Emmanuel Computer Consulting, L.L.C. » Windows

If your Internet Stops Working on March 8th You Most Likely Have a Trojan

William — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 18:15:23 +0000

This all depends on if they get the patchwaork dns server order extended. If they do then your infected pc will work fine. I hope they do not then these mahcines will cease to work and the infection will become obvious.

If your PC starts acting weird or totally goes offline on or after March 8th(for folks who keep their computers off) Please contact ECC for assistance.

Half of Fortune 500s, US Govt. Still Infected with DNSChanger Trojan — Krebs on Security.

The Internet Is Infected – 60 Minutes – CBS News

William — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 02:51:07 +0000

Watch this folks. I talk about this over and over. a/v isn’t enough..it is only a start. Please start with these basics. Please contact ECC on how to minimize your exposure.

The Internet Is Infected – 60 Minutes – CBS News.

Reset the entire registry permissions to defaults | Windows Reference

William — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 02:43:01 +0000

Reset the entire registry permissions to defaults | Windows Reference.

Virtualization Project Update

William — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:57:16 +0000

I got Hyper-v working finally here at my office. I now have one box hosting 3 virtual mahcines. VM 1 is my Astaro firewall. VM 2 is my main AD file/print/authentication server. VM 3 is my Astaro Command Center which aggregates status and updates from my astaro and my other client installs to me. This allows me to monitor all of my Astaro easily in one spot without having to constantly individually touch each machine. My power usage used to idle at nearly 130 watts. My idle power now hovers around 60 watts. I now average less than 90 watts which means nearly half of my power budget is now gone. The host machine is running server 2008 R2 enterprise with Hyper-v. It has three physical nics. It also mirrors all functions of the main server except for file serving.

As for resource allocation here is the breakdown:

VM1: 4 vcpus, 2 gigs of ram(static), 3 virtual nics, 80 gigs of dynamic storage on RAID 1, 25% total system cpu ghz reserved with the ability to burst to 50% usage with medium priority.

VM2: 2 vcpus, 2 gigs ram(static), 1 virtual nic, 500 gigs of dynamic storage assigned on it’s own raid 1 array, 0% cpu reservation with burst to 25% cpu with medium priority.

VM3: 4 vcpus, 1 gig ram(static), 1 virtual nic, 120 gigs of dynamic RAID 1 storage, 0% cpu reservation with burst to 25%.

Right now the host machine spends most of it’s time at idle. Considering how little power this draws it will pay for itself in under 1 year.

Virtualization Projects Update

William — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 21:13:33 +0000

I currently have two virtualization projects going. One is to convert 3 physical server to hyper-v and one is to convert 3 physical servers to KVM. Unfortunately p2v on a domain controller is not only not recommended, it doesn’t work well. Also there is no supported upgrade path from server foundation to anything but standard. I have foundation and enterprise. So I am firing up a new enterprise vm and then will manually mount the vhd from foundation backup to grab the files. It’ll be a permissions nightmare for a bit but i’m used to that..:) Once i get my AD domain migrated then it is time for Astaro. Then i decom two boxes saving myself 200 watts of continuous draw. The draw goes down to about 60 watts. Keep watching for the KVM conversion. That one is going to be easier.

Vista and Windows 7 Won’t Be Allowed to Hang Around Like XP Did.

William — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:27:08 +0000

Microsoft is pushing Windows 8 and the new Metro UI extremely hard. If you want to see Metro look at a Windows phone 7 equipped phone. Anybody developing for Windows xp-Win7 you best take Microsoft serious…MS wants Metro to be the new standard and they aren’t afraid to shove Win7 and below quickly into the garbage heap.

In a move that took many by surprise, Microsoft dropped support for new Windows Desktop Gadgets.

Once hailed (or at least marketed) as a key new feature in Windows Vista, Desktop Gadgets are going the way of the dodo. In their stead? Windows 8 Metro, of course.

