I Want One

I am a pretty hard core PC user. I have dabbled with Macs in my different jobs, but really only put hands on them when I have to fix a problem. However, with the introduction of their new Mac Pro, I just may have to change all that.

A collegue pointed out this blog post over at ZDNet, so I had to check it out. It is true, Apple has released the "Fastest Mac Ever."
This new Mac Pro has 8 processor cores. Yes, that is correct, I said 8 processors. And as if that is not enough, it can also house up to 4TB of INTERNAL storage, and oh yeah, 32GB of RAM. Evan if I combined all the desktop computers in my house (and actually that is a few computers and parts) I don't have that kind of power.

Now, the price is still a bit high for me to justify buying as my personal laptop, but given the fact that this beauty is a portable server, the price doesn't suck.

Yep, I am in love.

Facebook Widget Troubles

It seems Facebook is the latest toy that hackers are using to spread adware and malicious code.

According to an article posted yesterday at NetworkWorld, there is a widget called "Secret Crush" that you can add to your Facebook account. Just like most widgets, in order to use it you have to forward it on to some of your friends and encourage them to use it as well. After forwarding it on, it is supposed to tell you your secret crush.

The article says that the widget doesn't work and never does tell you about a secret crush. Instead, you are rewarded with spyware software that sends you ads.

One more way for my kids to wreak havoc on my home network. . .wooo hooo.

There are days in this IT life that I hate. Like days where I spend 8 hours or more trying everything I can think of or read about to get a hard drive to boot, only to have it boot once and mock me the other 7 1/2 hours.

There are days like today though, when the simple task of running and terminating cat6 cable is enough busywork to keep me happy.

In truth, neither my previous Help Desk position or my Lab Manager job required that I lay cable, so I have never had the simple pleasure of runnig wire and creating wall jacks (keystone jacks). So I did actually learn something today. I found lots of very helpful information at the Lanshack site, so I highly recommend you go there to start. The information listed below will probably not be helpful on its own.

Here is how you terminate a cat6 cable with a Keystone jack:

1. Strip back some of the protective coating from your cat6 cable. (As shown to the right)

2. Untwist your paired wires so you have 8 individual wires.

3. Lay out your cables so they match the picture of either the 568-A or 568-B standard that should be somewhere on your jack or patch panel. We used the Cat6 Keystone Jacks from CablesToGo and they were great to work with (shown above). My husband swears by the cheapies they sell at Menards here in Chicago though, and I will admit they look nicer, but are harder to read.

4. Using a punchdown tool or a screwdriver, push the wire all the way down to the bottom of the jack. We bought a cheap punchdown tool that made this job a breeze ($14 from Newegg.com
).

5. Trim the ends of you wires if you didn't use a punchdown tool.

6. Place the plastic protective cover on the jack.

7. Mount your keystone jack in a wall mount of you choosing.

Fun with E-cards

So today was mostly about moving wires and jacks around for an office move that has to happen today, and other than getting to punch down a couple of jacks for the first time (phone and network), I don't have much tech info to share today.

I did however find a fun site that will let you send E-cards to your family and friends using their photos, or your own flickr photos. The site is delivr. I used a stock photo they had and emailed a Happy New Year card to my parents who quickly told me how much they enjoyed it.

Next up, making a personalized thank you card to my brothers to thank them for hosting the Christmas festivities! I could sure waste a lot of time with this fun gadget!

Free Wireless Headset

On one of those rare days off, I was watching TV when I happened upon the Rachel Ray Show. I think it was a rerun, but what caught my attention was a segment that mentioned a great website that will give you a FREE headset for your phone.

The name of the site is FreeHeadset.org and that is their web address as well. You will have to pay for shipping, but on the headset that I ordered, that was only $4.74 For most of the newer phones and Blackberry devices it looks like they have a free option and also a higher end device that is not free.

If you aren’t already using a hands free headset while you drive and talk on the phone, please do. Here in Chicago you can actually get pulled over and issued a ticket for not using a hands-free device, and I have heard that many other states are moving in that direction also

New Laptop

I finally feel whole again. I have gone a whole year without a laptop and darn it, I didn't like it! I think that every tech, from the Helpdesk Technician to the CIO needs to have easy access to technology. I happen to think that giving a tech a laptop is the best thing you can do to encourage them to become a better tech. But I digress . . .

