Upgrading to Windows 2008 R2

Upgrade our testlab machine from Windows 2008 64bit Ent SP2 to Windows 2008 R2 (RC).

What is running on top of it:
- IIS
- Hyper-V

How to upgrade? Just put in Windows 2008 R2 RC DVD, click for upgrade. It will show the programs/apps that is not compatible, you will need to uninstall some of the apps (that not supported) to ensure a smooth upgrade.

It will then prompt KB957256. As for today, not be able to find this KB article.

We ignore it (cause in a test lab - you might want to test and test and test in a live environment).

After the upgrade, the installation wizard will transfer your files, settings and programs to the R2 environment.

Within 2 hours, everything is up and running. It is the easiet upgade we ever had.

Good job MSFT.

Disable UAC using registry editor

If you would like to turn on/off User Access Control feature in Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista, you can go to Control Panel > User Accounts. Beside going to control panel, you can also turn it off/on using registry editor, you can find the UAC key in HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

EnableLUA (DWORD)= change the value to 1 (On) or 0 (Off)

By the way, try not to disable UAC feature, as this will reduce the security enhancement to protect your workstation and servers in the future

Complex password in Windows Server 2008

Recently, there is a question about password complexity in Windows 2008 Domain.

Windows 2008 is disabled by default and domain is enabled by default.

Now, the complextiy means:

1) Passwords must contain characters from three of the following four categories:
a. English uppercase characters (A through Z).
b. English lowercase characters (a through z).
c. Base 10 digits (0 through 9).
d. Non-alphabetic characters (for example, !, $, #, %).

It is smart enough to get three out of four...it puzzled me for a while.

Getting error "The location for backup is a critical volume" when perform System State backup

As everyone know NTBackup is already remove from Windows 2008 server, if you want to perform a system state backup on Windows 2008 server, you will need to issue a command:wbadmin start systemstatebackup -backuptarget:Drive_Letter: and provided with backup feature installed on your Windows 2008 server.

If you would like to backup the system state on your local C: drive, you may receive the error "The location for backup is a critical volume" and the system will stop you from backing up your system state. If you have additional hard drive attached to your Windows 2008 server, you can always easily change the backup path to another drive, but how if you only got C: present in your Windows 2008 Server? This scenario mostly exist in virtualization environment, do we really need to attached another volume for the purpose of backup system state?

It is always recommended that store your backup at different locations and always keep the updated backup sets. But in this scenario, you can tweak your Windows 2008 server registry in order to allow system state backup on your system drive and the steps as below:

1. Open registry editor, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wbengine\SystemStateBackup\ (Note: If you cannot find the SystemStateBackup key, you may need to manually create it)
   
2. Inside the key, create a DWORD value name AllowSSBToAnyVolume and set the value to 1.
3. You can now backup system state in system drive.

Always, do not forget to backup your registry before you perform the above action, it may corrupt your system if you misused it. ;)

Windows 7 beta is available for download!

Great news for all beta tester! Steve Ballmer now announce availability of Windows 7 beta for download at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx. You will need to provide your live ID to download this.

For the Technet Plus Subscriber, you can get it at below URL:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/subscriptions/downloads/default.aspx?pv=36:350

Just go and grab it now!

Below is the URL for the announcement:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2009/jan09/01-07CES09PR.mspx

If you want to know more about Windows 7, please visit the URL below:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows7

Happy New Year 2009

Dear Windows/Virtualization Fans,

Good day and thanks for the support in year 2008. Please continue to support us in year 2009.

Happy New Year 2009!!!

Poo, Paul and the rest of the team.

How to restore NTBackup (.bkf) file on Windows Server 2008

Some of the IT pro may not aware that NTBackup is already remove from Windows Server 2008 & Windows Vista. If you try to restore a previous NTBackup backup file (.bkf) on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista, Windows Explorer will return you unknown file format and ask you to choose a program to open it. If you try to access Windows Server 2008 backup tool, you still unable to browse for the backup file and restore on other location.

Another question will come to your mind, if this is the case, IT pro will not be able to restore NTBackup file on Windows Server 2008, should I need to setup another Windows Server 2003 or below just only to restore NTBackup file in the future? The answer is No. You will still be able to restore it on Windows Server 2008 by using a tool called Windows NTBackup - Restore Utility. Once you install this tool on your Windows Server 2008 box, you will be able to restore a NTBackup file on Windows Server 2008. For those who are interested, please get the tool from below link:

Windows NTBackup - Restore Utility

Note: You will need to enable Removable Storage Management feature in order to run Windows NTBackup - Restore Utility