a serial at the end.

The download is free and so is the serial code. You can find it here and all you have to do is register your info (Phony McRingRing will do) and they will email you a serial code.

Creating a Virtual Machine

Once you start your VMware Sever you will be asked to choose between Local and Remote connect — select Local.

Next, choose the option for New Virtual Machine — this is the first step to creating your virtual computer.

Your next choice will be Typical or Custom Setup, go ahead and select Typical.

What Type of Operating System Are You Creating?

In the next step you will be asked to specify which OS you will be creating. You can create any type you want — Windows, Linux, Other. And don’t worry, you can always change this later on.

For this example I will select Linux/Mandriva.

Name & Network Type?

Your next choice will be the name and location of your Virtual Machine. And after that there will be the network type. Basically, how will your virtual machine connect to the Internet?

Go ahead and use Bridge Networking — it’s the best option and it will allow the guest operating system to have its own IP address and connect to the Internet.

Almost Done!

Next what you have to do is allocate the disk space for your new virtual machine. This really depends on how much space you want and what you intend to do with it. Just select enough space for the OS and some extra for programs you will be installing.

After a few minutes you will have your new virtual machine.

On the left it will list the Virtual machines you’ve created (for me it just says Mandriva). You can create as many as need and the tools at the top will allow you to start, shutdown, restart, maximize window, etc.

FYI — you can also click on the edit button on top to make changes to the operating system, disk space, etc.

Installing the OS on Your Virtual Machine

Remember you’ve only just allocated space for the virtual machine; you still have to install the Operating System.

Installing the OS on the virtual machine is as simple as putting the boot disk into the CD drive and starting your virtual machine. Once you start the virtual machine the installation process will begin.

You’ll have to go through the normal steps as you would be installing the OS on a new computer. You can install any operating system on your virtual machine, just make sure that you allocated enough disk space to do so.

You double click into the virtual machine to take control and to get out just enter Control – Alt – Delete.

Remember that you can always put your virtual machine on a CD and send it to another machine/friend/etc. Just make sure you power down the virtual machine beforehand. It’s like making sure you shut down your computer before you unplug it.

Also, you must have VMware player installed to use a virtual machine on a CD, which is another free download from our friends at VMware.

Lastly, if your virtual machine is running sluggish you will want to allocate some more RAM. You can do this in the Server by clicking on Edit Virtual Machine and upping the RAM.

That’s about it. Good Luck!

Not only are you coming in with little to no practical experience but you’re potentially competing with some seasoned veterans for the few jobs that are available.

There are however a few things you can do to maximize your chances and to set yourself apart from other potential hires. Today I’ll show you what you can do to position yourself for the best chance to grab that open position and get the job you want.

Theoretical Knowledge

It probably goes without saying that you have to have some mastery of the subject before you go after the job you want. Be it classroom learning as part of a college course, or a certification class, or even through self paced training — if you want an entry level job on a help desk (level 1 support) or desktop hardware / software support role (level 2) you’ll need to have some form of training.

Additionally, you will need to know how to explain what you know to someone. Being able to understand that different RAID configurations lend themselves to data protection or performance improvements and being able to implement them are two different things. You need to have the knowledge before you can choose the most effective solution for the situation and then recommend and implement the solution.

The Lesson:

Learn as much as you can from the environment you’re presently in. Ask someone in a higher role what it is they are doing in the adjacent area working on that workstation or server. Try to remember the key things they are talking about and then research them on your own.

The knowledge is power rule applies here.

Practical Knowledge

On top of the theory, you also need to have some level of practical hands on experience. That might come from tinkering in a home lab setup or building your own white box computers for yourself or family and friends — but you’ll need this exposure and the more the better.

Sometimes this catch 22 is like getting a credit for the first time — you can’t have a credit history without having someone give you an opportunity to have credit and you generally do not get the opportunity to get credit from someone without showing them your pay back history and that you’re a good risk. Somewhere along the line someone has to take a chance on you.

With respect to getting hands on experience with computers and networking you might need to take a job that literally no one else wants or you may need to offer up what you know for free in exchange to use it as experience on your resume.

There are not too many people that are going to want to rotate tapes out of 10 year old backup systems and configurations, on third shift, part time, over the weekends only, for minimum wage — but if that’s what you can get to start out that might be what you need to do.

Grab the opportunity and do the job impeccably. Show up early, leave a couple of minutes after your shift ends, outline details of what was completed and what the next person needs to take care of and so forth.

All of these things will impress your current employer to the point where they may offer you more hours or a full shift when and if an opportunity comes up.

It doesn’t always work this way, but at least you’ll have the experience on your resume. Think of this as a stepping stone — your chance to get the job you want.