I did a post a few weeks ago about all the laptops that I was considering, and I still think those are some of the better options out there, but I settled a bit.

My dear husband was in Wal-Mart the day before Christmas (yes, I am one of THOSE people who got a laptop from Wal-Mart, my head is down in shame . . . but only a little) and saw a deal that he could not pass up.

I got an HP Pavilion DV6629WM. It has a beautiful 15.4" display and came with a digital camera and printer. Unfortunately, it did come with Vista Home Premium, which I am not entirely thrilled about, but I can always downgrade if I really need to.

Office Demos

It is almost Christmas, so I have set aside my studying for a few days, but still needed to work on some training for Office 2007 and stumbled upon a site many probably use all the time, but was new to me.

Microsoft has really become more user friendly in the past couple of years, and one sure sign of that is the wealth of information they have on their Office Online sites. In addition to some really great trainging materials, the also have some great demos.

I took some tips and created an article for our newsletter, but I will also be sending my customers more often to the Office site so they too can get the information that they need.

I often find that desktop support takes up a large part of my day if I let it, and I also have found that the more training and guiding I do is less time I have to spend later answering the more basic how-to quetions from my users.

By the way, I also have some users who are still using Office 2003 and one or two stuck on Office 2000 and there are links from them from this site too.

Last Minute Gift for the Geek Girl

I am browsing the net this afternoon while I wait for a backup to finish so I can do some testing, and I stumbled upon a last minute gift idea for the geek girl on your list.

This little pink toolkit is awesome. . .and so cute. I just love it. I am sure that any techy girl on your list would love this gift. That is, unless she already has a great set of tools.

While you are on this site, another great gift for the woman on your list would be the Ambient Fire DVD. I have a fireplace in my family room, but can't wait to try this DVD on the TV in the bedroom.

And while you are at it, you may as well spring for either the Fireplace Jar Candle or the Fireplace Scented Tealights. This should really set the mood.

Studying: Command-Line Utilities for Account Management

Today I am studying about the command-line tools used for account management that are tested on the 70-290 certification exam. I need to know what they do, and how their arguments are setup.

dsadd.exe - when used it adds objects to AD (computers, users, quotas, groups, ou)

dsget.exe - when used it shows the properties of objects in AD

dsmod.exe - when used it modifies attributes of objects in AD (computers, users, groups, ou)

dsmove.exe - moves objects in AD

dsquery.exe - allows you to query AD for objects that match specified criteria

gpresult.exe - shows the RSoP for a target user and computer

whoami.exe - displays user and group info for current logged-in user

cmdkey.exe - manages stored username and passwords on the pc

How-to Setup a Managed Switch

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I switched a switch. I replaced a 24-port switch with a 48-port switch, and went from an HP to a Netgear switch, both managed.

So I can remember what I did, I am listing the steps I took to setup my switch:

1. Plug in the modem cable that came with the switch to a computer on-site and the switch console port.

2. Plug in power adapter.

3. Connect to the switch via HyperTerminal if using Windows XP, if using Vista, you will have to download a terminal emulation program. In HyperTerminal setup a new connection with the following settings:

• Baud rate - 9,600 bps
  
• Data bits - 8
  
• Parity - none
  
• Stop bit - 1
  
• Flow control - none
  

4. Typed in user and put in the values given. Then typed ezconfig.

5. I setup the network parameters, giving the switch its network address.

6. Logged out of HyperTerminal and logged into the switch via the web to finish the configuration.

Switched a Switch Today

Today I had to come in early to change out a 24-port 10/100/1000 switch to a 48-port 10/100/1000 switch.

Now I know that technically, this is not a big deal and is pretty straight forward, but let's keep in mind that a year ago I was a desktop tech who hardly knew what a switch looked like. Today I am installing them. I have made progress, even if it is in baby steps.

We got a Netgear GSM7248 Managed Switch from Newegg.com and it was here in two days with standard shipping. I game with easy to follow instructions and so far has been great. Now I need to watch it and lable all of the connections, which will take considerably longer than it did to install it.

