I’m personally not a huge fan of the standard login screen (view screenshot), and Windows is locked down to a point where you can’t manually change the login screen background. However there are tools and programs which patch the system files for you and let you use whichever wallpaper you want from your own image collection.

1. Go here to the Stardock LogonStudio download page on Download.com.
   This is a free download and you can use it for as long as you like. VistaBase recommends this download for this article’s purposes.
2. After downloading, install the product (really easy).
3. Once it’s installed, go to Start, All Programs, Stardock, LogonStudio, then click on LogonStudio Vista.
4. You’ll see the main screen (view screenshot), click on the left hand side Create.
5. A new dialog will appear - enter a name for your new logon screen (this can be anything you want).
6. Click Browse, and search your computer for a background or wallpaper that you’d like to have as your logon screen wallpaper.
7. Click Save.
8. On the main screen, select your new logon screen then click Save.
9. Save the logon screen anywhere you like.
10. Press Apply on the main screen. This should load your new wallpaper, and also lock your computer to demonstrate.
11. Once you’ve logged back in, simply close LogonStudio by clicking the red cross in the top right hand corner.

Here you can see what a changed logon screen looks like - unfortunately I couldn’t screenshot the logon screen as it won’t let you, but I took a photo from my camera phone anyway (view screenshot).

Some files in Windows are hidden because if edited could cause harm or damage to the system. Some files however are "super hidden" to make sure that nobody touches them, as if you do touch them, they will harm the operating system.

However if you’re crazy enough or an extremely advanced user, you can change this in the Registry to see these files.

1. Go to Start then Run (or press the Windows key + R), type in regedit and hit Enter.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
3. Change the value of the SuperHidden key to 1.
4. Close Registry Editor.

You may need to restart your computer to see the effects.

Microsoft has recently switched its main website, www.microsoft.com to Windows Server 2008 and Microsoft-IIS/7.0.

Although Windows Server 2008 is not yet released, Beta 3 is publicly available for early adopters to use. Internet Information Server 7 is already released, but will probably not see widespread use until Windows Server 2008 (formerly “Longhorn”) is released, since it only runs on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista.

There are already around 2,600 sites running Windows Server 2008 on the Internet. Whilst some of the servers running Windows Server 2008 are at Microsoft itself, the majority are not, with developers and hosting companies taking advantage of Windows Server 2008’s availability under a Go Live license which allows the beta to be used for testing or in a live environment without cost.

Once it is released, it could be expected to take a long time for large numbers of sites to move over to the latest version; it took several years for the installed base of Windows Server 2003 to overtake Windows 2000, and there are still some 5 million sites running on Windows 2000 even today.

Source: Bink.nu

It seems that the next server operating system from Microsoft, Windows Server 2008, will be released next Febuary 2008. The final code will be finished before the year is out, and will be launched with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 as well, at the Worldwide Partner Conference.

Ever dream of having the Address bar in your taskbar, so you can jump to any website or local/network folder location instantly? It can be done, and quite easily thank goodness.

With a bit of reshuffling and repositioning, you can get it to the perfect place in your taskbar. Just do the following:

1. Right click an empty space in the taskbar, and make sure that Lock the Taskbar is unchecked.
2. Right click an empty space in the taskbar again and hover over Toolbars, and then click on Address.
3. Reposition the Address bar to your customisation.

As confirmed, here is a blown up version of the Windows Server 2008 logo, which can be found on numerous Microsoft websites. Please feel free to use this logo as and where you wish to, but please save this image as a file then be sure to upload to your own server. Hotlinking causes my bandwidth to exceed and can impact on the stability of VistaBase.

All images, logos, references and types relating to Microsoft or Windows are trademarks and copyrights of Microsoft Corporation.

Easy Print is a new service in Windows Server 2008 which as long as you are connecting to a Windows Server 2008 machine, which basically sends all printer jobs to the local machine.

Say you are working remotely on a document on, lets say LHSERVER1 and your computer in front of you being LAPTOP2. You can edit the document and save it on LHSERVER1 but you need to print it to your machine sitting in front of you. This is where Easy Print comes in - instead of emailing the work to your email address so you can print directly from your laptop, it will allow you to print to the printer sitting next to you. This requires no drivers, no configuration, nothing special whatsoever.

From the Terminal Server blog on MSDN:

As of the 27th April 2007, the only platform that can be used as the client computer is Windows Longhorn Server Beta 3. More platforms will be available soon however. On the Longhorn Server Beta 3 client computer, the one additional step needed to ensure that printers are redirected over Easy Print is to install .NET Framework 3.0 (SP1). There are two ways to do this:

1.     Start - Administrative Tools - Server Manager - Add feature - .NET Framework 3.0
2.    You can also do it using the command line: pkgmgr.exe /iu:NetFx3

With this, all is set. We can redirect client printers as we used to normally by enabling the Printers checkbox in your Remote Desktop settings window (Local Resources - Local devices and resources). Redirected printers on the remote session will now be installed using Easy Print and do not require any configuration on the server by terminal server administrators.

Microsoft’s Nelly Porter confirmed the rumor that has been going around for some time now: Longhorn (Terminal) Server will have its own “universal printer” functionality. This functionality will be included for the first time in the upcoming Beta 3 of Windows Server 2008.

