or maybe even what you don't know?

I recently (last night) came up with an idea on how to do a better job of sharing information with the rest of my department.  We use SharePoint for a lot of things.  It occurred to me that a Blog would be a good way of sharing information on how to fix issues, troubleshoot issues or even to say "we know there is a problem, but we haven't figured it out yet.

Well you don't really want to put that stuff out in public unless it has been cleared of information that you don't want everyone to know about.  Specifics of your organization may end up there and it would probably be a good idea to not allow that sort of information to be just randomly published.  But if it is an internal, authentication required to view, you must have a reason for being there kind of place...

So we have set up a Blog site for our group.  A colleague and I will try it and see if we can get the rest of the guys on board with it.  (That is if I can get him interested.)

I happened to read one of the many junk e-mails that I get from Microsoft (I get them on purpose) and saw this tool for posting to a blog.  I thought I would try it out.  I just downloaded and installed it, but I haven't read anything on it yet.  I thought I would go with a "trial by fire" sort of approach. 

It looks like you can do standard blog tasks with it, such as insert tables, pictures, maps, tags, or hyperlinks.  I am just going to insert a hyperlink to the download.

Click here to go to the Windows Live Writer download page.

Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file.  You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.

OR you may just need to removed Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration.  I haven't ever like it.  This is just one more reason.

I found this by accident when I was installing SQL tools on my Vista machine.  I think it gives a pretty good short explanation of User Account Control.

http://www.microsoft.com/sql/howtobuy/windowsvistasupport.mspx

This paragraph starts the helpful explanation:

Microsoft Windows Vista includes a new feature, User Account Control (UAC), which helps administrators manage their use of elevated privileges. When running on Microsoft Windows Vista, administrators do not use their administrative privileges by default. They perform most actions as standard (non-administrative) users, temporarily assuming their administrative privileges only when necessary. This separation of privileges causes some known issues.

So, I was thinking that I would write a script to transfer some DHCP scopes from one machine to another.  Well, wouldn't you know...  there is already a tool to do that, and I didn't even have to install software, just read a little article...

http://www.geekadmin.com/?p=13

I have Windows Server 2003.  So here is the pertinant part for me:

Use this command to export all scopes from the source machine:

netsh dhcp server export C:\dhcp.txt all

Install the dhcp server on the new machine and run this import command:

netsh dhcp server import C:\dhcp.txt all

After that authorize the dhcp server and that´s it!

Quick and easy.

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2048070,00.asp?kc=EWENTEMNL110306EOAD

I wasn't familiar with how to get a website to repsond without the “www” in front, and when I went to do searches on it, I wasn't too happy with the results.  So, I am creating this entry just to remind me how to do this simple little task.

To get a website to respond to the “domain.com” and the “www.domain.com”, using Windows 2003 Server for DNS and for IIS, the following are the steps to take:

1.  add a host header for “domain.com” and “www.domain.com” in IIS.

2.  add an “A” record for “domain.com” and “www.domain.com” in DNS.  (Note:  You can use an Alias(CNAME) for the “www” entry instead of a Host(A) record, but you have to enter an A record for “domian.com”.)

In Windows Vista, Microsoft is making an effort to help you figure out where your weaknesses are when it comes to PC performance.  The Windows Experience Index is an evaluation of key components of your system.  When you want to know what to do to improve performace, you can take a look at it and decide what areas to concentrate on. 

I think this will be a good tool for companies looking to move to Vista from XP.  You can test your various machine types and look at the Experience Index to determine if you want to replace the machines, add memory, or just move to Vista as is.

Here is a related article: http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=86