I will keep posting as to how this switch is doing, but we only paid $1,160 for this switch.

Still Studying . . . Any Help?

I am trying to not get frustrated, but I am. I have used a plethora of study tools, and each time I change tools, and test on that tool, I fail the practice exams.

I seem to have the hardware sections down cold, but everything else is questionable. I have used two different video programs; TestOut and QuickCert. Neither video program seems to have prepared me well enough. I also went through the MCSA/MCSE Self-Paced Training Kit , but that did not prepare me completely either. I am now going through the Syngress book, MCSA/MCSE Managing and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Environment, which I have to say has been the most comprehensive tool yet. There are tools mentioned in this book that I have not heard of from the other tools.

If anyone has any tips/tricks for studying for and passing this test, I would be most grateful for any help. I had set a goal for myself of November 2007, but that date of course has come and gone and I have not yet sat for the exam. My only consolation is that I have only been working on Server 2003 for just under a year, and have to study in my "spare time."

So, if you are an MCSE, or have at least passed the 70-290 test, please let me know what worked best for you?

A Great Tech Tool

The PowerSquid is a great tech tool. Any tech who has ever gone into the field to install a new PC on a users desktop knows that the biggest pain is sometimes plugging in all the periphials in the powerstrip. The speakers and external drives often have huge transformer plugs that no matter how you move them arround, always end up taking over two outlets. With the PowerSquid Outlet Multiplier, you can use all of your outlets, even when they are big transformer blocks!

I will no longer be intimidated by these devices. From now on, I will be using the PowerSquid on all my new installs. I can appreciate a great idea, and this is it. They are offing special deals during the holiday season, so check them out and
Get 5% off your entire PowerSquid.com order. Coupon code: AFF5PSCOUPOFF

5 Laptops for the Women On Your List

I need to buy a laptop. Between blogging and studying for the MCSE exams, I need to be able to have everything with me instead of carrying cds around. My iPod has helped, but I really need a computer with me everywhere.

So, I have started looking for laptops that I want to purchase. I already listed out the specs that I like in a earlier blog, here I want to make a note of the laptops that I am seriously considering.

1. I think the one I like the best is this T23210 being offered at QVC. I have stated again and again that I really like Dell products, so it is fitting that this top my list. I like the specs on this laptop, and I LOVE the color options! I have not purchased from them in the past, but the price on this laptop is very good.

2. I really like this XPS M1530 a lot. I love the highest end option, but I think right now it is a bit too expensive. And again, I have to say that I really like the color options here. For something that I will have attached to my hand, I like the idea of it being attractive. Besides, colors make me happy.

3. I also like the IBM Thinkpad X61s fully loaded. It is not as pretty as the Dells, but it is a solid laptop, and you can still get Windows XP Pro loaded if you want to, which I think I do.

4. I also really like the HP Pavilion dv2500t. It can be customized to include the features/specs that I want, and the price is competitive.

5. Finally, I am not sure this is the year I am ready to jump in and purchase a Mac, but I am very tempted by all of the hype about running a better Windows machine on the MacBook Pro.

Second Mentoring Session - Installing Exchange 2003

We installed Exchange Server 2003 on our new network today. There wasn't much to it, but I did want to put down just a couple of notes while I am thinking of it.

1. Exchange server does have some dependencies. You will have to install the following Windows Components (I did forget these once home, but a quick look on this very helpful site did indeed refresh my memory:

• .Net Framework
• ASP.net
• IIS
• World Wide Web Publishing Service
• SMTP
• NNTP

2. We installed Exchange in three steps, forestprep, domainprep, and setup.

3. There is a handly log file that is created on the root of the drive where Exchange is installed called Exchange Server Setup Progress.log for troubleshooting.

4. You have to be logged into the server as an administrator for the domain for this to all work as it should, and yes, you should definitely make sure your DCs are up and running.

Mentoring Began Today

I started a mentoring program today. I am being mentored by a good friend of the family, and I want to document what I am learning and also encourage everyone to find a mentor and learn as much as you can from them.