Microsoft calls it Easy Print. It’s based on the Microsoft XPS document standard (which is similar to PDF). The “Easy Print” feature of is quite comprehensive though and is more than just a universal print driver in that it:

• Supports (nearly) every printer
• Compresses the data stream send to the terminal server client
• Enables you to use the properties (UI) of the native printer driver
• Allow you to specify which printer gets redirected into your terminal server session

Source: Bink.nu - read more about Easy Print here.

Bink has some ideas of which the Windows Server “Longhorn” products will be called. It’s still thought that the final product names will be Windows Server 2008 but with a small extension describing the type of edition. He’s come up with:

Windows Server “Longhorn” Standard Edition
Windows Server “Longhorn” Enterprise Edition
Windows Server “Longhorn” Datacenter Edition
Windows Server “Longhorn” for Itanium-based Systems
Windows Web Server “Longhorn”

Source: Bink.nu

Large networks are likely to have WSUS (Windows Server Update Services) on the server which enables administrators to essentially run Windows Update on every computer they have at the same time from one screen, and also block updates which they don’t want.

At the moment (so any time around March) WSUS doesn’t see Windows Ultimate Extras and won’t automatically download and install them. This means that if your Vista machine’s updates are managed by the administrator, you’ll have to fetch them so they can logon and install them manually. But this is set to change - in the near future (estimated around April/May time), WSUS will be able to roll out Ultimate Extras to every Windows Vista Ultimate machine they have, but also have the ability to block certain updates (like the games perhaps!).

All the Wave Zero (the first set of Ultimate Extras) will be up on WSUS later this year for download.

Windows Deployment Services (WDS) replaces Remote Installation Services. It’s part of Windows Server 2008 and provides utilities to rapidly, remotely and quickly deploy Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems over a network without having to be physically there or using physical media to install.

It’s managed in a MMC console window, letting you add and remove servers, configure numerous options including computer naming, DHCP settings, reponse settings (PXE) and adding and removing installation and boot images. It lets you have full control over your image groups, and you can even have an unattended script (in form of Unattend.xml) with each image to provide you with the ability to run an unattended install. You can also manage 32-bit images with 32-bit computers only, likewise with 64-bit software to help prevent mix-matching of processor architectures.

Some of the advantages include: 

• Allows network-based installation of Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2008
• Deploys Windows Vista to new bare-bones computers with no operating system installed
• Provides an end-to-end solution for deploying Windows operating systems.
• Supports mixed environments, including Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
• Uses standard Windows Vista setup technologies, including Windows Preinstallation Environment, Windows Imaging, and Image-based setup

The requirements to run Windows Deployment Services include:

• Active Directory directory service: A Windows Deployment Services server must be either a member of an Active Directory domain or a domain controller  for a domain. All domain and forest configurations support Windows Deployment Services.
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP): You must have a working DHCP server with an active scope on the network because Windows Deployment Services uses PXE which then uses DHCP. The DHCP server does not have to be on the Windows Deployment Services server. 
• Domain Name System (DNS): A working DNS server on the network is required to run Windows Deployment Services. The DNS server doesn’t have to be running on the Windows Deployment Services server though, just on the network.
• Installation media: A DVD, CD, network location or physical media that contains the contents of the DVD is required to install Windows Deployment Services. 
• NTFS File System: The server running Windows Deployment Services requires an NTFS partition for the image store. You cannot create the image store on the partition containing the operating system files - it’ll have to be on a network location attached to the Windows Deployment Server.

Greater Control

• Network Access Protection (NAP): A new technology allowing them to define the health requirements of computers on a network and reduce the functionality of computers which don’t meet the specified requirements. NAP enables specific rules on the network, so if a user doesn’t have a firewall installed then they may be severely limited on the network to protect others using that resource.
• Internet Information Services 7.0 (IIS7): A brand new version of one of the world’s most popular web servers, incorporating ASP.NET, the .NET Framework 3.0, Windows Workflow Foundation and Windows SharePoint Services. It provides a central hub in integrating web applications and the user through key pillars that allow delegated administrations to offer an enhanced security layer.
• Better management over your infrastructure using policy based networking
• Quicker response time - allows you to make decisions and act upon them sooner rather than later
• New utilities and applications allowing you to centralise installations, configurations and adding server roles and resoures
• New monitoring and scripting technologies allowing you to centrally manage your Windows servers
• High security and management so you can remotely control and access your servers from remote locations

Higher availablity

• Windows Server 2008 Core: A stripped down and very basic version of the operating system providing services such as DHCP, DNS, file services and domain controller functionality without providing a user-interface. The whole system is command-line based, thus there are not as many services or programs running which reduces the attack vectors exposed on the network.
• More responsive systems actively monitoring the state of all server roles and giving feedback on possible future failings therefore reducing potential downtime
• Redesigned clustering software that offers unprecedented access in case hardware fails
• Allows you to install a number of key server roles in such a way that it requires less services and administration