Additionally, you might see that a not for profit organization in your community needs helps rebuilding donated workstations and getting them onto their network. By donating your time you are gaining experience and another thing to add to your resume. And you’re helping out the community or the organization in a way that few other people can.

The Lesson:

Do the things you know how to do exceptionally well. Learn how to do things you don’t and practice them.

The knowledge is power rule applies here too but actual expertise and proficiency trumps it.

Moving to Where the Jobs Are / Commuting Long Distances

This is always a touchy subject; if you live in a small town you’re going to have to understand that in order to have options in the IT field you’re going to have to commit to driving long distances or totally relocating closer to the available jobs. It’s either that or understanding that your opportunities are going to be limited.

My first job in IT was 60 miles from my house; I drove about an hour each day to get to work and then an hour to get home. I did this daily for a year before the situation improved and I got an assignment closer to home. That was despite living in central Connecticut where there are many major population centers — I had to go into neighboring metropolitan areas to get a better position.

In order to get more exposure and greater experience I had to go farther than I previously was. I would take my car to the New Haven train station at 5:15AM and take the 1.5 hour commuter rail trip to Stamford so I would get there by 7AM to start work. The reverse trip would start at 4PM heading to the train station and getting on the 4:35 to come home. By the time the train ride ended, I got my car and arrived home it was 6:30PM most nights.

At the time it was tough justifying in my head all the time commuting (5 hours or so daily) and the cost (I think I remember it being about $400.00 a month ten years ago – who knows what it would cost today). The end result of my efforts however was worth it as the exposure and the experience I got paid dividends as I applied for positions in other organizations closer to home.

The Lesson:

To increase your chances at getting the job you want you will have to be flexible and make some sacrifices. If you want more than what the local job market has to offer then you may need to consider dealing with commuting or relocating.

Understanding Your Limitations and Making Them Work for You

Beyond knowing what you want to do you also need to understand that there are things you might not like doing long term or might not be able to do at all.

For example, I’m not much of a programmer. I can barely craft up much in the way of scripts and simple batch files. I understand how they work and I appreciate the power they harness but I would not like to focus on that all day long.

Others are complete scripting gurus but faced with dealing with a difficult customer situation or a technical escalation that creeps outside of their area of expertise might not be comfortable for them at all.

There are going to be things you do well and things you don’t do so well — make sure you understand that. Once you’re completely (or mostly) aware of this you can communicate these things to prospective or new employers as politically correct as possible; for example:

“I understand the concepts and the larger fundamentals of scripting, and I know how to leverage them but it is not my strong suit”

carries much better than:

“Scripting sucks and I can’t be bothered with it; I can click 60 times a minute and can do everything in GUI faster than any command line geek can type.”

When it comes to looking at new opportunities and positions some hiring managers don’t want to just hear what you’re good at. They also want to hear what your weaknesses are and how you manage them. You can only do that if you have the correct perspective on them.

The Lesson:

Have an understanding and appreciation for things you don’t do well and don’t like doing much; figure out the best ways for managing the scenarios where you have to do these things.

Make it a goal to handle these things a little better tomorrow than you do today. After that, focus on the things you excel at and make them the focus of your resume and skills that prospective managers are looking for.

That’s a wrap for today — I hope you found this article a good investment of your time.

I’m always looking forward to your feedback so feel free to drop in some comments or contact me directly. Additionally, I welcome your suggestions for topics of interest that you would like to see.

Best of luck in your studies!

Some of these are welcome additions, and some of them seem like ill advised bloat. But, for all of the additions to Windows over the years, to get the most out of your computer, there are still features and functionality that you shouldn’t go without.

Get these 8 Must Have Windows Utilities and see what you’ve been missing.

1. Xplorer2 Lite

For a simple copy or move job, the standard Windows Explorer or even just the My Computer window is fine. But, when it comes time to really manage your files, you need a three pane explorer like xplorer2 lite.

Sorting through the thousands of picture files that have built up over the years or just moving around documents or other files is so much easier when you can navigate to both the source and destination within a single window and then just drag and drop to your heart’s content.

2. CCleaner

CCleaner got its start as a way to delete all of those mysterious “cookies” that we found out websites were using to track us. These days, browsers come with built-in functions to erase cookies, but CCleaner has grown to clean up more than just browser cookies, and it gets those “hidden” files and cookies that the browsers miss.

All kinds of programs, from unknown little applications, to giant industry standard application suites, leave temporary files, log files, and registry keys littered around your PC. Deleting these files by hand is dicey at best because you never know if a file is actually required for proper software function, or if its just junk.

Uninstall programs are no help because they are often poorly written and don’t get all the files. CCleaner can get rid of temp files from hundreds of applications and clean up the registry at the same time. It will even get rid of those file associations that point to unused programs.

