You may have come across news of a hidden feature in Windows 7 that was posted about on Cnet.com called Windows 7 GodMode.  It’s a little know feature of Windows that has been around since Vista, though few were aware of it’s existence until now.

GodMode is a feature that lets users access all of the Windows Control Panel options from a single window. No hidden Control Panel options are exposed,  but all the various options for the different Control Panel applets are shown.

To create your own GodMode folder where you can easily modify your computer settings, try the following:

Create a new folder (right-click and click on “New Folder”). Right-click on the folder and click on rename, copy and paste this: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

The GodMode section at the front of the string can contain any name you like,  GodMode was chosen for dramatic effect I’m sure.

Lifehacker reported in December that Microsoft’s new antivirus and antimalware utility Microsoft Security Essentials ranks as the best performing free antivirus tool:

AV-Comparatives.org ran a series of real-world tests running through common scenarios like downloading, extracting, copying, and encoding files, installing and launching applications…Not only is [Microsoft Security Essentials] one of only three products that both blocks and removes malware well, but it’s also very light on system resources.

You can download Microsoft Security Essentials for free from the Microsoft site. If you or your company already has a paid subscription to an antivirus utility, there is no need to download another one. However, if you are thinking of switching from a different free utility or need an antivirus utility for your home PC, Microsoft Security Essentials is a tried and highly recommended security solution.

Please join us on Wednesday, January 20, 2010 for a FREE webinar on taking your business to the next level with Windows Small Business Server. Plus there will be a Microsoft Office 2007 giveaway to one lucky attendee!

Kazmarek Technology Solutions, Inc. will show you how to protect your business data, increase productivity, and experience the freedom of working from virtually anywhere with an upgrade to the latest Windows Server technology.

Space is limited–Click here to register today!

Who should upgrade to Windows Small Business Server 2008?

If you are currently using an older version of Windows Server technology or you are currently not utilizing a server environment, you are poised for an upgrade.

1. Get a comprehensive all-in-one solution.
Windows Small Business Server 2008 brings together the Microsoft technologies that businesses need most into a single integrated solution.

2. Access business information and resources from virtually anywhere at any time.
Securely access your data whether you’re in the office, at home, or on the road.

3. Keep your network healthy and up-to-date.
Maximize uptime and ensure network health with Windows Small Business Server 2008.

4. Stay connected to your customers, vendors, and suppliers.
With access to contacts, appointments, and files from any Internet-connected PC or mobile device, you can be responsive to customers, vendors, and suppliers even when you’re not in the office.

5. Protect your business and prevent data loss.
Windows Small Business Server 2008 helps protect your business by backing up the data on your network and enabling you to recover accidentally deleted files.

Want to learn more? Register for our free SBS 2008 Webinar here!

Came across an interesting issue today while cleaning a Malware infection from a client computer.  Once I had cleaned the system up enough to load Windows XP in normal mode, I noticed a strange icon in the system tray.  It was a large red circle with a white X, and when the mouse was hovered over the icon the message “Warning! You have exceeded your profile space by XXX KB” was displayed. Opening the program displayed a more detailed message:

Profile Storage Space
You have exceeded your profile storage space. Before you can log off, you need to move some items from your profile to network or local storage

This was on a computer that is not attached to a domain,  with no quotas enabled by the administrator.

It seems that the Malware infection implemented a local security policy on the PC restricting the users profile storage space.  Manually deleting unneeded files from My Documents to reduce the size of the profile had no affect.

Luckily I came across this registry modification that removed the quota and corrected the problem.

Take this code and paste it into notepad. Save the file as quotarem.reg (make sure to save as type All Files to avoid the .TXT extension) and then double click on it to merge the changes into your Windows registry.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System]
"EnableProfileQuota"=-
"ProfileQuotaMessage"=-
"MaxProfileSize"=-
"IncludeRegInProQuota"=-
"WarnUser"=-
"WarnUserTimeout"=-

This technique can be useful when you need to migrate users to a new network domain,  and want to retain all the users profile data for use in the new domain.   Using this simple registry modification saves the time required for a tool like the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (FAST),  but unlike FAST cannot be used to move a users profile from one PC to another.

1 ) Log in to the PC as the user who’s profile you intend to migrate.  Lets call the account TESTUSER.

2 ) Check the users profile path typically located in C:\Documents and Settings\TESTUSER\ and make note of the exact directory path.

3 ) Login as a user with administrative rights and join the new domain. Reboot the PC.

4 ) Log in after rebooting with the users (TESTUSER) new domain account to create a new profile, the log out.

5 ) Log in with a domain admin account.

6 ) Give the TESTUSER@newdomain account full NTFS permissions to the old account profile path you noted earlier.  It’s best to Apply the changes before pressing Okay,  as I’ve found that they don’t stick when you simply press Okay after adding the permissions.

7 ) Open Regedit and navigate to HKLM\software\microsoft\windows nt\current version\profile list

8 ) You will see a list of all the profiles on the machine.  Be aware that these profile folders are named according to the user security IDs (SIDs) and not according to the user names.  You should find a number of profiles including the old user profile (TESTUSER) and the new domain user profile (TESTUSER.domain). The easiest way to determine which profile belongs to which user is to compare the ProfileImagePath key data to see which account is referenced in the path.

9 ) Edit the domain user profile (TESTUSER.domain) ProfileImagePath key to point to the old user profile path.  For example:  “C:\documents and settings\TESTUSER.domain”  <changes to> “C:\documents and settings\TESTUSER”

10 ) Once complete, login using the domain account and test it out. The desktop should change, the My Documents should contain all their documents, etc.  Make sure to check Outlook to confirm the email profile was migrated correctly,  I’ve seen a few instances where this did not happen and Outlook required reconfiguration.