Greater flexibility

• Read-only domain controller (RODC): A service which provides a read-only copy of the Active Directory to branch office users, enabling the users to logon faster and have efficient access to authenticated resources on the network, even in networks with poor physical security.
• Terminal Services: Allows users to remotely access computers and access applications without installing it. These applications run as if they are being run directly from the computer you are using to remotely access these services, and can run even in a web browser.
• Windows Deployment Services (WDS): This new service allows Windows to be rolled out to bare-metal computers with no operating system installed without moving out of your seat at your server. This reduces labour time and increases productivity.
• Interoperability and compatibity to ensure a fully seamless experience
• New deployment options which provide flexible and cost-effective solutions for your environment
• New solutions for mobile users and remotely connected users allowing them to securely access resources and applications available on the network

Fundamentals

• More manageable and secure computing for PC’s, laptops, mobile users and servers through policy based networking
• New scalable advancements that allow administrators to deploy even complicated infrastructures for your business or organisation
• Advanced reliability solutions to reduce loss of time, work, data and control of your network
• A brand new networking stack for better security and performance.

In this document, learn how to manage the brand new Windows Firewall controls through the MMC console. It guides you through netsh commands, Group Policy editing, and any number of things. The Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is a host-based firewall that blocks incoming and outgoing connections based on its configuration. While typical end-user configuration of Windows Firewall still takes place through the Windows Firewall Control Panel tool, advanced configuration now takes place in a Microsoft® Management Control (MMC) snap-in named Windows Firewall with Advanced Security. The inclusion of this snap-in not only provides an interface for configuring Windows Firewall locally but also for configuring Windows Firewall on remote computers and via Group Policy.

Windows Firewall with Advanced Security supports more granular rules, including Microsoft Active Directory® users and groups, source and destination Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, IP port number, ICMP settings, IPsec settings, specific types of interfaces, services, and more.

Download document

EAPHost architecture has changed rapidly in Windows Server 2008, and now provides third-party vendors and partners with better extensibility opportunities to quickly and easily create and distribute the Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) authentication methods.

Download document

Active Directory Certificate Services (ADCS) provides a system for better handling and management of X.509 certificates, expanding on the basic foundation in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. ADCS has been visually improved and redesigned for better management, seamless integration with Windows Server 2008 and is more compliant with standards. This document shows an overview of the new features and improvements in Active Directory Certificate Services.

Download document

This document from Microsoft describes the configuration of NPS (Network Policy Server) and NAP (Network Access Protection) and how the different settings interact with each other to create a custom health determination and rule enforcement solution.

Download document

You’re looking quite ahead into the future if you are asking that question. There will be many releases of different bits of software, mainly operating systems but there will be quite a few that are directed at certain types of customer.

 Windows Vista Beta 1 – beta version of the next client operating system from Microsoft
Released to testers only 3rd August 2005.

 Windows Server “Longhorn” Beta 1 – beta version of the next server operating system
Released to testers only 3rd August 2005.

 Windows Server 2003 R2 – update from Windows Server 2003 and has many new features
Released 7th December 2005.

 Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 – update from Small Business Server 2003 for simple management
Released 1st half of 2006.

 Windows Server “Longhorn” Beta 2 – beta version updated from Beta 1
Released Q2-Q3 of 2006.

 Windows Vista – the released-to-manufacturers edition of the next client operating system from Microsoft
Released 2nd half of 2006.

 Windows Server “Longhorn” Beta 3 – beta version updated from Beta 2
Released Q1-Q2 of 2006.

 Windows Server “Longhorn” – won’t be called Longhorn, but it’ll be released none the less
Released 1st half of 2007.

 Windows Small Business Server “Longhorn” – the next generation of simple server management
Released Q3-Q4 of 2007.

 2008/9 onwards -
Service Pack for Windows Vista
Service Pack for Windows Server “Longhorn”
Windows “Vienna” (next client on)
Beta 1 of Windows Server “Blackcomb/Vienna” (next server on)

Windows Server “Longhorn” Core is a much smaller, command line based operating system which has no user interface except for a command line and the wallpaper. It’s about 500MB in size because it doesn’t have any of the eye candy that Windows Vista has. The server core can still handle many of the server roles that Windows Server “Longhorn” has, such as DHCP server, DNS server, Active Directory and File servers. It also can handle subsystems for UNIX based applications, network load balancing, BitLocker volume encryption, backup and removable storage.

The good thing about Windows Server “Longhorn” Core is that it can be run on a very basic computer. Pentium 3 800Mhz, 256MB RAM, 5GB hard drive, onboard sound and graphics - it can run because it’s such a simple operating system, yet still powerful enough to maintain an entire network.

As described on the “Longhorn” Server Core TechNet blog, “Server Core is all about letting an administrator run the above roles with less installed, running, and needing to be managed on a server. For example, there is no GUI shell on Server Core, the local interface for managing the server is the command prompt. You can use MMC snap-ins to remotely manage a Server Core installation. All of this provides the following benefits including reduced maintenance, reduced attack surface area, reduced management and less disk space required to install”.

Windows “Longhorn” Server hasn’t had as much publicity as Vista because it’s got a longer time in beta as it’s a more comprehensive schedule and a lot more programming work to go into it. Once a name has been announced for it, no doubt more information will available for it in the public domain. However, here’s some links and information for you which you might want to check out.