If you’ve never used a utility like this before, prepare to be amazed at how much disk space you get back when it is finished.

3. Process Explorer

Everyone knows that you can press CTRL-ALT-Delete to bring up the Task Manager. Unfortunately, software vendors know it too, and they don’t want you to close their software. Good luck trying to shutdown GoogleUpdate.exe. That’s where process explorer comes in.

Process Explorer (part of Sysinternals) not only shows you what programs are running, it shows each individual process. Even better, it will show you how much private RAM the process is using so you can see what’s hogging your resources.

Thanks to the pinpoint control of shutting down individual processes, you can terminate a hung process immediately without any sort of plea to wait. As an added bonus, Process Explorer also shows you all of the DLLs, Handles, and files being used by the process.

Wonder what in the world is keeping you from moving that folder because there is something “open”? Process Explorer can show you. You can even set Process Explorer to replace the default Task Manager so when you press CTRL-ALT-Delete, you are ready to roll.

Use it for a month on your computer and you’ll be shocked and bummed every time you press CTRL-ALT-Delete on another computer and get the standard Task Manager.

4. Continuous Disk Defragmenter

It’s hard to believe that Microsoft used to claim that defragmented hard drives did not occur with Windows. Those days are gone, and Microsoft includes a disk defragmenter that does a rudimentary job, but there are far better utilities out there.

Of course, they all suffer from one main problem: they take FOREVER to run! That is especially true on today’s bigger hard drives. You can set a regular defragmenter to run automatically, but you’ll wear out your hard drive faster that way, and it will chew up your system resources while it is running.

That is why a tool like Defrag Express comes in so handy. By continuously defragmenting your disk drive, you avoid the long slow defrag process you normally have to endure. But, since Defrag Express is designed to run all of the time, it is also easier on your hard drive and system resources. This little guy will keep your Windows XP or Vista system running faster.

5. Anti-Virus

Do I even have to explain this? Legions of pimply faced teenagers and basement dwelling adults have been joined by real criminals to find new ways to get unauthorized access to your computer and data. An anti-virus utility provides one layer of defense against these attacks.

There are many solid offerings, but be sure to get one that has real-time scanning so that your files are always scanned before being opened. Viruses don’t wait for your next virus scan to attack, so real-time scanning is a must.

Also, consider getting one with a firewall. Software firewalls are no match for hardware firewalls, but they can be an extra measure of security. Be sure to get one with a learning mode so that you don’t have to try and program it yourself.

6. Adobe Acrobat Reader Replacement

When Acrobat Reader first came out, it was a simple way to ensure that the file you got looked right when it got to your computer screen. The lightweight utility to make this possible was free and easy to download.

Today, Adobe Acrobat Reader is an enormous bloated client that has to run a persistent start-up process 24/7 on your computer just to be able to launch without taking so long that you click again because you are sure it isn’t working. Open a bunch of tabs in your browser and then click on a link that brings up a PDF file and you’ll still wait an eternity.

Instead of suffering through all of that, get an alternative reader like Foxit. It doesn’t have all of the features that the Adobe Reader has, but it has all of the features you’ll ever use. It is small, doesn’t waste resources with a start-up process, and launches fast.

Make sure to make it your default viewer in your browser or Adobe Molasses will still launch when you click on a link.

7. Backup Tool

There are two kinds of backups. There is the, “Oh no! My whole hard drive burst into flames and teleported into another dimension, so I have to restore the whole thing,” backup. And, then there is the, “Oh, no! I didn’t really delete that file did I?” backup.

The first one takes a tape or DVD and you probably only do it twice a year, which is fine because you probably won’t ever need it. The second, happens all the time, and no tape or DVD backup will help. Instead, you want an online backup like Carbonite or Mozy.

These services install a small piece of code on your machine and then after the initial backup, they keep all of your files backed up and ready to be restored quickly and easily without mounting a DVD or Tape backup.

Also check out Syncplicity which keeps multiple versions of files for those times when you realize that you’ve messed up that spreadsheet and you really need the one from three saves ago.

8. Encryption Software

When Windows 7 shows up with Bitlocker, you can go that route. Until then, you need a way to make sure that the critical data on your computer never gets to the wrong people. Encryption is just the way to make that happen.

TrueCrypt is free and once you get the hang of it, it’s simple to use. Just create an encrypted volume which lives on your hard drive like any other file. Then, when you have things like company secrets, credit reports, tax receipts, or other data that just has to be kept secret, mount the volume and use it just like any other drive.

Keep it open all day while you are at your PC and dismount the volume when you are done. If anyone gets a hold of your drive, they won’t get that data, even if they do get your embarrassing GTA high scores.