How To: Configure a Windows 7 power scheme for distribution

Need to create a standardized power configuration for Windows 7 PCs, but are not able to use Group Policy?  Look to the command line to export and import power settings for Windows 7 systems!

Open a command prompt and run ‘powercfg /?’ to get some of the details.

 

The options most useful for this problem are

• powercfg –l
• powercfg –export c:\file.pow {guid}
• powercfg –import c:\file.pow

Outlook 2007 - Create Task from Email

Final macro for a thorough GTD approach to the email inbox. This will create a Task form with the contents of the email prepopulated in the task form. This macro allows detailed tasks to be generated by the click of the mouse, managing workflow through the Task viewer in Outlook!


Public Sub AddToTasks()
Dim olTask As Outlook.TaskItem
Dim olMail As MailItem
Dim olIns As Inspector
Dim olExp As Explorer
Set olTask = Application.CreateItem(olTaskItem)
Set olExp = Application.ActiveExplorer

If olExp.CurrentView "Messages" Then Exit Sub
If olExp.Selection.Count 1 Then Exit Sub

Set olMail = olExp.Selection.Item(1)

With olTask
.Subject = olMail.Subject
.Body = olMail.Body
.StartDate = Now
.DueDate = DateAdd("d", 7 - Format$(Date, "w", vbSaturday), Date)
.ReminderSet = False
olTask.Status = olTaskInProgress
End With

Set olIns = olTask.GetInspector
olIns.Display ("True")
End Sub


Outlook 2007 Move to Folder Under Inbox

Part two of the Email Management series. This macro code moves a message item from the Inbox to a folder under the Inbox. Two versions of this macro exist in my setup to move items to the Actions or Review folders.

Sub moveReview()
On Error Resume Next
Dim objFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder, objInbox As Outlook.MAPIFolder
Dim objNS As Outlook.Namespace, objItem As Outlook.MailItem

Set objNS = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
Set objInbox = objNS.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox)
Set objFolder = objNS.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox).Folders.Item("Folder")
'Assume this is a mail folder

If objFolder Is Nothing Then
MsgBox "This folder doesn’t exist!", vbOKOnly + vbExclamation, "INVALID FOLDER"
End If

If Application.ActiveExplorer.Selection.Count = 0 Then
'Require that this procedure be called only when a message is selected
Exit Sub
End If

For Each objItem In Application.ActiveExplorer.Selection
If objFolder.DefaultItemType = olMailItem Then
If objItem.Class = olMail Then
'Set item as read.
'objItem.UnRead = False
objItem.Move objFolder
End If
End If
Next

Set objItem = Nothing
Set objFolder = Nothing
Set objNS = Nothing

End Sub

Restore successful!

Removed the RAID 0 setup from my primary computer.  Recovering data from Acronis was completely successful!  So the Raid 0 can be retired, and will run off of the WD Black 1TB drive for a while.

Cannot recommend enough the Acronis TrueImage software for home backups.  I copy the .TIB file to an external drive in order to pull the backup to external media.  This could easily be taken off site for a redundant and safe off site backup strategy.

Will be checking out the 2011 verison of the Acronis TrueImage home product this week.

Backups: How to save your PC

Here's a good backup strategy.  Daily backups to Windows Home Server.  Nightly backups with Acronis TrueImage to external drive.  Recovery involves either pulling the backup from Windows Home Server or reverting to the last good Acronis image.

Trying the Acronis backup method tonight after reconfigureing some hardware in my primary PC.  Its going to be an adventure.

Outlook 2007 Archive Macro

This macro code floating around the web altered to match my setup. The real key is in this code bit:Set objFolder = objNS.Folders("2010").Folders.Item("Inbox")
2010 is the PST folder name in the Outlook folder pane, and Inbox is the folder beneath it. This syntax allows a mail to be moved from the Exchange Inbox to the 2010\Inbox folder.

http://www.yeraze.com/2008/04/outlook-macro-move-to-specified-folder-mark-as-read/


Sub moveArchive()
On Error Resume Next
Dim objFolder As Outlook.MAPIFolder
Dim objNS As Outlook.NameSpace, objItem As Outlook.MailItem
For Each objItem In Application.ActiveExplorer.Selection
If objFolder.DefaultItemType = olMailItem Then
If objItem.Class = olMail Then
objItem.UnRead = False
objItem.Move objFolder
End If
End If
Next

Set objNS = Application.GetNamespace("MAPI")
Set objFolder = objNS.Folders("2010").Folders.Item("Inbox")
'Assume this is a mail folder