Microsoft
Windows “Longhorn” Server Homepage
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s new in “Longhorn” Server?
“Longhorn” Server Beta 2 Whitepaper (.doc)
Windows Server Feedback

External links
Wikipedia entry for Windows “Longhorn” Server
ComputerPerformance.co.uk “Longhorn” Server section

Windows “Longhorn” Server has been released as Beta 2, build number 5384. This is a significant milestone for the “Longhorn” program. As of 23rd May 2006, the following are available for download to MSDN Operating System subscribers and above, Microsoft technical testers via Microsoft Connect, and via TechNet Plus shipments available in the July shipment.

• Microsoft “Longhorn” Server Beta 2 (x86 and x64)
• Microsoft “Longhorn” Server Core Beta 2 (x86 and x64)

Updated for Beta 2
Although, Windows Vista has been released for download at the Beta 2 stage of development, only “Longhorn” Server is available to MSDN Subscribers (Operating Systems and above), TechNet Plus (in the June/July shipment) and technical testers via Microsoft Connect. Unfortunately, even though “Longhorn” Server is at Beta 2, it will not be made public until the Beta 3 stage, which is expected to be released at the end of the year.

If you have a domain with Windows 2000 Server or Windows Server 2003 with Active Directory installed on it, and are planning to install a Windows “Longhorn” Server domain controller to the network domain, you will need to update the schema on the current domain controllers before it’ll work. If you are going to perform an unattended installation, you’ll have to do this on the domain controllers before you actually install Windows “Longhorn” Server and Active Directory. You can do this by updating the schema on the domain controllers that either host the schema master or infrastructure master. If you are not going to install Windows “Longhorn” Server, please do not update the schema for the sake of it.

 To prepare a domain forest:

1. Logon to the computer which runs as the schema master as a Domain Administrator or Enterprise Administrator.
2. Copy what’s in the \sources\adprep folder on the Windows “Longhorn” Server DVD to a folder on the C: drive called schemaupdate.
3. Go to Start and Run (or press the Windows key+R) and type in cmd then press OK.
4. Type in cd c:\schemaupdate then press Enter.
5. Type in adprep /forestprep then press Enter.
6. Allow the installation to continue and the schema to be replicated on the other servers (if applicable)

 To prepare an entire domain:

1. Logon to the computer which runs as the infrastructure master as a Domain Administrator.
2. Again, copy what’s in the \sources\adprep folder on the Windows “Longhorn” Server DVD to a folder on the C: drive called schemaupdate.
3. Go to Start and Run (or press the Windows key + R) and type in cmd then press OK.
4. Type in cd c:\schemaupdate then press Enter.
5. Type in adprep /domainprep /gpprep then press Enter.
6. Allow the installation to continue and the schema to be replicated on the other servers (if applicable)

Microsoft announced during a beta chat with the Windows Vista beta team, that “Longhorn” Server will be released during the release and rollout of Windows Vista Service Pack 1. As a company, they try and release a new operating system every 3-4 years, whilst rolling out a Service Pack every 1 to 1½ years.

This current estimation, Windows Vista Business will be released in November whilst the rest of the editions released in early January, therefore Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server “Longhorn” will be released late 2007 or the first half of 2008.

Windows Server 2003 R2 was a major release for Microsoft, and they have worked off R2 as much as they have with Windows Server 2003 to try and get a brand new, stable working server operating system for Windows Server “Longhorn”.

Microsoft will offer all the standard server roles, Clustering, Active Directory Services (including Active Directory Application Mode and Active Directory Federation Services), File Services (with File Resource Storage Manager and Network File System), Print Services, Security Services, Terminal Services (Remote Desktop), Web and Application Services (including Internet Information Services (IIS) and Windows Media Services with advanced streaming support.

We can also look forward to Network Information Service for UNIX systems, Windows Rights Management Services, File Replication Services for synchronisation of files across domains and servers, and Storage Area Networks (SAN’s) and also should be able to see a new version of Windows Windows SharePoint Services as well but a SharePoint Server may ship with Microsoft Office 2007 (codenamed Office “12″) or not… we’ll have to wait and see.

1.  There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.
2.  There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.
3.  There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.
4.  There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.

Newer versions of Windows are built from the older predecessor, so Windows 98 would have sprouted from Windows 95, Windows Server 2003 sprouted from Windows XP, and Windows Server Codename Longhorn is sprouting from Windows Server 2003 with the R2 added pack.

Windows Server 2003 R2 has some brilliant new features to really enhance the server experience, such as Active Directory Application Mode, Automated Deployment Services, Windows SharePoint Services, Windows System Resource Manager, support for UNIX applications and environments, and Active Directory Federation Services. These will all go into Windows Server Codename Longhorn.

Not to mention, as Windows Server Codename Longhorn is being built up from Windows Server 2003, it will of course have the same old features as that. However, the new features include a next-generation of Web services including a brand new version of Internet Information Services (IIS) and ASP.NET as well as the Windows Communications Foundation (Indigo). It will support brand new hardware such as the long-awaited PCI Express slot as well as server partitioning, and will also have a new system to protect against attacks and systems for reducing maintenance. It will also have some features from Windows Vista and vice-versa so that they can interconnect with each other.

