It's Not Over

Tech Ed 2012 Links

brianr@mcwtech.com — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 02:46:51 -0800

I’m at Tech Ed in Amsterdam today and need to provide some links from my talks.

Here’s where they will go.

The links are also good for the same talks I did in Orlando just over a week ago.

2 Birds, 1 stone—Windows 8 Release Preview

brianr@mcwtech.com — Thu, 31 May 2012 12:10:00 -0800

Like many of you I downloaded the Windows 8 Release Preview as well as Visual Studio 2012 RC today.

I knew I’d want to use it in some Virtual Machines as well as Boot to VHD.

So how did I do it and save some time?

Download the ISO from Microsoft.
Create a new Hyper-V VM.
When choosing the VHD size, I start small—I can always make it bigger. For Windows 8, Visual Studio 2012 RC, and Office 2010, I make it 32 GB fixed since I know I’ll need that much plus a bit of buffer.
NOTE: If you’re going to use Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 (instead of Windows Server 2012 RC) to host your Window 8 VM, you’ll want to make sure you have this hot fix installed before you try and boot your Windows 8 VM as a guest.
Install Windows 8. When I get a chance to create the first account, I only create a local account like Installer since I know I’m going to use sysprep. I wait until I’m using a “real” version before I add my Live ID.
I like to enable the local Administrator account and set a password.
I then run Windows Update and then shutdown.
Export a copy.

Windows 8

Install Visual Studio 2012 RC.

.
Visual Studio 2012

Install Office 2010 Pro with SP1.
Windows Update and then shutdown.
Export a copy.
Now start it back up and log into the virtual machine.
Log on as the local Administrator.
Start a command prompt (elevated if you’re not using the local Administrator).
Change directories to C:\Windows\System32\Sysprep.
Type sysprep and press return.

Windows 8 Sysprep

Pick OOB, generalize and then click OK.
Wait for it to Shutdown.
Backup the VHD.
Now copy to a real machine that I want to use it on with Boot to VHD.
Go to Windows 7 for example and mount the VHD .
Use System Configuration to make sure I don’t have an existing Windows 8 entry. If I do rename with BCDEDIT.
Start an Administrative command prompt.
Change to C:\Windows\System32 and type bcdboot V:\Windows where V: is the driver letter assigned to the mounted VHD.
Reboot and let Windows 8 do through the OOB experience.
Log in with my Live ID, add missing drivers.
Visit the Windows 8 store.

Enjoy!

How I got the Windows 8 Consumer Preview on my //BUILD tablet

brianr@mcwtech.com — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 21:32:00 -0800

If you paid to go Microsoft’s Build Windows Conference last September in Anaheim, CA, you received a pre-release version of Windows 8 (the Developer Preview) running on pre-release Samsung hardware (which you can acquire with Windows 7) as the morally equivalent Samsung Series 7 Slate.

Now there’s a couple of ways to do it. In fact, I tried the USB key stick way. However, I couldn’t get it to work. Turns out there’s a few tricks including using a 4 GB USB stick (I was using a 16 GB model). If you want to try it this way, go over to the forums.

What did I do? Well, I followed in the foot steps of my fellow developer Ian Griffiths: I installed from an ISO over the network. Naturally if you have room, you can just do it locally.

First I downloaded the x64 ISO.

Next, I created a network share to the drive where I stored the ISO.

I then mounted the ISO using the new built-in ISO mounting feature in Windows 8.

From there I ran the Setup program.

I then answered a few questions. In particular, I had the choice of migrating my old settings. I said no.

Once things were updated and I had logged into my new install, I went to reclaim some space. My C: drive had a few extra folders that I wanted to get rid of:

$Windows.!BT
MSOCache
Windows.old

The MSOCache is a hidden folder used by Office 2010. I removed it manually. I then started to remove Windows.old manually first (it’s not hidden so I noticed it first). While possible, it’s easier to get rid of the two “Windows” folders by using Disk Cleanup.

Start the Control Panel.
Access the Performance Information and Tools
Click the Open disk cleanup.