I realized a while back that unless I looked for a mentor or teacher, there was a good chance I would not get my MCSE. I have the study tools, and the books, and the server license that expires in 3 months. All of these things are valuable, but what I started to see was that the parts of the practice test I was scoring the highest consistantly on were those things that I had actually had to do in my work environment. This seems obvious, but it was then that I decided to take my friend up on the offer of learning by doing.

I also had been wondering how I could possibly stay in the network admin position I am in without a senior Windows person there to guide and direct me and make sure that I learn how to do the important things. By beginning the mentoring program, I realize that I can stay at my current job while I spend time out of work learning and asking questions.

Many of my future posts will be a breakdown of what I have learned in my mentoring sessions so that I can keep a record of my progress, and perhaps help someone else through this very long process.

Notes from today:
1. It is important before beginning to build any kind of network to lay it out on paper as completely as possible, with server names, functions, and relevant information.
2. It is very good practice and recommended by my mentor to always create two Domain Controllers in any configuration. Having an extra one if one fails is the main reason for this.
3. DCs have no local accounts.

Desktop and Laptop Specs for Home Users

Many of my friends are buying laptop and desktop computers for their kids and spouses for the holidays. I am constantly being asked what I recommend, so I thought I would recreate the specs I like here and then just refer them to my site.

Let me start by saying that I recommend Dell over all other computers. The reason is simple; support! They have the best support I have encountered, and that goes for business sales and personal sales as well. They stand behind their product and that means something to me. And by the way, I am not getting any commissions from them.

For a laptop I recommend at least the following specificications:
Processor: A Dual core of at least 1.6 or higher
Memory: 1GB
HardDrive: 160GB
Wireless: 802.11 a/b/g/n

For a desktop, I recommend the following:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 (2.20GHz)
Memory: 2GB
HardDrive: 320GB
Graphics Card: Best you can afford

These are just what I would look for if I were buying one for myself. Many of the stores are running fantastic deals right now, so certainly shop around and look for the highest specs for the lowest price, but processing speed and memory are key for almost all users, so don't be cheap in those areas.

Searchers Beware

I am about to send out an email to all of my users, warning them to be very careful when they do a Google search.

I many different blogs this week about this problem. Alex Eckelberry over at Sunbelt blogged about this on Monday drawing much attention to the issue. Alex's article showed how a search on some common tech terms led to several exploits that could infect a system that is left vulnerable.

According to an article posted last night over at InformationWeek it seems that Google has deleted many of the malicious pages, but that the other popular search engines are being targeted as well.

This just serves to remind all us tech folks to keep telling our users that they simply have to make sure their operating systems are up-to-date, that they have anti-virus programs installed on all their PCs, and that they are always careful about web sites that they visit. I will have to be sure to also email this warning to all of those "non-paying" customers I have like Mom and Dad.

Recovering a Mirrored Volume (RAID-1)

A couple of posts back, I made notes for myself on how to in very general terms recover a RAID-0 or striped volume. Today I will quickly outline the steps to take in order to recover a mirrored volume.

If you loose one of your mirrored drives, you shouldn't panic too much, as long as one of your drives is healthy. What you will want to do is removed the broken drive and add another to replace it and reset the mirror.

1. The first step is to remove the mirror, which you can do by going into the Disk Management Interface and right clicking the failed drive. This should change the setting for the good drive, making it a Simple Volume.

2. After you have added a new drive to replace the failed one and the computer recognizes it and it has been made a Dynamic disk, you can right click the Simple Volume and add the new drive.

This is based on much better and more detailed instructions from the book I am currently reading from the link on the left.

Managing Windows 2003 Server Tips

There are 3 main tools, according to Microsoft, that a System Admin should use to monitor and maintain Windows 2003 Servers.

1. Performance Console- there are two parts to this, the System Monitor that has all the different settings for hardware on your server and the Performance Logs and Alerts that has a standard set of logs and customizable logs and alerts that you can set.

2. Event Viewer - has the different log files on events that the server records. Application, System and Security logs reside on every server. Directory Service and File Replication Service logs will exist on a DC. A DNS Server will contain an additional log file called, appropriately, DNS Server.

3. Task Manager - this handy tool is still the best one for looking at actual process threads. An additional tool that most techs I know use is Process Monitor, as it shows more detail than the built in Task Manager.