Windows Server Codename Longhorn is the server operating system that supports Windows Vista, Windows XP and probably back down to Windows 2000 Professional.

1.  There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.
2.  There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it. 
3.  There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.

Simple answer really – they do not have a name for the server side to Windows Vista yet, so they have to name it something so they just threw in the original codename for Windows Vista. With “Windows Server Codename Longhorn”, we know from the name it is a server operating system, and we also know that it’s codenamed still, which means they just haven’t thought of a name yet.

And by the way, it will not be called Windows Vista Server, or Windows Server Vista, or anything to do with Vista at all! Because it’s a business software, they tend to go along with more business style names. It’ll be most likely called Windows Server and then if it’s released the first half of 2007, it’ll be Windows Server 2007 or if it’s released in the second half of 2007, it’ll follow to the next year in name and be Windows Server 2008.

 Some applications trigger the firewall prompt “keep blocking this app” although they don’t need to open local ports. Which behaviour exactly triggers a prompt?
 Windows Firewall prompt gets displayed when an application is listening on a TCP socket or binding to a non-wildcard UDP port and that application does not match any rule in the firewall policy.

 Does the Windows Firewall team have a blog?
 They don’t currently have a blog dedicated to Windows Firewall, but there are two networking blogs that contain information about Windows Firewall - http://blogs.technet.com/ianhamer and http://blogs.technet.com/jleznek.

 Can be firewall settings separated for low privileged administrator and high privileged administrator?
 The firewall settings are set globally for the machine.

 The user interface for the Windows XP Firewall looked like it was bolted on as an afterthought. Any plans for an rapid-access icon on the taskbar in Vista so that power users can get to the firewall settings quickly?
 There is no added taskbar access for the Firewall It is available in the Control Panel, through Windows Security Center, and in Administrative Tools (access to the Windows Firewall with Advanced Security MMC)
 Will there be more features in Windows Firewall like some of the features Sygate Personal Firewall has?
 We are mostly feature complete for Windows Vista. If there are particular features that you are interested in, they would like to hear about them for future planning purposes.

 Will the new Windows Firewall check outgoing traffic by default?
 No, but it can always be configured to perform outbound filtering.

 Will there be an option to remove Windows Firewall completely, and not just disable it?
 The Windows Firewall service is performing other system critical functions in the operating system like Windows Service Hardening. If you remove/disable this service, you end up with a less secure operating system so this is not a supported feature. The correct way is to simply disable Windows Firewall if you want to replace it with a third party firewall.

 Can we expect a backport for Windows XP?
 At this time, there are no plans to backport the new functionality.

 How do you test if the new Windows Firewall is really secure?
 That’s a great question:
    1 Throughout the planning design and coding phases they use security development guidelines developed at Microsoft;
    2 For the testing phase, the Windows Firewall undergoes internal & external security testing focused testing.

 Can the Firewall block access to/from a single website/IP address?
 Yes, you can create firewall rules to block access to a single IP Address.

 What exactly is the network categorisation dialog trying to achieve? At least on build 5365 you could just close it (without selecting private or public) and nothing appeared to happen What do you need the information for?
 Windows Firewall with Advanced Security is a host-based firewall that filters both incoming and outgoing traffic. Windows Firewall with Advanced Security uses the Network Location-Aware feature is to let Windows Vista administrators define a level of protection based on the network to which the user connects. As mobile users roam from their corporate network to a Private network, or to a Public network such as an Internet cafe, Windows Firewall with Advanced Security can enable and disable connectivity or features such as:
• File and Print Sharing
• eHome Media Center Extender
• Windows Connect Now Devices
• PnP-X (plug and play for networked devices)
• Network Explorer
• Peer To Peer Discovery

To achieve this, Windows Firewall with Advanced Security uses three separate profiles for filtering traffic. The computer automatically detects the network connection and uses the appropriate profile. Windows Firewall with Advanced Security supports the following profiles:

Domain - The domain profile is the set of Windows Firewall with Advanced Security settings needed when the computer is connected to an Active Directory domain in which the computer is a member. For example, you might configure rules for the domain profile for the programs needed by a managed computer in an enterprise network. The Network Location Service controls when settings for a profile apply.

Private - The private profile is the set of Windows Firewall with Advanced Security settings needed when the computer is connected to a private network. For example, a mobile user might take their computer home and connect it behind a private gateway device (such as a router) on their home network. When Windows detects the network, a dialog box will appear.

Public - The public profile is the set of Windows Firewall with Advanced Security settings needed when the computer is connected directly to the Internet. For example, a laptop computer might be taken on the road and connect to the Internet using a public broadband or wireless Internet Service Provider (ISP) or hotspot. Because the laptop connects directly to the Internet, this profile should contain more restrictive settings than the domain or private profile. Again, an end-user with administrator privileges selects whether a connection is Private or Public. If a user does not have administrator privileges and connects to any new network, Windows Vista uses the Public profile, which contains the most restrictive settings

 I wanted to know what is the difference between System Restore from Windows XP and now the new Windows Vista? What features have been added and enhanced?
 There have been lots of changes in the firewall since Windows XP SP2. Here are some of the favourites:
    1 Outbound filtering
    2 Filtering on services
    3 Integration between IPSec and firewall (e.g. allow only secure or encrypted traffic)
    4 New MMC snap-in with advanced security options
    5 New APIs

 Does it apply to the IPv6 protocol also?
 Yes - it fully supports IPv6.