If you need to remove Kaseya and it won’t uninstall from Add/Remove programs, try this:

First try the uninstall string

“C:\Program Files\InstallShield Installation Information\{48C76121-4F90-11D5-9884-0050BA85A903}\Setup.exe” UNINSTALL

or

“C:\Program Files(x86)\InstallShield Installation Information\{48C76121-4F90-11D5-9884-0050BA85A903}\Setup.exe” UNINSTALL

When finished delete the machine entry in Virtual Administrator using the “Delete account now without uninstalling the agent” function.

Imagine it’s a quiet Saturday afternoon in the office. No week-day interruptions. You think to yourself, “This is going to be a very productive day.” Suddenly, you’re disconnected from the server, the Internet, the whole network!

You call your IT person on his cell phone.  Minutes into the call, your IT person asks you to hold as he has another call coming in. You wait patiently on hold for a minute and he clicks back over.  He informs you that the call was from Kazmarek Technology Solutions. They had received alerts that your network was down. And better yet, they will have an engineer right over to address the situation.

This true story happened a few weeks ago. The problem turned out to be a burnt out 24-port switch. We replaced the switch with a loaner switch from KTS and our client was back in business within 30 minutes.

KTS was able to respond quickly because the client subscribed to our Proactive Server Support, a proactive and preventative service we offer to keep your servers and networking equipment running optimally, as well as react quickly to issues with our 24/7 monitoring. 

Contact KTS today for more information on how you can keep your servers running smoothly with our Proactive Server Support.

See the rest of our latest newsletter here.

Don’t let this happen to your servers! 

Windows 7, Microsoft’s newest desktop operating system, will be available to the public in less than two months. Starting October 22, you will be able to purchase a copy of Windows 7 or a PC pre-installed with Windows 7 from PC manufacturers and retailers. Windows 7 was designed to be simpler and easier to use than previous operating systems. Preliminary tests have shown that Windows 7 is about 20% faster than both Windows XP and Windows Vista.

Windows 7 has some great new features:

• Improved Taskbar:  In today’s working environment, you may have multiple documents open at once.  Instead of having to cycle through them, Windows 7 has a nice feature where you can click on the taskbar and receive a miniature preview of all the associated windows.  If you have similar documents and would like a larger preview, you simply mouse over the miniature window and you will be presented with a full screen preview of the current document.

• Aero Shake: Aero Shake is a cool new feature that takes a windowed application and minimizes all of the other windows. Simply click and hold on the selectable area of any floating (non-maximized) window and shake your hand side to side vigorously. All of the windows behind it will minimize. Just repeat the action to restore those applications.

• Jump lists: Jump lists are built into the taskbar and give you access to recently used items such as documents in Microsoft Word, music playlists, or recently browsed websites. Just right-click the application icon in your taskbar and that application’s jump list will appear.

• Windows XP Mode: This is a new optional, free feature that Microsoft has added to bridge the gap between legacy applications and Windows 7. It allows previously-installed applications to run under Windows XP mode directly from your Windows 7 desktop.

For purchases made between June 29, 2009 and January 31, 2010, Microsoft is offering a free upgrade to Windows 7 to customers who purchase a copy of Windows Vista, or a PC with Windows Vista pre-installed.

With the increased simplicity and functionality of Windows 7, this fall is a great time to replace older and slower PCs, or to upgrade your operating system.

Contact KTS today for more details and to learn how to increase your users’ productivity with Windows 7.

See the rest of our latest newsletter here.

SharePoint Services is a versatile technology included with Microsoft Windows Server 2008 that enables organizations of all sizes to increase the efficiency of business processes and improve team productivity. With tools for collaboration that help people stay connected across organizational and geographic boundaries, Windows SharePoint Services gives people access to documents and information they need.

Chief among the advantages of Windows SharePoint Services:

• Provides a single workspace for teams to coordinate schedules, organize documents, and participate in discussions—within the organization and over the extranet.

• Easily author and manage documents. SharePoint Services helps to ensure document integrity with the option to require document checkout before editing, provides the ability to view past revisions and restore to previous versions, and has the ability to set document-specific security.

• Helps people and teams stay on task with a variety of communication features that let users know when actions are required or important changes are made to existing information or documentation, including announcements, sophisticated alerts, surveys, and discussion boards.

• Provides creative forums for brainstorming ideas, building knowledge bases, or simply gathering information in an easy-to-edit format with new templates for implementing blogs and wikis (Web sites that can be quickly and easily edited by team members).

• Increases productivity while mobile with enhanced support for synchronization; using Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 to manage document libraries, lists, calendars, contacts, tasks, and discussion board—even offline.

Built on Microsoft Windows Server 2008, Windows SharePoint Services also provides a foundation platform for building Web-based business applications that can flex and scale easily to meet the changing and growing needs of your business.  With a familiar, Web-based interface and close integration with everyday tools including the Microsoft Office system, Windows SharePoint Services is easy to use and can be deployed rapidly. Users can create workspaces and then publish, store, share, and keep track of information, workflow, and documents.

Windows SharePoint Services helps teams stay connected and productive by providing easy access to the people, documents, and information they need to make more informed decisions and get the job done. Enhancements in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 make it easier than ever to share documents, track tasks, use e-mail efficiently and effectively, and share ideas and information.

Contact KTS today for additional details on how your business can benefit from Windows SharePoint Services!

See the rest of our latest newsletter here.