Check Temporary Windows Installation files (see below) and Previous Windows installation(s):

Now on to installing Visual Studio 11.

I feel the need … the need for speed-part 1

brianr@mcwtech.com — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:45:00 -0800

I love SSDs. As do others. Currently all of my SSDs are from Intel except for one. I’ll have to count them up at some point but needless to say from my first 80 GB generation one X-25, I’ve been hooked.

Recently, one of my generation 2 Intel 160 GB drives was acting up. Now unlike old mechanical drives, you don’t get much warning. Generally they just die. I quickly copied off all the data and then put it aside.

Today while working on other things, I did some testing on it with the Intel Solid-State Drive Toolbox as well as HD Tune Pro. I had been using the drive in an external case over eSATA (more on that later). In order to use the Intel tools, I needed to direct connect it to my laptop using the ultra bay in one of my Lenovo W510s.

The Intel tools all reported all was well. I then ran all the tests in HD Tune Pro both with and without a partition (you can only run the write tests without one). The health report did in fact show an issue. It doesn’t look too bad so with regular backups, I think I can continue to use the drive.

One down side to SSDs is that their performance can degrade over time (especially if you have a drive without TRIM support or like me, you put the drive in a case that prevents regular use of TRIM).

I was interested then in how the drive was doing performance wise.

Here’s the raw Benchmark Read results in the ultra bay:

Here’s the raw Benchmark Write results in the ultra bay:

Overall, not bad for a drive that’s almost two years old and has been used extensively to host VHDs for Hyper-V.

As I had mentioned, I had been using the drive in an external case. So I put it back in the case and ran the same HD Tune Pro. The results, depressing.

Here’s the raw Benchmark Read results in the external case over eSATA:

Here’s the raw Benchmark Write results in the external case over eSATA:

As you can see the read is down about 100 MB/s (!) and the write is down about 25 MB/s.

What’s going on? I’m not quite sure.

Is it the eSATA port on Lenovo? The external case?

I’ll investigate more in part 2 as well as do some tests with a brand new Generation 3 Intel 160 GB drive.

2012 brings an updated blog engine

brianr@mcwtech.com — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:00:00 -0800

So here’s the obligatory test post.

I finally updated to BlogEngine .NET 2.5.

While I considered writing my own … who am I kidding … I have too much to do already so it’s nice to have something new, modern, and fresh.

I’m now using Feed Burner for my RSS feed and if you’re using your web browser to read this, I’m using the MetroLight theme.

Thanks to everyone who made this great, free blog engine.

Tech Ed 2011 Hardware

brianr@mcwtech.com — Tue, 03 May 2011 06:22:00 -0800

What’s great about computers today and good virtualization software is that you can do more with less.

However, I continue to pick areas where I need as much or more hardware on the road with me. While the promise of the cloud and Internet in general is great. I can’t always count on reliable connectivity back to my servers. And since I tend to do demo heavy talks, I’m forced to travel with a fair amount of kit.

For Tech Ed 2011 in Atlanta, I’m doing an all-day workshop on virtualization for developers and two sessions. The sessions can be fulfilled with just one of my W510s. My workshop however, demands a bit more.

So, what am I packing?

Two Lenovo W510s
Two Intel 160 GB Gen2 SSD in external cases over eSata to W510s
One Lenovo X61
One 8-port HP Switch with VLAN support
One DLINK 4-port router
One QNAP TS-259 Pro+

This configuration will let me show Hyper-V Live Migration as well as run a full Visual Studio 2010 Lab Management demo domain with a DC, SCVMM host, TFS, Build, Developer, and Tester machines and of course a Hyper-V host to run lab machines.

Hope to see you there!

[Edit] Fixed bulleted list.

Atlanta in May

brianr@mcwtech.com — Sun, 01 May 2011 23:45:00 -0800

Where will you be the week of May 14, 2011? I hope it’s with me and a bunch of other great folks at Tech Ed 2011.