If objFolder Is Nothing Then
MsgBox "This folder doesn’t exist!", vbOKOnly + vbExclamation, "INVALID FOLDER"
End If

If Application.ActiveExplorer.Selection.Count = 0 Then
'Require that this procedure be called only when a message is selected
Exit Sub
End If

Set objItem = Nothing
Set objFolder = Nothing
Set objNS = Nothing
End Sub

How-To: Taming the Email Inbox (Part one)

Email Inbox.  Two words that can bring a person to insanity.  Hundreds of emails a day sounds quite intimidating!  Much hype surrounding different schools of taming the dreaded inbox leads to this how-to and tip for managing the neverending onslaught of electronic messages.

Many people use Outlook to access email.  For those that have not had the, uh, honor of using Microsoft Outlook this is the email, calendar, contact and task management software that interfaces with Exchange, POP or IMAP email servers.

These tips may help you bring your mailbox under control.  Please leave feedback or suggestions in the comments!

Taming the Email Inbox

1. Inbox sub-folders.  I use three folders, Actions, Review and Notifications.  The Actions folder contains emails that require more effort than an immediate response, perhaps involving something that I will create a task to help manage my work flow.  Review contains mails that are mostly informational, but that I would like to easily go back to read when time allows, this allows me to remain focused on my primary task.  The Notifications folder is the destination for rules which are sorted by any of the frequent or automated messages that clutter up a mailbox.


2. The Personal Folder.  Office 2007 integrates search not only in the mailb0x, but in Personal Folders, or PST files.  Why put my processed mail into one searchable folder in a PST file?  It eliminates the need to create a complicated folder structure in the PST and allows email subjects or conversation threads to be easily found in a simple search.


3. Making it all easy!  While it may be simple enough to drag and drop mail items into these destinations the actions can be scripted with macros, preventing mistakes when dragging items from the inbox to another folder.

The next few blog posts will share the macro code floating around the web, altered to meet my requirements, and wrap up with creating toolbar buttons to make managing the inbox from the GUI easier.

Managing email, work flow, and daily schedule using all of Outlooks tools reduces the stress caused by an overloaded inbox and tames the seemingly uncontrolled flow of electronic communication.

It would be irresponsible not to STRENUOUSLY implore everyone to BACK UP any PST files that email is placed in. Catastrophic digital events wiping out a year or years of email, well, just DO NOT LET IT HAPPEN!

Remove Security Tool Malware

Had to remove a new piece of Malware called "Security Tool".  The challenge to this is that the malware prevents any executable except web browsers from running.  Once it starts, it also runs a fake scan of the files on the drive and alerts that several are infected with Trojan spyware that is stealing credit card information.  Amusingly it alerted that a trojan infection was trying to steal credit card information from taskmgr.exe when we tried to run it.

Fortunately, Security Tool does not appear to protect itself, so the removal is rather simple.

1. Locate and rename the executable (Locate a shortcut in the start menu and check the properties for the file location) and Reboot


2. Browse to the same location and delete the renamed file.


3. Download and run Malwarebytes (make sure to update the defs!)


4. Remove any additional malicious software and reboot once more for good measure.

This YouTube video was a help, though the file location was different from that of the video.

A short lesson in custom permalinks...

If your Pages don't load properly in Wordpress, it could be the permalink settings.  I had set to custom, which apparently was causing the Pages to fail to load properly.  Now we're cooking with gas!

My Hardware

Hardware I use:

Desktop System:

• Gigabyte EP45-UD3P


• Intel Core 2 Duo Q9400 @ 3.00Ghz


• 4GB PC2-6400


• EVGA GeForce 8800GT Akimbo


• Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Netbook:

• Dell Inspiron Mini 1010 (Windows 7 Pro x32)

Home Server:

• Dell Dimension E510 (Windows Home Server PP3)

HTPC:

• Acer Aspire (Windows 7 Ultimate x64)

Application silent install switches

Silent install switches for applications can be rather difficult to locate, perhaps having them here may save a headache for another tech…

For the Adobe packages, one must download the full standalone installers.  The same goes for Windows Live Essentials, which may or may not have the latest version of the Movie Maker software included.