 Can you explain or give me a link to Windows Service hardening so I can understand and context it?
 Windows Service Hardening is a feature for services providers. Since services in Windows Vista can be identified by their unique SID and Windows Firewall can allow/block traffic to services based on their SIDs, services can be sand-boxed to only allow the traffic they were designed to support.

 If the Firewall service fails, will the Firewall go in to lockdown by default and deny all inbound requests?
 Correct, if the firewall service fails, the system goes into a lockdown state similarly to the state its in when the system boots up.

 Is the Windows Firewall team a separate team or a subgroup of the Security Team at Microsoft?
 The Firewall team is part of the security division at Microsoft,

 Is it possible to configure firewall “per user”?
 The Windows Firewall policy is configured per computer, not per user

 There is a demonstration relating to this article. Click here to view it.

The Memory Diagnostic Tool (MDT) is a new device technology in Vista of which detects problems with memory in the computer. Memory problems can cause Windows to suddenly stop or lose information. Due to the nature of the tool, it cannot be run whilst Windows is running so it requires your computer to be restarted.

Simply save your work, and click the Start , go to Control Panel, then Administrative Tools, then click the Memory Diagnostic Tool. Select either the top option to start immediately, or the bottom option to load the tool on the next restart.

When the tool opens on startup, you’ll be presented with a blue screen and the tests immediately start. Press F1 to set the options - from here you can change the tests to either be Basic, Standard or Extended. Perform extended tests if you regularly get Blue Screen of Deaths or unexplained shutdowns.

Test results will be displayed for you when you logon and will give advice on what to do.

 Will PMC on Vista manage printers that are installed on servers that use a different version of Windows?
 PMC manages print servers running Windows 2000, Windows XP, or Windows Server 2003 (as well as Vista and Longhorn of course!)

 Also the con of my question — PMC on Windows Server interact with printers on Vista?
 Should work just fine.

 Will PMC be able to do send messages to the admin about low ink on a network printer etc
 Yes if the device supports print specifications defined in the RFC and updates this information to the port monitor or language monitor.

 Is there possibility to implement a way to give priority to some users to a printer
 You could give priority to a job that’s sent to the printer.

 Can PMC handle printers from multiple domains at once
 If you’re authenticated to another domain, yes.

 What reporting options and inventory tools are available
 The PMC will list all the printers on all the print servers in your enterprise. The PMC does not list the printer connections that are installed on client machines.

 Is it only up to vendor to provide the support for printer’s “special” features?
 Every printer manufacturer must decide what support they want to include in their printer drivers. On occasion they will decide to write a smaller basic driver and a larger more full-featured driver so that users have an option. You might check on their website to see if they have some more full-featured drivers available for your models.

 How does the ‘pushed printers’-option work from the PMC
 Please look up the help section for Deployed Printers connection. You basically push or deploy a printer connection to all the servers that belong to a GPO using Deployed Printer Connection.

 Can you record the job/user names of print jobs sent to each device?
 PMC does not support this in R2/Windows Vista; you can capture this information in the event log, however - See the ‘add informational events’ in our online documentation.

 If a technician replaces a printer at a site but the Admin isn’t aware it happened, what will the PMC do?
 If the admin is monitoring the print server, he should see the new printer that was added.

 If a technician replaces a printer at a site but the Admin isn’t aware it happened, what will the PMC do?
 PMC will monitor the print server that connects to the device.

 This may be an AD question, but will you be able to publish printers from several domains to a centralized printer server?
 Yes - assuming that the trust relationships between domains are set up correctly, and that the user/computer accounts have permissions to use the AD/Print server.

 Will it be possible to script the publishing of a printer and assigning it to a Group Policy without using MMC
 For publishing, check out rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /? in Vista.

 Are there any updates on printer deployment? e.g. setting the default printer.
 We are looking into adding this to the PMC/Group policy editor.

 PMC will show the drivers installed and local printers on a client if you add the client as a “Print Server” - useful for Terminal Servers for example.
 Yes it will. There is a button “Add local server” that will add the client as a print server. It won’t show printer connections, however.

 Will there be a generic print driver that will allow us to print to PDF or will we need Office 12 for that functionality?
 Windows will not have a built-in PDF writer. However, there will be a print driver that will allow you to print to XPS. More information at the XML Paper Specification.

 Will there be ‘plug-ins’ available in the future to enhance the product?
 This is something we’re certainly considering for future versions.

 Will there be a way to move documents from one printer queue to another? I see this requested in newsgroups from time to time.
 This is a feature request we get a lot - We’re looking into adding this for future releases of the PMC. One workaround (today) is to change to port of the printer queue to a port that points to another (similar) device.