It looks to be another great show. I’m lucky enough to be presenting an all-day workshop on virtualization for developers as well as two sessions.

One session is on using Expression Blend 4 as a developer. The second is on Team Build 2010.

I hope to see you there. And if you’ve not registered, there’s still time for both the show and/or my pre-con.

If you’re coming to my pre-con, drop me a mail with your t-shirt size. See the contact link on the blog.

See you there!

VSLive 2011 Las Vegas workshop files

brianr@mcwtech.com — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 03:37:00 -0800

Thank you to everyone who attended Ken and mine’s workshop on April 18, 2011 at VSLive in Las Vegas.

You can obtain updated slides from the conference downloads site.

I’ve posted a zip file on my SkyDrive for you to download which includes our license, docs, and source files.

Please return to this post as we may more or update the zip in the future.

Update: reminder, you’ll need to get your own flickr developer key to work with the sample.

The Globals.cs file in the Common Library source has commented out variables that you need to update before the code with compile and run.

Thanks again for coming!

Brian and Ken

Are You Running the Ultimate Version of Visual Studio 2010?

brianr@mcwtech.com — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:45:00 -0800

I’m doing a talk today at DevConnections in Orlando, FL today. The talk is primarily about all the yummy goodness that Microsoft ships out of band from the core Visual Studio product boxes. In addition, I cover what’s in the SKUs above Visual Studio 2010 Professional edition—Premium and Ultimate.

So here’s a list of the items I either showed a demo of, or mentioned.

Product/Feature	Minimum SKU	Notes
SQL Server 2008 R2 Express	N/A
Silverlight Tools for Visual Studio 2010	Professional	Download
Silverlight 4 Toolkit April 2010	N/A	Download
Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio	Professional	Link inside Visual Studio or download
Windows Azure AppFabric	Professional	Download
Windows Phone Developer Tools	N/A	Integrates with existing Visual Studio or provides Express
Silverlight for Windows Phone Toolkit	N/A	Requires Phone Developer Tools
Windows Phone 7 Design Templates	N/A	Requires Blend for Windows Phone

Database Development	Premium	Feature of SKU
IntelliTrace	Ultimate	Feature of SKU
Unlimited Load Testing	Ultimate	Benefit
Project Server Connector	Ultimate	Benefit
Lab Management	Ultimate	Benefit (also via Test Professional 2010)
Team Foundation Server 2010	Professional	Benefit
Team Foundation Server Power Tools	Professional	Download
Various Power Tools	Professional	See Extension Manager in Visual Studio

Notes
Feature of SKU means it’s in the box.
Benefit means you get it if you have the SKU and valid MSDN Subscription
N/A under Minimum SKU means it works with command-line tools or doesn’t technically require Visual Studio 2010 to work

Links from VSLive VS ALM Workshop

brianr@mcwtech.com — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 21:37:00 -0800

Thanks to everyone who attended my workshop on this past Sunday!

Here’s the links I took down for you all:

TFS 2010 Power Tools (September Release)
http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/c255a1e4-04ba-4f68-8f4e-cd473d6b971f

Article on Customizing Work Items
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee309516.aspx

What do the Code Metrics Columns *really* mean?
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/codeanalysis/archive/2007/10/03/new-for-visual-studio-2008-code-metrics.aspx

CodePlex Project for Custom Workflow Activities for Build
http://tfsbuildextensions.codeplex.com/

Tech Ed 2010 Europe in Berlin (talks on lots of yummy stuff like Branching and Merging)
http://www.msteched.com/2010/Europe

Branching and Merging Guidance
http://tfsbranchingguideiii.codeplex.com/releases/view/38849

TFS Integration Platform
http://tfsintegration.codeplex.com/

Lab Management GDR (everyone wants)
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/lab_management/archive/2010/08/20/lab-management-final-update-is-now-available.aspx

Tool to help configure MOSS/SharePoint Server 2010 with TFS Dashboard
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/bharry/archive/2010/08/04/configuring-microsoft-office-sharepoint-server-with-tfs-2010.aspx

Enjoy!