• Adobe Flash:  install_flash_player_ax.exe /S


• Adobe Reader:  /sPB /rs /msi /qb /norestart EULA_ACCEPT=YES


• Windows Live Essentials: wlsetup-all.exe /silent


• Windows Security Essentials (x64 or x86):  mssefullinstall-x86fre-en-us-vista.exe /s /runwgacheck


• Adobe Reader 9.2 (MSI):  msiexec /i AcroRead.msi ALLUSERS=TRUE TRANSFORMS=AcroRead.mst /quiet


• Pidgin: pidgin-2.6.4.exe /DS=0 /SMS=1 /S (Make sure to get the full offline installer, this won't work without the GTK piece)


• 7-Zip 32-bit:  msiexec /i 7z465.msi /qn


• 7-Zip 64-bit:  msiexec /i 7z465-x64.msi /qn


• Mozilla Firefox:  Firefox Setup 3.5.5.exe -ms


• Adobe Flash Player 10 for IE (ActiveX) (MSI):  msiexec /i install_flash_player_10_active_x.msi /qn


• Adobe Flash Player 10 for Firefox (Plugin) (MSI):  msiexec /i install_flash_player_10_plugin.msi /qn


• Java:  jre-6u21-windows-i586-s.exe /s ADDLOCAL=ALL

Building an MDT 2010 Virtual Lab

For this little project I’ve picked up a copy of Deployment Fundamentals by Johan Arwidmark and Mikael Nyström.  The book details setting up a Windows 7 deployment infrastructure in a fictitious enterprise environment.  So will be using their examples to build my lab.

The first order of business, start configuring virtual hosts!  Downloaded and installed VirtualBox, which can handle x64 hosts, so I don’t have to load Server 2008 HyperV over the top of my carefully rebuilt Windows 7 system (Really didn’t want to give up my workstation for the lab environment completely, maybe one day…  when I have a Core i7 notebook…).  Time to build the Server 2008 R2 master image for the lab environment, since we will be using three or four of these systems.  Complete the install, download any patches from Microsoft/Windows Update, and then run sysprep.

The best method looks like running from the command line, a quick google search turned up this blog post by Matt Groves, http://www.mattgrovesblog.com/2009/11/sysprep-windows-2008-r2.html.  Matt notes that this command should be run from an elevated command prompt:  c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /quiet /generalize /oobe /shutdown

Once sysprep is completed and the virtual machine is shut down, copy the virtual drive file to create the GOLD image.

Resetting UUID on VDI for VirtualBox

Ran up against a problem when I ‘cloned’ the VDI hard drive files from my Sun VirtualBox lab environment.  The VDI files contain a unique ID (UUID) for the file itself.  THere are commands to clone the file, but if the file has already been copied, the UUID needs to be reset.

Google turned up a hit on Steve Smith’s Blog about what is going on, and how to resolve it.

Documenting the command line syntax here for my own reference:

VBoxManage internalcommands setvdiuuid “MyCopy.vdi”

Lab Rebuild

Been a while.  Have gone through quite a bit on the computing front.  For starters, managed to wipe out not only all the data on my primary system, but also on my backup in one fell swoop.  Needless to say, that was a very painful lesson, and some digital photos were lost, possibly permanently (there may be a few items on my wife’s laptop that I haven’t searched through yet).  So, major lesson learned?  NEVER do anything to your backup drives before completing a recovery if you blow away your system on accident.

This also means I have to rebuild my virtual lab environment.  For the second go round I’ve picked up a copy of Deployment Fundamentals by Johan Arwidmark and Mikael Nyström.  The book details setting up a Windows 7 deployment infrastructure in a fictitious enterprise environment.  So will be using their examples to rebuild my lab.

The first order of business, start configuring virtual hosts!  Downloaded and installed VirtualBox, which can handle x64 hosts, so I don’t have to load Server 2008 HyperV over the top of my carefully rebuilt Windows 7 system (Really didn’t want to give up my workstation for the lab environment completely, maybe one day…  when I have a Core i7 notebook…).  Time to build the Server 2008 R2 master image for the lab environment, since we will be using three or four of these systems.  Complete the install, download any patches from Microsoft/Windows Update, and then run sysprep.  The best method looks like running from the command line, a quick google search turned up this blog post by Matt Groves, http://www.mattgrovesblog.com/2009/11/sysprep-windows-2008-r2.html.

Matt notes that this command should be run from an elevated command prompt:  c:\windows\system32\sysprep\sysprep.exe /quiet /generalize /oobe /shutdown

Once sysprep is completed and the virtual machine is shut down, copy the virtual drive file to create the GOLD image.

Dell Inspiron Mini 10

Jumped on a sale on a refurbished Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (1010) last week.  Great little system!