 Related to my question about a printer being replaced with no prior notice, can the PCM do automatic alerting - set an alarm -
 You could have a notification setup for a filter - for e.g. Queue Status - is exactly - deleting. If the technician deletes the print queue, the admin will get an email that the printer queue was deleted

 rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry has been there for a while… no need for Vista. Are there changes in it?
 It will be going away in Vista. For printing we will use printui.exe to perform the rundll32.exe functions.

 What functions does PMC support multi-select on, so I can perform mgmt tasks across a number of Print Server simultaneously
 It more or less supports all functions that don’t require UI in multi-select. You can see the full list by selecting two printers and right clicking on them.

 Can PMC push driver/printer connections to workstations (replace Novell capability)
 Yes, PMC will push printers to any client.

 Forgive the question but can someone shoot me a nice link that will let me catch-up and context these terms–Help and Support in Vista? Some TechNet sites. I may be the only one here that found these terms new but I haven’t but I haven’t gotten to drill Vista the way I will soon. Thanks.
 This is a good site - click here to view.

 Event log isn’t useful for a looking at print jobs when there are thousands!
A We are aware of this limitation - some scripting is required to extract the information…We’re looking into making this easier for future releases of PMC. also note that the event log in Windows Vista has better filtering UI than the event log in Server 2003.

 Can PMC be used to look at performance issues in printing - both jobs coming from a workstation and output of data to the printer?
 No, not really.

 Can PMC redirect printing if a printer fails
 Nope.

 Are there any updates on printer deployment? E.g. setting the default printer.
 The ‘default printer’ feature is a pretty common request - we’re looking into adding it for Vista.

 Is printer driver management on a print server possible with PMC installed on Vista?
 You can open the print server properties through the PMC and add/remove drivers.

 The printui documentation has always been thin on the ground (e.g. printui /?). Will there be improved documentation for this tool - e.g. which “options” are functions (e.g. /ga), which are parameters (e.g. /n) which can be used in combination?
 There’s improved documentation at the Microsoft Windows Server site.

 Is the add printer option going to be fixed to find printers over networks, as I had to manually connect my printer.
 Yup - with the new Add Network Printer Wizard.

 What features of PMC should we be looking to test?
 Use PMC to monitor and administrate the Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, and Vista print servers in your organization.
Add printers, add drivers, delete printers, delete drivers, create filters to monitor printers not in a ready state. Enable email notification if you have an SMTP host email server.
Backup and restore printers.

 Are there any special security considerations that have to be taken into account when deploying PMC?
 Don’t think so. The person monitoring servers doesn’t have to be an admin, so elevated access is not required. Other than that, monitoring the server is really like accessing the remote server - \\remote_servername.

 Can I use PMC on a network? Can I connect two machines together and print from either one of them
 Yes - you can add local/remote servers to PMC…and yes.

 We have multiple subnets on floors - any way to manually add second subnet to scan for printers? or a printer list by subnet?
 Unfortunately there’s no current way to add another subnet to the list. This is something we’re considering for future versions.

 What ports does PMC need/use?
 File and Printer Sharing port.

 Will PMC be released for Windows XP?
 It already is!

 Why is it that in printing from the XPS document (e.g. the Windows Vista Product guide) there was no ability to select pages–it is greyed out. If XPS is part of the wave of the future and XML and Windows Presentation Foundation shouldn’t it have more print functionality
 You’re basically creating a document of XPS format - check out the Windows XPS Website.  

 How will the Print Management Console in Vista differ from that in Windows Server 2003 R2?
 PMC (Print Management Console) has a couple of new features in Windows Vista - it contains a new printer import/export tool (to move printers between servers and do backups), a new add printer wizard. Also, PMC now takes a comma-delimited list of servers in the ‘Add Server’ dialog PMC will soon support six filters for filtering printers (in R2 it only supported 3).

 Are there any plans to include Novell Netware Print servers into PMC?
 At this point we only support Windows print servers, and there are no plans to add other operating system support.

 In Windows Server 2003 R2, to take full advantage of the PMC, the guides recommend you be logged in as an administrator on the print servers that your managing, with the removal of access to an administrator account, has this changed with Vista for security?
 It hasn’t changed in Vista. Just to administer the print server, you don’t need to be an administrator.

 Can PMC be used for usage monitoring and print quotas?
 If usage means the volume of jobs coming into the queue, you could use PMC to monitor. PMC does not support print quotas yet.

 The new print manager in 2003 R2 is really nice. Will the tool in Vista/Longhorn Server be similar, and will we be able to grant non-administrators access to Printer Management?
 What are the permissions, PMC in R2 and Vista are similar. To use PMC, a user must be admin on the print server to make any changes. To just monitor a print server, regular read-only permissions are sufficient.

 Are there plans to enhance client location and selection of printers by providing a web-based enterprise-wide overview?
 We provide this today through our Internet Print Provider and Web Management solutions. Please see more information at Microsoft TechNet.

 Will the Print Management Console see or be able to access a printer connected on an MSN TV 2 that is attached to the network?
 PMC was designed to work with Windows print servers - so anything that shows up on the network as a Windows print server will work.