Microsoft’s official death certificate for Windows Gadgets hawks, “With Windows Developer Preview, developers can create rich app experiences where customers focus on their important tasks. Apps are at the center of the Windows Developer Preview experience and are alive with activity and vibrant content. Users immerse themselves in your full-screen app while Windows gracefully gets out of the way.”

Well, yes, that’s certainly the case if you’re talking about the Metro tiled “Mr. Hyde” interface in Windows 8 Developer Preview. The old-fashioned “Dr. Jekyll” desktop view still supports Gadgets, at least in the current incarnation of Windows 8. To see for yourself, if you have a copy of the Developer Preview handy, right-click on an empty spot on the Windows 8 dekstop and choose Gadgets, then Get More Gadgets Online — precisely the same way one would get Gadgets in Windows 7. Except now you can’t submit more Gadgets for inclusion in the Microsoft-managed collection.

via The rise and fall of the Windows Desktop Gadget | Microsoft windows – InfoWorld.

Windows 8 Developer Preview

William — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:51:34 +0000

This isn’t even a beta so if it breaks..burps..acts up..etc etc this is not the completed product. The core is basically done which is why developers are getting this. ECC’s testing of this begins immediately after I finish downloading the file. Watch this space for ongoing updates. I am going to install this on my core solo 1.6 ghz 2 gig ram laptop. If it runs ok on that it’ll run on anything that currently can run Vista.

Ballmer’s breaking point: Is Windows 8 already too late? • The Register

William — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 03:19:57 +0000

Listen to the podcast either at the linked article or download the mp3 here.

Rumor has it that Windows 8 – the first version of Windows for ARM as well as x86 and billed as Microsoft’s answer for the PC to iOS and the iPad – will actually ship early: next April. That’s quicker than anybody had expected. Plus, Microsoft is putting people in position for a big consumer push for Windows 8, hoping to take the brand battle to Apple.

What’s more, Microsoft just floated Office 365, combining Office-like web apps with a multi-tenant version of the company’s popular Notes killer Exchange server.

via Ballmer’s breaking point: Is Windows 8 already too late? • The Register.

Windows 8 will run on all Windows 7 PCs and Vista PCs too | ZDNet

William — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:14:54 +0000

The Microsoft Partner Conference is always a good source of information. This makes things intriguing for Win8. If it truly runs on vista class machines then it’ll run on my 5 year old notebook(which currently run win7) just fine.

Worried that you’ll have to buy a new PC in order to be able to run Windows 8? Don’t! Microsoft has said that the Windows 8 system requirements will be the same, or perhaps even lower, than those of Windows 7.Speaking at the 2011 Worldwide Partner Conference, Tami Reller, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Windows division, had this to say:“In both of our Windows 8 previews, we talked about continuing with the important trend that we started with Windows 7, keeping system requirements either flat or reducing them over time. Windows 8 will be able to run on a wide range of machines because it will have the same requirements or lower.”So if Windows 8 has the same system requirements that Windows 7 had, that should mean that Windows 8 will also run on systems that currently have Windows Vista installed on them.As a reminder, here are the Windows 7 system requirements:1GHz CPU1GB RAM 32-bit or 2GB RAM 64-bit16 GB hard disk space 32-bit or 20 GB 64-bitDirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver

via Windows 8 will run on all Windows 7 PCs and Vista PCs too | ZDNet.

I Had This One Right

William — Mon, 23 May 2011 22:12:11 +0000

I had some folks I know telling me MS wasn’t going to release Win8 in 2012. Everything I have seen though form public to ms partner materials has strongly hinted at 2012 for the next windows stack..server 8 windows8. Most likely office 2012 as well. Right from the MS CEO:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsofts-ballmer-says-next-gen-windows-systems-due-in-2012/9515

so what do you do if you are on anything form xp on up? wait to upgrade until windows 8 comes out…or for my clients wait for me to test the betas and give you an idea of the hardware requirements…which i will do as soon as the partners betas get released.

Microsoft’s Ballmer says next-gen Windows systems due in 2012 | ZDNet.