Intel Atom Z530, 1GB memory (yeah, likely stuck at 1GB, but that’s okay, it gets the job done), 160GB 5200RPM HDD, Intel GMA500, 6-cell battery.  Windows indicated it will hold 6+ hours on a full charge!  This will be a fantastic platform for classes, homework, and roaming around over the summer.

First thing I did was try a live Ubuntu 10.4 Netbook Remix.  Linux could do fantastic things if it has hardware support on the right platforms!  The problem on this particular system is the lack of driver support for the Intel GMA500 graphics hardware.  Just doesn’t seem to be there for the soon-to-be-released Ubuntu 10.4.

Windows 7, however, runs like a champ with the recently released graphics driver!  The stock Windows XP Home install ran with a hefty memory footprint, pushing over 850MB at idle!  WIndows 7 running with Google Chrome, Pidgin IM and Live Mail idles at 640MB!  The multithreaded Z530 has, so far, handled everything I’ve thrown at it.  Mostly in software installs, but running an IE session with a few tabs, Chrome with a few tabs and a software installer and a Microsoft download produced only slight UI hiccups.  My wife and I also watched an entire episode of The Office streaming over Netflix the other night!

Until tonight I had an Ubuntu 9.10 NBR partition, but have changed the bootloader back to the Windows 7 bootloader.  GRUB just isn’t all that pretty.

Now to play with some Office 2010!

Default user profile customization in Windows 7

How to customize default user profiles in Windows 7…

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/973289

One more useful link for Windows 7 deployment.

More Silent Install switches

Stumbled upon a blog post at http://infotech.lakeviewchurch.org/2010/01/06/deploying-microsoft-windows-7-mdt-2010-aik-2010/ detailing some more silent install switches for some more common apps.  Figured I’d copy them over and provide a reference link for my own future reference.

 

Adobe Reader 9.2
msiexec /i AcroRead.msi ALLUSERS=TRUE TRANSFORMS=AcroRead.mst /quiet
Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007
setup.exe
You can use the Office Products tab when editing the application definition to customize the app, or if you already have a .mst transform, put it in the Updates folder inside the Office installation structure and it will be automatically applied, no need to pass it in as an argument.
CDBurnerXP (the .msi, available as a separate download)
msiexec /i cdbxp_setup_4.2.7.1801.msi AI_DESKTOP_SH=0 AI_QUICKLAUNCH_SH=0 AI_STARTUP_SH=0 VIEWREADME=0 /qn
Pidgin
pidgin-2.6.4.exe /DS=0 /SMS=1 /S
LogMeIn Free (I’ll leave you to get it; the way I do it it prompts for the account to join it to after install, but it’s possible to find ways to make it auto-join to a LogMeIn.com account)
msiexec /i LogMeIn.msi /qn
Sunbelt Software VIPRE Enterprise (create MSI deployment files from the console)
MSIEXEC /I SBEAgent-ProfileNameHere.msi ALLUSERS=TRUE /quiet
7-Zip 32-bit (.msi is available if you dig on their site as a separate download, default for 32-bit is .exe)
msiexec /i 7z465.msi /qn
7-Zip 64-bit
msiexec /i 7z465-x64.msi /qn
Mozilla Firefox
Firefox Setup 3.5.5.exe -ms
Adobe Flash Player 10 for IE (ActiveX)
msiexec /i install_flash_player_10_active_x.msi /qn
Adobe Flash Player 10 for Firefox (Plugin)
msiexec /i install_flash_player_10_plugin.msi /qn
Java (get the FULL OFFLINE installer here) (thanks to Justin Moore for finding this one and commenting!)
jre-6u17-windows-i586-s.exe /s ADDLOCAL=ALL

Preboot environment

• Quick tip:  http://blogs.technet.com/teamdhcp/archive/2007/02/12/identify-a-pxeclient-bootp-and-assign-a-shorter-lease.aspx
• Enable shorter DHCP lease times.  Should help keep the DHCP scope a bit cleaner for the boot/build environment.
• Windows Server 2003 R2 has WDS included as a component add-in.  Insert the appropriate media to complete the installation.  Technet directions/guidance to install and configure can be found here:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766320(WS.10).aspx
• Import a boot.wim file from Windows Vista or Seven media, then import the LiteTouchPE_x86.wim file.  I then disabled the boot.wim from Windows Seven media.

Back for More

Needing to play around with some WinXP and Win7 installs for my own sanity.  Need to have some success at something with MDT before I completely lose it.

So, have rebuilt the lab VPC 2007 environment.  Ready to check out where I left off and pick it back up again.  Dusting everything off has been a fun challenge.  Now to get some work done!