 In the “Add Printer” wizards, will their be methods to determine closest printers other than freeform data fields? (i.e. IP, site, etc.)
 Figuring out what “closest” means is a challenging thing. Does it mean closest on the network, closest physically, closest in terms of where the server is, or something else entirely? Right now the best way to determine close printers is by using the AD schema and planning it well - please see more information at Microsoft TechNet Library. In the Add Printer Wizards in Vista you’ll also be able to see all printers that support Web Services for Devices on your subnet as well, so you can easily find those. (That functionality will be turned off on a domain)

 Will we be able to override default driver settings Per Application using PMC to print to Tray 2 when you specify Tray 3 when using X App
 No, unfortunately the PMC does not allow you to do per-application settings. Some applications do enable this themselves, however (Office saves per user per app defaults). PMC is a tool that you monitor the printers on the server and can do any action you normally can do via accessing the server through \\servername\printers

 What is an ICC profile?
 ICC stands for the International Color Consortium, which help specify within drivers specific characteristics in terms of image management. You can have an ICC profile which specifically helps with black and white printing, scanning as well as colour printing and scanning.

 Will PMC be able to manage printer’s ICC profiles?
 ICC profiles for a printer can’t be changed remotely (you have to be logged on locally on the print server to add/remove/change them) - however, on Vista, once users connect to a shared printer, they can change the ICC profiles (for their local copy of the shared printer - this is a new feature in Windows Vista)

 Will we be able to override default driver settings Per Application using PMC such as a Savin PCL6 driver tends to print to tray 2 when you specify tray 3 when using X App
 PMC is a tool that you monitor the printers on the server and can do any action you normally can do via accessing the server through \\servername\printers, you probably will be able to achieve setting default settings through printer defaults

 Can someone explain the function of the XPS printer in the printer’s folder in Vista?. It was the default printer in Vista when it loaded. I didn’t have any trouble printing with the XP Brother printer though except notepad. I want to sort out this. I
 XPS is the printer for creating the new document format (XPS) that Microsoft came up with. Please refer to www.microsoft.com/xps for more info

 Has there been an update to PMC for printers that have http administration pages, specifically a way to work with them besides the workaround from Server 2003 of having to add them to the trusted sites or disabling IE Enhanced Security Configuration?
 PMC will invoke the HTTP pages the same as IE. We do not change any of the current security settings. If the IE setting is secure we will prompt. In Vista client you can view the pages without prompts in the default configuration

 Must all printers have a new Vista driver or will XP drivers be good ?
 Almost any version 3 (designed for Windows 2000/Windows XP/Windows Server 2003) driver should work on Windows Vista.

 What is MFP?
 Multi-functional printers.

 Will we be able to install 32-bit driver drivers on 64-bit Windows Vista? Lots of printer drivers will not be updated from the vendor. Lots of people would love to upgrade to 64-bit today, but missing printer drivers often stop the project.
 You can install 32-bit drivers on 64-bit Windows in order to share with 32-bit clients, but you cannot run a 32-bit driver natively on 64-bit. We’ve been working with all the printer manufacturers to encourage them to write 64-bit drivers and you should continue to see better support over time.

 Will PMC exist in Windows Starter Edition?
 No, PMC (and other network management tools) are not included in Windows Starter edition.

 How well does PMC works with wireless printers?
 Through Add Network Printer Wizard, we should be able to add wireless printers (IP, Bluetooth) as well.

 From a home perspective, I do not think that you would have many individuals know what driver to install with the 1284 request.
 We try to automatically figure out the right driver to install but if we can’t we’ll give as much information as possible. Most printer drivers are named after the device name so it shouldn’t’ be too hard to figure out which is the appropriate one to select.

 What advantages does PMC have over vendor supplied tools or web based management capabilities
 The PMC is a tool focused on monitoring your print servers rather than your printers directly. It will give you good generic information and will work for printers from all manufacturers.

 We have a need to cluster a print server, but grant non-Administrators privileges to manage queues, add printers, create ports, etc. Is this something that will be available in Vista/Longhorn as we have been unsuccessful with this scenario in R2
 Yes, in Vista, with introduction to LUA, you don’t need to be an administrator to add a printer.

 Is there any advantage on using the PMC with only one printer on one computer?
 If you are managing your own printer on your own machine…then the Printers folder is probably more useful.

 Ive read that PMC works with Samba and AppleTalk. Are there any plans to include rendezvous?
 The PMC monitors print queues on a server. Our print servers support Samba clients through the services for Unix and Apple clients through Services for Mac. Rendezvous (aka Bonjour) is somewhat different as it’s a connection protocol to the printer itself. Windows Vista will support Web Services for Devices, which includes a discovery protocol similar to Bonjour but one that includes security and is enterprise-ready.

 How is x64 driver development progressing? I’m still running on hacked drivers on XP x64 and I’m disenchanted that manufacturers are not embracing x64.
 We’re working closely with printer manufacturers to develop x64 drivers and I believe you’ll continue to see better support as time progresses.

 Will the PMC detect version mismatches of printer drivers in the domain?
 The drivers are specific to the server on which they’re installed.

 What is the minimum number of printers you recommend in order for PMC to be worth using?
 There is no such minimum number. I guess it’d be worth to